I explained my situation, going as far as to tell Gene the money I had in my wallet, the estimated amount of the first check I’d receive the following Friday, and the amount I expected from each check thereafter. I held nothing back, hoping that the truth and all its vulnerabilities would speak volumes about my character. When I finished he crossed his arms and eyed me cautiously until the phone rang. It was an old rotary an arm’s reach away and he snatched it up from its cradle, looking at me as the person spoke, and then he said, “I’m sorry, I just rented it actually, but thanks for calling.” He hung up. I couldn’t stop my facial features from doing precisely what they wanted to do, which was break out into a smirk of excitement.

“I listed the apartment at five fifty because I was hoping to rent it for an even five hundred, which I’ll be happy to give it to you for,” he said. “But my terms are fifty dollars now to hold it. Another two fifty when you’re paid on Friday and you can move in. The paycheck after that you pay the remaining balance—two hundred—and then I expect the rent to be paid in full on the first of every month. You can pay early if you want, but not late. You’ve seen the place and know its condition, so there isn’t much point in asking for a deposit, nor will I make you sign a contract. All I do ask is that you give me a month’s notice if you decide to leave. Do we have a deal?”

Had I not noticed the picture on the wall of a much younger version of Gene wearing army fatigues, or the one beside that in which he looked fifteen years older wearing the same uniform, the methodical way in which he spoke would have still led me to assume a life in the military. He sat straight and kept one hand over the other. His words seemed carefully weighed before he spoke them and his eyes never left mine. I believed his terms were done for the sake of order, and not because he believed I would slight him in any way. He was testing me, my commitment, my will, by leaving me with only eleven dollars for the next six days. I felt I needed to prove it to him. Call it pride. Going without was nothing new for me; I’d had twenty-seven years’ worth of training to become inured to the rigors of hard living.

“You bet,” I said and shook his hand. I removed a fifty from my wallet and laid it out on the table. He left it there without touching it, without even glancing down at it.