Virginia Carmichael - A Home for Her Family

Nodding, he didn’t try to say anything. As the door closed, he swallowed hard. Theirs wasn’t a perfect family, by any stretch of the imagination. Their father was distant and consumed by running the business. Their mother was sweet but distracted by anything that offered a spot on a committee. It had always been that way, as long as he could remember.

Evie had been his cheerleader, his confidante, his voice of reason when he got a crazy new idea. When Evie had fallen in love with his best friend, he hadn’t been worried about losing either one. He’d been thrilled. Gavin was perfect for her.

He wanted what they had, someday. Sabrina’s face flashed through his mind, startling him. Evie had asked a lot of questions, and not the ones he’d been expecting. Certainly not the ones he could answer right now. He pushed the unsettling feelings away.

He stretched his arms over his head, feeling the muscles burn, not used to sitting at a desk for hours at a time. Starting today, he was going to put everything he had into his job. No more soul-searching over finding his purpose. The fact that he was born into this family, and given this job, should be good enough. Of course, he had some serious catching up to do. Proving his value at the company would be an uphill battle after the years of doing the absolute minimum required. And his first task was getting Bob Barrows to cough up those production numbers.

* * *

“But you said the rent change would go into effect on the first of next month.” Sabrina struggled to keep her voice level, but her hands were shaking.

Mr. Snyder shook his head and spoke slowly, as if to a child. “You misunderstood me. I was very clear that the rent would be raised immediately. English can be a tough language to learn.” He shifted his feet, shiny shoes squeaking on the polished tile of the apartment building foyer.

She was momentarily speechless. Sure, English was her second language, but she’d learned it almost twenty years ago when she entered kindergarten. The only thing she had misunderstood was Mr. Snyder’s determination to evict her.

“So, if the rent hike went into effect right away, what do I owe?” Again, she kept her voice calm, as if she really had anything left to give him. Last month it had been a change in the electric bill that meant two hundred dollars for “upgrades.” Then a few weeks later it was a maintenance fee for the small patch of scrub that passed for the lawn. Every resident was now paying fifty dollars a month for upkeep of the “courtyard.”

“Two hundred and fifty dollars.” He watched her face intently, his watery blue eyes barely visible behind the dirty lenses of his glasses.

“Okay.” Sabrina felt despair rise in her throat. Their savings would take a real hit. “When do you need it?”

“Now.” He paused, as if reconsidering. His long fingers fiddled with the zipper on his windbreaker. “But the biggest change is going to be next month. The building is being signed over to a new company and they want a deposit.”

“But I paid a deposit when I moved in! I have the receipt. Seven hundred dollars for a cleaning deposit and first and last month’s rent. You can’t charge me another deposit.” She tried to breathe past the lump of pure panic in her throat.

“Don’t yell at me. I can tell you to get out at any time.” His expression was a combination of annoyance and triumph. “I’m trying to do the right thing and give you fair warning.”

Fair warning...Sabrina put a hand to her eyes and fought to stay calm. All she wanted was to give her nieces a good home, somewhere safe and near a good school, but more than all of that was the need to appear stable. She couldn’t be moving before the custody hearing. Tears burned at the back of her eyes and she gulped in a breath. But unless money fell from the sky, she was going to have to find another place. Maybe they could move quickly, so that they’d be settled by the time the court date came around.

She dropped her hand and met his gaze. “I don’t think I can do that. So next month will be our last month.” At least she wouldn’t have to pay rent. But how she could ever come up with another deposit was a topic she couldn’t even approach yet.

“You mean this month.” His lips thinned out in a smile.

“I paid the rent a few weeks ago. I paid the last month’s rent when I moved in.” She ticked off the facts, knowing that Mr. Snyder wasn’t being reasonable, but still hoping that this wasn’t happening.

“Remember, the new owners want another deposit. Without it, you’ll have to move at the end of this month.”

Not even three weeks to find another apartment, to save up the money, to prepare the girls. Sabrina couldn’t think past the gibbering fear in her head. She turned on her heel and made her way to the stairs. The blood pounding in her ears muffled Mr. Snyder’s last words.

She trudged up the stairs, unseeing. Mrs. Guzman was watching Gabby and Kassey until she got home, probably letting them watch one of the telenovelas on the Spanish cable channel. A lot of shooting, crying, singing and kissing went on. Mrs. Guzman thought they were fun entertainment, nothing harmful. Sabrina thought they were tacky and sent a terrible message, especially to young girls, but nothing she said could convince Mrs. Guzman to turn it off when the girls were there. Just one more place in her life where she didn’t have control.

She stopped on the landing and closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. Mr. Snyder was gouging the residents on the rent. He’d promised to give her a letter that showed the owner’s change in the rental policy, but never had. What could she do to fight it? She didn’t even know where to start.

“Are you okay?” A woman’s voice cut into her thoughts and she stood up straight.

“Sure, just tired.” She tried to smile a little, hoping the pretty blonde newlywed from downstairs wouldn’t think she was crazy. Angie and her husband had moved in a few months ago and seemed to be wonderful tenants. Young professionals who had a dinner party or two, nothing too loud. They were friendly and polite, always saying hi.

Angie’s husband followed her out their apartment, his brown hair smooth and tidy. “Hey, there. I saw your girls going upstairs today. They were giggling up a storm.” He grinned, showing perfect teeth.

“Sounds like them.” Those girls could wake the dead with their giggling fits. “What do you think of the rent changes?”

Angie looked at her husband. “Chad, did you hear anything about rent changes?”

“No. Nothing since we arrived.” His brow was furrowed. “We signed a year lease, so I don’t think they can change the terms.”

“So did I. Mr. Snyder just said, on top of the electrical and the courtyard fee, there’s a new deposit and a rent increase.”

A long silence followed. Chad exchanged a look with Angie, then cleared his throat. “We don’t have those fees. And I just saw him this morning and he never said anything about a new deposit.”

Sabrina felt the blood rushing to her head. She swayed on her feet and put out a hand to steady herself against the wall. “Wait, the new fees, you don’t...” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“I can ask him,” Chad said, his expression serious. “There must be some explanation. You shouldn’t be paying fees that we aren’t.”

Her shoulders slumped. No, she shouldn’t, but it was very likely that she was. In Mr. Snyder’s world, people like Sabrina didn’t live in apartment buildings like his. People like Angie and Chad did, though.

“Sure, you’re right.” Her voice held no conviction. “I have to go pick up the girls. I’ll see you two later.” She pulled her lips up in what she hoped passed for a smile and moved back toward the stairs.