The Cell-Phone

and the Baby-sitter

By Kalí Lowe-Brisby

Once when I was 7 or 8, the bell had just rang, so as usual I went from my class to my mom's classroom. My teacher’s name was Mr. Simmons. He was in room 4 and my mom’s was room 3. The rooms were connected by this doorway, but with no door.

My mom was getting some papers prepared to go copy. Then she said, "If you need me I’ll be in the teacher’s room copying papers." I told her that I would stay to do my homework.

So after she left, I took out my homework. I had not gotten very far when I heard a knock on the door. I didn’t get it because I thought it was one of those dumb skate boarders playing a trick on me. I felt really annoyed, because they had done that to me before.

Then again, someone knocked on the door. I still didn’t get it, and I was getting mad!!! But by the third time, I got so mad that I just got up and answered the door.

I slowly opened the door just enough for me to see who it was. When l did, l was glad to see it was not a skate boarder. Instead it was this strange man that I had never seen before. He was wearing some shorts and a T-shirt. I stared at him. Then l said, "Can l help you?"

He said, "Is Kenny there?" I told him that he was not.

He told me that he was Kenny's babysitter. Then I remembered that Kenny was a boy in my mom's class. He stuck his head in the door and looked around. Then he said, "Well, can I look around and see if Kenny is hiding in here?"

In my head I was thinking, "no way am I going to let you in here you ugly stranger." But I let him anyway because l didn't think it was very polite, plus l didn't think he could really do anything. (I didn't know what l was getting into).

He started to call, "Kenny, Kenny," but no one answered. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. I saw him about to go right through to my mom's office area, and I went and stood in front of the door. So he went on around and took a peek in the library. Then he looked under the table, still calling, "Kenny, Kenny." I decided, "well, I might as well just get going on my homework." But I still kept one eye on him to make sure he didn't do anything bad.

On my last box of math, I had to concentrate on the box and not the guy. Right when I finished I looked around the room. There was no one but me!!!

Suddenly I heard a faint sound coming from the other room (the rooms were connected). I followed the sound, which sounded like a drawer opening and closing. I slowly tiptoed to the doorway where the rooms were connected. I peeked around to see what was happening.

Suddenly I felt a chill race up my back. The babysitter man (or the thief) was looking in my teacher's desk and things. I turned around so that I wasn't in the other room and he could not see me.

I felt so scared that I wanted to yell for my mom. I tiptoed out of the room and then remembered what my mom had said: "If you need me, I'll be in the teachers' room copying papers."

I raced outside and over to the teacher's room. My mom was there, talking to her friend Gina and Mr. Simmons. Then I told my mom the whole story about the strange man. As I told her I could feel my heart beating fast.

Then we walked back into Mr. Simmons' room, and so did my teacher Mr. Simmons. The doors were closed, and nobody was in the room. We walked around the school to see if we could find the man, but he wasn't around. Then we went back to the classroom.

Mr. Simmons looked through his stuff to make sure nothing was missing. Then he stopped and stood still. He looked up at us and said, "Didn't I bring my cell phone?" My mom stared at him. My teacher looked everywhere in the classroom, but he couldn't find the phone.

Something popped in my head. I also think it came into my mom's and Mr. Simmons' head: that the babysitter man had stolen the cell phone.

My mom called the school police. After a few minutes a police car pulled up and an officer stepped out of the car. I stared at him. Then I remembered who he was. He was Mr. M. He had come to give us stickers and pencils in kindergarten. He was wearing a big black belt with a gun, sticks, lots of pockets, and other things.

My mom talked to him and I looked at the police car. Then he opened up the door. We got in, and rode down to the apartments where Kenny's babysitter lived.

We got out and went into the building. Then we rode the elevator to the second floor. I felt really scared at how big this had become.

There were several policemen there at the apartment already. They made us wait in the hall. A little while later they told me that I needed to "identify the suspect." I was feeling really nervous.

I stood behind Mr. M and they made the babysitter man come out of the apartment. Mr. M said, "Tell me if this is the man that you saw." I said, "Yeah, that's the man I saw."

Then my mom talked to the police officer for a few minutes about some stuff. We rode back down on the elevator, and talked to some man at the desk. And then Mr. M drove us back to the school.

When we got back to school, Mr. M told me that I had done a good job, and he gave me a gold sticker that looked like a police badge. Then we called my dad and told him what had happened. We gathered up all our stuff and drove straight home.

Later that night Mr. Simmons called us. He told us that he had gotten his cell phone back, and that that man had stolen it. He also told us how the police got it back. He said that the police were with the man in a room, and they kept asking him where he had hid the cell phone. And he kept saying he didn't know what they were talking about.

Suddenly the police heard this ringing sound, like a cell phone or two. The babysitter man said, "I need to go to the bathroom." But they didn't let him go. He kept saying, "Just please let me go to the bathroom." The policemen kept saying, "Tell us where the phone is and we'll let you go to the bathroom." Finally he showed them where the phone was. It was hidden inside a stereo speaker.

But it wasn't just Mr. Simmons' phone. It was a whole bunch of phones. They called Mr. Simmons and asked him what kind of phone he had, to make sure they recovered his phone. Then they took the babysitter man to jail.

The next day it seemed as if I had been a school hero, because the whole school was talking about what had happened, and asking me questions about it. At the end of the day Mr. Simmons thanked me and gave me a Subway certificate that said "Classroom Hero."

I learned that you should never let a strange person into a classroom when you're all by yourself. I learned that even when I'm afraid I can handle a situation wisely. And that if something else happens like this in the future, I'll be able to handle it and stand up for what's right.

A few days later my aunt gave me a set of Nancy Drew mystery books, which are still on my bookshelf. The Subway certificate is still on the door to my closet. And the sticker badge is still on my bedpost.