Page 4 of When a Soul Cries

“Hell yes. I need proof of this crime.”

I tore the receipt from the printer and handed it to her. It was long enough to reach the floor.

Instead of walking away, she studied my face. The irritation in her expression softened as her eyes moved over me.

“You all right, girl?”

The question caught me off guard.

Most people came through my line without truly looking at me. To them, I was just the girl in the red vest who scanned their groceries, accepted their money, and disappeared from their minds as soon as they reached the parking lot.

“I’m fine.”

Her eyes dropped toward the pocket where my phone had been vibrating.

“You sure?”

I nodded and forced another smile. “Yes, ma’am. Have a good evening.”

She didn’t look convinced, but she gathered her bags and pushed her cart toward the exit. I watched until the automatic doors slid closed behind her.

The moment she disappeared, I pulled out my phone.

I opened the daycare notification first.

BRIGHT BEGINNINGS: Soleia, Lo-Lo is running a fever. Someone needs to pick her up immediately.

The words made my chest tighten.

I opened the second message.

LANDLORD: Rent is due tonight. If I don’t receive it, I’m filing for eviction first thing tomorrow morning.

For a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

I was twenty-four years old, raising a one-year-old alone, two months behind on rent, and forty-three dollars in the negative. This wasn’t how I had imagined my life would look, but surviving had never left much room for planning.

I hadn’t ignored the rent because I was careless. Every dollar I earned had somewhere to go before it ever reached my account.

Daycare. Food. Lights. Medicine. Transportation. Whatever Lo-Lo needed.

There was never enough left over to catch up.

Payday wasn’t until Friday, and even that check wouldn’t cover one month of rent, let alone two.

I looked from the message to the clock.

5:49 p.m.

Eleven minutes.

Mr. Daniels had already warned me that leaving early one more time would cost me my job. He didn’t care that I was the only person Lo-Lo had. To him, a sick child was an attendance problem, and an attendance problem could be replaced.

But my baby needed me.

I opened my text thread with A’zaria and began typing as quickly as my trembling fingers would allow.

The three dots appeared almost immediately.