Punishing My Thief Neighbor

I live in Room 401, Kim and her family live across the hall in Room 402.

They were all the worst of the worst.

They did all sorts of annoying things, like throwing cigarette butts downstairs, having their child play the piano late at night, and parking in other people's parking spaces. They never did anything good.

The neighbors whose blankets had been burned, who couldn't sleep because of the noise at night, and who could never find their own parking space, complained to Ruby over and over again. But Ruby and Kim's family were distant relatives. After hearing a few meaningless criticisms, they continued to do whatever they wanted.

Harry, Brian's precious son, just started elementary school. He liked to play pranks for no reason. He either set off firecrackers in the hallway or ran door to door shouting "Fire!" When the neighbors panicked and rushed out to check the situation, he just laughed and ran away.

Even so, Brian often complained in the homeowners' group, accusing the neighbors of being too harsh with his child and scaring this lovely kid.

The police couldn't arrest an 80-year-old bad old lady and an underage brat. Kim and her family just lowered their heads, put on a smile, and wrote a guarantee letter, and then the matter was over. The police could only give a few words of advice.

This family's bizarre deeds were well-known, and as a result, the price of my house is half as low as that of others in the same community. It really annoyed me.

Thinking of this, I knocked on the door in front of me with force, "Old lady, stop pretending to be dead! My camera caught you taking my cherries. Open the door quickly!"

An impatient man's voice came slowly from behind the door, "What are you shouting about? Are you dying? "

Brian squeezed half of his body out of the door crack, looked me up and down, and sneered, "Why are you shouting? What does it have to do with my mom if your cherries are lost? Don't make a fuss outside. It affects my precious son's piano practice. Don't force me to beat you!"

I stared at Brian's face, with obvious red juice at the corners of his mouth. It was obviously just after eating the cherries I bought that he opened the door. I retorted without politeness, "Your son's so-called piano practice is more like torturing the piano! He doesn't need any practice. It's better to find a part-time job in the funeral home and play some funeral music to earn some extra money for the family!

"So your old lady can stop stealing things from the neighbors every day!"

Brian's face darkened, and he spat at me, saying, "You despicable and shameless person. My son will become a pianist in the future. Shut your stupid mouth.

"And also, you said my mom stole your cherries, but how do you know? Maybe you lost it yourself and blamed an 80-year-old woman. What effrontery!"

A shameless person had the audacity to talk to me about moral. I gritted my teeth and suppressed my anger, turned on the surveillance video on my phone, and played the moment when the old lady took my cherries.

"Who are these two people? There is still some cherry juice on your mouth."

Brian glanced at the screen and, feeling humiliated and angry, he grabbed my collar and threatened me harshly.

"The cherries I ate were given to me by a friend a couple of days ago. If you dare to talk nonsense here again..."

"What are you doing? Let him go!" A stern male voice came from behind. I turned my head and saw two police officers. One of them already had his hand on the pepper spray at his waist, pointing at Brian and speaking in a harsh tone.

Brian immediately released my collar, and with a silly smile, he touched his own head and said,

"Oh, sir, my neighbor and I were just joking and getting to know each other! It's too much trouble for you two to come over so late at night!"

I quickly hid behind the police and took out the surveillance video, saying, "Look at this! The deliveryman from Walmart left the box at my doorstep. It was stolen by an old lady and a child from his family. The surveillance video captured everything clearly!"

The police carefully watched the surveillance video and then looked at Kim and Harry for a comparison, nodding and saying, "This evidence is conclusive. Your mother did steal his cherries, and the purchase record shows the price is 80 dollars. Since you have already eaten them, it's appropriate for you to compensate accordingly."

Brian made a bitter face and started to complain, "Sir, how can I afford to compensate him? My mother is in poor healthy, and going to the hospital every month costs a lot of money. Sending my son to piano class is another expense. My wife doesn't have a job, so our family relies solely on my meager income."

Brian then pointed at me and said, "Besides, my mom is old. She might have made a mistake, but it wasn't intentional. I saw cherries at the fruit stall downstairs. Same weight costs only about 20 dollars. Lucas, you are asking me for 80 dollars. Isn't that ripping me off?

My answer was straightforward and simple, with just two words, "No way!"

The police mediated for half an hour. The value was not high, so it did not meet the criteria for filing a case. The back and forth arguing made me exhausted. In the end, I had to accept the compensation of 20 dollars.

After we signed the mediation agreement, the police left. Brian immediately changed his face. His furry hand fumbled in his greasy pocket for a long time, and then he slapped a crumpled 20-dollar bill on my face, angrily shouting, "Just a box of rotten fruit. This is enough for you to buy ten boxes!"

Without waiting for me to react, he slammed the door shut with a loud bang.

I lowered my head and picked up the money, clenched it tightly in my hand, and smiled sarcastically in anger, "Go ahead and eat it! I put poison in those cherries. It will kill you animals!"

Back in bed, I tossed and turned. The more I endure it, the more infuriated I was. I searched for methods of retaliation on my phone and accidentally came across a news: [ Meat with laxatives left at the door and picked up by an old lady. The police urgently found her, but she stubbornly claimed she didn't take it.]

It was impressive.

The face of the lady in the video overlapped with Kim's. A brilliant idea came to my mind.