I Should Have Called the Police Myself

Last night I was trying to get Tripp to sleep, but he kept waking up because the neighbors' dogs were going crazy. I didn't think too much of it, except to be irritated that they kept waking him up. I finally gave up and got up with him. A little bit later, I kept hearing a loud knocking, banging type of sound. But we have new neighbors and I thought maybe they were hanging pictures or something. Then I heard a noise on the side of our trailer and looked outside to see what it was.


My other neighbors, Brandon and Leslie, were standing in my yard and he had her by the arm and by her purse. She was crying and saying she just wanted to leave, and he was telling her that he made the last two payments on her car so she couldn't go anywhere. That her car now belongs to him. I asked what was going on, even though I already knew. He's beat her up at least five times in the year or so that I've known them. She asked me if she could come in and call the police. Brandon let her go, and she started to come up on my porch, and he followed right behind her, all apologetic and saying that she hit him too. He grabbed her again and got up in her face. I got between them and told him if he didn't get off my porch I was calling the police right then. I had to keep on to make him leave, but he finally let her go and I got her inside.

Her neck was deep purple where he had choked her, her nose was cut on both sides and the middle because he bit her. On the nose! Her eye was swollen, and she had scratches and bruises on her face. Not to mention any bruises I couldn't see under her clothes and hair. He slammed her head on the car, so I'm sure there was a knot there but I didn't check. She was really in pretty bad shape.

I put her in the kitchen, locked my doors tight, and handed her the phone. I should've known then that she wouldn't call the police because she just kept holding it. I should've taken it from her and called them myself. She didn't want to involve the police because she was scared she would get in trouble too. I told her that even if she hit him back, it was self defense. Then she told me that she had pot in her bedroom and she knew that he would tell them. So I told her to tell them he put it there, and that when they come out on a domestic violence call, they're not too worried about a joint or two. She still wouldn't call, so I convinced her to go stay at her dad's house. She kept saying she had to get her dog and her stuff, but I was able to talk her into coming back with the police the next morning so they could escort her.

At one point, Brandon started knocking on my door asking me to send Leslie to the door so he could talk to her. I refused, so he wanted me to send her out on the porch. Seriously?! Of course I refused, and she sure wasn't trying to get out around me. When I wouldn't do what he wanted, he looked me up and down and muttered something as he walked away. He hates me because I see through him and I'm not scared of him. In the little time I've known him, he's beaten up one of the other neighbors two different times, his ex, and another neighbor, who was a female. I've told my landlord about it over and over. I should have called the police last night, and I feel really stupid and guilty that I didn't.

Let me explain something about their relationship. I understand some women can't leave their husband or boyfriend when they're being abused. I've been abused myself, but I got out. Immediately. But I can get it a little when some women are too beat down to know what to do anymore. The thing is, Brandon and Leslie are not a couple. He's gay! He had her convinced last year that he was in love with her, but just can't help being gay and blahdeblahblahblah. He's very manipulative so I guess maybe that has something to do with it. I don't know, and I can't even begin to understand them. I don't understand why she's still there, or why he thinks she's his property.

Anyway, I got Leslie to leave, and watched her as she went to her car to make sure she was okay. A few minutes later, I happened to look out and she was walking up the driveway! I asked her what the hell she was doing and she said he had let all the coolant out of the radiator and she needed to get her money so she could get more. She asked me to call the police if she wasn't out in five minutes, so I positioned myself at a window with the phone in hand and waited. A minute in, Brandon came out on his porch and screamed something at me. I couldn't understand what he said that time, but a few minutes later he came out again and I heard him clearly. Even across the yards and through the window. He screamed out, "You stupid bitch, that's why your husband fucked me!" I just laughed because I know Thomas better than that. If it was a woman saying it, I might entertain the thought for a minute. But of all the things Thomas is, gay or bi-sexual or even bi-curious is not one of them. Leslie had water for the car and was gone in five minutes exactly. Thinking back on it, I think she was just looking for an excuse to go back.

Thomas went over there when he got home from work to talk to Brandon about what he screamed across the yard, and about coming on our porch and getting in my face when I wouldn't let him get to Leslie. Brandon started screaming inside like a little girl and wouldn't come out. It's not like Thomas would've beat him down or anything. Actually, maybe he would. I forget sometimes that he's mixed martial arts fighter. But I don't think he would have. See, Brandon's scared of him too. He's only not afraid of the people who let him hit them. Turns out he's not just evil. He's an evil genius and I don't mean that in a nice way. He recorded Thomas knocking on the door with his phone. Apparently he had the phone right on the door because it sounds like Thomas is about to beat the door down. Coupled with Brandon's screaming, it gives the impression that Thomas is threatening and terrorizing him. Thomas was going to go file a complaint at the Sheriff's Office, but Leslie said if he does, then Brandon will too. She called her grandfather who's a judge or something, and he listened to it and said that the police would probably press charges against Thomas if Brandon files a complaint.

And here's the thing that is upsetting me so badly. I helped her last night. I protected her! And yet, even after he beat the shit out of her, she's protecting him! She said she's moving out and so is he and that it's not her problem. Did I close my door and walk away last night when he was hurting her? Did I say it's not my problem? NO! I did what any good person would do. When I told her that I was standing at my door when Thomas was knocking on their door, and I know for a fact that he wasn't pounding on it or threatening Brandon, she still defended Brandon and said she heard him knocking on the door all the way in her bedroom. Of course she did! She lives in a trailer! The walls are paper thin.

I'm just really upset about the whole situation. I thought the landlord would help, but he's acting like I'm just being dramatic because I'm worried about what Brandon might do to me if/when he snaps. I should have known, though, because the landlord is gay, too, and Brandon is like his little pet. If I would have just called the police myself last night, none of this would even be an issue now. I've learned my lesson. If I ever see anything like this again, I'll shut my door and call the police. It really sucks that the world turns this way.