Cops and Rats on Wasitabat
Today we had an unexpected delivery. You know that saying, “Nothing good ever comes in the mail?” Well, nothing good gets hand delivered to you by a cop, either. In the midst of a code writing storm going on in the apartment, Jared heard a knock on the door. A surly female CPD officer handed him a court summons. Looks like the guy who’s subletting the place to us dipped out on rent for the past two months and is facing eviction and a $3,000 fine. Just our effing luck to be caught in the middle of this situation!
Jared called me right away as I was on an aimless walk and telephone conversation down by the lake (which was crazy yesterday because of the wind). Before I tell you what he said to me, the backstory is that I’d gone out for a drink with a friend of ours the night before. I had to ride back to the apartment on the northside all the way from downtown in the wind and it was kind of brutal getting home at 3 a.m. His first response to the court summons, “Did you do anything on the way home from the bar last night?” Me- “Oh shit they found out about my prostitution ring?…I fucked a cop?” I mean seriously, how does that make sense whatsoever, Jared. Pretty sure that’s not the way things work. If you do something, you usually get arrested right then and there.
It’s a trap!
Another special surprise…we often hear rats running around in the walls of this apartment complex. For the most part it’s just comical and adds even more character to the situation. But things went too far last night. I was cutting cilantro, and a rat ran across my foot. Absurd! It’s not as though I’m terrified of rats or anything. I used to have one as a pet for gosh sake, but I have to admit that the surprise visit from our mammalian friend really creeped me out. Later on I heard some weird murmuring noises under the cabinet. My rat never sounded like that!
That’s me and Ratso, who is now living with my framebuilder Ed and his rat Peanut. At least I hope she is as I haven’t been informed of her status lately. Ed had plans of welding a rat palace for the two of them. He seemed happy to welcome my mammalian friend into his home. I was elated that Ratso would be making a new friend. Rats are social creatures that enjoy the company of their own species.
I found Ratso at a reptile store. I went there to purchase a rat to feed to my friend’s snake, but then I just couldn’t do it. I tried to let Ratso go into a park, but she didn’t want to leave the paper bag. So then I went to the thrift store and got a cage and she lived with me for a while. Sometimes I would ride the bike with Ratso on my shoulder. It was quite a crowd pleaser.
-L
when i googled for did not pay rent, i got this… what?
http://vintagesleazepaperbacks.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/love-addict.jpg
that’s hardcore!
Steal everything in that apartment! Thats what J.C would do.
actually, it kind of sounds like they’re not coming back, so why not?
Should I be looking for the new website: WASITARATISAW?
yes! RATISAW can be my spinoff blog when jared leaves me.
I figured that was going to happen. Going on tour? HA more like running away. I was in Amsterdam and paid for a week up front. I was so freaked out. Turns out he bought us dinner at then end and was a great person.
Looks like you’re making friends faster than I could.
Ok Dumpster diving,biking, camping, and rat lover. Very nice we need a few more females like you.
yes, rat lover. but i only befriend posh rats- not the gnarly kind from under the sink. ratso was totally posh.
Are you paying this guy? Because, without knowing a thing about Illinois property law, my guess is that at this point he does not have the right to sublet it to you and you basically have the legal status of squatters — in other words, as Mickey says, you can be physically evicted from the apartment at pretty much any time, with no notice. (They probably need to give you a few minutes to collect your belongings, and they probably have a minor duty to safeguard whatever you leave behind — but maybe not.)
That might really suck if it happened on a sub-zero December evening.
Anyway I hope you aren’t paying much for a rat-infested, closet-sized room six inches from the L that you could be evicted from at any moment.
E
hey E-
we were told that he spoke to the landlord and said that people would be staying here.
we paid him directly for the sublet.
we were only subletting until the end of the month anyways, and according to the summons the eviction could happen anytime after the courtdate if he fails to file an appearance and show up.
the court date is 3 days before we’d be leaving the place anyways. if worst comes to worst we’ll just leave and stay with a friend.
Well the good news is that you don’t have to pay rent anymore. The bad news is that at some point in time you’re physically going to be removed from you apartment.
One interesting twist after another!
Geez. Well, good luck today at your interview.