Squatters ~ The Last Straw

I finally had it.

The shenanigans from late Halloween night was the final straw. The squatters now have until Friday to leave this house.

Having 3 young adults and 1 baby was so disruptive that I hardly got any work done, which is not good considering I need to be busting my butt with cleaning, culling, and packing.

They created more work for me and not allowed me to get my own work due to their sleeping bodies and stuff being in my way.

Dirty dishes with large globs of grease and encrusted food remnants cluttered the kitchen sink.

Forks and spoons disappeared faster than an ice cube on a Phoenix, Arizona sidewalk in the height of summer.

Things got misplaced, damaged, or broken.

And with their and their guests' out-of-control behavior late Halloween night, I found myself losing my temper in the most extreme way possible. I slapped an out-of-control guest across the face. And I slapped her hard.

With the exception of when I was a little kid, I have NEVER hit anyone in my entire life ~ not even Ariana when she pushed the limits of my patience.

Being woken up to the sound of yelling outside and having all 3 of our town's police cruisers show up at my house at 1:30 AM early Saturday morning was the last straw.

Fortunately the cop knew me (also was very fond of Ariana), and he was very sympathetic and understanding of my anger towards the kids and my concerns about the repercussions of their behavior.

Sgt. Anthony gave the kids a firm lecture about the consequences of their behavior. However, his lecture paled after I reamed out the kids and read them the riot act.

Then I collected car keys, refused to let anyone leave until morning regardless of their condition, and emptied all the alcohol I could find down the sink.

Ariana wasn't even home when all this went down. Had she been home, perhaps things may have been more under control. She was just as angry as I was when she found out what happened while she was out.

To be fair, not all the squatters participated in the Halloween fiasco. Nick, being determined to change his life for the better, had kept to himself, watching 40 Year Old Virgin on the computer. He had no desire to associate with what he considered to be crazy people.

But just as sane and responsible as Nick was, Danny was the polar opposite ~ out-of-control drunk, belligerent, disrespectful to me, and just plain stupid by jumping out the second floor loft door and then lying on the driveway until Jessica convinced him to get up and go inside.

On top of that, he threatened Nick with bodily harm after Nick went upstairs to speak to the group to tell them that what had happened should not have happened.

Poor Nick was shaken and besides himself. All he wanted to do was help, not get threatened to have his ass kicked by Danny and some other drunken guy whom I had never met.

He felt betrayed by Danny, especially since he felt the day before that there was a connection between him and Danny.

It was a very long night. I didn't get to bed until 5:00 that morning, and then woke up at around 8:45. That was less than 4 hours sleep.

And with that little sleep, I was in no mood to work and no mood to deal with the computer, words, and the Internet. So I spent the whole day busying my hands by crocheting and revelling in the silence due to all those unconscious, post-party bodies.

The day after that, I announced to the group, including Nick, that I want all squatters out of the house by Friday. (Especially Danny, whom I now disliked and could not stand to have in my presence.) And if they leave before Friday, so much the better and good riddance.

Of all of the squatters, Nick was the only one who started working right away on trying to find another place to stay. I have yet to see such effort from Jessica and Danny ~ just like I have seen very little effort on their part to look for work.

They have not even been giving the baby the attention that she needed, preferring to place her in the port-a-crib just so they could do whatever they pleased to do. Nick was the one who was primarily entertaining the baby.

Even now, as I write, Nick is playing with Lexie while Jessica and Danny are upstairs fighting because Danny does not want Jessica to go out with Amanda.

In the meantime, I have refused to communicate with Danny. However, I am ever vigilant for the opportunity to ream his ass and make him pay for his inexcusable behavior. I dare him to push me.

However good or bad, all squatters have to go. It's not been a healthy environment with the squatters here.

I want my house back.

However, I will miss Nick's singing.