My brother was on the floor with his hands on his head while a guy pointed a gun at his skull. My mother and a neighbor were crouched under a table, also with a gun pointed at them, all in broad daylight...
I was maybe 12 years old and at home doing homework when I heard shouts and threatening voices. Some guys dragged my mother and a neighbor inside the house while they were chatting outside. My brother, who had been watching TV in the living room before the attack, was probably the one in the greatest danger. He was being threatened with a gun to his head, so defenseless, surely terrified. He was maybe 15 years old.
At first, they also told me to hide under the table, but then they called me over and walked me around the house, asking me where the money was. I just kept saying, "We don't have any money here" (which was also true). I can barely remember how I felt.
I signaled to my mother to stop talking because she was begging, "Please, don't hurt us"... The men, very agitated, were shouting, "Shut up, ma'am, shut up"... I put my index finger to my lips and looked at my mother, trying to get her to be quiet.
They took a few appliances; there wasn't much else to steal. No one was hurt, only a deep bitterness and a feeling of powerlessness in the face of impunity remained, because we knew that any attempt to achieve justice would be futile or even dangerous.
My mother cried after they left. My brother, who was in greater danger, comforted her. I barely remember how I felt or what I did at the time...
I lived in that house until about five years ago, meaning that after that unpleasant incident, I lived there for at least a couple more decades.
I remember that I didn't like leaving the door open. I lived with another brother, not the same one involved in that terrible incident. He liked to leave the door open during the day, and we had many disagreements about it. I always locked it, and he would get annoyed, saying I was obsessive and that it wasn't necessary. He doesn't know that criminals often study their victims to see when they will strike.
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