Unsung Requiem by C.L. Stone

~A~

Sipario

(Curtain)

The large brick structure looming just off Broad Street in downtown Charleston was… in a word… perfect. At least in pictures.

Mr. Buble and Victor stood just outside the block of homes… condos? Townhomes? Was there a difference between those? Victor wasn’t sure the term. It was previously one large house, broken up into four units and had been rented out, until the two in the middle went up for sale.

Three bedrooms were inside each unit but connected by a large attic space that they could be permitted to build into.

They waited together on Broad Street, on the sidewalk, looking at the dark brown brick and the small steps that went up to what would have been the front door to the main part of the house. Next to it, a sign with red printed letters: For Sale. The unit nearby had a similar sign.

“I wouldn’t have thought to look for two together,” Victor said.

“It just happened to come up,” Mr. Buble said. He smiled at Victor. “Sometimes, that’s how it goes. We got lucky.”

“It’s still a lot of money,” Victor said. “For both. In this area…”

“An investment,” Mr. Buble said. “The money isn’t gone. You can still record it within the Academy as a positive, not a negative, for whatever the value… including future value as prices increase.”

The location was ideal. They were blocks from downtown Charleston and the Academy hospital. While they’d be a long way from the Ashley Waters High School that still needed their help, the location had a lot of potential, especially for the future.

Victor touched the bridge of his nose, where it had broken. A bandage covered it still, mostly to cover the unsightly bruising. His hair had changed, shorter now, and a slightly different color. He wore makeup. His face looked different in the mirror.

Walking around looking completely different than he was used to. Gabriel was an artist, but it was still weird to think about.

Because he couldn’t be himself. The real Victor was away, under lock and key.

“I hate to make a decision without them,” Victor said.

“They’ll still see it,” Mr. Buble said. “It’ll take time between making an offer and closing. I don’t think they’ll disapprove. They trust you to make decisions.” He shifted, looking over Victor’s shoulder.

Approaching was an older woman, Miss Ruby. She was a wealthy woman who owned a few of the smaller homes around Charleston and on the islands. Wealthy… but you wouldn’t realize looking at her. She wore an old thin sweater and dingy pants. Word was she did all the maintenance herself on all her properties. It was hard to picture her doing that now looking at her, thin and walking slowly up to them, clutching a folder and notebook in her bony hand.

She greeted them with a brittle voice. “Good morning,” she said. She held a hand out to Mr. Buble. “Glad to see you.”

Mr. Buble shook her hand. “Thanks for coming to meet us so quickly.”

“I’m always happy for a quick cash sale,” she said. “Although I’d hate to let these go. I’m just trying to minimize. These are the last in Charleston I have now. Everything else is on the islands.”

“We’re very interested,” Mr. Buble said.

“Is this your son?” the woman asked, offering a hand to Victor. “Hello.”

Mr. Buble didn’t say anything, and while Victor was shaking her hand, it seemed like this was a good way to go. Would it matter later? “Uh, yes, of course. I’m Ken.” He picked a random name as far away from his own as he could, and the only one he could come up with was some jazz pianist, Kenny Drew, that he’d been reading about.

He tried not to giggle at his own choice. Did he like that name?

Mr. Buble didn’t say anything to the contrary. “The location is delightful. The parking, it’s not limited to the street?”

“There are spaces around back, off the side road,” she said. “You’ll get a feel of the layout a bit more once we’re inside.” She reached into her handbag, finding an enormous set of keys on a chain and picking through, squinting at every one, the broader part with each key taped with white paper marked with numbers.

Victor held back a sigh, accepting that this was going to take a while.

Minutes later, they’d stepped inside and were given a short tour. A living room toward the front, a small dining space behind it, a small kitchen behind that on the right-hand side of the house, on the left, a short hallway to a downstairs bathroom, and a rear den area and mudroom. The downstairs den had a door that looked out onto a small concrete patio garden and there was a small gate that led to the rear parking. They were surrounded by large homes, windows that could look in on them… however, with taking up two of the spaces side by side, it wouldn’t look quite so much like a large group lived in one place, and some weren’t even going to be here for a while longer.

The upstairs each had three bedrooms, a shared full bathroom with the biggest bedroom having an attached bathroom with a shower.

There were no windows on the second-floor hallway, which worried Victor a little, but there was the fourth door. Behind it was a narrow stairwell that led to the attic.

And it was the attic that was fantastic. Over a thousand square feet of usable space, and another door inside leading to the other townhome, of which that one was identical. It was a little warm up there in the attic, but the space was magnificent. It was something you wouldn’t find in homes here, a room as big as this. There was also a small ladder that led to the roof, which was flat on top and offered a unique view of the neighborhood.

What could they do with it? He wasn’t really sure, but he was positive the others would know how to utilize it. Additional bedrooms, maybe secret rooms they could build in? He especially liked that the homes were attached to each other directly inside, even if they had to climb around up through the attic.

Perfect. He couldn’t help feeling overjoyed about the prospect of living there.

Would Sang like it?

Which room would she want? She’d have her choice at this point. Between Nathan, her, and Victor, they’d get to choose which house and rooms they occupied.

He also liked that the home wasn’t as descript and picturesque on the outside. Compared to other historical homes on this block, this one didn’t stand out quite as much. There was no grandeur, no formal gardens… there was no yard at all really. The back patio barely had enough space for a little sitting area. The roof was really the only space, and they shared that with the other homes on either end. But it was plenty of room up there to not be disturbed.

No one really would be as interested. It wasn’t like his parents’ house, all grand and eye-catching and meant to be seen.

“What about the connected homes?” Mr. Buble asked. “Who owns those?”

“The one on the corner just rents hers out, usually during the summer,” she said. “And lives in it during the winter. Sometimes she doesn’t even rent it out, just loans it to family. The other is owned by an investor, and he keeps trying to sell it off, but for far more than it’s worth. He takes it off the market and puts it back up again. It’s always empty.”

So there might be a chance to purchase the one later, if they could talk to the investor and talk him down perhaps… And maybe the woman next door… could they own the whole building eventually?

Not that they needed it. The two in the middle would be all they needed.

But the potential…

When the tour ended, Mr. Buble and Victor met with Miss Ruby downstairs, shaking hands again.

“Thank you for this,” Mr. Buble said. “Who do we send the offer to?”

“To me, directly,” she said. “I do my own paperwork.”

“Ah,” Mr. Buble said. “Very smart. Have you had offers?”

“Three, but they’re trying to lowball me,” she said.

“Really?” Mr. Buble said, surprised. He looked to Victor. “Well, do we like it?”

Victor did like it. He didn’t know why, he just knew. It worked. At least for now.

He was still a little close to his parents, but if he was careful, and pretended to be someone else for a short time, it shouldn’t be a problem. No one would recognize him.

“Let’s get it,” Victor said, unable to help himself from beaming.

Mrs. Ruby beamed at him. “I knew I liked you, Ken.”

Mrs. Ruby wandered off with Mr. Buble. Meanwhile, he turned back to the house.

His house.

His. And Sang’s. And Nathan’s. Gabriel would come soon.

It was all happening.

Eventually, they’d get the others out. How it’d happen, he didn’t know.

But for once, for the first time, he felt free.