Awhile back a friend called asking if I had some work for her neighbor, Jason, a general contractor. She told me his electricity had been shut off for nonpayment and he needed $1,800 to get it reconnected. My friend was concerned because she was friends with the guy’s wife and her children often played with this guy’s kids. I had met Jason and his wife, Wendy once before at a community social and they seemed like a nice couple in their late thirties with three young kids. Wendy is a petite blonde with pretty features. She’s not a knockout but girl-next-door attractive with a slim figure, an ample bosom and legs that looked good even in sneakers.I own an investment property that is rented out and although nothing was desperately needed at the place there were items that deserved repair, some plaster repairs a new side door and garage door, vinyl flooring in the kitchen, some minor electrical work and a bit of carpentry. All totaled, enough to give the guy $1,800 in labor, the job would cost just over $3,000.00. Against my better judgment, I gave Jason a check up-front which he immediately cashed the following morning.The first three parts of the job he tackled were done so poorly done that the materials I’d bought were ruined. The electrical job he performed not only didn’t work properly but had several safety code violations. Then, he stopped showing up altogether and kept giving me conflicting stories about the door he claimed he ordered. After a year of Jason’s excuses and unreturned phone calls, I hired another contractor and had the work completed but because Jason’s work was botched so badly it cost me more than $4,500 to have it torn out and done correctly. By then I’d learned that Jason had a drinking problem and his work reputation had become so checkered that no one who knew him would hire or recommend him.I filed a claim against Jason in small claims court where he failed to appear. I followed through on the many legal steps bayan escort beylikdüzü that followed and he ignored the subpoenas. Finally a warrant was sworn out for his arrest for contempt of court, but in these dismal financial times the courts are overwhelmed with such cases. I imagine someday he’ll get pulled over for a traffic violation and end up in handcuffs for the outstanding bench warrant. Somewhere along the way in the legal process, I noticed that Jason’s home was up for a sheriff’s sale and just for spite I went to the sale. As it happened, the bank’s representative also had had dealings with Jason, who screwed him on a patio deck. I offered the bank $40,000 for Jason’s home and they accepted. The home was worth five times that and I gave them a certified check for a deposit that day and the balance two weeks later at settlement. Now, I owned that asshole’s house.The following week I went to the home. Jason wasn’t there but I showed Wendy the deed and papers and she let me into the home. While there I photographed every room from several angles. I was respectful towards Wendy, but businesslike and told her I’d have the place appraised and let her know in a week or so what their rent would be. Later, I learned through my friend that Jason had roughed Wendy up when he learned that she’d let me into the house and so I went to see him and let the bastard know in no uncertain terms that if ever I learned that he hit her again I’d personally pull whatever strings necessary to have the cops out there. With one outstanding bench warrant against him, it was very likely that he’d spend the next couple nights in a cell ”entertaining” a cellmate.I also let him know in the harshest of terms that if there was any significant damage done to the home, I had dated photos to show what the place looked like when I bought it and would treat the matter as a criminal action and a civil one. Jason told me to fuck escort bayan beylikdüzü off but I could see in his bloodshot, rheumy eyes that his false bravado was all rooted in arrogance and he was scared. I’ve been on the planet long enough to know that arrogance is born of fear.A week or so later, I dropped by and gave Wendy a lease to sign and set their rent at $975.00 which was a good $200 less than other homes in that development were getting. I made certain that Wendy know that the discount was a kindness extended to her because she was a friend of my friend’s and because I felt bad that she was stuck with a drunk of a husband. Still though, she had a deer-in-the- headlights look about her and she said the rent was close to what their mortgage had been when they defaulted on it and she didn’t know if they could pay that much. I told her to discuss the matter with her husband and sign the lease and return it with a security deposit and the first month’s rent. As I left, I pitied Wendy. She looked defeated and with her petite frame, she had a waifish appearance and was reminiscent of a gawky twelve year old. Driving away, I felt like Simon Legree and although fucking over that deadbeat bastard Jason made me feel good, the collateral damage to Wendy and the kids weighed heavily on me.Days later, I received a call from Wendy asking if she could meet with me to discuss the situation. We set a time and when I arrived, it was just her and me at the house. Wendy’s kids were at their grandmothers for the afternoon. Feeling a little uncomfortable discussing matters there in her home, I opted for neutral turf and took Wendy to lunch at a quiet bistro over in the next town. Over wine and salads, Wendy told me that she’d found part time work as a bookkeeper and some as a substitute teacher’s aid and had a deal worked out with her mother for babysitting. She confided that, for nearly a year now, Jason would kayaşehir escort leave home – allegedly for work – but at least half the time he was sitting in a parking lot drinking, or over his friend’s house drinking.Wendy promised me she’d do the best she could with the rent but honestly it was more than she could pay and she didn’t want her kids to have to transfer out of the school they were in. Wendy asked if there was some other arrangement we could agree upon to reduce her rent to no more than $600 a month. That sum was less than half the going rate for a three bedroom home in that township. There was something in the look in Wendy’s eye and the way her voice quivered when she chose the word “arrangement” that left me wondering what she meant. Frankly, I thought my dirty mind was coloring my perceptions.“Arr-ange-ment?” I replied with an arched eyebrow articulating the word in deliberately separate syllables.Wendy’s eyes misted and her voice choked. “Please don’t make me spell it out for you, Mike. “I have kids to house. With any luck I’ll be rid of my useless, alcoholic husband in six months or so, but I need help, and am willing to earn it.” Score one for my dirty mind. The situation reminded me of a time when I was seventeen and working after school in an auto repair shop that specialized in speedometers and dashboard instruments. A woman had offered sex in return for fixing her speedometer. The problem was a broken speedometer cable that would have taken all of fifteen minutes to replace but the woman appeared so crass and nasty that I declined her offer. Wendy, on the other hand seemed, sweet, frightened and earnest. As a practical matter, her body was all the poor woman had to offer. As I pondered how to respond to her offer, I looked at Wendy’s hands, I could see that they were trembling. “I’m not a whore Mike, at least I’ve not been until now,” Wendy began to cry softly and I damned-near cried with her. I took her trembling hands in mine and they were ice cold. I pulled her to me and cradled her.“I don’t think you’re a whore Wendy, or anything of that sort and if I accept this arrangement I want you to know that you will be treated with respect; it’s Jason for whom I have no respect .” Wendy sobbed and I cradled her in my arms.