PIT #38: Nail & Sale

Points In Time

Woodland Hills, California

Tuesday June 10, 1986

10:25 a.m. 

“You know that ever since I got into it, I've been doing really well at my nail salon.”

“Yes, of course I know.”

“I found a second location on Morise Avenue…”

“Near ‘Askanaz’?”

“A block or so away, that’ll become available in a couple of moths, and I’m thinking I want you to run it.”

My, God! ...Taking a second to catch her breath. “ ‘Really’ you want ‘me’ to run your new place?”

“Marcie, a ‘nail salon’ is basically a cash business and I want someone I can trust.”

“I’ll be doing nails?”

“Yes, of course! You ‘love’ to talk, and your nails always look perfect and I can teach you what else you’ll need to know to run the place.”

“Max, that’s wonderful! ‘Thank you’!”

“You’ll need a license, and if you can get here by July seventh,

I’ll be able to get you enrolled in an ‘accreditation’ class and you’ll be licensed as an appearance manicurist by the end of September.”

3:40 p.m.

All words spoken. No need for pleasantry's or harshness. Emotional feelings for each the other no longer a pretence. Sexual activities with others no longer hidden. Until a solution, forced life together vowed to be as peaceful as possible… At least it had been for the past three days.

Hearing the car pull in the drive way, turning the TV off, Marsha went into the kitchen to wait for her husband.

“Hi…” seeing Marsha sitting in the kitchen, apparently waiting for him rather than in the den watching television “...what’s up?”

Unsure how to start — which was surprising because Marsha ‘never’ had a problem telling him something she thought he might not want to hear.

“I want to talk to you about something… Hot outside, you want a soda or something?”

In the old days…The ‘old days’ being what? A week ago he’d be alarmed because — this ‘so’ unlike Marsha, he ‘knew’ something was up— but ‘something was up’ with him also.

“No, thanks.” Pulling a chair out and sitting at the far end of the table. “I’ve something I want to talk to you about.”

“Me, too, Mitchell, and it’s really important!”

“What you’ ‘got’ to say, it’s so important it can’t wait a minute?”

“No! It ‘can’t!”

“Okay…” Sighing “what’s going on, Marsha?”

Spoken in an assertive tone. “Do you want a divorce?”

Feeling this a ‘loaded’ question because if he said ‘no’ she would certainly say ‘yes’. And if he said ‘yes’, then he would be committed and though he did want a divorce, he wasn’t quite ready to go through what he figured would be an extremely argumentative division of property and funds.

“Marsha you’ve told me how you’ve felt about me since we;d been married… ‘Shit’! Since ‘before’ we were married, so I don’t see any point in either of us wrecking our lives any more than we have all these years…” taking a deep breath “... so ‘yes’, I do want a divorce.”

“Maxine called me today.”

“Okay, so your cousin called today. So what’s that got to do with now?”

She’s thinking of opening another location and wants to train me to work there and to manage it...”

“To do manicures?”

“Yeah. Max say’s she’ll get me into a class that starting on the seventh…”

“Next month?”

“Yeah, the Monday after the ‘fourth’. If I can get to Chicago by the seventh, she’ll enrol me in an accreditation class that’ll train me, and that I should have my license by the end of September.”

“You’ll get paid for this?”

“Sure! I’ll get a salary for running the place and commission and tips for all the work I do.”

One of the reasons for remaining married was that Mitchell had thought Marsha would ‘never’ get a job to help support a second household.

“You’d do this, Marsha… You want to do this?”

Without a seconds hesitation: “Yes!”

“Where’ll you live?”

“Maxine has a duplex in Lincolnwood and her tenent's lease is up next month and she says I can live with her until he… the tenet goes and she paints and re-carpets the place and then I can move in immediately.”

“She’ll be charging you rent?”

“She’s going to be taking a ‘second’ on the duplex to buy the new shop and figures it’ll cost her about three-fifty a month and that’s what Max says she’ll charge me for rent.”

“Marsha, you think you and your cousin can live that close to each other without eventually having problems with each other?”

“Max and me…” defensively “... we ‘always’ got along just fine.”

“You were kids then.”

“We’ve ‘always’ been best friends.”

“Right up to the time you married me, huh?”

“You and me being married never stopped Max and me from being friends.”

“She knew about your ‘friend’, Stan? And that you thought you were pregnant when we got married?”

Knowing where this discussion was heading. “Yes, she knew.”

“What she think about that?” I asked bitterly.

“She ‘hated’ it!”

“Nothing she could do about it, huh?”

“No, what could she do?”

“Your longest and best friend knew you were marrying a guy she knew you hated and couldn’t talk you out of it?”

Sighing… “Mitch, I want to tell you that my cousin hated what I was doing and one of the reasons was because she thought you were a really nice guy and felt you deserved better.”

“Yeah? Well, like they say, Marsha, ‘with friends like that’.”

Abruptly changing the subject… “Think you’ll be earning a living by then?”

Momentary thrown off. “Probably not because, most probably I won’t even have my licence by then, and that’s what I want to talk to you about…”

Interrupting. “Sometimes, Marsha… ‘Occasionally’ all the cogs fit and everything falls into place.”

Not expecting it. Catching the optimisation in her husband’s tone. Other than the discussion regarding her and her cousin, Marsha’s entire proclamation going much smoother than she thought — although he really wouldn’t have a choice... “What do you mean?” she asked.

“I told them that I’d have to talk to my wife first…” building tension before telling her.

“Talk to ‘your wife’ about what?”

“The ‘Brenner’s’ , the couple I was ‘showing’ today… I stopped by here today showing them the house…”

“Our house?”

“Yeah.”

Also sensing the ‘cogs falling into place’. “They like it?”

“From the outside, yeah.”

“They’ve kids?”

“Yeah. Three. Two going to high school and one ‘grammar’, so I drove around showing that both are within easy walking distance. And they want a house with a pool…”

“Which we have.”

“What are we going to ask?”

“I was thinking ‘one-sixty-five’, but they say their high end is ‘one-fifty-five’, but this is …” making a wide sweeping motion “...much more than they’d expected to get for their money and seeing as we’re not ‘listed’, I think, I’ll… ‘we’ll’ say ‘one seventy’ and negate to one-sixty-five’.”

“Ten grand more than they’d expected. Think they’ll go for it?”

“Yeah, I do and I’ll tell you why. .. First off their house in ‘Reseda’ is already in a thirty day escrow and with three kids they, hopefully, have to find something that can close in thirty days…”

“Which we will!”

“They want a big house with at least three bedrooms and two baths and…”

“We’ve four bedrooms with two and a half baths.”

“Yeah, we have! And they also want a good school district…”

“Which we’re in.”

“So?”

“Call them. See if they want come over now or tomorrow morning.”

...”Mister Brenner, this is Mitch…”

“Hi, Mitch, Sophie and I have been talking and wondered if you’ve talked to your wife yet.”

“Matter of fact I have, and wondered if you’d like to come on back now, or if you’d rather …” setting the hook “...wait until tomorrow… “ adding “...after I list it.”

“No, we’ll come back now. Be there in about a half hour.”

“Okay, we’ll see you then.”

...“You have to tell Glen about this?” Marsha asked.

“He’s my broker, so yes, if we put a deal together.”

“We’ll have both ends of the commission, right?”

‘Country Club’ will still get their three percent, but we’ll have the rest… Then there’s ‘escrow’ and Title Insurance…”

“Yes, I know about that other stuff. How much do we owe?”

“Haven’t checked to the dollar lately, but about ‘seventy’.””

“If these people want it, any reason why you can’t put the deal together here, now?”

“Sure! Everyone that has to sign the deposit receipt will be here, so, yeah, I can put the deal together now.”

...Walking through the house… Going from room to room I could tell by the Brenner’s body language, and when they got outside I saw Mrs Brenner’s fingers tighten about her husband’s hand.

Asking Marsha to remain in the house. The Brenner’s and me sitting outside around the patio table.

Under normal circumstances, their written offer, being signed by both Mister and Mrs would be presented to their broker, then to my broker via their broker, then to Marsha and me via our broker, but as I was acting as my own broker…

Nervously clearing his throat, “So what are you asking?”

Knowing their, so called, bottom line of ‘one hundred-fifty-five thousand dollars’. “Look...”I said “...Marsha and me aren’t in all that much of a hurry, and we’d discussed it and said that when we’re ready, we’d…” gambling “...put it on the market for ‘one-seventy’.” Then I shut up.

One of the reasons I’d insisted that Marsha remain in the house was because I ‘knew’ she wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut as I awaited Mister or Mrs Brenner’s next words.

“You know, Mitch, the highest we said we’d go is ‘one-fifty-five’.”

“Yeah, Karl… Okay to call you ‘Karl’?”

“Yes, sure! And my wife is ‘Sophie.”

“Oh…” smiling at the homely lady “...I knew that.”

Hesitating a few seconds… “There’s no homes on the market in this good a neighbourhood, this size with this size yard and pool and all that ‘you’d…” close by assumption “...get here here for under…” which at the time was true “… ‘one-eighty.”

Taking the hook, “I believe that.” Mister Brenner said.”

“Tell you what. Seeing there are no other brokers involved, I’ll… Hold on, let me check with Marsha.”

Going into the house, Marsha waiting for me at the table in the kitchen. “Shhh…” putting my finger to my lips. “They’re going to go for ‘one-sixty-five’.”

“That’s what we wanted.” she said.

“Good thing you’ve got such a great broker, huh?”

“Yeah. Always knew you were a good salesman, Mitch.”

Outside again. Sophie, Karl, Marsha says she’ll go for ‘one-sixty-five’ and if you want, I can set this for a concentrate close with you place in Reseda, which will save time and some escrow costs.”

“In thirty days?”

“Yes. In thirty days.”

A look passing from Mister Brenner to Mrs. Brenner, who gave a near imperceptible nod of her head. “Standing, offering his hand. “You’ve a deal,” Mister Brenner said.

Forty minutes later, after the Brenner’ had left with signed copies of their papers.

Forty minutes later, knowing we’ve taken our first step.

Forty minutes later — under different conditions and circumstances, knowing we would be heading to the bedroom for a congratulatory fuck.

“You want to call Janice and ask for her lawyer’s name and number?”

“No…” I said “… Janice’s lawyer will be a real high end guy.”

“Yeah, and I don’t want Morgan knowing I’ll be leaving anyway.”

“I think I’d just as soon like it if we didn’t tell anyone for a while.”

“Me, too.”

“Guess I’ll look for a lawyer in the ‘Yellow Pages’ then.”

Next PIT #39: All The Cogs