Almost A Hero

A few weeks ago, at 11:00 on a Monday morning, I drove past a truck that was parked a few blocks from my house.  There was a woman sitting in the passenger seat, looking straight at me and smiling pleasantly.  The truck had a logo on the side, which I recognized to belong to our neighbor's business.  I don't know this family well, but they've always seemed very nice; young, hip, two kids and a dog, cool patio furniture (the important things in life).  Oh, and they put up a silver aluminum tree last Christmas, so they must be awesome.  Anyway, the thing that struck me was that this woman was completely bald.  I instantly felt sorry for her, assuming she must have cancer or some other serious disease.  At the same time, I was so impressed with how completely calm and content she seemed.

The following Thursday, at 11:00 AM, I drove past this same truck.  To my surprise, the woman was again sitting inside, and again smiled at me as I drove past.  I started to wonder why she was sitting in this truck at the same time everyday.  Why did she not go in the house?  Was she too weak?  Maybe her husband was stopping at home to get her medications, or make her lunch following a special diet to nurse her back to health.  They would then return to his office, where he could care for her while keeping up the business.  I felt suddenly felt so sad for this woman and wondered if I should reach out to these neighbors to see if I could help.  But how weird would that sound?  Hi, you don't know me, but I've made the assumption that your wife is ill...can I cook you dinner?

Fast forward to the following Monday.  I was driving towards the house at 9:15 AM, when I noticed the truck was parked on the road.  As I neared, I slowed down to look over my shoulder and check for the mystery woman.  Can you guess where this is going?   She was in the truck!  My heart started pounding as my theory changed from sick wife to kidnapped woman.  She really didn't look like the guy's wife anyway, and come to think of it, I hadn't seen the wife or kids in the yard for quite some time.  What if the wife sensed that he was unstable, she divorced him and moved out, and he's since kidnapped a woman.  He shaved her head to disguise her.  Stockholm syndrome was keeping her stay in the truck, even when he was out of sight.  Surely that's why she wasn't running.  My mind raced as I drove down the street.  Should I go back?  Should I call the cops?  We watch/read the news everyday and I hadn't heard of any missing woman lately, but what if she's not from here?

I soon got to my exercise class, where I spent the next hour distracted, trying to come up with my plan.  I had to do something, because it's the right thing to do and because I'd feel horrible if I didn't.  Imagine hearing 6 months later that a kidnap woman was saved, as she reports that she was allowed out in public but nobody stopped to help her.  I decided that on my way home, I would drive past very slowly, waving as I went by.  I'd pause the car to wait for a signal from her, a look of distress, anything.

As I turned the corner, approaching the truck, my heart was pounding.  I got closer and could see that sure enough, there she was, smiling at me as usual.  Brainwashed, for sure.  I slowed down, and Hadley asked why were stopping.  "Shhh... Hadley, mommy will tell you in a minute, this is really important."  My cell phone was in my shaking hand, ready to call 911.  I waved, then waited.  Nothing.  I drove a little closer, stopped the car, then burst out in a fit of laughter/tears.  It was an emotional moment, I tell you.

So, what did I see?  Well, I tried to show Tyler later, as we took our evening walk.  Would you know, the truck was no longer there?  As we were standing in "the spot," reliving my almost heroic actions, I saw something out the corner of my eye that made me jump.












There she was.

Okay neighbors, you're off the hook this time.  In fact, you're kind of hilarious; can we be friends?

(In case you can't tell, it's a mannequin.  And no, I couldn't see that she was topless when she was in the truck.)