[The door stays shut. Could they be dead?

For months I've been watching them as they play on the street, trying to make money on the side by renting out parking spots or with a customer walking into their house looking for a new adventure. A few days ago, three men left the house early. The gate in front of their front door was forcibly removed and there is no latch in the front door, since then there is no sign of life coming from the house of one of my neighbors...

The neighborhood in Quito where I currently live is not the safest neighborhood imaginable, it is recommended not to walk the streets there after 7 p.m., it is teeming with "rent by the hour" hostels and every business owner has an alarm button to call a special unit in case something happens.

The family, -if it is a family at all- consists of three children and two women. The youngest (boy) I estimate 5 years old and the two girls both under 15, one of whom is closer to 10 than 15. They live diagonally below the balcony where I stand several times a day to enjoy the view.

It was already a fascinating family in recent months; the little boy (5) could often still be found on the street in front of the house late at night near midnight, and when the blue fluorescent lights came on and two young girls had dressed up, many new and sometimes regular male customers could be found at my neighbor's house.

Last weekend there was a lot of commotion outside; the steel fence, which many houses have here, and my neighbors' until recently protective outer door were in the middle of the street. A couple of men forced their way through the wooden front door and clearly had no intention of leaving without answers. As one of the girls falls down after being hit in the face the men manage to work their way inside the house while screaming. The door closes for a moment and the muffling of voices seems to make the street quiet again.

Not much later the door shoots open again after which one of the girls runs to the corner of the street and calls out to whomever she thinks is the police. Just after her, one of the men runs after her. Disappointed that the car passing by was not a police car and visibly frightened, they work her way back to her home with resistance. After two of the men drag the steel fencing that was still on the street inside, the door closes.

A few minutes later, a police car comes speeding down the street, rounding the corner with shouts and glass clinking in the background, heading for the next report.

The next few hours find a pleading discussion going on in the background of my quiet balcony moment. It is time to go to sleep.

...Early the next morning, three men leave the apartment. Later I notice that there is no longer a door handle on the door and there are suspiciously new wooden boards in front of the window. Since then the street has been quiet, no child playing, no blue lights on or strange men in the street. Nothing at all. My neighbor's door remains closed. Could they still be there....

(Photo is not the door from this article)