But he had already hung up, so I put my phone away right as James joined me on the little three-step patio in front of the door.
We didn’t have to wait long, which meant I didn’t have to try to come up with some sort of assurance that the outside was worse than the inside. A few seconds later, I could hear a couple of locks click open and then an older man was standing in the doorway.
“Hey, you’re early,” he said, a bright smile on his older, wrinkly face.
I looked down at my phone. “Actually, I’m about three minutes. We hit a lot of red lights.”
“Well by St. Louis terms that’s early. Come on in!”
He stepped to the side and gestured me in, so I shuffled forward.
The inner hallway was just as cramped as it looked it would be from the outside, and the stairs leading upward were both thin and rickety, with well-worn carpet that was basically just frayed fibers in some spots.
All it took was a quick glance to James’ face to see that he was not digging it already. But hopefully he would understand that what was acceptable to me was far below even the lowest of his standards.
Thankfully, he didn’t say anything, allowing the older man to walk past the both of us and lead us to the third floor where the vacant apartment was. I was almost impressed that he got up them without much effort. I hoped that if I lived to his age that I would be just as active.
When we reached the door, it was impossible not to notice that the paint was chipping, and the handle was hanging on by just a few loops of the screws. The older man fiddled with the key for several moments, before finally swinging the door open.
Honestly, it wasn’t that bad. I stepped in and there was no carpeting -I hated carpet with a passion- and there were plenty of windows. The morning light was spilling across the living room/dining area, and the small kitchen had a fridge and an oven that were fairly clean.
I stepped in, walking the edge of the room. I couldn’t believe it! I was actually impressed. There were no bars on the windows and every wall had an outlet, and the outlets were modern. I really couldn’t believe my luck. To have such a nice one right off the bat, well that was pretty much unheard of.
I turned to James, smile on my face, only to be brought back to reality when I saw that he was very much not feeling it.
“This is the place?” He asked, tone forced to such a neutral that it made my stomach flip.
“That it is, young man!” The older gentleman said, clapping the much taller James on the back. “Got a walk-in closet in the bedroom that can be used for the baby. Your sister here mentioned that she’s expecting in half a year or so.”
“Sister?” It was hard not to laugh at the incredulous expression on James’ face, but I managed. “Nicole, can we talk for a moment?”
“Sure,” I said, walking towards the bedroom so that we could have some privacy.
“Outside.”
“Oh, um, sure.” I looked to the older man and gave him an embarrassed smile. “We have a couple of other places to look at, but I’ll give you a call by the end of today.”
“No problem missy! Just let me know. I’m gonna get back to my air conditioning now, I’m still feeling summer in my bones during the day and winter at night!”
“Alright, you do that! Bye now!”
I hurried out, struggling to keep up with James’ insanely long stride. Somehow, without running, he made it out of the building and to his car before I could even reach the landing.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“Are you serious with this place?”
“What?! I was actually impressed. I mean the outside is kinda meh but the inside was great!”
“Great? It was a slum in there!”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “A slum? You want a slum you should have seen the trailer we lived in for a short while when my dad lost his job!”
“I…No. This is unacceptable. I cannot have my child living in a place like this! He could get lead poisoning, or-”
“You do realize that plenty of people live in places just like this and grow up to be both happy and healthy?”
“Good for them. But they are not my child-”
“Our child.”
“Right. Yes. Our child.” He leaned in close to me, his voice low. While he was being adamant, he wasn’t being forceful or rude. I could tell that his order was coming from a place of concern, but I could feel my temper flaring nonetheless. “Look. I’m just not comfortable with something like this.”
“I understand that, but these are the only ones within my budget month to month. I have to make sure that I have someplace safe for my child to live, but I also need to afford their medical care, schooling, food and save a little for emergencies.”