At about 5:30 this evening someone knocked on our front door. Lifting the curtain I saw a man of about 50 standing on our porch, very tan and very thin with worn-looking clothes. He started his plea right through the window... that he'd been arrested last week for squatting and drug possession in the empty duplex next door... and that he just wanted to gather the things he'd left behind... did I know the owners phone number?...

I said I'd go look for it... found it... then decided that I shouldn't give it to him but contact them first... went back and lied and said I couldn't find it... So he left this note on the duplex' door.

And all this time he doesn't know... probably... that I was the one who called the police several nights ago after seeing a light on in the empty building and smelling pot smoke....

And I feel like a heel for being the snitch, for lying to him about the owner's number, for not even opening the door to talk to him. I've become so cautious - our neighborhood has shootings, robberies, muggings... When I occasionally read the police bulletins I map the incidents in my head and see a disturbing number nearby. So who are we supposed to trust? Maybe I just need bigger dogs.