Tales of a Building Manager

Glen Weatherly. Apartment 1C. Tall, thin, quiet. His apartment is the cleanest she's ever seen. The grout is white. In a building from 1943, the grout is white. Late at night, he carries heavy black bags down the back stairs, past the dumpsters, through the back gate, and into the alley. He comes back without them. The building manager knows what she thinks. She's not going to say it.

Shelley in 2C is the building manager's favourite tenant. Sweet, warm, overshares about terrible boyfriends, brings chamomile tea. Her apartment is full of candles, crystals, herbs, and books. She also has a padlocked freezer. She mentioned, once, that what's inside it changes things.

Marcus is a restaurant manager, a committed hippy, and a wonderful tenant. His girlfriend Kezia is harder to read. She comes and goes with bags — canvas totes, duffels, carriers. Sometimes full, sometimes empty. Always closed. Always carried close. One day, a bag moved on its own.

The police have been called to apartment 2D five times. Each time: reports of sounds consistent with a violent altercation. Each time: the apartment is still, the girl is alone, perfectly calm. Her name is Rae. She told the building manager what's wrong. The building manager believed her.

Apartment 1D. Karl Dubek. No predictable schedule. No consistent appearance. He slams the side gate every single time, despite being asked not to. The curtains are always drawn. The manager has never been inside. She doesn't have a file for 1D. Every time she starts writing one, she stops.

The couple in the apartment directly above hers. Mitchell and Crane. She doesn't know which is which. She does know their schedule. Everyone in the building knows their schedule. The walls in this building were built in 1943. They are not thick enough for this.

The apartment across the hall has had six tenants in eleven years. The new couple — Devon and Marcy — are perfect. He's a trained pastry chef. She bakes by instinct. They're quiet, they're clean, they pay on time. But there's a freezer. And it's padlocked.