Chapter Four: Standing
It wasn't long before I got a job. A waitress. Money was money, though, and I had to build up some savings if I wanted to attend college. I knew that I could get a lot of scholarships – I had always been one of the top students at my school – all I needed was the rest of the money to pick up what those scholarships wouldn't cover.
I had found a cramped apartment shared with two other people that was dumped in the city. They were nice enough, and kept to themselves – and the rent wasn't too bad, either. I didn't need much space, and a room to myself was all the privacy I needed. I was perfectly happy, in this new world. Freedom was a bliss in itself that would power me for years.
I woke up one morning to a shriek. There was anger here, sometimes. My roommate, Angie, always fought with her boyfriend. They always fought in the mornings, too, after a noisy night of moans and screams. They were passionately angry.
I had work in a few hours, but I had some free money to spend. After a quick goodbye that was ignored, I was out the door. Twenty steps. Tennis shoes flashed at me as I flew down them. Sidewalk.
It was crowded with people outside. Bustling. Noisy. I could smell different restaurants, cigarettes. The heat clawed at my back. I wouldn't have traded it for anything. Being able to wander the streets for as long as I wanted, to buy what I felt like buying. It was glorious.
My eyes flicked past the post office as I treaded the cement. I hadn't received any mail from my father. I hadn't expected any – but somewhere deep down, somewhere far away and small, it still hurt. Blistered and festered. It was as if leaving meant I had to tear a scar open.
Passing by a shop with TVs, I could see the daily news – currently, a warning was being broadcasted about an ex-MNU worker who had the arm of a prawn. The reporter talked about how he was contagious after sleeping with a prawn – something I doubted, because many women had been interspecies prostituting for years. Things like that were kept from the public. Only known to MNU and the gangs that attempted to rule District 9.
And people like me, whose family members worked in MNU. I wondered how many were keeping quiet, just like me.
For a time, I wandered on; aimlessly, listlessly. My mind was elsewhere. Buried within all that I knew of the prawns, MNU, and District 9. It wasn't much, but I was ahead of other civilians.
I was near a Chinese bistro when it hit me.
That's it! I said to myself, the ultimate freedom! I can go to the gates of District 9. No one to stop me now.
Suddenly, the whole world was brighter. This was the biggest part of being free from my father that I had come across. Conveniently, it was also the weekend. No MNU workers would be there, convincing the aliens to move to a new camp.
It was many miles to District 9 – I had to catch the bus to the edge of the city. From there, I walked. It was hotter under the blazing sun, with no buildings to shield my skin. Sweat trickled down my back, but I continued on. Determination sent me ahead. One foot forward. Another foot forward. Sinew and bone, muscles and skin. All bending me forward.