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I rolled my eyes. “You know I’m always at work. I don’t have time for that.”
“Yeah, this is exactly what scares me. See, I want grandkids since you don’t spend time with me, Maria. Get yourself out there and getmewhat I want. I’m going to die soon, so don't leave me stranded,” she said in a light tone, but I could see right through her and I felt her sadness.
I walked over to her and kissed her head. “You aren’t going anywhere.”
A knock from the door drew my attention, and I left her all by herself to answer it. I was concerned by who it would be, as it was just past six in the morning, and I was rushing to get to work quickly. Anyone who had come to the door this early was looking to catch me before I left. I took a deep breath and looked through the peephole and saw that it was the landlord. I was behind on the rent, but we had spoken previously. His return worried me.
“Mr. Johannesson, so nice to see you.” I tried acting politely to hide my nervousness.
“Yes, well, I wish I could say the same, Maria. How’s your mother?”
I felt my stomach sink, “She’s doing well, getting treatment.”
“Good, good. Somethingsmellsgood. What do you have on the stove?” He asked, looking for a way to soften the blow that he was about to drop on me.
“Sir, I know you came here for a reason. If you could just say it, that would really help us both.”
Johannesson let out a breath, and he grabbed my shoulder, “I’m going to need that rent, Maria.”
“But we talked about it. I had a setback. I was in an accident, got hit by a car, and I had to pay the medical bills...”
“Yeah, I know. I heard you and all of that, but I’ve got a medical emergency of my own. My kid is down in the hospital, and I’ve got some debt that I need to pay off as well. I’ve got some prospective customers who want the space and they are willing to pay.”
I shook my head, not wanting to hear it. It was a nightmare I did not want to live through, not after everything I had done just to stay afloat. “But Iamwilling to pay. Ihave beenwilling to pay. It was just one stroke of bad luck, that is why I... Look, how about I give you half? How much time can that buy me?”
The landlord shook his head. “We don’t take pay like that. It’s all or nothing, and I cannot risk everything just for you.”
I couldn’t believe it; I was about to lose my house because I had been hit by a car. I had used most of the money Angelo had given me to get medication for my mother and to pay for some of her medical expenses. What I had left was security money in case I needed to pay for something quickly, and now the rent had come up. It was not enough to cover the whole thing, and I still needed two weeks of work to get the total amount of money necessary. I looked up at the man with pleading eyes, but I saw that even he had his hands tied. He had done everything that he could to help me.
“I won’t take the money from you, but I can give you three days to scrounge it up. If you don’t have the money, I will have no choice but to get it from somewhere else, and you will have to leave. I’m sorry, Maria.”
I nodded slowly. “I understand. I’ll do my best.”
He gave a weak smile and walked away. He did not want to throw me out, but he was back into a corner. I had no chance of surviving out on the streets, especially with my mother. She needed rest, and her medical equipment. I didn't even have a car where she could have stayed and managed for a bit. If we left the house for any reason, it was going to be game over for us. I headed back in and picked up my bag, looking to leave for work.
“The rent has come up again, huh?” My mother asked from behind me. I nodded with my back turned to her. “You know you would be a lot better without me here. I’m weighing you down kiddo, without me, you’d have some sort of balance.”
“Don’t say that, Mom. I’ll find a way, I promise,” I replied.
As I shut the door behind me, I heard her whisper a prayer for me. I sighed and walked out into the streets, wondering what I was going to do to get the money for the rent. I had just three days to pull off a miracle, and even if I could, we would probably starve because everything else would be going into keeping a roof over our heads. But what other choice did we have?
I considered going to ask my employer at Merriweather hospital for a month's salary in advance to cover the rent. I was skeptical about doing so because other nurses who had gone up to him to ask for an advance had suddenly found a way to lose their jobs after not ‘performing’ appropriately. There was even talk about how he tried to get sexual favors from those he knew were the most vulnerable. Those that refused were forced to pay back the money they had taken and were fired. I had to try, though; it was my only hope. At least if I could keep the house for the next couple of months, I would be able to work through anything that came my way.
I took a cab and got out in front of the hospital building, hurrying in to check in. I heard a familiar voice step out from behind the counter as I was about to enter. It was Vanessa. Whatever she wanted was not something I wanted to deal with, but she had caught me and I could not escape. She walked up to me, and I heard her humming in a tone that told me she was very pleased about something. I was sure that it was the fact that she was about to crush me.
“Oh, hello there, Maria! I would suggest heading straight up. Archie would like to see you.” She spoke with amusement in her voice.
“Archie?” I asked. I was the one who wanted to see the boss. I had no idea why he wanted to see me. Whatever it was, it would give me a chance to talk to him about my predicament. I signed in and stole a few glances at all the other nurses who knew something was going on.
Vanessa walked me to the elevator and joined me to ride to Archie’s office’s floor. She knocked twice before opening the door and leading me in. Archie looked up from his desk. He was a small mouse of a man who had somehow found himself in a position of power. He looked at me and then turned to Vanessa, then cleared his throat and pointed to a seat behind the desk.
“Please sit,” Archie began. “That will be all, Vanessa.”
Before she left, she dropped some of the papers she was holding on purpose and bent to pick them up behind me. She came closer to me and whispered, “I wish you luck, not that you’ll see any today.”
Vanessa left the room, and plunged us into an uncomfortable silence. Archie began tapping away at his laptop, trying to bring up something. I had no idea what it was, so I waited nervously, wondering if it had anything to do with me. The man said nothing and continued tapping away at his device, clearing his throat once as he was satisfied. With the tension in the room rising to a fever pitch, I broke the silence.
“Sir, I’m actually glad you called for me. I was hoping that I could talk to you about something today.” When he did not answer, I continued. “I was wondering if I could ask a favor from you, in the form of an advance on my salary. I’m having a bit of a problem with my rent, and I need some money to cover it. Otherwise, I might be forced to lose my home, and I cannot tell you how hard it would be for me to continue to provide good service here without having a bed to go back to at the end of the day.”
