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I’m glad they’re excited about it because it looks like a dump to me. They wanted a house that they could fix up together, and they definitely got that.
I guess I can see the potential. But I see all of the broken bits and work that needs to be done way more.
“I can’t stop thinking about how I will read on the porch, once we fix it up of course, and watch the sunrise. Or how I can plant flowers in the garden, once we make a garden. Maybe I’ll start growing herbs. Oh, and I think I’m going to paint the door a bright color, but not too bright that I’ll get sick of it quickly,” Maddie says as we stand and stare at the heap of weathered and worn wood they call a house. “Honestly, it was the porch that did it for me.”
“The porch did it for you?” I ask, eyeing the missing wooden boards and broken steps. She glares at me.
“Yes, you grump. You have no vision,” she mumbles. She leads me and Elliot around the perimeter of the house, explaining all of her plans and ideas.
Madeline gets a few paces ahead of us before I say to Elliot, “You’ve got your hands full.”
“Wouldn’t want it any other way,” he responds. I look at him to roll my eyes, but I find his eyes fixed on Maddie in that intense way he has always looked at her. It hurts my chest for a moment but is quickly replaced by happiness for my best friend, that she has this love in her life.
“Elliot, do you think you could put a hammock out here?” Maddie calls out as she stands between two large trees.
“Whatever you want, Mads,” he calls back, walking ahead to stand next to her.
I turn around to look at the house from the back now. There is not much of a backyard. Just more of the porch that probably couldn’t even hold the weight of Maddie, and a stone pathway overgrown with weeds that leads to the even creepier and more rundown shed.
“Fifty bucks says that someone was murdered in that thing,” I say, arms crossed and pointing with my chin at the creepy shed.
“Ana, don’t even say that,” Maddie scolds. I find myself laughing, which always shocks me these days. Laughing is now a foreign feeling to be honest. I let myself enjoy the light feeling before the heaviness returns, because it always returns.
“We’re starting some light demo next weekend,” Maddie says as she jogs back over to where I’m standing. “Can you come help us out?”
“What kind of demo?” I ask, eyebrows raised. I’ve never done a day of physical labor in my life and I don’t plan on starting now. I may have let my nail beds go, but I still have an inkling of self respect.
Maddie turns to Elliot. “What kind of demo are we doing?” she mutters to him, which makes him smirk at her.
“We’re clearing out some of the furniture that was left in the house first, and then some of the fallen wood. Then we’re knocking down a wall to open up the kitchen into the dining room.”
“Is it even safe to walk inside?” I ask skeptically. Maddie huffs.
“Ana, it’s not that bad. You can even walk on the porch, you just have to stay on the tape where they marked it safe.”
I give her a look that says, ‘seriously?’
Elliot jumps in, “It definitely looks a lot worse than it really is. The foundation is pretty solid, the porch will probably be the most work, honestly.”
Maddie nods in agreement.
“Okay. Well I’ll be here, obviously. But I hate to break it to you, El. Maddie and I aren’t going to be the biggest help when it comes to lugging heavy things out of there.”
“One of my work friends is coming to help,” Maddie says, “He teaches with me at school and he offered to help when I was telling him about our little fixer upper.”
“Fixer upper is right,” I mutter.
“No more slander about my house, please,” Maddie scolds jokingly.
I raise my hands in surrender, “Alright, alright.”
We walk back around to the front of the house and Maddie convinces me to go out with them for dinner. “Let’s try that new taco place,” she says.
“What new taco place?” I ask.
“The one that went up right next to the used bookstore. Cantina something, I think?”
I look at her, waiting for her to laugh or something. She doesn’t. “Maddie, that’s been there for years,” I tell her.
