The Idiot on the Roof

The idiot on the roof was obviously in his usual inebriated state as well as the brother on the ground that was expressing his feelings with a hand gesture. It was almost comical to watch them fumble around; not having a clue. Supposedly, Danny was extremely intelligent, but many times he proved himself over and over to be the opposite.

The Hendry's are two grown men who are brothers, and are the most aggravating neighbors you could imagine. They moved here several months ago, renting the house next door. There was a third brother who moved out shortly after moving in, he said he couldn't live with them any longer; but according to people that know him, they say he still pays the bills...?

Anyway, after I retired three years ago, I moved in with my son and his wife. Up until our new neighbors moved in, it was a very quiet place to live except for an occasional siren or car backfire. But we now have the pleasure of living next door to these geniuses.

Ever since then it has been an ongoing scene of police activity. All the neighbors around and including us, have had to call the police for suspected drug activity, fighting in their front yard, loud bass music booming out in the wee hours of the mornings waking people up, and many other absurd disturbances.

I don't know what their house looks like inside now, but I would venture to say that there aren't many walls left. Several times we have been woken up to sounds of them pounding on the walls, sounds of fists pounding on each other in the house and sometimes outside in the yard, as well as people running through the house and outside around the house, glass breaking, screaming and doors slamming.

It seems the police are at their house at least once a week. Occasionally these guys get locked up for a couple of nights, and "big brother" bails them out. They go to court and for some strange reason; they only get a slap on the wrist. They come back home and resume their extracurricular activities. (There must be a degree of ingenuity on their part somewhere.)

One night shortly after one of their court appearances, we were startled awake again around 2:00 A.M. by a barrage of profanities flying through the air, and as usual, this was coming from next door. This time Danny was on the roof. Of all the stupid things that went on over there, this was the first time that we saw any of them on the roof.

As we came out of our bedrooms, my son John was mumbling to himself, "What the hell is going on over there now?" Now John didn't just peek out of the window, he was so angry that he jerked open the door with a brisk "swoosh" and stepped out onto the porch. His wife was trailing behind him as I peered from behind them trying to get a good look.

I followed my son's gaze up toward the roof of their house, and there stood Danny, screaming down at his brother Jacob, who was on the ground screaming back at him. Both of them were displaying several gestures of which I had never seen. Jacob was attempting to climb a trellis to get to the roof; not to help his brother, but to keep this battle going.

Teetering on the roof, Danny's glance caught sight of my son standing on our porch, and he hollered out to him, slurring his words, "Hey man, I'm sorry, did I wake you?' Before my son could reply, a voice from across the street bellowed out, "What the hell do you think, you idiot!!!!"

With that my son told Danny, in no uncertain terms, to get his a_ _ down or he was coming up there and help hasten his decent to the ground. Gathering what little sense and stability he had left, Danny crawled down the drain pipe and both he and his brother glared at each other as they went stumbling back into their house, ending yet another night of brotherly love.