Tonight was SUPPOSE to be a night that I was going to relax. I had dinner made by 5pm and I was about ready to pour a glass of wine when my 14 year old son came through the siding glass door basically in tears. "Mom, can you track my cell phone?" I am thinking, "Great, he has lost it again..."
I asked him, "What is going on? You don't know where it is?"
"No, I had it when I went to the basketball court, I put it on the bench under Jake's backpack and now my cell phone and his are gone."
"What the heck, Aaron?!!!???"
He is visibly upset and actually sat down on the couch and threw one of the pillows on the couch across the room. So not like him. He doesn't get mad like that.
I informed him that we would be going to the basketball court to try to locate his phone. He went ahead of me as I was putting on my sweatshirt and tennis shoes. As I was walking very fast to the court, I was thinking about how I was going to approach the situation. There are always a lot of kids there. So, I get there and there is a fight. Wonderful. Aaron and his group of friends are on the opposite side of the court where the fight is. I call Aaron's group over and tell them I am going to gather EVERYONE up and have a little chat. Aaron looks horrified.
"Oh mom, please don't do that. There was just a fight. You are going to get hurt".
What am I, in Chicago?
So, I loudly say, "Alright everyone. Some phones have been stolen and either someone is going to cooperate or I will be calling my brother-in-law that is a Sargeant for the Tippecanoe Sherriff's Department and everyone will be questioned."
I wasn't really going to call Andy but it sounded crazy so I went with it...oh and I had my cell phone in my hand this ENTIRE time too!!!
About 25 kids coming rushing towards me. Honestly, I was so pissed I was not freaked out. Also, the fact that my step-son's buddy, Malik, was there calmed me down a bit. He is a big, black kid that no one messes with and he always has my back.
So, all the kids are all around me in a circle. And I say, "Which one of you have my son's phone? If you hand it over now, I will not press charges."
Lots of responses like, "I don't have it", "There was this kid who took off in this direction", "I just got here". I mean, no hesitation. My son at this point is looking at me like I am crazy. 90% of the kids in this circle are black. Not a big deal for me at all. My son is bi-racial (half black, half white). I think that freaked Aaron out that I was willing to take this on. I am not scared of anything. I have chased kids down the street here for vandalism. (That is for another post!) I am hoping that the kids in this neighborhood will respect me that I am not afraid to approach them or afraid to get to know them. I am not afraid of color. I think they all got that today. I think they also got that I wasn't afraid to turn them into the police either!!
Kids were even showing me their empty pockets and emptying out their backpacks for me. I even upped the ante for them. I let them know that whoever recovered the phone and either returned it to me or Aaron would receive a reward of some sort. I did not tell them what the reward was (It could be cash or a trip to McDonald's or something like that). They were all listening. They all said they would keep their ears and eyes open. They were cool with everything. Or at least I hope...(I guess if my house is egged tonight we will know differently).
So, I talked with Malik after this big congregation of a meeting with these 25 or so kids and asked him to be on the lookout for me. He pretty much knows everything that goes on in and around our subdivision. He, of course, would help me with anything he could.
Then the fun part of calling Sprint to deactivate Aaron's phone and report it stolen. Whoever took it is pretty much an idiot. They cannot make or receive calls or texts, if they try to activate it, it now has a stolen ESN attached to it so it will be reported stolen. Then, if it is attempted to be activated, I have the choice to press charges against whoever stole it.
What has this world come to? Is it really worth all of this to steal a 14 year old's cell phone? He has a simple Android phone with not a lot of bells and whistles on it. Just enough to text, make calls and surf the internet. I simply wish people would stop thinking they had a right to everything including other people's possessions. It is bad enough that we, as adults, have to deal with it but now my child has to deal with it.
And now for that glass of wine....
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