In May I'm outside cleaning up the yard and I see Bill drive by. He's back! I go up to see him the next day and he has a couple of friends there. I give him a welcome back hug and say, “Boy, do I have something to tell you.”
“Well, I have something to tell you first. Chuck came by last night. He walked up, carrying a beer and said, 'I have to tell you about Maria. She's evil. I have never met such an evil woman. Don't trust her!'
“Well, I'll talk to her first and make up my own mind about that.”
One of Phil's brothers was there that day. I had met him a few times before. Laughing out loud, he says, “She's evil?”
Bill said Chuck was asking if he could move back up there, but Bill said no, that's not going to happen. Chuck starts wandering around the property, picking up stuff. He would say, “I'll take this.”
“No, no you won't. Go home.”
I asked if Chuck had told him about how he beat the window out of my door. No, he failed to mention anything about that. So, I tell everyone what happened over the winter. I asked Bill to please take him back, get him the hell out of my life.
“Sorry, dear. You know I'd do just about anything for you. But that's more than anyone deserves. That guy should be in jail.”
“Yeah, actually I think he'd be happy there.”
May 16
Subject: some guy who shot his landlord is going to jail.
hmm - my landlady cut my heat off at 20 below this winter
I never considered shooting her
hmmmm
free heat, 3 squares a day
hmmm
I decided it was high time to get the door replaced. Doors are expensive, $300. But I obviously had a psychopath living next door and it was keeping me from sleeping at night. Any sound would wake me with a start, and this old house makes lots of sounds in the night. Phil came over and helped me install it and it only took about an hour. It's such a joy to have a real door again.
The long-awaited warm days of June finally returned. I watched and waited for the day Chuck would leave around 10 a.m., because then he would not come back until later in the afternoon.
When I saw him depart I turned off the breakers and went out and cut the power line going into the trailer. Then I came in and undid all the wiring he had connected in the basement. Next I replaced all the padlocks on the barn. Then I just sat and watched.
He came home and went in; after a few minutes he came out and looked at the wiring. He looked over at my house, then looked back at the wiring. He looked at my house again, then went back in. About 20 minutes later a police car pulled into Chuck's driveway. I called Phil and asked him if he could get over here right away and he did. So he was with me when the officer finally came and knocked on my door.
“Good day, ma'am. Your neighbor over there claims you cut his power line. Did you do that?”
“No, not really. First, that's not his power line. He doesn't pay for it. I had a bunch of friends over earlier: Phil here, and Bill, Dan, Joe, Tom. They all know that he hasn't paid me a cent towards the costs here for six months now and has been told to leave. So, they were all out here helping me move some stuff in the barn and I guess one of them decided to just go ahead and do that. Or maybe someone ran over it. I really don't know.”
Phil says, “Yeah, she's telling the truth. That guy is a crook.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
He went back over and talked to Chuck, then drove away. Woo hoo! High fives!
Later that day I had a surprise visit from one of my neighbors across the street, Jack. I had met him once, years ago, when he stopped by to say hi to Chuck. They had known each other for around 20 years. Over the past year I would occasionally see Chuck go over to his house. Jack wanted to know if I was okay because he'd seen the police car. He then invited me to come over, have a beer, and meet his wife. I thought, “Well, this should be interesting.” Indeed it was.
The first thing I learned was that despite knowing Chuck for all those years, they did not like him at all. Lisa said he was mean, nasty and he stunk. She said he would come over when their friends were there and the friends would all find reasons to leave right away. So they dreaded his visits. But they were too polite to just tell him to go away.
Jack told me that in all the years he had known him, Chuck had never been able to hold down a job. “Hell, they even kicked him off the volunteer fire department because once when they were out fighting a brush fire, Chuck just sat down and ate his lunch while he watched them. The guy is totally worthless.”
I gave them a run down on all that had transpired for me. They asked why I didn't just throw him out so I explained to them how he was blackmailing and threatening me. “My God, he's holding you hostage there!”
“Yes, that's exactly what he's doing and it's good that you can see that, too. I'm just glad it's being done in such a beautiful spot. I love it here so very much. I sure do not want to go back to my country. People are killing each other all over the place down there. The police are mostly all corrupt as well as the politicians. I would be terrified to go back now.”
“Oh, we understand. We think this is one of the nicest places in the world to live. Well, we'll see if we can come up with a plan to get him out of the neighborhood. Meanwhile, we'll keep an eye on you over there and help you out if you ever need anything.”
See what I mean? The people here are just so amazing. A few weeks later it was quite a hot, sunny day and Bill stopped by to ask if I wanted to go boating. He has a big bass boat. So, off we went and soon we were out in the river, cruising along, just the two of us. He stands up and says, “Here, you drive for a while. I want to lay down for a little bit. If I fall asleep, don't steal any of my rugs.”
Omigod, I never drove a boat before! “Nothing to it. Just steer and try to keep us from running into the shore.” I had so much fun. What an honor to be trusted like that. After all these years of being told I was stupid and incompetent, this day was a real turning point for me. I love you, Bill, more than you'll ever know.
