Chapter 86
The Becca neighborhood.
Luke’s grandpa lived here, only a ten minute drive from the Eno neighborhood.
The Harley pulled up to a white cottage where an older, tall white man was getting the grill going, none other than Luke’s grandfather, Robert Sullivan.
“Wow wow Luke, I’m glad you remembered where my house is, thought the next time I’d see you would be at my funeral.”
“Grandpa, I’ve been wanting to come for a long time, it’s just that there’s always something bad going on in the police department, you know.” Luke pulled a bottle of whiskey out from under the car seat, “A little gift for you.”
“Don’t think a bottle is ……” Robert took the whiskey, mid-sentence, “Oh, it’s not cheap.”
“I’m glad you like it.”
“Welcome to the party.”
“Hey, if it isn’t Luke.” A fat white guy with a beard came out of the house, shaking his head looking like he’d had too much to drink.
“Hey Val, long time no see.”
The man who greeted him was Luke’s uncle Val Sullivan.
“Want a beer?”
“Sure.”
The bearded man tossed Luke a beer.
“Where’s my dear sister and Fatty?”
Luke took a sip of his beer, “Should be on their way.”
The bearded man nodded and sat his ass down on the white chair next to him, its legs sinking deep into the dirt.
Luke walked over to the grill, “Grandpa, need any help?”
“Nobody touches my grill unless I’m dead.”
“OK, you’re the Boss,” the old man wouldn’t allow any help, so Luke was happy to be left alone.
“Whoops ……”
A car pulled into the yard and parked next to the garage.
Luke’s grandpa’s house was a little bigger than Mom’s, and it didn’t feel crowded with two cars parked.
Linda and Chubby stepped out of the car.
“Dad.”
“Grandpa.”
Robert snapped his fingers, “OK, everyone’s here, the family dinner has officially begun.”
Little Fatty said with some exaggeration, “Wow wow, Uncle Val, long time no see.”
“Yeah, the last time we saw each other was Christmas, and I gave you a Lion King CD.”
Fatty shrugged, “That’s very sweet of you, the Lion King CD was my most wanted birthday present when I was seven, I’m thirteen now.”
“Late surprises are great too, aren’t they?”
Linda glared at her brother, “Why are you here?”
“It’s Family Day and I’m part of the family.”
“Honestly.”
The bearded man sighed, “Look, I broke up with my girlfriend, actually I dumped her, so …… I need to help out with Dad for a while.
He’s kinda lonely on his own, so it’s nice to have some company.”
Robert retorted, “I don’t need one, I’m fine on my own.”
“No, Dad, you need it.”
“Shut up!”
Linda sighed and turned to her brother, “Val, you’re in your thirties, you should be a grown man.
I don’t want to …… correct you like I used to.
But you should become independent, act like a real man, and set a good example for your nephew.
Instead of moping around all day, understand?”
The bearded man held up his beer bottle in a gesture, “YES, mom.”
Linda was a little speechless as she looked at the scruffy brother, Luke had been under his influence before, well now he was maturing.
But when Val would mature, she didn’t know.
“The roast is ready!” Robert greeted.
Linda put on a piece of music.
Luke brought the dinner plates.
Val carried a poke of cold beer.
Little Fatty couldn’t wait to pick up a piece of the roast and eat it, baring his teeth as it burned, causing Robert to burst into laughter.
“Haha, what a gluttonous boy, I like it.”
The roast was served steak, sausage, chicken wings, pork ribs, lobster, potatoes
“Wow wow …… very hearty ah.” Not to mention Fatty, Luke was looking a little hungry.
Robert sat on the main seat and swept his eyes over the crowd, “The food is not only sumptuous but also delicious, but the number of people eating is getting smaller and smaller.
Families need to not reproduce and expand, there are constantly new members joining in order to maintain the vigor of the family.
Look at our family, there are fewer and fewer people.
I got divorced.
Linda got divorced.
Val ……
Luke, Jack, don’t ever follow our example, this family depends on you.
I hope to see this table filled, even once in my lifetime.”
Robert lifted his glass, “Let’s all toast our future family.”
“To future family.” The crowd raised their glasses in return.
Except for some unpleasantness at the beginning of the party, everyone was still chatting happily afterward.
Robert had a good barbecue, was well read and had a good sense of humor.
Val was less reliable, getting drunk not long after the party started and telling a lot of embarrassing stories about himself, making everyone laugh.
All in all, not a bad family gathering.
Early the next morning.
After eating the breakfast that Daisy had made, Luke rode out on his Harley.
Today he contacted the real estate agency to look at houses.
The person who showed him the house was called Liu Wei, a Chinese-American.
Luke felt that the real estate agency should have arranged a Chinese agent because they had read the application information he submitted and knew that he had Chinese ancestry.
Luke usually seldom had the opportunity to speak Chinese except for a few words with Little Fatty, so it was just the right time to find an old hometown to talk about his hometown.
The real estate agent took the initiative to greet him, “Mr. Lee, it’s nice to meet you, I’m your real estate agent Wei Liu.”
“Mr. Will Liu, just speak Chinese.”
“Your Chinese is so standard, I am ashamed of myself.” Will Liu showed a surprised look, he spoke with some dialect accent.
“I’ve selected 5 properties according to your requirements, if there are no other requirements, let’s leave now.”
“Let’s go.”
In the application packet, Luke made several clear rental conditions.
Transportation, don’t be more than a half-hour drive from the Detective Bureau.
Budget, no more than two thousand dollars.
His steady paycheck was only $6,500, less than five thousand dollars after tax deductions, and if it wasn’t for the oil painting bonus and the Sleuth System, he couldn’t afford to take forty percent of his income to rent an apartment.
The living environment, the neighborhood security is better, detached, fully functional and furnished.
It was only after this summary that he realized that his rental requirements were not low.
Not long after, the two drove to a set of two-story detached villa.
Liu Wei got out of the car and led Luke into the yard, “Mr. Li, this villa has two floors, three bedrooms, two bathrooms, two baths, with basement and garage.
It rents for two thousand dollars a month and is conveniently located about half an hour from the Detective Bureau and ten minutes from the nearest shopping center.”
“Can I come in and take a look around?”
“Of course you can, if you’ll follow me.” Lewie opened the door to the room and led Luke into the villa.
After going in, Luke was more or less disappointed, the interior decoration of the villa was average and the facilities were rather outdated, although there were two toilets, the toilets were not very large.
Luke just turned around and came out.
“It’s better to look at other houses.”
“Mr. Li, which aspect are you not too satisfied with, I can help you pick a more suitable house?”
“The house is a bit old, the toilet is a bit small, the rest is fine, besides, I usually live alone and don’t need too many rooms.”
Through the actual showing, Liu Wei could more accurately grasp Luke’s rental needs.
Usually, the first time he showed it, he wouldn’t show the client too good a house, that would raise the client’s expectations.
Soon, Luke was brought to see the second listing.
The house was in the Rideau neighborhood.
It was a white single bungalow, two rooms, two halls, two baths, with a full kitchen, garage, and a decent sized yard.
Luke went into the house to check it out, the decoration of the house is not considered luxurious, but it is neat, clean and relatively well furnished.
The toilet with a bathroom was large, Luke could totally take a bath in it.
Luke turned around the house a few times and looked around the yard again.
Liu Wei didn’t disturb Luke and didn’t take the initiative to explain, he just followed silently, he answered Luke’s questions when he had them, and from his experience, Luke had a good feeling about this house.
There is a drama.
Luke finished looking at the house and took the initiative to ask, “How much does this house cost?”
“Eighteen hundred dollars.
Because it’s a flat, it’s slightly smaller than the previous villa, but the footprint isn’t small.
In addition this neighborhood belongs to the Chinese community, there are Chinese restaurants and stores in the community square, I often come to eat at the restaurants in this neighborhood, as long as you order in Chinese, you can eat very authentic Chinese food.”
Luke asked rhetorically, “What if it’s in American?”
“That would be a modified version, more suited to foreigner tastes.”
“Sounds good, I’ll give it a try.”
After that, Luke looked at three other houses, all of which were okay, but all things considered this flat single-family house in the Rideau neighborhood suited his needs better.
In the end, he decided to rent the house.
A home of his own in Los Angeles.