“College exams?” John asked, now totally baffled.
“Yeah. I need to get some of the IT-certifications that are essential in my line of work. With how my job description evolved over the last year, I realized that I have to do something to secure my position. But the first set of certifications alone will cost me around four grand, so ... I’ll just have to talk with Bill next week. Maybe he’ll agree to pay for some of them as some kind of professional training. But that would only solve my immediate problem, anyway. I seriously doubt Aaron could come up with another twenty grand for Logan’s tuition within the next six months, so then we’ll be right back to where we’re now.” I said, shrugging my shoulders.
John and Danielle seemed consumed in a half whispered, yet still heated, discussion between themselves, trying to make sense of that new development they had no idea about. Then John seemingly remembered the original reason for our meeting.
“So, I assume this favor you need is about money?” he asked, and I placed the printouts between us on the table. He looked them over before giving me a questioning look. “Foreclosure Homes?”
“Think you could afford to buy these two?”
“Tim...” Danielle started. “Those two amount to $142,000 dollars! That’s a lot of money!”
I reached down, grabbed the bag with the cash, and placed it on the table as well.
“That’s $150,000.” Their eyes flew wide open upon hearing my words, then they grabbed the bag and checked it. “Now, don’t get me wrong. I did my homework, so I know using cash to buy real estate would conflict with the AML regulations and provoke the authorities to check where the money came from. So, here’s my idea. You actually buy these two properties. With your money, for yourself, and in your name. The cash on the table is an insurance policy, for you to know that you don’t actually lose any money. Use it how I did until now, and spend the cash on your grocery shopping, car maintenance ... stuff like that. Anything below three hundred, you can easily pay for in cash without anyone even raising an eyebrow.”
“Not to pry ... but ... we thought you burned the money?” Danielle commented, with a mischievous smirk.
“I may have kept two or three bricks to make up for what I lost during the whole ordeal.” I said, using Aaron’s assumption as a believable excuse. “And now you know why I asked to absolutely not tell the others. When my bank account gets closed because the parents emptied it, I don’t need the grandparents to take that cash as well. I hear Grandpa Mike was very eager to plan how to use it for himself as soon as he learned about it.”
“Yeah.” John said, throwing an uncomfortably apologetic look in my direction about his father’s behavior. “Don’t worry, we won’t tell. But how does buying these houses fix your money problem?”
“The money you’re holding now is exactly half of what’s in thee bricks. The other half could be used to fix both houses up. For the first one...” I said, and pointed at the printout of the one I was talking about. “ ... I’d like to see how much more we could sell it for, after it’s fixed up. See If the profit from reselling it is worth the cash we have to put in.”
“Well, it’s worth a try, I think. I’d like to talk to a friend of mine before that, though. I don’t even know the property values in that area, much less if people are even looking to buy out there.” John remarked, and I nodded my acceptance. “And what about the other house?”
“That’s a three bedroom condo close to the main HCC campus. I was hoping we could use that to clean what’s left of the cash after the renovation.” I paused, took a breath, and continued. Now came the hard part. “We could ‘rent it’ to Ava and Maggie once they start college. I’d give you ... I don’t know ... about eight-hundred dollars every month, and you bank it as if they had paid their rent in cash. Then, I would write you an Invoice for IT security consulting or something, for a little less than the rent, since you’ll have to pay taxes on the property and the income from it. You could rent out the third room to someone else, maybe Ava and Maggie know a friend who’s looking for a room close to college, and collect actual rent from them for yourself.”
As expected, John and Danielle shared a long look that did not seem too happy. I thought I presented a quite lucrative opportunity for them, seeing how they would not lose any money, while having the prospect of receiving some regular extra income. But, of course, there were strings attached. With their properties also came along some obligations the landlords had to uphold. And, most important of all, using their daughter in the scheme was a hard sell. After a while, Danielle spoke up.
“Can we think about it?” she asked, surprisingly carefully.
I got the impression that she was way too conflicted about this. Sure, she had assured me to help without even asking what it was about, grateful for the opportunity to show her sincerity in wanting to rebuild our relationship. But that was before I had proposed to use her daughter for money laundering! I fully expected her reluctance. There was no need for her to feel bad if she refused my offer.
“Of course! John’s idea to talk with someone who actually knows about real estate is a smart move. Just let me know what they say. And I’ll leave the money with you, just so you can spread it out on your bed and roll in it.” I said, causing John to chuckle before I continued while wagging my finger at them. “But don’t have sex on it unless you decide to keep it.” That part caused Danielle to chuckle. “Oh. And don’t say ‘Yes’ because of my comment about barely making rent. I have enough for my next rent and the utility bills left in my account. Since I got a company car with a gas charge card, that won’t be a problem either, and, as I said, I have some cash left over for grocery shopping. So I won’t starve in the foreseeable future. Take your time and think it over thoroughly. I won’t hold it against either of you if you don’t want to do it.”
Both of them nodded with visible relief on their faces. Apparently, my impression of Danny was spot on, and this little speech had removed quite some pressure they felt. We said our goodbyes and I made the drive back home, realizing that it was way earlier than I had anticipated. Even after stopping at another grocery store to buy all the stuff that needed to stay refrigerated, I walked into my apartment with little over two hours to spare before we would have to get on the road to pick up Mia.
After storing the groceries away, and covering my mattress with the new waterproof sheets, I found Ava actually studying in her room like she had claimed. This was new for me, since I had never taken her to be the studious type. Though, honestly, how was I supposed to know anything about her anymore?
While watching her for a while, without her noticing my presence because she was totally focused on reading a worksheet while wearing headphones, I had to grin at the way she chewed on her pencil. She had that look of mad concentration on her face that was cute in a way. So, I decided not to disturb her, and instead started preparations for tonight’s dinner.
The two hours of free time were just enough to get the sauce ready before we would have to leave, and, if I made some extra, I could freeze it and then serve it with some pasta during the week. I chopped the celery, carrots and onions, and threw them in a pan to fry with minced meat. Just when I added the rosemary and garlic, the smell had summoned Ava into the kitchen. She sauntered over to me, and, just like in the morning, wrapped an arm around my waist in an intimate gesture that I still was not sure whether I liked it. I still thought of her as one of my tormentors, but she sure as hell was hot, and I didn’t have to feel affectionate towards her to enjoy her body.
“What are you making?” she asked, never taking her eyes off the pan, but leaning her head against my shoulder while watching me blend the pan’s contents with some red wine.