Page 6 (2/2)

Sash sighs “What happened to the fucking sun?” she mumbles, the old lady already out of earshot

At the entrance to the train station, a dark skinned man taps enthusiastically on upturned plastic buckets with a wooden kitchen spoon Sash pauses for aherself pleasurably in the hollow, vibrant sounds Thethe corner of histhe top of his head doards, in a way in which Sash mistakes for an atteround in front of him She smiles sweetly at the old randfather, immediately embarrassed she can’t tip him As if she’s already outstayed her welcome, she h

eads into the station, rushing quickly towards the train that’s already pulled up to her platform

Her three dollars eighty six cents were just enough to buy the health food bar and leave a sufficient a it out of her purse now, she realizes for the first tiht the only flavor she doesn’t like

“Fuck”, she says, a little bit louder than she wanted to A wide-eyed child sat on the edge of the seat opposite, regards her with ahe’s not supposed to and because of that, he likes it His feet dangle down, a good twenty centimeters from the floor

“Sorry”, Sash says to the boy who looks far too young to be traveling on his own She looks at the health food bar and then hands it over to hiht?”

The city shoots by, frahened plasticcovered in scratches and graffiti A fat attendant checks Sash’s ticket, eyes the boy as though he were her own and then shuffles along the comparting off his ass where a belt does nothing to keep them in place There is a quarter mile walk uphill back to Sash’s aparth heels, and by the tih and absolutely exhausted

A stack of bills jaress of the door h now forhts her way past thes the door shut behind her without bothering to look Just before it hits the latch, a hand comes up to stop it

“Miss Cole?”

The voice freezes the blood in Sash’s body She makes fists with her bare toes in the worn carpet Her head hangs at the end of a long, deep sigh Finally she turns

“Martin”, she says

Martin is a ers, his belly and his ankles It’s as if he has been beas to a completely different race entirely

“The rent”, he says, tapping the part of his wrist where a watch would sit if he wore one “It’s late”

“It’s not a good time”, Sash says

The door still isn’t fully open The effect is that only half of Martin’s immenseness can be seen, as he hovers on the periphery For all his bulk and presence, he’s reserved, and a little bit timid To be polite, and because she knows he won’t do it himself, Sash takes the three steps back to the door to open it fully

“I’m sorry, Martin”, she says “It’s just been a bad day, that’s all”

“It’s been over two er”

“Just give me until the end of the month”, Sash pleads

“The end of the ht days away”, Martin says

“The end of the week?” Sash asks hopefully