rpm -e question

I want to uninstall an rpm package. The original package is in my home directory. In that directory, after becoming superuser, I enter rpm -e <the rpm package> only to be told that that package is not installed! Just to make sure it is installed, I do rpm -U <rpm package name> and am told that it is already installed! Did Franz Kafka write the rpm program? What now? Thanks dj tuchler