No good deed goes unpunished. And Michelle was definitely going to pay for this one.

Michelle had had her suspicions. It’s not like anything was damaged, and nothing had ever gone missing. It was just little things like the ever-so-slight shift of the beach chair. The pool floaties, more inflated than before.

But after today she had no doubt. There was a telltale floating bean bag stuck in the filter. Someone was using their pool while they were gone.

While Michelle was appalled by the blatant trespassing, Tim didn’t seem too bothered by it.

“Give ‘em a break, Michelle. It’s like 108° today. So they took a little dip to cool off. Big deal.”

“It IS a big deal, Tim! This is OUR pool in OUR backyard. And that is OUR Toss Across Splash Game. And now God Knows Who has been in here doing God Knows What.”

Michelle pursed her lips as she looked around for other clues. That one pool noodle looked a little bendier than usual, but she admitted she could be imagining things at this point.

And then she found it. A scorecard. Hidden right under the foam pad that keeps the base of the game afloat. Apparently, their pool had been host to a pretty intense Tic-Tac-Toe tournament. And it looked as if “TA” had beaten the swim trunks off of “MA.”

“TIM! Look at this! They left this behind. ‘MA’ and ‘TA’. Who do you think it could be?”

Tim thought for a minute and suddenly his eyes widened. “Mike Anders and Tammy Anders. Ken and Sue’s kids from next door. I’ll be a monkey’s uncle if I’m going to let that jerk’s bratty offspring get away with sneaking into our pool while we’re gone!”

“Hey Anders!” Tim yelled as he stormed towards the fence gate. “Get out here! I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”

At that moment, it suddenly dawned on Michelle that she had cut a deal with the kids that they could use the pool if they pulled her weeds once a week.

“Tim! You know, why don’t you just let it go. They’re only kids, after all. It’s really no big deal.”

“Michelle, it IS a big deal. This is OUR pool, remember? Hey Anders, I’m talking to you!”

Michelle knew she had no choice but to tell him. But she knew he wasn’t going to be happy. Tim had always made it pretty clear he didn’t want anything to do with these particular neighbors.

“Tim, I told the kids they could use the pool. I forgot. I’m sorry.”

“You did WHAT?” said Tim, just as Ken Anders opened his sliding glass door and stepped out onto his patio.

“What’s all the commotion about, Tim?”

Tim laughed nervously and then covered by saying, “Oh. It’s no big deal, really. Just … wanted to see if you guys were hungry. We’re grilling.”

“Sure!” said Ken. “I’ll go grab the wife and kids. Oh and hey, thanks for letting them use the pool. They had a really great time today playing that Tic-Tac-Toe game.”

At that, Michelle excused herself and went inside to grab the hot dogs. Tim shot an angry look after her and said, “Don’t mention it.” 

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