Member-only story
The Year of the Rat — Entrepreneuring pg144–145
Colorful companion to my memoir The Incompetent Psychic
1987
About the time fairy lights were flickering along a path to Luke & Mernie matrimony I discovered sailboats and sailors. Then I did this generous young man a big favor. I acted out, broke his heart and dumped his nice-looking ass.
My parents drove up from Los Angeles and saw the mess their house was in. They also found out how high rents had climbed in that area. An understanding conversation with Joan about moving on forestalled a stern eviction lecture from Roy. He was entitled though, because at 32 it really was time to be booted from the family nest and make another new start.
By May I had rented a sturdy, but run down 19th century saltbox building by the waterfront in Benicia’s eclectic downtown. It had been an antique shop for many years, and was cosmetically challenged. There was a hole in the kitchen floor just big enough for a Norway rat to get through.
It needed a month of hard work, but the toilet flushed and the rent was gloriously cheap. By Joan’s generous deadline it was fixed up with new flooring, a makeshift kitchen, a covered patio, carpets, insulation, drywall and paint. I moved into my very own place. — End of Chapter 7
