#73: This Building Has Been Condemned

..............................................................................................................................................

When Shelby returned from work one evening he was met at the entrance to his apartment building by an official looking young lady. She made sure that he read the notice that she had on her clipboard.

This Building has been condemned
under Eminent Domain proceedings

• All residents have until
  dd,mm, yy)
  to vacate.
  by order of the
  Housing Authority
  of the City of Pittsburgh
  (HACP)
  Regional Housing Services
  (RHS-Section 3)
  Community Development Office
  (CDO-Branch 11c-b1)
  Urban Blight Abatement Group.
  (UBAG-Precinct 4b.223.1c)
  The Honorable Juniper Smedly,
  Director
  “To Protect and to Serve...People are our Priority”
  Ayesha Idreesa Khan
  xx-xxx-xxxx
  Service Associate.
  Have a nice day.
  sign below

Shelby read the notice.

“Why aren’t the dates filled in?” he asked.

“This is a standard form” the young lady said “ there are condemnation proceedings in progress among several different apartment blocks in the area. The dates are not all the same. If we leave out the dates we can print boilerplate. That saves money. We are always conscious about saving tax payer money.”

“Oh.” Shelby said. “I suppose I would expect something like that. I notice that the telephone number isn’t filled in either”.

“Do you have a phone?” the lady asked, she was visibly put-off by the remark that he would expect no less. No less what? That hurt.

“No I don’t actually.” Shelby lied. She certainly wasn’t getting his phone number. “The deposit was too large.”

“Well there you have it.” she said “please sign here.”

She indicated a signature block.

Shelby stared at her for a moment. “There I have what?” he asked.

“Yes. I’m so glad that you understand. You would not BELIEVE how hard it is to get simple facts across to some people.” she replied. “Please sign. There are other people I need to speak to.”

Shelby once again hesitated. “No. I don’t think I will. If you are going to rip my residence from beneath me you don’t have my blessings.”

“Oh it’s not like that at all.” She stuttered. “The good of the many must take precedence over the needs of the few. Surely you must see that?”

“Don’t call me Shirley. What do the needs of the many intend to do with this land?” Shelby asked.

“An Ostrich race track will be built. It will bring in a lot of tax revenue. Everyone will benefit.” She said.

“Ostriches?” Shelby asked

“It’s the latest thing.” the young lady said “We are assured by the developers that it will be wildly popular.”

“I’ve never heard of Ostrich racing” Shelby said in astonishment.

“Oh...we will be the first” she said. “Isn’t that exciting?”

“Where will I live?” Shelby asked her. “All the low cost housing is being demolished.”

She just blinked at him, unable to process the question. Shelby waited for her to answer. When it become apparent that she could not or would not he turned away and climbed the stairs.

---

“What do you think? Was she legit?” Shelby asked Elvira as they topped the stairs.

“I have no doubt.” Elvira said. “ No one could be that stupid who didn’t work for the government. Time to move out.”

“I was hoping that you would say that.” Shelby replied. “I’ve just been looking for an excuse.”

---

On the weekend before the eviction date he moved. Pretty much all he had to move were books and a few clothes. There were only a few other items. Everything was packed into the pillbug carts. That was the name that Chad, the young vet, had called them when he had purchased several. Chad had said that they resembled pill-bugs with small baskets on their backs. The name had stuck. Shelby had since discovered the smoke. He didn’t bother with legs or wheels any longer...he floated on the smoke. He and a swarm of pill-bugs drifted silently along the sidewalks and alleys at a fast walking speed. Elvira flew high guard.

If any of the surviving gang-bangers saw the move they did NOT interfere. Shelby was NOT molested. Unknown to Shelby the Dragon Lady had made a grisly example of those survivors who’d not ‘got the memo.” Their successors were more diligent. They escorted Shelby unseen and made damn SURE that he wasn’t bothered.

Shelby arrived at his shop without hindrance.

**********

“That should do it, for now.” Shelby said. The move-in was complete. He’d conjured smoke bookshelves almost instantly, along with anything else he wanted. Oddly enough he was discovering that he needed less and less and that he became more and more used to the smoke. An area behind his shop resembled a small library. Not so small actually.

While he was “out back” of his workshop he noticed activity in other parts of the huge old factory building. Elvira went to look.

“Guess what” she said when she came back.

“Yup...I know” he said. Of course he did. He’d been watching through her eyes when she made the surveillance flight. It made sense actually. He never considered himself to be especially bright. It only made sense that others had come up with the same idea that he had. The old building had other displaced people in it now.

**********

“You’re here early” Sam said the next morning when he and several others, walked into the break room. Usually Sam got to work before the short bus arrived and had already finished his first cup of coffee when Shelby got there. Not today.

“I moved closer to work” Shelby said “the old place was running out of room for bookshelves.”

“That makes sense.” Sam said “I guess?”

Sam wasn’t fooled for a second. He knew that most of the plant employees now lived in the same building that they worked in.

In fact he’d help make it happen.

---

The Next Episode will be
#74: Barge
The Previous Episode was
#72: Kidnap
the First episode was
#1 : Prologue

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@everittdmickey
.
I write
SPECULATIVE FICTION
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Sometimes it's hard to tell fiction from the news.