Once I arrived at Carol’s, I saw that she was relaxing in her yard on one of those beach recliners next to the pond. She was wearing a rather revealing one-piece swimsuit, which seemed totally inappropriate for a gated community. I mean, anyone could have been walking past her yard with their kid and they’d be greeted by this middle-aged woman revealing more of her pasty body than needed to be shared. It also seemed completely hypocritical that she continually harped on about causing a public nuisance and indecency, when she was the one spread out on a recliner in half-revealing clothing. She was sipping some kind of pink drink while reading from a book; a pair of sunglasses in place of her usual spectacles. Next to the recliner were her tatty old Birkenstocks that were in dire need of an upgrade; the imprint of her feet etched into the leather. Her feet themselves were crossed at the ankles, a demonstration of her relaxation, which was completely at odds with the nervous squirming she’d induced in my tummy from that threatening letter I’d received.
“Carol,” I said in a soft tone while I approached her fence. “Please may I speak to you for a moment?” I held the cheque aloft. “I have the payment for the fine. I’d like to bring an end to this whole thing.” It was killing me inside that I was actually going to pay this wretched woman, but I was fearful of the weight she could pull in court, especially since she’d had the police dancing to her tune. The last thing I needed was a court appearance on my record, and subsequent fees on top of this already outrageous fine. I knew in my heart that I was correct in all of this, but that didn’t seem to matter when I had everything weighted against me. For my own peace of mind, I figured it was better to just be done with the whole thing. “I don’t agree with it, but I don’t want to go to court, so I’ll pay it.” I actually felt ashamed of myself for giving in, I had no other choice. I couldn’t afford a bloody lawyer.
Carol glanced up from her book, and though her eyes were hidden behind her shades, I could see the grimace on her lips. “You just love disturbing me when I’m busy, don’t you?”
“I’m sorry,” I said, remembering our previous encounter and how she’d completely manipulated the situation with her dramatics. “I just want to pay what I owe.” It was my turn to grimace. “Not what I owe, but what you fined me.”
She flopped the book down on her lap. “You do realise that we don’t all exist to please you, right? Your little debt may be a priority in your life, but it’s certainly not a priority in mine.” She waved me away dismissively with her hand. “You should make an appointment to see me like everyone else.”
I was about to say something, when I paused, unsure if she was actually joking or not. She was hardly busy, was she? Lazing around in the garden and reading a book. Plus, I was only there because she’d deemed it necessary to fine me for something completely trivial. I would have been more than happy to never cross paths with her again, but she was the one delivering letters to my home and demanding payment while threatening court. The sheer gall of her to suggest I needed to make an appointment to see her was the icing on the cake. She was a resident here, the same as I, though she was acting like she was the queen or something. All of this was her doing. I hadn’t turned up on her door the first day and demanded she had to remove her pond, had I? Now, she was twisting the situation as if I was currently harassing her when I just wanted to bring a conclusion to our altercation.
I swallowed, and steadied myself, remembering to be amicable, as my friend had suggested. Even though I was raging at her arrogance and dismissive treatment of me, especially since she was the one causing problems in my life, I knew I didn’t want to complicate matters further. “Please, could I just pass you this cheque, and then I’ll leave you alone?”
Carol lifted her sunglasses and pushed them back into her blonde hair. The sun was reflecting from the lotion she’d clumsily wiped all over her face. Beneath the shades, in an almost dorky way, she was still wearing her regular glasses. She looked me up and down, before holding out a hand towards me. “Fine,” she said, “Bring it over here.”
“Thank you.” I opened the gate, and started heading towards her.
Carol snapped her fingers impatiently, which caused me to skip and quicken in pace. “Come on,” she said. “I don’t have all day.”
When I reached her, I handed her the cheque, which she snatched from my hand and read. Meanwhile, I stood there awkwardly and didn’t know what to say. There was a strange feeling inside me and I felt completely out of place, as if I was somewhere that I didn’t belong. The way she was just laying back in her swimsuit, with her bare feet crossed, relaxed and completely at ease while I was in the height of trepidation and desperate for this to be the end of the whole matter. On top of that, the way she had snapped her fingers at me as if I was some servant bringing her a morning coffee only seemed to compound my uneasiness further; especially since my natural response had been to leap to her signal and quicken my stride.
“You can leave now,” she said, before placing the cheque on a small table next to her.
“Is…is everything good between us now?” I asked.
“I already said you can leave.” She picked up her book and flopped down her sunglasses once more. “You’re bothering me,” she said, “and now you’re trespassing.”
I froze in place, and though I knew it was probably better to just retreat from her property, I was hesitant and out of my comfort zone. I didn’t know what to do, and I felt like whatever choice I made would be the wrong one. Instead, I lingered in place, taking a step away, before pausing and hovering near her recliner. “I…uh…”
Carol huffed, before looking up at me in silence. She seemed on the verge of snapping some retort at me, however, she paused, and instead she fingered the corner of the current page she was reading. She considered me for a moment, before glancing at the cheque, then adjusting her position to make herself more comfortable. She bent one knee slightly, crossing the other leg over it so that one foot dangled in the air. “Why are you still here?” she asked impatiently. “What is it you want?”
“I…ummm…just want to know that everything is settled,” I said uneasily. “I don’t want to have to bother you again.” I flinched at the implication of my words. Why the hell was I using language like that? She was the one that was constantly bothering me. She was the inconvenience, not me.
She’d closed the book and was tapping the leather cover with her index finger by this point, while she stared at me, apparently lost in a deep thought. “Apologise,” she said, as a small smile came to her lips. “If you feel the need to still be here, then you can apologise for your behaviour over the past week. That was the second part of your penalty, wasn’t it?”
“Excuse me?” I asked, somewhat surprised. I had no intention of apologising as it was her behaviour that had been completely unreasonable. I just wanted some reassurance that as soon as I got home, I wasn’t going to find another letter posted in my mailbox sanctioning me for a further made-up infraction. “No, I had to remove the BBQ and apologise, or pay the fine. You said I missed the chance for the first part, so I’m here to pay the fine.”
Will there a part 2?