Are You Kidding Me?
It was one of the tallest apartment buildings I have seen lately. I have seen taller but not in a while and not while I have been house hunting this round. It was located two houses from the corner. On one side there was a house and on the other side another apartment building. A smaller building but a building just the same. This building was painted brown and white. It was a faded shade of brown and white paint. It didn't look like it had been painted in years, many years. We slowly got out of the car and standing on the first floor near the gate was the landlord. He had on dark sunglasses so you couldn't see his eyes and his hair was spiked up a little in the front. It was a dirty blonde and he had on jeans with speckles of paint and a black tee shirt. He reminded me of a painter.
So, he informed us that he had 3 units available. One on the first floor, one on the second and one on the third floor. All the people who used to live there were evicted. We just listened. Then he handed us all forms, applications in case we were interested after we saw the places. I took mine and folded over one time and he proceeded to take us to the first apartment. It was decent in size. It had dark brown carpet covering the floors in the living room and bedrooms. We looked at the kitchen first. The stove was white, dirty and had foil around the burners. The cabinets were white and there were 4 of them. Inside one of the cabinets was an empty beer can. There was a roll of tile near the fridge which was small and white. The landlord explained that he was putting new tile in the kitchen. I was thinking is that it? It needs to be cleaned too. Then another young woman showed up. She looked like a student and no older then 25. He gave her an application and she took a look around and I think all of us had the same expression on our faces after we saw the kitchen. The bathroom was tiny and there were cigarette butts in the sink. Obviously, this place hadn't been cleaned at all and obviously, he didn't care either. Then he motioned all of us to follow him to the next one. The next apartment on the second floor was just as bad as the first one. Nothing was cleaned and the previous tenants had left behind some "gifts" for him also. They left soda cans in the cabinet and an empty rum bottle in the closet of one of the bedrooms.
That was all anyone needed to see. Nobody wanted to see the last one. We were all scared to see what that one had in store for us. The landlord took a phone call and walked away from us and that was the opportunity for the young woman to run. She moved really fast and was gone in a blink of an eye almost. Then on our way to do the same thing as we were walking down the steps this man on the first floor stopped us. He looked like he was probably around 60 something and had eyes as red as my son's red Crayola crayons. He bent over the railing and he asked if we were interested in that apartment on the first floor. He lived 2 doors down. I told him that probably not. He said that the people who used to live there partied all the time and they didn't pay rent so they got evicted. The woman that lived on the end she worked a lot and was hardly home. He then explained that him and his brother lived together in his apartment and that if we took it he would watch out for us. Then he pointed to the house next door and said that the woman who lived there died. She was old and died in her sleep and it took a day or two before anyone found her. They were selling the house, her family was. He then nodded his head towards the driveway and said there was parking in the back. Just as he said that the landlord finished his call and was walking towards us. The man with the red eyes said to us that we would have to watch him, the landlord, because he was sneaky, couldn't be trusted. The landlord looked up at him and asked him what he was telling us and the red eyed man said he was just telling us about the neighborhood.
The landlord looked around like he was missing something. Then he asked about the young woman who was there and we told him she left. Then we told him we were leaving too. He pointed out the fax number on the application and said that we could fax it back to him anytime. Then he turned his attention to another young woman who was walking in the direction towards him and the building, another prospective tenant. But after she saw what we just saw I think she ran too. I know that we ran as fast as one senior, one almost senior, one young man and one nine year old could go and believe me we will never look back.
Another one bites the dust. And the house hunting continues.
So, he informed us that he had 3 units available. One on the first floor, one on the second and one on the third floor. All the people who used to live there were evicted. We just listened. Then he handed us all forms, applications in case we were interested after we saw the places. I took mine and folded over one time and he proceeded to take us to the first apartment. It was decent in size. It had dark brown carpet covering the floors in the living room and bedrooms. We looked at the kitchen first. The stove was white, dirty and had foil around the burners. The cabinets were white and there were 4 of them. Inside one of the cabinets was an empty beer can. There was a roll of tile near the fridge which was small and white. The landlord explained that he was putting new tile in the kitchen. I was thinking is that it? It needs to be cleaned too. Then another young woman showed up. She looked like a student and no older then 25. He gave her an application and she took a look around and I think all of us had the same expression on our faces after we saw the kitchen. The bathroom was tiny and there were cigarette butts in the sink. Obviously, this place hadn't been cleaned at all and obviously, he didn't care either. Then he motioned all of us to follow him to the next one. The next apartment on the second floor was just as bad as the first one. Nothing was cleaned and the previous tenants had left behind some "gifts" for him also. They left soda cans in the cabinet and an empty rum bottle in the closet of one of the bedrooms.
That was all anyone needed to see. Nobody wanted to see the last one. We were all scared to see what that one had in store for us. The landlord took a phone call and walked away from us and that was the opportunity for the young woman to run. She moved really fast and was gone in a blink of an eye almost. Then on our way to do the same thing as we were walking down the steps this man on the first floor stopped us. He looked like he was probably around 60 something and had eyes as red as my son's red Crayola crayons. He bent over the railing and he asked if we were interested in that apartment on the first floor. He lived 2 doors down. I told him that probably not. He said that the people who used to live there partied all the time and they didn't pay rent so they got evicted. The woman that lived on the end she worked a lot and was hardly home. He then explained that him and his brother lived together in his apartment and that if we took it he would watch out for us. Then he pointed to the house next door and said that the woman who lived there died. She was old and died in her sleep and it took a day or two before anyone found her. They were selling the house, her family was. He then nodded his head towards the driveway and said there was parking in the back. Just as he said that the landlord finished his call and was walking towards us. The man with the red eyes said to us that we would have to watch him, the landlord, because he was sneaky, couldn't be trusted. The landlord looked up at him and asked him what he was telling us and the red eyed man said he was just telling us about the neighborhood.
The landlord looked around like he was missing something. Then he asked about the young woman who was there and we told him she left. Then we told him we were leaving too. He pointed out the fax number on the application and said that we could fax it back to him anytime. Then he turned his attention to another young woman who was walking in the direction towards him and the building, another prospective tenant. But after she saw what we just saw I think she ran too. I know that we ran as fast as one senior, one almost senior, one young man and one nine year old could go and believe me we will never look back.
Another one bites the dust. And the house hunting continues.
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