Conjurer & The Sacred Lemons (4 page)

Ursula’s mind was also going back again and again to last 3 months when they shifted from Jersey to Mandeville and settled in this new home. The last 3 month’s journey was moving in front of her eyes like a slow motion film.

Chapter 3

Finding a Home in New Orleans

“Wow…. This is the perfect home “exclaimed Ursula William at the first sight of the home.

Estate broker Sandra felt happy at the first comment. She was trying to get some deal on this home for last 2 years but somehow it was not going through due to one or other reason from the potential home owner’s side.

Patrick William, Ursula’s husband however did not respond to Ursula’s comment. He was still looking at the home. Prima facie he also liked the home but he was not ready to speak his mind until he took a look at the inside.

Sandra in her typical sell speech as a broker , was bursting out with all the adjectives she knew.

Patrick William was in his early forties and his wife Ursula was in her late thirties. They were planning to shift from New Jersey to New Orleans Tennessee. Patrick had recently lost his job in a pharma factory in New Jersey as the company had shifted the production to China under the pretext of low production cost there. Patrick however was compensated with a voluntary retirement package by the company. Ursula was a freelance journalist working with number of publications in travel and tourism. Mostly she used to work from home. The couple had two school going children. It was a typical American family.

Three months after the New Jersey Pharma company relived Patrick from his job, he finally found a new job in a specialty chemical factory based at New Orleans. There was no option available for the William’s but to shift from Jersey to New Orleans.

The day before, William’s along with their 2 children –Son Victor aged 8 years and daughter Alice 6 years travelled by road for almost 10 hours to reach New Orleans in their old GM car. Ursula many times asked Patrick to go for a new efficient vehicle as their old car was a gas guzzler; However Patrick loved the old car so much that he just kept on neglecting the advice from Ursula. They stayed at a motel for the night as the meeting with Sandra; the real estate agent was planned the next day. Victor was a 3’rd standard student while Alice had just moved to class 1 from Kindergarten.

The house from the outside looked like a typical American house. In the front was a lawn which was green but looked like it was not mowed for couple of months. The Lawn was neatly fenced with a wooden fence. However at some of the places it gave through due to decaying of the wooden poles.

Sandra opened the gate and all of them moved inside the house. The ground floor part of the house had 2 bed rooms, a kitchen and a living room. Some old furniture like couches and cupboards were lying in the living room. The first floor had two more bedrooms, a storage room. There was a fire place in the ground floor living room as well as on the 1 st floor. There was an underground bunker or cellar to protect the family from tornados and storms which were quite prevalent in Tennessee.

Sandra’s nonstop sell pitch was going on. However both Patrick and Ursula were busy checking the conditions of the rooms and the facilities.

“Is the heating and cooling system is in order? “Patrick asked Sandra.

“Yes, perfectly in order. The system is only 10 years old “Sandra replied.

Meanwhile Victor and Alice were running all around the home, front lawn and the backyard.  Ursula time to time was shouting on them to stop running around the house and sit at one place.

Ursula checked the kitchen including the sink and the gadgets. The pan and the Gas stove were in good condition. However she felt that lot of efforts would be required to make it spic and span.

“Sandra, what about the Bunker? “ Patrick enquired

“Let me show that  ...Come in “Sandra Replied.

They all went inside the bunker. The bunker was smelly probably due to the fact that it was shut for a long time. The light was dim and there was some old furniture lying there in broken condition.

“Sandra, how often the menace of tornados experienced here? “ Ursula asked.

“Not very regular but yes there are 3-4 on an average in the season “Sandra replied back.

“This Bunker would require a lot of cleaning “Patrick commented.

“Well, before handover to you, I would arrange for cleaning agency to the clean the entire house. It is on me.” Sandra assured Patrick.

“Sandra, who is the owner of the house?” Patrick asked.

“The property belonged to Smiths. They left the town couple of years back. Now their cousin Paul smith is the owner but he is settled in Washington” Sandra provided the details.

“Where are the Smiths now?” Ursula asked out of curiosity.

“No idea but Paul said they had migrated to Canada couple of years back “Sandra Replied.

All of them came back to the living room now.

Patrick was ok with the house. Ursula already was in love with the house.

However both wanted to check some more details before starting the pricing negotiations.

“How about the neighborhood?’ Patrick enquired.

“Oh nice one, this lane has around 10 such houses. The ones which are near to you include Watson’s, Wang’s, Brown’s, Right’s and one Indian family “Patel’s” Sandra was well prepared with all the details.

“How far are the school, church, market and hospital from this locality?” Patrick enquired.

“Oh... All these are available very nearby. Hardly miles “Sandra replied.

“The wall mart is about a mile from here, there are 4 churches within a radius of half a mile and there are 3 public schools and one district school about 1.5 miles from here “Sandra was quick to answer.

“Patrick and Ursula, this locality actually falls in the suburb of Mandeville  ... The community is well to do and generally a very peace loving community “Sandra added more details.

“What about the garage, we have not seen it “Patrick asked.

“I do not have the garage keys with me right now “Sandra told

“However what we have seen in the backyard is the garage and it is pretty spacious “Sandra provided the details.

Victor and Alice were still busy in running around in every nook and corner of the house. Both of them liked the house as compared to their rented apartment in Jersey. This was big with ample playing space in the front and the backyard.

“Sandra, we are done with the visit, when can we meet in the evening?” Patrick asked.

Sandra looked pleased. She knew both Patrick and Ursula liked the house.

“Can we meet at my office around 6 pm? “ Sandra enquired.

“That is ok for us. We want to leave tomorrow morning for Jersey “Patrick replied.

Sandra was happy. She was trying to sell this property for last 3 years. She had shown it to 8 to 10 prospective customers so far. However none of them responded after seeing the house. There were several reasons for this. Some families wanted a swimming pool; some were interested in bigger living room and so on. Paul smith was continuously in touch with Sandra for last 3 years to dispose of his uncles’ property. But Sandra couldn’t materialize anything in last 3 years.

While they were leaving for lunch in the town from the new house, Ursula could see an old man with worn out coat and similar hat moving around the area.She had noticed the same fellow when they came with Sandra in the morning to have a look at the house. The man was loitering in the neighborhood at that time.

Ursula was always worried with such people especially with beggars and strangers due to having 2 kids in the home.

“Ursula  ...Looks like we are in a good locality “Patrick asked while driving his GM SUV.

“I am in love with the property but one thing I was worried about some beggars or strangers loitering in the neighborhood “

“Come on Ursula  ... these are homeless creatures wondering around or quietly sitting at one place. What they expect is some money or charity at the most. Mostly harmless “Patrick

“Yes... I was worried. But forget that ... let us go for this house. I liked the house and the neighborhood “Ursula replied.

.

Probably both were impressed by the serenity of the area and a big house. In Jersey they had spent years together in the rented apartment. The apartment was good but was a smaller one and was situated in the bustling market area. It has put lot of restriction on them, especially for Victor and Alice as they had little space for playing.

Patrick stopped the car near the Big Mac. Children faces immediately changed into joy seeing the Mac.

“Alice… look we are at Mac “Victor exclaimed

“Yeh……” Alice replied.

Patrick and Ursula knew that both the children were a big MAC fans.

At Big Mac Children had a lot of fun while having their meals.

William’s retuned to the motel. It was late afternoon by now and they wanted to have some rest before meeting Sandra in the evening.

Sandra was waiting for the William’s in her office in the town. William’s were late as they couldn’t locate her office easily. Seeing them coming towards office Sandra had a sigh of relief. She initially thought whether William’s have changed their mind and may not come to the office.

“Hi Patrick, Ursula & little angels …” Sandra greeted them.

“Good evening Sandra “Ursula greeted back.

Patrick immediately opened the topic of the price. However he also told Sandra that the property is old and requires some repair and maintenance. They would also like to make some changes in the living room and the kitchen. Patrick knew if he puts some problems before Sandra, she would not ask for unreasonable price on behalf of her client. Higher the price higher the commission for Sandra. However after trying for last3 years Sandra was more interested to get into deal rather on harping on more and more commission.

Sandra Smiled at Patrick and Ursula.

“What is important to me that you liked the house… “Sandra quipped.

“My client expects at least 140000 USD for this property “Sandra directly came to the point.

“It is too much for us. It is on higher side “Patrick told Sandra.

“What is your quote?” Sandra asked Patrick. Ursula was just listening.

“I could pay only 110000 USD for this...” Patrick replied.

“Oh... there is a wide gap…I will have to check back with Paul “Sandra replied.

“We can wait for a week…” Patrick replied.

“If it does not go through for some time we will opt for a rented house “Ursula added

The thought of the old man loitering in the neighborhood in shabby clothes and hat was still on Ursula’s mind. She could not hold it back.

“Sandra, I had seen one old shabby fellow loitering around the neighborhood today. I am a little nervous …You know we have small kids “Ursula asked hesitantly.