I grew up in the home I currently live in with my family. Our home is on a main street and is not exactly located in what you would call a close knit neighborhood, so it wasn't surprising to me that a neighbor from across the street has lived in her home since the 70's and I have never met her before.
What I was surprised about is that this tiny woman, seems to have taken a liking to me. From what I can tell she seems to be from England and is of Indian decent. Her vocabulary is far from politically correct in a way that only someone from her generation could get away with. Her descriptions of our neighbors make me wonder if she knows she is a person of color. She refers to people as foreigners, colored and calls a mentally ill man that used to leave up the street "That crazy kid".
When I exchanged numbers with Bunny, I told her to call me in case she needed anything. She lives alone, her children live out of state and she doesn't seem to have any family. She told me about a night she had to wait for morning to call her man friend, Phil (PhillyBoy) , to come over and take her to the hospital because she didn't want to wake him up in the middle of the night. Our life up until the past couple years had been a roller coaster of late night hospital calls so it is not a task I would dread, even for a someone I just met. What I did not expect was for her to call me randomly with neighborhood gossip.
You see, Bunny wakes up and has her breakfast and tea at her kitchen window. She sees everyone leaving for work and school. She also eats lunch and dinner at that window so she sees the daily activity. She knows what time everyone leaves and comes back. She keeps an eye on who comes and goes and seems to be able to tell if the person is family or friend. Her front door has one of those metal security screens on it. You can't see in, but if you happen to be on my block you have now been warned Bunny sees you.
I have been trusted with the information that when there is suspicious activity on our block, Bunny takes out her iPad and records it. Just in case.
This leads to phone calls warning me that there is someone hanging around on the other side of our hedge, or that my neighbor (whom she calls The Pig Man- because there is an over grown pot belly pig in his back yard) is moving furniture out of his garage or that a strange woman moved in. I know about the problems the new neighbors are having with plumbing and who remodeled their kitchen.
She will call to let me know that former neighbor who always finds his way back to his old house, is battling his demons with schizophrenia is having a bad day out on the sidewalk and that I should stay inside with the kids. And I know she will call back if he crosses the line into our yard.
I now know the stories of the families from the neighborhood that were here before us, who moved and where they went. She knows what time my hubby leaves for work and asked what he does that he leaves so early,
Sometimes I think I hear a strange noise during the day or hear some commotion going on outside and start to go to the window, then remember that if there was anything I really needed to know about my phone would ring.
Because all things in my life revolve around Star Wars, every time I see Bunny I think of Maz Kanata. She doesn't sound like her or anything but she is older and tiny and I really love tiny old people which might be the reason I never ignore her calls.
I don't care too much about the people in the neighborhood or what they are up to though at times the stories are hilarious. I realized she is lonely and likes having a friend to share all the stories she sees around the neighborhood from her little kitchen window. So I will keep answering her calls, listening, laughing and telling her I love her too when she ends each phone call with "Oh Julie, I just love ya!"
