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Oh, God. What did you do? He was sexy, successful, and stable!
Carrie recites her ‘three S’ standard, but I want to know why she thinks I’m the problem.
Then again, I did snort-laugh, chew my nails, and ramble, so…
I don’t know. He had eyes for someone else, so I hooked them up before I left.
Bubbles flash and then disappear twice before she finally messages back.
Tell me you didn’t???
“Oh, Penelope. We appreciate you so much,” Mrs. Padilla says, keys jangling as she rushes through the door. She hands me two Topican paper bills. “Sorry, I’m short again.”
“No problem at all. I totally understand.” I smile at the woman, even though she’s always short the amount she owes me.
She’s also notoriously two hours late every time I babysit her rambunctious kids, but I don’t make a big fuss about it. She’s got a lot going on between changing jobs and finding her husband in bed with another woman from his office. If my rent’s late by a week, I’ll just bat my eyes at my landlord with the promise to pay extra when I get the chance.
Logan did make an offer…
Sure, I could work for him. But if his father found out after all but telling me to stay away, then what? Never mind that Logan ripped my heart out, burned it, and then danced on the ashes.
Silas Anderson was someone my father considered family. We fed him at our table, housed his family in their time of need, and gave him access to the sacred lands of Augustine—and he repaid us by disappearing without a trace the second things got rocky.
But since leaving Logan’s office yesterday, Dorthea and Ricardo have been heavy on my mind. Ricardo says he doesn’t need my help, but that’s because he’s too proud to admit the home is in terrible shape.
After our last inspection, the city threatened to close the doors if they had one more violation. And that was before the new ordinance that’s raising fees for business owners all along Seaside Avenue.
“You’re truly a blessing, Pen!” She wraps her arms around my neck and gives me a suffocating squeeze.
I wave goodbye, picking chunks of glitter out of my hair as I make my way toward the bus station a block away from the enormous Keerah Financial building.
Now there’s a place my overbearing father would approve of. A nice nine-to-five job with benefits, paid time off, and a retirement fund I’ll never see because I’ll be working until I’m at least ninety-seven.
Two words, dummy. Summit. Estates.
“No,” I chastise myself, but the job opportunity is there, breathing down my neck–the same way the possibility of losing the group home does each time we watch a foreclosure sign go up in a neighboring window.
If I accomplish nothing else in my life, I want to at least make sure my friends are taken care of. That those kids wake up every day, loved, fed, and cherished—whether that’s with us, or in their forever home.
My phone buzzes with a sudden S.O.S text from my sister.
Get to your apartment. RIGHT NOW.
“Shit.” I don’t even bother with a response. Instead, my dirty Vans slap the pavement as I jog to the intersection to hail a taxi. It’ll cost me, but I can’t lose the precious time it would take to ride the bus.
Within twenty minutes, I’m racing toward the steps of my second-story apartment, where Carrie and my landlord are in the middle of a heated shouting match.
Her tone is all business, echoing through the stairwell. “You will reimburse her this month’s rent and find a vacant apartment for her to stay, or I promise, you’ll be hearing from her lawyer.”
My landlord, Mr. Erickson, doesn’t understand the danger of Carrie in momma-bear mode. I cringe, taking the steps two at a time.
When I hit the top of the stairs, I grasp the railing, holding out a hand to stop them. “Wait! Don’t listen to her. She’s having another one of her episodes.”
“I am not.” She blanches, more wound up now that I’ve insinuated she’s off her rocker. “Is that the thanks I get for helping put this crook in his place?”
Oh, fuck me. She’s going to make me homeless.
“Miss Vance,” Mr. Erickson greets me grimly as two men carry my couch out of my apartment with trails of water dripping from its bottom.
