Chapter 1 — The Morning Everything Changed
The first thing I noticed was the smell.
It was sweet, rotten, and heavy enough to make me stop breathing through my nose.
I was kneeling beside my tomato plants when something hit the wooden fence behind me.
Then another thing.
Then another.
A plastic bag landed in the flower bed.
A broken cardboard box followed.
Then a black garbage bag split open across my roses.
I stood up slowly.
"What the hell?"
Over the fence, my neighbor, Brenda Cole, was standing beside a small trailer.
She didn't look embarrassed.
She looked pleased.
She grabbed another bag.
"Brenda!"
She ignored me.
The bag sailed over the fence.
It landed beside my feet.
I stared at her.
"Stop."
She finally looked at me.
"You'll thank me later."
"For what?"
"For solving your drainage problem."
I looked at the mountain of garbage growing across my backyard.
"This isn't drainage."
Her smile disappeared.
"You've been warned."
"About what?"
She turned away.
"Call the city if you want."
Then she drove off.