I scare Mr. Greg

Mr. Greg is our next door neighbor. He's a big guy and a policeman to boot. He has a great heart and his boys are about as tight with our sons as they can be. Apparently I scare Mr. Greg and he is afraid of me.

This is nothing new to me. He has always said this to me and about me so it's really no secret. But why would a big guy with a gun who is trained on how to use it be afraid of me. I guess it's in my genes. You see I have a bit of Greek and Mexican blood in me from my mom, along with all the whiteness that my poor dad could give me. So when he first met me he thought I was just another white girl moving into the block.

That was until he first heard my oldest son, Big Z,who was four at the time, sass me with a bit of back talk. I just handled it the way I always did by taking him inside to talk to him and put him in time out. But for whatever reason he decided that from that day on he would be afraid of me.

So yes, the policeman next door is afraid of me, in a general sort of way. Although he always tells me it's really not fear he has it's just a healthy respect for me and from where I come from. I'm not really sure how to take that one, since really I'm not a ghetto child or anything. I come from El Paso and a nice middle class neighborhood. I always got good grades and was in the drill team. I never got into any trouble, well except for the one time the cops brought me home in the middle of the night. But that's another story.

But even though he claims to be afraid of me I know that deep down he really like me. He is a great friend to me and to my husband. And maybe one day, just to get a reaction from him, I'll even tell him how yep, I do know how to shoot a gun.