“Is there anything else she can interfere with?”
“Anything she thinks creates pressure.”
“She’s already suing me.”
“And apparently wants you to feel that lawsuit every day.”
“What do you recommend?”
“The same thing I recommended before. Don’t retaliate. Don’t block the road. Don’t make threats. Let the documents do their work.”
I looked toward the distant tree line.
“That’s getting harder.”
“I know.”
“No, David. I’m serious. She’s telling people I’m a criminal. She’s trying to delay work on my farm. She’s sending men to photograph my property.”
“Then keep documenting it.”
“She thinks she can make me sell.”
“Maybe.”
I tightened my grip on the phone.
“I’m not selling.”
“I didn’t think you were.”
Then he said something I wouldn’t forget.
“Don’t give her the fight she wants. Give the judge the facts she can’t answer.”
I repeated that sentence to myself more than once.
Especially after I met Dorothy and Gerald Henderson.
Carl introduced us on a Sunday afternoon.
Their home was modest and well cared for, with a neat front walk, trimmed shrubs, and flowerpots beside the porch.
Dorothy was 74.
Gerald was 71.
Both were polite in the cautious way of people who had learned that expressing disagreement could become expensive.
Dorothy invited me inside and offered tea.
Gerald sat beside her at the kitchen table.
They showed me the violation notices.
Grass height.
An exterior paint complaint involving shutters that had been the same color for years.
A seasonal wreath left on the front door four days too long.
The total was $1,400.
I looked at the papers.
“Have you appealed these?”
Gerald gave a tired laugh.
“Every time.”
“What happened?”
“Margaret told us the board had reviewed the matter.”
“Did the full board actually review it?”
“We never got a straight answer.”
Dorothy touched the stack of papers.
“We’re not trying to cause trouble. We keep the property nice. We pay our dues. Gerald does the yard himself when his knee allows it.”
Gerald looked away.
She continued.
“But every few months there’s another letter. Sometimes it’s fifty dollars. Sometimes it’s two hundred. And when you don’t pay, they add fees.”
