Post a Comment On: A Nod to Nothing

So I was showing the side of the duplex Pooteewheet and I used to live on to two potential renters this evening. It's just not easy to do because the carpet is ripped out downstairs while Home Depot is on its way, and there are several other places (bathroom tile, back door tile, ceiling tiles downstairs) where there's a small amount of work underway, not to mention a stove I'm increasing becoming convinced should be swapped out just to make the place more aesthetic, regardless that it works just fine.

While I had three people there, in their early 20's, asking me about the neighborhood and predators and crime, I realized I was being yelled at from the front yard. At first I thought it was Pooteewheet, but when I looked, it was the mentally handicapped guy who lives down the street. He's lived there since Pooteewheet and I were in the neighborhood, and he's harmless, but he doesn't look harmless when potential renters are asking questions about crime and local weirdos and he's standing in the front yard for ten minutes, half hunched over like a linebacker, just staring at everyone.

Finally, I interrupted myself and noted that I should go say "hi", giving the potential renters a chance to talk. When I got to the front yard, he remarked that I was new (he hadn't seen me in 4 years, so that's reasonable) and launched into stories about crime that had happened down the street. He hadn't overheard us, yet he just told the stories loudly, going on about a shooting, even though the thing had been closer to Southdale than to the plex. While that was bad enough, his next act was to yank the side of his shirt up almost over his head, loudly telling me, "and look what they did to me, look what they did to me!" while showing me a bullet-shaped wound. Before I could extricate myself, he was informing me at what seemed like increasingly louder levels that he had been the victim of a drive by pellet shooting, in his own yard, look, they'd shot him in his front yard with a pellet gun - see where it got him, right there!

I told him it was nice to see him again, and sort of slunk back to the potential renters who were busily having a quiet powwow. They broke up and told me they were going to discuss it and would get back to me. While they drove away, drive-by pelleting guy was stooping over on the curb to peer in their cars and wave at each of them individually. While I have no doubt he was sure his friendly demeanor would go over well with these new neighbors, I think it may be the last time he ever sees them.