Gangland Central...

Shortly after we got married and Justin joined me here in Pacific Grove we stumbled across a comment about the area online one day.  The person writing the comment was a DLI graduate and was advising future DLI students to only live in military housing because everything outside of the base is "gangland central."  We joke around about how we live in gangland central all the time, since we've never felt unsafe in the neighborhood.  Truthfully we've never been able to figure out why people live in military housing since it is located on the old Ft. Ord 10 miles down the freeway from DLI.  With high gas prices, and crowded freeways, it's never made much sense to us to live out there. 

These last couple of weeks though our neighborhood has started to get really interesting.  We always had the neighbor across the way that we call "the serial killer."  He puts off quite a creep vibe, and there's something about the way he sort of lurks around that makes you feel like he's up to something.  Then there's the guy below us that smokes so much pot that you get a contact high just coming up and down the steps, but that's about it.

Then a few weeks ago I was laying in bed allegedly studying, but actually sleeping with my textbook, while Justin was in the kitchen doing dishes when I woke up to a gunshot.  It's weird how easy it is to identify that sound when you hear it.  I knew the minute I heard it that it wasn't a car backfiring, it was a firecracker, it was a gun, and I started frantically shouting at Justin to get into the bedroom so that he could help me scout out the situation from the bedroom window.  Within just a few minutes police cars started arriving and the police officers were blocking off the cul-de-sac up the hill where it seemed the gun had been fired, and detaining any pedestrians in the area.  They were walking around with their weapons drawn barking at people to put their hands in the air, searching them....it was all very interesting and went on for several hours, with Justin and I practically falling out our window trying to hear and see everything that was going on out there.  We eventually went to bed and read the next morning that the shooter was never caught, and that he had missed his intended target.

The next weekend we were sitting in our apartment minding our own business watching football on TV when our neighbor next door exploded into a fit of rage and starting screaming and throwing things around the house.  We gather that his live-in girlfriend was trying to leave him, and I wouldn't be at all surprised to learn that she was one of the things that got thrown around a little.  She ran out of the apartment leaving him behind screaming profanities at her while professing his love.  Very weird, and I truthfully found the event to be quite unsettling.  She returned home less than 24 hours later.

Last night Justin and I were laying in bed sound asleep when we woke up to a voice outside of our window saying "what's going on here this evening?"  We were both immediately awake, and Justin bolted up out of bed to open the blinds so that we could observe the woman outside being questioned by the police.  We were able to ascertain that something weird was going on with her husband since he called the police to report that she was stabbing herself...which she clearly was not.  Then there was some discussion about him telling the police that she hit him.  Eventually they just loaded her up in the patrol car and left. 

Aside from the incident with Justin watching one of our neighbors get hauled off in cuffs, it's been pretty quietly living here, and we honestly still don't think we live in gangland central, but I am starting to see what brought about that comment in the first place.  I'd still rather be here than out on Ft. Ord, it's way more interesting here anyway.