"Who did it? They're old—what kind of grudge warrants this?"
The male officer looked hard at Manager Fox and Cedric.
"Him," I said. "He insisted my parents were hogging the chargers and beat them. I have the complex's surveillance footage."
Manager Fox hadn't expected me to get my hands on the security recordings. He cut in fast.
"No, I'll vouch for Cedric. They were the ones monopolizing the chargers. He was just trying to talk them out of it."
"Talk them out of it? Manager Fox, want me to try my fists on you and see how persuasive that feels?"
The female officer caught my arm.
"Ma'am, easy. Cedric got a little carried away, sure, but his heart was in the right place. He was looking out for the residents."
"And her? She had every single charger in this complex torn out."
The male officer surveyed the debris scattered across the ground, then turned to me. "You ordered this? The entire complex?"
I nodded. His expression darkened.
"If your parents were being mistreated, you could have come to us. You didn't have to go this far."
Residents piled on from every direction.
"Those are community property! What gives you the right to tear them out?"
I raised my voice over the noise.
"I'll tell you what gives me the right. I paid for every one of those three thousand chargers myself. Two full years of operation, maintenance, and electricity, and this complex didn't spend a single cent."
The crowd went silent.
The male officer stared at me. "You installed them? All three thousand, across the entire complex?"
I pulled out the original expense receipts, two years of maintenance invoices, and every electricity bill.
"Even if you installed them, you still have no right to remove them." Manager Fox turned to the residents behind him. "The property management bylaws clearly state that removing community property requires written consent from two-thirds of the homeowners."
He jabbed a finger at me.
"No signatures, no right. That's theft. Officer, arrest her."
"Yeah, arrest her! Acting this high and mighty—selfish enough to drag the whole complex down with her."
"Her parents have been hogging those chargers all along, and now she acts like she's the victim."
"Lock her up, and make her install new ones while you're at it."
I listened to one absurd demand after another, then said evenly, "I paid to install every one of those chargers. They are not community property."
"No matter who shows up, I have every right to do what I want with my own equipment."
The male officer raised a hand to quiet the crowd.
"The woman is correct. If they're her personal property, she has every right to—"
Manager Fox cut them off before they could finish.
"Officer, with all due respect, you may not have the full picture. These are community property. From the very first day they were installed, they belonged to the complex."
He spoke while accepting a contract a security guard had just brought over.
"See for yourselves. It's right here in writing."
The male officer examined the document carefully.
"Ms. Dickerson, is this your signature here?"
He pointed to the name on the signature line and held it up for me to see.
I nodded.
"Ms. Dickerson, if this contract holds, the chargers became complex property the day they were installed. What you did today isn't just a bylaws violation—it could be a criminal one."
My parents seized my arms. "Shelagh, what does he mean? You paid for everything. You took down your own chargers. How is that breaking the law?"
Manager Fox shrank behind the male officer, smirking at me with all the smugness of a man who thought he'd already won.
"Told you. The chargers belong to the complex, and you went ahead and tore them out anyway. Good luck with what's coming."
"That's impossible. I signed that contract, but there was no clause transferring ownership to the complex."
Seeing my disbelief, the male officer pointed to a line of text. "Black and white, Ms. Dickerson. You've already confirmed the signature. Are you saying this is wrong?"
I read the line he was pointing to, and my stomach dropped.
No wonder Manager Fox wasn't afraid. He'd come prepared.
