Chapter 3: The Second Barrier
Karen carried the second barrier toward the opposite end of the candy area.
Parents immediately noticed.
A few followed her.
Nobody shouted.
Nobody needed to.
The first barrier had already shown them what she intended to do.
Karen positioned the second barrier across another walkway.
“This entrance is closed,” she announced.
A father named Mark Lewis stepped in front of it.
His eight-year-old son, Noah, was wearing a homemade astronaut costume and holding an empty plastic bucket.
Mark had been one of the parents Karen confronted earlier.
“My son was told his costume wasn’t approved,” he said.
Karen crossed her arms.
“It wasn’t.”
“Who approved the approved costumes?”
Karen didn’t answer.
Mark looked toward Daniel.
Daniel had begun walking from table to table, quietly asking volunteers to stay near the entrances.
The situation was becoming larger than a disagreement between two neighbors.
It was becoming a question of whether one resident could create rules and enforce them simply because she believed she had the right.
Evelyn stayed near the first opening.
She noticed several parents had begun photographing Karen’s homemade signs.
That mattered.
But what mattered more was what Karen did next.
She went back to her car.
For a moment, Evelyn thought Karen was leaving.
Instead, Karen opened the trunk and removed a plastic storage bin.
Inside were several more orange barrier pieces and additional handwritten signs.
Evelyn stared at them.
Karen hadn’t improvised the first barrier.
She had prepared for this.
Daniel noticed the bin too.
“How many signs did you make?”
Karen slammed the trunk shut.
“Enough.”
That single word shifted the entire situation.
The restrictions were not a spur-of-the-moment reaction to noisy children.
Karen had arrived intending to manage the festival on her own terms.
Daniel finally received a response on his phone.
The HOA board president, Margaret Collins, was on her way.
Karen heard the name.
She immediately became defensive.
“I already spoke to Margaret.”
Daniel looked at her.
“When?”
Karen hesitated.
“Earlier.”
Evelyn noticed the hesitation.
“So did she authorize these signs?”
Karen’s eyes narrowed.
“She knows what I’ve been doing.”
It wasn’t an answer.
And now there was another question.
If Margaret had really authorized Karen’s restrictions, why had Karen been unwilling to show anyone the message?
