She treats the apartment building like her kingdom — seven loud kids in tow, shoving carts, barking at strangers. But when she kicked my deaf grandfather off the elevator, something snapped. I saw the footage, and that moment lit a fuse. She didn’t know it yet — but her reign was about to end.
Usually, I’m the guy who keeps his head down and avoids conflict, but that woman in our apartment building pushed me right to the edge of my patience.
A thoughtful man staring out a window | Source: Pexels
She commanded the lobby like she owned the place. Not in a dignified, respectable way, more like a tornado that expected everyone to clear a path.
And those kids of hers? Seven of them, all between six and 12 years old.
Not little toddlers you could excuse for not knowing better. These were kids old enough to know how to behave who chose chaos instead.
“Move it!” she’d bark at anyone unfortunate enough to be in her way. “We’re coming through!”
The first time I witnessed her in action, I was waiting for the mail.
Her kids swarmed around the lobby, voices bouncing off the walls like rubber balls, sneakers squeaking against the tile floor.
An apartment building lobby | Source: Pexels
“Jason! Get down from there!” she yelled, not even looking at whichever kid was climbing the decorative column. “Maddie, stop pulling your brother’s hair!”
She never actually stopped any of this behavior. Just narrated it loudly, as if announcing her children’s misbehavior absolved her of responsibility to correct it.
Since then, I’d seen her push shopping carts aside in the parking lot.
A shopping cart | Source: Pexels
I’d watched her command people out of elevators like they were her personal shuttle. Most people just complied. It was easier than arguing, I guess.
But then came that Tuesday.
My grandfather had moved in with me after my grandmother passed.
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