"Come on bro. It's our final year, we deserve it" Micheal forced those last words into my ears. And somehow, I was beginning to concur with his idea of renting a space off campus in our final year.
"All we have to do is just save money. We can do it!" Michael was good at making you see reasons to do something, even if there wasn't any good reason at all.
I nodded "Alright, let's do it".
It is said that every journey starts with a step. But I can boldly tell you that our journey started with several missteps.
After weeks of house hunting, we found this small apartment tucked at the end of a quiet street. It wasn't as flashy as we expected, but it was what our money could afford. Its paint was already peeling, and its kitchen could barely fit two people at once.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Micheal yelled excitedly, playfully slapping the landlord hard in the back. He was carried away by the joy of living off campus. Quickly, the landlord turned and gave him a warning stare, and Micheal comported himself with a smile. "I'm sorry sir. Just overly excited" he apologized.
Handing us the key, I heard the landlord mutter, "No refunds after payment"
I shrugged my shoulders and wondered if the landlord was someone who barely smiled as he kept a mean face all through.
A few days later, we mustered enough energy that only broke students have and began dragging our possessions one by one to the rickety tricycle Micheal was able to borrow from his cousin. It groaned louder than a man in pain. We fueled it with the little cash left with us and packed all our remaining possessions in it. Then we drove to our new apartment. The rickety tricycle rattled and coughed up smoke in its wake.
Unpacking our belongings from the tricycle, we opened the apartment to the smell of soaked walls and a small puddle of water in its verandah. I looked from the puddle to Micheal.
"Don't worry, it's just character"
I wasn't sure what Micheal meant by that but I nodded and waved it off. Besides, it's just a little puddle that could be dried up by soaking a piece of rag there.
We spent the rest of the day unpacking, arranging and cleaning our new apartment. Micheal insisted I leave the arrangement of the furniture for him. He claimed he had a knack for designing the place. I let him have his way although it still haunts me till now why he let the mattress stay so close to the toilet.
Famished, I decided to make dinner. I got to the kitchen and twisted the faucet, but the tap wasn't working. I tried the control section at the bottom but it wouldn't work. Not even a drop.
“Uh Michael, there's a problem! The tap isn’t working.” I yelled to him from the kitchen.
I watched as Micheal joined me in the kitchen. He twisted and tried the control below too. "It's just the kitchen. The bathroom sink works"
"Fine, so how am I going to cook now because I won't take water from the bathroom"
Micheal scratched his head, "How did we not check that?"
"I guess we were too excited to move in," I replied.
As if that wasn't enough. The lights flickered and went out completely. At first, we thought it was a general stuff, but when I peeked out the window, I realized it was only from our apartment. "Just perfect. We don't have lights too" I fumbled for my phone In my pants pocket and switched it on.
Micheal chuckled.
I looked at him “Still finding it funny?” I asked.
"I'm sorry. It's just too overwhelming at this point. I'll get the landlord," he said, turning towards the door that led outside. But as he turned the key I heard a loud crack.
"What's that?" I was confused.
"Dude, I was just turning the lock", Michael replied, holding the broken key.
I stared at him, mouth agape. “You broke the only key?”
“Technically, the door broke the key,” he argued
"Interesting, now we're locked inside too. Just when I thought the rain was over, it pours" I groaned out of frustration. I got out my phone to call the landlord but there was no network reception on my phone.
"Argh! Try yours," I asked Michael
"The same as mine. No network" Micheal said as he threw his phone on the bed and dumped himself on a chair nearby. "At least it didn't lock us outside"
I looked at him and wondered if that was supposed to be a motivation. I was already starving and needed food to eat. And there was no water in the sink. I ended up making dinner with the water from the toilet sink. Making sure to boil the water first.
Then we stayed the rest of the night In Silence. Wondering how we got so carried away that we didn't care to check for all these anomalies. And to worsen it all, we couldn't ask for a refund because it was non-refundable.
By morning, when the network miraculously reappeared on our phones. We called the landlord. A few minutes later, he arrived with a carpenter who broke down the door. In all these, there was no apology from the landlord. He only promised to repair all that wasn't in good shape.
We couldn't blame anyone but ourselves. We got what we paid for. A cheap rent for a shabby apartment. We spent the rest of the day cleaning up what was left of our excitement.
You would have called your friend to order. Anyways the excitement of living alone for the first time cannot be overemphasized. Most times, just as it happened to you guys, we bother not to check the apartment thoroughly. It's after some months that you will come to realize the mistake you made. Thanks that your landlord is a good person.