TATANKA OYATE

The Bison Nation/Man

Attainment

You past action and the faith you have shown

Have led you to the attainment of your higher goal.

 .

Sun 6.26.22

It started probably a week after I moved in, management came to me and said there was a complaint, I was making too much noise (I am hard of hearing.)  My music was too loud and someone objected.  Mgmt. would not tell me who made the complaint, or when it happened, or how long it lasted.  The person delivering this message stood at the door, 10 feet from the speakers where music was playing, but she couldn’t hear it.  Nevertheless, she said, turn it down!  Whoa, that wasn’t very nice.  I only played music at lunchtime to accompany my workout, soft music, but I lowered the volume.  The complaints did not stop.  I did not want to become entangled in an ongoing neighbor conflagration. I bought myself some earbuds for the music, and by now having figured out where the complaints came from, I also bought myself a laptop to take my computer work away from the adjoining wall connecting me to complainant, my desktop computer being against that wall.

Most of the tenants in ground  floor apartments in my building used the ground in front of their apartments to garden; there were tables, chairs, sunbrellas.  The areas were blocked off with fencing, bricks, stone work.   During the second month of my stay, I received written permission from Mgmt., as per lease requirement, to place a gazebo in the yard facing my apartment.  Two weeks later, someone from Mgmt.’s upper offices came to my door and told me that the gazebo had to be removed on the next day or they would take it away the following day.  The reason?  It was not allowed.

These people were acting like warders in a prison.  I could move, but after having moved in two months previously this was just too much.  I had the permission document and I would let the courts decide my fate.  I filed an order to show cause along with a preliminary injunction seeking a restraining order to prevent them from dismantling my gazebo.  The judge who signed the documents stated that he could find nothing wrong with my documents and I was given a date for  first hearing.  The clerk told me he was impressed that I got the judge’s consent.  On the day of hearing nothing had been scheduled, it was assumed that this would go away; no judge have been assigned to rule on the injunction before this hearing.  They had to locate a judge to hear the immediate hearing.  She decided to hear the case right then and there.  Thankfully, I had brought my evidence that I planned to file on that day.  Judge at some point intuited that there was something to my case.  I lost the injunction, but the case was going to be tried.

Obviously, the court had not taken me seriously.  But Mgmt. was; they did not take down the gazebo immediately, but waited till fall.  The noise complaints increased.  I received 3 on a single day in spite of the ear buds and the laptop.   I had thought at first that the gazebo case had occurred because of an error, or oversight by Mgmt.  No, it had been deliberate.  The permission document stated, in spite of my email about “the gazebo” that  it was a trellis and they had taken a partial picture some distance from it to confirm their trellis statement.  What’s more, at the top of the permission statement capped, centered and underlined were the words HOUSE RULES EDUCATION.  I was being educated to obey, else there would be trouble.  But Mgmt.  was not the owners of the building; on doing research for my case I came upon the laws governing my lease to which they were responsible and informed both landlord and Mgmt. about it. That’s when they decided on the eviction.  They lost this first eviction mostly because opposing attorney was arrogant and challenged the judge. Mgmt. reacted to the decision by calling 911 the next morning to state neighbors had reported a loud noise had emanated from my apartment and they thought I had fallen and hurt myself.  There were 9 officers and fire dept. personnel  at my door ready to rescue me!

By now we were into the pandemic and nonessential cases i.e. my gazebo, were put on hold.  Mgmt. inveigled other tenants to report on me.  They took photos, one woman told them she was going to poison my cat, they did nothing about it, except to let me know surreptitiously after the fact.  My cat Chloë died a horrible death vomiting and diarrhea every day.  

I was in a bad situation.  And it kept getting worse.  Why was I in this, and how was I to extricate myself?  At some point in a court case one realizes that this is not just about one’s insignificant matter.  There is something much greater at stake.  A decision would not only affect me, but all those in similar circumstances.  If I flubbed it, others would be made to pay.  The case would be used as evidence against assertions I made, because I lost.  I saw other people in my building suffering with similar violations.  I took Mgmt. and Landlord to Federal court.  Mgmt. went so far as to steal mail I placed in the mail room for delivery to the court,  twice.  And they started another eviction.  This time they didn’t take chances; they came into my apartment while I was sleeping (my hearing aid removed) and they set me up. 

In each conflict, one decides whether to engage or to walk away from it.  It’s a serious decision because once I decide to commit myself  I must follow it to the very point of my end on this planet Earth.  This I know.  To walk away from something so important that one is prepared to enter conflict for it and then give it up is another form of death.  One has surrendered her power to the opponent.  These stale compromises are a cancer forming in one’s body that grows with each walk-away.  Society functions on these compromises individuals make to be allowed to have a home on planet earth.  They walk among us, the compromised.  I was tempted to give up several times in this battle, but in the end I couldn’t do it.  

I thought of asking for money, a good sum in my federal case, but each time I  knew not to do it.  It’s not about making a profit, but to correct the wickedness that hurts all of us.  The federal case hangs by a thread; once evicted and homeless I sought to close the case without prejudice, but I couldn’t, so it was to be closed with prejudice, I couldn’t reopen it once closed.  Recently, I filed a motion to reopen it after I  achieved a measure of stability, living at a bed and breakfast till the end of the month, and asked the court to assign an attorney.  Opposing lawyer has not objected; this is a bad sign.  If he thought my motions had merit he would have objected.  I believe the court will make a decision tomorrow on the case.  

Ultimately, I am my home on the planet earth.  It isn’t about where I live, or my possessions or lack of.  I am.  I respect and honor this life I have been given, and  will do what I must to take care of myself . . .

To be continued

Eight o'clock Sunday morning, the police arrive at her apartment in Greenwich Village, "How long have you been living here?" The roommate Elizabeth, after having accepted her half of the deposit money and rent for their new apartment, has called the police. 

New York City doesn’t open its arms to welcome her, but she’s arrived and the adventure of her life is about to unfold.  She’s come from Maine with an invitation from Sarah Lawrence College to participate in the graduate writing program.

How one becomes a seeress is what this memoir explores. Stories have been specifically selected to illustrate, from the sublime to the practical, a spiritual journey introduced in each chapter by an atout, the Tarot’s major archetypes.   From the Fool, to The World, our human journey with its risk and folly unfolds. There is also an artist here alive to her new world seeking inspiration among artists on the Lower East side, learning the ways and foods of her Chinese neighbors, falling in love.