Inhibitions out the Window Ch. 02

Over 100 acres.

I drove out to take a look. The old house was in a mild state of disrepair, the yard was overgrown and it needed paint.

All in all, not bad.

Then I drove out to look at the property.

As I got closer to the address I felt a cold chill come over me. I rounded the last curve and came to the gate, realized the acreage adjoined Cary and Darla's place.

I wandered around the property, they were bike tracks everywhere. Somebody had been using it for a riding area. I found the gate in the fence that went to Cary's place.

Cary and his friends, I knew. There was one big plus, the small stream on the south side of the land was the line for what was now all mine.

Water. Land. My dream of a bike track, shop. Maybe even a small restaurant?

I was sitting under a tree when I heard the sound of an engine.

Cary rode up, shut off his bike.

"Hi, Dan! What's up?"

"Just looking at the river."

"Where is your bike?"

"Back at my place, I didn't bring it."

"Well, want to ride one of mine?"

"No, not really. I am just sitting here, thinking."

"Well, you can't be out here then." His voice changed tone.

"What are you talking about, I just inherited this land."

"No, it is mine. By adverse possession."

"You are crazy, I have the deed."

"Leave or I will call the police." Now his manner was threatening.

"Well, call them, then!" I was mad now.

I was even madder when the police showed up and escorted me off the property.

"What the hell is this? This my land, I have the deed."

"Mr. Walker has a claim, it might be valid. So it's a civil matter, and until settled, you have to stay out. If you don't stay out, then it's criminal."

"That is crazy!"

"That is the law, son. Go get a lawyer."

I had no choice.

I went back to the house, there was a notice of claim hanging from the doorknob.

I went to see the lawyer that handled my Uncle's estate. He explained the very old law relating to fenceline disputes, property disputes.

I had never heard of it.

"Open and notorious use for 7 years, unchallenged." Is the key, he explained.

"If they can show they have used the property for any purpose regularly without challenge, then they can claim ownership."

"Great. That sounds like theft."

"It is, but it's legal theft."

"Ok. So what will all this cost?" I asked.

"You do realize we would be going up against a huge team of lawyers? So it could get expensive. I need $30,000 as a retainer, it can go way higher depending on how complicated it gets."

"It's going to get really complicated, isn't it?"

"Yes. My advice is to take that house and the hundred grand and walk away."

I left, completely pissed off.

I went down to a local store, bought a computer, printer, scanner. I went back to the old house and set it all up.

I hired a contractor, had the house fixed up, and a yard company came in and fixed up the grounds.

I had a phone line put in, called Katey and we had a tearful conversation as I explained I had to stay to deal with all of this.

I began to research the laws.

Finally I thought I had found the loophole, so I filed a challenge in court to the adverse claim.

As expected, here came documents. It seemed to be an almost never ending stream of black vehicles, men in suits.

Then came the offer to "settle." That encouraged me, I had found and used the law on adverse possession restarting at death, unless the prior party was given notice.

They offered me $1000 per acre. I declined.

The next offer was $5,000 per acre. I blinked at that, thinking of what I could do with a half million dollars.

But I was mad. I declined.

Days became weeks, weeks became months. I could recite from memory case law on the subject, I had literally thousands of case studies, thousands of pages of documents printed.

I slowed and then quit calling Katey, she quit calling me. She somehow became a memory, almost like a story that happened to someone else?

Every time she had asked me tearfully when I was coming home, every time I had an excuse, something more to do, another case to research.

My land. I became totally obsessed with it.

I found myself living off of takeout, I quit shaving. I even quit bathing, no time or need, no one around anyway.

Court cases, there were thousands and thousands of them. State Supreme court decisions.

One where a man bought a ranch but lost it, forced to turn loose expensive horses to give them a chance to live. Forced off his own land by a squatter.

A man in a treehouse on coastal land, he lived there for years, before finally being paid enough to move out. Just squatting on private land, unknown by the owner. Fencelines that stood up to legal challenge after surveys, on and on.

No end to it.

The paperwork kept coming, I knew what they were trying to do. Bury me in paper, waiting for me to run out of money.

I answered them all.

I was running out of money, too.

Then finally, mercifully, the case was heard. I arrived cleaned up, presented my case with case law to back it up.

I presented hundreds of photos into evidence, as I suspected, those were glanced at, not really checked over closely. My ace in the hole if the adverse law being restarted at death didn't hold.

Cary's lawyers had documents, hundreds of photos of my land being used by them. All unchallenged by my Uncle, according to them.

Days of it. I sat there quietly, by myself. No lawyer, just me.

No chance.

Everyone knew it, I am sure.

I waited for closing arguments, I stood up nervous. I picked up the stack of documents, pulled out three photos I had found in my Uncle's papers.

They showed the fence, even the gate. Clearly in three of the photos was the sign.

"Private property, no Tresspassing" With the word trespassing on all three mispelled.

Date stamped photographs from four years before, developed at the local photomat.

Not seven years.

Four.

I sat down.

The room was quiet.

One of Cary's team stood up, went into a rambling attempt at trying to explain my "fake" photographs.

He didn't do well.

I had rebuttal, I walked over and picked up one of their own photographs taken just a couple of years before.

Date stamped.

No sign on the gate.

But clearly in the photos were the holes where it had been.

I looked up at the judge. He was doing his best to stifle a grin.

In the hallway, Cary came up to me, actually shook my hand.

"I saw potential in you, why don't you come back and work for me?" He asked.

I burst out into laughter, all the tension in me went in that one moment.

I went back to my little house, now all fixed up, landscaped. I was down to just the small nest egg I had saved up, still sitting in a strongbox in cash.

I had made up my mind that before I did dip into that, I would walk away.

I was sitting there thinking I now needed a job. Just then I heard a car drive up.

It was Amiko. I had the door open by the time she reached the porch.

She looked beautiful, like always.

We sat and talked for quite awhile. Then one thing led to another, we ended up in my bed.

I really don't know what I was thinking, it was almost like...revenge at Cary?

A waste of effort, I knew Cary didn't give a damn about that.

"You and I belong together." She told me.

I didn't answer, she lay there in my arms, her fingertips stroking my chest.

"I could quit, you and I could go away together." She smiled.

"What would we do?"

"You could sell that property to Cary, we would have plenty of money." She purred, nuzzling my neck.

We?

I sat up. I knew right then why she was there.

"Get out!" I told her.

"What? What's the matter?"

"That prick Cary sent you over here, didn't he?"

"Oh, no. I just want us to be together!" She sat up, reached for her pants and blouse.

"Get the FUCK out!"

"You are making a mistake, Danny."

"No I'm not. Beat it."

Amiko was still tugging her blouse on when I slammed the door shut. I could see right through that one.

There never was anything there, I just thought there had been. Why in the hell did I let her back into my bed?

Then I thought of Katey.

I loaded up my van, this time I had a few more possessions.

I made the long drive down the coast. The old guy at the motel grinned at me, gave me the same room I had had before.

Then I drove down to the cafe. I walked in, sat down.

Katey looked at me in what seemed to be shock.

"How are you, Dan?"

"Fine. I won my case. I have been missing you." I blurted out.

"Oh. Well, do you want something to eat?"

"Uhh..Yes..OK." That confused me some.

"OK. I will get a menu. Plus I have someone for you to meet."

She came back in just a moment, a tall man, slightly balding was with her.

It began to dawn on me.

"Dan, I want you to meet my husband, Charles."

The guy grinned, stuck out his hand. I shook it in shock.

"Nice to meet you." He said.

"Well, I need to get back to the kitchen."

I ate my breakfast, left a nice tip.

Katey came over and gave me a hug, a peck on the cheek.

"Good luck to you, Dan." She said.

I went out and got into the old van, drove away.

It seemed like I had come full circle, it seemed like I was reliving a memory.

I got to the highway. Was it to the right, back to my house?

Or left, into the unknown?

I sat there for a long time.

An old lady pulled up behind me, finally blew her horn.

"Are you going to sit there all day?" She yelled out the window.

I gave her a wave of my hand, flipped the blinker on to the left.

On down the highway, on to the unknown.

I knew what was behind me, that would all still be there when I came back someday. I hadn't found anything back there I wanted, not really.

The bike track? The dream? All lost in the jumble of everything else.

I even had found a place with something I wanted. Or I thought I had.

Katey. Sweet Katey. That life would have been just fine. But she wanted that fine life, too. I just hadn't been there to give it to her.

So. On down the road.

Who knows what is ahead?