Luther as Paul Kersey[/align]
I'm trying to be a laid back retired guy, but the neighborhood is starting to fuck with the good people. I live in a neighborhood of homes built around the early '70s, bigger homes for the families. Numerous cul-de-smacks dot the working class neighborhood. Families with boats, skidoos, trampolines, pools and now apparently, shit head kids.
It started to turn for the worse about a year and a half ago. Lil Luth and her younger brother walk to school, which involves going through a cut through (as I call it, some call it an easement). It basically is a sidewalk of asphalt between two houses, with the high chain link fence with the wood inserts on each side of the walkway. It goes from the street and past the two houses and onto a softball field for the High School. Over the course of 3 weeks, 3 girls got groped by either a Hispanic or a light skinned Black guy. One of those walk up, say hi and grab their asses or squeeze a tit. The girls run off toward the high school and the groper heads for the cut through.
He's cutting through into my domain.
Well. the notices come from the school, the cops were called and I walk around the block to where the cut through is. I see my neighbor Doug who lives just up the street from the cut through. I'm bullshitting with him and up drives another dad from further down the street. Doug says, "If the groper runs north I'll try to Louisville slugger him...he won't want to come back."
"Me too," says the guy in the car, and he reaches into his backseat and raises up one of those silver aluminum ball bats. We all laugh. About a week later, Mrs. Luth is picking up the little kid who lives in the house right next to the cut through. She has our kid, and the cut through kid in the car and she backs out of the driveway and spots a Hispanic looking dude in a hooded sweatshirt. She says the guy keeps looking over his shoulder, back toward the cut through. She says the guy heads for the busy street and she decides to go to the high school to see if anything happened. Yep, groper struck again. A sloppy wet kiss, and two hands on the girls ass...she breaks away screaming and running toward the high school, the groper laughs and heads for the cut through, and that is where Mrs. Luth spotted him. She gives a description to the school cop and now the neighborhood is edgy.
A couple of weeks later, some neighbors tell me that old man "Frank" had his car keyed. Last month the cops are over at my neighbors house during the day time for about an hour. Chris lives there, a junior in high school. Guess he skips school and some of his buddies go to his house and smoke chronic for the rest of the afternoon. I guess some mom or dad of one of the other kids got tired of the school calling, so he dimes up the police. I saw the cop walking back to the trunk of his car with a 3 foot, purple bong. I then hear the cop talk to the chick in the back of his car, "Now where is the dope?"
Three weeks ago, my neighbor Case, who lives over the fence from me had some shithead come off the street, march down about a 50 foot area, and mashed or pulled out about 25 Marigolds.
And then yesterday, Doug knocks on my door and says, "Someone stole my kids car." His kid got married last year and was over visiting. Stupidly, she left her purse/keys/credit cards inside the unlocked car. Doug said "Shawn" the Blek kid down the street (maybe early 20's) came by and asked him if he had a map of Oregon. Blah, blah...Doug gets his map out and spreads it on the kitchen counter. It was at about that time that the car gets ripped off. I tell Doug, "Well, he might have been there to distract you while someone he knew was "borrowing" the car." Doug called the police and the county sheriffs deputy comes out. Guess two chicks had used Doug's daughters visa card to buy $380 worth of goodies from JC Penney.
Yesterday afternoon I grab a cigar, a cup of coffee, and my Glock and tell the wife I'm going to look for the car. Since I'm retired, I can carry the gun any which way I want. Stick in my belt, throw it in the glove box, whatever...it is all legal. I drive all over the place...drove around the big old mall, drive through some seedy apartments near the mall, drive by some parks, drive past school parking lots. I couldn't find the car...I know it could be anywhere. Sometimes car thieves take the car but return and dump it near the area from where it was stolen from. Why? Because they know people there. They might buy dope there...they might have a girlfriend there. I worked plain clothes for about 5 years, in auto theft...I do know the patterns that they use, and the patterns are similar in most cities with a car theft problem.
I'm taking a little walk today to talk to about 6 other neighbors about our little problem. Just call me Paul, Paul Kersey.
Rip City
