Thankfully it was warm for a Mid-Winter Saturday morning. The 25 minute drive out to the property they were looking at had been picturesque for LJ and Hope, especially with the sun steadily rising to the East as they headed out of town. They both had to remind themselves as tranquil as the trip had been, it was done at 8am on a Saturday morning when most any other time it would certainly be a lot more time consuming.
The property itself seemed to be exactly what they were looking for. It was a shade under 20 acres with about half the land cleared, a house that was situated well off the road and even a lake that was stocked with fish, not to mention a barn and a couple of buildings already raised. The catch was the property had been the site of a rather large scale meth operation that several law enforcement agencies had raided over a year earlier, and the place had been sitting vacant ever since.
The house itself was in pretty good shape. The people that had been running the operation had thankfully kept the rambunctiousness taking place on other parts of the property from spilling over to their living space. There had also been a professional hazmat clean-up crew that had come in and dealt with the barn and sheds where they were cooking the meth. The only real issues were the dog kennels where the previous tenants had been running a small scale dog fighting/breeding operation, along with the year's worth of grassy overgrowth around the house.
With the asking price for the property being so cheap, the main hurdle LJ foresaw was the perceived stigma that might come with buying a place with such an infamous past for the young kids in his project. Frankly, LJ reasoned, it wasn't any worse than many of the neighborhoods they already called home.
Walking through the two foot high weeds towards the front porch of the house, LJ hoped a full year's worth of bad news about all the other things in the world might dull peoples' memories of what the property had been known for.
"So what do you think?" LJ asked as he paced across the creaky planks of the porch.
"I think we better rebuild the porch if you and all the kids are going to be hanging out on here," Hope laughed. "Seriously...I think the place had potential. You were hinting that this place had some baggage along with it?"
"We'll get into that while we take a look around," LJ replied before stealing a peek inside the dusty front window.
"Looks livable inside," he added.
"Alright...let's go down there towards the barn and the kennels and see what type of shape they're in," LJ sighed a few seconds later.
"OK," Hope followed along, gradually wishing she'd worn pants instead of a long dress as the morning chill continued to work on her.
The physical toll of what LJ had put her body through over the past five days continued to haunt Hope's frame each time she took a step. She could feel the muscles in her legs, side and back grumble as she followed LJ around the house to the backyard. She did manage a slight internal chuckle seeing how LJ walked ever so gingerly as well, and felt a jolt of silly pride course through her realizing she'd put a few miles on his tires over the past few days as well.
"What's that smell?" Hope spoke up as the glistening dew from the weeds gradually coated her skirt and shoes.
"That's part of the reason this land is so cheap," LJ offered as he kept walking. "About a year and a half ago the Feds busted a pretty big meth operation out here. From what I read they were cooking the stuff down there in the barn and storing it in those sheds...I think they also had a pretty big pot crop down there on the other side of the fence along with some Michael Vick type stuff going on with the dogs down in the kennels."
"Geez...not exactly a place you want your kids wandering around," Hope sighed.
"Yep..it's gonna need some work but its do-able," LJ replied before casually pitching a rock down the hill towards the lake.
Turning towards the kennels, Hope's heart broke thinking about what the animals who lived there must have endured during their stay. While a hazmat crew had cleaned up the meth mess, no one had seemed to take the time to clean up much of the remnants remaining in and around the dog pens. Thankfully in the 18 months since the dogs had been rescued, time along with a lot of fresh air had dulled much of the scent.
Easing past the caged living quarters, LJ and Hope slowly entered the makeshift office in the back of the kennel and looked out the rear window to see the pit that had been cut into the woods where the dogs actually fought. LJ spent several moments trying to put his head around the carnage that had taken place in that ring along with what he could potentially put there like a basketball court or a garden.
Hope, on the other hand, had her attention focused on something in the room adjacent to the office.
"What are those? she asked LJ against her better judgment, pointing at several medieval looking contraptions gathering dust to her right.
"....Uh...," LJ paused, unsure exactly how to tell Hope, or even if he should, what those things were for.
"She's a 35 year old woman..I think she can handle it," a voice inside his head finally chided.
"I think that's what they call 'rape stands' in the dog fighting world..at least that's what the reporters talked about when they were busting the place," LJ offered, unable to look Hope directly in the eyes as a visible wave of disgust washed through the woman standing aghast in front of him.