Out Of The Slammer And Into The Fire- Part 12

So... unlike fiction, real life isn't very tidy. One event or story isn't everything that happens to us at a time. You can break your arm and buy a chicken and get a flat on your bike, all on the same day.

This period with Mitch was, indeed, a story full of stories.

I dug around in my paper bag full of pictures and found these that related to this period. The first one, is a female Siberian Husky pup that I got right after Mitch and I finished the first remodel. Her name was Kuma and she was meant to mark the moment when I officially settled down. She was the event that was supposed to signify that the oats had been sown. A dog. A home with furniture. Domesticity, baby...

The second picture is of a fence Scott from New Zealand and I built separating Mitch and Marissa's yard from Vee and Lulu's. At first, Mitch took this fence to be one more brick piled atop his caving shoulders, but as I built it, I convinced him otherwise. Everyday, Lulu drove down to the bottom of her long and windy driveway to get her mail. If Marissa's dog ventured over and pooped down here, Lulu would get out of her big blue cadillac and fling the poo back at Mitch's and Marissa's house with a stick. She'd carry on about the rudeness of people in sailoresque language and Marissa's teenage son and daughter would get to watch it all out the kitchen window while they ate their cereal in preparation for school.

The kids called Lulu "The Witch" and would humm a version of the Wizard of Oz's bicycle scene and laugh and laugh. I suggested to Mitch that not having to watch Lulu's morning ritual everyday might just help him relax and he came aound to my way of thinking. On Mitch's side of the fence, he planted honeysuckle and orange trumpet vines and I installed sprinklers on Lulu's side to water them. So now, instead of staring out into Lulu's horse barn, Mitch and Marissa stare out into a great wall of green vines and flowers.

What is also striking about this picture of the fence, is the two figures off in the distance. The figure on the left is Scott from New Zealand, standing in the shadows. The figure on the street is significant, only because she is walking very near the spot where the litle girl was run over. There is a dark patch ahead of the figure and then a stripe of light. On the right side of the road, withn this light, is where the tragedy occured. I think you can see just how narrow and calm the lane actually was.

The two construction pics are of the front of Vee and Lulu's house. As you can see, there was a deck that surrounded the front and afforded a spectacular view of a small valley below. This was when and where I was standing when the Rodney King riots were running rampant. The last pic (have the blog censors been by?) was taken right after Mitch and I finished the first project for Vee and Lulu. I needed a haircut (there had been no time) and the exceptionally long days made me look tired and skinny. What the hell kind of smirk is that, anyway?

I got a phone call from Marvin and Kim's lawyer. I was one of the closest adults to the tragedy and he was interested in having me come in as a witness.

"You're trying to prove that Mitch and Marissa were negligent, right?"

"Well, yes, what we are trying to do is ..."

"I saw a mother drinking and dancing while her five year old daughter wandered around on her own, if that helps your case any..."

They never called me as a witness.

Marvin and Kim had understandably withdrew into themselves, and the bits and pieces of the case I got from Mitch. Basically, a grieving mother lost a five year old child, and Marissa's homeowners insurance was a deep pocket and the end was inevitable. Give the poor grieving woman some money, and let's be done with this. The thing of it was, the end was inevitable, but Marissa's homeowner's wanted Mitch and Marissa to fight the allegations.

"Your rates will skyrocket. You won't be able to afford insurance anymore, you will lose your mortgage without insurance... "

Man, I hate those people.

Four months after the tragedy, Marissa and Mitch were still being asked to come in and sit in court and be told how bad they were for letting events unfold that caused this horrible accident.

I think the award was about 250,000 dollars.