Archie held him like a lover, and she held him like afriend.
She held him light, but she held him loving.
And as she did, she thought of their conversation thatmorning over breakfast at theNotchtopCafé in Estes.
Primarily the part where she’d alluded to Elijah being anissue when it came to co-owning the building.
And specifically the part where Jagger visibly struggledwith pushing her to talk about it.
She let him off the hook, giving it to him without himhaving to ask.
“He’s a pain because he demands half the rents on theapartments and for me to pay him rent on the space for the shop.I get this,he’s half-owner.Money is made off that space.He’s entitled to his share.Absolutely.Where the issues are is around utilities and maintenance.He didnot pony up on the improvements and I keep a handyman on retainer becauseissues crop up and I’m no plumber or electrician, but they need to get fixedand fast.The shop has a security system that I pay for, I pay all the utilitieson that space, and I pay the maintenance contract on the security for theapartment entrance.He wants half without any deductions, says I made thedecisions to have that other stuff, so they’re on me.”
Jag said nothing and it was not lost on Archie that hissilence was heavy.
Then again, this subject was heavy.
And it was one she’d broached because she wanted to discussit with him, not talk at him with him just listening.
She’d done enough of that in her own head.
Though mostly, she could tell he was pissed on her behalf.
He just wasn’t saying anything.
“I feel it isn’t on me,” she pointed out in order to spur ona conversation.“The security on the store, as the owner of the business, Iget.At a stretch.But as the owner of the building, you want security for thatspace, and I feel it’s something you’d offer a tenant, even if that tenant isme.You definitely want to provide it for your apartment residents.And we didhave the discussion, we just didn’t agree.Mostly because Elijah thinks weshould jack up rent to pay for the handyman and the security and point-blankfeels he shares no responsibility for the shop space at all.”
When she stopped speaking, Jag still said nothing.
So she informed him, “You’re allowed to have an opinion,Jagger.”
“You know I’m gonna side with you,” he told her.
“You don’t have to,” she replied.“I’m open to alternateviewpoints.We can have a discussion about this.”
“Babe, I have no experience with rental properties, eithercommercial or residential.Though, I don’t think it’s out of bounds to increaserents in order to offer better services to your renters.That said, my guessis, you both own this building outright.If you don’t have a mortgage on it,that just means extra money for him, so it seems greedy to demand more whenhe’s not shelling out anything to have that asset in the first place.Wereinheritance taxes a big hit?”
“Grandmoms and Pops had no other grandchildren, we goteverything, and they’d planned well for retirement, so yes.The government tookits share and that share was hefty.But we still had more than we had beforethey passed, so you’re right.It’s just greedy.”
She left that a beat.
Then declared, “Greedy and lazy.”
She had him in the zone, she knew it when, this time, hedidn’t hesitate to demand, “Give me more on that.”
Relieved he was finally engaging, Archie didn’t hesitate tooffer it.
“It wasn’t my job to take care of them when Mom died,Jagger.And I’m not going to make the blanket statement that men are incapableof coping when shit gets real.I suspect there are men who are.It’s just thatthose two weren’t those men.They both fell apart when we lost Mom and I heldus together.I was fourteen and I stepped into her shoes.Cooking.Cleaning.Making grocery lists and asking Dad to take me to the store.I’m writing shiton the family calendar and riding Elijah’s ass about being prepared to go topractice after school and studying for a test.We’re family.You do what yougottado.Honestly, as much as it sucked, it was what itwas, and I was taking care of people I love.”
When she stopped talking and it was clear she had more tosay, Jagger prompted, “But…”
“But, now, when it’s me who deals with the rental payments,collecting them then giving him his cut.When I get their calls if something’swrong in a unit and I coordinate the handyman.When I sweep and mop thehallways and stairs twice a month to keep the space nice.And he demands halfof what we make with incidentals taken out of my half, I get crotchety aboutdays of yore when he leaned on me to keep his shit tight, to keep his familytogether, to keep his home.”
Jag’s voice was quiet when he asked, “Are we talking aboutElijah now, honey, or your dad?”
She shook her head.
“Dad copped to it.It took him a while, and that whilehappened when my stepmom entered the picture, with my stepsisters, and he cluedin and was confronted with how much I did.The first time I came home fromschool, he sat me down and we chatted.He got emotional, it overwhelmed him howmuch he laid on me and he didn’t even realize it.He then went on a stint oftrying to make up for it, which did not go down great with Elijah.”
