I installed a camera aimed only at my balcony and collected eleven recordings in a week. When I showed the building manager the footage, along with my stained towel and cushion, she revealed that other residents had complained about trash from apartment 4B. Finally, there was proof. Two days later, my neighbor accused me of getting him in trouble. I reminded him that I had asked him to stop three times. He fell silent, and the littering stopped.

Weeks later, he left replacement items, expensive tea, and an apology: “I mistook your patience for weakness.” Then, a month afterward, another tea bag landed beside my flowerpot. This one carried a note directing me to a birthday gift outside my door. I laughed as he shouted from above, “ONLY ONE!” Somehow, accountability had done more than end an ugly dispute. It had made room for an apology—and an unlikely friendship.