Trumped by the Trump Card

I decided to play my trump card and I don't think it worked as I planned. In fact, it did a better job of convincing me to stay than of her to leave.

I went over there today to tell her that she has to go or we'd have to go to court. What I didn't expect (or rather what I chose to ignore) was that she has no intentions of going anywhere and is more than ready to go to court. Her sister and mom were there to plead her case as I told them the "we like you, but we just don't want to do business with SSI" story. I was hoping that she would eventually submit and ask for more time to leave, as I figured living in a place no one wants her in would make her leave. Instead, she consistently brought up all the things that she's done, what she's fixed, and her rent checks that she's holding until all this is resolved. She almost made me want her to stay and deal with everything, forgetting that she is an eventual cancer to Property Chi.

Even as I write this, I question whether it would be better to save my money, sign a 6-month lease, and have her in there through the summer (which, in that neighborhood, is the height of crime season), and see how things go from there. She and her boyfriend fixes things in the apartment. They "fit" with the neighborhood. The bar across the street gets rowdy this time of year, but Laurie doesn't seem to care. She, like her sister, loves the apartment and maintains it the way I want. I have to think about this very much, which is why I told her that the final decision will be made on Wednesday. I'm going to examine the pros and cons of it and make a decision.