Chapter 16: Long Hard Road (Part Four)

It never changes because Rick is unwilling to change his ways. He wants it done his way or else people can leave and he is unwilling to do it any way but his way or else. His heart is in the right place but his mind is somewhere else.

I moved out of the first Mobile Home and into another one that Rick had that he was working on too. The first one was almost done all that was left to do was to finish the room I was in and a few other things. Joe’s room was OK and did not need to be redone. About mid February 2008 I moved into the last Mobile Home Rick was working on in the back room, similar to the one I had just left but the floor plan was a little different but all in all it was still the back room. Then shortly Rick moved Joe down to take the other room where he charged me $400.00 a month and Joe had to pay his share by working when he could to pick up money from odd jobs and sell his belongings he had in storage to help pay his share of the rent. We were both expected to pay $400.00 a month each as Rick remodeled the Mobile Homes to generate cash for the rent for the Refiner’s Fire Church and what ever other expenses the church had. We were expected to attend the long-winded 2 and half hour sermons by Rick on Sunday’s and Tuesday evenings.

There was one time when Joe Rouchleau and I had a disagreement and he as much told me since he was having a bad time keeping up with his share of the rent since the day I first became his roommate. Rick Bivens wife Bonnie would mention every so often, “We need to find someone for you who can at least pay the rent”. Which was all of the time with Joe, not being able to pull his weight when it came to the monthly rent.

Right after we moved from Space #45 to Space #55 in the Park Villa Estates Mobile Home Park. Joe says, “If I lose my storage and can't pay for it, I am going to kick your ass”.

That same day right after that Rick saw me walking Feisty and mentioned that he might have a job for me. The owner of the Park Villa Estates Mobile Home Park was looking for someone to rebuild his web site as the owner had his daughter doing it but she no longer had an interest to keep updating it. I mentioned to Rick the run in I had with Joe and what he said to me.

Rick came down and talked to Joe about the situation, as Joe and I did not always get along. Some times we did and some times we didn’t. We just tolerated each other as neither one of us had much choice because we had nowhere else to go.

I sent an email to Rick Bivens with a rough draft of this chapter and here is what he said in an email, “You shouldn’t believe everything you hear. You and Joe's relationship wasn’t the best. If you recall I had to come and talk to both of you a couple of times. That came from the comments he was making in regards to you and living with you. I told Joe what you had written on the Internet. I told him that most of the mention of him was that you felt that I treated him badly. I won’t tell you what his response was, but people don’t think good things about someone who interferes in their private life.”

And this is what I replied back, “Yes, then maybe Joe should tell you about how many times he would leave the house, and drive out the other way, so that you would not see him, in-order not be pestered, about the back rent that he owed, or how he felt that you wanted everything he had. Like stuff in his storage, and that is one of the reasons he did not want to get his microwave out of storage, for fear that you would want him to give it to you for back rent. And how he complained about how much you were over charging us, and how you did not give him what he felt his tools were worth, when he had to give them to you towards his back rent, and how he felt that Ken had to pay way too much, to get them back from you. And how he did not want you to go with him to his storage, for fear if you saw something, you would want it too, for his back rent that he owed.

Where he felt he had to attend all the services, Sunday’s and Tuesdays or you would get mad at him, unless he could find an excuse to be late, or not go at all. When he could find a way he would make sure, that whatever meetings he had to attend on Tuesday’s, he would make sure he would be late, because he did not want to attend them and listen to the same old stuff or bitch sessions. Where he would just sit there and zone you out and just wanted to go there to pray about getting his kids back and did not want to hear the rest of the sermon. Or when you would discuss his personal life in front of all of the church, and make comments to the effect “I wish he would not do that to people. Embarrass them in front of everyone and bring up their personal business in the church, like that. Why does he do that to people?” Or where he was intentionally always late going to church, that way he would not have to be there as long and that he was always the first out the door when the service was over. (In my case I was usually late due to the fact I had to wait on Joe to make sure he closed to door or locked it so my dog would not get out or try and leave first to make sure Joe did not let her out when he went home).

Where he would hide in his room and make sure the door was locked (Especially when we lived in #45) so that you, or Steve did not come looking for him, so that he would not have to work for you that day (because he did not feel like it) to make up for his past rent being behind. Or where he did not like working on #60 because he felt, it used to be his, and he did not want to work on something that he once owned. Where he felt the owner of the park had taken advantage of him. When he was forced to sell it to him for a $1000.00. After all, it was Christmas time and the man had no heart and how could he come up with that kind of money in such a short period of time that time of year.

Or how he felt we were being charged the price of the Hilton and didn’t even have any privacy and how he couldn’t understand how you could charge us $800.00 a month, when it should have been less than, that due to the fact that the space rent and the utilities alone did not come to $800.00 a month. Or how he felt every time he worked that he had to make sure he stopped by your house to give you as much as he could out of his daily checks and complained you were taking all of his money.

Or where you would come down and put his mail in his room, where he felt you did not respect him, and you could come in whenever you felt like it. He felt the main reason you came down to do that, most of the time was to see, if he was home, so that you could get money from him, if he had any to give you at the time.

Joe should be thankful that I was there, because without me from January all the way to May, when he moved out and moved in with Ken and Carolyn. You would have had to make up the difference, because Joe surely did not have much of an income, until he finally started getting two days a week working for the trash company, picking up trash, and his food stamps. Joe ate better than I did. And he was too proud to eat any of the food the Travez’s family would bring to us. Joe would say, I don’t understand why they do that, they cannot even feed themselves.”

When he finally got the hours from Ken for IHSS and the checks would go to you in the mail, he would moan and grown about how much you were taking from his checks for his past rent, and how you did not always leave him enough for him to get other things that he needed, because you always wanted your money first.

So Joe needs to be thankful for what you did for him, and what I did for him by paying the rent on the first or third of each month, because if I had found somewhere else to live before I did. You would have had to find someone else with an income, to make up for the difference that Joe did not have, when it came to incomes and paying the rent on the first part of each month.

I saved his butt one time and he saved mine and we are both even, but without me living there Joe may have found his self out on the street or you would have had to keep carrying him until he did find a job, if I had not been there or find someone else to move in, in my place.

The first month in January I was told by you that I was only going to have to pay $300.00 to $350.00 a month, but by February Joe still had no real income to speak of, so I had to then pay $400.00 a month, and every month after that, I paid it, while Joe was hit and miss when it came to his share of the rent. And I am the one that had to listen day in and day out about all his problems, (that is when he was not in his room hiding from you) and why he was fighting for his kids, and how he was going to get them back. And all the bitch and moan sessions about all the social workers that he had to deal with, and all the stress management classes he had to attend, just to get his kids back, and where he had to do them again, because they did not like him and they were against him or out to get him, and they would not allow him to do this or to do that or how they were watching him, when he was with his kids. Or how they complained about how he spoiled them, and they did not like the way he spoiled them, or how he played with them and on and on...

Would you like to hear more about what he calls the Satellite Family, maybe you should ask Joe about the Satellite family, and how once the story gets out the whole world is going to know what he has been through, and all people that have been after him for years, because of something he saw or was involved with way back when, in Fontana, California.

I did him a favor and typed out his notes so that at least he had his story in printed form; instead of the way he was sending it out to all the newspaper and magazines, to see if anyone would be interested in his story. He was sending photocopies of his hand written story, until I typed it out for him on my computer, and printed it out so that he could make copies of a legible story, that he wrote and I found a list addresses on the Internet of the newspapers and magazines, so he could mail copies to them.

Shall, I go on or do you get the picture...

What is on my mind you ask?

I had to put Feisty in the house due to a neighbor who complained about her barking, which made the situation even that much more harder with having to keep Feisty inside all the time. Now I was not able to put on her cable outside in the yard.

You did not like the idea that talk was getting around the park about how you was charging both Joe and I $400.00 per month and neither one of us had an any renter’s rights. As no one was suppose to be able to or allowed to rent in the Park Villa Estates Mobile Home Park according to the rules, unless of course you were the manager, then it was OK.

You came down and wanted me to move immediately and as much was ordering me too. You said, “I will give back this months rent if you leave now.” I told you, “I wasn’t going anywhere.” Then you jumped out of the chair and followed me into the Kitchen where you proceeded to get in my face the way you had in the past with Joe, so Joe was able to see what you had done to him in the past, but now it was my turn to get your rage.

Go to Chapter 16: Long Hard Road (Part Five)

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