“Why?”
“Something keeps getting into the water. Until you know what it is, keep the pool closed.”
As soon as he left, I sat at the patio table and opened the security app on my phone.
I hadn’t checked it in months. The motion alerts were always going off because of birds, branches, and neighborhood cats, so I had turned off the notifications.
I went back to the previous afternoon.
At 1:17 p.m., the side gate opened.
Vanessa walked into my backyard carrying a large beach bag. Mason followed with towels over his shoulder. Theo and Benji were already wearing swim trunks.
I paused the video.
Vanessa had never told me she was bringing the boys into my yard.
I turned up the sound and pressed play.
“Mom, shouldn’t we ask Claire?” Mason said.
“She’s at work.”
“But she might want to know we’re here.”
Vanessa pulled the gate behind her, but she didn’t pull hard enough for the latch to catch.
“She leaves it loose for us,” she said. “She won’t care.”
That wasn’t true.
The latch was stiff, and Vanessa knew it. Daniel had shown her how to close it properly years earlier.
The boys placed their towels on Daniel’s bench and jumped into the water.
Vanessa sat in the chair beside the pool, put on her sunglasses, and began looking at her phone.
The boys played for about twenty minutes.
Then Benji climbed onto the shallow step.
“Mom?”
Vanessa didn’t respond.
“Mom, I need the bathroom.”
She finally looked up.
“Then go.”
“Inside Claire’s house?”
“No. Just go in the pool.”
Benji hesitated.
“In the water?”
Vanessa sighed.
“Yes, Benji. Like you always do.”
I stopped the video.
For several seconds, I just stared at the screen.
Then I played that part again.
Like you always do.
I checked earlier recordings.
The previous Tuesday, Vanessa and the boys had entered my yard shortly before one in the afternoon.
Three days earlier, they had come at two.
The week before, she brought two other women and their children.
They used my towels, moved the chairs around, and helped themselves to drinks from the outdoor refrigerator.
In one recording, Theo opened the freezer and took out a box of popsicles.
“Are we allowed to have these?” he asked.
Vanessa glanced over.
“Claire buys more than she needs.”
In another video, Mason said they should leave before I returned home.
Vanessa laughed.
“She won’t know.”
I watched several recordings from different days.
More than once, one of the boys said he needed the bathroom, and Vanessa told him to stay in the water.
The smell was no longer a mystery.
Vanessa had been bringing her children into my yard while I was working and letting them use the pool however they wanted.
My hands were shaking, but I knew I needed to keep the recordings.
I downloaded every video and saved copies on my phone and computer.
Then I called the technician and arranged for the pool to be completely cleaned and sanitized.
After that, I went next door.
Vanessa opened the door holding a glass of iced tea.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
I held up my phone.
“Did you tell Benji to use my pool instead of the bathroom?”
Her expression changed briefly.
Then she shrugged.
“They’re children, Claire.”
“You brought them into my yard without asking.”
“You were at work.”
“That doesn’t mean you can enter my property.”
“You’ve let the boys swim before.”
“When I was home and you asked first.”
“I knew you wouldn’t care.”
“Mason told you to ask me.”
“Mason worries about everything.”
“He knew it wasn’t your pool.”
Vanessa leaned against the doorframe.
“The boys were hot. I didn’t want them sitting inside all afternoon.”
“There’s a community pool ten minutes away.”
“It costs money.”
“So you decided to use mine?”
She rolled her eyes.
“I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal out of this.”
“The pool has to be sanitized.”
“Then clean it.”
I stared at her.
“You told Benji to use it as a bathroom.”
“He’s seven.”
“You were the adult.”
“A little water isn’t going to hurt anyone.”
“It wasn’t only water, and it happened more than once.”
Her face changed again.
“You’ve been spying on my children?”
“The camera is in my own backyard.”
“You could have spoken to me before looking through all those videos.”
“I’m speaking to you now.”
Vanessa put her glass on the table beside the door.
“After everything we’ve done for each other, you’re acting like I committed some terrible crime.”
“What exactly have you done for me?”
She looked offended.
“I bring your trash cans in.”
“You moved them a few feet last week.”
“I didn’t have to.”
“I’ve picked up your children, watched them overnight, fed your dog, stored your groceries, collected your packages, and driven you to the airport.”
“You like helping.”
“I helped because I cared about you and the boys.”
“Then why are you listing everything now?”
“Because you’re acting as though we helped each other equally.”
Vanessa crossed her arms.
“The boys wanted to swim.”
“Then you should have asked.”
“You probably would have said no.”
“Maybe I would have. It was still my decision.”
She looked annoyed but didn’t answer.
“You and the boys are not to enter my yard again unless I invite you,” I said.
Her eyes widened.
“So now you’re punishing children?”
“I’m speaking to their mother.”
“You’ve become very bitter since Daniel passed.”
Then she shut the door.
The next morning, I replaced the old latch and added a heavy lock.
I also covered the pool while it was being treated.
I was tightening the final screw when I heard Benji through the fence.
“Claire?”
I set down the screwdriver.
“I’m here.”
He pressed his face near a gap between the boards. Mason stood behind him.
“Are you mad because we’re bad?” Benji asked.
“No. You boys aren’t bad.”
“Mom said you don’t want us around anymore.”
“That isn’t what I said.”
Mason looked at the lock.
“Then why did you close the gate?”
“Because your mother brought you into my yard without asking me.”
Benji looked down.
“She said you liked when we came over.”
“I do like you.”
“Then why can’t we swim?”
“Because people still have to ask before they use someone else’s home or yard.”
“So you don’t hate us?”
“No.”
“Even after what happened in the pool?”
“That wasn’t your decision. Your mother was responsible for making sure you used the bathroom.”
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