A Life to Live

(Day 42: Saturday Noon)

"I can't believe how put together all of these shops looked so far," Jay comments as they walk down the sidewalk.

"Yeah," Mal frowns in response. "Ben said something about how small businesses get some kind of government benefits."

"Government benefits?" Jay questions.

Mal smiles, "I don't know. Once he realized he started talking about work, he ended up apologizing and just asked me about… well, me." Jay nods, and it's quiet as they eye the area over. "I didn't realize how bad the Isle had it before."

Jay grimly laughs, "Yeah. I sure know that my father's shop could have used some government benefits." Mal stays quiet, and he looks at her. "What is it?"

She shrugs it off, "Nothing."

"No." Jay grabs hold of her shoulder and they stop, "It's not nothing."

Mal is quiet, before she takes a big breath and swallows hard, "It's because of our economy that I had to depend on Hook in the first place."

"What?"

"Can't you see it?" Mal sadly asks. "Those untouchable gangs controlling the majority of the money on the island, investing it into businesses, and the farther the money trickled down, the less there was." She laughs, "And I kept investing in his business. I kept going to that place to pay for heat, until one day the people I was stealing from didn't have anything left and I became broke."

"Mal," he moves his hand down to her arm. "It's not like you had a lot of other options."

"No. I know," Mal glances down at the concrete. "But still. I shouldn't have done it… I should have tried something else."

"Hey." He lowers himself enough to see her face, "We talked about it. You knew he was your only option left."

She looks at him, "And you told me to take it."

Jay straightens himself back up and Mal's eyes follow him, but it still takes him a minute to reply, "I don't know what exactly happened between you two… but I can tell the experience has affected you. And—" He looks away, "I would like to tell you that if I had the chance to go back to that conversation that I'd tell you not to do it." before he peers back down at her. "Honestly, though… I don't know what else you could have done. Aside from getting the heat from me, obviously, but we both agreed that would have been too weird."

"I know," Mal frowns. "And I'm not blaming you. I just—" She shakes her head, "I really wish I never had to depend on him like that… it changed everything for me." and when she looks back up she sees it.

"Mal?" Jay questions, as he sees her gaze past him. She doesn't answer, "What is it?" and when he turns around to see for himself she moves right past him; however, he follows right behind her.

"I haven't seen a place like this since I got her," Mal comments, as they halt in front of the store.

Jay sees the sign, "It must be easy to ignore something when it isn't around to be seen." Mal slightly nods. "What are you thinking right now?"

Mal turns to him and slightly smiles, "I'm wondering if wine tastes better than moonshine." She sees his disappointment, "What? I thought I was supposed to be honest."

"You are," Jay insists, "and I'm glad you are. It's just—" He huffs and shakes his head, "Mal. You haven't had a drink in almost two years. You can't stop now, not just because things are getting hard."

She nods, "Yeah. I know."

He stares into her eyes, "Promise me."

It takes her a moment to say, "I won't." and she glances at the ground for a second; however, she looks back up at him, "I swear, I won't." and he seems to calm a little.

"Come on." He takes her wrist, "I think I saw a sandwich shop over there."

When Mal and Jay enter the shop he sees the menu hanging over the back wall, "Twelve inch subs are six dollars. We could get one of those."

She looks at him, "What's a sub?"

"A substitute sandwich," Jay guesses.

Mal looks over at a couple people in the booth, "Or maybe it's supposed to look like a submarine?" Jay looks over to where she's staring, and then she shrugs.

"Whatever it is," Jay comments, "it seems like a good deal. We're getting it."

"I only have four dollars," Mal frowns.

"Don't worry about it. I can pay for one, and then we can split it in half."

"Jay," Mal begins.

"Seriously," he interrupts. "I can pay." He grins as he gestures, "You would not believe the kind of change the people at our school keep lying around."

She huffs, "You're honestly not still stealing, are you?"

He hesitates, "Is it still stealing if I find it on the floor?"

"No. I suppose not"

"Well, there you go, then," he responds before moving forward in line.

Mal feels people staring at her, and as she glances around she finds them quickly turning back to their meals, "Maybe we shouldn't have gone out today."

Jay looks over the room and notices the same thing, before he whispers to Mal, "Don't worry about them. They're more afraid of you than you are of them."

She doesn't know what to say, "I have a bad feeling about this."

They take a couple steps forward, and Jay places a hand on her arm, "You're just taking one day to look around and enjoy yourself, before whatever happens when court happens. There's nothing wrong with that."

Mal takes in a deep breath, and then she lets it go as she nods, "Right. I'm just taking a walk and grabbing a bite to eat, just like anyone else my age will probably be doing today."

He smiles, "That's right." but then they find themselves walking up to the counter.

When Mal looks up she can see the fright in the employee's expression, as he merely stares at her with wide brown eyes and his mouth gapes slightly. Looking behind him, she can also see the woman in the back eyeing her carefully. "What are you doing here?"

Jay answers, "We'd like to buy a sub." as he points up at the board.

"I'm sorry." The employee unsteadily replies, "But I'm going to have to ask you to leave. You're scaring away the customers."

"We're customers," Jay complains. "And all these people have done is stare at us. None of them have even stood up yet."

"I have to disagree," he states before nodding towards the door. "Now leave— Or I'll call the police."

"The police?" Mal exasperates.

"Yes," he answers. "I'm pretty sure you're wanted for aggravated assault."

"My hearing is on Tuesday," Mal seethes. "I think I'm allowed a stupid sandwich until then."

"What's going on out here?" Mal hears the bald man yell, before he walks over to them and the employee takes a step back.

"She's a criminal," he points to her, but the manager doesn't seem impressed. "Sir, she's making the customers uncomfortable."

The blue eyed manager glances around for a mere second, "All I see is you causing a scene, when all these people want to do is eat, and refusing to give our customers their order."

"She's a hybrid," the employee yells.

"And so is my niece," the manager sternly responds as he takes a step towards him. "When I hired you I told you we serve everybody here. That means everybody," he shouts. He raises his eyebrows in question, "You got that?"

"Yes," the employee backs away. "Sorry, sir."

The manager nods, and when he sees Mal he smiles, "You're Maleficent's daughter, right?"

"Yeah," she slowly answers.

He looks back at his employee, "You're lucky she didn't come here to eat you. With your attitude, I may have just let her."

"It won't happen again," the employee promises.

"It'd better not," the manager warns, "because if I find you refusing customers just because of their heritage or presumed lack of morality again, then I will fire you."

When the manager leaves the employee steps back out in front of Mal and Jay, "What was your order again?"

"A sub," Jay answers.

"What kind of bread?" he breathes.

"What kinds are there?" Mal asks.

"We have white, whole grain, or a multigrain flatbread."

"The flatbread," Mal answers.

"And the meat?" he nervously asks.

Mal turns to Jay and he questions, "Pepperoni?"

"Roast beef?" she questions back.

"How about ham and turkey?" he compromises.

Mal nods and turns back to the restless employee, "Turkey and ham."

After he places the meat he questions, "What about cheese?"

"Cheddar," both Mal and Jay say at the same time, and then they smile at each other.

He moves onto the next section, "Would you like any vegetables or condiments with that?"

"No," Mal answers.

"Toasted?" he asks.

"Yes," Jay immediately answers, and then the employee moves to place it in the machine.

A long, silent minute passes, and Mal can feel the tension of the room; however, when she looks around most of the people seem to have returned their attention to the food, only glancing at her if she looks over at them. "Here you go," the employee says, and Mal turns back around to see him hand the bag to Jay.

Jay peers into the bag for a second before nodding to the door, "You want to get out of here and take this outside?" Mal nods, and soon after they leave the building and retreat into the nearest alleyway for privacy. She sits down on a wooden crate, while Jay leans up against the wall opposite of her. "How are you?" he asks as he takes out his part of the sandwich and tosses the bag to her.

Mal takes her own part of the sandwich out, "Well, you know, just stupid humans. Nothing I've never dealt with before."

He nods, "And that other thing? Are you still thinking about it?"

She looks up at him, "Are you talking about the alcohol or Hook?"

He shrugs, "Either."

She looks down, "No. I'm not."

"I know it's hard," Jay begins, and he waits for her to look back up. "But you've made a good life for yourself here. Now isn't the time to slip up."

She half laughs, "If I get sentenced to prison, then I may not have a life to live anyway.

"Mal…"

She shakes her head, "Don't." and then she looks at him for a moment. "I really don't feel like talking about this right now. I just want to finish my sandwich." She glances down at it, "Before I change my mind."

Jay is quiet for a minute, "Okay."

- Next Up (Pretty Sure): Ben's dinner date with Mal. Any predictions?