"I'm cooking food."
Then he gestured toward the house.
"And that's my house."
The officer nodded.
"Okay."
Marcus leaned back.
"So why am I being questioned?"
The officer didn't answer immediately.
Caroline interrupted.
"Because people are concerned."
Marcus looked at her.
"People?"
"Neighbors."
"Which neighbors?"
Again, silence.
The backyard suddenly seemed smaller.
Marcus could hear the faint hum of traffic from the street.
He could hear the wind moving through the trees.
He could hear the refrigerator compressor inside the house.
But nobody seemed willing to say the simple thing that had brought them all there.
Finally, Marcus looked directly at Caroline.
"Did you call the police because you thought I was trespassing?"
Her eyes shifted.
"No."
"Did you call because you thought I was dangerous?"
"I called because I didn't know who you were."
Marcus stared at her.
Then he quietly replied:
"You've known me for six years."
The woman said nothing.
And that silence told Marcus more than any explanation could.
Caroline had forgotten something important.
Marcus remembered everything.
He remembered the day he moved into the neighborhood.
He remembered Caroline watching from her porch.
He remembered the first complaint.
He remembered every time she had questioned whether he belonged.
But he had never expected the police to appear in his backyard.
The older officer looked toward Caroline.
"Ma'am, is there anything specific you observed that led you to believe there was a crime?"
Caroline's expression changed.
She hadn't expected the question.
"I saw unfamiliar people."
"That's not necessarily a crime."
"I saw vehicles."
"Also not necessarily a crime."
"There was loud talking."
Marcus raised an eyebrow.
"We were talking."
The officer looked at him.
"Was there an argument?"
"No."
"Any threats?"
"No."
"Any fighting?"
"No."
The officer turned toward Caroline.
"Anything else?"
Caroline hesitated.
Then she said something that changed the atmosphere completely.