Another neighbor came outside holding her phone.
Within minutes, half the street seemed to be watching.
Monica pointed toward the gnome.
“And you stole my gnome!”
I blinked.
“Your gnome?”
She immediately realized her mistake.
“The one you took from my yard and painted blue?”
A few people laughed.
Monica’s face reddened beneath the pink paint.
“This is ridiculous! Turn those phones off!”
Frank folded his arms.
“Like when you borrowed my ladder?”
“I returned it.”
“Three months later.”
Someone else mentioned a planter.
Another neighbor brought up a garden hose.
Gardening
Apparently, I hadn’t been the only person Monica had been “borrowing” from.
Monica looked around.
Suddenly, she wasn’t dealing with one quiet widow anymore.
She was facing an entire street full of people who had finally realized they’d all been letting the same behavior slide.
She glared at me.
“Tell them this was an accident.”
“Which part?”
Her eyes narrowed.
“The paint.”
“Or you coming back after midnight to steal electricity after I specifically told you not to?”
Electricity
She went silent.
I smiled.
“That’s what I thought.”
Eventually, everyone went home.
Monica stormed inside.
I stood alone in the driveway staring at the pink streaks on the pavement.
My hands were shaking.
Not because I was frightened.
Because for the first time in years, I had defended myself without immediately apologizing for it.
I thought that was the end of the story.
I was wrong.
Two weeks later, someone knocked on my door.
It was Mr. Alvarez, Monica’s landlord.
He had known my late husband for years before moving out of state.
“I saw the video,” he said.
I felt slightly embarrassed.
“About the paint?”
He smiled faintly.
“That certainly got my attention.”
Then his expression became serious.
“Her lease expires next month. I’m not renewing it.”
I stared at him.
“Because she used my electricity?”
Language Resources
“No.”
Apparently, after seeing the neighborhood video, Mr. Alvarez had decided to take a closer look at the property.
What he discovered had nothing to do with me.
Monica had fallen behind on several utility payments.
There was significant damage inside the rental house that she had never reported.
She had also completed unauthorized alterations despite explicit restrictions in the lease.
Electricity
