Eviction exclusive: the story behind the story
I earlier reported that my landlord evicted me by email. Since then the only words he has actually spoken to me has been to ask what time I am moving out on Sunday (he wants to be there to keep an eye on me). Henceforth he will be known as The Wanker, because, well, he is one (apologies to my parents or anyone of delicate sensibilities who is reading this - you'll get over it).Last night my other housesmate, who is lovely and sweet (and incredibly flexible, but that's beside the point), and I had a chat. She repeated over and over that it is not me, I haven't done anything wrong, rather The Wanker is a little crazy. He was off his meds for a while there, although apparently he's back on them now. Anyway, it turns out he evicted the housemate before me in exactly the same way for no reason. And in fact he even evicted her once, but retracted the next day. The first she knew about it was when a family turned up to look at the house. The only reason she stays is because it's such a great house in such a great location, and she has the patience to deal with him.
She agrees I should just get out because the energy in the house is awful now. Even though I knew it wasn't anything I'd done or some major character flaw of mine I wasn't aware of, it was reassuring to hear her say it.
A couple of things really piss me off though. For a start, The Wanker (gosh, there's something so satisfying in writing that) both advertised my room and showed it to someone before I even knew he was evicting me. Secondly, in his ads on Craigslist he says that he values open and honest communication and that he's easy going. He also lies about being able to see the Golden Gate Bridge from my window. Finally, he seems to be assuming that he'll be deducting stuff off my security deposit - he probably will find a miniscule scratch on the granite bench (counter) in the kitchen and blame me. At least I haven't paid any bills (electricity etc) since moving in, so once that's taken off it won't leave too much deposit for him to do me out of. I bet he'll try though.
This morning I said goodbye to our lovely cleaning lady. She only comes to our house once a fortnight, but usually I'm the only one home and because I speak Spanish (she's from Guatemala) I talk to her quite a bit. I told her what had happened and she said it wasn't that great a job so hopefully she'll quit. She's been bringing her kids lately and I always give them paper and coloured pencils and the youngest usually draws me a picture. Today she drew me angels and hearts and stars with faces and it says "le deseo mucha suerte" (I wish you luck) and there's a heart around my name. Awwww. It was quite sad saying goodbye.
I'm also getting a bit teary when I think about leaving Berkeley. I've really loved it here. But I'll definitely be making the most of my last few months here. I'm so glad I'm moving out of this house, so I can have a fantastic last couple of months.
It's Friday night and I'm in the middle of packing up my room. That sucks. Oh well, it will all be over soon.
R.
posted by flying kiwi @ 8:31 PM
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