The rear of his lot bordered a narrow landscaping easement maintained by the development.
The HOA president looked annoyed.
"You're being paranoid."
The homeowner's eyes moved toward the patio roof.
A small black security camera sat beneath the eave.
The lens pointed across the entire pool deck.
Another camera covered the side gate.
A third faced the rear fence.
He had installed them after packages disappeared from his porch during his first month in the neighborhood.
They recorded continuously.
He looked back at the woman.
Something inside him settled.
He no longer needed to convince her.
He only needed to make sure she left.
"You're trespassing."
She rolled her eyes.
"I'm not."
"I'm asking you one last time to leave."
"Or what?"
"I call the police."
The woman smiled.
"Please do."
The homeowner studied her.
She seemed strangely comfortable with the idea.
"Actually," she said, reaching toward her own phone, "I'll call them."
He stared.
"Go ahead."
She smiled wider.
The call lasted less than thirty seconds.
The homeowner could not hear everything she said.
He heard enough.
"Yes, I'm at a residence on Brookhaven Court."
Pause.
"I'm being threatened."
The homeowner's eyebrows rose.
She turned away from him slightly.
"Yes, he's aggressive."
The homeowner stood motionless.
"Yes, I'm afraid."
She looked directly at him while saying it.
The call ended.
She slipped the phone down.
"They're coming."
"Good."
Her smile annoyed him more than the yelling had.
"You think that's good?"
"Very."
"You should probably calm down before they get here."
The homeowner looked around.
He had not raised his voice in nearly two minutes.
"I'm standing in my backyard."
"You've been intimidating me since I got here."
"You climbed my fence."
"I entered a shared amenity."
"You grabbed nothing yet."
She stared at him.
"Yet?"
The homeowner realized what he had said.
He shook his head.
"Forget it."
The HOA president stepped closer.
"You're always doing that."
"Doing what?"
"Talking down to women."
He laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because the accusation appeared from nowhere.
"We've never had a conversation before today."
"I've heard enough from neighbors."
"Which neighbors?"
"I'm not naming them."
"Of course not."
Her face hardened.
The homeowner turned toward the gate.
"I'm opening this."
He began walking.
She followed.
"Don't touch the gate."
He stopped.
"It's my gate."
"You're trying to lock me in."
He stared at her.
"It's already locked. I'm opening it so you can leave."
"Don't come near me."
He stepped backward.
"Fine."
Then she moved toward him.