Neighbor Mom Buzzes Me at Midnight, I Let Her

The first day I moved into my new home, the stay-at-home mom next door shoved a purchase agreement at me, offering to buy my place at twenty percent off.

I saw this apartment first. You jumping in over me and buying it means you stole it from me, so you have to sell it to me cheap.

I figured she was out of her mind, told her I wasn't planning to sell, and shut the door.

But that humiliation curdled into rage.

She started ringing my keypad buzzer from the building entrance at two in the morning, every single night, demanding I let her in.

"That thing about buying your place before, that was just a joke. My memory's bad and I work late, so I'll probably have to trouble you to open the door a lot from now on."

"They say a close neighbor beats a distant relative. My husband and son are light sleepers, so I've got no choice but to ask you to buzz me in."

I was livid, but no matter what I did, she buzzed all the same.

Even the other neighbors, afraid of getting on her bad side, turned around and urged me to just help her out when I could.

My whole family was worn ragged by it.

And of all things, neither the building management nor law enforcement could do a thing to stop her from ringing my buzzer.

For my daughter's sake, I went over to make peace.

But Penelope only sneered.

"It's too late to apologize now. Either you sell your place to my family at half price, or wait until I drive your whole family so crazy you jump off the roof."

I knew she wouldn't let it go.

But I also knew what it meant to reach the end of your patience and stop enduring.

She liked ringing the bell at two in the morning, did she?

Then I'd let her ring to her heart's content.

One:

1:58 a.m.

I've always gone to bed early and risen early, but tonight I wasn't in bed. I was standing at the door, staring hard at the screen of the electronic entry panel.

Because in two more minutes, my next-door neighbor Penelope Lawrence would ring my buzzer from downstairs at the building entrance, right on schedule at 2 a.m., demanding I let her in.

And every single time.

The buzzer jolted my sleeping daughter awake and left her crying in terror.

So tonight I was going to keep watch at the door. The moment Penelope showed up downstairs, I'd open the entrance for her, and at least that way we'd get one quiet night.

But I opened the door, and Penelope didn't come in. She just smiled up at me through the camera.

"Well, would you look at that. What's the occasion today?"

"Before, I had to ring and ring before you'd deign to let me in. Today you're actually standing there waiting for me?"

"But that won't do. I've got this, what do you call it, this compulsion. If I don't hear the buzzer ring, I won't sleep a wink all night after I go in."

The words left her mouth.

And Penelope rang my buzzer again.

I'd already turned the volume down, but in the dead of night it still cut through everything.

That one ring, and all my effort was for nothing. From the bedroom came my daughter's crying and my husband's sigh.

My heart ached so badly I almost cried, and there was nothing I could do.

Ever since our first night in the new place.

Penelope had been ringing that buzzer out of spite, all because I refused to sell her the apartment.

Sometimes it was early morning, before we'd even woken up.

Sometimes it was a weekend noon, while we were napping.

A few times it was even when my daughter was sick and resting at home.

And now it had turned into two in the morning...

She wasn't even getting off a night shift. She was a full-time stay-at-home mom. She slept the whole day, then went out at midnight to take out the trash and rang my buzzer while she was at it.

Gritting my teeth, I pressed the talk button and begged, keeping my voice low and humble.

"Penelope, I've already told you about the apartment. We live here so my child can go to school later, so there's no way we can sell it to you."

"A close neighbor beats a distant relative. We're going to be running into each other for years to come. Please, stop ringing my buzzer from now on, okay?"

Penelope wasn't tired at all.

So she kept ringing the buzzer while she explained in that snide, singsong tone.

"Buy your apartment? Don't you go spreading nonsense. You just want to use that to run to the building management and call the cops, saying I'm threatening you, saying this is gangster behavior!"

"So let me make it perfectly clear. I simply forgot my keycard, that's all."

I couldn't hold it in.

"It's not like there's nobody home at your place. Even if you forgot yours, you could just ring your own buzzer."

Penelope gave a cold snort.

"My husband and son are light sleepers. I have to wait until they're asleep before I can come out to take out the trash. And you said it yourself, a close neighbor beats a distant relative, so what's the harm in helping me?"

"I've already asked around. You and your husband are both teachers, and it's summer break right now, so what's the big deal about buzzing me in?"

"You're supposed to be a role model. Since when is doing a good deed a problem?"

"Someone like you, how are you fit to set an example for anyone?"

Penelope talked so fast I had no chance to argue back.

Once she'd said all that.

She went stomping up the stairs, and by the time she reached my door she was still fuming, so she pounded her fist against it several times.

"I can see you're just selfish and out for yourself. A person like you, and you talk about a close neighbor beating a distant relative."

"Let me tell you, not even God almighty can stop me from ringing this buzzer. There's no law that says I can't ring a doorbell. Make all the fuss you want, it's useless. I'll ring it again tomorrow, same as always!"

Two:

I sat on the living room couch all night, wound tight and unable to settle, and by morning I finally understood something. There's no such thing as "take a step back and the sky opens up." Take a step back and all you get is an ulcer.

If Penelope Lawrence was going to fight this dirty, then I couldn't keep playing the pushover.

So the next morning I didn't even eat breakfast. I went straight to the building management office.

One look at me and their faces fell.

"Ms. Edwards, the doorbell thing, there's honestly nothing we can do about it."

"Everybody knows Penelope Lawrence stays home all day. You've gotten on her bad side, and she's got all the time in the world to keep at it."

"It's not that we won't help you. But grudges are better untangled than tightened. She's only targeting you, so you must have crossed her somewhere. The more we step in, the more she'll take it out on you."

I knew all that already.

From the very first time Penelope buzzed my keypad, I'd gone to management. But whether they were just smoothing it over or whatever they were doing, it only got worse.

So I nodded.

"You've misunderstood me. That's not what I meant."

"I came to buy a few entry keycards to give her. Take a step back, let the sky open up."

They didn't say much. They just sold me a few keycards, wearing a slightly odd expression.

But the moment I left, the people in the office started talking.

You think this move of Ms. Edwards' is going to work?

No chance. Did you forget the last owner? He paid out of his own pocket to install facial-recognition entry in their stairwell, and Penelope Lawrence still flat-out refused to register her face, remember?

Back then she said it was collecting her personal privacy, called the police, ripped the facial-recognition unit off the wall, smashed it, and threw it in his face.

That's exactly why that owner, Mr. Delaney, chose to sell the place cheap. I'm telling you, going over there to hand her keycards is a waste of time!

Can't blame me for not warning her. Point is, if we actually help this Ms. Edwards, that lunatic will come after us next, won't she?

...

That was when I understood. Management had been on Penelope's side the whole time.

Not that it was surprising.

Between me and Penelope Lawrence, one is a teacher you can reason with, the other a stay-at-home mom who makes scenes over nothing. Anyone can tell which one is safe to offend and which one isn't.

And I knew handing over keycards was a waste of time.

But if I was going to fight back, I had to start here.

When I handed Penelope the keycards, all polite and pleasant, she looked a little surprised. But once she heard why I'd come, her whole face lit up smug.

"All right, all right. I really wasn't doing it on purpose. I honestly just kept forgetting my keycard."

"Since you've given me this many cards, I definitely won't buzz your door anymore. From now on we'll be good neighbors."

I didn't believe a word of it.

But I thanked her over and over anyway and left.

And it played out exactly as I'd guessed. I gave her five keycards, so five days later, Penelope was buzzing my keypad at two in the morning again.

"Oh, Ms. Edwards, look at me. Pregnancy really does turn your brain to mush for years. Those cards you gave me, I went and lost them."

"Tell you what, just let me in tonight, and tomorrow I'll go to management myself for replacements. I promise I'll never bother you again, okay?"

Of course I knew she was doing it on purpose.

Because I knew for a fact those five keycards had been sold back to management at full price the very first day she got them.

So this time.

I didn't hesitate at all. I dialed the police.

"Hello, I'd like to report a crime."

"Someone is deliberately harassing residents. It's serious."

Three:

The officer responded fast. By the time Penelope had rung my keycard buzzer for the tenth time, he was already there.

I still didn't open the door.

I went straight downstairs instead, and explained everything to the officer.

"It's ten past two in the morning right now, and this woman, Penelope Lawrence, has been leaning on my buzzer nonstop, not letting my whole family get any peace."

"I looked it up online. This counts as disturbing the peace."

Penelope clearly hadn't expected me to call the police, so she started explaining, all wounded innocence.

"This is so unfair to me."

"I only went down to take out the trash and forgot my keycard, that's all."

"I know Teacher Edwards stays up late, so I rang the bell to have her help me open the door. How does that turn into disturbing the peace?"

"Teacher Edwards, a good neighbor is worth more than a distant relative. If you didn't want to open the door for me, you could've just said so. Why call the police and trouble the officer over it? Isn't that a waste of police resources?"

I'd already guessed Penelope would twist things like this.

So I pulled out the evidence I'd prepared in advance.

"This is proof of every time Penelope has rung my bell over the past month."

"These are the chat logs where I begged her, more than once, to stop ringing my bell. And thisthis is the video of me going out a few days ago to buy her a keycard on purpose and hand it over."

At that point,

Penelope's expression flickered.

But she still opened her mouth.

"Yes, I rang your bell, but that's because you agreed beforehand that you'd open the door for me."

"Besides, all those keycards are"

I knew she was about to say she'd lost them.

So I took out my phone again.

"The footage from the desk is crystal clear. On day one you turned that keycard right back into cash."

"And do you dare turn out your pockets and let us all see whether you actually brought a keycard or not?"

Facing my questions and the officer's stare,

Penelope finally started to panic.

But she didn't care about her dignity at all. She just dropped straight onto the floor and started wailing.

"I'm only a stay-at-home mom. I've fallen out of touch with the world, that's all."

"Why do you have to bully a stay-at-home mom like me? You think you're something special because you're a teacher?"

"I just rang a doorbell. How is that against the law?"

Penelope cried hard.

Before long she'd drawn over the building management and the neighbors from the same building.

I grabbed the neighbors and the management to back me up as witnesses.

But they wouldn't even look at me.

Teacher Edwards, aren't you blowing this way out of proportion? Ringing a buzzer, and you go and call the police over it?

We're all neighbors here, just helping each other out. You're taking this too far.

Right, everyone knows your family stays up late every night.

Even the management stood there and lied through their teeth.

"The bell thing is just a misunderstanding. Ms. Lawrence never sold any keycard back to us. That day she came in to pay her HOA fees, that's all. It was nothing like that."

"All that so-called evidence is AI-generated. This complex has always been like one big family. She's the only one who likes to stir up trouble."

I got shouted down from every direction.

I didn't even get a chance to speak or push back.

And Penelope knew exactly how to play the sweet one.

"I promise you, I'll never ring your bell again, okay?"

The officer more or less understood the situation, but just like Penelope said, ringing a doorbell isn't illegal, so all they could do was advise me and offer suggestions.

"How about this. Tomorrow you turn off your bell, or set it to silent."

"If that really doesn't work, your only option is to take her to court."

I had nothing left to say. All I could do was follow the officer's advice and set my buzzer to silent.

I'd figured that once I called the police and made a scene of it, things would be over, even if not on friendly terms.

But I never expected it.

Only a few days later, Penelope came up with a brand-new trick.

Four:

At two in the morning she rang my doorbell. My chime was muted, so I heard nothing. When she saw I wouldn't answer, she went down the row and rang the entry buzzer for every single unit in the building.

She woke the whole building. And the neighbors knew about the war between me and Penelope Lawrence.

So of course they pinned it all on me.

"Teacher Edwards, isn't this a bit much on your part? Do you really need the entire building to lose sleep along with you?"

"What would it cost you to just open the door? It's summer break anyway. Worst case you nap during the day, right?"

"You get your peace and quiet, but what about the rest of us?"

I didn't respond at all.

They hadn't stood by me before, so I had no reason to spare them any thought. I waited until the next day and posted one line in the group chat: Every debt has a debtor. Take it up with the person who did it. Why come at me?

They were furious.

And once Penelope saw that turning the building against me wasn't working, she switched tactics.

She still rang my doorbell.

When it wouldn't sound, she started calling and texting me. When I didn't reply, she let herself out, came up, and pounded on my door.

I forced myself to leave it alone.

Figuring she'd get tired and go home.

Instead Penelope pulled out her phone and called the police. Called an ambulance.

And she explained it to me with a completely straight face.

"Teacher Edwards, I saw your lights on but you wouldn't open up, and you weren't answering my messages, so I worried something had happened to you."

"I was so worried about you. That's the only reason I did it. I did it for your own good. You wouldn't blame me for that, would you?"

"I mean, I never imagined you'd be so cruel, sitting at home and deliberately staying silent."

And it wasn't just Penelope saying it.

In the building group chat, one after another tagged me, blaming me for playing dead, telling me to be more considerate from now on...

All I could do was explain the situation to the officer.

Picturing the triumph in Penelope's eyes, I sat there dry-eyed until dawn again, and finally made up my mind to strike back one last time.

I bought tickets for my husband and daughter and sent them ahead to our hometown.

My husband wouldn't go.

"Forget it. Let's just sell the place and leave."

I shook my head.

"Have you forgotten what our daughter's preschool teacher told us?"

"Our daughter used to be cheerful and lively, and now she's like a startled bird. The tiniest noise at school terrifies her. If I walk away now, she'll be like this for the rest of her life."

"For her sake, I have to fight back."

There was nothing he could do but listen to me and get on the plane.

Once Penelope saw me send my husband and daughter off, she looked a little smug.

"Perfect. On your own you'll make an even better doorman."

"But watch yourself. Don't go bringing shady men home and keeping me waiting at the door."

"And if you still won't open up tonight, I won't just call the police. I'll call an ambulance, the fire trucks, the works. It's all for your own good, of course."

I just smiled.

"Ms. Lawrence, take my advice. Don't ring my doorbell tonight."

Penelope rolled her eyes and ignored me.

I went home too, and started getting ready for tonight's showdown.

Once I was ready, I took my medication and went to sleep. I slept straight through until half past one in the morning, a full nine hours.

I ate while I waited for the clock to crawl toward two.

At 1:59 I put in earplugs, then pulled on the best noise-canceling headphones I could find, and looked at Penelope on the video doorbell screen and smiled.

Penelope seemed to sense me too.

She smiled back at the camera, then reached out one finger and pressed my entry buzzer.

The next second.

A blood-curdling scream tore through the entire complex!