Revision to "Dennis’s Apartment Setting" - Portfolio Revision Module 6

 

Dennis’s Apartment Setting Revision

The apartment Dennis lives in is an uncomfortable and unchangeable 63.5 to 74.5 degrees and is always between being too hot or too cold to his liking. The floors are linoleum, they line the whole apartment, with scuff marks that expose the old concrete finish. Dennis’s feet have a persistent white dust on them, and a few calluses due to how rundown the floor has been kept. There are only four rooms in the entire apartment: the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and living room. Dennis likes it this way because it is simple, and it is functional. He does not have friends, nor a spouse, so there is no expectation of there being a whole lot of decoration, or other frivolous things.

All except for the giant mirror in front of the doorway. Dennis has tried for the last five years to move this thing, but it’s mounted to the wall in the most impossible ways. He’s dubbed the mirror “Hell”, because the first thing when he comes home is glance at himself and think, “what the hell are you looking it?”. The mirror spans from the door to the ceiling, it has small cracks on it, and the frame is this old timey piece of copper wire that twists around it in the most uncomplimentary way. In Dennis’s small apartment, the mirror sits out of place and has become the only thing in his life that he has contempt for. To Dennis, people can come or go, girls can be bought with sweet-nothings or cheap chocolates, and luxury can be acquired with hard work; but finding an affordable apartment in downtown Harrisburg is as lucky as pulling the winning numbers in the Powerball! If it where up to him, that ugly mirror would be gone by now, but living in an apartment has forced Dennis to give up some of that freedom in exchanged for a steep security deposit he hoped to get back one day. It was a pipe dream, but something that he knew he had to do if he ever wanted to get out of his monotonous life on The Hill.

 Where Dennis lives in Harrisburg is not, “the bad side of town”, but it has its days. The streets smell like gas and trash, there’s always noise, and the people are always in a rush. Dennis’s apartment complex is small with red bricks that cover the exterior, and it sits next to the bodega that’s always has someone standing out on the corner, yelling and drinking. This is home, a far stretch from the trenches, but always a lingering threat that looms right over The Hill.

Dennis did not go outside much, but when he did, he would go out to the front stoop and spark up an old one. Police didn’t come on this side of town, so he was safe, really, they didn’t come up on his street because it was quiet. A lot of older people, “old heads”, lived up here, and they didn’t bother you unless you bothered them. Dennis could always recognize who was about that life though. The real Gangbangers where the quiet one with tattoos that adorned their victories from the wars of the street. They had no reason to be out and be loud since the where the head honchos that called the shots quietly from the back. He’d watch them every day but didn’t care to talk to them, only exchanging head nods in passing or quiet admirations from days long past.

The best time of year was fall. The few trees that lined the sidewalk would turn red and orange, and the hues would reflect off the mirror and make it look like the apartment was on fire, on days like that Dennis would lay on the couch and zone out. It didn’t matter that it was noisy outside, or that the neighbors would be arguing through the doors; but a soothing deep set orange cascade that would burn any doubt and worry way. This spot was Dennis’s only safe space away from it all. Work, himself, the world, it didn’t matter at all, Denis could live carefree, and that was just okay.