The Cousins Chronicles
HOME ALONE (THE ORIGINAL VERSION (+/- 1966)
CHARLES (Snr)
When we were also teenagers my Dad and Mum were part of a poker syndicate, and they used to rotate houses where they played. So, it was uncle John (my Dad's brother), uncle Boetie and Uncle Ted (very close family friends) and their spouses making up the perfect 7 poker players. Uncle Boetie’s wife never played. This meant that they would use 100 St Fillans Avenue once every fourth time.
Dad and Mum decided that John and I were mature enough to stay home alone. We did not like having to sit at the different houses until 1-2 am until they were finished, and then travelling home on a Saturday morning. (Though sometimes making tea for everybody helped John and I get a couple of coins, which meant a lot those days.)
This time they went to play at Uncle Ted's house in Northcliff to play.
Referring to my previous story, we were once again laying in bed in the back room, Johnny reading his novel and me dosing off when we heard a "chill- piercing scream". We both stood up on the bed and looked out the window overlooking the back yard.
The next thing this aggressive black face appeared in the window and stared at us, and we knew we in danger!! Both of us saw him clearly.
Next thing he disappears, and I phone Uncle Ted's house on the house landline while Johnny has now moved to the middle room looking out for this guy, in case he decides to break in.
I can tell you that we both lost a couple of pounds in liquid whilst this was happening. Armed only with my brother Gilbert's baseball bat which he left behind when he left for overseas, Johnny stood in the middle room ready to defend as best as he could.
Dad came onto the phone and told me to call Brixton murder and robbery and gave me the number out of his head. He said do not go outside and he would be home as quick as possible.
I did call Brixton police station and they asked me my age, after I explained what we experienced, and explaining where our parents were. I will be lying if I said it was like 5 minutes and a Captain knocked on our front door. He made himself well-known, and then stayed with us while the constables investigated the maid’s room and another two constables walked down the road looking in the trees.
Turns out it was the husband of our new maid who came home unexpectedly, and when the lover heard him coming in and slipped under the bed while he murdered her on top of the bed. As soon as the killer did that, he came to see if there were witnesses, saw us, and then left, after trying the back door to see if it was unlocked. Thank God both back doors were locked!
The lover, covered in blood, now makes his escape, and when he sees the police arrive at the house, determines to climb into one of the trees in our road, where he can hide. Sorry for him, he is found in the tree by one of the black constables, arrested and taken to jail until they can clear his story. Based on his testimony the real killer is brought to justice.
I must say that Dad and Mom arrived literally minutes after the police. They must have driven at high speed to get home. After John spoke to the captain they left after the morgue people arrived.
John had the bravest task to do - because he was older than me, he had to identify the killer face-to-face in court to make the charge stick and I remember afterwards him telling me that the look the killer gave him in court told Johnny to shut up! He did not and testified, and the man went to jail for murder. I really appreciated his bravery!
Well Johnny and I were really ecstatic that a couple of years later we were again allowed to stay home alone, otherwise we would never have been able to "borrow" Dad's car to see the Johannesburg sites, while Dad and Mum blissfully continued to play poker!
END
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