A missing phone and a bad apple.

I knew it was too good to be true when we moved here. I knew everyone couldn't be nice. We had a little bit of drama in the summer when at one point I was close to calling the police. This was one of those blog posts that I kept meaning to post late last year but never got around to it.

Where we now live everyone smiles and says hello when you walk past them on the street, the kids are polite and I would quite happily walk out of my house and leave it unlocked and not worry that it would be empty when I came back. Neighbours seem to look out for each other. It seemed perfect.

Until it wasn't....

Ellie has been out playing a lot. Sometimes Becky will go with her to keep an eye on her and she will then meet up with her friends. Ellie has a good bunch of mates and all has been well apart from not coming home on time because she was having so much fun.

Ellie was at the park. She had her scooter and had left it nearby while she was on the zip line. A girl picked it up and went to ride off on it. Ellie's friend saw and went to stop the girl. Ellie caught up and went to grab her scooter and the "thief girl" we'll call her went for Ellie. She was pulling her hair and grabbing at her. Ellie got the better of her and pushed her on the ground and went to walk off with her scooter when she was attacked again. Ellie got the better of "thief girl" and there was a scuffle. She must have known Ellie wasn't going to give up her scooter and left the park saying "she would get her".

I know all this because 3 of Ellie's friends walked her home and told me the whole story about how they were going to help Ellie but she didn't need it as she stood up for herself. "R" the nicest child ever had been in tears because she was so upset that Ellie was new to the area and treat like that. I don't agree with fighting and violence at all but if someone attacks you, you have to defend yourself? I have always told my girls to fight back and defend themselves. Some people might not agree but I don't want my girls to stand there and get beaten up.

On a Friday evening Ellie went out to the park to play with some of her friends. There was about 5 of them. Ellie realised when she had got home that she had lost her phone. Ellie had a fair idea that her phone fell out of her pocket when she was on the swings. Stu, Becky, Ellie and 2 of her friends went out to look for it. I said to them no one ring Ellie's phone until they're in the park near where it was lost in case someone random see's it and takes it.

They got to the park and started ringing it and it was no where to be found. I tried calling it and it was just ringing out. Then it started going straight to voicemail. It had obviously been found and switched off. One of Ellie's other friends saw her at the park and asked what she was doing and she explained and then was told that "thief girl" had found the phone and had it.

Soon after Ellie saw someone else and said "thief girl" had taken the phone, knew it was Ellie's and said she was going to keep it. That person said she knew where "thief girl" lived and pointed my fella, kids and their friends in the right direction. Ellie and her friend "R" knocked at the door and asked for "thief girl" and the woman said that she lived next door. The woman shouted to Stu, is it about the phone?, the girl has pocketed it! She sent her son out to help with the search for this girl.

In the mean time I was still at home. I kept trying to ring Ellie's phone and it had been turned back on and was ringing out. Whoever had it still wasn't answering. The phone was useless to them. It had a security code on. If they had innocently had found the phone they could have answered it, even with the security code. I come up as "Mam" on Ellie's phone. A good person would have answered it and said " oh yeah, I have the phone, blah, blah, blah."

When Stu knocked at the right house there was about 10 kids in the street ready to search for the missing phone and the girl who had it. The father answered the door and Stu explained what was going on and the father already knew a phone was missing and his girl had it. Ellie and Stu were invited in. Thief girl" didn't have her own mobile phone so people were sent out to look for her. Eventually word got around and "thief girl" came home and returned the phone to Becky who was waiting outside with a mob of kids who were waiting and enjoying the drama. The father didn't seem that surprised his daughter had a phone which wasn't her's and even said to Stu that he thought he had taken it to keep!

The father had no idea about what had happened at the park a few days earlier when "thief girl" tried to take Ellie's scooter. Stu dropped that bombshell when he was on his way out of the house. Stu said the fight in the park was a one off, it won't be happening again. The father said no it won't! Eek!

As much as I don't want to think bad of "thief girl" she did take the phone to keep it. It is a shame she is one bad apple among a good bunch. Ellie has since been told to be more careful with her phone. It's to go in a zipped pocket. Eek! 

There was so many people helping to look for Ellie's phone and the girl who took it. One boy had to be in just as the search for the phone started and his mother sent him out to look for it. The man in the local shop where the kids hang out said he'd look out for "thief girl" and the phone, kids Ellie didn't even know stopped her when she had got her phone and was on her way home asked her if everything was OK and checked she'd got her phone back. There was a real community spirit to the whole drama thanks to the good people who live here.

One bad apple, the "thief girl" can spoil the bunch but this time, thankfully it didn't! I still feel safe here, my girls still feel safe here. The "thief girl" does not go to Ellie's school but I have mentioned the situation to them as the girl did used to go. Since then Ellie has had no more trouble. Phew!