Not exactly what I needed right now

So, a recent post of mine touches on my “instinct” about people. I like to think it’s pretty good in my experience with mean, strange, odd, scary, perverted and abusive people.

Last year, nearly every day while walking to school, a dad (I will call him Spooky Man) at the school would drive by after dropping his kid off. No matter what, I couldn’t shake the schedule…and why would I want to?

Well, because nearly every day that we saw him, he would slow down, roll his window down, and look me up and down.

Sometimes he’d whistle slow and low. 

Gross.

I didn’t know who he was but figured it out pretty quickly and just made a greater attempt to a) avoid him at school and b) not look when I saw him drive by.

Now, this went on all year. And over the summer, I met a girl who was renting an apartment off of his house. Come to find out he continued to knock on her door to socialize, at all times of the day and night, talk to her breasts, make comments like “don’t come back from your boyfriend’s house with little babies inside you!” sort of comments.

So initially, those two things kind of disgust me about him.

Valid, right?

So come Fall, it turns out his bully brut son is in Blue’s kindergarten class. 

And at drop off and pick up we all stand by the kindergarten door to watch them go in and wave goodbye and then check them out at the same door at the end of the day. Which means, there is just a handful of us there, hanging out on either end of the school day.

So, I avoid him.

Like the plague.

J works in a place that is near the guy’s house. And when I first met J, he said to me “stay away from that guy, he is bad news.”

And I was like “um, I already knew that!”

Apparently, J had seen and heard things. 

So, I have never spoken to the guy. Ever. Until a few weeks ago when he butted in on a conversation with another dad, the dad actually knew J from the piano bar, so we were talking about all that good stuff. I answered Spooky Man’s question/interruption and then turned back to my conversation with Bob, the friend.

After that, Spooky Man would place himself at my elbow at pick up and drop off at the school. He’d walk way too close to me, so close that I could hear his breathing (and that’s close, considering I am hard of hearing!)

And then he touched me. Would kind of lean in. Ach.

TOTALLY creeped me out.

Come to find out that he’s been harassing moms at the school. Said things about their pants, their cleavage, sexual innuendos, stares, murmurs, whistles. Calling them and leaving creepy voicemails. And no one fuckin’ did anything about it except maybe a few complaints to the principal, who’s response was “this is not a school issue, if you feel you are being violated or threatened or harassed, call 911.”

So, fast forward to last Friday.

J is down here visiting and walks the girls to school with me.

When the kids were about to go in their classes, they were lined up, J says to Spooky Man, “Hey, Spooky Man, can I have a word with you please?” (Spooky Man knows who J is)

So they step aside and (I am mortified because I didn’t know he would ever say something to Spooky Man) they speak softly. And then Spooky Man starts getting all agitated and aggressive and says “Let’s go into the Principal’s office, why don’t we?” And J was like “SURE!”

Apparently, J said to Spooky Man, “Hey, I am going to ask you to leave Movin’ alone. Don’t talk to her and stay out of her space.”

Spooky Man got mad and said “You have no right to tell me that!”

And J said (calmly and quiet), “Listen, I know about your bullshit and we don’t want there to be a problem.”

Spooky Man and J went to talk to the principal. Who told them to take it outside the school. 

They left the principal’s office, J walking straight ahead, not talking to Spooky Man. Spooky Man, at his elbow, yelling at him and complaining, all agitated.

And apparently, the principal added this one to his list of things against Spooky Man and called the cops.

At the end of the day, we went to pick up the girls and Spooky Man was stalking around, getting real close to J (who just stood there and ignored him) and started yelling at us and speaking in a threatening tone.

We went home.

Monday, the cops were there, on the lookout. Apparently, Spooky Man started a rumor that J threatened him and he was going to sue him. And there was this big drama going around that my boyfriend threatened Spooky Man.

Wednesday, the cops were back and one of them came up to me to speak with me and get the story. Although whoever was spreading the rumors, the cops knew the guy was a problem and apparently had many complaints about him, there in the police station.

We had a chat and one of the first things the cop said to me, in a low whisper was, “We know Spooky Man is a nitwit. He’s a total moron.”

What’s funny is that all these people at school with very little information about the whole thing, created this whole drama about threats and creating problems and so forth…well, they all watched the police talk to me and then the cop says, “Here’s let us give you a ride home” (down the street) and I was like “Oh, no…I can walk….” and he opens the door and shoved all their winter gear aside and I get in.

The door closes and both cops start cracking up and they turn around and say, “ooo, imagine what they will all talk about, you getting carted away in a cop car!”

Basically, they were contacting me to be sure there would be no more problems on our end. My response? “There will be no problems on our end unless he talks to me, comes near me or makes me feel unsafe again.”

The cop pulled out his card and said “You call me anytime you are worried about him and I will take care of it.”

I spoke with the cop again today who reassured me that Spooky Man would not come near me or talk to me or J or my kids. He also assured me he put the complaint and issue in a file with the guy’s name and problem.

And then he said, “just another to add to the file.”

The best thing about this, that makes me feel good, is that Spooky Man and a handful of folks who got caught up in the gossip were and are running around with their heads cut off.

I haven’t talked to anyone except the police and the principal. And I’m not going to.

And the situation is taken care of.

And now people are sitting around wondering “oooo, Spooky Man must have really done something to have Movin’s boyfriend speak to him to leave her alone!”

I love keeping everyone guessing. I love that I take no part in the gossip. I handled it wisely with the police. I am reassured by the police that he won’t be getting near me again. And I also feel the guy may have learned his lesson. Let’s hope.

I wonder if he knows the police are watching him.