Just had a VERY strange experience, and my heart is still thudding.

 Was expecting an Amazon delivery and heard the doorbell, but was in no hurry, cuz the drivers are usually gone before I can say thanks. When I finally got to the door, I looked through the side window and saw a kid, about 12 years old, picking up two Amazon packages. I thought ‘Porch Pirate’, who’d been following the Amazon truck, and immediately opened the door and grabbed the kid by his hoodie. Yup, he was wearing a black hoodie. 

I asked him what he was doing and after some hemming and hawing he said he was selling firewood kindling. I asked if he was alone and he said his father was with him. I said, ‘let’s go talk to him‘, and the kid freaked out, kicking and swinging. I grabbed him by the hair, and he settled down, for a little bit, then really went crazy, saying ‘I’ll give you $50. Let me go’. I kept looking for his dad OR his porch pirate adult partner.

I yelled to Carol, ‘Call 911’, and she did, finally, after several times asking ‘why?’ In the meantime the kid was swinging and kicking at me, but did no damage. I finally got his arm and twisted it, to keep him under control while we waited for the police.

As we were waiting the kid settled down, cuz I had his arm twisted, and repeated the firewood story, saying he lived right up the street. Carol got the 911 operator and I tried to talk with them while holding the kid. Bottom line, the more he talked the more I thought he might be telling the truth, and since the police were on the way I let him go. He walked away and I went inside, my heart thumping as the adrenaline surged.

I kept checking the driveway and street thinking either the cops would be there, or his parents. About ten minutes later I heard the doorbell and saw a yuuuge guy, all in dark, on my porch. I thought, ‘Uh oh, pissed off dad, and he’s gonna kick my ass, which I might deserve.....But it was Officer Sperry.

I explained the situation and he said they picked the kid up, and his story about the firewood was true. He said the kid said he was picking up the Amazon packages to be nice and hand them to me.

I felt/feel TERRIBLE, and said I’d buy the firewood but they wouldn’t have to deliver and tried to give the cop $$. He said no, and don’t feel bad, he would have done the same thing. We talked for a while about porch pirates which have been a problem in town, but not in our neighborhood. I asked for the kids name-address so I could apologize, and buy the kindling, but he said he couldn’t. He told me about a gang of 12 year-olds in Lakewood who were prolific porch pirates and then said these are strange times and it will be nice when things are back to normal.

Am still feeling kinda sick and hope the parents will contact me so I can explain/apologize. 

Just had the kid’s dad come to the door, and he was big, and pissed. At first he just yelled as I tried to settle him down and explain. He was yelling from the end of our driveway as he walked away and threatened me. I bet the neighbors wondered, ‘What the heck?’ I walked out to him and we finally talked like adults. He said his kid is 9, ( a tall 9), and autistic, which is why he couldn’t explain himself at first, making me suspicious. The dad is Glenn and the kid is Winston.  Even with the COVID thing, after a good ten minutes, Glenn and I hugged it out and I told him to bring Winston by, so I could apologize. And he did.

I got down on my knees, to look him in the eyes, and we talked, out in the cold for long time as I apologized, over and over, with tears in my eyes, and explained what happened. Winston IS autistic, but a good kid. I bought $40 worth of kindling that doesn’t need to be delivered and asked where the wood came from. He talked about their land in Kansas where they cut the firewood and hunt white tails. I talked about growing up in Nebraska hunting. He said he had an AR-15 and he’s shot a male and a female deer. I looked at his dad and he nodded yes.

Glenn kept telling Winston to look at me when he talked and to ask any questions he had. Winston asked if I had had packages stolen and I said no, but I had been robbed, several times. He was very interested and I told him about several times I’d been robbed, and the time I held a gun on a guy who was pooping in my toilet at 3 in the morning. I told them what a brave, good kid Winston is and we talked until we all got too cold. Winston was smiling as he left and I think he’s fine. We gave hugs all around and wished each other a Merry Christmas.

As Winston left he turned and said, ‘If you keep getting robbed you oughta become a policemen, cuz then you can shoot someone and it’s OK’. 

Learning that Winston is autistic explains a lot of his unusual, what I thought guilty, behavior when I first confronted him. But he seems like a good kid. And I think we’re friends now.

Sometimes I wonder if things like this happen for a reason. Not sure what the lesson was here, but am open.....