Sharing required one person to offer and the other to accept.
Clark wasn’t sharing.
Clark was taking.
“Stay away from my truck.”
He shook his head.
“You’re making this into something way bigger than it is.”
“I don’t care how big you think it is.”
I looked him straight in the eye.
“Stay away from Earl.”
Then I went home.
I genuinely thought the embarrassment of being caught would stop him.
I was wrong.
Part 3 — He Came Back Anyway
Three nights later, Clark returned.
When I checked the camera the next morning, there he was.
Same driveway.
Same gas can.
Same hose.
Same truck.
At one point, he actually turned and looked almost directly toward the camera.
That was the moment my anger changed.
The first time, Clark might have believed I would never find out.
But now he knew.
He knew there was a camera.
He knew I had seen him.
He knew I had confronted him.
And he did it again anyway.
That meant the problem wasn’t really gasoline anymore.
The problem was that Clark had decided I wouldn’t do anything about it.
Maybe because I was seventy.
Maybe because I lived alone.
