Nerium oleander

Objector

The rumbling of the engine kept interrupting his thoughts, the hammering of his heart on his chest only increased the more he neared the place he called home. This neverending row of houses saged within white fences had once been the suburban dream in Adelfa, but time made sure to shatter the fantasy. The inhabitants were now too old, busy or uninterested to keep the tidiness such a neighborhood needed.

The smell of freshly cut grass and paint greeted him. It seemed that some enthusiastic group of teenagers had collected a fair share of money and managed to give the houses a small speck of consistency. Almost perfect, but as he stopped in front of his -their- house, the overgrown garden, the splattered blue paint on the facade and the badly drawn pig on the front lawn made sure to call for attention.

Ivan parked the car, avoiding the sticky paint and sighing as the door of the adjacent house opened, an old lady peered her head out, waving her shaky hand. He walked over to the door, hastening his steps to approach her. "Good afternoon, Ms. Nguyen."

She waved her hand, dismissing the greeting and squinting her eyes as she fixed her glasses. "You have to do something about that garden. The ivy keeps on growing on my side of the fence,"

"Don't worry, I'll get to that next week,"

The door creaked as she opened it, her voice raising slightly. "My neighbor is not going to fix it, which is why I called you, officer. You have to talk with him."

"Ms. Nguyen, I am your neighbor," Ivan said, taking a step back. "Did you really call the department to complain about the garden?"

"No, I spoke with him this morning and he was mocking me, so I called and... and... Ivan?" She paused, reaching out her hand and taking a few steps forward, widening her eyes. "Look at you, you're so tall,"

He nodded slowly, "Can you tell me if you knew the person who talked to you this morning? Was it the same person who made this mess?"

"My neighbor, I talked with my neighbor of course, I already told you that," she huffed, crossing her arms. "Where's your sister? I haven't seen her this week, I didn't know she lived with someone else, when did she marry? When did you move out?"

Patience, Ivan reminded himself, Ms Nguyen used to be the nicest teacher at school, nowadays it was a miracle that she remembered his name. "Is Lien with you? Could you call her?"

"She's working and she likes the garden to be trimmed and clean, you better take care of that if you want to speak with her."

Ivan fought the urge to roll his eyes, managing to keep a small smile instead. "I'll fix the garden and clean this up as soon as I can. Have a nice day Ms. Nguyen."

She nodded and closed the door. Ivan frowned as he approached his home, the windows were opened and the door unlocked. He pushed it open and waited.

"About time for you to arrive," Natalya's voice greeted him. "You left the back door open."

"Did I?" Ivan let out a sigh, closing the door behind him.

"We should get the fence fixed," Natalya said, standing in the kitchen, a scowl on her face as she accommodated groceries on the counter.

"I'll do it later," Ivan hummed, eyeing the goods she bought. "Someone's bothering Ms Nguyen. Do you still have Lien's number?"

"Did you not see the entrance?" Natalya paused, shooting him a glare. "You've said that before, now the fence is getting rusty and the garden is a mess. You aren't even eating, the counters were empty, there's only a jar of pickles in here," She sighed, opening the fridge and showing him. "I thought you were getting better,"