The afternoon sunlight shimmered dazzlingly on the surface of the pool.
“Hey there, neighbor!” Noud called out cheerfully.
With a quick motion, he bent down and picked up a thumb-sized piece of glass from the tiled common path leading toward the pool. The tiles were scorching under his bare feet.
Adrian stood on his own terrace, arms crossed.
“If it’s money, it’s mine,” he chuckled.
Like a hunter showing off a trophy, Noud raised the glass shard high.
“Good thing it didn’t end up in one of the kids’ feet,” he said, slowly shaking his head.
“How did glass get there?” Adrian frowned.
“Good question,” Noud murmured, turning the shard absently between his fingers.
The Slovak man finally started walking toward him — his steps steady, deliberate.
“I’ll call maintenance,” he said firmly. “That’s what we pay the community fees for. With the money they take from us, daily cleaning shouldn’t be too much to ask.”
A shadow crossed Noud’s forehead.
“Maybe it got dropped later on…”
“Five meters from my house?” Adrian snapped. “Oh, come on! No one walks around here holding a piece of glass.”
“Couldn’t Dajana have dropped something? Or maybe the kids?” Noud asked carefully.
“Impossible,” Adrian shook his head. “I’d know.”
He turned toward the house and shouted:
“Dajana!”
His voice bounced sharply off the walls, echoing across the whole courtyard.
Noud’s face lit up as he saw her appear in the doorway. His fingers drummed impatiently against his thigh — he could hardly wait for her to come closer.
“Did you break something?” Adrian asked accusingly.
His wife walked toward them reluctantly.
“Why are you asking?”
“Because Noud just found a big piece of glass right where the kids run to the pool.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!”
Dajana frowned, examined the shard closely, turned it over a few times, then placed it back in Noud’s palm.
“Hmm.” Her lips tightened. “That’s strange — nothing’s broken since we moved in. At least, not that I know of.”
“The other day Ted stepped on one too,” Noud blurted out.
Dajana recoiled.
“Ted?”
“Y-yes…” Noud stammered.
Sweat gathered on his forehead and the back of his neck. The corner of his mouth trembled as he carefully searched Dajana’s face.
“I don’t think so,” she muttered.
“W-why not?”
He couldn’t stop the stutter. To hide the trembling of his hand, he shoved it into his pocket.
“As far as I know, he’s too sick to even stand.”
Noud flinched. He opened his mouth to say something, but no sound came out.
Luckily for him, Dajana spoke first.
“He’s been bedridden for over a week. Viktoria’s been taking care of him. She told me today he’s in really bad shape.”
Noud didn’t even notice that his fist had tightened around the shard, or that blood was already seeping from beneath his little finger.