Traverse City Record-Eagle

Jodee Taylor

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February 1, 2010

Jodee Taylor: Teen took more than our stuff

By JODEE TAYLOR

We hired a neighbor kid to take care of our animals while we were out of town over the holidays.

We were robbed.

We came home to find vomit on the walls, empty beer bottles, used condoms and missing things.

An iPod. A hard drive. A phone. Gift certificates. All items small enough to fit in a purse or backpack and, so far, worth about $1,000. Plus, someone had driven our car.

Did I mention the kid we hired is all of 13 years old?

Thankfully, the animals were OK.

We tried for more than a week to get her to accept responsibility for the damages and theft. The best she could do was, "If it's such a big deal, you can have my iPod."

So we talked to her mom, who threw up her hands. "I have no idea what to do with her," the mom said. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Yes, we did. We called the cops.

My naivete is embarrassing. It had never occurred to me that a 13-year-old, recommended by another neighbor, would host a party, with drinking and sex, in our house. What was stolen goes far beyond electronics.

She stole our trust, she stole our lifestyle and she stole our peace of mind.

Now we lock our doors, even when we're home. We take our car keys everywhere with us. We're suspicious and we're paranoid.

My husband said, "I haven't lost my faith in humanity, but I certainly don't want to be around any teenagers."

That's a little awkward because we have a teenager.

For weeks after Christmas, we cleaned everything in sight. We washed sheets, towels, carpeting, couches and mattresses. We don't know who was in our house or what they did.

We were at a local pub for dinner one night and when we left we looked at each other and asked, "How many of those people do you think have been in our house?"

I saw a bottle of hair gel in the bathroom one day and freaked. "Whose is that? Why is that here? Throw it away! Eeew!" My husband explained it was his and I calmed down, but then, a few days later, I freaked about a glove I didn't recognize. (His again.)

So far, there hasn't been any punishment meted out, which also is frustrating.

My life has changed quite a bit since the Christmas party we hosted but did not attend. I'm broke from replacing things (the phone and the hard drive were essential) and I'm creeped out in my own house.

Meanwhile, the neighbor kid is scampering around, possibly listening to MY music and spending MY gift certificates.

Maybe crime does pay.

Jodee Taylor can be reached at jtaylor@record-eagle.com.

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