Crime Writer Margot Kinberg

I like looking at those houses on Zillow, you know? The ones with lots of bedrooms and bathrooms and big kitchens. The kind that would make you feel like you were a queen or the president or something. I like to pretend I live in one of them. Stupid, isn’t it? But it makes me feel better since Rob left. Not that he was good for much, really. He never made a lot of money. I told him he should get his plumber license, and he always said he would, but when it came time to do the work, forget about it. So there I was in this little trailer. It’s better than nothing, I know that. But being on benefits and living in this trailer court isn’t exactly my life’s plan. See why I started looking at those Zillow houses?

About a month after Rob left, my cousin Charlene told me I should get out there and meet someone. I figured, why not? So, I got one of those dating apps and started swiping. Charlene helped me do my makeup and all, so I’d look good for my profile picture. I met Freddy a few days later. He told me he sold cars. We started talking, and soon, Freddy said he wanted to meet up. I borrowed a nice dress from my friend and did my hair and everything, and me and Freddy had our first date. We went to Lucy’s, where they have chicken and steak and there’s dancing on the weekends. We hit it off, too. A few weeks later, we were official.

Freddy took good care of me, you know? He has an apartment and enough money to take me out to nice places once in a while. He gave me money to pay my bills, too, and I even got some new clothes. When Freddy started talking about us living together, I figured, no problem. I hated the trailer anyway. So, I moved in with him, and things were going real good. Freddy was a nice guy. Problem is, he wasn’t real ambitious. He was fine just selling cars, living in the apartment, and going to the beach for the weekend. Me, I wanted one of those Zillow houses. I thought about breaking up with him but then, where would I go? So I stayed. Then, Freddy had his accident. They said he had drugs in his system when the car crashed. It wasn’t like him to do drugs, but you never know.

I was still in the apartment when I met T.J. on the dating app. I wore one of my new dresses for my first date with him, and it must have done the trick, because we started seeing each other pretty quick. He worked at a bank. He even made branch manager while we were dating. I have to admit, I started to get used to nicer places to eat, and his little house in the suburbs. It wasn’t one of the Zillow houses I dreamed about, but it was nice. He was divorced, so he had the child support thing, but he was good with money. Saved it up and even set up an account for me. He put just a little money in it to get me started. I thought about quitting my job at the convenience store, but T.J. said I should have my own income. You know, be independent. He wanted me to put money in my own account. I didn’t like that, because I wasn’t ever going to make enough for one of those Zillow houses. It wasn’t long after that when T.J. fell off a ladder he was climbing to get rid of a wasp nest. After the funeral and everything, his lawyer sent me a letter that I would have to vacate T.J.’s house, since it was still in his ex’s name.

They gave me three months to leave. While I was still living there, I met Bradley. He’s a heart surgeon. His wife died five years ago. When we first started going out, he said he liked how I’m not a snob. Guess some of his friends are the kind of people who brag about everything. Well anyway, we dated for a while, and I started spending weekends at his house. It’s a really nice place, even if it doesn’t look like a castle. And once I had to leave the house I was living in, he invited me to live with him. That worked for me. He was OK with me quitting the convenience store, too. He said since I was his, he would take care of me. Wasn’t that nice?

But I still want one of those Zillow houses. The big mansions they have on there are amazing. I was talking about them with Bradley’s tennis buddy Ethan. Ethan’s a corporate bigshot. He’s got one of those Zillow-type houses, and another one he uses for vacations. His wife left him a couple of years ago, and he told me he’s been alone since then. Poor guy. He invited me to have lunch, but when Bradley found out, he got jealous and mad and said Ethan needed to leave me alone. So I didn’t go to lunch. But Ethan and I started texting and FaceTiming and things. We’ve even met up a few times. Bradley doesn’t know about it.  Ethan told me I can have any house I want, live like a princess. It sounds real good to me, but now I have to tell Bradley. I know he’ll be mad. He told me he didn’t want anybody else hanging around me. Oh, well. Soon it won’t matter, because I’ll be gone.

Bradley and I are supposed to go for a long drive around the lake later, and then maybe go swimming. I’ll tell him then. The lake drive was his idea, and the crazy thing is, he knows I can’t swim. Oh, well. Guess he wants to see me in my bikini.