The Neighborhood Watch

“I call this meeting to order,” Pam Greene announced to gain the other member’s attention.

 The members of the Neighborhood Watch scrambled to their seats and quieted down. They sat around a long folding table set up in the middle of Rick Miller's garage. Situated in front of each of the seven rusted folding chairs was a yellow legal pad with a pen placed carefully on top. Only the pad at the end of the table had writing on it. Placed within arm's reach of each end of the table were bowls with Hershey Kisses. There was one water bottle per member grouped in between the chocolates.

It was a two-car garage, but a car had never been parked in it, at least not since the Miller's moved in. One wall of the garage had a shelf littered with tools. Visible was a hammer, screwdriver, socket wrench, and other household tools. The pegboard on the wall above was empty. Piled underneath were various tool bags and cardboard boxes. A Craftsman rolling tool chest was pushed against the wall, next to the shelf. One of its doors was open, revealing disorder inside with its contents thrown in haphazardly. On the other side of the shelf, three stone steps led to a door that opened into the house.

The opposite wall stored the gardening tools and a family-sized assortment of gloves, hanging from hooks on the wall. Pushed back into the corner was the snowblower. Empty gas cans were tossed in a large Rubbermaid storage bin behind it. An organizer for their rakes and shovels was next to the window that showed a row of hedges that separates the Miller's house from Alice Clark's. Between the window and the garage door was a set of metal shelves with smaller, clear storage bins, one in which you could see a few small cassettes, each labeled with two letters.  

Against the back wall, opposite the aged garage door, was a commercial-sized chest freezer next to a refrigerator. There was a plastic tube dangling from inside the freezer through a drilled hole in the back. Piled around the appliances were cases of water and sports drinks, boxes of assorted snacks, and paper goods. In the corner by the door was a tall wooden post, leaning against the stone wall.”

“First order of business,” Pam began, “is the Little League parade. We still need volunteers for clean-up afterward.

Nancy Scott raised her hand slightly.

“I can handle that,” she volunteered. “My Girl Scout troop needs community service hours.”

“Perfect!” Pam smiled at Nancy, then looked at her notepad. “Anna, can you talk about the mail situation?”

"Oh, yes," Anna agreed, pushing back her chair a little and standing up. "Um, I called the post office and explained that we all keep getting each other's mail on our street. The woman I spoke to was lovely. She explained that they have been training new mail carriers and apologized for the inconvenience. She said she would remind them to be more diligent in their work," she shook her head a little and giggled quietly.

"More people should take that advice," chided Fred Baker. "I had to tell Susie Davis to pay attention to what she was doing three times at Lidl. She kept ringing things up twice because she was looking around like she was nervous or something."

The companions all chuckled. There were seven members of the Neighborhood Watch. Odd, so there could never be a tie when they had to vote. They required that safeguard because sometimes they needed to discuss more important things, like tonight.

Chris Hall spoke, "I hate to point out the elephant in the room, but we need to talk about Daniel Smith." He picked up his pen with his right hand impulsively and put it back down on his notepad. The pen rolled to the left, so Chris instinctively reached with his left and stopped it with the stump where his amputated hand had been.

The garage sobered as the occupants adjusted and became more rigid in their seats. Each scanned their constituents seated around the table. 

The Neighborhood Watch formed six years ago after a rash of vandalism struck their quiet community. Along with their patrols, the Watch also helped with community events and activities. They are the voice for the people when they need support. They are always willing to contribute to the good of the neighborhood.  

Not only were private properties being vandalized, but public areas were, as well. Then, robberies began. They started with muggings and hold-ups, but once they escalated to a home invasion, something needed to happen. The neighborhood was turning into a slum.

They opted not to enlist the police. The community felt they could take care of themselves, so seven neighbors banned together and formed the association. Six of the original members are still involved. Their justice had kept their area safer than it had ever been. Crimes would occur infrequently and were dealt with swiftly. The Neighborhood Watch members were infamous in their community for this.

The Watch started patrolling the streets, looking for anything out of the ordinary. One fall night, two members, Pam Greene, and Fred Baker saw a person trying to break into an empty home. The resident, Joe Martin, was working a double shift at work, so his house was empty. 

Pam and Fred confronted the man, and he was interned. The intruder was brought to Joe’s house, which was the meeting place before he died of a heart attack. Pam, Fred, and Joe gathered the other members of the Watch to decide a course of action. 

“Are we sure it’s him? Are we 100% positive it was Daniel Smith who was in that yard?" Alice Clark asked for clarification again. The situation was complicated enough already. It was wise to review all the facts before arbitration.

Daniel was new to the neighborhood. He had met Eric Jones at the local community college at the beginning of the spring semester. They became close, so when Daniel told Eric he needed a place to stay, Eric opened the home he had inherited after his parents' accidental death, to his new friend.

Unbeknownst to any of the locals, Daniel and Eric became involved in a relationship. After months of living together as a couple, Daniel introduced Eric to his family as his roommate. Eric graciously waited until they had left and arrived back home before he confronted Daniel about the insulting comment.  

The fight became heated. Eric was devastated and heartbroken. He couldn't understand why Daniel would hide their love. Daniel lied, spitting at him that it "wasn't love," and that he wasn't “gay,” it was only a mistake. 

Eric could empathize with that feeling of shame. He had felt the same when he considered coming out to his parents. Eric had planned to talk to them after they returned from their ski vacation. He had never had the chance. 

Eric pleaded with Daniel to reconsider, telling him that their love would get them through it, and blocking him bodily from leaving the house. 

Daniel, overwhelmed by his emotions, threw Eric out of the way, and right into the corner of the brick fireplace. Eric fell and smashed his temple into the masonry, rendering him unconscious. 

Not wanting his crime, or sexual orientation, discovered, Daniel buried Eric’s body in the backyard garden. He proceeded to tell friends that he had moved out weeks ago and that Eric had transferred for the upcoming fall semester. But the Watch knew better.

Someone always sees or hears something. Even when you think you are entirely alone, someone is watching. The Watch discovered that Daniel was in the backyard the night Eric died. The source never gave their name for fear of retribution, but it's a tight-knit community. Any of them would have recognized the cashier's voice from Lidl, Susie Davis, given they all have interacted with her at the store.

Daniel was apprehended when he returned to Eric’s to retrieve some belongings a few days after the altercation. Once the Watch vowed they wouldn’t involve the police and would handle the matter “internally,” Daniel confessed to everything with the weight of prison time off his shoulders. Their video camera captured the disclosure, and a neat D.S. was inscribed on the label of the cassette. It was placed in a clear bin on the metal rack in Rick Miller’s garage, on top of an identical cassette labeled J.M.

“What do we think would be a suitable punishment for his crime,” asked Anna Wilson?

“Let’s consider past precedents,” recommended Pam Greene authoritatively.

The group ruminated over the previous crimes they've adjudicated. There were the vandals and thieves that started it all — caught soon after the Watch found Chris Hall attempting to break into that house. He gave up his three classmates for a lighter sentence. Chris saw the error of his ways after high school and turned his life around and took Joe's spot after his death. 

Since the vandals had no regard for others' property, the Watch decided they should suffer the same fate, so they burned down their houses. Altruistically, the Watch spared the criminal’s vehicles so they would have a way to leave town.

Chris was given a lighter sentence for assisting in finding the vandals. The Watch only took his one hand. His right is now the dominant hand since the loss of his left, though you can barely tell anymore.

Drugs became an issue for a short time. Soon after a dealer moved into town, the Watch shut his business down. Since he sustained other people's dependencies, the Watch chose for him to experience the same. He currently resides in a long-term care facility, since becoming a quadriplegic after breaking his neck. He will be dependent on others until he dies, just like those helpless junkies he supplied. 

The most recent crime was a domestic disturbance. The stress of work, family, the Watch, and excessive alcohol became too much for Joe Martin. Joe became volatile and attacked his wife in a fit of rage. His neighbor, Alice Clark, heard the altercation and called an emergency meeting. The Watch members assembled and decreed that since he abused his wife, he should feel the same pain. 

Erected in Rick Miller's yard was a post for Joe's castigation. Coiled at the base were seven whips, six for the remaining Watch members, and one for Joe's wife. As Joe was being secured to the post to await his torture, the terror overtook him, and his heart gave out.

Alice spoke first in an attempt to clarify the crime.

“Even though it was unintentional, Daniel’s actions still caused Eric’s death.”

“Then,” Fred continued, “Daniel buried Eric’s body in an attempt to hide his crime.”

"How did Daniel even know if Eric was dead when he buried him? Does someone with that type of injury die immediately, or does it take time? Daniel never mentioned checking his pulse after he fell to the floor. He just picked him up," Chris mimed scooping a person up, like a groom would his bride, with his hand and stump, "and buried him in the garden."

Anna Wilson had been shaking her left foot as it dangled over her right leg while she sat in her chair. She was rubbing her pinkie nail over her bottom lip as she thought.

"He should pay for Eric's death and disposal," she states flatly. "But, I want to make an example of why this happened, too. Daniel Smith thought his shame was worth more than Eric's life. It's reprehensible."

As the Watch members digested that for a minute, Nancy got out of her chair and walked over to the freezer at the far end of the garage. 

"What are we going to do with you, Daniel Smith," she said, as she kicked the side of the freezer. Shifting and a groan echoed from inside. The plastic tubing shifted as he operated his lifeline.

Daniel's sentence was harsh, yet proportionate, according to the Watch. A pillory now stands in Eric's yard, securing Daniel to it as the life trickles out of him. The bricks construct the walls around him that erect the monument in Eric’s memory, encasing the past so that it’s memorialized for all to remember.  

The Neighborhood Watch continues to keep their streets safe.