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“Yes,” I said. “I want this house.”
CHAPTER 18
As soon as he got a signal for his cell, Ken called Elena to draw up the contracts and when we got to his office, I signed them and he signed them and I’d bought a house in Burney. Theoretically, if all the paperwork went through.
I’d been telling myself I was leaving in September for so long that I’d believed it, and then Vince added the second Big Chef and now I’d bought a house. We were staying.
“How long is it going to be before I can do things to the house?” I asked.
“It’ll take about a month to close on the loan so it’s contingent,” he said, and my heart sank a little, which is when I realized how much I wanted the place. “But if you’ve got five bucks, give it to me and I’ll rent it to you for a month for that. You can move in now.”
There’s something to be said about small town businesses.
“I love you, Ken,” I said.
“Okay, four bucks,” he said.
He gave me the keys to the place even though he said the door didn’t lock. He told me he’d send in guys later in the week to get all the furniture out if I wanted. He looked like he was having serious misgivings, but he told me to go to the bank and get the loan set up, so I gave him four bucks and left before he could tear up the contract.
I called Anemone and left a message for her that I had bought a tiny house that was falling apart and it was her fault, and then I went to the bank because Ken assured me they were waiting for me, no problem, which I found hard to believe. I went in cautiously because it’s where my mother worked, and she’d been avid to have a serious talk with me about my childhood and apologize for her screw-ups which is completely unnecessary because I was over it. And because I don’t want to talk about it. Or about her engagement to my father who used to be my uncle. Still was actually. And the hundreds of teddy bears she’d unloaded on me that Veronica was now nesting in.
My life is very full. I would like it to be emptier, but I just added a house, so no on that.
My mom wasn’t behind any of the teller’s windows, so there was that. I went up to the nearest window and said, “Hi. I’d like to talk to a loan officer.” Which was a blatant lie, but it was the only way to get the house.
“Of course.” The teller came around the counter and led me to an office door that she opened to say, “Mrs. Danger, this lady would like a loan.”
And it was too late for me to run.
“Liz?” my mother said, leaping to her feet behind her desk. “I couldn’t believe it when Ken called. This iswonderful!”
Fuck me,I thought and went in to ask my mother for a bank loan.
* * *
It wasn’t asbad as I thought it was going to be. My mother was so elated that I was putting down roots in Burney that she tried very hard not to get in my way or criticize my hair, clothes, or life choices, which was a miracle for her. She also talked about mortgages like she knew what she was doing, which she did, and arranged for me to get one for ten thousand over the purchase price because she said Ken had told her that the interior needed updating and it would appraise well. When I pointed out I had no credit rating for that kind of thing, she pointed out that she was cosigning my loan, so not a problem. I was pretty sure there was a conflict of interest there, but it was working to my advantage, so I shut up and took advantage and thanked her.
An hour later I found myself outside the bank, fifty-eight thousand dollars in debt (after a down payment of twelve thousand) and feeling like throwing up. And yet elated. I had a house.
And I could do anything I wanted with it. Paint the bedroom blue. Paint the kitchen yellow and put in black and white tiles. Okay, there wasn’t really a kitchen, but I could paint the kitchen wall yellow. Rip out those awful cabinets. Take down the drapes and let the sunshine in, since the place was on stilts so any peeping Toms would have to be really motivated and BYO ladders.
I could sit on that back porch and think about green things.
Vince and I could make love on that back porch.
Since it was a go-to-hell kind of day, I drove one town over to Home Depot and bought a toolkit in a pink bag (because that way Vince and Mac wouldn’t borrow the tools) and I added a small sledge with a red handle that was really just a bulked up hammer, and cleaning stuff, and the family Blue paint and a yellow paint called Poundcake, and then I hit Target and scored an electric kettle and a blue Keurig, and then Krogers for chocolate coffee pods and bottled water (until I knew for sure what came out of those taps in the house) and Diet Coke and regular Coke and lunch meat and bread and cheese and butter and ketchup (my first time buying butter and ketchup ever) and stopped myself from going back to Home Depot for a microwave and a toaster because those seemed like something I should Google first.
And then I drove to my house. Before I lost cell service, I texted Vince. He didn’t sound enthusiastic but he promised to come out after work.
Then I headed into the wilds. The house, when I pulled up in front of it, actually looked worse now that I owned it. Beat up, dark, ugly, and lost in the middle of nowhere.
That last part made me think. I was definitely not opening the door to Cash out here. Or ever again.
I sat in the car and contemplated the enormity of what I’d just done, and then I took a deep breath and got out.
CHAPTER 19
Following me, Bartlett finally cut the pathetic little blue light when I turned off Rt. 52 and headed to the station. He parked in what used to be George’s marked spot, his little PT Cruiser looking drastically out of place.
