"I said put them down."
She seized the strand from his hands.
One bulb cracked against the edging.
Jordan stared at her.
"Ma'am, please."
"Don't talk back to me."
Julian set the plastic reindeer on the grass.
"This is our house."
Patricia laughed.
"Your house?"
Her eyes moved over the brick facade, the two-car garage, the carefully clipped boxwoods, then back to the boys.
"Do you know what homes cost in Riverside Oaks?"
Jordan's face hardened in a way Tanya would later recognize as the first moment childhood embarrassment became something heavier.
"Our mom bought it."
Patricia's mouth tightened.
"I called the police. You'll explain it to them."
Julian began to cry.
Then a county police cruiser turned onto the street.
Officer Hayes slowed near 1247 Riverside Oaks Drive.
From his windshield, he saw Patricia Brennan on the lawn and two Black boys standing beside scattered decorations.
He already knew Patricia.
Not well.
But dispatch recognized her name because she called often.
Hayes had responded to one of her complaints two years earlier.
He parked at 3:18 and thirty-eight seconds.
His body camera activated automatically when he opened the cruiser door.
Patricia walked toward him before he reached the twins.
"Thank you for getting here so quickly," she said.
Hayes glanced past her.
"Those the juveniles?"
"Yes. They've been here more than thirty minutes."
"You saw them taking property?"
"They're moving decorations. Going in and out."
Hayes looked at the house.
"You saw them come out of the residence?"
Patricia paused.
"Yes, but they do not live there. I know everyone on this street."
"How do you know?"
Patricia lowered her voice.
"Because the family that lives there doesn't have children who look like that."
Hayes did not ask what she meant.
He nodded once and walked toward Jordan and Julian.
"Hey. You two. Come here."
Jordan looked at Julian.
"Us?"
"Yeah. Both of you. Now."
The boys walked closer.
Hayes rested one hand near his radio.
"What are you doing here?"
Jordan pointed toward the decorations.
"Decorating."
"Decorating what?"
"Our house."
"Whose house?"
"Ours. We live here."
Hayes looked at the property again.