My oldest daughter thinks Laura is a battered wife. Whenever we see her, she's always alone, her tall, thin frame bent over in a permanent state of resignation. She never makes eye contact with anyone, preferring instead to look at the ground at the first hint that someone might want to say hello.
We used to see Rob, her husband, often, working out in his garage or washing his car. No one has seen him lately. Laura is the one who does the yard and walks the dogs.
I think the past few years have been difficult on the family. Their son Doug, a bright, handsome kid who could knock a baseball out of the park, was constantly in trouble at school and was eventually suspended when he got caught with marijuana. We had heard through other neighbors that Doug had tried to attack his dad when Rob was allegedly going after Laura (hence, the "battered wife" tag).
About two years ago, we ourselves had a run-in with the family. We came home one day to find the back window of our Jeep had been shot out by what appeared to be a paintball gun. It didn't take long for us to pin down the culprit – Doug and one of his friends – based both on eyewitness accounts and historical knowledge that they regularly shot at things (like trees) with a paintball gun. When confronted, Laura was adamant that her son would never have done such a thing – however, her son's friend 'fessed up to his dad and paid for the window to be replaced. (Doug continued to deny his involvement.)
There have other displays of odd behavior over the years. Once Rob blew up at the neighbor whose backyard bordered his, throwing things over the fence while screaming that they needed to stop throwing things at him. Other neighbors were hanging out at their house and the free-flowing alcohol was a lubricant for a good fight. Naturally, the cops were called. It was probably the highlight of their day.
Today there was a stick in the yard, a for sale sign that hung as forlornly as Laura's head. Sometimes when there are familial problems, just moving somewhere new is a breath of fresh air. But they may be trapped there for a while. The market keeps sinking. They probably won't get what they are asking. And worse – the beast of a house that was built practically on top of them is an immediate deterrant. Yes, the McMansion – the nearly three-story house that glares down on their backyard like Jack's beanstalk giant. There is no hope of privacy as there are at least eight windows in the McMansion that directly overlook their property.
One would think that there would be some regulation or at least consideration of what such a large building would do to its neighbors' property values. But it seems that for the McMansion residents, bigger is always better.
So the realtor.com listing just shows a picture of the inside of the house and its hardwood floors – probably because there was no way to take a snapshot of the front of the house without capturing the McMansion looming behind it.
Perhaps it's Laura's time to finally break free of the prison she's called home for nearly a decade.
