Where You Hang Your Hat: Part XIV
The crowd in the Middleton College auditorium was not that large, at least in comparison to the large room. At least one person from most of the fifty units were already there, clamoring for answers, answers that didn't seem to be coming fast enough to satisfy the angry tenants.
Both of them could understand that anger, mainly because they were feeling it as well. It took a tense thirty minutes to get back from the lake, putting the theory that there wasn't a cop in the tri-city area who would stop Kim Possible for speeding.
She was simultaneously concerned and furious, to the point she simply forgot that she was still in a semi-wet bathing suit and flip-flops. It didn't help that a man at the door asked them to prove they were residents at Middleton Mills, which proved to be difficult. Neither of them had been to the county police center to have their drivers licenses updated. "Look, we live in apartment fifteen in the north building. The lease is in the name of Kimberly Possible and Ronald Stoppable." It should have been simple enough to look up, but apparently these people's brains had been checked at the edge of the campus.
Her anger was already bubbling over by the time they reached the campus. The first place they went was the apartment complex itself. She wanted to run up to their room and at least throw on a t-shirt and some shorts, but she was prevented from doing even that. Two burly MPD officers blocked the main entrance, which was itself blocked by several strips of yellow police tape. They both smiled broadly as she approached.
"Kim Possible. See, Rog, I told you somebody would come to help these people."
Help these people? "Uh, hi, uh, we need to go up to our apartment."
"You live here?" The officer named Rog was clearly distressed by the news.
"Sorry." The other officer said. "We can't allow anybody inside. Direct orders from Captain Hobble."
"What's going on? Everything we own is in there." Ron said, hopping on one foot, trying to get water out of his ear.
"I'm sure I don't know." The first officer said. "They called us out here and posted us here, said we couldn't let anybody inside until further notice."
"Said we were supposed to send everybody who comes in late to the auditorium over at the college." Rog explained. "Do you need directions?"
"No thank you, we're students there." Kim said a little coldly, mentally berating herself for taking her worry out on the two officers. They were only doing what they were told to do and there must be an extremely good reason for keeping everyone out of the building. There were no emergency vehicles in the lot save for the car the two officers had arrived in and there wasn't any sign of fire. The fact the building was over a century old started tickling the back of her mind, but from what she could see it was solidly built, and would likely stand for another hundred years.
It really bugged her that she couldn't at least get up to their rooms if there wasn't a pending emergency. Every stitch of clothing they owned except for the little bit they had on was up there, as well as all their new furniture…like she said, if it wasn't in her car, it was in that apartment.
Ron was almost frantic when he remembered Rufus had stayed home playing video games in their den area. If something bad had happened inside the building…
Kim tried to reassure him as best she could as they made the short drive over to the campus. At any other time they would have walked, and actually got there just as quick, but their flip-flops were designed to get from the car to their apartment, not make a quick hike from there to the school. They already had their parking sticker for the coming year, so they had access to one of the senior lots, putting them close to the building.
Inside, it seemed as if everyone was talking at once. They were grouped around a trio of representatives, one Kim recognized as being on the city council. The second she did not know, but the third was Wallace Gruber, a man who seemed to make him self scarce the moment they had signed their lease.
Another person Kim recognized was the reporter from the evening news. It was kind of strange to see one of the anchors out on a story. It only took a moment for Tricia Labowski to spot Kim. She was suddenly conscious of what she was wearing again and mentally cursed herself for not bringing a T-shirt or a cover when they left the apartment earlier that afternoon.
The African-American woman, as was her custom, shoved a microphone into Kim's face. For a moment all she could think of was that an image of her in a two-piece bathing suit was going to be beamed into just about every home in the Tri-city area by five o'clock. Her only consolation was that it was indeed more conservative than some of her other suits, but it was still a bikini.
"Kim Possible, do you have any comments on the developments at Middleton Mills?"
"Um, I'm just trying to find out what's going on."
"What is Team Possible's involvement? Have you been requested by the city to assist?"
Ron reached past Kim and pulled the microphone toward him. "No, we kinda live there."
Miss Labowski seemed to notice the young man for the first time. There was a flicker of a smile on the woman's face, though she covered it quickly before the camera could focus on her again. "So the two of you are residents at the Middleton Mills apartments?"
Kim sensed where that might go. It was not big secret that they were living together, but she didn't want the evening news dwelling on that fact. She might have been twenty-one, and Ron a week behind her, but to most people she was still just Kim Possible, Teenage Hero, and even though the tabloids had run tons of stories about their engagement (they found out one was about to break the story and sent out a pre-emptive press-release to keep the rumors under control,) a lot of people just wouldn't be able to handle the fact she had grown up and had made a lifetime commitment to a man.
"Excuse us, we really need to find out what is going on from the proper authorities." She carefully avoided saying 'finding out about our apartment,' hoping she wasn't giving them anything more to work with on that angle. Still, the damage was done, and within a week she expected to see the scandal sheets all proclaiming that the great Kim Possible was shacked up in a love nest, conveniently forgetting to mention that it was with her fiancé of three years and the partner she had always been seen with. The worst would be when they simply took Ron out of the picture and conjectured that it was some famous hottie instead. The real world Food Chain was so worse than its high school version.
The shouting was starting to get more intense. The meeting itself wasn't officially supposed to get under way for another ten minutes, but the angry tenants were not interested in waiting for that. Most of them were dressed in their daily clothing, but a couple were in bathrobes, including the young Norwegian couple who lived next door. Of the red-haired bassist, there was not sign. It was quite unusual for a meeting to be called this time of day. Obviously some of these people had been called out of work, as a couple of familiar white and green polo shirts could attest. Kim felt even worse for those people. Some bosses didn't take too kindly to having their workers called away during the day, though she was sure if the two Bueno Nacho employees worked at number five eighty-two Ned would have no problem covering for them.
"Okay people, quiet down, please!" The city-councilman got up on a folding chair, trying to get everyone's attention at once. "We need to go over a few things first before we entertain individual questions. If you will please take your seats, we will try to explain what is going on.
"We just want back in our homes!" A middle-aged woman shouted, shaking her fist at the city official.
"That's just not possible at the moment. Please, just listen for a few minutes and we will try to make this as clear as we can."
An angry murmur passed through the crowd, but they eventually all sat down, taking most of the first two rows in the middle of the auditorium. Kim and Ron found a seat in the third row, listening intently. While they were waiting for the man to begin, she felt something being pressed into her hands. It was Ron's t-shirt. She gave his hand a good squeeze, then slipped it on, a little more comfortable despite it being slightly damp.
"As some of you may be aware, the City of Middleton currently owns the property operating under the name Middleton Mills. We acquired the property when the developer defaulted on a loan the city provided to turn the historic building into affordable housing. That loan was taken out by Tri-City Properties in 1990, and one of the conditions for that loan was that they would be responsible for the inspection and upkeep of the property. We took over the property in January, under the impression that all of those conditions had been met.
"Unfortunately, it had now come to our attention that it was mismanaged ... it deteriorated. And the city was basically left holding the bag." He took a deep breath and went on. "The buildings themselves are over a century old. City staff in January conducted an on-site visual inspection of the property," the councilman said, "but they didn't do a comprehensive inspection that would have included a check for termites."
That sent a red flag up in Kim's mind. The building looked solid as a rock, built with thick layers of red bricks, but the frame itself was hardwood. Suddenly all the quaint creaks and groans of the otherwise solid seeming floor seemed a good deal scarier.
"According to city records, the buildings were stabilized in 2000 and were brought up to code. The termite problem, however, wasn't discovered until flooring in an equipment room collapsed into the basement. At first, a structural engineer who examined the damage didn't think the building needed to be evacuated, and plans were made to repair the damage. That was just a few weeks ago, and I'm sure, based on the backlog of problems that need to be addressed by the maintenance department, you can understand now why they were not available."
So that's why they never came to fix the water heater. Kim thought. She felt thick fingers entwine with her own, gripping her hand firmly. This was so not going to be good.
The second man stepped up and began speaking. "My name is Melville Herman. I'm the chief property inspector for the city. This morning our engineers completed an exhaustive inspection of the property, and their findings were far worse than we had imagined. Based on their recommendations, they entire property has been deemed unsafe and uninhabitable. I am afraid we have no choice but to close the apartments and relocate all residents."
Kim's jaw just about hit the floor. Three weeks they had lived there, three weeks spent turning the space from a drafty loft into their home. Three weeks spent putting up blinds, fixing small problems themselves, bringing in furniture they would be making payments on until Ron got his full trust the following summer. For the moment all she could think of was a place she had quickly fallen in love with…a place that was Ron's and her home. She replayed the morning's events in her mind, fearing that would never happen again.
"We need to get back into our homes!" Another resident pleaded. "I have medications…important papers. Everything I own is in that apartment."
"I'm sorry, but for the moment the building is just too unsafe to allow anyone back in. We have people working as fast as they can right now to try and stabilize the structure enough so we can let a limited number of people in to recover their most basic necessities, on a case-by-case basis."
Ron leaned over to Kim and whispered, "Rufus."
"I know, honey. He'll be fine. If something happens he'll get out. I'm willing to bet he's somewhere over there right now looking for us."
The room was quickly descending into bedlam as questions turned to angry accusations. Kim realized that tears were starting to run down her cheeks. She glanced at her fiancé and realized he was doing the same.
She turned and glared at Gruber, who had remained silent the whole time. Her own anger was growing as she realized this was all going on when they first approached him about the apartment. It got worse as she realized they had accepted a full-year lease, paid in advance. He had, in the city's name, accepted thousands of dollars from them, knowing full well the property was in no shape to accept new tenants.
Wacky Wally was in danger of wishing he had stayed in the weather machine business. In fact, Kim found herself wishing he had done just that. Then she would have been able to go after him in a more direct manner, since the technology had been deemed illegal. She wanted him behind bars for what she had done.
The fact the city owned the property was a surprise to her. She read the lease, front to back, but the city was never mentioned as the principal owner. Everything was in the name of "Middleton Mills Properties." She knew then that she was probably going to be spending quite some time with the family lawyer, going over the lease with a fine-tooth comb. The loss of their rent money wasn't going to break them, but there was the principal of the matter.
Eventually the officials were able to calm the residents down once more and set about the business of making arrangements. About half the tenants had family or friends they could go to, while the rest were being sent to extended stay motels until they could find a new place to live. As for them, they knew they would have a place to go to, but there still remained the fact they were standing around in slowly drying bathing suits. Ron draped a beach towel over his shoulders since he had given his shirt to her.
Since they weren't in their apartment when the building was evacuated, they were among the few who would be escorted back in to gather enough of their belongings to get by. What nobody could tell them was when of if they would be able to recover the rest of their property. They made it sound like the whole interior of the building was on the verge of collapse.
The meeting broke up, with about half the tenants leaving to take care of what they could. They found themselves in the lobby of the auditorium pacing around, waiting for word that they could go in and gather some clothes.
Kim held a piece of paper in her hands, alternately staring at it and pacing back and forth. Her whole body was tensed up. She stopped in front of Ron and stared at it again. "Twenty-five dollars. They kick us out of our home and they have the gall to give us a food voucher for twenty-five dollars! They can't do this! That's our home they're talking about. Our place! We've got a lease. That's supposed to give us a right to go there."
"KP, I know. Just calm down. We're not going to starve, and it's not like we don't have any place to go. There are two homes we're welcome in. We've got it good compared to some of these people."
"I don't care. That's our home. OUR home. Our first place together and they're taking it away." She sat down on the floor, fresh tears starting to come.
Ron sat down beside her, putting his arm around her shoulder. "I think I know what will make you feel better."
"Ron, I don't think this is the right time for a dose of Ronshine, Okay?"
"No, that's not what I mean." That wasn't totally true. He was just as upset as she was and knew she needed a hug just as much as he did. "You're Kim Possible."
"Yeah, I'm Kim Possible. I can do anything, including getting kicked out of my home."
"KP," He said softly. "You help people. That's what you do, that's what you always do, no matter what it takes, you're the one who is there when people are in trouble."
She looked up into his eyes. A slightly goofy smile spread over his lips. "The way I see it, there are a lot of people here right now who need help, and it sure doesn't look like the city is going to be doing very good at that."
Kim looked at him for moment, then wrapped her arms around him, realizing what he was doing. "Enough pity fiesta, huh?"
"Yeah. Come on, Team Possible has a job to do."
"Right." She touched the call button on her wrist bracelet. "Wade? Get ready to call in some favors. Team Possible is going mission mode."
By nightfall they were allowed back into the apartment. They had spent the greater part of the afternoon working with the remaining tenants who either didn't have a place to stay or had other urgent needs to take care of. It wasn't until they were led into their rooms by one of the lead inspectors that their own sitch came rushing back to them.
For safety's sake, the power and other utilities had been cut to the building. The inspector handed out powerful hand lanterns so they could gather enough clothes to last them a few days and a few other odds and ends. Rufus, it turned out, had been sleeping in the middle of their bed the whole time, oblivious to what was going on around them. Being on the second floor, there was less danger of their own floor collapsing, being held up by the joists and extra walls that comprised the lower level.
The slightly squeaky floors were cause for concern, though their escort assured them that was normal for any wood-framed building. They just couldn't get past the notion that the floor might collapse under them at any moment. He allowed them a few minutes to go into their bedroom area and change into more appropriate clothing. Kim still felt 'lake skuzzy' but it was indeed better to be in proper underwear and jeans. They stuffed what they could into their travel bags and cast about the place for whatever else they couldn't live without. Ron went into the office and got their hand-held Kimmunicators and the laptop computer. It would be too much trouble to disconnect and remove the main desktop in the dark, and that would be pushing the time they had been allotted.
It was well after nine when they got to Kim's old house. Her room looked so empty, the bed so small after just three weeks away. Most of her old furniture was there, save her hope chest and blue chair, which were trapped over at the apartment, but the old computer was gone, as were her trophies and pictures. The nightstands sat empty until they could either recover those photos and the alarm clock.
In the short time they had been away, the room had turned completely alien to the couple. Kim sat heavily on the bed, throwing her bags down on the floor. Ron sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her close.
"Some birthday, huh?"
"Yeah. You know the worst of it?" he asked.
"What's that?"
"Your birthday present is still over there. In the rush to get our stuff together, I forgot it."
"That's okay, baby. Like that couple on TV Trash Heap say, I've got you, babe."
"Got you too, KP."
There were soft footsteps coming up the hatch. Kim's Mom appeared, shielding something with her hand. "I know we usually don't do this until both of you have had your birthdays, but anyway, Happy Birthday, Kimmie." She handed a cupcake with a single burning candle to her child.
"Thanks, Mom." She blew out the candle and unwrapped the little cake, feeding Ron a couple bites before she took a big one out for herself.
James followed his wife into the room. "I just got off the phone with Henry, our lawyer. He seems to think we can get your rent money back, since they basically broke the lease with you."
"That's good to hear. It's just so ferociously unfair for so many of those people though. We're some of the few who actually had leases. Some of them won't have anything after a few weeks."
Her father rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't know about the rest of your stuff. I just wanted to say, you're perfectly welcome here, whether it's until you find a new place, or until your house is ready. There's always a place for you here, Kimmie-cub…and you too, Ronald."
"Thanks, Dad P."
"Right now I don't know what we're going to do." She finished off the last of the cupcake, realizing that neither of them had anything to eat since their picnic at the lake.
Her parents turned to go, but Anne hesitated. "You know, it's not that late yet. Maybe it would be a good thing for the two of you to go out and get a late dinner. I'm sure you had plans to anyway."
Kim shook her head. "No, not now. I think we'll just raid the kitchen and hit the sack. I'm ferociously tired all of a sudden."
"Then sit back and rest. I'll put some plates together for the two of you."
After they ate, they took turns taking the first really hot shower they had in several weeks. It certainly seemed strange being back in that bathroom, though it was virtually identical to the one in their apartment. Part of the difference was that it had immediately been claimed by Jim and Tim, who were tired of sharing the downstairs bathroom with their cousin. The walls were still pink, but the rest had taken on a much 'manlier' look, with their dark colored towels and men's cologne scented soaps and shampoos. The presence of their electric razors and other things put their stamp on the room. That was one of the reasons they didn't feel comfortable sharing a shower as they normally did, not knowing when one of the two would burst in there.
As Kim came out of the bathroom, she saw Joss just coming in the door, still wearing her GJ uniform. The younger woman glanced coldly at her a moment, then disappeared toward her own room. When they had come in, her Mom told her that Joss had been lobbying for her old room, instead of the smaller guest room on the first floor. She knew that wasn't the only reason the teen was angry with her, but that was just something they would all have to deal with.
Ron was already sacked out on the bed, lightly dozing. Before her shower she had a short talk with her mother, and was going to take her suggestion to heart. They may have lost their home, at least temporarily, but they still had each other, and they should enjoy that to its fullest.
He started awake as she shut and locked the hatch. His eyes followed her as she locked the side door as well. They hadn't been gone so long that he didn't know that was the Possible home's version of a 'do-not-disturb' sign.
"KP?" He seemed a little confused as she took off the bathrobe and slipped under the covers with him.
"Wow, how quickly you forget how small this bed actually is." She whispered as she pulled him close. "Guess we have to snuggle closer so we don't fall off the edge."
"Sure this is what you want?"
"Oh yes. It's still my birthday for about another hour, and I want to unwrap my present again."
He smiled as he pulled her close under the covers, turning off the lights.
A little bit later she whispered "Booyah."
"Hey, that's mine." He whispered back.
It was still pitch black in the room when Kim's eyes snapped open. Ron was spooned against her back, his arm draped over her side, his hand resting in a position she once found slightly embarrassing, but had become quite welcome and pleasant. Only she couldn't enjoy it at that moment. Something was wrong, terribly wrong.
She sat up quickly in the bed, reaching for her lamp.
"KP, What's wrong?" He asked sleepily.
"Oh God, oh God no!" She hopped up out of the bed, scooping up her robe and slipping it on. No sooner did she have it tied she got out her hand-held. "Please, please still be up, Wade."
The screen on her Kimmunicator winked to life. "Kim, do you have any idea what time it is?" Wade asked, wiping sleep from his eyes. He was shirtless, which normally was a bit disconcerting to her, but she didn't even notice.
"Wade, please tell me you had our desktop networked with your system."
"Always. What's this about?"
"Whew. I thought for a moment I had lost something important."
"What's that?"
"I had my senior thesis presentation on the main computer back at our apartment."
A look of fear crossed his face. "Uh, Kim, what programs were you using to write that?"
"Mostly the word processor you wrote, plus the Presentation Point stuff. Why? Is something wrong?"
"I hate to tell you this, but those programs don't feed into the network. They just store on the hard drive itself."
"What? Wade, please look. I have to have them, they're ferociously important. I have to do my presentation Monday, and there's no way in the world I can put that back together in just four days!"
"Sorry, Kim. There's nothing on the network. I wrote those programs back when stopped keeping an online diary so you would be able to keep stuff you wrote private. That way you could trust that I wasn't snooping around in them."
"Wade, that's sweet, but I've got to have those files."
"I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. If the power was still on, I could remote access them for you, but with no electricity, that CPU is nothing more than a four-hundred gig paperweight."
Kim cut the link, crashing down on the end of the bed. "I'm doomed!"
a/n – As terrible as their housing predicament sounds, it actually happened. A complex called "Mecklenburg Mills" in the North Davidson section of Charlotte, North Carolina experienced exactly the same thing. I had some friends who lost their homes and went more than a week not knowing what would become of their property. There too, most of the tenants had no lease, pretty much leaving them out in the cold due to the mishandling by the original developers and the city. You can Google an article from "Creative Loafing" for more information.
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