Baby Boy

My former wife has a 200 year old house she is slowly renovating.  I've been helping.  It's a lot of work.  And there are always little human dramas around.

The area itself is relatively stable, except for a rental next to her house and a deserted house just south of that.

Rentals in the 'inner city' are a huge problem.  They are often owned by absentee landlords, even sometimes little corporations which shelter illegal activities.  And bet that there is enough corruption in Indianapolis to perpetuate the problem.  The problem is exacerbated by many who move into the rentals.

Oh oh.  The collectivists will writhe about claiming I'm racist or prejudiced against the poor or some other tired commie rhetoric.  Nope.  It's a fact the rentals are magnets for drug dealers and attendant criminals.  They are hotbeds for trouble.

Over the years, there has been a panoply of shady characters as 'neighbors'.  It's almost exhausting to think of the aforementioned ne'er do wells which blighted the area. 

We have disrupted drug making, dealing, fencing activities among others.  It has made us persona non grata with the criminals.  Allies, enemies and those who are not what they appear could fill a mini series.  Truth is stranger than fiction.

The subject of this post is Baby Boy.  He is a mostly black Pit Bull mix with white feet, chest and tail tip.  He is consistently abused by the 19 year old kid who is among the current inhabitants of the rental.

Baby Boy is yelled at, underfed, hit and left outside on a short chain.  We've had some bad rainstorms lately and he has endured them, curled in the back yard.  Then he barks, begging for attention, to be sheltered and fed.  It is mixed with whines of desperation.

When we first met him, he was surly and suspicious.  He barked and growled, even when I offered him some roast beef, talking to him.  He was passively aggressive and backed up as I approached.

My ex got through to him.  He liked our dog, a girl, and as my ex talked soothingly she fed him dog treats.  I joined her and he started wagging his tail.  We got him food and he ravenously consumed it.

We got to calling him Baby Boy.

The kid is a controlling street punk, or thug if you like.  We suspect drug dealing with his digging up and burying objects in their back yard.  There is no visible means of support as he comes and goes picking up and delivering packages.  An aside:  We happened back one day and a young man of Oriental extraction emerged from the rental.  Ironically, he bore a carry out container bulging with plastic bag sticking out.  When he saw us he got nervous and tucked the sack in.  Like I said, the makings of a mini series.

The kid, btw, is very careful not to do much drug activity on the pot.  However he does get high and likes to stand outside in the middle of the night and sing.  There have been cops a few times, but nothing has come of it.

So, round red robin's barn and back to Baby Boy.

My ex got into an argument with him about the dog.  He claimed to have raised 20 Pit Bulls.  When she asked if they were all mean, he answered yes.  This was in response to how he treated Baby Boy.  She offered to take him and he refused.  We believe the dog is supposed to be the literal outside guard.  He has two Pits in the house.

Oh yes, he has admitted to having a 'temper'.  Spent time in jail as a result.  Hmmm.  We wonder what else there is. 

And his name for this sad dog is 'Street N*****'  Uh-huh.

No deep psychological analysis here.  What we've witnessed is endemic of the thugs who have invaded us from within.

They live in entitled violence ruled hell.  Killing is a right of passage.  Robbing, drugs are just business as usual.  The measure of their twisted version of 'manhood' is to beat down others.

Street gangs and outlaw bikers are a whole different post.  I'm taking a while with this as it is -s-.

Why?  Why bother?  Why not sell her house?  Why endure the stupidity and actual danger?

Where are you gonna go?  Where are you gonna hide?  Reminds me of the quote at the end of Body Snatchers with Gabrielle Anwar, where one of the pod people asked the still human girl why she resists?  The question is left unanswered.

Terrible things are happening.  There is a mobile army amongst us threatening our infrastructure.  Either we expose it or knuckle under.

Strength in love or hate?  We've seen it all before over the centuries.  Might makes right has been the credo of collectivists for a long time.

Will it be love, with the resolve to defend it?  Or will it be terror, abuse and disarmed sheep at the mercy of thugs?

Baby Boy or Street N*****?  Which will it be?