Marcus folded his hands.
“What about it?”
“It needs to go.”
Marcus stared at her.
“Go where?”
“Somewhere else.”
“It stays in my garage.”
“It can no longer remain visible.”
“It isn't visible.”
“It is when the garage door is open.”
Marcus looked at her.
“Then don't look.”
Her jaw tightened.
“You're making this unnecessarily difficult.”
“No.”
Marcus opened the folder.
Inside was another violation notice.
He read it.
Then he looked up.
“You've issued three notices about this.”
“Because you've ignored them.”
“I answered all three.”
“You disagreed.”
“I explained why they didn't apply.”
“You don't get to decide that.”
Marcus leaned back.
“Neither do you.”
Denise's eyes narrowed.
“The board has authority.”
“The board has authority to enforce the covenant.”
“Yes.”
“Not invent new rules.”
“We're not inventing anything.”
Marcus tapped the paper.
“This says ‘vehicles visible from public roads must meet community appearance standards.’”
“Yes.”
“My car isn't visible from the road when the garage is closed.”
“It can be seen when the door is open.”
“So can my lawn mower.”
“Don't be sarcastic.”
“I'm not.”
“You know exactly what I'm saying.”
Marcus looked at her.
“What you're saying is that you don't like the car.”
Denise's expression hardened.
“I think it makes the neighborhood look cheap.”
Marcus almost smiled.
“A four-million-dollar Ferrari makes the neighborhood look cheap?”
“It looks old.”
“It's supposed to.”
“It's rusty.”
“It's not rusty.”
“The paint is faded.”
“That's patina.”
“I don't care what you call it.”
Marcus closed the folder.
“You care enough to keep sending me notices.”
Denise leaned forward.
“I'm trying to protect property values.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You're trying to control what you don't understand.”
Her face went cold.
“You should be careful.”
Marcus looked directly at her.
“That sounds like a threat.”
She stood.
“It's advice.”
She picked up the folder.
Then she stopped at the door.
“One day, you're going to realize that this neighborhood has rules.”
Marcus didn't look away.
“One day, you're going to realize that rules have limits.”
She left.
Marcus watched the door close.
He remembered that conversation for months.
He remembered because it was the first time he realized Denise wasn't simply annoyed by the car.
She was obsessed with it.
She believed the Ferrari represented something she could not control.
Something that existed outside her authority.
And that bothered her.
What Marcus didn't know was that Denise had already started talking to the contractor.
The contractor was a local excavation company called Bellmont Property Services.