He Looks Suspicious

Answering the doorbell, I see one our newer neighbors.  The kind that you exchange pleasantries with, but not much more.  He says the police are asking questions, and he knows the man they have lives with us.  The girls' grandpa, who is from Nigeria, had come to stay with us for a couple months to visit.

Panic.

Why do the police have him?

What if they think he's non-compliant when he just doesn't understand? English isn't his first language.

Why do the police have him?

This isn't good, this isn't good, this isn't good.

He's been held up by two police jeeps near the park where he likes to go for daily walks.  After a series of questions, they let him go.  In his words at dinner, "Today I was accosted by two police officers." and how funny that this is normal in America.  He said he was fine, but didn't go for his walk the next day.

Or the day after that.

The neighbor came over the next day to check on all of us and brought Johnson a gift to welcome him to America.  This was greatly appreciated.

I appreciate that the officers called out that day they saw nothing wrong.  It could've been worse.

That's not normal in America for me.  That's not normal in America for most of us.  We can generally go for walks without having the police called on us.

In that moment, my daughters thought it was normal.

The police department wasn't able to give information that day, but the next morning a new person answered and told what the report detailed:  A medium height African American man wearing a blue shirt and black pants was seen walking near the woods.

Caller says he looks suspicious.