CHAPTER26
Ihate, hate, hate that Max refuses to let me work today, so I walk toward my “home” without actually planning on staying there. Instead, I continue on by to look at possible apartments. I have some money coming in now, but I need to know just how much I’ll have to save up and how long it’ll take for me to be able to get off the streets.
The first place I inquire about is a literal dump. I spy a cockroach racing by on the countertop, and I shudder. When the agent tells me the price for the place, my eyes almost pop out of my head.
“I’m not paying this much for this tiny place. I mean, the cockroaches should have to pitch in if they’re gonna live here with me.”
“That’s the going rate,” the woman says. She hardly even looks at me. “My father’s the landlord. He’s the one to set the prices. If you want to go see him, be my guest. I think he does knock a few hundreds off every month for girls that come on by and, ah, help him out."
“Help him out?” I ask, my heart sinking because I have a feeling I know exactly what she’s referring to.
“My mom died two years ago, and he has needs, you know? He won’t go out and get himself a girlfriend to hire a prostitute, so…”
“That’s disgusting!”
“I think it’s just blowjobs. A few hundred off each month for a blowjob? Not too bad, if you ask me.”
“He jacks up the price so that girls will jack him off!”
“It’s a competitive price. Don’t believe me? Ask around other places. You won’t find cheaper, and for your price range—”
“You don’t even know my price range,” I snap.
“I think I do,” she says, buffing her nails on her dress. “You aren’t going to be staying at the Ritz.”
I flip her the bird and walk out of there. No fucking way.
But I soon learn that she isn't wrong. Most of the places are around that price, if not higher, but that doesn't mean anything. I will not degrade myself like that.
Maybe I can track down Andrea and see if she wants to get an apartment with me. We could split the cost. She might not go for it, though, what with going away to college soon, but if we have the place until college, that’s almost seven full months. Could be worthwhile. That’s what I’ll do.
Of course, the kind of apartment she’ll want might cost three times the cost of these, and I’m not sure if I can afford the cost of these, let alone one and a half times it. Fuck me. I’m not sure how much I’ll get every week in my paycheck, or will I be paid every two weeks? He might not even give me a check, just straight cash. Honestly, I hope that’s the case because I don’t have a bank account here yet, and I’m not sure I want to. No paper trail.
Fuck.
There has to be something I can do. I mean, I can’t barely afford an apartment. I’ll need a bed. Maybe not. Just a pillow and blankets. And food. Utilities. Man, the cost is going to just go up and up. I’ll need new toothpaste soon. I’ve been keeping up with my hygiene at school, brushing my teeth twice a day, but it’s not like I have insurance. I can’t have them checked for cavities or professionally cleaned every six months anymore.
Damn it. I don’t want to just get by, but I also have to think about college. I’m going to need to buy textbooks, and that’ll run me… who knows. Maybe a thousand. Several hundred at the very least.
Maybe I shouldn’t worry about an apartment and just save every single cent that I can outside of necessities. It’s not like it’s going to be winter anytime soon. The days are only going to get brighter, longer, and hotter.
But I would like to have a roof over my head. Who wouldn’t?
I’m sure I’m not the only homeless person in all of California. Far from it. I really hadn’t been thinking too smart when I came here, but I don’t think my father will ever come here. He went on a rant against Hollywood once. He doesn’t care for actor types.
But it won’t be easy for me to try to have to make my living here. Should I live here? Go to college here? Or out of the state? I can try to pretend that I lived here for over a year. Won’t state college in California be ridiculously cheap or even free if I lived here long enough beforehand?
But a state college… I want to get into a really good college. I hadn’t known what I wanted to major in before I ran away, but I think I might know now.
I want to be a lawyer. A prosecutor. I want to put assholes in their place, namely behind bars.
Assholes like Liam and the mutineers.
Assholes like my dad.
Although… is Liam still an asshole? He hasn’t come around me anymore since I punched him. So he’s talking some shit and acting like we’re dating? Who gives a flying fuck? Not me.
But to be a lawyer means law school, which means even more money.