Part I here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Drama/comments/40pce9/cripple_civil_war_part_i_not_much_drama_mostly/

When we last left our hero he had decided to start up a separate support group for people with disabilities. So I got in contact with the owner/manager of the rec center about having a room once a week. He remembered me from years ago and gave me the choice for a couple of days. I took Thursday's since Dawns group met on Mondays and I wanted enough room between meetings for anybody who wanted to go to both. Once I worked it out I called Eric to let him know I was going to start another group, he was really happy. I called up Steve who was at the meeting from the other night to let him know as well as Tim.

Now, I had fully intended to get in contact with Dawn to let her know I was starting up another group, that it was nothing against her and it was just something different for anybody who wanted it. In retrospect, I should have called her first. So I end up getting a FB message from her asking me what the hell am I doing? Why I'm starting up another group and such. I give her my phone number and ask her to call me so we could hash all this out. She calls and immediately I notice she has a very pissed off tone. I stay calm and nice, I tell her a few of us were talking about the old group ran by Dave and how it was a little different from hers so I figured I would start up another group in that same vein. I even told her there was nothing wrong with the way she ran hers and that I just wanted to go in a bit of a different direction.

She immediately starts accusing me of wanting to take over her group and push her out (never me intent btw). I tried to tell her that wasn't what I was doing but she cut me off and almost yelled "don't interrupt me". She also told me that judging from the other night I wasn't fit to run a group and that I could do a lot of damage. She then said because of that anybody who went to my group wasn't welcome at hers and that I should tell people that. I was actually shocked by that. I tried telling her there was no reason to do that, that people could get something different from each of our groups. She didn't want to hear it though, she told me I was making a mistake and hung up on me.

So I contacted Eric, Steve and Tim, told them that Dawn said they wouldn't be allowed at her group if they go to mine. I let them all know I had zero problem if they went to both but if they didn't want to come to mine I would understand. So I hold the group the next Thursday and it wasn't a bad turnout. Myself, Eric, Steve, a couple of people who had been part of Daves old group but left after Dawn took it over, Tim and a girl I had met last week at Dawns group, Jessie. I was actually really nervous leading a support group but it went fantastically. Some great discussions, joking around, problems were brought up and we all talked them over. At one point Jessie raised her hand asking if it was ok to give somebody advice. I thought it was strange she asked like that but apparently it was heavily discouraged in the other group for anybody but Dawn or her two friends to give advice.

The next day I get some texts from Dawn about how she's disappointed that I held the group. Again stating that I am doing more harm than good and that I need to stop this. I ignored her. Some days later I get a call from one of my clients telling me that somebody had gotten in touch with them through FB. I'm a pet sitter/groomer and this person told my client that I had abused their pets and not taken care of them. My client didn't believe him because I had been pet sitting for her for many years and she knew I would never hurt an animal but she wanted to let me know. I ended up getting three more calls about it. I was able to convince them all that it was just somebody with a grudge against me. Looking into it, the person calling my clients was a friend of Dawns.

So I call Dawn, she tries ducking my calls a few times but finally answers. I ask her what the hell she thinks she's doing going after my business like that. She feigns ignorance, I tell her I know it was her friend who contacted my clients, she says she knows nothing about it but is sure to add in "I can't say I'm sorry that happened to you though". I tell her to stop with the games and just let our groups coexist and hung up. I ended up hearing from a couple of other clients but that all died down.

A couple of weeks go by and my group grows a bit more and it's going great. I think it was the third meeting, as it let out we notice Dawn and a friend are in a car at the far end of the parking lot watching us. She also drove past my house a handful of times really slow. I found out later on that almost every meeting I'm brought up by her and how terrible I am. She even starts telling her group I'm harassing her.

After about a month I bring up to the group about doing a small yard sale and bake sale for charity. Everybody seems to be up for it and we end up holding it outside in front of the rec center. A couple of people from the other group hear about it and they come by with donations and a cake to sell. The day is going great then Dawn and her cronies come around. I was HOPEFUL they came by to bury the hatchet and donate/help with the sale. Nope, they came by to berate and yell at the couple of people who came to help out from her group. They took them aside and it got louder and louder. I finally went over to them, saw one of the girls that came to help out was in tears. I told Dawn to either buy something or leave. She started yelling and screaming at me that I had no right to kick her off the property and that I don't fool her with my little charity (whatever that meant).

Finally after she yelled a bit more she left but not before yelling to everybody that all of them were barred from her group. About an hour goes by and a police cruiser pulls into the parking lot. The cop gets out, asks who is in charge and I go to talk to him. He tells me he got a report of us selling stolen merchandise. I told the cop no, nothing was stolen, everything was brought from our homes, that this was all for charity. Everybody backed me up and I gave him a quick rundown of Dawn and her being against this group. He looks around a bit but he does end up believing me. He even bought a couple of brownies. Everybody was pretty shocked Dawn would stoop so low as to call the police on us.

Another week goes by and I get a call from Tim's parents asking if I could come meet them at their house. I had no problem with that. I go over there, meet them and everything is rather pleasant although I do notice they are asking a lot of questions about me and the group. Tim came home after a while and they invited me to stay for dinner. At dinner Tim's mother compliments me on something and Tim says to her "I told you she was lying". It comes out that the reason for this meet up was that Dawn came to their house and told them I was a drug addict, a bad influence on Tim and that the group was toxic and hurting him. Tim's parents told me they were suspicious of what she was saying since they've seen him flourish in the past couple of months even signing up for some community college classes and getting out more. They apologized to me and said they just wanted to be sure. I understood and assured them I wasn't mad about it.

Not too long after that Dawn called my boyfriend at the time to tell him I was cheating on him with her. He knew everything that was happening so right away he didn't believe her. She was really trying to hit me on all fronts. The group was growing and doing really great though. Defectors would tell me weekly she would rant and rave about me and this group. She was really starting to turn people off, so more of them came over to my group.

She and her friends then started to send others in the group nasty texts/messages. Then she tried to get a couple of them fired. I was getting fed up with this so I called her and told her this needs to stop. That there had to be a way for both our groups to coexist without her going crazy on everybody. She played dumb and tried to say it was all her friend doing it.

Her next plan blew up in her face. Her and her friends went to the owner/manager of the rec center telling him that we were harassing them. They told him to boot us from there or they wouldn't hold their meeting there anymore. He told me he just didn't give a shit so he told them to find someplace else to meet. After that she "bumped" into me in a Publix parking lot. She yelled and screamed and cursed at me, saying how terrible I was. I just told her I wasn't in the mood to deal with her, got in my car and left.

That's basically it to be honest. We would hear from her every once in a while bitching at us but that was it. She started holding her group at her apartment with her friends and the couple of members that stuck around but apparently that didn't last long. Our group is doing really well, we still meet weekly and it seems to really help the people in the group. Sorry this didn't have a bigger blowoff like me and Dawn engaging in fisticuffs for the soul of the group. But I hope you heathens enjoyed reading this.