He stared at me.
I stared back.
Neither of us spoke.
Then Clark turned around, went into his house, and slammed the door.
A minute later, he returned holding cash.
He shoved it toward me.
“You’re unbelievable.”
I counted it.
“Looks right.”
He made a sound under his breath, went inside, and slammed the door again.
For a moment, nobody moved.
Then people slowly began collecting their belongings and heading home.
Tom carried his ladder.
Mrs. Delgado wheeled her pressure washer across the street.
Someone tucked the hedge trimmer beneath an arm.
The neighborhood settled back down.
Eventually, only Mrs. Patterson and I remained.
She looked toward Clark’s porch.
The cardboard box was still sitting there.
Then she smiled.
“Is that a Monopoly card?”
I looked.
The “Get Out of Jail Free” card had fallen near the edge of the box.
“Yeah.”
Mrs. Patterson chuckled.
“Nancy would’ve loved that.”
I smiled.
Then she added more softly, “She would’ve been proud of you for finally making a fuss.”
That caught me off guard.
I looked toward my driveway.
Earl sat there beneath the fading evening light.
Old.
Faded.
Scratched.
Ugly.
Thirty years of memories wrapped in green metal.
