Chapter 21: The Vote

On the sixteenth of March, at ten in the morning, twenty-four households stood in the lobby with their coats on.

Ida had put out a folding table with a white cloth and a plastic fern.

On the cloth lay one envelope, sealed.

Stan had shaved for it.

The twins had drawn a sign that said NO DEMOLISHING, with the second S backwards.

Perry stood at my shoulder.

He did not know how this morning would end, and he looked better for it than I had ever seen him.

At two minutes to ten the front doors opened.

Gordon Culverhouse came in first, in a dark suit this time.

Behind him came a lawyer with a briefcase and a woman in a gray blazer.

"Good morning," said Gordon, in the voice of a man who has decided to be gracious. "I see you've set the stage."

"Good morning, Mr. Culverhouse," Ida said. "Do sit down."

"I'll stand."

"As you like."

She turned to the room.

"Before we begin, the tenants of the Linden Arms vote on whether to buy. Hands up, please."

Every hand in the lobby went up.

The twins used both, and Stan used his cane again, and Perry raised his arm very high.

I raised mine.

"Twenty-four to nothing," said Ida. "Mr. Culverhouse, the offer."

She picked up the envelope and gave it to the lawyer.

The lawyer opened it, read what was inside, read it again, and took out a pen.

"This is a certified check for three million four hundred thousand dollars," he said slowly.

"It comes from a pooled account in the names of all the tenants."

"That's impossible," Gordon said.

"It's verified."

"Where did these people get that kind of money?"

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