Unlike every other city in the world, the Detroit Free Zone was alive. Literally alive, with her own soul, mind, opinions, and, occasionally, off-the-books real estate deals. Collections tried their best to keep up, but they were only human. Sometimes rent was paid in ways that simply couldn’t be reported. When that happened, it didn’t matter how long a unit had been in collections. It would never open up. In the one and a half years that I’d been Cleaning, I’d gotten a locked unit only once, but you didn’t forget getting stiffed for two grand by the living goddess of your city.
