Page 49 of Castle's Cards

I narrow my eyes at her. To Izzy’s credit, she doesn’t crack, although the blush does get deeper.

“Whatever.” I sigh. “Let’s get going.”

The drive home is filled with Izzy’s chatter about school and the homework she was working on with Nate. The more she talks, the less I believe her, but that’s the last thing on my mind right now.

“Mr. Soren?” I knock on the door frantically. The light is on, so someone is in the office, but there’s been no response. I hear something fall over behind the door before the knob starts shaking. I step back as the door opens, revealing our landlord.

His greasy hair is sticking up in every direction and some drool is dribbling down the side of his cheek and dripping onto his stained brown vest. Someone must have been napping. I resist the urge to shudder and paste a smile on my face.

“Hi, Mr. Soren. Sorry to bother you like this.”

“Bother?” he questions before rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “No bother. Just unexpected. What can I do for you?”

He stomps back into his office, holding the door open for me. It smells musty inside, as if something wet spilled on the carpet and never completely dried. There’s a small chair pushed into the corner that he waves at me to sit in. Instead I step forward, intent on not touching anything in his grimy office.

“Please, this will be quick. Izzy said you stopped by and said something about the building being sold. I just want to confirm that and also get a little more information and detail.”

Mr.Soren smiles and nods, revealing his deteriorating teeth.

“That’s right. Getting a great deal on this building, too. Way more than it’s worth at this point.”

“More than you’re making from the tenants on rent?” I ask. Mr.Soren grunts and chuckles.

“Of course. You probably know better than anyone that I have some of the cheapest rent in the city. That comes at a price. Or rather, lack of a price. One wrong move and I’d be losing money on this place.”

His chuckles turn into coughs. I wait until his fit is done to ask my question.

“Right. What does that mean to us? Is our rent going to be raised by the new owners?”

I hope our rent isn’t going to be raised. It’s already more than I can afford and if Mr.Soren is right about anything, it’s that this is the cheapest rent in the city. If our rent gets raised, I’m going to have to get a second job. Or move somewhere else. Or maybe even both.

Mr.Soren frowns and shakes his head.

“Sorry, no. There must be some sort of misunderstanding. They won’t be keeping the building. They’re knocking it down. The sale is finalized in two weeks. At which point you and your family will have to be moved out of here.”

I blink in surprise.

“What? Is this even legal?”

“Why wouldn’t it be legal? I’m selling the building. The new owners can do what they want with it.”

I suck in a breath and try to stop my tears from falling.

“Where are we supposed to live? What are we supposed to do? I can’t afford anywhere else.”

To Mr. Soren’s credit, he does appear to feel guilty about this realization. But he only shrugs.

“I’m really sorry. I wish there was something I could do. But I got a family to feed myself, you know. It would be silly of me to turn this offer down.”

Mr. Soren slides open a drawer and rifles through it before pulling out a crinkled packet of papers and passing them to me. “This here is information about public housing and housing assistance. It’s the best I can offer you at the moment.”

I look down at the papers of information that I already know everything about.

“I’ve already applied to all of these and been waitlisted. I have a kid sister that I have to worry about. We can’t be homeless and living on the streets.”

He grunts and curls his lip. He’s losing patience with me.

“Then go to a homeless shelter. It’s not the answer you want, but it’s the one I’ve got for you. The place is already undergoing final sale. So why don’t you skedaddle back to your apartment and figure out what you and your sister are going to do?”

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