I remained silent when my neighbor took things from my property. I even pretended to ignore her when she started using my electricity . But the night I finally stood up for myself, karma struck me twice. And she didn’t see the second blow coming.Electricity companies
Most mornings, the hardest decision I had to make was whether my tomatoes needed watering before breakfast.Compliance with the law
At sixty-four, I loved my life that way.
After enough surprises to fill a lifetime, thirty-two years spent in the same small suburban house had taught me to appreciate ordinary days.
One morning, I made my coffee, opened my electricity bill and discovered that the electricity company had apparently disappeared without warning.
I fixed the amount of the gaze.
Then he stared at the ground again.Disappearances and abductions
“That’s not possible,” I said aloud, even though the only one who could hear me was my cat.
The bill was almost double what I usually paid.
Not ten or twenty dollars more.
Almost double.
I checked the account number.
Then the meter reading.Books and literature
Finally, I went out to the electrical box next to my garage and squinted to look at the numbers, as if they would be ashamed and correct themselves.
They didn’t do it.
I went home and called my daughter, Diane.
Because when you’re a widow and something doesn’t make sense, apparently you call your daughter pretending you just want to chat.
“Mom, did you leave the air conditioning on again with a window open?”Electricity companies
“No,” I replied. “I haven’t touched the thermostat since April.”
“It might be the refrigerator. Old refrigerators use a lot of energy.”Refrigerators and freezers
“The fridge is younger than you, darling.” ”
She laughed.
I didn’t do it.
After hanging up, I stood at the kitchen window , looking over the low fence towards my neighbor Monica’s house.
Monica was in her thirties, had three children, a husband who traveled frequently, and a gleaming white Tesla that was almost always parked crookedly in her driveway.
I had already learned that Monica had a complicated concept of the boundary between her business and that of others.Culinary specialties
I simply hadn’t realized how widespread this attitude was.
Six months earlier, my garden gnome had disappeared.
It was a ridiculous little decoration that my husband had bought at a flea market the summer before he died.
He handed it to me with a smile.
“For the garden, El. Every garden needs a little bit of whimsy.”
Two days after her disappearance, I saw her near Monica’s front steps.
She had painted it blue.
I could still recognize the chipped nose.
I didn’t say anything.
Then my lawnmower disappeared from the garage.
He reappeared a week later with an empty tank, a dull blade, and no explanation.
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