My Dark And Twisty Day
To quote Grey’s Anatomy I’m “dark and twisty.” It’s not that I try to be it’s just that when shit happens my mind goes to that dark, twisty place. After a day like today I’m in that place.
First let me start out by saying I don’t live in a bad neighborhood. In fact I live about 15 minutes outside of downtown Seattle, so my area is populated with all kinds of people. My neighborhood is safe, but I wouldn’t recommend walking down poorly lit areas at night. With that said I have lived in bad neighborhoods. I lived in downtown Los Angeles when it was skid row and prostitutes hung out behind my building. A few years later I was living in gang infested Highland Park were a huge drug bust took place a few houses down from me and shortly later a gang related shooting/murder as I walked out of my apartment. There are reasons I’m dark and twisty.
In the last year our landlord has gotten desperate in filling apartments and standards have been, well, let’s say lowered. Months ago the ATF showed up and took out someone. They had been planning it for a while. We heard the helicopter flying low for months prior to the bust. From my days in Highland park I knew something was up.
The other issue is the apartment above mine. A women and her toddler lives there. When she moved in so did her boyfriend. We could hear banging and stomping at all hours of the night. Oh, and crashes loud crashes. We questioned what was happening, but there was little that we could do. The boyfriend was kicked out and the apartment was quiet again until about 6 or so weeks ago when I heard a huge crash. Sorry to say I just though “crap here we go again.” It wasn’t until later we found out that the boyfriend kicked down the door and was arrested by the police. That’s where today’s story starts.
After taking a much needed walk I returned to my apartment only to find a neighbor, D, running down the stairs with his son and two other boys. Frantic he told me the police were coming and asked me to watch the door and the kids. I got downstairs with them and started to piece together some information. There was a scream from the third floor and D called the cops.D reappeared and said it came from the third floor towards my side of the building and that’s when I realized what was happening and quickly filled the police in on the ex-boyfriend. D and the police ran inside. People began yelling out the window when they saw the police show up asking me what was happening mostly because they heard the scream too. The kids started yelling about a murderer loose in the building and talking about blood. One little boy was almost in tears because he didn’t want his mom killed. Crap. I’m not good at these things. I never know what to say, but I got them to shut up and sit in one area until.
D came running back out to cover the door and look to see if he went over the fence. Nothing. No one could find him. Apparently he knocked down two doors (apartment 310 and 309). He tore up the first apartment and went into the second one where he got into a fight with the tenant because he was looking for his “stuff.” After that I have no clue what happened. We don’t know where the woman is or her child. We don’t know where he is. I really don’t know if she was home at the time.
When I came back up from watching the door R barricaded it and we woke Bug. There is an emergency exit next to our apartment and Bug’s window is the right next to it. We don’t want any “visitors.” We made sure that everything was clear and left on the way out finding D and his wife B on the stairs. B told me how horrible of neighbors 309 and 310 are and she suspects that they are selling “stuff” there.
So, where does that leave us? Dark and twisted? Yes. Scared. Hella yes. Not sure what to do. R is a level-headed person. Much more so than I am. So when he is freaked I am too. We are afraid of what happens if the guy comes back with a gun. Or what if he comes back, but to the wrong floor? See all dark and twisty.
When we came back we ran into a Marine who lives in the building. Was he freaked? A bit. Shocked was a better word to describe it. He told us to get a gun. Something I dislike.
So, back to where that leaves us. I’m not sure, but I don’t like this one bit. Those upstairs neighbors need to go. The people in this complex need to stop propping the door open. And that ass better stop knocking down the door. This isn’t his home. I refuse to let him take away my sense of safety.
