Page 37 of Niccolaio Andretti (The Five Syndicates)
After all, there were guns involved.
But I don’t need it on my record that I was involved in something shady when I’m trying to prove to the state that I’m capable of taking care of my little sister. And with that thought, I put my game face on when the driver pulls up to the apartment building.
The receptionist greets me and lets me up when I enter. The building is nice, but it’s not as nice as some of the ones I’ve been in with my marks. Even so, it’s far nicer than what I can presently afford, and that lifts my spirits as I enter the elevator and press “6.”
But after I exit the elevator on the sixth floor and knock on the right apartment number, I am greeted by a leery eyed man, and my spirits sink. I immediately feel like a fool, blinded by my desperation.
I saw the sentence, “Seeking a female roommate,” on the Craigslist ad and assumed, like many of the other ads, the poster was a girl.
I was so wrong.
Dressed for the roommate interview in a stained wife beater and torn jeans, this guy looks sketchy. When he takes an intrusive step forward, entering my personal bubble without an invitation, I take a hurried step back.
If I’m being honest, I’m desperate. That means, until he invaded my personal space, I was still considering living here. And when he pulls out an itty bitty maid’s costume, small enough to fit in his back pocket, I quickly and wordlessly flee for the elevators, knowing I have to get out of here.
I can’t get Mina back if I’m dead.
And I definitely think that’s a possibility living here.
Because what sane person would start a roommate interview by thrusting a sex costume in
to his potential roommate’s hands?
Then again, I’m not sane either.
Because what sane person wouldn’t be suspicious when answering a Craigslist ad that reads:
Subject: SEEKING FEMALE ROOMMATE
I m a twenty year young person looking for a girl roommate around the same age as me, must be willing to clean the apartment every day, must be a good chef and be cook every day three times a day for breakfast lunch and dinner, i will provide the groceries but u must pick them up or order them online, i will give a strict cash allowance for the groceries, again must be young. hurry. this rent FREE gig wont be available long. lots of people in new york city. lots of people want to live here in new recently renovated apartment on broadway.
Grammatical errors and typos aside, this guy is far from twenty, and there are so many red flags in the ad. But this was my last hope, and I was and am so desperate, and…
Another idea pops into my head, perhaps more ludicrous than answering this Craigslist ad, but nevertheless, I endeavor to do it.
Like I said, I’m desperate.
And because of that desperation, twenty minutes later, I find myself in front of a familiar brownstone, my finger hovering over a doorbell.
It’s stupid.
It’s rash.
It’s insanity.
But maybe, just maybe, this might just work.
Chapter Fifteen
You can’t shake hands
with a clenched fist.
Indira Gandhi
“Someone has been following me.”
The lie escapes my lips with ease, my voice an impressive act of anger, fear, annoyance and frustration. Perhaps it’s because I actually am feeling all of the above right now.
