A Christmas Suicide, Or Thoughts Of

told several of you how excited I was about my new apartment.

Last night I finished moving in at 7. I moved everything all by myself and it was hard work but well worth the effort. I figured this place would be my last share until I finished my book, which is due at the publisher's on June 15th. Hopefully by then I will be able to rent my own place. I have to do things this way because of a combination of reasons; poor financial decisions in my twenties and a lack of money as a result being major among them.

This morning, the woman who lives here hands me her cell phone and tells me Tony is on the phone. She doesn't speak English so I thought perhaps he was just going to relay a message for her. Now Tony is the agent who my roommate service went through to obtain this place. Margaret at the roommate service told me he is a total drunk but only deals in the best places, so she uses him frequently. and after the rat infested dump I just fled, that sounded fine by me.

I said, "Hello?"

He said, "Tara, her family is coming. You have to leave."

I said, "You mean for the night?" Tis the season and all.

He said, "No. Forever."

I guess between eight o'clock last night and soometime today, her fucking Florida family fucks decided to move up here and now I have to leave. Tony said not to worry. She is giving me my money back and I should just come down to his office and he can find me a room and we can have sex.

Yep.

But I thought he was slurring his words because of what the woman told me about his drinking. So when he offered to pay for my cab fared downtown so he could explain to me what was goin on and what he could do for me, I hopped right in a car service wearing a pajama top, sweats, sneakers, jacket, and a furry hat.

When I arrived at his building, he came down and paid for the cab as promised. I got out and asked what the fuck was going on. He remained quiet but smiled. We rode the elevator to the 15th floor in silence and when we got off he looked back at me and smiled this very boyish grin. He looked like a slimy elf.

Iniside, the smell of sour man filled my nostrils. A statue of the Virgin stood on a coffee table surrounded by piles of trash. Some office. I know a lot of people work out of their homes and since he rents shares, he really only needs a phone and a fax. It's very NYC; we've all seen it or done it. But this place reeked. He turned up the volume on the TV and motioned for me to keep it down.

"What the fuck is going on? I don't have any more money."

He said, "It ok, Sweetie. She gonna give you your money back. It ok. I find you another room. Her family come." He spoke a little more, trying to reassure me and calm me down...and then he leaned in, touched my cheek and kissed me on the neck, going for my mouth!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

I kid you not the fuck not I am not fucking kidding not.

I pushed him off and said, "Don't you ever touch me again or I will fucking toss you out that window." He looked across the room at the open window and laughed. This made me so mad, so I decided to slap him, which I did with a balled up fist. He was little too quick for me, so I only partially caught the side of his face..

He screamed in pain, "Oh my God I am so sorry!"

I spoke iin a really low gutteral tone. I asked what the fuck would make him think that I want to kiss him. He pleaded with me to come out in the hall. Once there I explained to him through clenched jaw that he was lucky that I didn't kill him and that he needed to understand that I am the kind of person that would hurt him. There was no yelling. I just made him cower. I don't understand why he thought...he could touch me and what that would do to help me or what he thought or if he thought. Period.

So now I am back at my place. Tony swears he is looking for a new room for me. I am going to see Margaret Oh, and I am going to the cops. I am going to ask one of them to come back to the apartment with me because this woman I am living with seems to think I can just pack up and leave tonite. I am scared she is going to move my stuff into the hallway and I need someone to explain to her that I will leave when I can and until then, she should keep her hands off of my shit.

I don't know how my radar could have been so off on this. My instincts are usually dead-on. I feel sick and I hate everything again.

******************

Update: I got a Spanish speaking cop to talk to the lady I rent from so I could get a better sense of what is happening, as Tony is a nightmare and can't explain anything to me. So she has agreed to let me stay until I find a place. It looks like I will be looking at shares on Christmas.

And I almost feel like I have to go through Tony or I won't get my money back from the room. I told the cops what happened with him but there is not a lot they can do about it, which I already knew. You can't arrest someone for an inappropriate tactless sexual advance. So I am going to make this guy's life a living hell for the next 24 hours and once I am set up in my new place, I just might go back to his "office" and slap the shit outta him again. But I know he needs me to go through him despite me hitting him, because he really needs my fee.


Tara Parks's picture

| | | | |

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
SteamGeek's picture

stormy waters

I hope it turns out to be just a small ripple in the pond.

(the timing sucks ass)

The next place that shows up may be far better. Perhaps once the refund is in hand, all will be well so you can focus on other more rewarding matters.


mole333's picture

Wow...

That's seriously fucked up. Just remember, someday it will be a good story to tell. Until then, just keep in mind you'll get through it.

Best of luck!


Tara Parks's picture

thanks, Mole333. i

thanks, Mole333. i appreciate the well wishes.


liza's picture

I am speechless

WHAT THE FUCK!

I can't even begin to process what's happened here. I mean ...geezus.

I am so sorry to hear this Tara. Seriously. Now I am raking my brains trying to think of anybody who may be able to help you because, honestly, I wouldn't know how to proceed short of killing that slimy asshole. What company is this guy working? All I can think of right now is to report him to whatever the name of the city agency that licenses realtors and also to go straight to small claims court. It's the only way you can tend pile on for harrassment ... oooh ... now that I think about it, it's illegal what he did under housing laws. There is a division in the department of housing that deals with harrasment and discrimination by realtors and/or landlords.

Urhg. It's the holidays and I am leaving NYC tomorrow for the day. I won't be able to ask my DA friend until later this week or next Sad But call me if you need a place to crash this weekend.


Tara Parks's picture

well, Liza, you probably

well, Liza, you probably know how a lot of this works, but i am going to explain it to some readers who may not be familiar with NYC. i have dealt with renting rooms for years; most of these agencies are not licensed properly, if at all, and therefore, most of them are not monitored. they usually work out of one room rented from another business or out of their own apartments. they survive through artists or lower classes bc we need them to find a place to live and the people renting out the rooms need them, too. most of the renters are immigrants who need help with paying the rent. i cannot afford to pay a broker's fee and the rent on my own apartment or a large security deposit on a normal share situation. these room agents (some of them are fine; just trying to make a buck) will help you bypass all of that. so i don't know if they would have to answer to a housing department about how they run their business bc a housing department may not be the department that needs to be dealing with them. i know that if i rented a place and was in it for thirty days, this woman i rented from couldn't kick me out no matter if it's a legal rental or not.

you know... i feel embarrassed to be a writer at this point. i temp so i don't have the pressure of a full time job so i can try to finish a book contract which gives me no money upfront. i don't have a rich family to help me out and my savings are nil. i own some nice clothes, books, music, pictures of loved ones, and a cat that is currently residing with my parents in Tennessee. that is all my fault, bc of past mistakes and bad decisions, so i am not whining. i am just trying to work my way out of it and at this point, i really don't see how it is possible. i need a few days/YEARS to think it through. right now, i regret being a creative and wish i worked on Wall Street.

but i can also say this: Tony is going to rue the day he met me. i was sued by a landlord once for over $50,000 dollars and i won wo the help of a lawyer. the judge called me an "interesting person". and i know how to make paybacks exceedingly hellish; i just must decide the form it is going to take. as it is now, the woman who i am renting from as given me a bit of an extension on getting my stuff out bc it's the holidays and she gave me such short notice. but Tony has been a fucking asshole and i am not going to let him get away with it. once i find a place to live, he's gonna realize that. i mean, i don't back down. and the same for the woman Margaret who is the first agent I went through and who introduced me to Tony. she's on my Christmas shit list if she doesn't come through. i should know in the next two days (the holiday has slowed down everything).

i still can't believe that Tony really said that on the phone and was not slurring his words. you just don't thnk stupid shit like this happens.


mrs. robinson's picture

mmhmm

ahhh, a better understanding now. shush with the cursing yourself for being creative. just hang in there. your talent will pay off. this kind of thing just makes you think the grass might be greener in 9-to-5-W-2 paycheck land, but it's not...not for someone with your talent and creativity.

my last landlord owes me 500 bucks still. she put me thru the wringer so bad while i lived there. i was so sick of her ass and didn't want to go to court, even though it was a slam dunk for me. i still envision my flaming shit on her doorstep. i'm sure it will happen. flash your pussy at that bible thumper at least once before you go. being childish always makes things better.


Visit our sponsors

Fill up our coffee fund

BlogAds

Visit our sponsors

Who's online

There are currently 4 users and 13559 guests online.

Get our Digestifs du jour

Nibble daily on our brainy goodness with our daily syndication digest. You'll receive an email with a list and links to the previous day's posts.



Powered by FeedBlitz

culturekitchens

The Publisher
Liza Sabater

Daily servings of political dissent
culturekitchen

Grassroots News and
Activism for New Yorkers

Daily Gotham

Feminist Bloggers
Network

BlogSheroes

A new kind of vouyerism
Voogling

Art + Code + Philosophy
Potatoland.blog

Got any dirt, tips, leads or money for us? Then drop us a line or two at editors [at] culturekitchen [dot] com or use our general contact form to reach everybody in the editorial team ASAP.


Member's articles and stories

More stories

Words to live by

What are we doing in Iraq? Saddam is dead, we found no weapons of mass destruction, and we know that Iraq didn’t attack us — we need to get out.


— Steve Harrison, Democratic Candidate for Congress


Subscribe Buttons

Feed IconGoogleDeliciousYahoo!BloglinesNewsgatorMSNFeedsterAOLFurlRojoNewsburstPluckFeedFeedsAdd KinjaMultiRSSrMailRSSFwdBlogarithmSimplify