crazy neighbors

I love my neighborhood. We've lived here 27 years. Many right around us have lived here longer than we have. It gives me a nice feeling of stability. But there is a house almost across our street that was rented to a big loud woman in her 40's and her elderly mother several months ago and the stability is cracking.

There is such an excess of activity there, compared to any other house on the street. Almost 24 hours a day, cars come and go, in and out. Sometimes there are 4-6 cars parked in the yard and in the street. For the most part they belong to Guatemalan men, which I wouldn't mind if they could drive. Someone trying to get out of that driveway backed into our truck twice this year, and since we couldn't prove which person did it, no one else's insurance was going to cover any repair. The police said Guatemalan's don't carry insurance anyway.

Three weeks ago, a Guatemalan driving a car hit a parked vehicle a couple blocks away and kept going. Since he took out his own right front fender and wheel he couldn't go very fast and police located and followed him where? right across the street. We watched as he was arrested. It seemed the woman who rents the house was protecting him, though I couldn't be sure. She was obviously telling the police what they could or couldn't do with his wrecked car.

For the last week I have been wakened, or couldn't fall asleep due to fighting, yelling, laughing or music through my bedroom window, though of course I don't mind the last two.

Four nights ago, 6 teens, 5 girls and a boy were fooling around up and down the street. Their home base was the rental across the street. I was nervous only because graffiti has been spray painted on cars and buildings right around us. My next door neighbor just finished repainting his garage door which sported such nice things as a penis and testicles, the word "C-NT" and bold initials. So I kept half an eye on the kids. One had a large slurpy drink. She was standing by my rose bush and suddenly heaved the drink out into the street. My husband went out and made her pick it up. She argued "I'm not a litterer", but she picked it up.

Two nights ago I heard glass breaking and heard the big lady yelling and cussing. "you're so stupid and retarded 'cause you can't even talk English, you motherf---ing son of a b-tch! I have to put up with your sh-t!". On and on. She picked up three big pieces of glass in her front yard, threw in in the trash then stomped into the house. She grabbed hold of the door and threw it back so hard I wouldn't have been surprised if the whole front of the house just fell away. I heard more yelling from inside, slamming, more yelling then it quieted down.

Last night I was wakened around midnight by glass breaking. Then more glass breaking. She was back outside screaming into a cell phone "Your ass is going back to Guatemala. I've called the police. Yes, just get ready, you're going back, you Motherf---er. You stupid Motherf---er. Then I saw a police cruiser driving around hunting for whoever she was yelling at. The next time I looked out the police were there and by now "Juan" was laying on the curb passed out. I wasn't sure if she hadn't killed him. A policeman was trying to coax him awake. "Juan, wake up. Come on, wake up".

And now unbelievably, this woman had changed. She's all sweet. "Get up Juan, get up and go to bed. We need you to sit up so I can get you up to bed. And to the police, "Someone gave him beer, he's been drinking all day". And later to the neighbor "you should see my house. He broke both upstairs closet doors and my front door." He threw two plates my mother gave me" I'm like, WHAT?! What happened to your threats, to pressing charges, to kicking him out, to getting rid of him? I shook my head and I laid back down, thing's quieted outside.

I woke to more glass breaking, then more, and more of her screaming obscenities. The dogs in the neighborhood were barking. My dog was crying. My cat was running up and down the stairs meowing. I looked out the window again. Seems Juan had heaved trash bags into the street and there were scattered broken bottles. Fat neighbor was calling the police again, "He's tearing up my whole front yard, tell them to come again." Juan was behind a tree sobbing. BooHooHoo, and talking, but I couldn't understand him. She was ripping him another new one. She walked far enough from her front door that he had an opportunity to bolt, ran into the house, slammed the front door and locked HER out. She's screaming obscenities and walking in circles in the front. I went back to bed; it was 1:20 am.

I personally think this woman is her own worst problem. The activities she allows in her home, (with a sick elderly mother living there!) that is where the problem is. She blamed that someone gave "Juan" beer to drink all day, but it happened in her house, the evidence of bottles was laying in the street. Actually there were many bags of bottles. I don't know when she'll learn, but I hope it doesn't continue on my street.


I'm sending big woman's landlord a copy of what I've written here. I hope she stops over and inspects the house, and asks big lady to move away. I hope I get new neighbors.