Not Moving Day

It's December 1st, and we've made it through a lot lately, haven't we. Halloween and Thanksgiving, the beginning of fall and Black Friday, and so many other things. One thing that I personally did not make it through is moving. We were supposed to move today. I was supposed to be sleeping in our nice big bedroom that's on the other side of the house from the kids. But I'll have to wait until the fifteenth. Actually, we're going to move on the fourteenth , but still.

I had stopped by the house a week or two ago and they told me there was a problem ordering the new flooring. The owner ordered it, and was trying to pay for it then, but the worker told her to pay when it came in. Then, they went to pick it up and they told her they didn't order it because she didn't pay yet. I have to wonder whether or not it was the employee who made the mistake. Anyway, the tile won't be in until December fourth. They told us the house would be ready by December 15, for sure.

When I got home I called my landlord to ask if it would be okay to stay until then. I talked to Ms. Lucy, the owner. She has Paul, her son, handle everything and he wasn't there. She told me she would talk to him about it, and that she didn't know if he had a new renter yet or not. Paul called three days later and told Thomas that we could stay until the fifteenth, but we would have to pay rent for the whole month. Thomas told him that he would have me call him when I got back. I was actually here, just getting Tripp to sleep.

When I got him down I came out of the bedroom and Thomas told me what Paul said. So I called him back. Paul was immediately rude to me. He said the same thing again, and said he doesn't rent by the week. I told him I wasn't asking to rent by the week, I just wanted him to prorate it for the days we would be here. He interrupted me and told me that Thomas may put up with me for a little while longer, but he wouldn't. That he was following the law and that was all he was going to do. I was shocked that he would say that about Thomas. What does he know about us? Nothing. But I was trying to act like an adult and I didn't tell him off like I wanted to. Then he hung up on me. I called him back and told him I didn't appreciate it, and that we would be staying until December 15th and that I would be paying him half the rent. So then he said he would just sue me for the rest. I told him to go ahead, I still wasn't going to pay it. Then he implied that if I don't pay it, I'll go to jail, laughed and hung up on me again. He thinks he's such an important person, and he's not. He's nobody. I don't think a judge will bend the rules to find some reason to put me in jail for him. The only way I could think it would even be possible is if the judge decided to hold me in contempt of court if I don't pay. I don't think they do that though.

I'm pretty sure he's right, legally. But morally, he's wrong. I know he didn't already have a renter lined up. It had only been a week between telling him we would move on the first, and calling him back to tell him we would have to wait until the fifteenth. I know no one came to look at the place. I'm nearly positive that no one even came to see the outside. This isn't a very big city. There are lots of rentals waiting to be leased. Speaking of leases, ours expired on September 26. I don't know if that will be important later or not. My main thing here is that he was so mean to me about it all. I may have been more willing to stay the whole month if he hadn't been. I just realized something else. He said he had a renter lined up. That means he would get rent for the whole month from me, plus rent for the last half of the month from the new renter. I don't think that will stand up in court.

Every time I've asked Paul to fix anything he wouldn't. The lease says I'm responsible to all repairs. I thought that meant things we broke though. Not general upkeep and maintenance of the structure. When Brandon beat up Leslie I told Paul that I don't feel safe because Brandon is mad at me for helping her. He just blew it off. When I told him that we would move if he didn't do anything about it, he said he hated to see us go, but he wasn't going to get involved in it. The lease says you can't do anything illegal, that includes assault and battery. And drugs. There are lots of other issues, that I don't want to go into yet. I'll tell you about them when, and if, we go to court.

Today is the first and he's supposed to come get the rent. He had told me that if I don't pay the full amount he won't accept it. I wonder if he will. I'm going to try to pay it. If he won't take it, I'll send it to him through Certified Mail. If he still won't take it, at least I'll have proof that I tried. I'm nervous about it all. I could care less what Paul thinks of me. But I really don't want to go to court. And I really really don't want to go to jail.