I am a pastry chef. I own a bakery called Sweets By Summer. The bakery is open Monday-Saturday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. I still work at Sweets By Summer on Sundays, but it is not opened to the public. I personally think it is worth it waking up at 4 in the morning to bake delectable treats. But, on a sunny Sunday afternoon when I was going to check on my pastries, I noticed that something wasn’t right… This is all I remember of that day…
I slept in on that Sunday morning, until 8:00 a.m. I wasn’t tired one bit. That day I was going on a business trip out of town, but who would have known that? Only my family knew, and they wouldn’t do such a thing. They are too lazy, I think. “Well, I never really told anyone else, so it must be someone from my family!,” I realized.
About a hour later I had gotten all ready for my long-lasting trip. I stepped out of my urban apartment only to see enormous red and green Christmas lights tangled and hanging in my face. Then I saw this woman in a black shirt, pants, gloves, socks and mask. I felt her reach into my pockets as I was trying to struggle away. Then the mysterious woman scurried into the elevator where I heard some faint giggles and a SHHHH! There must have been two people! The woman who snagged my keys had been in the range of 5 foot 9-6 feet tall. She had brown hair. In my mind I thought of some possible subjects:
Mom:
5 foot 11
Brown hair with a few gray streaks
Older sister Danice:
6 feet
Blonde hair
Younger sister Anna:
5 foot 9
Brown hair
None of them could have just dyed their hair the brown color I saw. But hair dye had been banned in New York since the 1980s because many people were having hair-dye fights and one accidentally squirted the mayor. And no one was allowed to go out of state because of another stupid rule. That rule was set because someone stole the mayor’s limo and drove to California. So, the No Out of State Rule has been in action since 2002. Who could possibly have any hair dye?!?
I shifted my focus to what needed to be done. I called up those people on my phone exactly 2 minutes after that little incident. As I was reaching my hand into my pocket for my phone I realized that my bakery keys were gone! Just great. So, the lady who reached her hand into my pocket must have taken my keys!
Danice came on time. Well, she lives right across the hall from me. Mom and Anna lived right next to me, together. Maybe it was one of them. Then I saw Anna sweating as she came swiftly over to where Danice and I were. Mom came last with a red, nervous face. Anna and Mom came through the elevator. They live right next to me and are always home on Sundays, cleaning. I knew something was up with them. I checked Danice off my imaginary list and told her to go home. Were Anna and Mom working together?
“Where are my keys?,” I asked very suspiciously.
Mom started talking in a jittery voice until Anna elbowed her, “Umm… What keys?”
I saw something dangling from Mom’s pockets. She must have noticed because she grabbed Anna by the arm and skidded across the hall and back into the elevator. I quickly ran after her as fast as I could, but I didn’t make it in time. The elevator door closed and a red light appeared above it. We were on the 8th floor of the building. There were 16 floors. Where were they going? By the time that slow elevator got back up to me I knew that they could be anywhere!
I wasn’t going to hesitate. I ran to my door and tried to open it. I was locked out! “Only if I had my keys,” I thought to myself.
I guess that Mr. Kinley (the janitor) had heard it. He had every key to every door in the building- which was a lot. “Need help?,” he asked.
“Yes please. You see my-,” I was cut off by Mr. Kinley.
“Just let me do my job.”
Mr. Kinley opened my door as I thanked him. I ran over to my window. I saw Mom and Anna dodging traffic and running toward the bakery across the street! I had to go after them! So, I shoved my way across the room and into the elevator that just got back up to my floor. I got in it and pushed the button that took people to the lobby.
It took about a minute and thirty seconds. I never felt so irritated in my life. Why would they do this? I had seen Mom stuffing my famous Cookies and Cream Macaroons into a black leather purse, while Anna was doing the same with a Walmart grocery bag.
They then saw Mom starting to eat them. Anna ripped her plastic bag and ran across the street dropping macaroons. Cars were squishing them. Filling was all over the road. I wanted to punch them. But that would be wrong. So, instead I did the right thing and called the police and told them about the problem. I love my family, but I was too furious and annoyed at Anna and Mom that I forced myself to do it.
The police came in 28 seconds. I watched Anna and Mom out of the corner of my eye as I was talking to the police about the situation. Anna was crying, and Mom’s jaw just dropped. The police got me my keys back and made them pay a fine of $500 to pay for all of the macaroons and the ingredients. They also went to jail for 6 months.
“You’ll pay for this!,” I heard Mom scream out the police car window.
“Well, Mom, it looks like you’re the one paying!,” I yelled back.
Picture from Pixabay.
