The Crooked House and the Man We Never Knew

By Marvin Hathaway

The Crooked House
A woman appears at the old house a war veteran has purchased and is rehabbing, wins his friendship, and moves in with him, only to destroy him and move on.

The Man We Never Knew
A reputable woman weakens under the influence of alcohol and sextwicelosing her career, family, everything!

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524621773

Marvin Hathaway

Marvin Hatthaway is a World War II veteran, honorably discharged after serving in the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. Born on January 13, 1927, in Anoka, Minnesota, he returned to Minnesota after the war, married Eleanor Hoffarth of Long Prairie, Minnesota, and moved to California, where he still lives today.

Book preview

THE CROOKED HOUSE

I T SURE LEANS A LOT from front to back and from right to left. ‘Be a poor place for a pool table.

Bill stood on the crumbling sidewalk and surveyed the house.

Yes, it needs a lot of TLC…but your phone message said you wanted the cheapest thing you could get. Sounded pretty desperate. So this is it. Bill was handed a real-estate business card.

Don Smith. And your name is?

Bill Bean. They shook hands. Bill slipped the card into his shirt pocket.

Yeah, I have to keep my overhead as low as possible. I’ll fix ’er up, do what I can.

How old a man are you Bill?

Twenty six.

Well, you’re practically a kid. You can do a lot to the old place. When would you plan to move in?

Today. He mopped his brow with a red and blue handkerchief.

You mean you’ll move in today lock stock and barrel, furniture and all? don removed his hat, used it to fan himself, put it back on. Sorta’ hot today and more to come, the weather man says.

Well, my stuff is all in that pickup yonder. Bill pointed to an old rusty pickup truck parked down the street. I’ll throw my sleeping bag down and I’m moved in.

I saw three homeless people walk out the back door one morning. Two men and a woman, probably a prostitute, when your private parts become public parts you’re a prostitute.

The real estate man injected a little humor. Bill smiled.

Let’s walk around the house and check inside. There’s a key for the front door, but the back door is open. Someone took the locke, knobs and all.

Don led the way to the rear of the house. This ain’t the safest neighborhood, of course.

No neighborhood is safe anymore, from Maine to Beverly Hills. He examined the siding as he followed Dan alongside the house. Gray imitation brick composition with sections missing.

Whoa! What’s this? A giant oak tree stood half grown into the side of the house. Who would let a tree grow into a wall like this?

For many years the owner used it as a rental. Renters don’t maintain property very well.

It’s saved in the side of the wall. Must have taken fifty years. And no one interfered with it.

Right you are. Don agreed.

She’s a tall one! Must be forty feet. And all those branches going in every direction.

Yes, there’s a lot of ’em growing behind all these houses for several blocks. The houses are in poor condition. And big trees close to the houses. They’re all built the same, two story, small lots, fronting too close to the sidewalk, lots of trees in the alleys.

This is a slum area for sure. None of the houses are in good condition. Auto parts, mattresses, broken furniture. It’s a mess for blocks.

You go ahead and move in. Don was fingering his cellphone.

I’ll stop by in a couple hours and pick up your deposit and have you sign the contract.

Three hundred down and a hundred a month, right?

Right Bill. As is and you pay all utilities. Don said a few words into his cellphone, put it in his pocket. They walked through the house, seeing a couple tables, a doorless cupboard in the kitchen, a trap for rats, a wooden booth nailed to the kitchen wall.

OH, by the way, the sewer line under the house has a break in it. There’s just a crawl space, with a trap door in the kitchen. You’ll want to fix that right away. The pipe is broken and rats come up the sewer line and get in

Rats?

Yes, there’s a trap door in the kitchen floor so you can get under the house. No cellar, just a crawl space. The broken pipe is cast iron. A piece of it is broken off. You’ll want to fold a piece of tin around it and maybe cover it with cement.

If I can get the electricity turned on I’ll check it out.

Good idea, oh yes, there’s a cast iron bath tub at the top of the stairs on the second floor. No plumbing, just a drain pipe and the tub. The floor is kinda’ rotten. You’ll want to check that out, too, you’ve got your work cut out for you, that’s for sure.

It’s strange the city hasn’t condemned this property and had it demolished. Bill wondered.

They’d have to condemn the whole area if they started that. The two walked down the