Smoke and Mirrors

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July 31, 2002

Argh

Reasons why I am an unhappy girl:

1. The woman who sent me email on Friday agreeing to be my new roommate? The one who told me the date she planned to move in, and who was going to stop by soon to fill out the paperwork and give me her half of the rent and security deposit? She bailed on me yesterday. Sent me an email saying "Oh, I decided to take a different place. Sorry!" Yeah. Sorry, my ass. So, now I am frantically advertising, devising ways to borrow money to get through August (in hopes of having a roommate lined up for September 1) and trying not to think about what will happen if it all falls through. I have nowhere else to stay (and I hate asking friends for favors like that -- it's a huge imposition, and I can't ask for it). Today I was pondering whether my boss would let me take some sort of leave of absence so I could go crash at my mom's house until I found a new place.

2. My mom's upstairs neighbor appears to be stalking her. Again. This neighbor has been weird toward her before -- he'd listen at her windows, and look in, and went through a phase of calling Animal Control, claiming that she has a vicious dog that runs loose and craps all over the neighborhood. Queenie is the sweetest dog alive -- not only is she not vicious, she's never off her leash, and my mom cleans up after her. I have been there on occasions when he's lurked on his porch, peering in her windows. I've seen him trying to hide on his porch, watching my mom and I come and go. It came to a head last Thanksgiving, when my brother decided enough was enough and tried to talk to the creepy neighbor about it. Creepy neighbor ran inside and called the police, claiming that my brother had threatened to beat him up. The police came, told Creepy Neighbor to knock it off and leave my mom alone, and left instructions for my mom to call them if weird things started happening again. Things quieted down after that, until a few weeks ago when she called to tell me that Creepy Neighbor had cut back the bushes on her side of the house, leaving a sort of tunnel between the branches and the wall. She thought it was odd; I thought it was damned scary. She mentioned that she's caught him looking in her windows again, and knows he's watching her. She sleeps with a ball-peen hammer under her pillow, and is planning to buy a cordless phone so she can call 911 in a hurry if she has to. She called about an hour ago to tell me that her downstaors neighbor, Van, caught Creepy Neighbor hiding behind the bushes next to my mom's door this afternoon. I am worried, and livid, and wish I could go to Vermont and have a word with this guy. I don't know that he would do anything -- he's obviously not all there -- but, he might. He might try to hurt her. It scares the shit out of me, and when I get scared, I get angry. I have been simmering with anger for the past couple of days now.

Of course, all these problems would be solved in one fell swoop if she'd only move here... she'd be a great temporary roommate, and all my neighbors are nice!

Posted by Mary Ellen at July 31, 2002 09:57 AM

Comments

Posted by: Laura at April 12, 2004 03:17 PM