E: And here it is! my first fic on this account!
C: not your first fic, though.
E:Yeah, but this one is a good one, about puppyshipping.
"Good Job, Joseph. Or should I say, Jendayi?"
Joseph stood silently in front of his father. It was extremely early in the morning, and his father was counting that night's earnings, while laughing his head off. Every night Joseph was forced by his father to don a costume, with a long black wig and a slightly revealing woman's tunic. In this costume he became Jendayi, a "beautiful" female escort. At least the men said he was beautiful.
"5000 gold pieces! A new record!" His father's eyes glittered with avarice as he handled the sparkling coins. Joesph glanced up to the greed-filled man, allowing his eyes to plead to his father. It took a while before the man to notice his son's soundless begging. A slow, cruel smile spread over his face.
"You want some?" He held up a single coin between his thumb and index finger. Joseph knew better to say anything. His father began to laugh. "Here! Have it, you pathetic bastard!"
He flung the coin at his son. It hit the boy square in the forehead. Joseph yelped in surprise and pain, but recovered quickly. He dropped to his knees in search of the coin. His father began to laugh harder.
"You look like a lowly dog! But a mutt would be more useful than you!"
Joseph found the coin and held it tightly in his hand. But he had lingered a few seconds too long. His father gave him a kick in the ribs, causing him to collapse to the floor.
"Get out of here, you stupid mutt! Out of my house!" Joseph scrambled up and ran out the door. He had been lucky tonight. His father usually hit him harder.
Joseph sat alone at the edge of town, fiddling with the coin. He could just see his reflection in the golden surface of the coin. His hair was a gold similar to the coin, strange for an Egyptian. But than again, Joseph wasn't a full Egyptian. His mother was Roman, and had been visiting for a few years. In that time, he and a sister he barely remembered were born. His mother was a devote christian and had named him for that reason. But around here, he was just known as Jahi. Or, by some, Jendayi. His eyes were brown, but not as dark as most people's in the town. His hair fell into his eyes, almost hiding them. He hated this, but his father did not permit him to cut his hair. It had grown out to the point that it fell to his mid-back. It was sometimes part of his "job", his hair. Thinking about his "job" made Jahi (Joseph) grit his teeth in anger. He hated the entire concept of what he did, even if all it was was to entertain and not do the less desirable aspect of his "job". He clenched the coin in his fist, fighting the urge to throw it as hard as he could into the sand dunes. Instead, he screamed. He screamed every cuss word he knew. It made him feel somewhat better, and glad he did not throw away the coin. It was his only way to get food. As a growing 16-year-old boy with a strangely fast metabolism, he needed all the food he could get. But everything he could get wasn't a lot, and it was becoming less and less everyday. Prices rose almost daily, and depending on how much the person liked you, they could be more or less than what everyone else paid. None of the shop owners really liked Jahi, because he was extremely argumentative and a more than a bit rude. As it was, he would waste away to nothing in about 2 months. As if sensing his thoughts, Jahi's stomach growled loudly. Now would be a great time to head to the bar that he worked at for some food. The owner was his father's friend and his wife was a kind woman who felt bad for Jahi. She knew his circumstances, and went out of her way to help him. He walked into the bar, which was surprisingly still open. She smiled when he walked in. He handed her the gold coin, and she handed him half a loaf of bread and some dried fruit. He wolfed it down as fast as he could, getting some strange looks from those around him. The kind woman, lets call her Mrs. Hathor, looked over Jahi with a worried look on her face. Every night she was afraid that he wouldn't come, and his father had finally succeeded in killing the innocent boy. Jahi noticed her staring and looked her seriously in the eyes.
"Don't worry, Ma'am. I'll be fine. It's been 6 years. I can last a few more." He laughed humorlessly.
She smiled, impressed by the boy's happy outlook. "Just make sure you get here in the morning okay, okay?"
"Of course!" Jahi ran out the door. He needed to get home and sleep a little before working. He felt better with food in his stomach, too. As he ran home he wondered why the gods had given him the life he had. Little did he know that some luck would soon come his way.