Ryane placed her arm around the girl's shoulder.“You are as much mine as Micah is, Alita.I took no offense and was impressed at your quick thinking, but careful in front of The Fer de Lance and The Bushmaster, they may not appreciate it, however in the moment.”
“Noted,” Alita said, climbing into the backseat and moving to the next property, which she immediately fell in love with.It was a penthouse apartment with four bedrooms and six bathrooms.
“Why would you need six bathrooms?”Eduardo asked.
“We can make one just for the poopy,” Micah said, laughing.“Excuse me, I am going to the poopy room.”
Micah then turned to Alita and asked, “Why four bedrooms?We only need three.”
She pointed to his parents and used his name in their presence with the agent looking on, “Micah, what if your parents want to come for the weekend, see a show, or perhaps attend thefutbolmatches.Or my parents come for a visit.You know Angel is going to miss you and want to come spend a week or so, and then there are Yuñior and Diadra and the kids.We will need a fourth bedroom for guests since the third one will be for studying.”
He shrugged and walked off to look at the kitchen.Alita loved the living room.“I can see a couch and two recliners here and a big-screen television,” Alita said.
In the background, she heard Micah, “So she can watch the dead people walking.It is a stupid show.”
Alita ignored him and continued speaking about adding a colorful area rug, not too bright, and potential wall colors.Micah, however, was not done with his diatribe on Alita's favorite show.The real estate agent did her best not to laugh as he went on about the show.
“I mean really, the dead people are shuffling, not actually walking, but shuffling,” he said.“You can essentially hear them approaching and still the humans get caught.They should get caught.Didn't you hear them coming and shuffling their feet?They are also mouth-breathing loudly, uughh, arrrgh, uhhh.Why not just outrun them?Dead walking people don't run.You could have sprinted to the petrol station, grabbed a few petrol cans, and set the ground on fire.They are brain dead, they will walk through the fire and the rotted clothes with catch aflame, and boom, no more shuffling and mouth-breathing walking dead people.Just stupid.”
Alita had enough of his in her face put down of the award-winning North American show.“Oh, and watching a show in Russian about a man who solves crimes with his nose is more realistic.You don't even speak Russian!”
“The Snifferis a very well put together show!”Micah said.“The olfactory function of the nose can be an indicator of many things.For instance, at the wedding of The Cranberry, the little girl who was related to the cutie who wanted to marry me, her mother smelled of the small blue berries.I knew the child belonged to her because of the smell.It didn't matter where that woman was in the room, I could find her because of the scent of the berries of blue.It is a good show.He is a very smart man with a perfectly honed tool forsolving the crimes.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Alita said, turning to look at Ryanne.She shook her head, making Eduardo laugh.“Seriously, what do you think of this place?Is it too big for us, Micah?”
“Perhaps, but I like it,” he said.“The covered private balcony is the perfect spot where Papa can grill his sausages, there is no communal pool, and the built-in cabinets in high-grain wood are nice.The en-suites in each bedroom with the jacuzzi tubs are a seller.”
Eduardo asked the agent, “What are the annual maintenance fees for the property?”
“Roughly $2.6 million pesos, and the asking price is $1.2 million,” she told them.“It can also serve as a nice rental property in case you wanted to rent it during the high season of festivals and tournaments.”
Ryanne squinted, “Is that $204 in US dollars?”
“Yes, actually, almost exact,” Betania replied, seemingly impressed.
Alita stood next to Micah.“Those fees are high.Plus, we will need everything from bedding, furniture, pots and pans and definitely some art on the walls.”
“We will make a budget,” Micah said.“Lay out the things we will need right away to make it feel like us and a home away from home.”
Alita asked him, “Anything from home you wish to bring outside of your basic research materials, like your drums and other instruments?”
“No,Las Tierrasis my home,” he said, “so those things stay there.If I decide later to have instruments here, I shall purchase some.”
“And furnishings?”
“I am a minimalist,” Micah said.“You shall have the opportunity to make this place your own, within reason.I do not wish to be bombarded by the knicky knackies and bullshit little statutes of half-naked troll dolls.”
“What about the tea set we picked up in Edinburg or cool coffee service we got in New York?”
“Those are exceptions,” he said softly, looking down at her with a softness in his gaze, then remembering other people were in the room.“Señorita, the next property, please.”
This was the first time Micah had addressed the woman.She nodded, showing them the way to the door.The final property was close to the University with a nice terrace.Micah walked in and said, “No, too many windows.”
And with that, he looked at the agent and told her, “I like the second one.Papa, your thoughts?”
“The second one works, but it will be tough to keep clean.Will you need housekeeping services?I see it has a maid's room,” Eduardo said.
“No, we don't need or want any extra people living in the space,” Micah said.“Mami, your thoughts?”
