I had owned the house for three years now, in a town by the beach that was a short train ride from the downtown where I worked, and it had always been my intention to rent out the converted apartment over the garage to a tenant as an additional income source.
The house was nice, a two-story craftsman-style home with a high-fenced backyard and stone patio centered around a in-ground pool. Both the garage apartment and the main house opened to the backyard patio, so I advertised the pool and patio in the ad, knowing it would make the rental more attractive. As I posted the ad, I felt a rush of accomplishment. At 33, I had a great job as a consultant, and with the additional income from renting the apartment would expand my options even further.
That morning I had a number of responses, but the one that caught my eye was from Jack. Jack was a retired man in his mid-60s. He responded to the ad with a short email stating his intention to look at the place that same day. I was a little surprised by how direct he was, telling me that he would be by the afternoon, but I met him that same day. We were the same height but he had broad shoulders, wide hips, and a pendulous gut. He was the kind of guy who naturally took up a lot of space. He was mostly bald but the gray and white hair he had he kept cut short, and he had a bristly five o'clock shadow around his goatee. He had deep set eyes and a big, bloom red nose. He was wearing bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian-print shirt with the four top buttons open, revealing thick tufts of swirling gray chest hair.
He had a sort of cocky, sneering demeanor. He shook my hand for overly-long time and with excessive force, clearly sizing me up.
"Jack Bilton." He said in a deep, gravely voice.
"Richard Sweeney." The look on his face was one of amused contempt, and I found myself blushing, lowering my eyes until he released my hand, then stepped aside as he brushed past me. He walked through my home unbidden, and I followed along docilely. I pointed out different amenities or described the accommodations, and he'd grunt in approval, pushing ahead, paying little attention to his potential new landlord.
When I told him what I did for work he snorted disrespectfully, and all I could do was chuckle along. I don't know why I felt so powerless to push back against his open rudeness, but something about his attitude made me feel like I just had to go along with it.
"Welp, looks good to me, Dicky. I'll move in tomorrow." I had introduced myself as Richard but he had immediately started calling me that, and I couldn't find it in myself to object.
"Tomorrow?" It was crazy, I hadn't even offered it. I had a whole plan of requesting references, a credit check, but somehow, that all felt like it had gone out the window now. He stared at me stonily.
"Yeah, did I fucking stutter kid?" He deadpanned, then roughly slapped my shoulder as he broke out into laughter. He clearly loved messing around with me, intimidating me. I just laughed along nervously.
"Oh, OK, great... thanks so much!" I don't know why I added it, but again I felt compelled to show him respect and gratitude. He sneered at me and chuckled once cruelly, then stepped out of the door without saying anything. I watch his huge form walking back to his red muscle car, and felt a strange, thrilling knot of dread in my stomach. I quickly changed into gym clothes and went for a long workout to clear my head. At the gym, I watched myself in the mirrors. I was strong, not a meathead but one of the most well built guys in there. I looked good, handsome. Respectable. I didn't look like a pushover. I couldn't' stop thinking how Jack had treated me, had seen something wimpy in me that I couldn't even see in myself.
That morning he came just as he said. Because the apartment was furnished, he didn't have a ton of stuff, just a boxes, suitcases and bags piled in his car. I let him in and he pushed past me. He dropped the box he was carrying on the floor, turned back to me, held his hand out and coughed expectantly. I was a little confused at first, then realized what he wanted.
"Oh! The key! Of course, sorry about that." I didn't understand why I was apologizing but I placed the set of keys I'd had made into his open hand. He looked at me and rolled his eyes, shaking his head, then continued to his apartment.
"Let me give you a hand with your stuff." I called out, then headed to his car to grab a few of his suitcases. When I got up to his apartment, he was already sitting down in the suite's living room, booted feet on the coffee table with the TV on and a beer in his hand. He didn't look up from the TV and just pointed to the corner.
"Put that over there." He grunted and took a sip of his beer.
"Sure thing." I answered meekly, and went back to his car. All told it only took three trips to move his items in. He didn't look up or thank me for my help whatsoever. I humbly told him to let me know if he needed anything and left him to his football game. My face was red- I didn't understand why I was humiliating myself like this but I couldn't help it.
Work took me out of town for the next two weeks, and I didn't hear from him. A check for $1,200.00 for the rent was deposited in my account. The Saturday morning of my return I was doing laundry. The washing machine was in the hallway between his apartment and the rest of the house, connecting to my kitchen with an entrance to the garage and screen door to the backyard.
"While you're at it, kid, why don't you go ahead and do a load of my shit, too?" He suggested as he passed by me transferring my clothes from the washer into the dryer. He always stood close to me when he talked, just a few inches. I could smell his armpits and his stale breathe, his smell of cigarettes. It felt like his way of telling me that I didn't deserve the personal space most men were afforded, that there was nothing I could do to keep him away.
"Oh... OK sure, Jack." I had planned to head out to the gym but I supposed it could wait. "Where's your stuff?"
"Up here." I dutifully followed him upstairs to his suite. In these two weeks, he had really made himself at home. There were beer bottles on almost every surface. Unwashed dishes and garbage as well. The apartment also reeked of both cigarettes and marijuana, even though I had advertised the suite as non-smoking.