They’d been together for eight or nine months; he wanted to be officially engaged before they moved in together, but there was a listing in the Reader for a place off Division for $900 a month. They almost blew it off at the last minute because it was freezing and maybe they were rushing things, but it was $900 for a three-bedroom, c’mon.
The landlord was an aging hippie, Chicago-neighborhood style. He’d lived on that block his whole life. The front door of the apartment opened into the foyer; at first glance it seemed like one of those typical long Chicago apartments, a room in the front, rooms in the middle, a room in the back, the Chicago version of a railroad but with doors. He walked them to the living room, in the front. The heater’s in a weird place, he said. Built in 1901. There was a small room off the living room, a perfect office, a place for her desk right in front of the window. Back through the living room to the foyer, the landlord opened another door into a long, narrow room. This is an odd room, there used to be a wall in the middle here, there’s no fixture, this outlet doesn’t work, I don’t think. Silently, they pictured their stuff there, maybe an office for him, maybe a guest room, maybe a kid’s room. In the kitchen, the landlord said There aren’t really any cabinets or counters. I built these shelves but that’s it. Also this is the only bathroom, he said, opening a door within the kitchen. I know right off the kitchen isn’t ideal. At the back of the apartment, another bedroom was long and wide, windows on two sides, room for both their ancient dressers, a big bed, maybe even a chair. There’s a big crack in the ceiling up here, the landlord said, you see this, right? Was he expecting them to negotiate at this point? So far all they knew was he was showing them rooms upon rooms and he wasn’t done yet. An open doorway at the back of the bedroom led into another small bedroom, with another window. Maybe it was a baby’s room once, since the only way to enter it was through the larger bedroom. There’s no closet in this room, though. The couple was communicating psychically at this point. They knew that could be the closet. The landlord took them up a small staircase to an attic the size of the entire apartment downstairs. It’s unfinished, though. Well, there is a room in the front, I’ll show you, maybe you could use it for something. The brick was noticeably leaning outward toward the ceiling on the south wall. This was the only flaw the landlord didn’t point out, the only one that seemed truly problematic long-term. Would this amazing, quirky old house literally fall down on top of them? It had been standing for a hundred years! In back of the house, there was an upper deck and a lower deck and a fully landscaped yard. I built this, did all the landscaping myself. Those are rosebushes, lilacs, lilies. There was also a big shade tree and a small curving path to the wooden gate that led to the back alley. It’s a shared space. I use the storefront space for a studio but I live in my brother’s building next door. They told him it was the first place they’d looked at, but they liked it and they’d think about it and get back to him soon. They giggled in the car as soon as they left.
Was that too good to be true? Could this be this easy? How can we only look at one apartment? Is it too soon? Let’s sleep on it. No, let’s say a prayer. They looked at one apartment. When she first got to Chicago, she hadn’t even looked at her first one at all when it was offered to her by a friend. Two bedrooms and a back porch? I’ll take it, thanks. New York apartment hunting had never been less than a nightmare. Maybe in Chicago this was how it always was. Maybe it was meant to be. Did she believe in meant to be? She did not. She believed in what was, and what this was seemed pretty darn sweet. Maybe they’d get married in the backyard in the fall. They were giddy. They said a prayer. God, help us make the right decision, let us know if this is the right thing. God didn’t answer back, but they moved in anyway, and got married in the yard anyway, and no one wondered what was right for a long time after.