The Landlord

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

His house was more spacious, front door opening up to a large living-room. The carpet was gray like mine, and he had mismatched furniture, but it was cozy. The TV was in the corner next to the front door, and the staircase hugged the right wall. He had a sectional black couch taking up most of the space. Must be nice, having a say in his own furniture.

Behind the sectional was his open kitchen, which I followed him to. The window above the sink showed his deep backyard – and lit the kitchen in orange sunlight. "I have just a few things I need to go over with you now that you're here." There were a few papers on the counter, and he grabbed one of them.

"Is this going to be about neighborly events and basically being up each other's ass?"

"No," he chuckled, handing me the paper. "This is your security deposit."

I snatched the paper, stunned. "What? Security deposit?"

"Yes. Now this one is about being up each other's asses," he said, handing me a second paper from the counter.

The first paper said I owed 350 dollars. The second sheet was a list of dates, describing different neighborhood activities during the summer. Obviously, the first one was all I cared about.

"I thought my dad paid the security deposit. How else did I manage getting the house?!"

He leaned back against the counter. "There is another option to pay it on arrival, which you will have to do unfortunately."

I bit my lip, trying to keep my cool (which was basically impossible in a house with no AC running). Looking over the papers, I scoffed. "Can I have it for you tomorrow? I'm sorry, my dad just mislead me to believe he took care of it." You know, when he fucking told me he took care of everything.

"Sure, that's no problem. As long as it's tomorrow."

350 was a lot for me right now. I had hardly anything, I was only tomorrow starting a job, and needed enough for this first month's rent. Plus groceries, bills, the divorce... ugh, I was tight on money. Thanks, dad. He could have given me a heads up.

"Now, that second paper... it shows all of our town activities throughout the month. I can tell you will be heavily involved in the neighborhood, so we can move on," he said, smirking slightly before handing me another sheet. "This one is about your renter's insurance."

"Listen, Mr. McCormick, I'm a careful person. I'm not going to burn the place down. I can go without renter's insurance."

"I'm sorry, but I require it for my houses. Just policy."

Cheap place my ass. "For being such a backwoods place, where everyone knows everyone, you'd think policy wouldn't be a huge deal."

"You'd think. I try to be fair though. Renter's insurance is only 27 a month."

"Thank god it's only 27, because 28 would break me," I mumbled.

"Your actual rent will be due on the 5th of each month."

A loud and high-pitched squeaking sound echoed through the air. It made me tense up and stare towards the living room. It was a loud and long squeal almost, that reminded me of a peacock. Then, it happened a few more times. Only shorter, like the floorboard squeaking repeatedly.

After the high-pitched squealing stopped, my eyes shot back over to money-hustler Blake. "What the fuck was that?"

"That's Sherman. He's upstairs."

Oh. That was Sherman, who is upstairs. Got it. Because I guess that's all I fucking get for an explanation. I stared at him for a long moment and inhaled sharply. "Well... alright."