Chapter 4: The Livestream
We killed the power. The red light died.
“Okay,” I said. “We need proof. Real proof.”
Jess had an idea. “What if we livestream? Like, now. Show everyone the apartment’s fine. Call them out.”
“It’s risky,” I said. “What if—”
“No,” she cut me off. “What if we don’t? We lose everything.”
I went live on TikTok. @MayaVsTheSlumlords.
“Hi,” I said to 3 viewers. Then 20. Then 1,200. “My landlord is trying to illegally evict me with fake videos. This is my apartment. Right now. 9:42 a.m.”
I panned the camera. Clean. No damage. No party.
Comments blew up:
“OMG I saw the fake TikTok!!”
“SUE THEM”
“Girl I’m a lawyer in Texas, DM me”
Then a comment pinned itself: @Tyler_The_Manager has joined.
His comment: “Keep lying and I leak the REAL video. The one from your bedroom.”
My blood ran cold. He didn’t have… did he?
The live hit 10k. My phone started lagging.
Jess grabbed it and yelled into the camera: “HE’S GOT CAMERAS IN OUR APARTMENT! THAT’S ILLEGAL!”
The live cut out.
“Banned for violating community guidelines,” the screen read.
Knock knock.
Police. Real police this time.
“Ma’am, we have a noise complaint. And a warrant to check for property damage.”
May you like
Tyler stood behind them, smiling.
He held up his phone. On it was a video of me… sleeping. In my room. Last night.
To be continued…
