Chapter 10 - The Story Helen Really Told
Ellie faced her school's attendance office the next morning while I sat beside her. She accepted a makeup test with a grade penalty. I wanted to argue that an HOA crew had frightened her. She squeezed my hand under the table, telling me not to turn her mistake into another battle.
On the drive home she asked, “Are you still mad?”
“Yes,” I said. “But mostly I'm worried. You can call me without staying home to supervise adults.”
“I did call.”
The words landed precisely where they needed to. “You're right.”
Helen invited us in that afternoon. Her daughter had taken down a framed photograph of Helen hiking before her fall. It rested against the couch, waiting to be rehung.
“I told Cynthia there were berries by the drain,” Helen said, pouring iced tea. “I also told her my cane caught in a raised edge of pavement. She kept asking about the berries.”
“Did you know she used your complaint to demand removal?” I asked.
“Not until you showed me the notice.”
She pulled out a copy of the form she'd signed. The section for possible contributing conditions listed fruit and uneven paving. Cynthia's email to residents had mentioned only fruit.
I photographed the form after Helen said I could. Then I put my phone away.
“I don't want this shared online,” Helen said.
“It won't be.”
Helen watched Ellie take a cookie. “Danny used to sweep my front steps when my wrist acted up. I'd yell at him to stop fussing. He'd say he wasn't fussing, he was stealing my exercise.”
We all laughed a little, then stopped because the memory hurt.
Helen agreed to tell the board directly what she had reported, including the raised paving. She made me promise not to speak for her. I agreed without qualifying it.
Outside, Ellie stopped beneath the wounded tree. “I forgot Dad used to help Helen.”
“So did I.”
The storm drain at the corner still had a lip where the pavement had lifted. I knelt and photographed it, not because it proved the berries harmless, but because the board had been warned about two separate problems and had chosen to solve only one.
That evening Pilar called. A special board session had been set to discuss the damaged tree, the contractor's responsibility, and potential payment for safety repairs. Cynthia wanted it closed to residents.
May you like
“Are you asking me not to attend?” I said.
“No,” Pilar replied. “I'm telling you that the board's next decision will affect your property, and I think you should be ready.”
