Murder Is Uncooperative

by Merrilee Robson

  “Oh, that's the right spot all right. Right beside the elevator. I wanted it to be convenient for you.” Les's normally cheerful face was grim. I wouldn't want to be the owner of the motor home.

  The rest of the day was rushed. I had to finish a project for a client, so I needed to put in a couple of hours at the desk in the corner of my bedroom before picking up Ben at pre-school. It was a very different workspace from the bustling newsroom where I had worked before Ben was born.

  I had wanted to work as a freelance writer and editor after Ben's birth, so I could spend more time with him. I liked being able to plan my schedule around him. I had developed a number of regular clients, and was busy enough some times. But the decision had seemed like a better idea when Dave and I were still together, with the benefit of one full-time salary. And the slowdown in the economy had just made things worse. My income was a little too precarious sometimes.

  I had asked about returning to the paper, and looked for other jobs. But newspapers were struggling, and there weren't any spots available. I was still hoping some of my contract work might turn into a full-time job. I really liked being able to spend time with Ben, but I worried about not being able to pay the bills. At least moving into the co-op was a real help.

  Before the meeting, I managed to find the occupancy agreement Les had given me and read through it again. The co-op's rules seemed reasonable—trying to guarantee that a lot of people could share a building in relative peace. No loud noise late at night, park only in your designated spot, report any repairs needed in your home to the office as quickly as possible.

  I felt a bit better prepared when I headed downstairs to the meeting room. Dad was looking after Ben, so I was alone as I stepped into the elevator. I was a bit worried about the issue of the motor home being raised at the meeting. I didn't want to start off on the wrong foot with my new neighbors. And I'd seen how angry the man who owned it could get. But Les had said that the motor home had been a problem before.

  A few people were drifting into the meeting room as I got there. A table had been set up at the front of the room and someone had placed chairs in rows. I was glad that this meeting was taking place so soon after I moved in. Les had told me that the whole membership only met four times a year. The board of directors and committees met more frequently but this would be my best chance to meet more of my new neighbors.

  Gwen, the president, moved away from the front of the room and headed toward me. “I'm glad to see you again, Rebecca,” she said.

  As the members started arriving for the meeting, I could see that the co-op was home to a population as diverse as Vancouver's. A young couple arrived, the woman carrying a sleeping infant. They looked very young, maybe still in their teens. The baby was adorable, with a crop of dark curls that matched his mother's, and the longest black eyelashes. His skin was a charming brown that blended his mother's dark skin with his father's lighter tone. I smiled at them.

  A woman who looked to be in her eighties or even nineties pushed her walker ahead of her as she walked slowly to the front of the room. Two middle-aged women chatted together in Cantonese.

  “My father's looking forward to meeting more of the other members,” I said to Gwen “but he's staying with my son tonight.”

  “Oh, didn't anyone tell you? We pay for childcare so members can attend the meetings.” She glanced over at the young couple with the baby. “Anna and John know that very well but they aren't ready to leave baby Jordan on his own yet. You know how new parents are. I hope he stays asleep. They live near me and he can certainly make it known when he's unhappy.”

  She smiled at the young couple in an indulgent way. “Anyway, we have teenagers in the co-op willing to do baby-sitting. The staff should have given you a list.”

  I suspected that this was another one of Ruth's tasks that she had neglected. I didn't say anything, but Gwen saw the look on my face.

  “Right, well there is something about the childcare policy in the occupancy agreement but I guess that's a lot to absorb all at once. Just ask Les for a copy of the baby-sitting list next time you're in the office. I'll mention it to him too. Distributing information to members is supposed to be Ruth's job but . . .”

  A man about my own age approached us then. He smiled warmly at me and introduced himself as Jeremy, the vice-president. He was tall, with wavy chestnut hair and a short beard of a slightly lighter red. He was wearing a thin blue sweater that matched his blue eyes and emphasized his broad shoulders. I hadn't really looked at men since Dave and I had split up, but I found myself enjoying talking to him.

  Then he asked Gwen a question about the evening's agenda, and they got into a detailed discussion about the meeting. I left them to find a seat.

  I noticed the Asian woman who lived in the apartment next door to me. I smiled at her and said hello, but she just ignored me. I looked about the room for someone familiar.

  Dave's colleague, Cara, was just coming in. She had been friendly enough. I intercepted her near the door.

  “Hi. It's Cara, right. We didn't get much of a chance to talk when we met. I just moved into 505. What unit do you live in?”

  “Why do you need to know that?” Her voice was sweet and she was smiling, but it didn't seem a friendly smile. “Want to keep tabs on Dave? Really, Rebecca, you have to give up on him. He's not coming back to you, no matter what you think.”

  I was stunned into silence for a moment. Then I could feel my face flush. “I think you might want to ask Dave about who left whom,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm, “and you might want to ask him why.”

  I turned away from her and saw my neighbor, Mariana, just taking one of the chairs. She gestured to me to join her, and I sank gratefully into the folding metal chair beside her.

  “How are you doing?” I asked. “No ill effects from the yard work? I was worried we'd tired you out doing all that raking. And having that man yelling at us was certainly unpleasant.”

  "I'm fine,” she assured me. “I'm just sometimes surprised I can't do as much as I used to. I guess I'm getting old. And we're all used to Aaron. It's just that I thought . . . but it's been a while. I really hoped . . .” She shrugged and her voice trailed off. “How about you?” she asked, shifting in her seat. “Are you settling in okay?” she asked. “Meeting the other members?'

  “I was trying to talk to our neighbor,” I said, indicating the woman who lived on the other side of us. “But she always just ignores me. Doesn't she speak English?”

  “Oh, Naomi speaks English as well as you or me. It's just that she's mad at you.”

  I looked at her in surprise. “I've barely spoken to her . . . just to try and introduce myself. What could I have done?”

  “Oh, not you specifically. She would have been upset at anyone who moved in. Her daughter applied to move into the co-op. Naomi thought it'd be really convenient if she could move in next door. Naomi looks after her granddaughter a lot. But it's just her daughter and the little girl. They need a two-bedroom. They wouldn't have got that apartment, even if you hadn't moved in. Naomi should get over it. I'm sure a two-bedroom will be available soon.”

  “But couldn't they have moved in anyway, even if the apartment was too big, to be close to Naomi?”

  “Oh, the co-op's quite fussy about that. Because the housing is government subsidized, they try to make the most of it. Even long-time members are supposed to move to a smaller unit if their children leave home. I'm in a three-bedroom myself. But I think I told you my son and his family are planning on moving back to Vancouver. They'll be living with me, for a while anyway, so Les isn't pressuring me to move.”

  I remembered reading about that in the occupancy agreement I'd looked at before the meeting. There was a section on over or under-housing, explaining what Les had been talking about when he told me that we “qualified” for a three-bedroom apartment. You were over-housed if you had fewer people living there than bedrooms in the apartment, under-housed if there were more people than bedrooms.
The policy explained that the co-op would try to house people in an apartment of an appropriate size.

  “Well, I guess the policy makes sense,” I said, “but I don't understand why Naomi is so mad at me.” The president called the meeting to order just then, so I didn't get an answer, but I vowed to make friends with my neighbor.

  Les had joined Gwen and Jeremy at the table at the front of the room. They started by briefly introducing me as a new member. A few people smiled at me but others just looked at me blankly. From what Les had said, I had expected a friendlier group. But I was starting to realize that this wasn't quite the community Les had promised.

  There was a printed agenda, but Gwen asked if anyone had any other business to add. Several people put up their hands, but she called on Cara first.

  “I'd like to talk about getting a dog,” Cara said.

  “The co-op allows one pet per household,” Gwen said. “You can have one if you don't already have a pet. We don't need to discuss it.”

  “But, I do. I already have a cat. But my daughter wants a dog now.”

  “Well, that would be against the co-op's policy,” the president replied patiently.

  “I just want to talk about it,” Cara said, her voice trembling a little. “Can't we just put it on the agenda?”

  I saw Jeremy lean over to Gwen and say something to her softly.

  "All right,” she said, sighing loudly. “I'll add it to the agenda.”

  Several other people said they had announcements about community events they wanted to make at the end of the meeting. They were added to the list, and then Gwen moved into the meeting agenda.

  After approving the minutes, the financial statements, and other routine business, we reached an item called “parking issues” on the agenda. Les got to his feet.

  “This isn't an item I'd normally talk about in a meeting,” he began. “But I've tried to deal with this issue with the member, without reaching a solution. I thought it might help to bring it up here. It's about the motor home.”

  The man I had seen coming out of the motor home jumped to his feet. I hadn't noticed him sitting a few rows in front of me.

  “This is completely inappropriate,” he shouted. “I told you I'm going to move it. I've told you over and over again.”

  “Aaron, you keep saying you're going to move it, but it's still here. It's too big to leave on the street in front of the building. It takes up too much space. We've had complaints from the neighbors. And now it's in the parking garage where it's blocking other members' parking spaces. I've tried to explain the problem to you, Aaron, but you don't seem to listen. I thought it might be helpful for you to hear from some of the other members.”

  There were nervous mutterings from some of the members, but no one spoke up.

  “See,” the man screamed, pointing his finger at Les. “No one else minds if I park there. It's just you setting up rules like a little dictator. I've told you and told you that my son wants to use the motor home on some land he has. It'll be great for us to use in the summer. He'll move it later on. It doesn't seem to be bothering anyone else.”

  The man sitting next to him touched Aaron's arm and said something to him. But Aaron ignored him. He was spitting as he yelled at Les. He kept shaking his fist at the manager. If he had been standing closer, I'm sure he would have punched him.

  Everyone in the room was sitting in silence. I guessed they were either too shocked or too afraid to say anything. Gwen coughed nervously but didn't intervene.

  I hadn't planned on saying much at my first meeting. I had wanted to get used to the co-op and understand the issues before taking an active part in the meetings. And I didn't really want to take on the large, angry, red-faced man. But his tirade against the manager seemed out of line.

  I raised my hand a bit and got to my feet.

  “Um,” I started. Very eloquent start to my first co-op speech. “Um, hi. I'm Rebecca. As you know, I just moved in. And, the thing is, I can't use my parking spot. The motor home takes up half of it and my car won't fit. I don't know much about how the co-op works but it seems to me that I should be able to park in my spot.”

  I sat down, my legs shaking. Mariana reached over and patted my hand.

  “Nicely done,” she whispered.

  The man had turned to glare at me when I got up. Now he started yelling at me.

  “You!” he shouted. “We all know whose side you're on. And we know why!”

  “That's quite enough, Aaron,” Gwen interrupted. I wondered why she hadn't said anything before. Surely, verbally abusing the staff of the co-op was unusual. But the co-op members were acting like this went on all the time. Most of them looked uncomfortable, but no one looked as shocked as I was at the man's behavior.

  “I've had enough of this,” Aaron said. He pushed past the other people in his row and left the room. The man who had sat beside him—a short, thin man with wispy blond hair—got up and hurried after him. Gwen sighed again.

  “The co-op policies are quite clear on what size of vehicle the parking garage can handle. We've heard from Aaron and Rebecca. Does anyone else have any comments they want to make?”

  Now that Aaron had left the room, the other members were much more outspoken. Several expressed outrage that the motor home had been around for so long. Anna, the young woman with the cute baby, got to her feet.

  “I think the co-op should send a letter to Aaron telling him to remove the motor home by the end of the week. And we should have it towed if he doesn't.” There were mutters of agreement.

  “Do you want to make that a motion?” Gwen asked. “Uh, would my name have to be in the minutes?” Anna asked in a soft voice.

  Gwen sighed again.

  “That's generally how we handle motions.”

  Then no.

  I was starting to get the picture here.

  “Is it always like this?” I whispered to Mariana.

  “Pretty much,” she whispered back. “Some people know how to get their own way, either through bullying or making emotional appeals. Most of us just want to live here without any trouble, so we just try to avoid conflict, whatever the rules say.”

  “But doesn't that cause problems?”

  Mariana smiled. “Yes, that can cause problems.”

  I raised my hand.

  CHAPTER

  Six

  “I'll make the motion,” I said. This wasn't how I'd planned on introducing myself to the co-op. I'd planned on feeling my way around, getting to know a few people, maybe joining a committee, making friends with my neighbors. This felt a lot like warfare.

  But I wasn't inclined to let a bully get his way by shouting and intimidating his neighbors. And besides, I needed my parking spot.

  I was pleased when Jeremy seconded the motion.

  After asking if anyone else wanted to say anything, Gwen asked for a vote.

  “All in favor?” Quite a few hands went up.

  “Opposed?” No one raised their hands. The co-op members might not want to stand up to Aaron, but they didn't support him either.

  “Motion carried,” Gwen announced. Turning to Les, she asked, “Can you draft a letter to him? I can sign it tomorrow. Next on the agenda is Cara's request to add a dog to her household.”

  Cara stood up and smiled at the people in the room. “Well, it's just that my daughter saw this teacup poodle puppy she really wants. Her father's willing to buy it for her, but he doesn't want it to stay at his place. So I wondered if the co-op could bend the rules just a little.” She smiled again. “She's just crazy about that little dog.”

  "Cara, the rules are very clear. We allow only one pet per household. That's what the members voted on.”

  “But if the members voted for it, we could change our minds, right?”

  Les leaned forward at the table. “There are procedures for how the co-op sets rules. If you want a change, there has to be proper notice given. And there would have to be good reasons to change the policy. But we could add it to the
agenda at the next meeting, if you want to.”

  “But that's months away,” Cara said, her voice shaking. “Are you saying my little girl can't have the pet she wants?”

  “She already has a pet,” Les replied. “You already have a cat.

  I suspected Cara's daughter had lost interest in the cat when it stopped being a cute little kitten. The puppy would probably suffer the same fate. Maybe waiting until the next meeting would solve the problem.

  But Cara wasn't giving up. “Are you asking me to give up my cat? I can't believe you'd do that.” Tears spilled down her face. “What kind of a person are you?”

  “No one's asking you to give up your cat,” Gwen explained. “The rules just say you can't have a dog too.”

  “I can't believe you would be so mean to a small child.” Cara was openly sobbing now. The woman next to her was patting her shoulder in a comforting way.

  “I move that we let Cara have a dog and a cat,” she said. “It's only a small dog, anyway.”

  I was surprised when Jeremy seconded the motion.

  “All in favor?” Gwen said. Hands shot up.

  “Opposed?” Mine was the only hand that went up. Mariana looked at me and shrugged.

  "Did people just vote to break the pet policy because she cried?” I asked her quietly.

  “Yes,” she agreed. “As I said, you'll find that people can pretty much get their way with anything, if they approach the membership the right way.”

  “So none of the rules are really followed?”

  “Les does his best to keep us on track. And Gwen does realize we have rules for a reason. But she doesn't like conflict. Sometimes it's just easier to go along with what people want. Then, when we realize there are too many pets in one small space and there are complaints, we'll have another meeting and vote to allow only one pet per household. We've been through this before.”

  The meeting ended shortly after that. The young woman named Anna hurried up to me.

  “It's Rebecca, right? Welcome to the co-op. That was so cool the way you stood up to Aaron.”