Omigod

[poliphilo]

A stone just bounced off the window. Omigod. Three tiny little boys. Out I storm, looking neither to left nor to right.

Accomplice: It was him (points)

Perpetrator: It was an accident.

But the perpetrator has made the mistake of running straight home so I ring the door bell.

I am choking with fear, rage, whatever, but trying not to show it. Poor woman. She is skinny and grey and has scabs on her face. A drug user? More than likely. She apologizes and thanks me for telling her and says she'll ground the perp. I thank her back. As I walk away I hear her screaming at him and feel sorry for them both.

Comments

[balirus.livejournal.com]

Are you upset more at the pebbles on the window, or the boy?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Its a different kind of upsetness. The pebbles- actually this was a dirty great shard of concrete- set my nerves on edge and make me paranoid. The boy- well- I just don't know, but I've spent much of the day thinking about him and his mother and wondering what kind of life they have...

[balirus.livejournal.com]

When I see parents scream at their children, I feel mixed emotions. I feel sorrow for the child and anger at the parent, mixed with some strange sense of shame and responsibility for having bore witness.

I find it sweet that the boys came over to apologize, even though they were forced to do it I hope they felt some meaning from the act.