neighbor hoods

the neighbors woke me last night playing loud music. it was sometime after 2 am. at first, i thought it was teenagers in a car with concert-setting speakers, the bass pulsing, but it didn't leave. so i went into the front yard to look. there was no-one around. and the sound was coming from my next-door neighbor's house.

these neighbors have always been good. yes, they tore down the bungalow like mine and built a huge mini-mc-mansion which hulks over me. yes, the cement acid from the block wall they built killed four of my trees. and yes, they do have huge, mexican parties all the time. but they have never been overtly inconsiderate.

i figured they would turn the music off in a minute because they have a baby living in the house. i figured all the other neighbors would call the police because it was so loud, so late. but none of this happened.

i got out of bed again and went to pee. the music was even louder. i decided to go back to the front yard then over to the neighbors to see what i could see. maybe it was a party that lost track of time...

but i did not see anyone through the large windows. there was low lighting inside the house but the place looked deserted. i could see well into the house from the sidewalk. i walked around to my back yard and looked over the tree-killer wall. again, i could see into the house but didn't see anyone. the music was loud but no-one was home.

that worried me.

so i called the police.

now, 411 on the cell phone has advertisements first; then directory assistance. after a commercial for walmart (at 3 am, mind you, in my boxers in the back yard) i ask for the police department. 411 has no listing. city and state, government, etcetera... no listing for the police department. i try three times.

then i call 911.

the police woman who answered asked if i needed an ambulance. i said no. i said the neighbors were playing loud music, it sounded like a night club. she could hear it over the phone. she said you don't call 911 for loud music.

i knew she didn't care about the walmart ads etc so i just kept going. "the music is loud but i don't see anyone in the house. it's weird and worries me."

"are there strange cars in the driveway?" i had to walk back to the front of the house. "i see the regular truck in the driveway but there is a white car in front of the house i don't know."

" and you don't see anyone in the house?"

"i can see into the house from the sidewalk and there's been no-one around... wait! i see someone." it was the father of the family. why would he be there listening to loud, nightclub-disco music?

"so it's ok?" the woman asked me. i said i think so... then:

"wait! someone's coming out." she stayed on the phone with me. two guys came out of the house, friends of the son i imagined. i walked toward the closer one and asked, "are you gonna be playing that music much longer?"

"fuck yes we're gonna be playing that music. whater you gonna do, call the police?"

i said i was already talking to the police, still holding the phone to my ear.

"you don't know who you're talking to. do you know who the fuck i am? i'll fuck you up."

the police woman asked in my ear, "has he been drinking?" i said yes. she said walk away, go home, lock your door, i'll send someone.

this is when he was saying to me, i'll fuck you up, i'll kick your ass you fucking faggot (a hate crime, i was wearing a NO H8 t-shirt with my boxers)... i walked back toward my house.

the two guys went back into the house for a few seconds then came out and got into the white car. it tore off down the street. and the music got turned way down.

a minute or two later, a cop car pulled up. i went out to meet it.

i told the officer the music had just been turned down and a man had threatened me then fled. i also said the neighbors had always been nice. (i didn't tell them about the wall and my trees. i also didn't mention that they had been to my huge but respectful and elegant party two weeks previous...)

he asked if i was ok. that was kind. i said everything seemed fine now. his partner drove up ~ i thought it might be the white car returning...

both officers walked toward the neighbor's house to look. they asked if i wanted them to investigate. i said it was probably ok now.

but the second officer said, "i hear the music and its over fifty feet." so they went to the front door to knock and i went back to my porch.

they stayed at the door for a few minutes. longer than i expected. when they were returning to their cars, i went out to meet them again.

the first officer said they were drunk (in my opinion, if you were drinking, by 3:30 in the morning, you would be passed out asleep. people awake at that time of the night, not realizing that their music is beyond inappropriately loud, must be doing drugs... coke, crack, something cut with speed... but i didn't suggest that).

the officer asked the neighbor's names. i told him and he seemed surprised. he said the man was behaving like an ass. i got the feeling he meant belligerent.

the police left.

a few minutes later (five minutes to four in the godawful morning), the white car returned. this made me nervous because of the threat that had been issued from its occupant. the two guys and a third, a white guy, got out and went into the neighbor's house. the white guy only stayed two minutes then got back in the white car and tore off.

i didn't get to sleep until after five. i was up at 7:30 and watering the garden by 8. i tried to get a nap after that but the phone kept ringing...

if i turn up dead anytime soon, question the neighbors. after all, they did kill my trees.