A few days went by without incident. Then one morning, Josslyn and Nathan noticed something amiss with the walls in the living room while on their way to get tea and coffee in the kitchen.
“What’s that?” Josslyn signed, curious and mystified.
A slice of whole-grain wheat bread had been tacked to the wall. Peanut butter was used as adhesive. It was as if someone had taken the bread and smeared the wall and left it there.
Josslyn went to the wall for closer scrutiny. “What the heck is that?” she signed. “I don’t think Caden or Trina would ever do something like this.” She jumped in horror and gasped as she patted Nathan’s arm to get his attention.
They looked at a strange formation of several blueberry mini-muffins tacked to the wall which had been arranged in a sinister, occult-type design with weird crosses and bizarre circles smeared with peanut butter as if done with a finger.
The blood drained from Nathan’s face as he gazed at the macabre configuration on the wall.
“What’s happening here?” Josslyn signed, almost hysterical. “Who’s doing this?”
On another wall were bashed-in jellied donuts. Raspberry jelly oozed and dripped down the wall. Along with the donuts were sliced halves of bagels tacked to the wall with cream cheese adhesive.
"I’m going to get Maddie," Josslyn signed as she made her way to the stairs. "I’m not comfortable leaving her alone."
When she returned with Maddie in her arms, she met another monstrosity in the kitchen which made her scream.
Food containers cluttered the tiled floor, the granite counters, the stainless-steel sink, and on the stove top. Items included opened boxes of dry cereal, sugar, coffee grounds, and a package of flour with all the contents strewn on the floor. A smeared handprint daubed in flour could be seen on the stainless-steel refrigerator door. Ketchup and BBQ sauce spattered the ceiling.
This is beyond my comprehension, she thought, as she shook her head in disbelief.
Nathan came into the kitchen and saw the mess.
“Oh, my . . .” he signed, incredulous.
Josslyn went to the microwave oven and opened the door. It was empty. She then went to the refrigerator and opened both doors She stepped back in horror and disgust. Her mind reeled and her heart palpitated.
The refrigerator’s interior looked as if it had exploded from within. An opened, overturned carton of milk, an uncapped, overturned bottle of orange juice, and opened containers of cooked spaghetti noodles and marinara sauce were all splattered within. Broken eggs and condiments were smeared along the insides, and the light bulb was busted.
Nathan became angry as he went into the den and saw different colored paints streaked on the walls in an arc. He went to the maternity box to check on Diva and saw that the cat was in the box, resting on her side. Diva lifted her head and meowed once. This was a welcome relief for Nathan.
Josslyn entered the den. Cold terror pierced her like an ice pick when she saw splashes of paint doused on the walls.
“Diva is fine,” Nathan signed to Josslyn. “She’s just resting.”
Josslyn peered into the maternity box and Diva meowed once more.
“Thank goodness,” Josslyn signed. “Where’s Thor?”
“I don’t know,” Nathan signed, “but I’m sure he’s okay.”
“The mess here is just unbelievable,” Josslyn signed. She shook her head.
“I know,” Nathan signed. “It just makes me furious. I don’t like my family to feel threatened and scared like this.”
“I wish I knew who—or what—did this.”
“Me, too. I’d like to get my hands on—”
“Nathan, please don’t make threats. We don’t know anything yet until we can get this all sorted out.”
“I was thinking of calling the police.”
“I thought the same thing, too, but I don’t see what good it would do. So far as I can tell, I don’t think someone broke in during the middle of the night. Otherwise the security alarms would’ve gone off and alerted us to the break-in.”
“Unless the culprits were smart enough to turn off the security system without us knowing about it. Some people know that we are deaf, and this could be a hate crime! Someone could be prejudiced against us because we are deaf!”
“Calm down, Nathan! Just calm down. I understand you’re upset, but getting angry and blowing your top like that won’t help matters. Besides, we don’t have any proof of anyone hating us or being prejudiced against us. We personally haven’t seen anything to that effect. We have not received any threats from anyone. So far, since we moved here, no one has given us dirty looks or let us know in any way that we’re unwelcome or unwanted here, even though we’ve been seen many times.”
“What about the people who deliberately refuse to walk by the front of our house? They cross the street, walk two or three houses down, then cross back, and continue on.”
“I don’t know, but we can’t just assume someone is prejudiced against us and hates us because we’re deaf, then comes in here and makes a mess of this place.”
“All right. I’m going to check all the doors and windows, both downstairs and upstairs.”
“I’m going with you. I don’t want to be alone.”
Nathan and Josslyn went throughout the entire house, room by room, as Josslyn carried Maddie with her. They checked the front door, the sliding glass doors, and the windows on the ground floor and on the upper level.
When they opened Trina’s bedroom door, they saw that she slept, but the rabbits in their crate were awake. The bedroom windows were closed. Josslyn then closed the door and they went down the hall to Caden’s room where they saw that he slept as well. Thor lay on his side on the floor. They noted the windows in Caden’s room were closed, also.
Josslyn closed the door and turned to look at Nathan. “If someone managed to break in and that’s a big if, I don’t know how they did it.”
Nathan and Josslyn inspected all the doors, windows, sliding glass doors, and the garage door. None showed any signs of forced entry.
“I checked the breakers,” Nathan signed to Josslyn, “and they don’t look as if they’d been messed with.”
“It’s the same with the security panel, too. It doesn’t appear as if it’d been tinkered with.”