Chapter 7: More Than One Family
Carol Stitt had lived at our address from 2011 to 2016.
She had two daughters.
The older one, Bree, had been twelve when they moved in.
She called the next morning while I was making lunches.
"He told Bree she was trespassing," Carol said.
"She'd climbed the fence to get a ball that had rolled into his yard.
He came out and stood over her and told her she was trespassing on private property and that he could call the police."
"How old was she?"
"Twelve.
She was twelve years old and he stood there until she climbed back over the fence without the ball." Carol's voice was tight.
"She had nightmares for a month.
Wouldn't play in the backyard."
I sat down at the kitchen table.
"Carol, would you be willing to give a written statement?
We're filing with the county mediation office."
"Patty already told me.
That's why I called." She paused.
"I want you to know — I almost called the city back then.
I looked up the ordinances.
I found out about the encroachment rules.
But Dale had already been to two of our neighbors and told them we were difficult people.
By the time I thought about filing anything, I felt like I'd already lost."
"He did that?
He went to the neighbors first?"
"Within a week of us saying anything to him directly.
He got ahead of the story." She stopped.
"Is he doing that now?
With you?"
I hadn't thought about it.
"I don't know," I said.
"Not that I've heard."
"Watch for it," she said.
"That's what he does.
He makes you the problem before you can make him the problem."
After I hung up, I stood in the kitchen for a long moment.
Then I walked next door to Patty's.
She answered before I finished knocking.
"You talked to Carol," she said.
"And Frank.
Patty — did Dale ever try to turn the block against any of them?"
She stepped back and let me in.
Her kitchen smelled like coffee and something baking.
She poured me a cup without asking.
"He went to the Hendersons and the Morrises when the Garcias pushed back on the fence complaint," she said.
"Told them the Garcias were planning to put up a structure that would block the light.
Complete nonsense.
But the Hendersons believed him.
They signed something."
"Signed what?"
"A letter.
Supporting his complaint to the city." She set the cup in front of me.
"The Garcias didn't know about it until the city sent them a notice.
By then Dale had three signatures and they had none."
I wrapped my hands around the cup.
"He's organized," I said.
"He's been doing this for a long time," Patty said.
"He knows exactly how it works.
He knows that if he moves first, the other family looks reactive.
He knows that most people don't want the trouble, so they leave."
"We're not leaving."
She looked at me steadily.
"I know.
That's why I gave Rob the notebook." She sat down across from me.
"But you need to move faster than he does.
If he gets to the Hendersons or the Morrises before your filing goes in, it gets complicated."
I looked at her.
"How fast can we file?"
"Rob said he was calling this morning."
"He is." I stood up.
"Patty, is there anyone else?
Any family before Carol?"
She was quiet for a moment.
"There was a man named Devereux.
Single father.
He was here maybe two years before Carol.
Dale reported his car to the city three times for being parked on the street.
The man worked nights.
He needed to park on the street." She looked at her hands.
"He moved after the third citation."
I counted back.
That was 2009 at the earliest.
"How long has this been going on?"
May you like
Patty looked up at me.
"I think," she said carefully, "since long before any of us got here."
