“Fair enough.”
Caleb
The following week, I saw Caleb sitting alone at the community playground.
He was staring at his phone.
I walked past.
He looked up.
“You hate my mom?”
I stopped.
“No.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
“She hates you.”
“I don't hate people because they dislike me.”
He looked away.
“She thinks you're trying to destroy us.”
“I'm not.”
“She says you're trying to get her arrested.”
“I haven't said that.”
He was quiet.
Then he said:
“She makes me do things.”
I looked at him.
“What kind of things?”
He shrugged.
“Nothing.”
“Caleb.”
He stared at the ground.
“She tells me to take pictures of people's houses.”
That made me pause.
“Why?”
“To prove violations.”
“Does she pay you?”
“No.”
“Does she know you don't want to?”
He didn't answer.
I sat on the bench.
“You don't have to tell me anything.”
He looked surprised.
“You're not going to ask?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you're sixteen.”
He laughed bitterly.
“You keep saying that.”
“Because it matters.”
He looked at me.
“My mom says you're dangerous.”
I smiled faintly.
“Your mom has been saying a lot of things.”
“She says police chiefs think they're above everyone.”
“Some do.”
“Are you?”
“No.”
“Then why didn't you tell us?”
“Because I wanted to be a normal neighbor.”
He nodded.
For a moment, he looked less like Bettina's son and more like a kid who was tired of being caught between adults.
Then he stood.
“I should go.”
“Okay.”
He walked away.
I didn't know it then, but that conversation would matter later.
A lot.
The Missing Money
Three weeks later, the HOA financial records were finally released.
A homeowner named Priya Patel sent me a message.
“Darnell, you need to see this.”
I didn't respond immediately.
Then she sent a spreadsheet.
I opened it.
The numbers didn't add up.
Not slightly.
Significantly.
There were thousands of dollars in unexplained administrative expenses.
Payments to a consulting company.
Payments to a landscaping company.
Payments for “community safety services.”
And one company appeared repeatedly.
Whitmore Property Solutions.
Bettina's brother's company.
That was no longer a mailbox problem.