Chapter 5 #2
Claudia was still very much unimpressed. “Whatever happened to her, I guarantee you she had it coming.” Her gaze flitted to Denny’s bag, filling with greed for a split second. “Who are you, anyway?”
“The one who rescued her.”
“A brave knight in…” Claudia swept a rapid scan of Denny’s attire. “Granny’s armour?” She sneered, then turned to Eris to get to the point Eris had been bracing for: “Do you have the money?”
Ignoring the confused frown Denny directed at her, Eris took the cash out of her boot and flipped it to Claudia, who thumbed through the thin stack of notes.
“This is like half of what you owe me.”
Eris gnashed her teeth. I know. That’s all I have, bitch.
“I knew this would happen. You can never be trusted.” Claudia peevishly pocketed the money. “Go pack your stuff. We’re done with you.”
“Wait.” Denny stepped between them. “How much do you still need?”
She couldn’t mean what Eris thought she meant. It was one thing to hand out pennies to people in the street, but nearly three-hundred quid? Just like that?
You’re fucking mental, Blondie.
Claudia was of the same opinion. “You’d never get it back.”
“How much?” Denny insisted.
“Two-hundred and eighty.”
“I can transfer it right away.”
Claudia’s eyes cut to Eris with an it’s-too-good-to-be-true expression, probably expecting at least a sign of affirmation or denial.
Eris was still processing. It would’ve been immoral of her to accept, even though Denny had more than enough money. It stung to admit, but Eris was desperate enough to take charity.
She knew she should’ve stopped Denny.
But she didn’t.
“She’s going to let you down,” Claudia snarled while Denny wired her the money. She was right. There was no way Eris would be able to pay back the loan any time soon.
Denny couldn’t lay any legal claims, though. She had willingly done the transaction. Perhaps Eris could get away with this.
“Let her.”
It took Eris off guard, and Claudia, too, so much so that her venomous tongue couldn’t find anything nasty to retort.
Her jaw clenched. “You can keep your room… for now,” she told Eris. “We’ll circle back to this next month.”
Yeah, whatever. Eris pushed Denny towards the stairs. Her room was on the second floor, a space so cramped it couldn’t fit more than a bed and a small wardrobe. It was cold and humid, even more so now that the sun was setting.
They squeezed in and closed the door. Eris sat down on the bed, suddenly drained. The Tube ride had exhausted her. Taking the van wouldn’t have been a bad idea, if the crime rate in the area hadn’t been so high.
“Are you in the military?” Denny asked, peering around with wide eyes. Eris imagined she was mistaking the austerity of the room for tidiness. Keeping your stuff in order was a piece of cake when you had nothing.
Denny sat down next to her. Eris almost stopped her: her bed was little more than a camp bed, lumpy from too many popped springs.
“Do you struggle with the rent a lot?”
Eris answered with a half shrug. It was just another day in paradise for her. If she’d had to live with someone like herself, she’d have wanted them out, too.
“Your job doesn’t pay much?” Denny probed.
Didn’t, Eris mentally corrected. A crushing weight fell on her shoulders.
She desperately needed to find a new job, but her injured body wouldn’t allow her to work at her full potential for a long while.
If she couldn’t count on her strength and endurance, she had nothing.
And who would hire someone who couldn’t speak?
Every time she closed her eyes, she heard echoes of something that felt like someone else’s life.
‘Shut up, you daft cunt! All you do is cry and whine!’
The darkness was thick, stuffy, laced with a sweet scent. A warm force around her kept her from falling apart.
A light touch on her shoulder startled her. When she opened her eyes, the vision vanished like mist in the sun.
Denny retreated her hand with a despondent look.
“Sorry, I forgot.” She offered an apologetic smile, clutching the bag on her lap. “You have a job, right?”
Eris fell back on the mattress with a loud groan, face buried in her hands. A sharp pain ricocheted through her rib cage. Gimme a break, Blondie. My life’s in shambles and you’re not fucking helping.
“Hey, it’s alright!” Eris felt the warmth of Denny’s hand hover upon her knee before settling next to it on the duvet. “People go through rough patches all the time. It’s probably best if you just focus on healing right now.”
Yeah, right. There’s plenty of time for that. It’s not like I’ll be homeless next week.
Eris pushed herself up, flinching at the twinge it caused. She had never been so uncomfortably aware of the stench of humidity that permeated the house. Everything was old and worn here. No scented candle and blooming plant could have made a place like this cosy.
She opened the wardrobe to select the least shabby clothes to throw in her backpack.
Except she didn’t have a backpack any more.
It’d be pointless to go back for it now. She hoped that it had been found by someone who needed it and the food inside it more than she did, at least.
Denny came up to her.
“Need that?” She pointed at the suitcase on top of the wardrobe. It was too large for just a couple of days, but there was no other option.
Denny rose on her tiptoes to get it. She put it down on the floor and looked pensively around the room.
There wasn’t much: a shelf with a few books, none of which Eris remembered anything about, two floppy plants that had been pilfered, half-wilted, from a street vendor, an electric kettle and a mug, and a pouch on the windowsill with makeup and toiletries.
“We should pack everything.”
Eris poked her head out of the wardrobe, thinking she’d misheard. Denny was standing with her hands on her hips and a nettled tightness in her lips.
“Eris, this place sucks.”
Yeah, thanks for the heads up.
“Like, really sucks.”
This is how commoners live, Princess.
Denny grimaced at the corners of the ceiling: the paint was peeling and blackened by mould. When she looked back at Eris, there was a resolute pinch in her brow.
“Would you move in with me?”
Eris’ hand fell off the wardrobe knob. You’re taking the piss.
“I don’t like this place and don’t like how that girl talks to you.”
That’s my problem, not yours.
“You didn’t come home last night and she didn’t even have the decency to pretend she was worried!”
Yep, that’s Claudia.
“Eris, I’m serious.”
Eris couldn’t move. She stood face to face with Denny, close enough to count her freckles and the dark specks in her eyes. She jutted her scraped chin out.
Do you think I’m some kind of stray thing you can collect from the street and adopt or whatever?