EPISODE 23
In hindsight, there have been many clues, but you do not want to admit that you have misjudged your friends. Your sense of loyalty forbids you even to suspect them. Those hyenas are gifted in appealing to your noble streak by throwing in noble statements here and there. However, their actions betray their words if you allow yourself to scrutinize them. And I first questioned Mme HARMONY's integrity when I witnessed how she treated her gay tenant JUPITER. He was that kind tenant who did not mind me sitting out on the stairs when my apartment had become a death trap, electricity overflowing from the restaurant kitchen in episode 16.
Mme HARMONY was of the generation still unaccepting of
love between two souls unrestricted by physical gender. And yet, she outwardly behaved tolerant of
the gay movement and rented one of her apartments to JUPITER. He responded to the outward kindness of Mme
HARMONY by regularly giving her advice on IT technology or any issues that were
too modern for this old lady. Relation
between the two deepened to the extent that Mme HARMONY suggested to Jupiter to
renovate the kitchen to his taste.
Jupiter was tempted because her kitchen was old and outdated. However, it would cost him a lot of money to
remodel. He hesitated.
Then Mme HARMONY confided in him that she was considering
selling her apartment. She needed to
concentrate on her cancer treatment for the time being, but someday… 'Would you
be interested in buying my apartment?' she asked Jupiter. Yes, he was because the location was
perfect. Mme HARMONY smiled and assured
him that he would be the first to know when she was ready to sell. Thus, Jupiter decided to invest his money
into updating the kitchen, style-wise and appliances-wise. He was made to believe Mme. HARMONY would
offer the apartment at a fair price minus the renovation expenses.
A month later, the kitchen looked brand new. It was about this time I first spoke to
Jupiter. He was ready to buy the
apartment—however, Mme. HARMONY told him that Jupiter would have the priority
if he offered the same price as the top bidder.
What? So, there was a chance his
investment in renovating her kitchen would end up being wasted if someone with
more money appeared? Jupiter reminded
her that it was not their arrangement, but Mme. HARMONY insisted
otherwise. ??? Jupiter bitterly accepted that it might be
her age that was messing with her memory.
She was still a lovely lady on the inside, right? He would still have two more years left in
the contract to enjoy his new kitchen, which he would have to leave behind most
of.
However, a few months later, Mme. HARMONY told Jupiter to
leave as she was selling her apartment for her family…or whatever. Jupiter asked to be reimbursed for the
kitchen renovation cost, but NO. Mme.
HARMONY coyly smiled and said she was actually doing him a favour because he
was bound by the contract to return her apartment to its original state before
the renovation. She would not be so
heartless as to demand Jupiter to rip out the new kitchen counters and
appliances. However, her eyes turned
cold, and she added. 'I found many other
problems with the apartment you must fix.
I will send my tradesmen and send the bills to you.'
Jupiter found out the hard way that Mme. HARMONY changed
her story by pretending to be senile.
Reverse-ageism attacked Jupiter and later me. Mme. HARMONY was no better than Mme
HEART. They both took advantage of young
Parisians. Oh, yes, of immigrants too.
The real estate agent of Jupiter was indignant that Mme.
HARMONY was not only kicking Jupiter out way before the date agreed in the
contract, but she was also stealing from him the kitchen renovation expenses
AND dared to spend Jupiter's money to retouch the rest of her apartment to get
a better price for it. Mme HARMONY
needed to sell her apartment before the extractor from Hell's restaurant was attached to her wall, which would have reduced the price of her
apartment. For once, the real estate
agent was on the side of the weak, and a new room was quickly found for
Jupiter. With their endorsement, Jupiter
left the apartment immediately, taking all the new electric appliances with
him,
This enraged Mme. HARMONY, and she immediately demanded Jupiter to buy her a new set of appliances. Jupiter reminded her that her old appliances, such as a refrigerator, were stored in her basement. Jupiter had carried them down there by Mme HARMONY's request, but she now complained that the basement humidity had damaged them and held Jupiter liable. She bombarded Jupiter with emails after emails demanding that he own up to his obligation and that he owed her the brand new set! However, she would not tell me this. She acted as a feeble old lady whose faith in Jupiter, despite having been kind to his being gay, was cruelly betrayed.
Jupiter left the apartment looking very pained, and Mme. HARMONY's voice cracked, explaining to me that he agreed to reimburse her only partially. How she detested the black wallpaper and the modern shelves that he had installed in place of her classic style kitchen…a lie it turned out to be, but only later. Feeling sorry for the old lady, I offered to help her paint her apartment. I had no idea the price my sympathy would cost. I was going down the path that many immigrants, whom she had befriended to exploit, had fallen before me.
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