The Great Escape

We have been trying to find a way to unwrap ourselves from our lease this last week in order to find a safer dwelling. Initially we called the management office of our apartment. They basically told us to stick it in our ears. I sent Roxann in to plead our case after my visit failed. We were told that we would be responsible for the remainder of the lease if we moved out. We called the Corporate office in Ohio. I called first and was given an unsympathetic answer. I was also told that the situation had been handled. Later Roxann called with much the same result. However, we were told that we could only be responsible for one month extra rent according the Rutherford County law. They also told us fun things like: "you should have checked the crime rate before you moved in" and "We cannot be responsible for crime". Awesome. We gave our lease to Christopher Westmorland who is our Sunday School teacher and a Lawyer. He was able to confirm the apartment's claims of our responsibility but was unable to find a loophole in the lease under the circumstances.
So on Saturday, we were on our way to Parent-Teacher Conference with Ben's teacher. Our neighbors in the next building were moving out. Roxann stopped and talked with them. These guys have been really good neighbors. They are 2 college guys who have always been pleasant and fun, love the kids and love to play. They said that they were also involved in the altercation; trying to stop it from happening. They explained further that not only were 2 other families aside from themselves moving, but the original perpetrators had not been charged with a crime because the victim would not press charges and continued to hang out in the area threatening people who "got them in trouble". These bad men are friends of a girl who lives in C building. They were her guests and no action has been taken against her that we know of. Her friends continue to lurk, making us all uneasy.
What to do. We took counsel with our Bishop on Sunday and told us flatly that we should leave as quickly as possible. So today we are finalizing our escape. We have found a place to live that is north of us in a subdivision. We will be at least 3 miles from any retail civilization with a fenced yard and 1600 square feet inside the house. The Bishop offered to help us with part of our escape funds owed the the apartment complex. Now we are doing our best to come up with the rest. Please pray for us. We have been fasting and praying and we know that this is the right thing to do.

By the way.... Brian... Good Luck, we have been praying for you...