Chapter 4: The Key Changes Hands
Karen refused to surrender the key.
Instead, she demanded that the supervisor call the police.
“Fine,” she said. “Let’s have an officer settle it.”
The manager exchanged a brief look with the supervisor.
Then he nodded.
“If that’s what you want.”
Karen had expected resistance.
The agreement unsettled her.
Within several minutes, an officer arrived.
Karen immediately approached him with her homemade sign.
“Officer, I’m enforcing a no-parking restriction.”
The officer listened.
He did not take the sign.
He did not argue.
He simply asked, “Who authorized you to place the wheel lock on that vehicle?”
Karen hesitated.
“I told you. The sign says no parking.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
She looked toward the funeral home.
“I don’t need authorization to enforce a rule.”
The officer asked whether she owned the property.
“No.”
Whether she worked for the funeral home.
“No.”
Whether the vehicle belonged to her.
“No.”
He nodded.
Then he examined the existing signage and the property markings.
The manager provided the property documentation.
The officer looked at Karen.
“You need to remove your lock.”
Karen’s face went rigid.
“I want that in writing.”
The officer explained that the funeral home was handling the vehicle and that she had no authority to immobilize it.
Karen raised her voice.
“So everyone here gets to make rules except me?”
“No,” the officer replied. “The issue is whether you have authority to enforce them.”
That distinction finally landed.
The manager stepped toward the hearse.
“We can get the vehicle moving as soon as the lock is removed.”
Karen looked toward the mourners.
The widow was standing near the doorway, waiting.
The daughter was beside her.
No one was yelling at Karen anymore.
No one was arguing.
They were simply waiting for her decision.
Karen looked down at the key in her hand.
For several seconds, she did nothing.
Then she tossed it toward the manager.
He caught it.
The lock came off.
The hearse remained undamaged.
The funeral service could continue.
But Karen was not finished.
She turned toward the manager.
“You’re going to hear from me.”
The manager nodded.
“If you have a concern about the property, contact the property office.”
Karen lifted her sign.
“I will.”
She walked toward her car.
The immediate crisis was over.
But before she reached the parking lot, her phone buzzed.
It was a message from someone who had seen her recording.
You should probably find out what that sign actually means before you post this.
Karen stopped walking.
For the first time that morning, she wondered whether the story she had been telling herself was missing something.
