Standing on the porch of the lavish, white house that lay a mere three blocks from campus, I nervously rang the doorbell to meet Louise, the eccentric woman who was to interview me for one of the five rooms she rented exclusively to members of the hockey team for the college I attended, Minnesota State at Mankato. I had just completed my freshman year and desperately wanted out of student housing at the dorm for financial and social reasons. Bobby Marcum, a junior on the team, told me about living at the house and the amenities it offered.
From what Bobby had told me, Louise had been the sole heir of her parent's house and estate, inheriting several million dollars, and investments that would take care of her for the rest of her life. She had never married and worked as a ghost writer when she felt like it, leaving her plenty of time to socialize and do what she wanted. She had apparently taken a keen interest in Mankato's college hockey team about twelve years ago, and had decided to rent out five bedrooms in the 7,000 plus square foot house that sat so close to campus, in the ritzier part of Mankato. To entice players to the house, she had installed an indoor pool, hot tub and weight lifting room at the back of the house that rivaled the facilities on campus, though on a smaller scale. She also offered breakfast and dinner, plus all utilities, to her renters for the ridiculous price of $200 per month, which was far less than ½ the price of student housing, which did not include the meal plan.
I had grown up in a small town about 50 miles from Mankato, but had excelled at hockey enough to secure a scholarship at Mankato. My parents were farmers, who had accumulated far more debt than profit, and could not help with the additional expenses of school not covered by the scholarship. Playing hockey offered and studying for class left no time for me to work, and financial aid barely allowed me to scrape by on dorm life, so landing a spot at Louise's place was vital to my college financial survival. Bobby knew this and recommended me to Louise, since she had one or two available rooms from departing seniors. So here I was.
Bobby had been very cryptic in preparing me to meet with Louise. He advised she was very nice, but also odd and would probably throw me a curve ball with her requests during the interview. He said it would be an overly personal interview and I would have to talk about myself a lot. When I pressed him further, he just said I should put on a suit to impress her and be ready to spend several hours with her. He also said she required the other tenants to be gone during the interviews, so I was on my own.
So here I was, standing in the only suit I owned, which barely fit, waiting for Louise to answer the door and get this over with. How weird could she be, I thought to myself. And who cares, at her prices and this house.
The door finally opened, and Louise appeared, looking rather casual in a red velour tracksuit that looked like it belonged on a college freshman girl than a forty plus woman. Louise was tall for a woman, 5'9", and thick, with big breasts and thighs that stretched the fabric of the casual suit she was wearing. She had brown hair that hung down past her shoulders in a ponytail and wore trendy glasses that furthered her attempts to look more youthful than her age.
"You must be Ryan. I'm Louise. You look very nice. Please come in," she said as she opened the door wide to invite me in.
"Thank you ma'am," I said and entered the house.
"I appreciate your politeness, but it is Louise and not ma'am. Makes me feel old. Now let me show you around and then we can sit and talk."
I toured the house with Louise, taking in a place that made the house I grew up in and the dorm room look like a dump. The rooms on the first floor were lavishly decorated. Louise said she kept this floor for herself and had a big master bedroom on the first floor that was hers. We went to the second floor which had a big game room, with a big screen, pool table, bar and other amenities for college guys. Louise said she kept a keg tapped for the guys in the house, and that was included with the rent. Free beer plus meals. Holy fuck, I was going to have to do whatever I needed to secure a room.
The bedrooms on the second and third floor were occupied by the hockey guys who rented from Louise. I was shown the vacant room and awed by the fact that it included a work desk, computer, and flat screen TV with a Playstation 3 attached. She really knew how to take care of her renters.
The real hot spot, however, was the pool and workout area at the back of the house, which rivaled the best hotels we had the chance to stay at on our hockey road trips.
"What do you think," said Louise as we toured the back of the house and large kitchen. "I do the cooking for breakfast and dinner, but you can come back here and help yourself to lunch or a snack whenever you like."
"It's very nice. It's all very nice. I'm very interested in staying here if you'll have me, ma'am, I mean Louise."
"Let's talk some more. Why don't we go to my office. Let's each get a beer and head that way," she replied as she reached into the refrigerator for a couple cold ones.
Her office turned out to be in her spacious master bedroom. She pointed me to a loveseat near her desk and we sat and talked for about twenty minutes, mostly her asking me where I had grown up and how I came to play hockey at Mankato, what I studied and how I was doing in school.
She then asked me what Bobby or the other guys who stayed here had told me about this place and her 'rules'. I told her not much, but emphasized that I really liked the place and the price, and was willing to follow her house rules.
"That's very good, Ryan," she replied. "Let me tell you about why I started opening my door to some of you hockey players. My parents left me this house and enough money for me to live well the rest of my life. I'm forty-four and have been single all my life. I don't want a husband or a family, but also don't want to be alone. I love to watch hockey, especially the Mankato team, and have been a fan since I was a little kid when my dad would take me to the games. I also know hockey players have it tough, and play their butts over for four years with little recognition from the school. So I decided to help a few guys out with a nice place to stay. Plus I love cooking for more than myself."
She paused to take a sip of her beer and continued. "The rules are pretty simple. You get your room, enjoyment of the game room, use of the pool, breakfast, dinner and food from the fridge, unlimited beer, and even laundry service for $200.00 a month. However, no visitors are allowed inside the house. No parties, except you can stay up all night and drink with the other guys in the house. No cutting classes, as you are here for an education. You must keep a 3.0 G.P.A. Do you think you can live with those rules."
