"Unstable"

Yeah, I guess you could call the woman outside screaming at me "unstable". That begins to describe her and is the term that the police officer used when asking what her demeanor was like. OK, go with that if you want. Whatever it takes to get her away from my kids.

Here's the rest of the story...

We live across the street from a park that is the resting spot for several homeless people. It used to be just one man, now there are several regulars. I joked with them yesterday as I entered under their ramada, "do you have to have a beard to come through here?" The kind old guys with long white beards welcomed me through as I escorted Tasha on her scooter. It is the route with cement that accommodates the Dora-mobile.

I'm sure there are drug deals going on, but how would I really know. I do know that other people show up and hang out until a nice-looking vehicle shows up and parks by the bathroom. A nice enough car that I notice it doesn't look right in my neighborhood. Then the guys in the park visit the car, "chat" for a while, and they all go on their merry way. Again, the last guys that fit this description had a nice little conversation with me about my dog. My big, black lab who is more bark than bite, but makes me feel a little more at ease.

Finally, we have this "unstable" lady. She is soooo loud! One week she told off some other guys with some choice words as she stormed off because she was trying to sleep around 2pm. Every time I walk by with the girls she says loud enough for me to hear, "hold it down, hold it down, there are kids around." Or something to that affect. She is always screaming at someone or starting a fight. Last week she was walking down our street toward the park apparently having a conversation with herself, loud enough for all of us to hear. It was late enough that my kids were in bed and it occurred to me that the only problems I have with these homeless people is this lady. Would you call it a "domestic dispute"? Whatever it was, I called the Tempe police and explained the situation. They sent someone out and I never heard a thing.

This evening I'm sitting in my living room surfing for a washing machine while Kyra was reading. I hear from down the street, "does anyone have a gun or a knife?" What? No. She yells something else and I poke my head out. "Are you OK?" Nothing. I walk out to into the yard and ask again, "Maam, are you OK?" She makes it across the street and she rambles something crazy and is talking about only being a threat to herself. No, she says she's not OK, blah, blah, blah. I ask her to please quiet down and stop yelling about guns and knives because there are children that live in this neighborhood. Then she let loose. She blabbered insulting phrases that didn't really make sense but were enough for me to turn around and go inside. But she kept going! Long enough for me to call the police again. She continued yelling for quite a while, yelled her way across the street and to the ramada. The officer arrived withing the half hour and that's when he asked if she was unstable. OK, sure, if you want to call it that. After finding and talking to her he declared her very drunk. So what do I do?! He said if she does it again I can have her arrested for disturbing the peace. Bill said, "Isn't that what you just did?" Apparently not, but hey, do I really want her arrested? No, I just want her gone. What do these other homeless people think? Do they want her gone too? Does she disturb their peace? Do I call the police the next time?

All I know for sure is this...when the lady was screaming at me my big, black lab was safely inside doing I don't know what. When the police officer walked up to the house she barked like crazy! Nice protector, or just plain coward?!