Corruption Leads to Destruction

April 16th Wisconsin Ave

Mr. Coe was on so many different drugs; uppers, downers, psychedelics, alcohol, etc. I learned from his sister Stephanie that he would take a handful of different pills, crush them up and snort them. Apparently it is called a rainbow. It bewilders me that he is not dead. Mr. Coe once suggested that if I wanted to get even higher that I should take a hot shower because it enhances the effects of pills. I silently questioned how high Mr. Coe needed to be to function. He often looked like a zombie from that tv show “The Walking Dead”, including blood on his wife beater from getting bloody noses. Mr. Coe was not only a danger to everyone around him but himself without even recognizing it. Perhaps he was too high. He was unstable and extremely unpredictable.

Brian and I moved a few blocks down from the second story flat he grew up in. I will always feel like that was our home. It was safe. Like living in a tower. Being up above the ground and able to lock the bottom entrance door was comforting. I did not like the idea of moving but could no longer deal with Mr. Coe's frequent visits, driving past, and who knows what else I was not aware of. We moved to a small mother-in-laws house. You know the kind of house that sits behind a larger house. It was quaint. I fell in love with the sun porch at first site. I had plans of turning it into a sitting room. A meditation room filled with herbs and flowers to pick right before throwing them into a pan for dinner.

I soon lost the ability to ever make that place feel like home, like a place of sanctuary. Your home is to be your safe haven. On Jeremy's 2cd birthday Mr. Coe appeared outside our house around 2:30 in the morning. At first I had no idea it was him. I had yet to set up our bedrooms so Brian was sleeping on the futon by the living room window. I heard a man screaming incoherently in the alley. I assumed it was a neighbor coming home from a night out drinking and fighting with his girlfriend. I soon heard our gate that locks the alley out open then slam shut. A loud banging on the frame of our new house gradually came closer until a man was standing outside our living room windoe only the glass separating the dark figure from my baby sound asleep on the other side. The banging was made by a gun in the shadows hand. I crawled on my belly like a marine inching closer to his enemy as to not be seen.

I feared Brian would wake from the yelling and banging. To no surprise, Brian never woke, he could sleep through a plane landing on his bed. I waited for my eyes to adjust as I moved closer to Brian when the shadow took the form of Mr. Coe. I did not have time to wonder how he knew where I moved to considering no one knew besides our new neighbors that greeted us shortly after our first step over the threshold. I immediately became erect and ran through the unfamiliar surrounds for the back door to greet Mr. Coe, preventing him from entering our home. Without hesitation or fear I suggested Mr. Coe begin discharged his weapon in my direction. I advised him not to stop until he dropped me because if I reached him he would perish and I would send him back to the unforgiving where he was meant to remain indefinitely. Without so much as another incoherent noise or bang he fled in his Tahoe as quick as he arrived.

Jennifer, Mr. Coe's mother, who I need to mention also did not know I moved and was told she was never to visit me for any reason, arrived on my door step at the break of light. Jennifer with her lying eyes felt the need to check on Brian and I to make sure we were ok. What on earth would make her believe other wise was soon revealed. Apparently Jennifer, Mr. Coe, Jeremy along with her younger children Toby and Sami were shopping at Walmart the night before. By night I mean she left Mr. Coe to his own devices around 2am. She proceeded without shame to tell me after their shopping spree Mr. Coe in his confusion believed it to be 2 pm rather than 2 am and asked Jennifer to babysit our 2 year old lil boy while he went home to clean. How one mistakes 2 am for 2 pm can only be possible if under the influence of so many drugs he was incapable of recognizing the dark sky was being lit by the moon rather than the sun. Jennifer being the responsible mother she is allowed Mr. Coe to drive away with her grandson in the back seat of his truck. Obviously Mr. Coe either told her what he had done after they departed or it is an even greater possibility he discussed his motives before even leaving Walmart. I suggested under no uncertain terms should Jennifer ever find herself at my door step in the future and it was best she leave immediately.

Mr. Coe's appearance that evening was not an isolated insolent. He would invite himself over many more times and let himself in, even if we were not home. Needless to say I was never able to get comfortable and feel safe. Our freshly painted sun room failed to ever bring me peace of mind or solitude. A great many unwanted events transpired in the past 4 years. Many I hope to one day suppress with blissful memories of my boys and I living without terror and panic. One of the great joys of being a parent is being able to show your child all the things you never experienced yourself as a child but always wanted to. I never imagined while rocking him as an infant that one day I would be forced to protect him by teaching him how to hide if Mr. Coe ever became sober enough to actually have the courage to follow through on his many threats. Making Brian promise me he would never come out of hiding no matter what sounds he might hear on that day. I taught him to meditate so he could use it to escape fear if he needed to. I also killed spiders with my bare hands to show him that I was afraid of nothing and assured him I would be the one left standing regardless of how frightening Mr. Coe may appear to him.

How does a mother sleep at night knowing her baby is being hurt while living in constant fear and neglect? At the same always being prepared and ready that at any given moment she may need to protect her other son with her life. I didn't ever simply go to sleep. I would fall asleep once my body finally failed me and fell into submission without asking me first. I lived each day submersed in guilt and shame for not being able to protect Jeremy not only from his father but from his own fears and the monsters that lurked in his waking dreams. Each night I obsessively checked the Internet for any recent news in hopes to never come across a breaking story of the death of a small boy in Racine. Every hour I looked for Mr. Coe's name on CCAPS in the event of his arrest.

If anyone had witnessed how I spent my nocturnal hours they would clearly decide I was non compos mentis. Well let me tell you my oh so sensible friend, my efforts were not in vain. On an unseasonably October night, the 14th to be exact, while making my nightly rounds to local on line newspapers and of course CCAPS, it was there (ccaps) where I discovered Mr. Coe finally was unable to escape arrest as he has so many times before.

Mr. Coe's chaos and reign of terror was finally put to an end by officers of the Racine Police Department. I was unable to force my brain to register what my sight fabricated in waves of disbelief. My heart raced with confusion and a sudden rush of relief entered by body. It was impossible to deny the long string of criminal charges that emerged onto my lap top screen. There was his name Jeremy M. Coe. There was his birth date. If that did not shatter all delusions there was Mr. Coe's home address too! Mr. Coe was charged with 2 counts of 1st-Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety w/a dangerous weapon, 2 counts of Intentionally Point Firearm At Person, Possession of Firearm by Felon, Carrying a Concealed Weapon, and finally 2 counts of Resisting or Obstructing an Officer.

You may be asking yourself how I could have been so delighted with my discovery without any regard for baby Jeremy. Where was he? Was he ok? Indeed he was. Baby Jeremy was in the safest place he could have possibly hoped for. Baby Jeremy was sleeping in bed next to his big brother Brian in the next room where I could almost make out the sound of his gentle breath entering and leaving his tiny body. This was it! Resolve hugged me with a feeling of peace of mind. Baby Jeremy's torment had finally come to an end. Not even for a moment had I consider that baby Jeremy would ever be forced to leave the refuge of our home. There was no way the incompetent corrupt CPS social workers and their lackeys from the RPD could deny baby Jeremy freedom from his father's abuse and make Mr. Coe's charges disappear without notice.

It would bring me an enormous amount of pleasure to end my story here with “They lived happily ever after. The End”. We began this story in the fall of 2010 and currently it is only the fall of 2012. Sadly you will discover upon further reading; the story continues till this day without end. Up until this point you may have had moments where you believed this to be a tale, fiction, something that the author made up because things like this do not happen in your home town. I have kept some things from you only because I cannot physically prove them and you would decide I am a liar. A weaver of a fable written in bad taste and tragedy. It is indeed true. As disheartening as that may be, I cannot prepare you for the events that followed Mr. Coe's arrest. I will warn you, what remains will anger you to the point of action. I'm counting on it! I promise you at no point have I or will I embellish or exaggerate the truth.

I must continue without any more distractions. Once the reality of what I just read sank in I immediately called Mr. Coe's Aunt slash girlfriend Rosie. For several days Rosie made attempts to befriend me. Of course I knew Rosie had ulterior motives when she initially contacted me. In her drug induced mind she believed her behavior was anything but transparent. It was obvious that I was not going to give up on my son and all those that were present during his abuse were going to be held accountable. Fear of her incestrial relationship with her nephew Mr. Coe would be exposed encouraged her to become a better person. Rosie called me several times a day to discuss going to the authorities with me to file a report in regards to Mr. Coe's drug abuse in the presence of Jeremy as well as how it affected his parenting. Rosie being below average intelligence mixed with crack cocaine was convinced I trusted her and all that she had said. She had a habit of talking in circles and never quite answering any questions I asked her.

It was obvious that while she was trying to save herself from certain demise, at the same time she was still in love with Mr. Coe. She was always careful not to slip up and disclose anything damaging to Mr. Coe by keeping everything vague while promising to do the right thing and help baby Jeremy. I entertained her for the most part but it became dull and redundant. I digress. I called her to pry what information I could out of her as to what Mr. Coe had done to acquire so many serious charges. CCAPS only provided what Mr. Coe had been charged with, not the details of how those charges came about. Rosie concentrated more on the fact that Mr. Coe was now living with a woman by the name of Amanda and that Amanda disliked her. I was too excited to listen to Rosie express her jealousy and distaste for Mr. Coe's new found love. I quickly ended the call. For the first time in two years I slept peacefully without waking until the following morning.

To my utter shock and disbelief Mr. Coe called to let me know he was on his way to pick up baby Jeremy. He did not know that I was aware that he had been arrested. I informed him with confidence that he would not be able to do so due to his charges. That no honest person in authority would allow it. After he shed a few tears that were only for him we hung up. I did not hear from him again.

The boys and I played outside all day searching for bugs, playing cars in the dirt, and putting some finishing touches on our fort. Brian invited his friend over for a cook out and planned to spend the evening destroying the living room with leggos and blanket forts. As I was about to put our burgers on the grill Rosie called to inform me Mr. Coe was on his way to pick up baby Jeremy with the assistance
of the very same officers that tazed him 3 days ago. I was grateful for her call but it left me confused as to why she had done so. If I were to guess it had something to do with Mr. Coe going to Amanda's house immediately after being released. I quickly apologized to Brian's friend for having to ask him to leave without eating his dinner. I cannot describe the amount of fear accompanied with anxiety that washed over me again and again. I felt like a wild animal trapped without any route of escape. Not thinking clearly I decided hiding inside our house in hopes they would simply leave if I did not answer the door.

Soon after inside a handful of squad cars screeched up with Mr. Coe not far behind. To keep baby Jeremy from making any noise that could be heard outside the confines of our walls I gave him a box of 64 crayons and suggested he color all over the walls in my bedroom. This satisfied him to a degree that held him in silence. Several officers were questioning my neighbors while others climbed my gardening table to get a peek inside my kitchen.

My phone rang. It was my neighbor that lived in front of me. Officers cohorsed her into dialing my number so they could speak to me. I told the officer I was at The Woman's Resource Center and he was wasting his time. We chatted about Mr. Coe's recent charges but he claimed ignorance stating they did not appear when he ran Mr. Coe's name. I did not feel so bad about lying to him since after all, he lied to me. I was more upset that he insulted my intelligence by making such a claim. The officer claimed he could hear us inside the house and demanded I open the door. I asked if he had a warrant to enter. He said no but stated I had a warrant in Kenosha. Indeed I did. Making it legal for the officers to enter without my consent. He could hear the terror in my voice and decided to strike a deal with me.

I agreed to bring baby Jeremy to the police department so they could see that he was in good health and he agreed not to arrest me on the active warrant. I arrived with Jeremy several long minutes before Mr. Coe. The officer escorted me to their break room where we would wait. He excused himself momentarily stating he was good friend with Mr. Coe's uncle and wanted to call him to see what his thoughts were. I asked him if he would call my uncle as well. Silence, no response. I asked the officer to pay attention and make note of baby Jeremy's behavior once Mr. Coe entered the room.

Mr. Coe arrived fashionably late. I discovered later his tardiness was due to ransacking my home. Baby Jeremy reacted as he always would when he seen his dad walk in. Jeremy became frantic, crying, begging and pleading with me to “go mommy go! Please mommy go. Go mommy go!” Mr. Coe made every attempt not to make eye contact with Jeremy. He sat at the chair furthest away from Jeremy without it being too obvious. He did not speak to Jeremy and made no effort to remove him from my lap as he clinged to me. Eventually he became calm as what I would describe as shock. After little discussion that had nothing to do with Mr. Coe's recent violent crimes or Jeremy's well being Mr. Coe picked Jeremy from my lap. We walked out with him due to baby Jeremy begging me to go with him. Mr. Coe's Aunt XXXX arrived in a car that had it's windows busted out and smelling of alcohol. Mr. Coe road in the passenger seat with Jeremy on his lap, no car seat available, no seat belt to at least pretend he was some what concerned for his son's safety. I asked the officer to note Jeremy's behavior, the condition of the car and his aunt as well as illegally transporting a toddler in the front seat while on Mr. Coe's lap. He assured me he would as he sarcastically remarked “Hey, I kept my word. I'm not going to arrest you on the warrant”.

I responded with a gush of tears and “It doesn't matter. I'm never going to see my baby again. You have no idea what you have done to him.”

At this he must have had a twinge of empathy and possibly regret and offered me a ride home.
I declined and walked away. He then expressed concern for my well being, stating it wasn't safe for me to walk so far alone and I was not wearing a coat. I would surely freeze. I was barely able to form words between sobs as I informed him I was already dead.

Brian and I did not see baby Jeremy again until a few days before Christmas then again not until 2 days before Easter Sunday.