Goddamn.
Being off work at the moment, I keep odd hours and was up this morning at my normal time of 1:00 am.
Which is how I came to be awake during what quickly became my next door neighbors' very loud and heated argument. At first, I could ocassionally hear what sounded like glass bottles and cans clinking together in the bottom of a large trash can. Then I could hear raised voices, so I listened harder to see if it was something I needed to pay attention to. Things seemed to quiet down for a few minutes, so I went back to what I was doing. Then I heard the clinking bottle noises and louder shouting, which was right next to my living room closet (we share a wall). I could hear the guy calling the woman a bitch and going on about how it was his apartment and she could get out and she was saying something like, "I'm a bitch?" and then some muffled arguing as they presumably moved farther away. It quieted down and then flared back up, with him saying things about how she was the kind of woman who needed smacked around (I'm paraphrasing, but this is what it boiled down to) but he wasn't that kind of guy, etc. They continued to argue, from the living room to the bedroom.
I was like, "FUCK THIS SHIT!" and decided to call 911 to report a domestic disturbance. Of course, I couldn't find my phone, so I went to borrow J's and inevitably woke J up in the process of grabbing the phone. J was like, "What's going on?" but I didnt' have time to explain, I needed to make that call. J came into the living room and asked if I was calling 911, because by that point their volume level had gone off the charts and even J could hear them through the bedroom wall.
I called and explained, the operator sent the cops to check it out. After a few minutes, she started crying even louder in this whimpering sort of way that sounded awful and like maybe he was raping her or beating the shit out of her so I called 911 again and begged them to tell the cops to hurry because it sounded like he was hurting her. My voice was shaking and I think the operator got that I was kind of freaked out and desperate. I was shaking pretty hard at that point and J came and hugged me.
The guy had apparently gone outside to cool off by the time the cops showed up a few minutes after my second call. I peeked out the window and saw them, then looked through my peephole to see if the neighbors' door was open. It wasn't, so I opened our door and listened and heard the cops say something like, "Well, he says nothing is going on so we're heading out." I stepped outside of my doorway a little and caught the attention of one of the cops, who were facing me while the guy was facing away. I shook my head and pointed vigorously at their door to indicate that she was inside and there was more going on than the guy was admitting. I waited until the DoorCop came down the stairs then slipped back inside and closed my door. The guy didn't take too kindly to DoorCop checking things out and he tried to charge after him. I heard OtherCop telling the guy what a bad idea it was going after DoorCop.
DoorCop either opened the door, or his knocking on the door opened it, because DrunkGuy was further incensed and continued to try to go after DoorCop. DrunkGuy was complaining that DoorCop had no right to go inside the apartment. She came outside and tried to calm DrunkGuy down, saying "Don't...baby don't." Basically telling him to stop attacking the police before his drunk ass ended up in jail for assaulting an officer. He calmed down, the two cops split up and talked to DrunkGuy and the woman separately to find out what was going on. I stopped eavesdropping at that point, figuring it was under control. I went back to the peephole and listened a few times just to find out what was going on and both cops were lecturing the guy up one side and down another.
Things turned out okay, and the cops did a great job of staying and making sure things calmed down and didn't escalate. The guy tried to protest multiple times that nothing was going on and the cop said, "Do you know how many calls we got about you guys in just two minutes? A lot. So obviously something was happening." They continued to lecture him quite a bit, explaining that it was their job to come and check these disturbances out, and they made it clear to the guy that he'd almost landed in jail for trying to stop the other cop from making sure the woman was okay. DrunkGuy admitted to them that he'd taken a sleeping pill, "a hypnotic" as he called it, on top of the drinking. They asked if he needed to go to the hospital, as I gather she'd whacked him rather soundly in the face, and he said he just needed to go to bed. The cops agreed and that's when I stopped listening.
I was still pretty shaken up, though, because adrenaline rush is a bastard to come down from. My stomach was killing me, so I drank something like five glasses of milk and had a big chocolate muffin to help absorb all of the stomach acid stabbing me in the gut. J and I sat on the couch and cuddled and talked about how seriously fucked up the situation was. I told J that at one point I'd even considered going over there myself to make sure she was okay, but I wasn't sure how well that would turn out. Had the cops not come soon enough, I might have done it anyway - because I've seen enough of this bullshit in my life and I'm not going to sit around and let a woman get beaten when I could do something to stop it. I'd also mulled over getting our awesome and gigantic upstairs neighbor to come down and help me take the piss out the guy if necessary. Fortunately, the cops came right after my second call and it was all moot.
But later this morning, when our apartment office opens up, I'm going to go over and file a complaint. I don't need more stress in my life right now and if these people can't keep their drama levels down I'm going help them find somewhere else to play out their little games. J lost precious hours of sleep due to their stupid fighting and I was ready to fight an army to save a woman who didn't need it, then had to deal with my body's fight response, which lasted longer than their whole pointless ordeal. I do them a favor by not complaining about them smoking in our shared stairwell, and this is how I'm repaid? Oh, hell no.
Which is how I came to be awake during what quickly became my next door neighbors' very loud and heated argument. At first, I could ocassionally hear what sounded like glass bottles and cans clinking together in the bottom of a large trash can. Then I could hear raised voices, so I listened harder to see if it was something I needed to pay attention to. Things seemed to quiet down for a few minutes, so I went back to what I was doing. Then I heard the clinking bottle noises and louder shouting, which was right next to my living room closet (we share a wall). I could hear the guy calling the woman a bitch and going on about how it was his apartment and she could get out and she was saying something like, "I'm a bitch?" and then some muffled arguing as they presumably moved farther away. It quieted down and then flared back up, with him saying things about how she was the kind of woman who needed smacked around (I'm paraphrasing, but this is what it boiled down to) but he wasn't that kind of guy, etc. They continued to argue, from the living room to the bedroom.
I was like, "FUCK THIS SHIT!" and decided to call 911 to report a domestic disturbance. Of course, I couldn't find my phone, so I went to borrow J's and inevitably woke J up in the process of grabbing the phone. J was like, "What's going on?" but I didnt' have time to explain, I needed to make that call. J came into the living room and asked if I was calling 911, because by that point their volume level had gone off the charts and even J could hear them through the bedroom wall.
I called and explained, the operator sent the cops to check it out. After a few minutes, she started crying even louder in this whimpering sort of way that sounded awful and like maybe he was raping her or beating the shit out of her so I called 911 again and begged them to tell the cops to hurry because it sounded like he was hurting her. My voice was shaking and I think the operator got that I was kind of freaked out and desperate. I was shaking pretty hard at that point and J came and hugged me.
The guy had apparently gone outside to cool off by the time the cops showed up a few minutes after my second call. I peeked out the window and saw them, then looked through my peephole to see if the neighbors' door was open. It wasn't, so I opened our door and listened and heard the cops say something like, "Well, he says nothing is going on so we're heading out." I stepped outside of my doorway a little and caught the attention of one of the cops, who were facing me while the guy was facing away. I shook my head and pointed vigorously at their door to indicate that she was inside and there was more going on than the guy was admitting. I waited until the DoorCop came down the stairs then slipped back inside and closed my door. The guy didn't take too kindly to DoorCop checking things out and he tried to charge after him. I heard OtherCop telling the guy what a bad idea it was going after DoorCop.
DoorCop either opened the door, or his knocking on the door opened it, because DrunkGuy was further incensed and continued to try to go after DoorCop. DrunkGuy was complaining that DoorCop had no right to go inside the apartment. She came outside and tried to calm DrunkGuy down, saying "Don't...baby don't." Basically telling him to stop attacking the police before his drunk ass ended up in jail for assaulting an officer. He calmed down, the two cops split up and talked to DrunkGuy and the woman separately to find out what was going on. I stopped eavesdropping at that point, figuring it was under control. I went back to the peephole and listened a few times just to find out what was going on and both cops were lecturing the guy up one side and down another.
Things turned out okay, and the cops did a great job of staying and making sure things calmed down and didn't escalate. The guy tried to protest multiple times that nothing was going on and the cop said, "Do you know how many calls we got about you guys in just two minutes? A lot. So obviously something was happening." They continued to lecture him quite a bit, explaining that it was their job to come and check these disturbances out, and they made it clear to the guy that he'd almost landed in jail for trying to stop the other cop from making sure the woman was okay. DrunkGuy admitted to them that he'd taken a sleeping pill, "a hypnotic" as he called it, on top of the drinking. They asked if he needed to go to the hospital, as I gather she'd whacked him rather soundly in the face, and he said he just needed to go to bed. The cops agreed and that's when I stopped listening.
I was still pretty shaken up, though, because adrenaline rush is a bastard to come down from. My stomach was killing me, so I drank something like five glasses of milk and had a big chocolate muffin to help absorb all of the stomach acid stabbing me in the gut. J and I sat on the couch and cuddled and talked about how seriously fucked up the situation was. I told J that at one point I'd even considered going over there myself to make sure she was okay, but I wasn't sure how well that would turn out. Had the cops not come soon enough, I might have done it anyway - because I've seen enough of this bullshit in my life and I'm not going to sit around and let a woman get beaten when I could do something to stop it. I'd also mulled over getting our awesome and gigantic upstairs neighbor to come down and help me take the piss out the guy if necessary. Fortunately, the cops came right after my second call and it was all moot.
But later this morning, when our apartment office opens up, I'm going to go over and file a complaint. I don't need more stress in my life right now and if these people can't keep their drama levels down I'm going help them find somewhere else to play out their little games. J lost precious hours of sleep due to their stupid fighting and I was ready to fight an army to save a woman who didn't need it, then had to deal with my body's fight response, which lasted longer than their whole pointless ordeal. I do them a favor by not complaining about them smoking in our shared stairwell, and this is how I'm repaid? Oh, hell no.