Apr 17, 2009 23:00
I'm still having trouble realizing that last night wasn't just a dream... and unfortunately, I don't mean that in the romantic/innuendo sort of way. I'd actually managed to get to relax last night and get to bed early - a first in... over a month, I think - but I gradually woke up around 3:45 am to an odd but familiar sound. My doorknob was moving.
Now, my front door has some issues. The doorknob is actually completely useless, except as a conversation piece. The door was kicked in by a previous tenant's friends, destroying the woodwork and the latch. Since the door, frame, and latch are all over 150 years old, there aren't replacement parts. Certainly not at Walmart, or the hardware store down the street. This is a mixed blessing. It means that the only working mechanism on the door is a heavy-duty, new-ish deadbolt, which is nicely bolted into the very sturdy solid wood frame. It also means that it isn't possible for me to leave the apartment unlocked (also a good thing in my neighborhood), but that because of the damage to the lower part of the door/frame, the door always looks ajar if you just glance down at the knob. Which is where I, and most people, tend to look.
Anyway, even though the knob has no functional latch, it's still a convenient place to push/pull on the door. So I know what it sounds like. And that wasn't a sound I expected to hear at 3:45 am. People come and go at all hours from my downstairs neighbor's apt, but I convinced myself that, no, this wasn't the front door, or his door; this was coming from my door.
Next I made a series of back-and-forth mental leaps (linear thought isn't possible for me at that hour); I should just stay in bed. I should open the door with a kitchen knife in one hand; I should call the police; I should listen and wait it out; I should make some coffee (wait, what?!?). I went with the 'listen and learn strategy'. There were no sounds other than the doorknob. That was weird. Really weird. Eventually there were some other heavy, body-related noises (okay, so not a ghost... one less thing to worry about...). Getting out of bed, I stalked to my door and determined that someone was slumped on the other side of it, apparently just grabbing at the doorknob.
Some questioning revealed that this person was extremely drunk, named Sammy, and looking for his friends. I told him that he was in the wrong house, and that I wouldn't allow him to continue trying (uselessly) to open my door. After several minutes, I heard him stumble down the stairs and out the front door. I went back to bed.
Repeat. Again, the odd noises, the waking up (not so slowly this time), the wonder what the HELL was going on. We had another little exchange, . "I wanna see my friends!" "Your friends don't live here." "Can I come in?" "No." "You're not gonna let me in?" "No." ... more doorknob fondling ... "You need to leave, Sammy, this isn't your house." "Let me in!" "No, Sammy, you can't come in, this isn't your house." All the while, I thought extensively about exactly what I would do if he made a more forceful attempt to enter; where should I stand so that I could see him easily, but not be obvious myself, or get hit by the door? Do I respond by more forcefully trying to get him out? My apartment isn't really big enough to hide/run in. What if he comes at me with a right/left/kick/knife?
Thankfully, none of the worries were useful. It took longer this time (long enough for me to get my cell phone and look up the local number for the police station), but he eventually got back down the stairs.
I found my wooden training knife, set it next to the bed, and (eventually) went back to sleep. This morning I found a pen, a pair of socks, and a debit card on the floor in front of my door. His name really was Sam.
Yikes.
In other news, school is trying its damnedest to qualify as "hell" and I have no thesis topic and little sleep, but my adviser is cool, spring is finally arrived, and it looks like I'll survive an unusually drama-filled couple of months.
Anyway, that story took longer to retell than I expected, and I must be off... but there will be some more boring life-updates soon. Just you wait.