In the dead of night, Jason was jolted awake by his ringing phone, only to hear his daughter sobbing on the other end. As the conversation unfolded, he learned her landlord was coercing her to vacate her apartment. Determined, Jason resolved to teach the landlord a lesson…
The unexpected late-night call startled me into answering without a second thought.
It was Lily, my daughter, tearfully speaking from the other end.
“Dad,” she wept, her voice cracking.
“What’s the matter?” I inquired, sitting bolt upright and slipping on my slippers. “Explain to me, Lily, what’s going on?”
“My landlord overheard that I received a promotion at work. I was outside with Nolan, laughing and celebrating with a drink, and obviously, he eavesdropped from the main house. Since then, he’s been incessantly mentioning upgrades and increased rent.”
“Alright,” I replied slowly, absorbing the information.
Admittedly, it was a distasteful tactic to extract more money from tenants, yet it didn’t seem like a reason to cry over.
“But darling, why are you in tears?” I questioned, maintaining a calm tone.
Deep down, I yearned to rush to my daughter’s side, but I held back, waiting for her to provide a valid reason.
“After I showed no dismay over the rent hike, he covertly discarded some outdated, banned chemical containers in my backyard and then charged me with breaching the lease by storing hazardous substances on the premises,” she disclosed.
“What?” I erupted. “That’s unlawful!”
“He’s given me two days to vacate,” she continued.
I seethed with anger. Lily had transformed that barren yard into a verdant sanctuary. She had devoted herself entirely to every shrub, every bloom, and even the vegetables.
Lily had always been adventurous. Unlike other kids who preferred indoor play, she was always outdoors, engaging with nature, curious about its workings.
“This is delightful, Dad,” she once said while I mowed the lawn and she busied herself with planting flowers.
“There are some worms here,” she noted, yet she planted the seedlings regardless.
Her mother disapproved. She wished for Lily to appear pristine, with manicured nails and neatly styled hair.
“You should discourage this, Jason,” my wife, Jenna, would argue. “Motivate her to be more ladylike.”
“Not a chance, Jenna,” I would invariably respond. “Let this sweet child be herself.”
Now, witnessing all that Lily had invested in her space, my only thought was to protect it.
“Don’t worry, dear,” I assured her, a strategy forming in my mind.
“How, Dad?” she queried.
“Because we’ll resolve this. Together,” I affirmed.
The following evening, I arrived at Lily’s with my truck and several friends, equipped with flashlights and fueled by justified indignation.
“Alright, team,” I declared. “We’re doing this for my daughter. We’re about to school Jack on proper landlord conduct, especially regarding the treatment of young women.”
We carefully dismantled the beautiful garden that Lily had nurtured.
“Dad?” Lily inquired, noticing our presence. “What’s happening?”
“Hello, sweetie,” I greeted her. “We’re schooling your landlord. He can’t get away with this. So, we’re disassembling everything. I’ll also safeguard your plants.”
Lily yawned and stretched.
“I’ll leave you to it, Dad,” she said. “I’ll get some rest and continue packing at dawn. I’ll be staying with Nolan temporarily until I secure another place. He’ll be here soon with more boxes.”
“Proceed,” I encouraged. “We’ll keep the noise down.”
As we toiled, the once lush garden was reduced to bare soil, starkly different from the vibrant images Jack, the landlord, had already advertised for the new listing.
“Thank you, everyone,” I expressed. “You can go now. I’ll assist Lily with packing and come back for my truck later, Malcolm.”
My task wasn’t complete yet.
Inside, we rearranged the furniture to accentuate all the defects.
Lily’s artistic décor no longer masked the wall cracks. The missing tiles remained visible without appliances to obscure them.
“There’s nothing to be done about the mold in the bathroom,” Lily mentioned. “But I’ve repeatedly informed the landlord it needs fixing.”
We swapped all the lightbulbs for harsh blue-white ones, giving the entire place a stark and unwelcoming appearance.
During our work, Lily recounted her initial days in the house.
“I remember moving in,” she reminisced, a touch of nostalgia in her tone. “The backyard was merely dirt and concrete. I didn’t think anything would thrive here. But it did. And whenever I felt homesick, I would go outside, plant something new or tend to what was growing.”
“And you made it possible,” I smiled in response. “You turned it into a paradise.”
She exhaled.
“It’s so unjust. I did everything correctly, yet he still managed to ruin it.”
“We won’t let him triumph,” I assured her. “This is merely a hiccup. You’re on the brink of a new journey. Nolan’s is a temporary solution, but I sense he’s committed to you. Perhaps a new home together is your next chapter.”
Leaving my daughter’s abode, I felt assured that her landlord would face a significant reality check the next day.
“Dad, could you come over?” Lily requested over the phone early that morning. “Please be here when I need to hand over the keys to Jack.”
“I’ll be there shortly,” I responded, buttering my toast.
When Jack barged in, furious, during our packing session, he exclaimed, “What the hell, Lily? Where are the plants? The flowers? The online photos clearly depict what this place should look like!”
He deeply sighed, his face resembling an intensely ripe tomato.
Lily, embodying innocence, blinked at him.
“What plants, Jack?” she innocently questioned. “Hasn’t the backyard always appeared this way?”
She gestured towards the barren land, her lips curling into a cunning smile.
Caught in his deceitful scheme, Jack blustered vague threats about property damage. I intervened, highlighting the visible flaws.
“Want to discuss damage?” I retorted, my tone icy.
“Let’s talk about the wall cracks, the missing tiles, and the bathroom mold. It’s all plainly visible now, isn’t it?”
Jack’s eyes widened as he inspected the bathroom.
“This is deliberate sabotage!” he accused.
“No,” I countered, producing the photos I had taken when Lily first moved in.
“This is precisely how it was when she arrived. If anything, it’s neater now. Nothing is missing, Jack.”
As Jack attempted to compose himself, the three couples who attended the viewing that afternoon observed the house in its unpolished state and departed without interest.
Meanwhile, a few months later, Lily settled into a new home with a landlord who valued her horticultural skills, not merely the opportunity for financial gain. As my daughter adapted to her new residence, I couldn’t help but swell with pride.
Lily and I sat on her new porch, gazing at the expansive yard soon to be her next gardening endeavor.
“Dad, I can’t thank you enough,” she expressed, her eyes alight with gratitude and anticipation. “I was terrified, but you knew exactly how to handle it.”
I smiled, squeezing her hand as we swayed on the porch swing. “You did the tough part, kid. You stood up to him. And now, you have a fresh beginning.”
What would you have done?
