The meeting was in Mrs. Patterson's apartment.
Maya had cleaned the kitchen table. She'd set out the folding chairs. The tenant list was in the center of the table, face up.
The developer's representative arrived at 2 PM. The same woman in the grey suit. Short hair. Glasses. Her name was Ms. Chen. No relation to Mr. Chen.
"Ms. Reyes," she said. "Thank you for meeting with me."
"Thank you for coming."
Ms. Chen sat at the table. She looked at the tenant list. "You have twelve signatures."
"We have twelve tenants."
"Not for long."
Maya sat across from her. Mr. Chen sat to her left. Leo stood by the door. Marco and Jasmine were in the folding chairs.
"We've made our final offer," Ms. Chen said. "Sixty thousand per unit. Plus relocation assistance. Plus first right of refusal on any new units built on the site."
Maya's heart beat faster. Sixty thousand. That was more than she'd expected.
"And the repairs?" Maya asked.
"The building will be demolished. There will be no repairs."
"Demolished?"
Ms. Chen nodded. "The developer plans to build a new mixed-use building. Retail on the ground floor. Condos above."
The room was quiet.
Mr. Chen spoke first. "What happens to us? While they build?"
"Relocation assistance. Six months of rent at a comparable unit. After that, you're on your own."
Marco leaned forward. "Six months isn't enough."
"It's our final offer."
Maya looked at the tenant list. Mrs. Patterson's name. Will fight? Yes.
"We need time to discuss," Maya said.
"You have forty-eight hours. Then the offer expires."
Ms. Chen stood. She handed Maya a business card. "Call me when you've decided."
She left.
---
The room was silent.
Jasmine was the first to speak. "Sixty thousand is a lot of money."
"It's not enough to buy a new home," Marco said.
"It's enough to rent for a few years."
"And then what?"
Mr. Chen raised his hand. "The building will be demolished. There's nothing we can do to stop that. The question is how much we can get."
Maya looked at Leo. His face was unreadable.
"What do you think?" she asked.
"I think you should negotiate."
"They said it's final."
"Final offers are never final."
Maya turned to the others. "We have forty-eight hours. I'll call Vanessa. We'll see if we can get more."
Jasmine nodded. Marco nodded. Mr. Chen nodded.
---
Maya called Vanessa from the roof.
The lawyer answered on the second ring. "I heard about the offer. Sixty thousand."
"Yes. Plus six months relocation."
"It's not terrible. But it's not great."
"Can we get more?"
Vanessa was quiet for a moment. "Maybe. But if you push too hard, they might withdraw the offer. Then you get nothing."
"What would you do?"
"I'd take it. But I'm not you."
Maya looked at the water tank. The painted eye. "I'll talk to the tenants. I'll call you back."
She hung up.
Leo came up behind her. "What did she say?"
"She said take it."
"Do you agree?"
"I don't know."
He stood next to her. "Mrs. Patterson said the garden would grow back. She didn't say the building would stay."
Maya turned to look at him. "You think we should take the offer."
"I think you should do what's best for the tenants. Not what's best for the building."
"The building is the tenants."
"No. The tenants are the tenants. The building is just wood and brick."
She looked at the garden. The empty buckets. The dead soil.
"I need time," she said.
"You have forty-eight hours."