The Obituary Society by Jessica L. Randall

Author:Jessica L. Randall
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2014-07-28T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Mantis

Great-Grandma Phoebe's choice of wallpaper for the kitchen had a geometric pattern with a little bunch of pink roses in each square. Ada had told Lila she remembered when it was installed. It wasn't without charm, and Lila liked the idea of leaving the paper her great-grandma had chosen. But with all the moisture and wear a kitchen gets over the years, keeping it was not an option. For the past two hours she'd perched on the rickety wooden ladder, scraping and peeling. The gunk under her nails was nothing compared to the aches in her arms and neck.

There was one aspect of the work she did appreciate, and that was the limited amount of skill it required. She took her frustrations out with the scraper. It was satisfying to watch the strips of paper fall away, and to look at the large section she had already cleared.

Working on a task like this allowed the thoughts and emotions she hadn't known how to deal with come as they would. Her stream of consciousness flowed from one thought to another without discrimination. She'd started out recalling the conversations she'd had with a plumber and an electrician who'd come by recently to write up bids.

The plumber had explained that pipes in a house of this age were made of steel. “How's the water pressure here?” he'd asked, a concerned look on his long face. “You tried turning on a faucet?”

“Yeah. It's not great,” she had replied. “But isn't steel a good thing?”

“Well, it's strong, obviously.” He tugged at the jeans that threatened to slide down his narrow hips and puffed out his chest. “But it's also susceptible to rust that clogs up the pipes. And we'll have to make sure none of them have burst. You haven't noticed any water damage in the house?”

“No.”

“That's a good sign.”

Even with the good sign, plumbing repairs would cost several thousand dollars, and that's just if nothing unexpected happened along the way.

Her visit with the electrician made her more nervous.

“You've still got the old knob and tube wiring in here. It's just not made to handle the heavy use we give it nowadays. The wires get hot, and it can become a fire hazard. You're lucky if you can even get a house insured with that kind of wiring.”

“So you're telling me I'll need to have the whole house rewired?”

He scrunched up his eyes and rubbed his balding head. “Probably not a bad idea.” The phrase was drawn out in an apologetic tone. “The good news is since you have a basement and an attic, I might be able to fish the wires through the walls rather than tearing everything apart. That's going to help your costs substantially.”

Lila had read several online articles, and knew that if any serious issues came up it was possible that the electrical work alone could burn through all of her grandfather's savings. The thought tied her stomach in knots.

All of these renovations were going to cost her, and there were countless issues in the house she hadn't even assessed yet.

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