Fourth of July. My husband and I thought we’d go out for dinner with two other couples we’re close friends with. It’s my non-treatment week so I feel pretty good. We picked a place and a time and to our surprise, the restaurant was closed when we got there! So we tried a second, and a third place – all closed. We called another. Closed. When did this happen? Holidays were always big restaurant business days! We tried Italian, Greek, Mexican and Chinese. So, disappointed and hungry we gave up, went to the Ingles deli and headed home.
After scarfing down a quick meal I get a phone call from my neighbor, Lisa. She asked me to go out onto my front porch and tell her which home was on fire. ON FIRE. Marty and I ran out the door to see a trailer in our park smoking, with flames coming out the windows. I told her it was lot #43 and hung up so she could call 911. Marty and I headed right over.
Now, #43 has been a problem for a while. The tenant owns the home and only pays the company for lot rent. The cops are over there frequently. There were people over there who probably shouldn’t have been. Apparently the tenant had just the other night told his brother to get out.
So, the brother packed up all his stuff in garbage bags, put them out on the lawn, and set fire to the mobile home.
Then, the criminal mastermind went to bunch of different neighbors and told them that he’d set fire to the place. Brilliant! That little secret lasted all of five minutes and then was reported to the fire chief on the scene. Cops arrived shortly after and away went the brother. I should be a little more surprised than I am. But I’m not. This is not just trailer park stupid, this is the state of the world right now. People are getting crazier all the time.
I’m thankful that the homes have such big yards so the neighboring trailers didn’t catch, too. It takes about seven minutes for a mobile home to burn down.
Never a dull moment.
Tracy Petry 