The Art of Losing Yourself: A Novel by Ganshert Katie

Author:Ganshert, Katie [Ganshert, Katie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9781601425928
Publisher: The Crown Publishing Group
Published: 2015-04-20T16:00:00+00:00

CARMEN

Temperatures on the Florida panhandle in November hovered near perfection, with highs in the midseventies and nighttime temps dipping into the upper fifties. At the moment, seventy-four degrees of sunshine warmed my back, bolstering my sense of accomplishment as Natalie and I walked up the stairs—renovations had officially moved to the second floor of The Treasure Chest.

All ten first-floor units were clean. With Gracie’s help, I had washed the walls, polished the furniture, pulled up the carpet, and scrubbed the bathrooms. We pitched all ten moldy shower curtains and roughly half of the comforters. Thanks to copious amounts of Tide and stain remover, I was able to resuscitate eleven. The others were unsalvageable. But with plenty of extra bed sheets to go around, all of which we’d washed with bleach, none of the beds were completely naked.

Natalie and I reached the second-story landing and made our way to the biggest of the three apartments, where Ingrid had lived for the majority of her life. Natalie set the bucket of cleaning supplies on the ground. “I can’t believe you and Gracie have tackled this entire place on your own.”

“Not entirely on our own.” I searched the key chain for the right key. “We had someone install the windows and replace the carpet.”

“Have you decided what you’re going to do with it yet?”

“Hopefully hire a manager. Get the place up and running again.” I twisted the master key into the lock. The door creaked open and a wall of stench nearly knocked us both over.

We covered our mouths and noses and stepped back from the smell.

“Either someone cleaned the carpets with sour milk,” Natalie said, “or there is a dead, decaying mouse in there.”

“That smells like more than one dead, decaying mouse.” I used the crook of my elbow to cover my nostrils and prodded the door open with my toe. With the shades drawn, all I could see was darkness. “I don’t understand how it could have gotten that bad.”

“It’s the law of entropy. Without regular upkeep, things fall apart. Like my house.”

“Your house is not falling apart.”

“You only think that because I clean it before you come over. All month, Mason assured me he was cleaning the toilet in his and Reese’s bathroom. When I checked yesterday, the thing was emitting toxic fumes. Little bugger had been lying to my face.”

I stared at the half-open door. As much as I wished there was some reverse entropy button I could push, there wasn’t. And since it was technically my mess to clean, I wasn’t going to make Natalie do the dirty work. I took a giant gulp of air, then hurried inside, flung open the drapes while dust billowed like smoke, and attempted to open the windows. They refused to budge. By the time I managed to pry open two, my lungs were starving for oxygen.

I hurried outside and inhaled the clean, briny air while Natalie gave my shoulder an encouraging pat. “You’re a brave, brave woman.”

Once I restocked my blood

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