When her father died, Neda inherited
his rental business: twenty houses in and
around the town of Caruthers, California,
and all the tenants he’d rented to. They
started coming the first of July. Their beater
cars idled in the shade of the walnut trees
and leaked motor oil and antifreeze on the
asphalt driveway. “Heard about your dad,
Miss,” they’d say. “Sorry to hear it. I don’t
figure he told you about the arrangements
we made?”
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