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A sad look spreads across his features.
“…see her…” My voice trails off.
“I’m sorry, mister. But I’ve had to evict young Ms. Reynolds. And only on account of her being so far behind in her rent. I haven’t been able to reach her all day. Hate to do it to her, nice kid. But I got bills too, big ones! And when folks go on and on without payin’ their rent? Well, what’s a man supposed to do?”
He scratches his balding temple, looking past me as he keeps shaking his head.
“I just need to know which apartment is hers,” I explain. But I’ve hit the nostalgia switch in the old buzzard.
I can feel it.
Like it or not, I’m going to have to hear what he has to say long before he tells me anything I want to know.
“You with the law? She’s not in any trouble?” he asks, clutching the door a little firmer.
“No, just a…just a friend. From the casino,” I tell him honestly, almost relieved when I hear him pulling the chain back.
“Why don’t you come in a minute…? Ya know, I just feel terrible about it, but what’s a man supposed to do?” he asks again, opening the door fully and motioning me in.
“Take a seat, take a seat,” he insists, moving some old newspapers off what I assume used to be a couch.
It’s not where or even how I thought this might take me, but so far, he’s the only one who wants to talk about Krissy.
And I hear all about her.
What little he knows of her past. He felt sorry for her and let her stay, even though she was always behind in her rent.
He says how she’s such a nice girl, even though she doesn’t have any real friends; just her work at the casino, but mostly tells me how he feels terrible turning her out like this.
“On account of her having nobody, I mean, no family,” he says, still shaking his head.
“How much does she owe?” I ask him flatly, clicking my tongue when he calculates it aloud.
“Eight hundred dollars?” I echo back to him, not quite believing what I’m hearing.
“It’s a lot to cover when you have three or four like that in the same month. Let me tell ya!” The old man protests hotly.
Glancing around the gloomy two-bedroom place, I just know they’re all like this.
This is how lots of people live, Ethan. Remember?
Well, no. I don’t because I’ve never had to live like this.
If anything, the biggest worry I had when clawing back the family estate was ending up living like this if I didn’t succeed.
But Krissy’s here, and I’m here to take her home.
I don’t wanna waste time with a story about her work or being behind a few bucks.
That’s not the life I have in mind for us both.
And the sooner I can lift her out of this, the better.
“You strike me as a cash-only guy, am I right?” I ask him, reaching into my jacket for my wallet.
“Damn straight. And it’s Paul. Paul Bannon. Pleased to make your acquaintance,” he says, smiling a toothless grin and thrusting a fat hand into mine.
All smiles, now, since he can see someone’s finally knocked on his door with an open wallet.
I pay her rent and next month’s, too, once he tells me he’s put the notice on her door but hasn’t actually lodged the paperwork.
“But I was gonna, first thing tomorrow morning. So it’s a good thing you showed up, ‘cause I’d have hated to upset her any more than she probably already is….”
“Which is her place?” I ask, hearing the strain in my voice.
I’m tired of talking about what I know already belongs to me. Surrounded by people who only feel like they’re slowing me down.
“6F. All the way on the top floor and right at the end. But I doubt she’s come home. I would’ve heard from her if she had,” he says knowingly.
“I’ll leave my card,” I instruct him. “And I want you to call if you see or hear from her, okay?” I ask, making sure to lift the eviction paperwork from his coffee table as we both stand to go.
“If you head up there, tear down that pink notice, will ya?” he asks me before closing the door on me.
I smile. “Sure I will,” I tell him, and he bids me thanks again and goodnight.
Six flights up, and I’m feeling every one of them by the time I reach her floor
6F.
I can see her doorway at the end of the hallway, but there’s no notice on it.
Either the old man’s telling stories, or she’s already got it.
Either way, I’m not wasting another minute waiting to find out anything else.
I want to hear everything from her lips from now on.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Krissy
I’m quick to flake out once I’ve eaten and showered, but the intense dream I have about Ethan, where he’s climbing into my apartment and carrying me off over his broad shoulders, is broken.
