My Neighbors Secretly Used My Hot Tub for a Year, So I Taught Them a Lesson / Chapter 2 / 7

Chapter 2 - The CameraThe following weekend, Desmond installed a camera. It wasn't obvious — he mounted a small unit beneath the garage overhang where it had a clear view of both the hot tub and the gate leading from our backyard into the alley. The gate had been installed by the previous owners for deliveries, with just a simple latch that opened from either side. We'd never considered it a security problem.

Until now.

The next Friday, Desmond and I made a show of leaving town. We carried luggage to the car, loaded everything where anyone nearby could see, then drove away. Instead of traveling far, we checked into a hotel about forty minutes from home.

Saturday evening, Desmond opened the camera feed on his laptop. For nearly two hours, nothing happened. I was starting to think Priya had been mistaken.

Then the gate opened. One person stepped inside. Then another. Then two more. They didn't move cautiously — they walked through our yard with the relaxed confidence of people who'd done it many times before. One immediately pulled off the hot tub cover. Another set down an insulated bag of drinks and snacks. Someone connected a phone to a portable speaker. Music started. Then all four climbed into our hot tub.

Desmond and I sat completely still on the hotel bed.

Eventually, one of them moved close enough to the camera for me to recognize his face.

Byron. Our next-door neighbor. The same Byron who'd waved at us from his driveway every week for four years. The same Byron who'd borrowed Desmond's socket wrench the previous summer and politely returned it.

Then I recognized the woman beside him. Priya. The woman who'd knocked on our door and complained about the noise. Their teenage kids, Nadia and Cole, were there too, laughing, eating snacks, relaxing like it was their own backyard.

For several seconds, neither of us spoke. Finally I whispered, "Priya."

Desmond stared at the screen. "She came to our house."

"I know."

"She asked us to keep the noise down."

"I know."

And then I understood. Priya hadn't come over to complain. She'd come over to find out whether we knew. Her nervousness at the door hadn't been discomfort about confronting a neighbor — she'd been testing us. When I told her we'd been away that weekend, she realized we had no idea anyone had been using our yard. Her complaint had been a cover. She'd been checking whether they'd been caught.