Her Public Inspection Stopped At The Locked Orchid Room Door

On Wednesday, Priscilla brought a folding table into the center aisle.

She laid out my fine, a rulebook, and three red tags. Behind her, a dozen vendors stood between fern racks and bags of potting mix.

“We all need to see standards applied fairly,” she announced.

I carried my steel box to the table.

“Yes,” I said.

Elaine arrived with a plumber named June Bell. Mateo followed with his flat tool case and a folder of photographs. Elaine had sent a written test plan the night before. All four of us had received it.

Priscilla tapped my folder.

“Before we waste time, these are just numbers Nadia made.”

“We can test the equipment now,” June said.

She spoke softly. Priscilla had to stop talking for people to hear her.

June checked the meter number against my lease. She compared the reader clock with her phone, then drew five gallons into a marked bucket. The meter and reader both showed five.

“The reading agrees,” she said.

“Today,” Priscilla replied.

“Today is what I'm testing.”

Mateo handed Elaine his March photos. June took new ones from the same angles.

Then we closed the valve inside my stall. June tied a numbered seal through its handle and bracket. I shut my shutters. Elaine held my key.

“Stall supply closed and witnessed,” June said for the written record.

I set six Wednesday pulse sheets beside the reader. Each showed a burst at nine thirty. June checked the dates and asked everyone to wait without touching a valve.

Priscilla looked at the empty aisle beyond us.

“We have deliveries coming.”

“This should take a few minutes,” June said.

I watched the clear numbers on the meter. For once, I wasn't using my magnifier to make a tiny thing easier to see. I held it in my palm while the whole group watched the same dial.

At nine twenty-nine, the meter was still.

At nine thirty, we heard a click behind the reed screens.

The reader began marking pulses.

Priscilla reached for the closet door.

“Leave it open,” Elaine said.

“Customers shouldn't see service areas.”

“The market opens at ten.”

Thin water sounds came from the orchid room. A bright wet line spread along the bottom of a screen.

June pointed at the two branches past my meter.

“One is sealed off at the stall. We need to trace the other.”

“That wall is fragile,” Priscilla said.

Elaine gave June permission to open the small service panel behind the fertilizer rack. It was held by four screws. June photographed each step.

The new pipe ran through the wall toward the orchids.

“Could feed anything,” Priscilla said.

June looked at me. “Your rider allows you to secure the supply here during a test. Do you consent to closing it?”

“Yes.”

I had paid for the meter, kept its records, and held the right to stop the water passing through it. All month, Priscilla had treated me like someone borrowing a hose.

June turned the shutoff. I put my brass padlock through the handle and handed Elaine the spare key.

The mist sound faded. The reader stopped.

Across the aisle, Priscilla's decorative room went quiet.

Nobody clapped. Ruth folded her arms. Someone's cart wheel squeaked against the floor.

“Open the orchid room,” Elaine said.

“Those are sensitive plants.”

“June won't touch them.”

Priscilla stood still for several seconds. Then she took a small key from inside her vest.

Behind the door were rows of orchids, a mist rail, and a timer box. Clear hoses ran from the rail to a brass valve. June followed the pipe back through the wall to the branch we'd seen.

She asked Priscilla to turn the timer off. With permission, June reopened the meter valve. Nothing moved. Then she ran the orchid timer by hand.

Pulses returned. Mist rose over the orchids.

June stopped the timer again and wrote down the result.

“The orchid system draws through stall seventeen's meter,” she said.

Priscilla's mouth worked before any sound came out.

“Emergency plant care. Nadia must have misunderstood the arrangement.”

I set her signed inventory on the table.

“Which arrangement?” I asked.

Elaine read the line about no plumbing. She looked through the open doorway at the mist rail.

“Was the board told about this installation?”

“I handled maintenance within my authority.”

“We'll check that.”

June capped the orchid branch under Elaine's direction. My stall valve was unsealed, tested, and reopened. I kept the padlock beside my lease.

At ten, customers entered beneath the wet roof. Priscilla still stood at her folding table. The red tags lay unused.

Elaine asked me to stay after closing. She wanted the original water bills and all payment receipts.

Then the market bookkeeper arrived carrying a check copy with my stall number written above Priscilla's signature.