"It may explain part of the shortfall," Brandon said. "We need the bank's complete transaction records and an independent review of each charge before we can say how much."
Mrs. Denver stood, gripping the back of her chair. "I spent eight months with water coming through my bedroom ceiling while being told there wasn't money for maintenance. Delilah, if you approved these payments, I want you to explain why my roof wasn't important enough to discuss."
"Your roof is not an association-maintained roof," Delilah snapped.
Brandon checked his folder. "The drainage channel contributing to the damage is common-area infrastructure, and the earlier maintenance request was entered as an association issue."
Someone near the back made a short, angry sound. Another homeowner asked whether the board had ever approved contracts with Delilah's business. The minutes offered to members showed no recorded vote on several of the transactions, and Delilah could not supply one during the meeting.
"I wasn't paid to keep every one of you happy," she declared. "I was elected to protect property values, and that's what I've done. This neighborhood was becoming a mess before I took control."
I looked at the photographs of children beside the pool. A boy in a swim cap was laughing so hard his eyes had closed. In one old picture Sarah stood behind the picnic table, holding a paper plate and smiling at somebody outside the frame.
"The neighborhood didn't need controlling," I said quietly enough that only Patricia heard.
She touched my sleeve. "Then let the board say it."
Ethel continued by reading the list of disputed assessments and the homeowners who had requested the authorizing documents. Tom Santos described receiving fines for his basketball hoop without being shown a rule. Mrs. Denver produced photographs of her flower beds from fifteen years earlier, and Calvin Webb presented the records of the tow complaint concerning my Ford.
The audience did not need to love me to see the pattern. The records showed repeated assertions of authority followed by refusal to explain how that authority had been obtained. Even people who thought my garden was untidy began asking whether their own property could be next.
Delilah interrupted when Ethel mentioned my membership agreement. "Grayson is trying to escape his obligations and take the entire neighborhood down with him," she said. "He wants special treatment because he thinks being a retired electrician makes him an expert in everything."
I stood. I had promised Patricia I would keep my remarks brief, and for once I meant to keep the promise. I held up the recorded services agreement, with the termination clause marked by a yellow tab.
"Most of you are governed by the subdivision's declaration," I said. "My parcel has a separate agreement, and it has a written termination provision. I gave notice under that provision, paid what I actually owed, and asked the association to identify any valid charge I missed. I'm not asking you to believe me because I'm loud. I'm asking you to read the same page I read."
Delilah laughed sharply. "You think a private clause overrides community standards?"