10-25-2017, 11:31 PM
Tier 2, 3PM
“Rent is due on the twentieth, you have a grace period of ten days after which you will be evicted from the building. You can have one pet, but no aggressive animals, no animals over forty five kilos, and they must be on a leash when not in your room. The pool is open all hours, except Mondays for cleaning, please no skinny dipping and keep all refreshments at the pool side, not in the pool. The free continental breakfast begins at five AM and ends at nine AM.” The elderly woman skimmed through a page, noting the important bits of each section with as much brevity as she could manage. Stein was leaned back in his chair, memorizing the little details as best he could without his mind wondering.
She finally came to the end of the contract, which she turned around to face him. A pen was slid his way. “Do you have any questions before you sign?”
“Nope! Sounds pretty good to me.” The hero accepted the pen and scribbled his John Handcock onto the line, did his initialing, stamped a date and all the formal mumbo jumbo that comes with this sort of business. “Aaaand there we go!” He placed the pen on the table and started to reach for the keys. He paused, waiting for the woman’s approval. With just a nod, he nabbed the single ring and key and stuffed it into his pocket.
“Now, I know you said you went to the lower tiers,” her milky eyes lowered to the bullet holes in his attire. “Just do us all a favor, leave them rapscallions down there, okay? I’m going out on a limb here, because you’re a cute kid.” He had mentioned several times he was well older than a kid, but he gave up on trying to convince her. She was probably ancient after all. Stein responded with a confirming nod. “Great! You’re in building three, third floor. Youngster like you shouldn’t have trouble with those stairs. You may take your leave, I’m sure you want to check out your room and unpack.”
Stein stood, shook the woman’s hand again and elegantly departed. After shutting her door, he practically rushed down the breezeway towards the third of the three story buildings. There were no elivators, but the brick buildings were close enough together that in between each building was a fully covered concrete staircase with rails and studded surfaces, to help during the rain and winter. Third floor was cheaper, but the building was definitely nothing to scoff at.
The duplex was definitely an upgrade from his tiny little two-room apartment. It still was no palace, but it was definitely comfortable. The door to his room was a little sticky when it came to unlocking it, but a slight nudge with his shoulder and it swung wide.
The air was a bit stale and a thin dust lined most of the tables. It had been empty for what he guessed might have been a few months. Who wanted the third floor apartment of a lower middle class duplex when there were apartments and condos just around the corner? Why did Stein want it? This place was classy. It had a rustic feel, free cable, pool, breakfast bar… and it promised to be a nice, quiet get away from the hustle and bustle of hero life.
His last apartment had been surrounded by a lot of noisy younger folk around his age. Booming stereos, loud arguments… Sure, there was that one cutie – but she was the only good thing beyond the cheap price of that place. The apartment below him was an old woman with her granddaughter. To one side was a young blue-collar couple and the other side was empty.
There was really only one downside to this purchase. As Stein entered the kitchen, he could still make out that little smell of death. His eyes fell to the floor in front of the dishwasher for a moment, remembering what the owner had said.
The last occupant died in here. A ninety year old man with no next of kin, left for almost two months until the owner had finally come to try and collect her rent. It was no violent murder or freak accident. Poor old guy had a sudden heart attack and his assist pager had been left across the room. “Thanks for the apartment, old man. I’ll take good care of it.” It was this little grim fact that got the down payment waved, and why the top floor apartments were strictly for those without heart problems; safety protocols and all.
After offering a moment of silence for the man who’s death he profited from, he turned and continued scoping out the rooms. Since the old man had no next of kin, the building owner came into possession of everything in the apartment. His life insurance paid for his funeral, so she sold most things of value to pay for the pool. When she showed off the building, she had mentioned that Mr. Fredrick, or Freddy for short, had been living here for years, almost building the little sense of community that existed with the current occupants. It seemed an appropriate thing to do.
However, that left the non-valuables. Upon entering the bedroom, he made a bee line to the closet. Sure enough, it was full of clothing. Most of it needed a good wash, thanks to dust collecting on the shoulders. Freddy had an assortment of blazers and coats, as well as dress pants and a little tower of dressy and sporty arthritic shoes. From a glance he could tell that the shoes would be too small, but the rest seemed about his size.
Closing the closet, Stein loosed a sigh. He felt bad to profit off of a dead man, especially seeing as it was a good man who worked hard for all this. But he had been old, he lived an honest life from what he had been told. Better me than some hooligan. Stein was never hard on his apartments. A bit of a slob, but he never let anything fall into disrepair.
That was why he accepted the apartment. It felt right, like something just clicked. It was so different from his last apartment, high up on the twelvth floor – but it felt just as homey. From one side of his apartment he can look out into a two-lane street below with a steady but leisurely flow of traffic. Out the other he could see into the framed courtyard, complete with a clear swimming pool and a grassy lawn and covered gazeebo.
Even as he checked out the view, he spotted a couple of the old folks in the shade with a grill. Well. Time to meet the neighbors. Stein made a quick pit stop to change his shirt, taking one of Freddy’s dusty old Hawaiian styled shirts, red with gold palm leaves, and a pair of swim trunks. The trunks were a bit loose, but he pulled tight the drawstrings and they fit pretty comfortably. Of course Stein was going to get in a few laps today – the pool looked so damned inviting.
“Aye! New guy!” Immediately upon exiting the apartment, his neighbor caught him. The dark haired, beer bellied man had a friendly smile. He was smoking, leaning against the rail with an ash tray in hand. Now that’s classy. “I was just about to knock. We heard someone was taking Freddy’s apartment and Margery thought we should try and invite ya into the fold. You ain’t a vegetarian are ya? Or against smoking?”
My kind of people. “I’m a proud omnivore. Steak and a side salad, best of both worlds.”
“Amen, my friend.”
“Not against smoking either. I do a bit socially.”
“Well hell, got a party pack riecheer.” His accent had a bit of a twang, but Stein could not place it. The dark haired man tapped the butt of his soft pack on the rail, pushing a few up. Popping his cigarette betwixt his lips, he pulled one out and lit it on his own before handing it off to the hero. “See ya got Freddy’s favorite shirt on. Yea, old man said he got that in Costa da Sol a couple of years back. Glad it’s get’n some use, I tell ya.”
Accepting the cancer stick, Stein propped on the rail beside the man. He offered a hand in greeting, since it had not happened yet. “Name’s Stein, and this Freddy had great taste. Very comfy material and doubles as a safety vest.” That earned a chuckle from his new friend.
“Name’s Richy, I’m in 2C. We’re gonna be neighbors. My wife’s down at the ‘zeebo, whipping up some tater salad.” What salad? “After we finish, I’m s’posed to take ya down.” He was already half way down his, while Stein had only just taken his second drag.
“Ya seem pretty cool, guy, so Imma level with ya.” Here it comes. “Everyone’s gonna try to be cozy to get ya to feel comfortable. Some of the older folk are a bit pushy, but they don’t mean anything by it. If ya don’t wanna be part of the community we got, let ‘em down slowly, okay? A lot of people are kinda hopin’ you’d fill the void. Freddy was a good guy, and we’re hopin’ to have another good fella to take care of his old place and things.” Not the lecture I expected, Stein thought.
After another drag, he stubs out the cigarette, saving the remainder for later. “I like to think I’m a good guy. I took the apartment because the owner said you guys were pretty tight. I didn’t have that in my last building, and I don’t have any friends here, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.” Stein grinned, rubbing his hands together. “And if it means I get invited to cookouts, I’ll remember to bring a dish or two next time around.”
The smells were reaching up to them. Stein was almost ravenous, he had not eaten all day – and most of yesterday. It would be nice to have a grounded place to stay, a fridge and a kitchen, and a couch with a TV for his me time. He might even be able to start up a game night like back in his highschool days.
“Then we should head on down.” He acted without thinking about it. “Hup!” Up and over, he dropped to the ground two stories below, landing with a solid stance, knees bending to absorb the impact. His feet tingled, but he was still durable enough to take this sort of impact.
Richy turned about to look down over the edge, brows high in surprise. “You okay down there?”
“I’m good, I’m going to meet the new gang!” Stein gave the OK hand gesture before heading towards the gazeebo. He could hear Richy racing down the stairs to catch up, but he had a minute or so. As he walked up, he noticed a good ten or so people were scattered around, doing various things and/or chatting it up with each other. “Hey guys!”
“Rent is due on the twentieth, you have a grace period of ten days after which you will be evicted from the building. You can have one pet, but no aggressive animals, no animals over forty five kilos, and they must be on a leash when not in your room. The pool is open all hours, except Mondays for cleaning, please no skinny dipping and keep all refreshments at the pool side, not in the pool. The free continental breakfast begins at five AM and ends at nine AM.” The elderly woman skimmed through a page, noting the important bits of each section with as much brevity as she could manage. Stein was leaned back in his chair, memorizing the little details as best he could without his mind wondering.
She finally came to the end of the contract, which she turned around to face him. A pen was slid his way. “Do you have any questions before you sign?”
“Nope! Sounds pretty good to me.” The hero accepted the pen and scribbled his John Handcock onto the line, did his initialing, stamped a date and all the formal mumbo jumbo that comes with this sort of business. “Aaaand there we go!” He placed the pen on the table and started to reach for the keys. He paused, waiting for the woman’s approval. With just a nod, he nabbed the single ring and key and stuffed it into his pocket.
“Now, I know you said you went to the lower tiers,” her milky eyes lowered to the bullet holes in his attire. “Just do us all a favor, leave them rapscallions down there, okay? I’m going out on a limb here, because you’re a cute kid.” He had mentioned several times he was well older than a kid, but he gave up on trying to convince her. She was probably ancient after all. Stein responded with a confirming nod. “Great! You’re in building three, third floor. Youngster like you shouldn’t have trouble with those stairs. You may take your leave, I’m sure you want to check out your room and unpack.”
Stein stood, shook the woman’s hand again and elegantly departed. After shutting her door, he practically rushed down the breezeway towards the third of the three story buildings. There were no elivators, but the brick buildings were close enough together that in between each building was a fully covered concrete staircase with rails and studded surfaces, to help during the rain and winter. Third floor was cheaper, but the building was definitely nothing to scoff at.
The duplex was definitely an upgrade from his tiny little two-room apartment. It still was no palace, but it was definitely comfortable. The door to his room was a little sticky when it came to unlocking it, but a slight nudge with his shoulder and it swung wide.
The air was a bit stale and a thin dust lined most of the tables. It had been empty for what he guessed might have been a few months. Who wanted the third floor apartment of a lower middle class duplex when there were apartments and condos just around the corner? Why did Stein want it? This place was classy. It had a rustic feel, free cable, pool, breakfast bar… and it promised to be a nice, quiet get away from the hustle and bustle of hero life.
His last apartment had been surrounded by a lot of noisy younger folk around his age. Booming stereos, loud arguments… Sure, there was that one cutie – but she was the only good thing beyond the cheap price of that place. The apartment below him was an old woman with her granddaughter. To one side was a young blue-collar couple and the other side was empty.
There was really only one downside to this purchase. As Stein entered the kitchen, he could still make out that little smell of death. His eyes fell to the floor in front of the dishwasher for a moment, remembering what the owner had said.
The last occupant died in here. A ninety year old man with no next of kin, left for almost two months until the owner had finally come to try and collect her rent. It was no violent murder or freak accident. Poor old guy had a sudden heart attack and his assist pager had been left across the room. “Thanks for the apartment, old man. I’ll take good care of it.” It was this little grim fact that got the down payment waved, and why the top floor apartments were strictly for those without heart problems; safety protocols and all.
After offering a moment of silence for the man who’s death he profited from, he turned and continued scoping out the rooms. Since the old man had no next of kin, the building owner came into possession of everything in the apartment. His life insurance paid for his funeral, so she sold most things of value to pay for the pool. When she showed off the building, she had mentioned that Mr. Fredrick, or Freddy for short, had been living here for years, almost building the little sense of community that existed with the current occupants. It seemed an appropriate thing to do.
However, that left the non-valuables. Upon entering the bedroom, he made a bee line to the closet. Sure enough, it was full of clothing. Most of it needed a good wash, thanks to dust collecting on the shoulders. Freddy had an assortment of blazers and coats, as well as dress pants and a little tower of dressy and sporty arthritic shoes. From a glance he could tell that the shoes would be too small, but the rest seemed about his size.
Closing the closet, Stein loosed a sigh. He felt bad to profit off of a dead man, especially seeing as it was a good man who worked hard for all this. But he had been old, he lived an honest life from what he had been told. Better me than some hooligan. Stein was never hard on his apartments. A bit of a slob, but he never let anything fall into disrepair.
That was why he accepted the apartment. It felt right, like something just clicked. It was so different from his last apartment, high up on the twelvth floor – but it felt just as homey. From one side of his apartment he can look out into a two-lane street below with a steady but leisurely flow of traffic. Out the other he could see into the framed courtyard, complete with a clear swimming pool and a grassy lawn and covered gazeebo.
Even as he checked out the view, he spotted a couple of the old folks in the shade with a grill. Well. Time to meet the neighbors. Stein made a quick pit stop to change his shirt, taking one of Freddy’s dusty old Hawaiian styled shirts, red with gold palm leaves, and a pair of swim trunks. The trunks were a bit loose, but he pulled tight the drawstrings and they fit pretty comfortably. Of course Stein was going to get in a few laps today – the pool looked so damned inviting.
“Aye! New guy!” Immediately upon exiting the apartment, his neighbor caught him. The dark haired, beer bellied man had a friendly smile. He was smoking, leaning against the rail with an ash tray in hand. Now that’s classy. “I was just about to knock. We heard someone was taking Freddy’s apartment and Margery thought we should try and invite ya into the fold. You ain’t a vegetarian are ya? Or against smoking?”
My kind of people. “I’m a proud omnivore. Steak and a side salad, best of both worlds.”
“Amen, my friend.”
“Not against smoking either. I do a bit socially.”
“Well hell, got a party pack riecheer.” His accent had a bit of a twang, but Stein could not place it. The dark haired man tapped the butt of his soft pack on the rail, pushing a few up. Popping his cigarette betwixt his lips, he pulled one out and lit it on his own before handing it off to the hero. “See ya got Freddy’s favorite shirt on. Yea, old man said he got that in Costa da Sol a couple of years back. Glad it’s get’n some use, I tell ya.”
Accepting the cancer stick, Stein propped on the rail beside the man. He offered a hand in greeting, since it had not happened yet. “Name’s Stein, and this Freddy had great taste. Very comfy material and doubles as a safety vest.” That earned a chuckle from his new friend.
“Name’s Richy, I’m in 2C. We’re gonna be neighbors. My wife’s down at the ‘zeebo, whipping up some tater salad.” What salad? “After we finish, I’m s’posed to take ya down.” He was already half way down his, while Stein had only just taken his second drag.
“Ya seem pretty cool, guy, so Imma level with ya.” Here it comes. “Everyone’s gonna try to be cozy to get ya to feel comfortable. Some of the older folk are a bit pushy, but they don’t mean anything by it. If ya don’t wanna be part of the community we got, let ‘em down slowly, okay? A lot of people are kinda hopin’ you’d fill the void. Freddy was a good guy, and we’re hopin’ to have another good fella to take care of his old place and things.” Not the lecture I expected, Stein thought.
After another drag, he stubs out the cigarette, saving the remainder for later. “I like to think I’m a good guy. I took the apartment because the owner said you guys were pretty tight. I didn’t have that in my last building, and I don’t have any friends here, so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone.” Stein grinned, rubbing his hands together. “And if it means I get invited to cookouts, I’ll remember to bring a dish or two next time around.”
The smells were reaching up to them. Stein was almost ravenous, he had not eaten all day – and most of yesterday. It would be nice to have a grounded place to stay, a fridge and a kitchen, and a couch with a TV for his me time. He might even be able to start up a game night like back in his highschool days.
“Then we should head on down.” He acted without thinking about it. “Hup!” Up and over, he dropped to the ground two stories below, landing with a solid stance, knees bending to absorb the impact. His feet tingled, but he was still durable enough to take this sort of impact.
Richy turned about to look down over the edge, brows high in surprise. “You okay down there?”
“I’m good, I’m going to meet the new gang!” Stein gave the OK hand gesture before heading towards the gazeebo. He could hear Richy racing down the stairs to catch up, but he had a minute or so. As he walked up, he noticed a good ten or so people were scattered around, doing various things and/or chatting it up with each other. “Hey guys!”