Miracles and small hope

After over 2 years, yesterday DH finally had a conversation with our junkyard/slumlord neighbor! It ended up being like a 2 hour very calm conversation!

We used to have a really good relationship with our junkyard neighbor "J". When we all first moved in, he just had the single wide trailer that he, wife and 3 kids lived in. He was junky, but he was nice. Then she divorced him (kids were teenagers or older by then. Then he moved in a cousin or someone and built his big huge shop at the back/bottom of his property, that he lives in the top of. Over the years one or two friends or relatives have always lived on his main property, but they were quiet and no problem and he wasn't the slumlord he is now. He owns the property at the end of our street also (where the drug dealing renters live) but he had moved his drug addict/felon son's ex-wife and her 3 boys into years ago, so they'd have a place to live. They were fine and lived there for years, but 3 years ago they moved out. Her mom lived in the place for the next year. Perfect neighbor. But she also could not stand the falling down condition of the place and was able to get out and get something better.  At the same time, we had been dealing with his drug addicted/in and out of jail adult son, who liked to cut firewood with his chainsaw or chop wood at midnight for hours (because he was tweaking), so we kept complaining to J.  Or he'd burn scraps and garbage several nights a week, making the air terrible (and it was against the law). Then, he moved "wonderful" renter family moved in the rental place and it's been 2 years of hell. Then about a year ago he bought the acre directly behind his rental place (with another run down trailer that isn't even really fit to live in). Currently he has some older guy and his drug addicted wife living there. The guy had been living with J in his shop for months, as he had separated from his wife. We talked to him at the fence a couple of times last winter, when J was out of the country. Nice quiet older guy with 2 little dogs. Told us why he was staying there. Now they are both living in the other place together, apparently.

So, yesterday afternoon DH is outside at the backside of our shed washing out the filters for the a/c units. This car pulls up in front of neighbors place. A woman/girl jumps out of her car, leaving the door open and runs towards the back of the single wide trailer that is right at the front corner of the property. She didn't see dh standing there on the other side of our fence. Then she is at the back of the trailer, where the power meter is, doing something (our guess is that one of J's "tenants" was using it as a drug drop). Then she runs back to her car. As she does DH walks to the corner of our fence and snaps a picture to get her license plate (not sure if she was trying to steal something or what from neighbor). She backs out back down the street (and it turns out then goes down to the drug dealers behind us). DH walks back down our fence line towards the big shop and sees the woman that has been (for 2 months now) living in an rv now parked next to the shop and asks her if J is around. She just rudely says "ya, he's around". So, DH tells her about this strange woman up on the top side of the property and what she just did and then J pokes his head around the corner of the shop, because he heard what DH was telling her and says "damn thieves, I'm sick of them" and runs up to the trailer and power meter to see if he could figure out what she had been doing there. DH just said he wasn't sure, but it all sure seemed suspicious and wasn't sure if she was trying to steal or break in or what.

Eventually he came back over to the fence and talked to DH. First time in like 2 1/2 years. First he complained about all the neighbors behind us (and him) that are the drug dealers that got busted last December. Kept trying to blame all the neighborhood problems on them (and not his renters). Drugs and theft. DH said, well the same thing is going on on our street, with your renters. He kept trying to evade it or act like he didn't really think they were dealing drugs, but he did come out finally and tell DH that he has recently told the renter dad that his 2 sons have got to go, or the dad has to move out too. J said he wants them out of there. (the boys and their friends are stealing from him)....but get this....turns out the couple that has been living in the rv next to his shop for the past 2 months......renter's parents in law! Plus the renter dad also has his brother in law living with them, and now some other female cousin or something.  J also kept saying he doesn't think they are dealing drugs.......c'mon really??? DH told him about 700 people/cars coming in and out per month to renters, that they walk out and meet cars on the corner, etc. 2 min in/2 min out type of thing.  He just kind of said "ohh" and sighed. Then DH told him that half of the cars visiting drug dealers behind us are also same cars coming in and out of his renters. "ohhhh..." Everything DH would tell him he would sigh and say "ohhh". I get that when he spends all his time down in his shop (or is out of the country for months) he doesn't see what goes on on our road, but he knows. DH said and of course anything I have tried to do to stop any of this has been met with "well that's just the asshole neighbor" because they got notion that from J! So J said well, we maybe we can work together to get rid of all this, but he doesn't want them knowing this.........not sure what that means, but DH said sure, whatever works.  He said he already has someone he wants to move into the place (which of course could just end up being same type of people/person)

Will neighbor actually get anything done and get rid of these? I doubt it, but again - like renter's son telling DH last week that his dad wants to move out....it's a small hope and a small step in the right direction. These people just need to GO away.