Unfading Love Of Zatima

Chapter 7: Home, Sweet Home

Madam: Boom! I win! *chortles*

*all groan*

Zac: Good game, y'all. I'm finna call it a night.

Fatima: Yeah, me too.

They all go back to their rooms. Maurice & Sabrina's room was on the third floor. Bryce & Angela: 6th. Gary & Andi: 5th. Preston & Danni: 7th. Madam: 4th. The next few days, they all packed up and went home. Zatima lived in a 3-story beach house in Miami, Florida with 3 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms (one of which was a guest room), an attic, a patio, a garage built for 2 cars, a basement and 5 security cameras. And the whole thing overlooked the beach from the patio. Bryce & Angela lived 3 blocks away from Zac & Fatima. Madam lived in a mansion downtown. Preston & Danni lived across the street from Zac & Fatima. Maurice & Sabrina lived on one side of a duplex in Orlando while Gary & Andi lived on the other side of said duplex.

Zac: Ahh, it's good to be back.

Fatima: You can say that again.

Zac: Look at all this. Look at what we built together.

Fatima: Yeah. And it's all ours.

Zac: Hold up, there's some mail here. Let's see. Gas bill, light bill, water bill.

Fatima: Oh shit. How much?

Zac opens each envelope one at a time starting with the light bill.

Zac: OK, the light bill's not too bad. $75.

Fatima: What about the gas bill?

Zac: Let's see. *mutters* $55.

Fatima: And the water bill?

Zac: $650?! Are you shitting me?!

Fatima: What?! How is that possible? Do you be taking 3-hour showers or something?

Zac: No! I only take half-hour showers.

Fatima: Well, someone's been running up the water bill!

Zac leaned against the kitchen counter, staring at the bill in his hand as though it might catch fire at any moment. Fatima glanced up and noticed his furrowed brow.

Zac: This is ridiculous! And it's a whole month, too! We don’t even use that much water!

Fatima: Okay relax, baby. Let’s just figure this out.

It all started about 9 months earlier; Zac had decided to tackle the backyard project he’d been dreaming of—turning their barren patch of grass into a lush oasis. He spent hours watching YouTube videos about gardening and landscaping. He even installed a new sprinkler system.

Zac: The system’s pretty efficient.

Fatima: Really? You don't say.

Zac: Yeah, it only waters in the early morning when evaporation is low.

Fatima: Wow. That IS pretty efficient.

What he hadn’t considered, though, was that the timer he set wasn’t working quite right. Instead of running for 20 minutes three times a week, the sprinklers had been running every day for over an hour.

Fatima: Uh, Zac?

Zac: Yeah?

Fatima: How long did you set the timer for the sprinklers to run?

Zac: Uh, 20 minutes.

Fatima: And how many times a week did you set them to run?

Zac: Thrice a week, why?

Fatima: Because I'm looking at the screen and it says you're running them for an hour and 15 minutes each day.

Zac: Wait, what? No, no, no that can't be right.

Fatima: Well, that's what I'm seeing.

Zac: Alright, no problem. I can fix that.

So he changed the sprinkler setting to run from an hour & 15 minutes a day to 3 times a week for 20 minutes.

Zac: There we go.

However, the sprinklers were the least of their worries. There was also Fatima’s newfound love of baths. She’d always been more of a shower person, but after discovering a boutique shop that sold handmade bath bombs, she was hooked. Every evening, she’d run a full tub and soak for over an hour, enjoying the lavender-scented bubbles and candles she’d set up along the edge. Also, Zac had started washing his car in the driveway instead of taking it to the car wash. He’d even convinced himself it was “eco-friendly” to use a hose with a nozzle, never realizing how much water he wasted while carefully scrubbing every inch of his beloved car. Plus, the guest bathroom faucet was leaking at one point. As the months passed by the time they’d accounted for everything, the pieces fit together like an elaborate puzzle. The "broken" sprinkler system, the daily baths, the faucet drip, and Zac’s car washes had all conspired to drive their water bill sky-high.

Which brings us back to now. Zac & Fatima looked at each other in realization, almost laughing.

Fatima: Well, I guess that explains that.

Zac: Yup. At least I finally fixed that leak, tho.

Fatima: Wow. We gotta come up with a plan.

Zac: I hear that. At least now we know water’s not free, and neither is ignorance.

Fatima: You got that right. OK, so from now on, no more home car washes.

Zac: And no more daily baths.

Fatima: I didn’t think baths used that much water, to be honest.

Zac: Tima, those tubs hold like 80 gallons. You’ve been turning our bathroom into a spa every night for weeks!

Fatima: OK, how about this? What if I just take weekly baths and fill the tub only halfway?

Zac: Well, I suppose that could work. And if we need our cars washed, we drive to the car wash from now on.

Fatima: Agreed. You know, I think we both learned our lesson. Let’s just hope next month’s bill doesn’t look like a mortgage payment.

Zac: If it does, I'll be mortified.