Desperate for Approval novel · Chapter 23 of 24

Chapter 23: The Deed

The amount on the cashier's check was the number I had written on my legal pad, to the dollar.

I deposited it on Monday, and by Friday I had a key.

I did not tell Grandma where we were going.

I told her only to wear her good shoes and bring her cane, and to take the elevator without complaining.

"I have never complained about an elevator," she said.

"You said a word on that lobby floor."

"That floor deserved it."

The building was on a quiet street with trees, ten minutes by bus from my work.

The elevator opened on the fourth floor, and the hall had wooden boards, not tile.

Grandma stepped out and looked down.

"No shine."

"No shine," I said. "It's oak. They don't polish it."

The apartment door was the last on the left.

I unlocked it and let her walk in first.

There were two bedrooms, a kitchen with a window over the sink, and a living room with a balcony.

Sun came across the floor in long gold squares, all the way to the opposite wall.

It was empty, and it smelled of new paint.

Grandma stood in the middle of the room and said nothing for so long that I started to worry.

Then she crossed the floor to the balcony door, and pushed it open with the end of her cane.

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