Surviving A Nightmare...

Please forgive me for such a long post...

A story like this has to be told from the beginning...and yet I truly don't know how to start. Giving an account of just this weekend doesn't explain the history, so I have to take it to a few months ago when my hubby and I first met our next-door neighbors.

It was late evening, and I had stepped outside to collect several leaves and branches for a new element kit I had in mind, when the next door neighbor's poodle ran over to me and started barking. The neighbor came over to retrieve the little ankle biter, introduced himself to me and hubby, then he and hubby learned that they grew up in the same neighborhood in Chicago. What were the odds that two Burbank Boys would wind up in Alabama as next door neighbors?

After that first meeting, hubby could be found every evening sitting on the front porch with the neighbor chatting about people they knew in common, places they used to hang out, and different landmarks from the old neighborhood. They were inseparable, so much so that I also took to sitting outside on the neighbor's front porch listening to their stories.

The neighbor had his daughter and granddaughter living with him, so the two of them became really close friends to me and my daughter. Every afternoon, if we weren't outside playing badminton, the granddaughter would be at my house watching cartoons. From going shopping, or out to eat, we were like one, big family doing everything together.

2 weeks ago, we all decided to go camping. Our vacation mimicking our life as we ended up renting camp sites side by side. Everyone had such a good time that we immediately planned to do it again 2 weeks later. (Which was this past weekend)

This is where things go awry. Though hubby had to work Friday and Saturday, the neighbor and I left early Friday morning to set up the camp site. To save on money, we rented one huge spot, popped up the tents, then he stayed while I went to run some errands, get OS to work, pick up hubby from work, grab daughter (who had originally planned NOT to go and back to camp site. I was exhausted from all of the running around I had to do and it made me cranky...all I wanted to do was sleep, but Kat' tent was set up on a different camp site as a placement holder for the neighbor's daughter's boyfriend's boss that would be arriving later that night, so I had to go take it down so that she would have a place to sleep. I ended up taking my frustrations out on the closest one to me...my hubby. A small fight followed, ending with me and daughter going to bed early in my tent, Kat's tent still in the travel bag and hubby sleeping the night in his truck.

As usual, after a good night's sleep, I was happy the next morning and ready to start my day. At 5:30am I woke hubby for work, put on a pot of coffee, then hit the road running. By the time I made it back to the camp site, it was 8am and nearly everyone was awake. Everyone but the neighbor...he was sleeping off a hard drinking binge from the day before. He made it very clear that everyone was too loud for him, and he needed his rest.

Being that it was the weekend before Halloween, the campsite has all of the campers TRICK OR TREAT the Saturday before Halloween, so I came prepared with lots of candy and decorations. As soon as I had a bite to eat I began to hang everything. The boyfriend's boss decided not to work that day due to dealing with his own family issues, so that left him in the campsite all day. Normally, I wouldn't complain about having an extra guy around to help with keeping the fire going and such, but this guy is NOT an outdoors type of a guy.

An hour later, the neighbor gets up, grabs the boyfriend and heads out to find wood for the campfire. I get started on making lunch. We even have time to go exploring and take some photos before it was time for me to hit the road again to pick up hubby from work. Though there was a bit of tension in the air, all still seemed ok until we got back.

The first thing I spotted when we arrived back, was that my cooler with our food had been gone through, half of my potatoes and onions were missing that was for everyone's breakfast the next morning, and everything in my picnic basket had been rummaged through. Seems that the neighbor and the boyfriend decided to smoke something and got the munchies, and since they didn't bring anything to eat, took it upon themselves to go through our food. Unfortunately, I only brought enough food just to last through Monday morning, so I was furious. I let hubby know immediately how I thought. I was too angry to speak to anyone, so hubby relayed my thoughts to the rest of the group...where everyone laughed and thought it was a huge joke.

I then learned that they hadn't brought anything with them this trip. No food, no plates, no napkins, NOTHING...that wasn't a problem, I had plenty to share...well did until they started eating everything while I was gone. It made for a very stressful evening as I was trying to get Kat ready to TRICK OR TREAT around the campgrounds, hubby was trying to cook us something to eat, and I was beginning to pack our stuff. I was ready to leave right then...not wanting to stay with people that had no respect for someone else's stuff. Hubby helped me pack, but talked me into staying the rest of the night. By 8:30pm, soon as Kat made it back to our camp site, we went to take our showers and then straight to bed.

Again, this made everyone angry that I wasn't hanging outside with them. The neighbor was already drunk again, the daughter now had an attitude because I wasn't being "friendly", and I was scared if I came near the boyfriend while he was stoned again, I was going to beat his brains in for having that stuff anywhere near me or my family!!

Two hours later, the neighbor was getting loud and rude, so hubby decided to take him for a drive. They ended up at a bar...just what the neighbor needed, but hubby thought if he had a couple of drinks with him, and shot a few games of pool, that he could talk some sense into him. It didn't work...it only made the neighbor even more loud and rude...and then he got violent. He tried to fight with hubby at the bar...then in the truck on the way back to the camp...then at the camp. It got SO BAD, that it woke me and my daughter up. I was literally scared to death that he was gonna start swinging and not know when to stop. Well, everything blew up when I stepped out of the tent...all of his anger was focused on me when I asked him to please sit and keep his voice down before we all got thrown out of the campground. It made him louder, and now in my face. If not for his daughter coming out and having her own screaming match at him, he probably would have swung at me. The anger and hatred in this man's eyes made the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

The granddaughter woke crying to all of the yelling, she immediately ran to my hubby and climbed in his lap burying her head, my daughter stayed in our tent terrified of what was about to happen. The daughter told him if he didn't stop, that she was packing up right then and moving out of his house, never to speak to him again. I followed her to her tent with the granddaughter and begged her not to leave, but she said she couldn't put up with him anymore. What we all thought was a man that got drunk occasionally, was every night...and ALWAYS ended up with him in a violent rage. It's why her mom left him cause he used to beat her...it's why his dogs always cower when someone raises their voices...it's why the granddaughter always comes over to our house.

Though the daughter packed all of their things in the car, they waited til morning to leave. After breakfast, she, the boyfriend, the granddaughter and my daughter headed home. Hubby and I planning on staying until Monday morning since it was paid for...but half an hour after they all left...the neighbor woke, grabbed a beer, and began his anger and violence again. We packed the rest of our things and left him there with him saying that as soon as he got home he would take care of both of us.

We've not heard a word from him since he made it home yesterday, but the granddaughter has been over twice to watch cartoons. Not sure what will happen now...but hubby has sworn off all alcohol, and won't allow it or anyone that has been drinking in our home. In the meantime, please keep our family, and theirs in your thoughts and prayers.