Once they finished up with dinner, they decided to start walking home, for a little bit at least, as the winter was ending, and Dee could start to feel some of the spring air hit her face. Detroit wasn’t the safest place to walk home alone at night, but she figured with Ricardo by her side, they’d be fine. She loved the architecture still left in Detroit, even if part of it was crumbling. There were certainly still amazing houses left dotted through the city that just needed the right person do breathe life back in.
“I can’t believe what happened to all the beautiful houses in the city,” he told her. “I’ve seen many bankrupt cities in my life, but this is just different. There are still so many people living here, yet it looks like a ghost town. Like a movie set for a zombie thriller.”
“It’s definitely not what it used to be. I’m patient and hopeful that it’ll get better,” she responded.
“I wouldn’t stick around much longer. It doesn’t seem like the greatest place to raise a child,” he told her. She was a little offended that he thought now was the time to offer parenting advice.
“What do you mean? L.A. is the perfect place to do so?” she said sassily. She hadn’t been to L.A. before but knew that it had its fair share of crime too.
“Fair enough, you’re right,” he told her, clearly backing away from his statement.
“I was raised here. Do you think I didn’t turn out that great?” she asked, getting personally offended.
“OK, you’re right! I misspoke. I take it back,” he said, realizing she was more sensitive about the area than he had realized. Dee just didn’t like knowing that the person she was dating didn’t like the city she was from.
As they walked next to each other, she purposely bumped her hand into his, but only ever so lightly so that he didn’t think it was intentional. No matter what he thought, he got the hint and grabbed her hand. He looked at her and gave a sweet smile, Dee smiling back. Holding hands and walking down the street was something couples did, so what did this mean for these two? They still hadn’t shared a bed, but they definitely shared moments of passion. They hadn’t seen anyone out other than a few people that looked like they were also walking home. They started to get to a more residential area, giving them a chance to view some of the beautiful houses that used to stand tall along the streets, brightly painted with structural details you couldn’t find anywhere else.
It was around 40 degrees out and Dee remembered what it was like when it was only starting to get cold. Now she was grateful for that temperature, but at one point when it hit that low in October, she was putting mittens on Keisha. It was strange how easily their bodies could adjust to the temperatures. Every year she managed to feel hot in 70-degree weather one season while thinking that it was getting cold when it got that low in other seasons. She could adjust easily to the temperature, making her feel better about adjusting to this new situation.
The houses around them were beautiful. In one of the broken-down houses, there were children’s pictures on the windows, Dee wondering what happened to the kids that drew them to put on the windows in the first place. Many people that lost their homes from inability to pay or a fire became homeless. It broke Dee’s heart to think that might have happened to some of the people that used to live in the broken-down houses around them.
“It’s so sad,” he said, looking at the beautiful architecture, wondering what it used to be like. “How many families lived here? Where did everyone go?”
“I know,” Dee said, feeling closer to Ricardo knowing that they were thinking about the same things as they walked around the city together.
“I love old houses like these. All the porches and detail in the woodwork around the windows. It’s really amazing to think about how much detail went into crafting each home,” he explained.
“I always dreamt of this one actually,” she said as they approached an old, massive house. It had a pointed roof that Dee remembered thinking was a castle when she was young. They would drive by often, Dee always wondering what it looked like inside.
“It’s gorgeous,” he said, both of them staring at it outside of the wrought iron fence. There were rounded windows on either side of a massive wrap-around porch. The windows were broken, and the railing was all torn up, weeds overtaking the yard. Dee could still see the gorgeous colors splashing over the house, the sun shining through the large windows.
It had been abandoned for over a decade, though Dee could clearly see the for-sale sign still propped up in the front. She wanted to get enough money one day to buy it for her and Keisha, sad that it was so decrepit but still relieved that no one had purchased it. “I feel like this is my home,” she told him.
“Let’s go inside!” he told her, grabbing her hand.
“Are you crazy?” She laughed back. He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the fence, the front gate broken open. “There are probably squatters! It’s too dangerous!”
He pulled her onto the porch, her stomach filling with anxiety. He was laughing, Dee wondering if he was always that fearless or just feeling bold because of the wine. She had never seen the house that close before. There were so many times she would drive by, wondering what the story was inside. She wanted to run away as fast as she could, but she let him pull her arm through the front door. It was just hanging open, someone clearly breaking in that way as well.
There was a little moonlight and a spotlight from the street that lit up the front windows, allowing Dee to get an idea of what the house was like when it was freshly built. There were gorgeous details in the crown molding and doorways, unique wallpaper plastered to the walls as well. She saw a chandelier in the dining room that was absolutely beautiful. Her heart ached thinking of the neglected home sitting there alone for so many years.
“This place actually isn’t that bad. The floors look nice and it’s not the worst thing I ever smelled.” He laughed. Dee was holding her nose and laughed back as she walked through the house.
She entered the kitchen cautiously, a massive open area with a gorgeous window leading to the backyard. She thought about what it would be like to cook a meal for her family in a kitchen like that. Appliances were gone and most of the cabinet doors were broken, but she would love to be able to fix it up herself, putting unique thought and detail into every corner of the kitchen.
She peeked out the back window and saw that there was even a little treehouse built into a massive tree overlooking the backyard. She’d certainly have anxiety about letting Keisha climb a tree like that, but what little kid wouldn’t want a secret place like that to call their own?
It looked as though there was an apartment above the garage as well. Dee started to get lost in her fantasy when she felt Ricardo come up from behind her. He kissed her neck slowly.
“You look good in this kitchen,” he told her, nuzzling his face into her neck.
“It’s amazing isn’t it?” she asked, filled with bliss. They heard a loud thud upstairs and hurried out, laughing all the way. It seemed like it dropped ten degrees since they were inside, and Dee didn’t want to be anywhere else other than wrapped in Ricardo’s warm arms.
“Do you think it was a ghost or a squatter?” Ricardo asked, hugging Dee tightly as they walked away from the house.
“Maybe a raccoon,” she said, both of them laughing. Ricardo pulled out his phone and managed to call them a cab, Dee relieved to get warm again. She was exhausted from the wine, or maybe it was the fantasizing, and couldn’t wait to get home to her little girl. She felt good after their night out, hoping Ricardo felt the same.