Lucy the Landlord
In the early 90's, I rented a small duplex in a nearby town. I was fresh out of college and had my first professional job. However, I had not been in the full-time work force for long and did not have funds for a nice apartment or house. I searched for apartments in the area and I could not find anything in my price range.
I decided to ride around town to see if I saw any "for rent" signs anywhere. I happened to find a sign in a quiet neighborhood. There was a nice ranch style brick house with a drive on side going to the back. The drive was lined with duplexes. There were 3 duplexes on the right side and three more on the back side. They were all identical in size and shape. Each one had brick on the lower side, about 3 feet up, and the rest was siding painted an old time green.
I parked in the driveway of the brick house, where the sign was located, and rang the doorbell. An elderly gentleman came to the door and greeted me. Once I inquired about the apartment for rent, he told me to stay there and he would get, his wife, the landlord. As he walked away, I could hear him calling out to Lucy. He did not sound like he was talking to a wife. He was rather abrupt with her and it gave me the impression that they were not a happily married couple.
An elderly lady walking up to the door wearing a house dress greets me. She introduced herself as Lucille and quickly said everyone calls her Lucy. If I had to guess she was probably 70 years old. I noticed she was about 5 feet tall and pleasantly plump. I usually notice a lady's hair first and she had light brown hair styled typical of a grandmother. I imagined she made a weekly trip to the beautician. I thought she was an attractive lady and hoped she had a place available in my price range.
She invited me in and we went to the sitting room. Of course, I had to look her over as she walked to the sitting room. Her backside shimmied as she walked in front of me.
The man who greeted me had disappeared somewhere in the house. He looked much older than she did. I did not hear or see him again the while I was there.
She instructed me to sit in the chair across from her. She started off by telling me of unwritten rules she had to establish first. Then she told me what the terms of renting. The $350.00 monthly rent was higher than I had hoped.
She then asked me questions. It was the usual questions one would expect. She asked what I did for a living. I told her I had just graduated from college and had accepted a position with a local company. I told her I worked part time while in college and that paid for my tuition. I explained that I was just starting out and this was my first full time job.
I had met a few people in town since I was there for 4 years while in college. I even dropped a few names of professional people I had met that I thought maybe she might know. My family had a friend of our family that had the same last name as Lucy and lived in town. Ms. Rita lived on the other side of town from here but she told me she knew Rita and would give her a call later. She told me her husband was first cousins to Ms. Rita's husband. She added that she did not get along with much of her husband's family, but her and Rita had always gotten along.
She offered me a glass of tea and went in the kitchen to call Ms. Rita. Once she came back in the sitting room, she told me Ms. Rita spoke very highly of me. Ms. Rita had told her that I did her yard work while I was in college and hoped I would continue. She told Lucy that I was hard working and dependable.
With that said, she told me she was willing to only charge me $300.00 monthly rent. She said utilities were paid and there was washer and drying hook ups. She then showed me the contract she required tenants to sign. It was basically just the rental rate, due date and the rules of the property.
We then walked over to apartment "B", which is the one she had available. It was almost directly across the drive from her back door. Apartment "A" and "B" were connected with the carport. It was enough that each apartment to park one vehicle. The rest of the apartments had the same set up. It was ideal because no one shared a common wall.
Once inside the apartment, I could see it was plenty room for me. It was two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, dining room, utility room and living room. I was eager to sign the contract and move in. I had a week to move in before starting my new job. I was going to continue my part time job as long as I could maintain the two, at least a couple months.
We walked back to her house and went inside. We passed through the back door which led into the utility room, then into the dining room. We sat at the table and went over the contract once again before I signed it. As she read the contract to me line for line, I listened to every word but my mind was wondering. I am not sure if I was more excited to having my own place or having Lucy as a landlord.
I then went to my parents' house and started getting things together to move to my new place. Lucy had told me I could start moving in any time I wanted. I made plans to move my bed and things the next day. It was slow but I eventually got everything I needed moved in by early afternoon. I went shopping for other things I needed for my new place.
I was surprised when I returned from shopping. Lucy had called Ms. Rita and told her I was moving in. Ms. Rita had purchased some things for me also and she was at my place when I returned. Ms. Rita was actually outside visiting with Lucy when I drove up.
I got out my truck and went greet Ms. Rita with the usual pleasantries. I gave her and hug and a kiss on the cheek. Lucy must have felt obligated because she hugged and kissed me too. Lucy then excused herself and let Ms. Rita and I go in my place.