Every week, my neighbor knocked over my trash bins and threw garbage all over my lawn. I tried talking to him. He denied it all. I confronted him again. He just smirked. As a single mom barely holding everything together, I had no time for his nonsense. So I quit talking and started planning. The guy never expected what was coming.

I’m 33 years old, raising two young kids by myself in a house that’s breaking down quicker than I can fix it.Maverick walked out three weeks after our youngest was born. No reason. No child support. No apology.

We live in the house my grandmother left me. The paint is peeling, the driveway is narrow, and the furnace makes a terrible racket every time it starts.But it’s ours. And I’m doing everything I can to hold onto it.

Winter makes everything ten times tougher.In our town, when snow builds up, people move their trash bins closer to the road so the trucks can get them. That’s just how it is.

Except for my neighbor, Beckett.

Beckett is in his early 50s, drives a huge black SUV that’s too big for our street, and always looks at you like you’re bothering him just by being there. He’s lived next door since before I was born, and he’s never been friendly.

The trouble began about a month into winter.

One Tuesday morning, I woke up to both my trash bins tipped over and garbage scattered across the entire front lawn. Diapers frozen in the snow. Food containers everywhere. Coffee grounds mixed with slush.

My three-year-old pressed her face against the window and asked, “Mommy, why is our yard so messy?”