Welome to Terry's neighborhood

Terry Payer had an older car that he used everyday. The car didn't have all the frills of new cars but it ran fine and he wanted to keep it. One day a new neighbor moved into Terry's neighborhood named Hank Green. Hank really liked cars and he had always wanted to build a car on his own but he needed help. That's when Hank's cousin, Mac, introduced him to his mechanic, Otis Fallon.

Otis and Hank became friends right away so Otis was happy to help Hank build a new car. However, Otis had one rule; Hank had to let Mac use the new car whenever he went to visit his relatives up north. Hank said he couldn't do that because he knew Mac wanted to visits his relatives up north more often and this would leave Hank without his new car. This is where Terry got involved.

It turns out Otis was also Terry's uncle and Otis told Hank he could have Terry's car even though Otis didn't own it. Although Terry actually owned the car and paid for it, his parents' names, Charlie and Lucy, were on the title. Hank was sure Charlie would give him the car, after all he was Otis' brother, so Hank agreed to go ahead and start work on the new car. When Terry found out his dad was thinking about giving away his car he was livid. Terry reminded his dad they had an agreement that they wouldn't get rid of the car until it couldn't be driven anymore and it wasn't worth fixing. He reminded his dad that he used the car every day and that it was running fine.

Despite the agreement with his son, Charlie decided to give Terry's car to Hank. However, Charlie did make Hank sign a contract that he could not have Terry's car until the new car was completely finished so that Terry could use it if he needed a car. The contract also said Otis had to inspect the new car and agree to take care of it before Hank could take Terry's car.

Even with this agreement, Terry was mad his dad was going to give away his car so he went to his mom, Lucy, and asked her to help. Since her name was also on the title Terry knew his dad couldn't give away the car without his mom's permission. Lucy had no idea her husband had agreed to give away Terry's car so she needed some time to figure out what was going on. Besides, the new car wasn't even done yet so Terry still had his car.

Then one morning in May of 2006 Terry woke up to find his car was missing. Terry knew that Hank hadn't completed the new car and his uncle, Otis, hadn't agreed to take care of it so Terry thought it was stolen. Terry immediately called his dad who told him that Hank and Mac had just borrowed Terry's car and that he would get it back real soon. As the months went by it became clear Terry's wasn't going to get his car back. Hank had given it to Mac and Mac used the parts to build new cars. Terry found out his Uncle Otis even gave Mac permission to start building the new cars with parts from Terry's car.

About seven months after Hank and Mac stole the car they went to see Otis. The new car wasn't built properly or completed so they knew Otis wouldn't sign anything saying he would take care of the car. However, since Mac didn't want to sell his new cars with stolen parts they came up with a plan. Otis would send a letter to Charlie saying that everything Charlie had required in his contract with Hank, (i.e. the new car being completed, inspected and Otis agreeing to take care of it) was done. Otis, Hank and Mac all knew this was a lie but they had to do something to cover their tracks. When Charlie got the letter he also knew it was a lie but at least he could now use this letter to tell everyone Mac owned Terry's car, never mind that they stole the car seven months earlier.

A couple of months after Otis sent the letter to Charlie, Charlie's wife said that Charlie forged her name on the title. Lucy even said that Hank and Mac had stolen the car. When the people who bought the new cars off of Mac heard this they sued him. They say Mac never told them he built the cars with stolen parts and that they just want Mac to take the cars back.

As for Terry, it is now 18 months later and the new car he has to use still isn't completed and it's also not built properly. Because of this Otis won't take care of the problems with the car and Terry has to rely on the people who stole his car to take care of the new one. Hank is so brazen he even had the nerve to try and make Terry pay for the car. The people Terry thought were there to protect him, his dad Charlie and Uncle Otis, not only didn't protect him but they helped Hank and Mac steal his car. Of course, his mom was there for him but he wonders why he would have to go to her to protect him from his own family.

Terry has filed a police report and since no one disputes that Hank and Mac took the car when they didn't own it, this should be a simple case. Terry thinks his uncle and dad are also responsible since Uncle Otis let Hank and Mac tear apart a car they didn't own and his dad knew Uncle Otis was lying when he said the new car was done and he would take care of it. However, Terry doesn't expect anything to happen.

Hank, Mac and their friends have been stealing from Terry and his neighbors for years and the police chief and sheriff have never done a thing to stop them. Why? Well the same people who have been helping Hank and Mac steal from the neighborhood are supposed to be enforcing the law. You see Terry's dad, Charlie, is the sheriff and Uncle Otis is the police chief. Welcome to Terry's neighborhood.