Seen It All and Done the Rest: A Novel by Pearl Cleage

Author:Pearl Cleage [Cleage, Pearl]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General
ISBN: 0345481127
Google: u-79UuywlmIC
Amazon: B0010SKSXA
Publisher: One World/Ballantine
Published: 2008-03-18T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

Half an hour later, we were back in West End, lingering over a cup of tea at the Soul Vegetarian Restaurant while Aretha tried to make the task I was facing seem routine and achievable. Neither one of us had ordered food, but all around us hungry diners were feasting on broccoli quiche, sweet potato soufflé, and lentil soup. I was too busy pouring over the figures Aretha had written on a yellow legal pad to think about food. She had listed all the repairs and estimated the cost, including labor and supplies, and at the bottom, the figure she’d written and underlined twice was eighteen thousand dollars.

“That’s more than the whole place is worth,” I said.

“Only according to Greer Woodruff,” Aretha said. “But I think we can discount her opinion for two reasons. One, she let the place fall apart and didn’t even call you, which is not only bad business but downright rude, and two, she’s trying to buy up all the property around here fast for some reason that doesn’t have anything to do with a desire to help rebuild anybody’s nest egg.”

“What is it?”

Aretha shrugged. “My guess is she’s got somebody interested in that corner property and all the way down Wiley Street to the freeway. These hotshot developers are always trying to buy these problem properties cheap and then sell them to the highest commercial bidder. If there’s some real interest and the owners are reluctant to sell, they’ve been known to use some pretty unsavory tactics to intimidate the holdouts.”

“Like what?”

“Vandalizing vacant property. Encouraging squatters and break-ins. Most of the people on Wiley are old women by themselves. Their husbands are dead. Their kids are grown and gone one way or another. Once they don’t feel safe after a few of these incidents, they’re much more willing to take what they’re offered and make the best of it.”

“How can they make the best of it on fifteen thousand dollars?”

“They can’t. They’ve been trying to get preservation money, but there’s nothing really historic about the neighborhood. It’s just some little houses where people lived their lives and raised their kids and got old. It’s sad, you know? Where are they supposed to go once Greer Woodruff buys them out? Fifteen thousand won’t even be a down payment on anyplace they’d want to live.”

“Do you think Greer Woodruff would do something like that? Just to make a profit?”

“Didn’t you tell me your squatter was worried about predators?”

“Yes.”

Aretha took a sip of her tea. “I think she’s already doing it.”

“Well, what if the people in the neighborhood refused to sell? What if we fix up these properties and make our own deal?”

“Well, you’ll probably triple the value of your mother’s investment, and your neighbors can stay put if they want to or take the best offer and move to Florida. Everybody wins.”

“Except Greer Woodruff,” I said.

“Exactly.”

I wondered how this had suddenly morphed into one of those “reclaim the community” movies. I hate that pseudo-inspirational bullshit. In my

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