Chapter 14

Tuesday morning, I gave Vince a call. I told him my plans for the day and he came over. We started by lifting. We kept it to the big five and lifted heavy. Vince could lift more than me on bench press, overhead press, and squat. But I had him beat on deadlift, and bent rows. Swimming works your back. Finished with our lifting, we went for a run.

We started at an easy pace. I picked it up a little, then he picked it up more. Before long, we were really moving at about a six minute per mile pace. “Ten miles?” I said and he laughed. Neither of us could keep that pace up for ten miles so we slowed down and ran about five. Back at the house, I pulled a couple of Gatorades out of the fridge in the gym and we pulled out a couple of camp chairs to relax.

I told him about my trip to Nashville. “I don’t think Lani would have been okay with me making a trip like that,” he said.

“I think Kim knows that there wasn’t much time between a pretty emotional end of things with Sally before the two of us started dating. On top of that, she’s not very experienced, either. She dated a couple of guys before me but none of them for very long.”

“Birch blew it, if you want my opinion. Good news for you, though.”

“No kidding. We need to make reservations in Atlanta. My mom said she’d pick up the tab for everything. I’ll get us reservations for two double rooms.”

“That’s pretty nice of her.”

“Yeah. Investment. We also talked about the possibility of buying a house in Atlanta. Lots of options, there. If all four of us decide that’s what we want, we could shop neighborhoods. Mom would buy a house we could share and she’d decide when we were done if she wanted to sell it or rent it out. You’re ahead of us. Both you and Lani are ahead of Kim and me, but I think she would buy it before the start of the next school year if it worked. I don’t think we would go to Atlanta for our first year of college but there’s no reason we couldn’t take advantage of dependable tenants.”

“That’s what I would be, huh? A dependable tenant? I’ve been called worse. We should definitely shop neighborhoods and find a realtor we like. We can pick up some of those real estate magazines they have at the front of grocery stores.”

“That’s what I was thinking. Maybe it works or maybe it doesn’t but we may as well check. By the way, we did an informal survey at school the other day. No one likes Atlanta,” I said and he laughed.

“Maybe we’ll love it.”

“Right. Big city, far from the ocean. What’s not to like? People say Charleston has charm. You know what no one says about Atlanta?”

“It has charm?” he asked and we both laughed. “Which car are we taking?” We sat in the back seat of his Volvo, then in the back seat of my Rabbit. I’d never done that before. It was an easy choice. His Volvo.

Vince had stuff to do before we went to Atlanta and took off. Mom was back at the hospital, Dane was at work, and so was Kim. I grabbed a book and went to The Cut to relax and enjoy the day. It was beautiful outside.

I had read a chapter or two when I realized traffic on the launch was really moving. A lot of boats were both coming in and being launched. It didn’t look like anyone really needed help but I thought with a little help, traffic would speed up. When someone put their boat in the water, I pulled it around to the back side of the dock and tied it off so they could park their truck. When someone pulled a boat in, I offered to drive it onto the trailer or move it for them. I must have moved twenty boats before it slowed down. I couldn’t remember seeing it that busy.

After landing his boat and moving his truck and trailer, one guy came back to help. “Why are you doing this?” he asked.

“Busy. People could use a hand.”

“You’re not Fish and Game, are you?”

I laughed. “No. Just sort of enjoy doing it.”

I eased a boat around the back side of the dock as another came in. He hollered to me from the dock, “Why? What’s the attraction?” He was probably forty or so, with a serious farmer’s tan and some powerful forearms.

“It’s kind of the ultimate in people-watching. Everyone coming in is tired and either happy or exasperated and the people launching are either all business, or all party. It’s fun.”

“What was I?”

“Not so tired. Businesslike. I figure you had caught a lot of fish, maybe the tide had turned, and you were done. Maybe you figured your freezer was full, or maybe you’ll give some to friends or family. I’d bet you do this at least once a week. I think I’ve seen your Key West center console before.”

“Not bad. Not bad, at all. Pretty observant.”

“I read a lot of Sherlock Holmes,” I said and he laughed.

“Alright, tell me about that deck boat coming up the Wappoo.”

“It’s a married couple, obviously, probably in their mid to late twenties. They have two little kids. This was his idea and she’s just about done for the day. He would have stayed out for another two hours but she threatened him with divorce if he didn’t take them home right this minute. As soon as they land the boat, she’ll head straight for the bathroom and drag the kids with her.”

“Let’s see how close you are,” he said as they pulled up.

“Oh, and he’s probably ticked that he didn’t catch more fish than he did because the kids were underfoot.”

My new friend caught their line and pulled them close to the dock. “If you want to get out with your kids, I could drive the boat onto the trailer when he comes back with it,” he said.

“That would be wonderful. I only caught two fish because bird-brain over there can’t control his kids.”

We both laughed at that. She took the kids straight to the bathroom, while the guy grumbled under his breath and went for the truck.

“I’ll give you a sixty percent on that one.”

“Yes, sir, I didn’t peg her for the fisherman.”

After he pulled the boat onto the trailer and got out, we shook hands and he thanked me for either the education or the entertainment. He wasn’t sure which. Traffic had slowed down and I wasn’t in a mood to read anymore so I went home.

Mom told me that Mrs. McTighe had passed her obstacle course test and was home. The obstacle course consisted of walking up and down the hall, then climbing four steps. She asked about our plans for Atlanta. I told her I’d made reservations at the Hyatt, near Georgia Tech, and gave her the phone number. I laid out our agenda for the two-day trip and we talked about what to look for if we had time to do a little real estate shopping. She told me that since Vince was the oldest and we were taking his car, he was the captain of the ship. I laughed at that but she was serious.

We were on the road by ten. Our first appointment wasn’t until the next day and we weren’t in a hurry. Atlanta was five hours away. Our goal was to get to our hotel before rush hour. Vince drove, with Lani in the passenger seat. As soon as we got on the freeway, Kim took off her shoes, pushed me toward the door, and laid back with her head on my lap. “Wake me when we get there.”

“I don’t think so. You’re heavy. You have a big head.” And that started things off. Lani tried to give Kim singing lessons and it might have worked a little. We pulled off the highway in Augusta to top off the tank and grab some lunch. Back on the road, it was my turn to drive.

We hadn’t gone ten miles before Kim said, “Slow down. You’re driving too fast.” I said, “I’m driving fine, dear. I’m going with the flow of traffic,” and before long, we were doing a pretty good imitation of what we thought a couple who’d been married thirty years would sound like. At first, Vince and Lani didn’t realize we were goofing off but it wasn’t long before Lani said, “He touched me.”

Kim told me about the rodeo coming up and what she thought she’d have to do to be competitive. I asked what kind of events I might compete in and she said I’d need a rope. Huh. I’d never lassoed anything before and a couple of weeks before a rodeo didn’t seem like a good time to start learning.

We got close to Atlanta and Vince took over driving. Atlanta traffic was crazy. We thought we could beat traffic by getting there before the afternoon rush hour but we were wrong. There’s a beltway around the city they’ve nicknamed The Watermelon 500. If you’re driving slower than 80 you should probably expect to be run over. This was not what we were looking forward to.

We decided to drive to Georgia Tech and get a feel for it. Downtown Atlanta took up four pages in the map book. I gave Vince directions toward campus but it wasn’t isolated the way Charleston Southern University or Coastal Carolina was. There was a school building on one side of the street and an office building directly across from it. We needed a map of the campus.

Lani pulled a Georgia Tech catalog out and found the fold-out map on the back page. “Turn right on 10^th. You should pass State Street and the next one is Atlantic Drive. Turn right on that. If you see parking on the left, pull in. That’s as close as you’re going to get.”

Vince followed her instructions and with each passing moment, I became more and more depressed. “It looks like an institution,” I said.

“It is an institution,” Kim replied. “An institution of higher learning.”

“I was thinking it looked more like a prison.”

“I have to agree. It’s not the most attractive college campus,” Lani said.

“We just need to keep in mind why we’d go here. Jack and I can get a great education here. When you go to the record store, do you really care what the building looks like?” Vince asked.

“You’re right. But four years of this. Ugh.”

We walked around to find the buildings we had appointments in the next day, and to stretch our legs. It was Spring Break but not everyone was taking the time off. We were the only people strolling around. Everyone else was on a mission. After a short stroll, we went back to the car and Lani gave directions again.

She had Vince take a different route and we went by a couple of parks. They weren’t anything special but at least it was green, with a few benches. A tiny ray of hope in an institutional world. We drove a couple of miles northeast to Emory. Their campus was a little greener and it seemed easier to find our way around. We found the building for Kim and Lani and then set out toward our hotel.

“There are a lot of apartments around both colleges. I get the distinct impression college students don’t want to drive in this town,” Kim said.

“I have the same feeling. How bad could it be at rush hour?” I asked.

“Driving, or finding parking?” Vince asked.

“I think the trick is to find a place to park nearby and pull a bike off your rack to ride the rest of the way to school. Did anyone else notice all the bike racks?”

“Somebody has to have it figured out. I was thinking we’d find a house miles from campus and outside the city but it’s just so big and so busy that maybe that’s not feasible,” I said.

“We’re meeting four different school officials tomorrow. We each ask their opinion or find out what their students do and go with that,” Vince said. It made sense. How could we figure it out any better than that in a couple of hours or even a couple of days?

We drove toward our hotel, stopping to eat dinner at a restaurant that promised food just like mother used to make. It was a nice promise. It was fast, filling, tasty, and not at all like mom used to make. That was okay. Not everyone’s mom experimented with world cuisine like mine.

We checked into our hotel, stashed our bags in our rooms, and met downstairs in the lounge. We talked about questions we’d ask when we met with representatives from the disciplines we were interested in. We all had similar questions. When we finished, Kim and I went for a walk. At least we started to go for a walk. We got out to the street and it looked like we were in the middle of the financial district.

We went back inside and asked the concierge where there was a park or at least a nice place we could walk. He told us about several parks that were wonderful places to walk, especially in the daytime. The nearest was several miles away.

“It sounds like you don’t think we should go for a walk,” I said, smiling.

“Well, sir, if you do, would you be so kind as to settle your bill first.” Ouch.

“Can I ask you a different question? If you had a daughter going to Emory, and she was going to pick a neighborhood to live in and you wanted her to live in a nice, safe neighborhood, where would you recommend?”

“Chastain Park in Buckhead, on the north end of town.”

“You didn’t have to think about that very long.”

“No, sir, I didn’t.”

“That says a lot. Oh, one more thing. How long have you lived in Atlanta?”

“Forty-one years.”

“No math necessary.”

“No, sir. I’m forty-one.”

I looked to see if Kim had a question for him. She didn’t. He reached under the counter and pulled out a map of Atlanta. He spread it out, put a star next to our hotel, another next to Georgia Tech, and one next to Emory. Then he circled Chastain Park. “It’s not cheap, but if you can afford to stay here, you can probably afford it.” He was right.

“Thank you. Very helpful.” He wished us a pleasant evening and happy hunting.

“Do you think he’s right?” Kim asked.

“Nothing to gain by lying about it. When we get done tomorrow, I think we should drive to Chastain Park, look around, and jot down the names of real estate agents that are listing houses that look good.”

“Sounds like as good a way to start as any.”

When I got up to my room, Vince was ready to hit the sack. He’d checked out the hotel gym and deemed it worthless. He had also checked out the pool and said it was about the same size as the bait well on Dane’s boat. Huh.

We talked about our plan for the next day and fell asleep. It’s kind of funny. Maybe he and Lani were sleeping together and maybe they weren’t. It was none of my business. He probably thought the same about Kim and me. At that moment, the only thing I cared about was whether or not he snored. He didn’t.

The next day, we met in the hotel dining room for breakfast. We drove back to Emory and dropped the girls off, then over to Georgia Tech for our appointments. Two hours later, we reversed the process and drove toward Buckhead. It was only eight miles and thirty minutes from Emory and the houses were nice. Not only that, there were quite a few parks. We all liked it. Kim jotted down the names of realtors she saw on for sale signs. There weren’t a lot of homes for sale and two realtors seemed to have the corner on the market.

We found a gas station and Vince topped off the tank while I looked up the two realtors and called their offices. Fifteen minutes later, the four of us trooped into Janice Adam’s office. “Sell us a house,” Vince boomed as we walked in.

“Why not two houses?” Janice boomed back. I liked her immediately. She was very pretty, and had put a lot of time into choosing her hair, makeup, and wardrobe to look both feminine and professional. All of that somehow made me more confident in her. Talk about judging a book by its cover.

She had almost an hour free before her first appointment of the day. We sat in a little conference room, explained our thoughts and ideas. She said that Chastain Park was a very desirable neighborhood with virtually no crime. Houses there were a good investment. She also said that if we waited until fall to buy one right before school started it would be slim pickings. I told her Lani and Vince were a year ahead of us but either I or my mom would be making the purchase and didn’t mind buying in early spring if that’s what it took to get what we wanted.

“Well, you are just a realtor’s dream. Why don’t I put you on my mailing list? I’ll send you my newsletter once a month and you can get a better idea about the market. When you’re ready to buy and have decided what appeals to you, give me a call and we can set something up.”

“Perfect. Oh, I have one more question. We might end up owning a home for five years to get Vince and Lani, then Kim and me through college. When that time’s up, would we be able to keep the home and rent it out as an investment?”

“You could try. I offer property management services. I collect rent and have contractors on call to take care of any maintenance issues so it’s worry-free for the homeowner. I don’t do a lot of that but I have nine homes that I’m currently managing. Guess how many are in Chastain Park.”

“Nine?” Lani said.

“I wish. Zero. People who could afford to pay rent in Chastain Park, aren’t interested in renting. It’s too expensive. I bet you all live in nice neighborhoods in Charleston. Lots of renters live nearby?”

I couldn’t think of any. We exchanged looks and all shook our heads. “Okay, then, how hard is it to sell in Chastain Park? Or, better yet, will we be able to break even or make money?”

“Definitely. Current time on market in all of Buckhead is less than thirty days. Shorter in Chastain Park. Home prices have started to go up again, and interest rates are coming down. Factoring in closing costs, the breakeven period is right about three years. That means you’ll make money if you hang onto it for five. If the economy continues to improve the way I think it will, you should do fine.”

She gave each of us her current, ten-page newsletter and business card, wished us well and we all walked out together. She drove off in what I guessed was a 1980 or 1981 Mercedes sedan. We watched her drive away, then looked at Vince’s much older Volvo. “I bet she thinks she just wasted an hour,” Vince said.

“Did she strike you as someone who wastes time?” Kim asked.

“No. No, I guess not. What do you think?”

“I think we should find a couple of houses from her newsletter and drive by, just to see what we think. You know, compare the newsletter photo with the actual house, then head for home.”

That’s what we did. After looking at four or five homes, assessing the way Janice Adams described them, and comparing what we’d seen with what we wanted, we started the drive home. We’d looked at the Buckhead area and that was it. Maybe we should have looked at a couple of other areas but we went with that. I thought I should call the hotel back and thank the concierge but I didn’t even remember his name.

We picked up sandwiches at a little deli before getting on the 75 South to pick up the 20 for home. It was Kim’s turn to drive. I helped her manage her sandwich so she could drive and eat. The three of them talked about our appointments and what they had learned, the homes we’d seen, and what the realtor said. I listened and ate.

We had all finished our sandwiches and the conversation slowed. “Mighty quiet up there, Aquaman,” Vince said from the back seat.

“Virginia Tech looked pretty good.” Silence. More silence. “Kim and I went to a presentation. The school is pretty good, although not as good as Georgia Tech and Emory, at least not for its academic reputation. But it definitely seems good. Small town. Lots of green.”

“Hate the big city that much, huh?”

“I liked Virginia Tech, too. I bet the closest place to Buckhead that I could board Diva would be an hour away. Pros and cons, I guess.” It was quiet again.

“Okay, you know what,” I said, breaking the silence. “Just speaking for me, if I went to Georgia Tech, I didn’t see anything, or know of anything that would distract me from studying. I’d just have to have the attitude that I was there for school, and that was it.”

“Okay, Aquaman. Let’s break it down. Long term. Georgia Tech has the better academic reputation and for the girls, so does Emory. Long-term Atlanta would be best, right? Short term, Atlanta pretty much sucks. A lot of people live there so they must like it and that’s fine for them but I don’t think any of us fell in love with Atlanta. Maybe we need to spend a week to give it a fair shake. I don’t know. Buckhead seemed like a nice place to live.

“Let’s say Virginia Tech has a decent academic reputation. I know it does. It’s just not as good. Maybe you can get a better job or do your job better if we graduated from Atlanta schools. If the area around Virginia Tech is a lot more desirable than Atlanta, then it would be the best for the short term, right? If all four of us, or even just you and Kim could get the education and degrees you want from Virginia Tech, would it still be worth it to go to Atlanta? That’s the question, right?”