Smith and Wesson Didn't Make Just One Gun!

Damar and Marcy Adair had just married and were excited to move from a one bedroom to a two-bedroom apartment. They were so happy together and believed that each had met and found their soulmate. Marcy was gorgeous but she was a down to earth girl. All she wanted to do was to love and be loved. When she met Damar, she found everything she was looking for in a man. Damar was handsome yet approachable, loving, intelligent and a very hard worker. Marcy had been the product of a very abusive first marriage and ironically Damar divorced for similar reasons. Sparks flew when they laid eyes on each other for the first time. They world wind dated, got engaged and married a year after they met.

Damar and Marcy agreed to upgrade to a two bedroom when they married in hopes of saving money to purchase their dream home. They felt that this was an upgrade for both of them. Smiles between the two, hugs and kissing, touching each other when they pass from room to room would be an irritation to one who had never experienced a love like theirs. It was unbelievably irritating to Roy Johnson and Alisha Silas, their two best friends that were helping them to move. The two of them kept rolling their eyes up to the ceiling and shaking their heads and saying out loud, “You guys!” To them, their best friends had the perfect marriage to aspire to, but Damar and Marcy, although they loved their friends, could feel a slight sense of jealousy from each individually.

You see, Roy was Damar’s best friend. He was married but was still very protective of Damar. Marcy didn’t know what their true level of friendship was, but she was very uncomfortable when Roy was around. She felt as if she was intruding in their space when the two of them were talking, and Roy always made her feel seemingly not wanted but he was Damar’s best friend.

Alisha is Marcy’s best friend but sometimes unknowingly she shows a little jealousy because of Marcy’s newfound love. Marcy knows this but always tries to give her friend the same level of attention and friendship she always did before she met Damar. Marcy could see that she was a little resentful but still tried to include her in as much of her life as she could.

During the move some of the neighbors came by to introduce themselves and welcome Damar and Marcy into the building. The Landlord Joe and his wife Myrtle Copilias was a kind and mature couple. They came by with cookies and sandwiches for them as a neighborly welcome. They have been the Landlord and Manager there for over 22 years Joe informed them. There were smiles all around and Damar and Marcy were feeling good about their move.

Elderly ladies Kathy Hardy and Patty Dunn from next door, each living on opposite sides of Marcy were equally friendly and were labeled the snoopers of the complex. Those two watched everyone and gossiped about everything. Some eye opener gossip they mentioned to Marcy was that some of the female tenants complained that their lingerie drawer would be ruffled through when they were not at home, and some noticed that their underwear was out of place in the drawer from where they had originally placed it. When Marcy heard this, she took it as imaginary gossip from the elderly ladies. Marcy just smiled and listened respectfully.

Douglas Cooper, a 12-year resident, who worked at the Airport and was rarely at home, came by to introduce himself and welcomed Damar and Marcy. Douglas informed Marcy and Damar that if there was anything they needed to just let him know. Douglas told them that he had to rush out to work at the Airport and would probably see them in passing. He also worked the night shift at a gas station as a clerk. They shook hands and thanked him for his generous offer of help and Douglas left.

But unknown to them that amongst these people there was a stalker/voyeur in their midst who would terrorize them beyond measure and put their marriage at risk with irrevocable reconciliation.

Suddenly, for Damar and Marcy after six months of living there, three of those six months were filled with arguing, agitation, and a what factor, “What Have I Gotten Myself Into?” Although they would still make mad passionate love every night. Things were not the same. It was like each one of them was making up and saying, “I’m sorry,” for an earlier argument they had.

You see during the past three months, things in their home had suspiciously gone missing and they would blame each other because they were the only people living there.

Damar from the moment they met, lavished Marcy with wonderfully expensive gifts, shoes, and matching purses. Marcy stepped up in her attire because Damar wanted to give her everything, he possibly could to let her know that she was loved, cared for and she now had someone in her life that would be there for her. Marcy reciprocated by letting Damar know that she had his back and he had nothing to worry about as his previous wife had cheated on him.

In actuality, when Marcy was at work, Damar was at home as one worked the day shift and the other worked the second shift. Although, there would be a three-to-four-hour interval between their shifts where no one was at home. Damar would return home from work around 12:15AM and they would be in bed together from 1AM to 7AM. So pretty much someone was always at home.

So, when items like jewelry, Damar’s pants and sweaters, their shoes, Marcy’s purses started coming up missing in their apartment Damar would look at Marcy who really had no explanation as to why his or her things were missing. They would blame each other for whatever incident would occur at the time and each would deny being the culprit of the missing item. So, Damar moved his jewelry box to a more inconspicuous place, not out in the open as normal.

One day they arrived at home together which was unusual and when they entered the apartment Damar’s jewelry case was opened. When Damar went to pick it up, he noticed that one of his rings was on the floor and bent out of shape as if someone had stepped on it. They looked around to see if they had caught someone by surprise in the apartment. But to be frank the apartment had no place for anyone to hide although it was a two bedroom. the rooms were a reasonable size, the closets were super small, bathrooms had no place to hide, and the kitchen only had small a pantry area. The only egress was through the same door they had entered in. So where could this person be if he or she were hiding? This was really, really perplexing, and strange.

Ironically, to top this off they would argue almost every morning about leaving the front door unlocked all night. But the security screen door would be locked. Well, one thing for sure is that when they went to bed at night one or the other of them would lock the front door. There were at least three locks on that door and Damar would lock it when he came home. They would constantly argue that one or the other of them did not lock the door as it would be open in the morning. It got so bad, a little paranoia was setting in, so Damar and Marcy purchased some protection, a “Smith and Wesson handgun for the home.”

So that night they calmed down and started to settle into the fact that neither of them was the culprit. So that night after Damar came home, they both went to the door and locked it together looking at each other as they locked the outside security door and then locked number one, two, and three on the inside. They settled in for the night making love until they passed out.

When they awoke in the morning, they both went to the door together and low and behold all the inside locks were unlocked but the security door was still locked. “Who could this be?” they thought. Did someone die in this apartment and now haunting them? They both came to the simple deduction that this could only be someone who had a key who could enter their home at any time, so it had to be guess who, “The Landlord!” He is the only one with a key!

So, Marcy stayed home from work that day because they both decided to confront the Landlord that morning. Damar called Joe and talked with him about what was happening and asked him was he responsible for coming into their home. Joe, surprised by the question, abhorrently denied that he would never do such a thing. Damar told Joe looking in his eye that if he was responsible and if he caught him in his home that he would not hesitate to use his Smith and Wesson on him. With that, Joe just got up and left. Damar and Marcy just looked at each other.

Damar had to go to work and while Marcy stayed home from work that day, she decided to double check to see if there was any place for someone to hide in the apartment. When she checked the front closet, she moved some of the clothes out and noticed that there was a very small comfortable sitting area on the right side of the closet where one could sit comfortably for hours. Also, there was a gallon milk container with a wide opening in it. The container did not smell but she could imagine what it was used for. Someone had made a comfortable place to hide in their apartment, sitting in the closet in their home even when they were home. And when they went to sleep at night, this person would hear them making love and leave when they fell asleep. They would unlock the inside door leaving it unlocked while locking the security door. WOW! Now they just had to find out who this person was.

So, the next day they decided to set their trap. They went through the routine of their day and evening and pretended to fall asleep that night. The closet door opened slowly about 1:30AM, and a man steps out. Marcy turned on the lights and to their surprise, it was Douglas Cooper! Damar had his Smith and Wesson drawn on him and Douglas also had his gun drawn.

Douglas told Damar that I was told you had a Smith and Wesson that you were going to use on whoever was coming into your home. With that, shots were fired, Douglas fell to the floor, and he died, but Damar was able to dodge Douglas’ bullet. Damar knew that he had missed Douglas with his shot. He looked over at Marcy who was standing behind Douglas and he said, "Marcy!" Marcy said to him, “Smith and Wesson Didn’t Make Just One Gun.” Ambulance and Police were called.

Come to find out that Joe told Douglas about his meeting with Damar. Douglas, who had master keys, was Joe’s janitorial assistant and friend for many years before he started working full-time at the Airport and convenience store.

But Damar and Marcy came to find out that Douglas only had a part-time job at the convenience store in the early morning hours cleaning up. They also found out that Douglas had been released from prison 15 years ago and was incarcerated for voyeurism and was a known pedophile. They concluded that he would sneak his way into their home after they left for work. He would rumble through their things, steal what he wanted and listened while they made love and watched them while they slept. Damar did tell Joe that he knew that someone was coming into their home but Damar did not tell Joe about the secret hiding place that Marcy had found in the front closet. Therefore Douglas did not know this when he hid in the closet that day. So, Douglas brought a gun with him that night with the intention to do more than just listen and watch not knowing that Damar and Marcy had set a trap for the culprit. Just imagine someone as evil as Douglas sneaking in your home, sitting in your closet listening to all that's going on and the end results was that they had plans to kill you.

Advice: Check your closets at night no matter how small they are.

Brenda Carter © Copyright