"La caminata de la vergüenza" The Walk of Shame
Second update in under a week! And it's about 3 pages in Microsoft word...I'm almost proud of myself. lol.
Anyhow, here is the third chapter of To Waltz in the Rain. Goce!
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The sun was once again above the horizon, or at least it was supposed to be there, as it was eight in the morning. No one could ever really tell where the sun was anymore, small children probably weren't even sure what it really looked like. All of the pollution combined with the constant dreary drizzle to make a sky that resembled Kagome's, Aunt Regina's gravy surprise. Needless to say it looked god awful, and if memory serves, that gravy didn't taste too fabulous either.
With her face set in a grim line Kagome slowly dragged her feet down the sidewalk path, which was really more a mess of broken concrete and dying grass. The town municipal department practically didn't exist anymore and the corrupt government turned a blind eye to the situation. As a result, their once cozy, welcoming town had an overwhelmingly dull feeling. It was lifeless, and full of the pain that the emptiness brought. The people here were no different from the town. No one, except the few elite, was spared from the plague of price hikes and unfair laws. There were once impressive high rises all over town, now they were left vacant; there was no one left that could afford to live in them. The one on the West end was practically condemnable, but once again the government just didn't care enough. In fact, they cared so little for one insignificant building that some of the bolder people in town had taken it into hand. You could almost call it a small community within the din the world had become. It was more like a bunch of squatters in Kagome's opinion though. She could never do that; take over someone else's property. Her mama raised her to be a person with standards and morals, even in times of strife, and she would keep to her laurels. That was one reason Kagome left the crappy apartment she had been renting and ended up at the Hei hub. She had lost her sole form of employment, which had been cleaning up the bathrooms in the town McDonalds. She knew it was coming; the manager kept switching workers so everyone could get some easy cash. That left Kagome with no money to pay for her apartment.
Kagome knew that soon…soon everything would turn around. If the economy can't flourish it dies and then starts anew. As far as she knew, it died a pretty swift death after the war started. All of the town's resources were given over to the military for production of weapons and armor, as a result, the town was left with nothing except a few half empty Eckerd's and a single understaffed McDonalds. But that was neither here nor there. The point was that right now life sucked and she couldn't do shit about it. It didn't help that Jan just couldn't grasp that right now she needed the comfort that drugs used to give her. Since he was the only man in the area that she knew was stupid enough, or nice enough depending on your point of view, to give her a free piece of his stash she was out of luck. So now here she was; in the center of town with the jitters and no place to wait it out. Sure, she could go back to Hei, but the disappointment would just smother her to the point of insanity. She needed to find a new source, and fast, or she was gonna punch something. And if that 'something' turned out to be one of the town's few remaining police force…she was even more screwed. Street Scum, as they tended to call people without homes now, were mostly just fun for the cops. At the slightest provocation they would beat a person to within an inch of death, only to stop and then throw them in jail. Jail wasn't the horrible part though, the cells were actually just as nice as most of the shit holes in town and they had food. It was the fines that really kicked you in the ass. They knew no one could pay of the debt so they'd tell you that you "owed them a favor." Any self respecting girl could tell exactly what that "favor" was expected to be. Kindness and Human Decency were like Santa Clause and the Easter bunny now; reduced to myth and whispered hopes. Ironically enough, the few people who were left with nothing but the clothes on their backs had more humanitarian bones in their bodies than most of the emergency aid folks. That's saying something.
With a sigh Kagome finally stopped in front of her old building and opened up the old metal grate that served as the front door. It gave people that false sense of security. Ha, like an old, rusting, piece of scrap metal would ever keep anything other than raccoons out of the building. It was time to tell Kaede that she wouldn't be coming back any time soon. She ran up the three flights of stairs to the old woman's room. The only reason Kaede could even afford to stay there was because she agreed to stay on as the manager/ maid. Basically she kept the building from falling apart and got to stay there for free. Anyone on the street would say she ad a pretty sweet deal. She was one of the few decent people in town; she had almost the same morals as Kagome. Kaede'd offer to let her stay on for free, she knew, but also recognized that she could never accept the offer. She gave two steady knocks to the center of the door. It looked like if you hit it anywhere else it could collapse. The green paint was peeling off, but you could tell she'd tried to paint over it recently.
'Huh. Wonder where she even found paint…' Kagome thought.
"I'm coming! Hold on," Was heard from inside.
Kaede finally came to the doorway and swung said door open a scant few inches. After seeing it was, in fact Kagome, her eyes widened and she shifted. Kagome thought this was odd as she had never seen Kaede so visibly uncomfortable.
"What is it you need child? I'm a bit….predisposed at the moment."
Quirking an eyebrow at the old woman's jittery behavior Kagome uneasily responded.
"Well….I just wanted to let you know that I won't be coming back after tonight…You know that McDonald's let me go yesterday, and I couldn't pay rent for more than a month…even if I didn't eat I—."
At this Kaede abruptly cut Kagome off. Her posture changed from apprehensive to that of a protective mother hen in 2.5 seconds flat.
"Child! How could you say such a thing? You know you are more than welcome to stay here until you're back on your feet!"
With yet another deep sigh of remorse Kagome said, "Kaede, you and I both know that once you go through time at McDonald's you're never gonna get work again in this town. Although you're offer is really generous…and definitely appreciated, I just can't stay here without knowing that I can pay you back."
"Kagome…" Kaede could only let that whisper escape her. 'This was not how things were supposed to happen! I was supposed to keep Kagome here until …wait! That's it!'
"Kagome, what if I let you work here? I'm getting pretty rickety you know, and soon I won't be able to keep up with all the cobwebs around this old place!" There was almost bitter humor in her voice as she said it.
"Kaede…I don't know…"
"Well why don't you think about it a day or two and then come back and give me your answer then? And only a few days if you don't mind…I don't like the idea of you out there all alone."
"Well I …" seeing that it was with real concern Kaede offered these things Kagome decided, "Qu va!...Bien, hasta mañana. We'll talk about it then, okay?"
"Alright Kagome. Buena suerte paqueña."
With a slight nod to the old woman, Kagome turned and jogged back down the stairs leaving Kaede standing by her door. Kaede released the tension in her shoulders and turned back into her apartment.
"I'm sorry sir, I believe we were discussing something before?"
"Hn. Yes, before we begin again, who that was Kaede?"
'Pft. Straight to the point as always I see, that boy needs to learn some manners!' Inwardly a little peeved Kaede replied snappishly.
"That sir, was just one of my younger tenants. Nothing more. Now Sesshoumaru, what is it that you wanted here?"
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"Que va!" What silliness!
"Bien, hasta mañana" Well, I'll see you tomorrow.
"Buena suerte pequeña" Good luck little one.
Okay, so I just couln't bare to give Kaede that old-timey accent. It just doesn't work for me...especially not in this setting. But ANYHOW...sorry for the cliffhanger--it had to be done. My story thus far was lacking in hooks, it was like two one shots. So there ya go--hook. Not so much Spanish here either..I'm torn on whether or not to add more. Do you as the reader think it would add to the story, or would it just be something to skip over?
Any pushing of the pretty purple button with "Submit Review" on it is greatly appreciated. :)