Kenny pulls up to a suburban street in his car. He notices a house with a “For Rent” sign on the window. He steps out of the car and approaches the house. He was a smooth-talking con artist who knew how to get what he wanted. He had moved to the city to start a new life, and when he stumbled upon Old Mark’s building, he knew he had found the perfect place to set up shop.

Although his age made him appear harmless, Old Mark was notorious for being cantankerous and driving his tenants away before their lease even expired. But Kenny was different. He knew how to charm Old Mark and get him to lower his guard. So he stepped up to the front door, knocked twice and as he was about to give it a third try, the door opens. How may I help you? said Old Mark with a quiescent tone.

Kenny responded with a look of a responsible and respectful young man; I saw a sign “for rent” just outside this building and I was hoping the apartment was still available. Old Mark then answered Kenny with a positive nod and invited him in.

They both discussed and agreed on $200 as monthly rent. Kenny was handed a tenancy agreement succinctly written yet cryptic to sign and he went ahead to affix his signature without bothering himself to read the fine print. Kenny paid, rented the building, moved in several boxes and household equipment, and began making it his own.

At first, Old Mark was suspicious of Kenny. He knew that the young man was up to no good, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what it was. Kenny was always polite and respectful, and he paid his rent on time and Old Mark had no reason to evict him.

As a few months passed, Old Mark worked tirelessly to get Kenny out of his building. He used every trick in the book to make Kenny’s life a living hell but that did little to deter Kenny from fulfilling his plans. But soon enough, Kenny began to put on a show to grab the interest of Old Mark. He started making his shady businesses and calls in the presence of Old Mark or as he passes by. And before long, Old Mark was hooked and began to fantasize about having a piece of those figures of cash Kenny keeps mentioning while on the phone. So when Kenny knew he had Old Mark when he wanted, he then approached and convinced Old Mark to invest in one of his schemes. He said it was an arbitrage betting scheme on a large scale that will fetch a fortune but also require a significant sum of money to begin with. Old Mark shook when he was told the minimum cash to start with was $2,000.

Old Mark was hesitant at first but thought to himself that Kenny lives in his apartment,

and has loads of belongings that must be worth much more than $2,000 besides, Kenny was so convincing, so he eventually gave in. He invested in the business, hoping to make a profit. But it was all a scam, and Kenny disappeared that same day, taking Old Mark’s money with him.

When Old Mark realized what had happened, he was distraught and decided he will seize all of Kenny’s belongings and eventually sell them to recoup his money. But as soon as he open Kenny’s apartment with his master key, He knew had been taken advantage of by a con artist, and he had lost a lot of money. The boxes were all empty and kept in a corner of the room suggesting they had always been empty as they were all covered with dust. Even the so-called television set was nothing but an empty casing.

But amid all the tristesse, Old Mark was able to muster a smile as he was successful in getting Kenny out of his building even before his lease expired.