Keep Smiling!

I think ... yeah ... pretty sure ... that at this moment in time ... I'm nervous. Quite possibly freaked ... maybe even ... a little scared. And not in an amusing way.

Rewind in time to this past weekend. I hung out with my next-door neighbors. C and her boyfriend S. S is kinda scary, not the kinda guy I'd want to meet on a dark street, but I figure nice to be on his good side. He came over and asked for a favor ... his truck was broken down and needed a part. C's car was in the shop due to hail damage... would I mind driving him up to the auto parts place, to pick up the bit? They'd called and priced taxis, it would have cost them 50 dollars for the trip to the store and back. Seeing as how I didnt have anything else to do at the moment, sure, I drove S to the auto store and back. In return, he promised to help me replace the battery in my Ford. I hung out with C while S worked on his truck. We chatted and laughed.

A few times before, one or the other have come over here asking to use my phone ... but I havent questioned why. I'm a neighborly kinda person ... d;)

Fast forward to this morning - 6:45am my door-bell rings, and the 'dog alarm' goes off (three dogs barking furiously). C is at the door asking to use my phone. Again, I dont ask questions ... I hand her my phone and tell her it'd probably be quieter if she used it on the front porch, as opposed to coming in the house, due to the barking dogs. She makes her call, talks for a few minutes, gives me back the phone and goes home. I decide since I'm already awake, to stay up and count the minutes until I can call the Vet to make Willow an appointment for some lab work I've been putting off (about 500 dollars worth).

So at 7:45, I take Willow to the Vet - and after I drop her off (she's going to be spending the day there), I head over to WalMart to price car batteries, and to pick up some other things. I run some more errands, and get home about 10:45am.

Around 11am, I'm feeling sleepy ... havent been sleeping well at all. So I lay down to take a nap. Woke up around 12:30. Started cleaning ... vaccuming ... steam-cleaning the carpets ... doing chores. Looked out the front window, and saw a car and a police cruiser leaving my next-door-neighbor's house. Saw that C's car was in the driveway ... figured after I was done cleaning, I'd pop over next door and check to make sure everything was alright. A little while later, noticed her car was gone, so I didnt go over.

Several hours later (around 8pm), several of the other neighbors are having a 'pow-wow' in the street in front of my driveway. My first impish thought is "I think I'll be obnoxious and let the dogs out so they'll bark and be loud and drive them nuts!!" Then I decide to be sociable and go say hi to everyone.

I head down my driveway and wave to a few of the neighbors ... there are 5 of them out there. Say my hellos, and how are yous. Turns out ... they are all talking about my next-door neighbors, C and S. There had been a 'Domestic Violence/Dispute' this morning while I was at the Vet/Walmart ... with S threating C with a pipe, beating her up, trashing the house ... neighbor M across the street called 911. There is a broken window, all of the blinds are askew, the places looks a mess from the OUTSIDE. The neighbors all thought S got in his truck and left.

Joy.

I found out most of what they had told me last weekend had been lies ... that C's car had been repossessed, it's not in the shop ... AND ... I was just looking out one of my windows at their house (we assume C went to stay with family or somewhere else), I can see that S's truck is partially hidden in the backyard where noone can see it from the street. So he IS either over there right now, or hiding out somewhere nearby.

I called my neighbors across the street and asked them if they could keep an eye on things over here, that I just saw S's truck stashed in the backyard. I told them that I was a little weirded out, since none of us know what he is capable of doing at this point. They informed me to keep my phone handy and be prepared to call 911 first, and call them second if I needed anything at any time.

So I'm all locked up, doors and windows. I've got all my dogs, with all of their teeth. I even have my B-B guns that I -could- pull out and load, if I wanted to admit to being a country hick. (They can do harm if you know where to aim!)

I just spent an hour and a half on the phone with a friend (Thanks, Friend!) and I'm calmer than I was before. I think I may actually be able to sleep tonight ... we'll see. I'm kinda jumping at every little noise I hear, and I want to keep running to the windows to keep lookout ... but life goes on.