I remember it as if almost yesterday, that rainy and dreary night that left me in a silence. I was in my apartment for the evening and preparing some tea, as I normally would on any rainy night, and ready to settle down with a popcorn and a movie. My cat, Raphael, was already snuggled up in my blanket on the couch. I could feel the warmth of my fireplace radiating throughout the room.
I headed over to the couch to curl up with Raphael but a light outside my window caught my eye. It was normal to see some light from the traffic in the street below. A normal city night life was happening all around me, but I didn’t care. I was done with that scene. But something was different about this light. I walked over to my window, after reaching into my draw to grab my Smith & Wesson, yes, I’m one of those girls, and peered out.
Across the way there was an older yet posh apartment complex where some of the rich and famous brought their misters and mistresses for some play time. I glanced over and saw a woman in the window and two men. They appeared to be hollering at her as she cowered in front of them. I pulled my curtains, as to not allow them to see me and watched a bit more. I was starting to get a bit nervous as I saw one of the men shove her a bit.
“What the hell?” I say to myself.
I could feel my heart racing a bit as the hollering continued. At this point the woman was crying and crouched to the floor. The rain was coming down harder which made it more difficult to see. As I clenched my S&W in my right hand, and had the curtain pulled slightly with the left, I saw one man walk into the other room and grab something from his coat pocket. The other man was still hollering at the poor woman. She slowly stood up with her hands covering her face.
By now, I had put my S&W down on the end table and grabbed my cellphone. I feared the situation was going to escalate, although I was unsure if I should call 911 at this point. I couldn’t hear what was happening across the way and it bothered me. I so wanted to help this poor woman, but how?
The man came back into the room with a knife and jabbed the woman from behind. “OMG!” I could not believe my eyes! I could see her screaming in agony yet I still could not hear anything! I dialed 911 as fast as I could! I kept watching the window to see if the woman was alright! She was pressed up against her window now, trying to open it, or it appeared. She was still screaming or so it appeared. The man jabbed her once more from behind and I saw the woman slowly fall down to the floor.
“911 What’s your emergency?”
“Yes, this is Lila Crain and I just witness someone get murdered in the apartment building across the street!”
“Ma’am calm down, what is your address?”
“It’s 125 Main Street, Apt 465 The Towers.”
“Ma’am we are dispatching someone out there immediately. Can you tell me exactly what happened and please stay on the phone until you see the authorities.”
“I was watching outside my window across the street at the apartment complex. I saw two men hollering at a woman. Then one man went and grabbed a knife out of his coat pocket, came back into the room and stabbed the woman from behind! She tried to go to the window and open it and he stabbed her again! I could only see what was going on but could not hear anything! I know she was screaming and then fell to the floor! Please hurry!”
“Thank you ma’am. Do you see the authorities there now?”
“Yes, they are out front headed into the apartment complex across the street. I believe she is on the 4th floor.”
“Thank you again ma’am. Can you please give me your phone number so we can contact you later. The authorities will want to speak with you again. Is it ok for them to come straight to your apartment?”
“Yes ma’am. That would be fine. I hope she is still alive!”
“Thank you ma’am. We’ll keep you posted.”
As I watched across the way, I saw the authorities in the room with the woman. One of the officers looked out the window across my way. The rain had finally stopped and he could clearly see me. He nodded in my direction. As I saw the paramedics arrive and place her into a body bag, I knew the poor girl was gone. Was there anything else I could have done differently? Could I have helped her at all?
All I could do was stare out my window at the woman’s apartment and envision her screaming a Silent Scream.
~~The Window | Silent Scream
