Party in the 'Hood

Taken from the front door while trying to remain inconspicuous. Every year our neighborhood has a gathering of people on our street put on by a neighbor down the street. And every year the crowd gets smaller and smaller, since our neighborhood has become home to a lot of undesirables who have no intention of going to a potluck BBQ to mingle with the neighbors. Apparently, the man just gave up and our new neighbors took over.

Now mind you, these are the new neighbors who celebrated their moving in 3 weeks ago with a party. That celebration lasted until the early morning hours and involved no less than 3 visits by the police. Basically a bunch of young people who don't work, and sit around doing nothing most of the time. That particular fight started when the boyfriend of one of the young ladies (and I use that term loosely) was apparently being accused of sleeping with one of the other neighborhood guys-who was not the same color as her. The arguing ensued all night, and finally the boyfriend was told to leave by the police. He came back a couple more times, and was told to leave again. I don't know what happened after that, but at 10 am the next day he was outside taking out the trash, so apparently all had been forgiven.

When my son came home and told me that these neighbors gave his girlfriends mom an invite, and that the party was opened up to included not just street residents but the whole South End-I knew it was not good. Then, looking at the invite and seeing that they were selling BEER for $5 a cup and $1 refills, I knew that this was going to get even better. It said no ID over 21+ no beer. That didn't last very long as I counted several 10-15 year olds getting intoxicated over the course of the day. I certainly couldn't call their parents-because their parents were there at the party WITH them.

As the evening progressed, the beer and marijuana freely passed hands. The smell of the peace pipe wafted over to my house, and I knew that this particular partaking of the herb was going to be the very opposite of a peaceable event. As it got darker, people in taxis began to arrive and the sounds of laughter and fun started to be replaced with argumentative tones and f-bombs. Ah, another night in the hood.

The party hit a crescendo around midnight as an older woman and a younger girl took it upstairs. Sitting on my computer and tweeting, I could hear the action from my seat. My son and his girlfriend woke up and joined me outside as we watched from the driveway, mesmerized, as a thin young man stood between the two women in the well-lit front room while they screamed like banshees and it appeared a cat fight was looming on the horizon. We were distracted for a moment by the sound of another young man yelling and an older man telling him to unwrap the tee shirt he had wrapped around his arm. They were in the middle of the street in front of us, and apparently the younger man had punched out a window and the older man was concerned that he might have hit an artery.

The screaming ensued, and another young girl rushed into the action from outside. Apparently, the whole argument was all about some other girl who had gone to the party and gotten beaten up earlier-and had some ribs broken. (that was police visit #1 late afternoon) Just as they were going to take it outside, and things were going to get interesting-we heard the sound of sirens. Four police cars showed up, and the officers began talking with the party goers. The young girl who had shown up late started screaming about being accused of something she didn't do, but was belligerent enough to dare the officer to arrest her anyways. Lucky for her, she didn't have a ride in the paddywagon. Under the supervision of the police, they began to take down the tent and were told that they could continue quietly inside their apartment. I finally fell asleep around 1 am. I got up periodically through the night, just to check on things-but, for the most part, it was quiet.

Tonight, it remains quiet as a steady rain falls on the 'hood. The only action comes from the single woman next door, listening and singing along to her Aerosmith music while drunken dancing and bobbing around in her living room. (as seen through my bathroom window).