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"Dad likes me. He just wants you to leave," she said.
"But I just got back," I complained jokingly.
"It's been two days. Plenty of time. Get up, we have places to go."
"Where?"
"You need to move out, my friend. You're too old to still come home to your pops every night,"
"You’re gonna put me up somewhere?" I asked her.
"We're finding you a house," she announced. I laughed a little. Same old Tiff.
Our mom dying hit us both in different ways. I became protective of her, but then she became the person who tried to make sure everything was going smoothly. It had kicked whatever latent house-manager skills she had inside her into high gear. If losing Mom had made me cautious about who she hung out with, it had made her feel like making sure everyone was happy was her job.
"How are you going to do that?"
"I'm not doing anything, we're doing it together. And the first thing you need to do is get your ass downstairs. Hurry up, you're driving," she said, leaving with a smirk.
She definitely wasn't wrong about me needing to leave. I was used to having my own space, and I didn't need to be staying here. Dad was just nice enough to let me. I had had a couple down days, but it wasn't going to last, being in my own place, probably somewhere closer to campus since I'd be going back soon was a good idea.
Also, I was way too old to not be able to bring girls home because I lived in my dad's place – I wasn't going to argue with her there. I was dressed in ten minutes, and we were out the door in twenty.
I drove while she read out the addresses and features of the properties we were going to visit. The first place was an open house. It was big, so I knew already that I didn't want it. Tiff still insisted that we at least look at it. It had three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a backyard. The real estate agent mentioned family and the school district enough times for me to let him know we weren't a couple. People made that mistake sometimes. After that, he flirted shamelessly with Tiff until we left.
The next one was being rented out by the owners, an older couple who lived one house down. It was better; still too big, but in my budget. Too bad it was almost all the way out in Richmond Heights. Trying to get to school from there just wouldn't be worth it. It was lunch by the time we had finished seeing and rejecting house number three for much the same reason. We stopped at a cafe before heading to the last one.
Even though the whole morning had been unsuccessful, it had been nice having someone to do this with. Tiff talked about school, her job managing a restaurant when she wasn't in class, asked me what I was doing next now that I was back. I noticed she never brought Veronica up, and I left it alone this time.
"This one better be good," I threatened Tiff as we finally pulled up to the last house. It was another one that the owners were renting out. It was a single story with no garage. It had a small back and front yard and just two bedrooms. This owner was a woman not that much older than us, renting it since she had gotten married and was moving out of state with her husband.
"It's smaller than the others, but the owner was really nice when I talked to her. I thought it was worth a shot," Tiff said. I was living alone so really one bedroom was all I needed; the other would just stay empty. The owner, Gloria, led us through the space. The kitchen was small but big enough, central cooling and heat, two bathrooms, one attached to the master bedroom, and it was a fifteen-minute drive to school.
"I think this is the one," I whispered to Tiff as the tour came to an end. Gloria was apologetically telling us about some fire damage that the house had gotten twenty years ago. I didn't care. I was sold.
"Are you sure? I can come up with some more places to see tomorrow."
"We'll take it," I said loudly, cutting Gloria off.
"You will?" she asked, relieved that I was taking the place off her hands.
"How soon can we put it on paper?" I asked. Tiffany tried to interrupt, but I didn't let her. This was the place. Chances were it was going to be temporary, but I still liked it. It had character. Gloria said I could sign for it immediately if I was ready. Half an hour later, Tiff and I were back in her car on the way to my dad's house. I had to pack; I was going to start moving out the next day.
"I still think you should have held out," she said from the passenger seat.
"You didn't like it? Good. That means I don't have to deal with you coming over to hang out," I joked.
"As long as you like it, I guess," she said. "The kitchen was small, but it had a nice stove. The little patio out the back was cute, too, you know; for dates and stuff," she said.
"Dates? I haven't been on one of those for years."
"I think you should get back out there."
"I just got back, Tiff."
"But you were deployed. Wasn't it just a sausage-party for a whole year over there?"
"There are female service members, Tiffany," I said, shaking my head.
