Remy's Place

Nine years old is too young to rent an apartment with his best friend in the whole world, far too young. Cricket and I learned that the hard way (it took Cricket a bit longer to learn, but he still learned it). But I'm getting ahead of myself. Here is my side of the story.

Cricket and I both agreed that living under our parents was the absolute worst with their rules and stuff. We both wanted freedom. Even a rich kid in a huge mansion wasn't worth it under strict adult rules. But we were just kids. Was living without adults even possible? Fortunately, we saw people outside the apartment next door with a 'for rent' sign. Cricket looked at me.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Remy?" Cricket asked me.

"Cricket, we're just kids." I said. "There's no way that they are going to allow us to rent an apartment."

"We won't know unless we don't try. Come on." I still wasn't sure, but I agreed in the end. We ran to the realtors.

When Cricket told them that we wanted to rent an apartment, they just laughed at us. I knew they wouldn't let kids rent out an apartment.

"How much money do you have?" The man asked. "Forty cents?"

"Forty Cents?" Cricket said. "I wish."

"Yeah." I added. "And all I have is my pitiful weekly allowance." I showed them my wad of money.

"Deal!" They both said together to my surprise. I handed the man the money. Wow! I can't believe that worked! It must be one of the perks of being a rich kid. Cricket looked at me and smiled.

"Yay!" He cheered. "I love being friends with a rich kid! Thanks, Remy!"

"You're welcome, Cricket." I told him. "But I honestly didn't think it'll work, because, you know, we're just kids."

"I didn't think it'd work either." Cricket agreed. "But once adults see a lot of money, they go crazy. They can get pretty greedy and out of control like that. But, who cares? Because of you, we got an apartment all to ourselves! Our dreams are about to come true!" I smiled.

"I guess."

"That's the spirit, Remy! Now you go to your huge mansion and pack, then come back here. I'll do the same thing over here."

"You got it, Cricket!" I called home.

After Dad drove me home, I packed up all of my stuff. I didn't want to explain to Dad why I had all of my stuff in boxes, so I called Goober to take me back to Cricket's.

When Goober dropped me off, Cricket was still packing with the aid of some movers (I'm still surprised that they were all chill with this), so I decided to call Vasquez to tell him the news.

And as I suspected, Vasquez was surprised that I was leaving him, and I had to admit, I was going to miss him too, as well as Mom and Dad. I thought I might cry, but I shook it off.

Man up, Remy! Remember this is the same man who won't let you pour your own water!

"Don't make this harder than it is!" I just told him.

"But Master Remy…" He started over the phone. I hated to do this, but I hung up on him.

"But…kids can't rent apartments." Mr. Green said when I approached Cricket.

"Here are the keys to your new apartment, boys!" The realtors, who we learned their names as Don and Dawn, both said when they handed us the keys.

We both cheered and said our goodbyes to the Greens as we headed off to start our new lives.

When we both got to our apartment room, we marveled at how big the place was. I ran to the sink and climbed it, filling a glass of water.

"I can fill my own wa-wa!" I said with joy. Did I seriously just call water 'wa-wa'? Heck yeah, I did! There were no adults to judge me and Cricket will certainly not judge me. So I can call water anything I gosh darn want! I got down from the sink.

I saw that there were no chairs or bean bags in our apartment room, so I quickly ordered some online. After I placed the order, the delivery man came seconds later. Whoa! That was fast! Freaky, unrealistically fast!

Cricket seemed to read my mind when he suggested that we needed chairs. He was surprised that I ordered several bean bags chairs. He was even more surprised when I told him that I was just getting started. He ran to my side.

"What should we order next?" My friend wanted to know.

"I don't know." I answered him with a shrug. "What do you want to order?" He pondered about this for a second before answering.

"A pinball machine."

"Okay." I searched for a pinball machine on Stuffazon.

"Ohh, ohh, and stilts to make us look taller than we really are. And roller skates and a piano floor! I want a ball pit bed!"

"Whoa, slow down! One at a time; not so fast!"

"Sorry."

"And I'm going to order a dinosaur bed for myself."

"Cool."

After a while when we had everything that we ordered, we began playing around with them. We were having the best time ever! Cricket and I were living the dream!

We both got ready to sleep in our new kid beds, when we both realized that we couldn't sleep. We both agreed to invite our friends over for a wild party.

We invited Weezie, Brett, Kiki, Ron, Ron Jr, among other people, adults and kids alike (but mostly kids). We were both surprised that Tilly also showed up. I let Cricket show his sister around.

"Where did Tilly go?" I asked my friend later on when I noticed her gone.

"She left." Cricket told me. "I invited her to stay with us, but she declined my offer. Said she would rather live at her home instead of here with us in this paradise."

"Well, I'll feel bad for her because she's going to be missing out."

"I know, right? You'll stay, right? I know this isn't a mansion, but…"

"Are you kidding me?! I love it here! I'm going to stay because like you, I live here now. I will never desert you, Cricket. You have my word." Cricket smiled.

"I knew I could count on you, Remy."

"And you always can."

The next morning, I found myself sleeping on the floor with an empty pizza box acting like my blanket. But it didn't work, for I was shivering. Cricket yelled at me to wake up. In my sleep, I asked Vasquez for my morning milk. Cricket heard this and told me that I could get it on my own. I woke up, realizing that he was right.

I got up and saw that our whole apartment was a mess, so I suggested to Cricket that maybe we should clean up. He reminded me that that was 'chore talk' and he wasn't going to do those ever again, so he let me do all of the cleaning.

While I was sweeping the floor, Cricket was banging spoons on a pipe. When I complained, he reminded me that doing stuff for myself is what I wanted. He was right of course, I did say that. But this isn't what I had in mind. I thought living on my own with Cricket was a dream come true for me, but I was beginning to regret it.

I screamed when I saw a giant anthill full of ants. I swatted at the ants with the broom, but it was useless because they seemed to eat the broom for I lost hold of it and it got pulled in. I panicked. I didn't even know that ants ate brooms.

Cricket then got a baseball bat to bang the pipe instead when the Russian neighbor, who was Cricket's gramma's enemy, Mr. Grigorian, complained. I warned Cricket not to do it, but he did it anyway.

Cricket wracked the pipe extra hard, and just as I had feared, there was now a leak. I panicked about this again.

This is all too much and happening so fast! I couldn't do this! I was just a kid! I pulled out my phone and called Vasquez. Cricket, of course, complained about this.

As soon as Vasquez arrived, I got into the baby sling (don't judge me) attached to his stomach. I told Cricket that I was never coming back and we left.

As soon as Vasquez landed us back in the backyard, Mom and Dad came running up to us. I got out of the baby sling to hug them.

"Oh, thank heavens you're safe, Remy!" Mom said.

"I was going to come and talk some sense into you if you stayed at least one more day." Dad added. "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright, Dad." I said. After I got done hugging them, I frowned. "But I'm really sorry for what I've done. I know it was wrong and I shouldn't have. I learned my lesson. I'm ready to be grounded for eternity or however long it'll take."

"Why would you ever run away from us?" Mom wanted to know. "Don't you…don't you love us?"

"Mom, it's not that." I told her. "I love you guys and Vasquez with all my heart."

"Then why? You live in a mansion, you get a lot of stuff that a kid could want, we don't abuse you and even though your father and I are oftentimes busy at our lawyer jobs, and we make sure we have time for you. Why run away from all of that?"

"I was sick and tired of rules and chores, the same as Cricket." I answered. I sighed. "I know. No excuse. I'm so sorry. I'll never do it again."

"We're still mad that you would do this to us, Remy." Dad. said. "But we're so glad that you are home."

"I am too, Dad. I missed you, Mom and Vasquez." Vasqeaz sighed with a frown.

"I guess I might be one of the reasons why you wanted to run away, Master Remy." He said. We all looked at him.

"What do you mean, Vasquez?" Mom wanted to know.

"Yeah, Vasquez." I said as well. "What do you mean? It's not your fault at all." My bodyguard looked at me.

"You mean you weren't mad at me because I didn't let you walk by yourself, let you pour your own water or let you brush your own teeth?" This time, I sighed.

"Well, you do treat me like a baby and I guess I might become too dependent on you that way instead of doing things for myself if you keep doing things for me, but running away was my fault. I take full responsibility." Vasquez smiled.

"I'm glad you're taking full responsibility for this, Remy. I promise I'll try not to baby you too much and let you do more things for yourself. It's hard to know and accept that you are growing up." I smiled at him.

"Thanks, Vasquez. I appreciate that very much. But for right now, I'll just be a kid because I am a kid."

"That's right, don't grow up too fast. Just enjoy your childhood for however long it lasts."

"I will."

"You and Cricket were gone for a whole day." Mom spoke, changing the subject. "I'm kind of curious about how this is possible."

"I am too." Dad said too. "Maybe tell us inside."

"Ok." I responded. "I can do that." And with that, we all went inside.

"So, you left Cricket there?" Mom wanted to know as soon as I was done telling them.

"Yeah." I replied. "I guess I did." I then frowned. "I'm worried about him. He could still be there."

"I wouldn't worry, son." Dad assured me with a smile. I looked at him, puzzled.

"Why?"

"Because if you came to your senses and came home, so will he."

"You think so? I don't know about that. I want to believe you. I really do, but I don't know." This time, Mom smiled.

"I believe your father is right." She agreed. "It might take him some time, but he will eventually. Now that he is alone, he'll get lonely, realize that he is too young to live on his own and come home." I smiled back.

"Yeah, I get you, Mom. I believe he will too." I saw Dad's expression. So did Mom and Vasquez.

"What is it, sir?" Vasquez wanted to know. Dad looked at me.

"Son, I don't get it. How can two grown adults allow a couple of kids to rent out an apartment all to themselves?"

"I don't know, Dad." I answered him with a shrug. "Maybe because they saw a rich kid with money? Cricket did say money will make adults go crazy and lose control."

"That's true. Having money is good, but having too much money can sometimes make people greedy and corrupt. I'm going to have a word with their boss. I don't like what they did to you two. Not at all."

"Oh please, don't have them fired because of us."

"They might have to be, son. They might take advantage of another kid like that. Kids shouldn't be able to rent apartments." I sighed.

"I guess." I then changed the subject. "The money corrupting people thing, that won't happen to us, will it?" Dad just smiled at me.

"You just don't worry about that, Remy. You're a kid. You just have to worry about kid stuff. Leave all of the adult stuff to me, Mom and Vasquez." I smiled back.

"I will, Dad. I'm not ready to be an adult yet. I'm only nine."

"That's right, son. What you should be worried about is your punishment." I gulped, sighed, and nodded.

"Ok. Tell me. I'm ready."

I got grounded for three days. It would have been longer, but Mom and Dad agreed that I learned my lesson. But I hated it just the same. It was the longest three days of my life.

The good news is Dad called the Greens and informed me that Cricket came home not long after I did so I didn't have to worry. That would have made my grounding much worse.

After my grounding was up, I immediately got on my phone (after I got it back from Dad) and called my best friend.

"Cricket!" I said on the phone when Cricket answered.

"Remy!" Cricket said back, "Boy, am I glad to hear your voice again. It seemed like forever since we last talked."

"I know. Sorry, I would have talked to you much sooner, but I got grounded for three days straight."

"Bummer!"

"How long did you get grounded for?"

"A day." I was shocked.

"A day? Lucky!"

"It would have been longer, but I promised Dad I would do my chores, as well as Tilly's for a whole week." Again I was shocked.

"Wow! Tilly's too? Sounds like Tilly got the better deal out of this." I heard Cricket's sigh.

"I know, but running away was my fault. You're lucky that you're an only kid, Remy."

"To be honest, Cricket, there are pros and cons to it. It can get pretty lonely being the only Remington kid with a mansion all to himself. I wish I had a sibling to play with."

"I guess I hear you. Having a big sister can be a pain in the rear, but I'm glad to have her around and can't imagine life without her." He changed the subject. "So, why are you calling? To check up on me?"

"That's part of it."

"Do you want to come over?" I was shocked for a third time.

"Wow! You read my mind! Of course! Well, I have to ask Mom and Dad first, but of course!"

"I have to ask Dad too, and of course I want you to come over. It's been three whole days since I last saw you."

"It seems like a lifetime."

"It sure does, buddy. Well, hopefully I see you soon."

"You too!"

A half hour later, I was at Cricket's house. I told him what happened to me after we parted ways.

"So did you finish painting the fence?" I questioned him. He nodded.

"I sure did." He replied. I sighed.

"I kind of wished I could've helped you. Running away was my fault too. We should have never done it."

"I hear you. We shouldn't have done it either, but we learned our lesson, so I guess that's good. We'll never do that ever again."

"I guess. And yeah, I agree, we will never do that ever again."

"I can't believe those two people let two kids rent out an apartment to themselves."

"My dad couldn't either. He said he would talk to their boss. You think Dad got them fired?" He shrugged.

"Don't know. Don't care! Now let's be kids and PLAY!"

"Okay."

And so, Cricket and I played until I had to go home. And we would keep on playing, having fun and just be goofy, little kids until the time comes and we sadly can't anymore. I'm sure glad that we don't have to worry about adult stuff for a long, long time, and I imagine, Cricket is too.