New Avalon

[yamikuronue]

"Oh come on, that's bullshit, I didn't do it! It had to be Brian, he took over from me." Erika's hands shook a little as she struggled to keep her breathing even. "Come on, I need the money!"

[CalamityJade]

"So do I, sweetheart. And since it's all you guys jobs to keep the money IN the drawers, guess who has to pay up." He started heading for the door. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have actual work to get done."

[yamikuronue]

Erika darts in front of the door to bar his way physically. "No, you don't understand." That two crowns was supposed to pay for groceries -- most of the rest of her paycheck was allocated already, and she was behind on the rent so she can't push that off another paycheck like she had last month... "I need that money, and I earned it, dammit!"

[CalamityJade]

"Then you should have watched the register. Now you got about five seconds to move before I fire you!" Yep, he was cross and not about to take that sort of bullshit. "And before you start spouting things about being replaceable, don't even try. At least fifteen people show up here every day, and you sure as shit wouldn't be here if the city'd warmed up to you."

[yamikuronue]

Erika stares at him for a good three seconds, mouth open, before she closes it, ducks her head, and darts out of the way, and out of the store entirely, to the sidewalk, where she leans against the wall, heart pounding, closing her eyes.

I won't cry I won't cry I won't cry

Taking the hard number on her paycheck, subtracting the rent, letting the Pulse bill ride until next paycheck, subtracting the service charges for her existing loans, plus the new one since it's about to roll over, and then the amount to keep the table and chairs, that left her with..

Three scales with which to buy food.

If she turns around to the convenience store she can get six cans of tuna for that, which means she can eat once every... fourteen divided by six, almost every other day. Once. If she starts walking now, she can get to the cheaper market where she could afford ten cans, which is a little better, that's every day but four, so if she only eats on days she works, and one meal a day....

A cry rises in her throat, but she chokes it back into a lump. I won't cry. I won't cry.

Bills have to be paid, first and foremost, and the easiest place to cash her paycheck is at the same little shop where she gets her payday loans -- efficient, since they'll go ahead and deduct the money she owes them then. Her feet begin moving before she's even really aware she's going, and before long, she finds herself in front of the shop, trying to compose herself.

[CalamityJade]

The shop was open and Mr Finch was reading over the books. "And right on time, Miss Stark." He looked...well a little tired. Probably up late cackling at the futility of Erika's plight...or just being mean-spirited in general. Plus he seemed to be eating something.

[yamikuronue]

"Yes," she says, her voice clipped. "I need this cashed, please." Usually she was happy on payday -- usually she enjoyed making smalltalk, joking about going gambling with all this cash she had laying around, looking forward to buying herself a nice treat to celebrate making it through another fortnight... but today, she just felt tired, empty, crushed. She just wanted the day to be over.

[CalamityJade]

Mr. Finch noticed the short exchange before he took said check. "...look. Sorry bout the other day. Had a long fight with a guy tryin ta stiff his loan and I was already runnin late..." Well, that's great. Seems like he was just running a little late and THAT'S why Erika almost had to fight off the rats in her apartment for sleeping space.

[yamikuronue]

She waves a hand. "It's fine. I don't blame you." She sighs. "It's just, they stiffed me some." She nods at the check in his hand. "So now I'm in another hole."

[CalamityJade]

Mr. Finch made a grimaced look. "Those scam artists at the Diamond Stop? Lousy bastards." he writes the check down on paper. "How much they stiff ya?"

[yamikuronue]

"Two whole crowns," she says, biting off each word like it befouls her mouth to say it. "I've barely enough to cover my bills now."

[CalamityJade]

He has the decency to suck on his teeth. "You kiddin? That's damn near robbery!" He starts counting out the crowns...interesting thing about Merkava. The money didn't actually have pictures of any of the leaders...in fact it either had the crest of the country or, in the case of anywhere in New Avalon, it had the crest of the city. It was a shot of the skyline with an old script around the edge that said, 'May your fate and fortunes be your path.' It was supposed to be a quote from the guy that planned and founded New Avalon.

[yamikuronue]

"Yeah, tell me about it," she mumbles, her shoulders slumped. "Some bullshit about there being a thief and blaming me for working that day."

[CalamityJade]

"And now you gotta pay for it...heh, makes you wonder if you shoulda taken the money from those crooks." He finished counting out the crowns. "But then you'd get the Spotlights from downtown commin in and takin ya." The Spotlights were the slang term for the New Avalon police, and was coined by some people who saw them running after a crook at night. Their badges actually seemed to glow like spotlights...which made it a little amazing that they caught the crook, actually.

[yamikuronue]

"They feed you in prison," she replies, darkly. Not that she'd steal, not really, just... sometimes... sometimes it felt like it'd be worth it.