3. Alise
ALISE
Lauren was tired of being in the house, so she offered to ride with me to check on my Airbnb’s.
I had guests that checked out of both houses, so I was going over to clean.
I had cleaning ladies that cleaned my residential home and the Airbnb’s, but sometimes, I didn’t it myself just to take a good look at the houses and make sure guests weren’t tearing my shit up.
“Question,” Lauren said timidly as I placed the towels and washcloths in the washing machine.
“What’s up, boo?”
“I know you have your cleaning ladies, and I’m not trying to take anyone’s money, but would it be possible for me to help you with cleaning the Airbnb’s, so I can make some extra money?”
I could see the desperation in my friends’ eyes. She had been a stay-at-home mom and housewife for almost nine years. Navigating back into the world of work was going to be hard for her.
“Of course, friend. They still clean my house, and they have numerous clients. They won’t miss my two. Hell, you can start right now.”
With a smile on her face, Lauren held her arms out, walked over, and hugged me. “Thank you so much.”
“Girl, I got you. I’m actually thinking about buying another property.” The confession made a lump form in my throat.
I had done well for myself in my adult life.
Even before I got married, I worked at a hospital in the administration department.
I had been there for ten years when my father died from congestive heart failure.
He left my mother the house, whatever was in his bank accounts, and the $500,000 from his insurance policy.
He left me $400,000, and he left my daughter $100,000.
I took $100,000 and put a down payment on a home.
I also bought property for $215,000 cash and turned it into an Airbnb. I got my second property a year later.
By that time, I had great credit, and I was able to get a bank loan to get the second property.
Since the property was on the beach it was almost occupied nonstop.
The first eight days of the month, I usually made enough from guests to pay the mortgage and the utilities.
Everything else it made throughout the month was profit.
I was thinking of getting a third property with the some of the money my dad left my mom.
She was slowly showing signs of dementia, and I handled all her bills.
Most days, I took her to doctor’s appointments, ran errands for her, or just kept her company.
My aunt had left her husband and needed somewhere to stay, so she moved in with my mother.
That was the only reason she wasn’t living with me.
Seeing my mother look at me with confusion and ask me what my name was when I entered her home sometimes, broke my heart.
It seemed like she got worse after my father died and honestly, that was to be expected.
Even if she would forget, I asked my mother about buying the property.
She said yes. At the time, she was in her right mind, and she knew she’d be good as long as I was around.
She didn’t really spend any of the money she had because most days, she forgot she had it.
“I’m happy for you, friend.”
“Thank you.”
“Nowwwww,” she smiled. “How was your date?”
Throwing my head back, I looked at the ceiling and sighed. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Is what that bad?” I could hear the shock in Lauren’s tone.
“No, it was actually pretty nice. That man seems too good to be true. And if I think that’s the case it’s probably a sign that it is.”
“Or he could be everything and more. He’s almost fifty. If he’s out here on dumb shit, that’s on him.”
I bit my bottom lip. “I don’t know, man.
I don’t want to set myself up for failure.
As soon as I get my hopes up about what could be, he could rip my heart out of my chest and step on it.
” At my big age, I knew there was no such thing as happily ever after in real life.
You could be happy for the moment, but it wouldn’t last. Everything had a beginning, and everything had an end.
Lauren groaned. “You’re self-sabotaging. It’s a defense mechanism. Just go with the flow, babe. Don’t go into it with expectations. And most importantly, stop depriving your happiness by worrying about the future. All you have is right now.”
“I really don’t want to talk about this. We’re going to a cooking class this weekend. ‘Nother brownie point for him because most men would never.”
“I love that for you. We all need love.”
“We’re still young,” I hyped her up. “We can be out here doing what makes us happy. I think love is overrated.”
“Yeah, it’s official . You’re nuts. I love seeing black couples together. I love that for them. I don’t think it will happen for me, but I can smile at everyone.
When Lauren was done stripping the sheets off the bed, I called to check on my mother.
When I was done running around for the day, I was going to visit her.
I talked with the home health aide for all of ten minutes.
I was glad to hear that my mother was in a good mood and having an easy day.
We had definitely had enough bad days. We were due for a few good ones.
My cleaning ladies charged me $160 for the property that had three bedrooms. The second property had five bedrooms and a loft area. They charged me $190 to clean that one. I tipped $20 for each home, so instead of giving them $400 I gave it to Lauren.
She shook her head and tried to give the money back. “I can’t take this much. Maybe $200?” she asked hopefully, but I waved her comment off.
“You earned it.”
“Thank you, friend.”
“You don’t have to thank me at all.”
We were all out here just trying to make it.
Lauren had pretty much always been a single mother because her husband wasn’t worth much.
He wasn’t hands on with their child or housework.
The only thing she really had to get used to was his permanent absence and having to be responsible for certain bills.
I honestly felt like once she settled in to her new normal, she’d prefer it over being married to his dusty ass.
It amazed me how everyone thought I had it so together.
I was too close to fifty to not really know what I wanted.
This part of life was different. We grew up thinking we’d fall in love, get married, have kids, and live happily ever after.
But what about when that dream never occurred?
Or when the fairytale turned into a nightmare?
I needed to find out what my realistic happily ever after would look like.
One that possibly didn’t have a man and a white picket fence in it.
As long as my Airbnb had guests and my content made money, I could live anywhere.
For a few months I had been contemplating moving to another state.
I was free to do whatever I wanted. For once I didn’t have a career, child, or anything else to worry about.
Except…I sighed as I thought of my mother.
For fifty plus years, she had my father, and she had me.
Once I was grown and out of the house she had my father.
Now, he was gone, and I knew she truly wasn’t happy.
In a way, maybe the dementia eased the ache of missing him just a bit.
Afterall, she couldn’t miss what she didn’t remember.
I took Lauren home and stopped by a shopping plaza not too far from her place, so I could stock up on cleaning supplies for my home.
Currently, I was in my soft girl era. I paid cleaners weekly, but I still kept my home together on a daily basis.
It was just me, so there was never a reason in my opinion for things not to be clean.
I also cleaned my mother’s house for her because she wasn’t in the condition to do it herself.
Even on her normal days, she would sit in front of the television all day.
She didn’t have the energy or the desire to do housework and as long as I was around, she wouldn’t have to.
I was approaching my car with a handful of bags when I saw the devil himself.
Lauren’s husband Keith was walking toward the store entrance with a woman that I knew immediately was his side chick.
Those baby hairs, oh Lord, those horrible baby hairs gave it away.
Nervously, Keith cleared his throat while I smiled at him. The brightest smile I could muster.
“Keith! Hey!” I called out loudly making Baby Hair look over at me. “Hi, you must be Keyonna,” I beamed at her, and her face contorted while a look of panic covered Keith’s.
“Who the hell is Keyonna?” he asked while his woman sneered at me.
“I thought you were cheating on my friend with a kid named Keyonna. My bad, I can’t keep up,” I sighed and looked over at her. “My condolences.”
Her face scrunched so hard she looked like a cartoon character. “Nobody fucking died,” she barked.
“You will.”
“What the fuck?” Keith yelped.
“Oh, not literally,” I corrected. “He’ll just kill your spirit.
Suck your soul out and leave you hollow and empty.
He has a way of doing that. Showing up as Mr. Perfect in the beginning and slowly draining all your energy until you’re just a shell.
Then he’ll move on to the next chick. But maybe you’ll be different. ”
“You don’t know shit about me, but what your friend tells you. You’re too old for this childish shit.”
“Too old?” I reeled back. “Let’s not talk about what people are too old to be doing because you’re too old to be running around here with a chick that looks like all she eats is hot Cheetos and pickles. But for the rest of your days, I hope it burns when you pee. Sorry ass bastard.”
“I will really beat your ass out here,” Wig stepped forward, and I didn’t bat an eye.