When CM arrived the next morning and went over whatever
report had been written about the event from the day before she called a house
meeting. All residents had to be there unless they were working, which they
weren’t, so we all followed her to the upper common room. She began by saying that
incidents had taken place on the weekends and she wasn’t happy about it and she
asked me what had happened the day before.
I tried to fill her in but Cathy and her attitude kept
interrupting and trying to interject something or call me a liar. It got to the
point that I flat out told CM that if I wasn’t allowed to speak I was leaving
the meeting whether she liked it or not and that she could just write me up for
it because I didn’t care. She told Cathy to keep quiet and I continued. I’d no
sooner said a full sentence when Cathy interrupted again. I stood up and said I
was leaving; I told CM that apparently I wasn’t going to be allowed to say what
I needed to say so she just needed to let Cathy fill her in on all the details
since she obviously knew better than I did.
I was halfway down the stairs when CM called me back up and
very forcefully told Cathy to keep her mouth shut. I finished telling CM what
had happened including Cathy’s way of referring to my kids and her telling my
son to mind his own business. Cathy’s said she never swore in reference to my
kids so I asked if she wanted me to have Zach talk to CM when he got home from school.
She didn’t answer. Then she said that my son had no right interrupting an adult
conversation and I told her he did if the conversation was about him and he
felt the need to correct the incorrect information. She was not happy.
Then she proceeded to tell CM that I had no business
diagnosing her son and telling my kids that he had the flu. Again I was being
accused of something I hadn’t done. CM asked Cathy what she was talking about
and she told CM that she’d overheard Dolly telling Chatty that my kids couldn’t
play with him because he had the flu. L, who was sitting next to me on the
sofa, spoke up and said she was the one who’d suggested Chatty had the flu.
Cathy just stared at her and said it had to be me because it was my daughter
who’d repeated it. Big fucking deal! I guess kids don’t hear anyone but their
parents, right?
CM asked me if I’d told my kids Chatty had the flu. I said I
didn’t but that L had been speaking to Cathy in the yard about Chatty possibly
having the flu. L then said that Dolly had been standing nearby so that was
probably where she’d heard it. CM agreed and Cathy wasn’t happy. Then she went
into a tirade about me telling my kids not to play with her son; I had no
right, there was nothing wrong with him, blah, blah, blah. She was shot down
there, too, because CM said that if Chatty had been sick all weekend to the
point that he couldn’t get off the sofa then I had a right to keep my kids away
from him until Cathy found out what was wrong with him. Another point for me.
Cm then asked me what the other problems were so I filled
her in on all the broken rules, the changing of the diapers on the sofa, having
to explain to my kids why we had to follow rules when Cathy didn’t, and, most
of all, about me being accused of saying shit I’d never said; specifically that
weekend and the incident a few weeks before with teen boy. CM didn’t even want
that incident being brought up but Cathy was yelling at me that I needed to
take responsibility for what I’d said. She and Marcy copped attitudes, laughing
at me like I was an idiot. L responded again that she was the one who’d made
the comment about the ashtray but nobody wanted to listen to her. Again, CM
said she wasn’t going to rehash past events.
All she said was that all residents had to follow the rules
and that the house was so out of control that if we didn’t start getting along
she’d have to discharge all of us. Fuck that!! I was so angry I couldn’t stand
it. CM actually said that it seemed like the entire problem was a personality
conflict between Cathy and me which I vehemently refuted. I flat out said that
it had nothing to do with a personality conflict; that it had to do with Cathy
getting away with whatever she wanted and the rest of us having to deal with
it. CM just looked at me and said she was done talking and the meeting was
over. As we walked down the stairs I started to tell her that she didn’t hear a
word I’d said but all she did was brush me off saying she didn’t want to hear
another word about it. What-the-fuck-ever!!
I grabbed my smokes and my phone and went out front. I was
so angry that I wanted to explode on someone. I sat on the curb, away from
everyone and called a friend of mine to vent. I’d been there about 45 minutes
or so when CM came to the front door calling my name. I ignored her the first
couple of times but the third time she called I snapped at her, “WHAT!? I’m ON
the PHONE!” She said I had a phone call in the office that I needed to take. So
I told my friend I’d call her back and I started to walk toward the back door.
Residents weren’t allowed to go in and out the front door unless we were moving
in, moving out, or had lots of groceries to bring in.
CM walked with me saying that she understood how I was
feeling but that staff wasn’t allowed to discuss other residents with us. I
just ignored her. She went on saying that she knew there was a problem with
Cathy and that it was being handled. I responded, “Bullshit! If it was being
handled she wouldn’t still be here after five months of write-ups and attitudes.”
I told her that from that point on I was going to keep my mouth shut about
anything and everything that didn’t have to do with my family. I told her that
if there were other incidents in the house not to bother asking me if I knew
anything because as far as I was concerned I didn’t know shit about anything. I
told her someone could be beating the shit out of their kid and I wouldn’t care
in the least; it wasn’t my problem to be concerned with anyone but my kids. She
wasn’t happy but said she understood why I felt that way.
Ironically enough, after that meeting Cathy began to change
and CM ended up eating her words about the personality conflict. A lot of shit
went down after that day and I just sat back and laughed at all of it. It was
no longer my business and I didn’t care. As bad as I felt for the other
residents I didn’t feel like any of them, other than L and her daughter, deserved
my assistance after the way they’d treated me. They were on their own. But the
shit continued building until it exploded to the point of no return; and that
time it had nothing at all to do with me.
Until next time…peace to all.
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