Ch 8, Ron, the drug dealer

To this point I had been coming out way ahead because I knew I was dealing with a drug dealer that had become a user. Let me interject that Ron was always a very likable guy, and he would go out of his way to help a neighbor, if he could.
After scoring a great deal on a hot tub and a storage shed, I was hot to trot to find more good deals, as Ron's addiction allowed.
A couple of days after Ron sold me his hot tub and his storage shed, he told me that he was fixing to sell his house to this "investor" A couple of days later Ron had a U-Haul truck backed up in his driveway. When I went over to his house and asked him about it, he said, "yes, it's a done deal."
This investor had offered to purchase Ron's outstanding mortgage at the balance owed, and he had agreed to pay off previous unpaid mortgage payments, along with any unpaid legal fees that were attached to the foreclosure. He also agreed to give Ron a check for $2000, plus pay for a U-Haul truck to help Ron get out of the house.
Ron then asked for my help to get himself out of the house. Ron, along with his miniature "watchdog" Eddie, and myself, hauled a large sectional couch out the front door and into the U-Haul truck. He then leaned on me to help move his large and cumbersome king sized bed from his back bedroom into the truck. Of course, I agreed.
But when I followed them back to the back bedroom, I found my feet squishing thru a half inch of water-soaked carpet. The entire master bedroom carpet was inundated with water, and it did not smell all that good. It was apparent that Ron had given up on the shower stall bailing. The water had soaked under the baseboards and halfway accross the carpet of the living room.
The king sized bed we took apart had been elevated on bricks so that it was dry. We took it apart and loaded it onto the U-Haul truck. But also in the room was another 60" big screen TV. IT was also elevated above the carpet with bricks.
I asked Ron if he really wanted to try to load up that TV, since the U-Haul truck was getting pretty full. He told me that he could probably part with it if the price was right. Since I did not have that much cash to play with, I told him that I could part with $50 if he and Eddie would help me move it into my house. $50 later and I had a 60" TV in my living room.
Once that was done, Ron asked me if I could let him borrow a small TV to make it thru the night. He told me that he would be leaving early the next morning, and after ripping him off, I agreed.
Later that day Ron asked if he could take a shower in my back bathroom. Clearly, his house had become a swamp, and I told him just splash around all he wanted.
Well, he did that all right. But while he was taking a shower in my back bathroom, he unlatched the window locks on my back bedroom window.
Later that night, after I had gone to work (since I worked at nite), Ron, or more likely his watchdog, Eddie, climbed thru my back window, and hauled off the big screen TV I had just paid $50 for. Not only that, he took my 19" loaner with him, as well. And his U-Haul was gone before dawn. The cops did absolutely nothing. Even after I hollered theft! theft! theft!.
This is the last chapter. Several months later I heard that Ron had migrated south to the Tampa area where his mother lives.
Overall, I'd have to say that Ron was pretty darn crafty, and definitely not stupid. Ron has a "preservation mentality" that supasses most of us.

If all you lost were theTV's consider yourself lucky.

Well, I just read your story from start to finish. What a read! Yes, you were lucky, you betcha. He seemed an...honorable criminal, or at least being a neighbor trumped being a thief for the most part.

I gotta tell you both, garden and Bubba, that Ron was just a darn good person to know. He was clearly a hustler, but I never turned down an invite to any of his parties. I never saw any drugs, but plenty of booze.
He was obviously a "people person", and he made every one of us 'invitees' very welcome.
At the same time, whenever Ron had a pool party, he always made sure that there was a "bail-out" option, in case his party got raided. Ron's back fence, which was nothing more than a 4' tall, county-installed, corrugated chain link barrier, provided an escape. He built a wooden step ladder on each side of the chain link fence so that anybody who wanted to leave in a hurry could do so.
It used to tickle me to no end when I saw a non-stop stream of party-goers climbing over his fence while the blue and white lights were flashing out front of his house.
Obviously, Ron was not the best kind of citizen to know, or live next to. And drug dealing will always be offensive, and illegal. But Ron made it seem like his business was nothing more than just an honest suburban enterprise, an honest effort to make an honest dollar.
Maybe I have a devious and degenerate mind, but I truly enjoyed having Ron as a neighbor. Never have I ever encountered a more ingenious and creative mind. He may be a drug dealer, but he is one of a kind.

There are plenty of good people in the world who make terrible choices, you're right.