Packing up your things is particularly dreadful when you have nowhere to go.

Khan had plenty of experience moving.  His mother had never been able to provide a stable home.  With two evictions under her belt before Khan was old enough to remember, she couldn’t get any place under her own name.  This meant living with her sleazy boyfriends or increasingly unwelcoming relations. Then three years ago she just abandoned him.  Apparently she figured that he could fend for himself once he was in high school.  Her own parents had done the same to her, Khan had always interpreted that story as her showing him that no matter their troubles, his childhood was better than hers.  He felt like a fool for failing to grasp this not so subtle warning of things to come.

They’d finally got a break when Mr. Griggs gave them a chance.  His apartment building, The Rosario, had seen better days.  The floors squeaked in protest with each step taken.  Supposedly the building had been quickly thrown up to provide accommodation for the 1904 World’s Fair; it had never meant to last this long.  However, the studio apartment there was theirs alone.  They wouldn’t have to hide in the corner like mice (actual mice would do that for them).  How had Khan’s mom repaid Mr. Griggs’ kindness?  One day she went to work and didn’t come back.  A short cruel note showed that she wasn’t missing, she had left.

Mr. Griggs had responded by doubling down on his kindness.  Instead of giving Khan the boot, he gave him a job.  Khan became the caretaker of The Rosario.  He cleaned the floors, tended the spot of green out front, and changed the lightbulbs.  Khan learned to do repairs; he could now replace most of the parts in a toilet’s tank, change a lock, and patch drywall.  The creaking building was probably in the best shape it had been in years because of Khan.

Now that was coming to an end.  Mr. Griggs was dead.  Khan knew his days at The Rosario were numbered.  Whoever owned the building now was unlikely to give him the same deal.  Khan didn’t know how much longer he had, maybe if he was lucky he could fly under the radar for a few months.  But he also knew it was better to gather his things in case he got the bum’s rush out of the building.  The sudden replacement of security with uncertainty made his stomach sour.  He was supposed to start his junior year of high school in a couple weeks, but would he still be able to attend?  He supposed the next step was to tell someone at his school that his housing was in flux.  He hoped he’d be able to stay till at least then.

Khan appraised a souvenir mug from Six Flags.  It brought back memories of a fun day out.  It was also something breakable that probably wouldn’t survive in his backpack.  With a sigh, he added to his ‘leave behind’ pile.

There was a knock at the door.  

Dread filled Khan.  He thought about just not answering it, but somehow that felt like it would be worse.  Khan opened the door to see a young man wearing a Pretty Reckless band t-shirt.  “Khan Can…Kalee” the man butchered Khan’s Turkish surname.

“That’s me.” Khan cut him off.  So this is how it was.  He’d always imagined the man who would evict him would be wearing a suit.  Instead it was this jackwad who smelled of marijuana and couldn’t say his name right.  How undignified.  Khan’s mouth felt dry.

“Sign here.”  The man handed Khan a tablet.  

Khan squinted at the screen.  This might be some kind of trick to get him to sign away any rights he had as a tenant.  “And if I refuse?”

“Whu?”  The man at his door looked confused.  Then annoyed.  “Come on man, just sign it so I can give you the package.”

“Package?  You’re delivering a package?”

Rather than answering, the man held up a thick envelope and shook it.  

Khan breathed a sigh of relief and signed the tablet with his finger.  He traded the tablet for the thick envelope.  

“What is this?” Khan asked.  As the caretaker he brought in online orders the residents made almost everyday.  But he never had to sign for anything.

The delivery man shook his head as he walked away.  “You're a really weird man.” Khan shut his door and tore open the envelope.  It contained a letter, set of keys, and the deed to The Rosario.