Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Writers Workshop 7-16-09

Writer's Workshop was right up my alley this week.
I don't know if you know this or not MamaKat, but the neighbor nusiance is a touchy subject on
my street and in my family, and it has been for about...15 years now.
***
We live on a cute, used-to-be quiet, cul-de-sac.
I know every one of my neighbors names, and most of their birthdays.
We have all babysat each other's kids, helped with gardening, loaded in furniture, borrowed cups of sugar, flour, what have you...
But that family on the corner...
When they moved in... something wasn't right.
They had two cute little boys, I was pregnant with William when they moved in.
They seemed like a nice, normal, just starting out couple, then day turned into night.
The wife was extremely anti social, and was and is a TERRIBLE "Not my baby boys" Mama.
Those two terrors could do no wrong in her eyes.
About a month after they moved in, their boys were making themselves at home in my mini orchard, throwing my oranges and lemons at the neighbors dog.
They would torment cats, and I once caught them skinning a bird on their sidewalk.
The makings of demon's... all the way.
Mom didn't work, and Dad stayed up till all hours of the night "Playing basketball" with his boys.
So at 1 a.m., we heard "bounce, bounce... horraaaayyyy!, bounce, bounce."
There was a lot of fighting in the driveway of their house.
Dad lost his job a lot, because his employers, (call them crazy) didn't appreciate a DRUNK and STONED employee. He was in a training program for a major restaurant chain.
After the Dad wrapped a couple of cars around some telephone polls, and did a little time in the slammer... I'm guessing some conjugal visits were in order, because Mama got pregnant with not one... but TWO girls.
The neighbors and I went to the shower, and listened to all the complaining about them not having enough food, how hard it was for them to make ends meet... all the while, she is chain smoking. Hmmm... cigarettes cost money... don't they?AND.... SHE WAS PREGGERS!
Class.
We all bought her beautiful things, not a Thank you one was given, and then... for about a year after that... the Mama came to me and my neighbors doors asking for money, usually about $40 was her asking price. We gave... and never expected to see the money again...she probably got about $500 out of us...we felt badly for her, she had new twins, and her husband was a deadbeat.
Many of us were anonymously leaving her bags of groceries in the middle of the night, so they would have food.
They didn't have a house payment, the house is owned by the Dad's Father, they didn't have cars, because the Dad kept trying to make roads where there shouldn't be.
They didn't have custody of their two boys, the Dad's Father did.
They did NOT fit in the demographic of our community, nor our neighborhood.
We were all families, with kids, mostly stay at home Mom's, with hubbies that worked for a living, RV's, Vacations, block parties, the kids used to put on bike shows in the summer...it was great...
Until their children started to get older.
The girls became thieves. and liars, and Mama's little beggars.
I won't go into great detail about what the boys are into, but they dropped out of high school last year, and have gone into 'RETAIL SALES' of the herbal variety.
If you catch my drift.
Things have quieted down recently... but we've all seen this before.
***
We... no surprise... have had NUMEROUS confrontations with them.
Their girls have thrown rocks at my boys' heads while my boys were riding bikes, and when my oldest was about 5, their boys would throw out wood and rocks at my sons tires to make them trip and skid. 5 years ago, when Johnny and Alex were playing basketball for a league, the Mom and Dad would show up and LOUDLY and CRUDELY call my kids out and scream
"YOU ARE LOSERS! ALEX, JOHNNNY.... LOSER, LOSER, LOSER!"
Yes, the PARENTS of the kids were doing that.
They were escorted out... but the damage was done... and so was I.
***
When I confronted her 5 years ago as to why she feels the need to be like that...
she said...
"You and your family think you are soooo much better than us! You need to mind you own business and realize that kids will be kids, and you don't need to come over and complain about the things my boys do to your boys... just let it be!... You are gonna raise wusses."
To which I replied...
"Hey, lady, I've done nothing but give and give and give to you and your family. You have stolen electricity and cable from your neighbors, your kids get drunk at age 12, you have music that plays at decibels unknown at 3 a.m., your kids are hoodlums... and we are just supposed to look the other way?"
She flipped me off, and told me I'd better never be alone in my house.
Jump to August 2008, when her boys were drunk and running up and down the street screaming at the top of their lungs at 1 a.m. saying they were gonna kill themselves...
I called the cops.
The 14 yr old was arrested.
THEY GAVE MY PHONE NUMBER to the parole officer.
So when the parole officer called me to ask why the little darling missed his appointment, I was wondering who the heck she was talking about!
I called the owner of the house, the Father in Law, and filled him in on what his genius daughter in law did.
He confronted her, SHE CAME TO MY HOUSE... and threatened mine and my childrens lives,
telling me she was gonna kill us... she didn't know when... she didn't know how... but I had better watch myself, because she was going to get to me through my kids.
Yeah, I called the cops again.
AND got a restraining order on her and her vermin family.
Daddy was taken to jail for possession in March, and Mama was arrested two weeks later, but they are both back in the house, pretending they are a stand up family.
***
The other night, he got busted for smoking more "herbs" at the baseball park.
I almost wet my pants from laughing so hard. They had to walk right past my Snack Shack to leave the premises.
I smiled and waived...
She flipped me off...
She is a class act... all the way... her parents must be so proud...
***

18 comments:

  1. Holy Toledo! I can't imagine dealing with neighbors like that. Good for you for sticking up for your family. Boo her and her family for being such trash. Those poor kids of hers never had a chance. Any fool can become a parent. So wonderful for you to look out for them and support them in their times of need. I wouldn't have done that. Your post had me laughing out loud. Thank you, I really needed it this morning. Have a wonderful day and take care.
    -Kiki

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  2. Wow, she does sound like a class act. The whole family. Why can't kids be taken out of these situations? Why must we keep them with the prized parents and allow them to become thieves and criminals? I don't understand.

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  3. How in the world is it that they've managed to hang on to that house all these years? It just seems like all that chaos would undo everything for them.

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  4. That's awful! I think I've seen them, had to make it on atleast one episode of Cops...

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  5. Sounds like they are worse than most of the folks here in the trailer park.

    I think I'd have to move, I don't DO confrontation.

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  6. AMAZING! Some parents are truly class acts! So sorry you've had to endure them as neighbors for so long!

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  7. Wow! That is a class act! So sorry that you have had too put up with them for so long and she can't just get a life of her own and leave you guys alone!

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  8. Ok, so your story tops pretty much any horrible neighbor story, but I have a crabby old man that lives next to us. His kids are grown and gone, but when they were young, they would play with other kids in the cul-de-sac. He had the gall to tell us that the street is nowhere for kids to play and he was going to call the police if we let our kids play in the street again (ride their scooters). I didn't tell him that my bro-in-law is the police chief. I'm saving that for later. ;)

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  9. Here via Moma Kat...~looks around~
    You are hysterical! I think every "hood" has it's rats and vermin! LOL

    sadly, I don't have any of that drama here in my new cal-de-sac. I have two 5.0 one on each end of the block! Talk about a safe hood!

    Anywho, loved your story!

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  10. That's a nightmare! Sorry you're having to deal with this. It only takes one neighbor to bring down the street moral. We had a tough neighbor as kids that would blame us for breaking things and then threaten us with Satan....yeah. Told us he'd come to us in our rooms.

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  11. What a terrible story. Those poor kids have turned into their parents. And I feel sorry for your fam and all your neighbors {well except them}. And skinning the bird...WTF? Can you say serial killer in training.

    My Writers Workshop Post

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  12. Stories like these are REALLY making me love my neighbors. I don't know HOW you've put up with them for all these years...I wonder if she blog. ;)

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  13. My next door neighbor is kind of dim with no sense of humor but not EVEN close to this madness. Thanks for the reality check.

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  14. I have no words and that happens NEVER. I'm guessing there's no neighborhood association? (Though I typically hate those things). Is it too late to form one?

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  15. What a mess! What the heck is wrong with the father who owns the house??? What a sad circle of losers. AND they're calling YOUR boys losers, pish, that's just wrong. Those people need help, mental that is.

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  16. OH.MY.GOD. And I thought my new neighbors were pieces of work. You have my total sympathy. It sucks when you have crap like that going on in the neighborhood because YOUR home should be your oasis from that stuff. Good luck.

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  17. Oh my word!

    That totally sucks...Don't you hate that one family can ruin a neighborhood?

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  18. This just totally blows me away. Wow. What trashy people. I am glad you called the police. Those kids didn't stand a chance with parents like that. It is pathetic.

    Coco

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