Posted by kara lynne on November 4, 2003, at 2:06:03
Here is the situation with my gangster neighbors: I finally got the nerve up to talk to the punk who smokes outside my window. He was there with his girlfriend who refused to acknowledge me and eventually pulled him away just when we were starting to make progress. She is not supposed to be living there, but I think she is. I asked him nicely if he would please smoke a little further away. He let me know that he might work with me on this, although he had been taunting me up until that point (he said he heard me asking him one night at midnight when I didn't want to get dressed and go out there, and that he saw the fan I put in the window trying to blow the smoke out. He thought that was hysterical, because it just sucks the air back in. ) He said since I approached him directly he would consider respecting my request, but that I had committed a grave error by calling the 'old man' landlord regarding them making noise at 3am. I explained that I knocked on the walls and asked them to be quiet but that did not work. He said the woman who rents the apt. was pissed off and defending her right to make as much noise as she wanted. That night he took his cigarette and trampy girlfriend, and went to smoke in the alley as a favor to me. I thought we had made progress.
Since that time he alternates between smoking in the alley or smoking too near my window, and is always with his girlfriend who makes him as good as unapproachable.. But there is another bench, directly underneath my bedroom window on the other side of the house where no-one is supposed to sit or smoke at all. There were problems with the prior tenant and at one point a sign was posted not to smoke or sit or talk there. It's in such close proximity it's as good as being in bed with me if people are sitting there.
From time to time the punk has sat there with his girlfriend, both of them smoking. But it was only for a few minutes and I didn't want to rock the boat. The other night I came home and there the two of them were--sitting and smoking on the bench under my bedroom door. I said hello, the girl glared at me and left without a word, and the guy just sat there and said hello. He left a few minutes later. The next morning he was there again--this time singing and smoking. Earlier his father was outside (the boyfriend of the main renter) swearing at the top of his lungs, something about 'it's your room and you can smoke the sh*t out of it if you want.' It seems like all these people do is swear and smoke, loudly and incessantly. The kid is full of this 'hood bravado, which he apparently inherited from his father.
I've only seen the woman who rents it once--our hours are completely different. She moved her boyfriend and his son in, and the son moved his girlfriend in. I heard her yelling at someone the other morning (again 3am) that he could at least pay for something, so you get the kind of ne'er do well person she's sponsoring here. The kid's girlfriend on the other hand is a real charmer. I overheard her as she was sitting on the bench underneath my window , saying that she had been so drunk the night before she was walking on all fours. And they are all four smokers which is bound to affect me no matter what--it might ultimately mean I have to move.
Yesterday I called the landlord to inquire about the bench, and got his wife on the phone. I asked who the bench belonged to and explained that people were using it again, and I also said to please not say that I had called because they were so upset with me. At one point she said, 'What do you think they're going to do, kill you?'. I didn't quite know how to respond to that. She said they didn't want me to call because they know if there are more complaints they could be evicted--even though I think it would be hard to do that.
I learned today that yesterday the landlord came directly over and read the primary renter the riot act. Those were the landlord's wife's words. She said the woman denied that the girl was living there, and naturally NO-ONE was there when he came--including me! Not the boyfriend, not the son, not the girlfriend. Suuuuure you're right, kara.
It's unfortunate that I have no rapport with the woman, but now it's a war zone. It would have been much better if we were able to communicate about things from the beginning, but after that first call to the landlord I can feel the hate coming through my walls at night. And again, they all have this tough *ss demeanor that doesn't exactly invite contact. That's why I was so proud that I finally did talk to the son directly, and hoped we'd been able to work things out. If the girl hadn't pulled him away I was going to offer to buy him a couch, or help make it worth his while, but she would not allow to him to continue to talk to me.
They are always in pairs, and often with tenants from the surrounding units who are their friends. I am always alone. Now it's gotten to the point where I'm afraid to see any of them. I went to put the trash out this morning and there must have been 50 cigarettes in the ashtray in the area where I asked the guy if he could smoke further away-not the bench under my window but the other place they can 'legally' get away with it. My apartment smells like an ashtray. So obviously he is going to do me no more favors, if he was ever going to at all.
I am not an 'uncool' person. I hate that I have established myself as the enemy here. On the other hand I felt that I had some right to say something, and I think the kid was testing me to see how far he could go. I didn't feel like bringing it up with him again because he obviously knows he's not supposed to smoke on that bench. But he made sure to tell me there would be many more problems if I called the landlord.
I feel like I ratted on the mafia. I think the landlords are smokers too, but it doesn't sound like they're very happy with these tenants anyway, and they encouraged me to call anytime. Meanwhile I fear I've set up a horrible situation and I'm fantasizing all sorts of terrible things; tire slashing, window smashing, I don't even want to say the things that have crossed my mind. Meanwhile I'd like to be able to empty my trash in my own dumpster. Last week I was so nervous I actually took it to work with me and dumped it there.
It's stressful to even walk to my car. I look out the window and dart out as quickly as I can. I guess I want to know if anyone has any suggestions as to how I should deal with them if I see them: Do I act like I never called? Do I just ignore them completely? Do I try to look at them fearlessly and not say anything? Do I duck and cover? I started parking on the street to avoid having to see them when I walk to my door (from my parking space in back) but then someone figured he could just start using my parking space. Still for now I'm on the street again.
What would you guys do? How would you act? I don't think I can talk to them right now, it's too much hate coming from too many people. But I hate living with this kind of fear.
Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you for laboring through another long winded post.
poster:kara lynne
thread:276370
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20031031/msgs/276370.html