The air under the porch smells like wet copper and old cedar. The air is thick. The air does not move. Bev crawls out from the wooden steps. Bev has dirt on her knees. Bev has dirt on her palms. The dirt is grey. The dirt is dry. The buyer is coming at noon.

The termite inspector is already at the house. The termite inspector has a flashlight. The termite inspector has a clipboard. The termite inspector has a silver pen.

The house is in College Park. The house is a bungalow. The house has heart pine floors. The house has a closing date. The closing date is Friday. It is Wednesday. The buyer needs a clear termite letter. The bank needs the termite letter. The termite letter is the paper that says the house is safe.

Without the termite letter, the bank will not give the money. Without the money, the house does not sell. Bev wants to sell the house. Bev has packed the boxes. The boxes are in the garage. The boxes are taped shut.

Twenty Minutes Under the House

The termite inspector crawls under the porch. Bev waits on the grass. The grass is damp. The termite inspector stays under the house for twenty minutes. Bev hears the flashlight hit the floor joists. The flashlight makes a hollow sound. The flashlight makes a metallic sound. Bev looks at her watch. The watch says ten in the morning.

The termite inspector crawls out. The termite inspector brushes his pants. The termite inspector looks at Bev. Bev looks at the termite inspector. The termite inspector holds the clipboard.

“You have activity here,” the termite inspector says.

– The Inspector

Bev looks at the house. Bev looks at the wood. Bev does not see the activity. “What is activity?” Bev asks. “Activity is termites,” the termite inspector says. “Activity is the sign that the termites were in the wood. I found a hole. The hole is in the floor joist. The hole is near the chimney.”

Bev knows the chimney. The chimney is brick. The chimney is old. “Is the termite in the hole now?” Bev asks. “The hole is evidence,” the termite inspector says. “The report must show the evidence. The bank will see the evidence. The bank will not like the evidence.”

The termite inspector clicks the silver pen. The termite inspector writes on the clipboard. The termite inspector says the treatment costs $1,840. The termite inspector says he can do the treatment tomorrow. If the termite inspector does the treatment tomorrow, the termite letter will be ready for the closing.

The termite letter will be clean. The clean letter satisfies the bank. The clean letter allows the money to move. Bev looks at the calendar. Friday is two days away.

The deadline tells Bev to pay the money. Bev does not have time to call another person. Bev does not have time to look at the hole. Bev does not have time to ask if the termites are dead or alive. The urgency is the tool. The urgency is the price.

The Masonry of the 1920s

Aria V.K. is a mason. Aria V.K. works with old brick. Aria V.K. works with lime mortar. Aria V.K. knows about old Florida houses. Aria V.K. says that in the 1920s, builders did not use chemicals. Builders used masonry. Builders used height. Builders kept the wood away from the dirt.

Aria V.K. says that a house needs air. Air keeps the wood dry. Dry wood does not feed the bug. Aria V.K. once worked on a building in St. Augustine. The building had walls made of coquina. Coquina is a stone made of shells. The walls were thick. The walls were porous. The walls let the moisture out. The wood floors stayed hard for one hundred years.

Aria V.K. says that today we build differently. We build close to the dirt. We use chemicals to stop the bugs. The chemicals are a skin. The skin has a clock. The clock runs out. When the clock runs out, the bugs come back. The inspector checks the clock.

The inspector checks the clock right when the seller is trying to leave. The inspector knows that a seller in a hurry is a seller who pays.

Bev signs the paper. Bev signs the paper because the alternative is the deal collapsing. If the deal collapses, Bev must unpack the boxes. Bev does not want to unpack the boxes. Bev wants to go to the new house. The new house is in a different city.

The termite inspector leaves. The termite inspector drives a white truck. Bev goes inside the house. Bev looks at the heart pine floors. The floors are beautiful. The floors are amber. Bev wonders about the hole.

The hole is the size of a lead pencil. The hole is under the floor. No one sees the hole. But the hole is worth $1,840 today. On any other day, the hole is just a hole.

The Orlando Market Timing

In a market like Orlando, the timing of the check is everything. Homeowners often call Drake Lawn & Pest Control because they want to know the state of the house before the lawyers get involved.

A free inspection that happens a month before the sale is a different experience. A free inspection allows the seller to think. A free inspection allows the seller to breathe. When the seller is not under the deadline, the seller can look at the wood. The seller can ask the technician to show the activity.

The technician can explain the treatment. The price is just a price. The price is not a ransom.

I once caught myself talking to the baseboards in my own kitchen. I was looking for wings. I was looking for the discarded wings of the swarming termite. The wings look like small pieces of fish scales. The wings are light. The wings blow in the wind.

I was talking to the wood because I was afraid of the wood. I was afraid the wood was disappearing. Fear makes you agree to things you do not understand. When you combine fear with a Friday closing, you have a perfect environment for a high bill.

The termite inspector returns on Thursday. The termite inspector has a tank. The termite inspector has a hose. The termite inspector rods the soil. The termite inspector pumps the chemical into the ground. The chemical creates the barrier.

The termite inspector finishes the work. The termite inspector gives Bev the termite letter. The termite letter is white. The termite letter has the signature of the termite inspector.

The Glass Walls of Closing

Bev takes the termite letter to the closing. The closing happens in an office with glass walls. The lawyer sits at the table. The buyer sits at the table. The buyer wears a blue shirt. The buyer is a young man. The young man is nervous.

The young man looks at the termite letter. The young man sees the signature. The young man relaxes. The young man signs the mortgage. The bank gives the money. Bev gives the keys.

The house sells. The house stays in the same place. The wood in the floor joist still has the hole. The chemical is in the dirt. The buyer has the warranty. The termite inspector has the check. Bev has her boxes. The boxes go into a different truck.

In the real estate world, the inspection is framed as protection. The protection is for the buyer. The protection is for the bank. But the timing of the inspection is for the inspector. When the inspection happens at the last minute, the inspection is a trap.

A homeowner who knows the house is a homeowner who can negotiate. A homeowner who waits for the buyer to find the bug is a homeowner who has already lost the negotiation.

College Park has many old trees. The trees have shade. The shade keeps the ground damp. The damp ground is the home of the bug. The bug does not know about the bank. The bug does not know about the Friday closing. The bug only knows the wood.

The bug eats the wood because the wood is there. The inspector finds the bug because the inspector is paid to find the bug.

Paying for Silence

Bev drives away. Bev looks in the rearview mirror. Bev sees the bungalow. Bev sees the porch. Bev thinks about the $1,840. Bev thinks about the hole the size of a pencil lead.

Bev realizes she paid for the silence of the bug. She paid so the bug would not speak at the closing. She paid so the bug would not stop the money.

Aria V.K. says that masonry is honest. Brick is honest. If a brick is broken, you see the break. If a mortar joint is empty, you see the hole. Wood is different. Wood hides the story. Wood keeps the secret inside the grain.

The termite works in the secret part of the wood. The inspector uses the secret to create the urgency. The urgency creates the profit.

The house now belongs to the young man in the blue shirt. The young man will live in the house for many years. The young man will not look under the porch. The young man will trust the termite letter. The young man will trust the chemical barrier.

One day, the young man will decide to sell the house. The young man will pack his boxes. The young man will set a closing date for a Friday. The young man will wait for the termite inspector.

The termite inspector will arrive with a flashlight. The termite inspector will arrive with a clipboard. The cycle will continue. The deadline will be the boss again.

I remember the smell of the copper and the cedar. It is the smell of a house that is being watched. It is the smell of a house that is being measured. We think we own the house. We think we control the sale.

But the house and the bugs have their own schedule. The bank has its own schedule. We just pay the fee to stay on the map. We pay the fee to keep the boxes moving. We pay the fee to make the silver pen click.

Bev is gone now. The house is quiet. The termites are under the dirt. The termites wait for the chemical to fade. The termites have all the time in the world. The termites do not have a closing date.