"And your total comes out to 14.88." The cashier said happily, as if he hadn't charged Tammi nearly fifteen dollars for a fucking sandwich and nothing else.
Tammi sighed, reaching into her wallet to grab a five and ten dollar-bill. She put it on the counter, grabbing her sandwich in exchange, "Keep the change, I guess." She said, turning to leave with her meal.
"Have a lovely day, ma'am!" The cashier called after her.
Tammi held back the snort that wanted to come out of her mouth at his words, instead just waving her arm in a silent farewell to the surprisingly polite man. Have a lovely day. She hadn't had one of those all week, and she had a feeling that wasn't going to change any time soon.
She frowned as she got to the door of the shop, noticing that the Boardwalk had become quite a bit busier even though she had been in the store for less than ten minutes. That was just great. She should have come here earlier.
Making sure that all of her belongings were properly secured, Tammi stepped out of the shop and made her way into the crowd of meandering bodies, doing her best to not make eye contact with anybody as she did so. Thanks to all the shit that happened to the Merchants, the Enforcers had been particularly nasty lately and she definitely didn't look like she should be here. She'd rather not set them off if she could help it.
Journeying this far away from downtown was a bit risky but she had been craving this sandwich for some reason and decided that the journey was well worth the trouble. As long as she didn't take too long, she'd be back to the shelter in time to get her spot with more than enough time to spare.
Being homeless wasn't something that Tammi had ever thought she'd have to deal with but now that she had, she suddenly found herself much more sympathetic towards people who chose to join the Merchants. She was getting by well enough because she was a somewhat high-profile villain and as such, had managed to make quite a bit of money on the side that nobody in the Empire knew about. If she didn't have that, she could see how turning to pushing and using drugs would be a preferable alternative.
Still, even if she sympathized with them, trash was still trash, and the Merchants were the trashiest of them all. Tammi may be homeless now, but even if she didn't have money she'd die before becoming one of their whores or something disgusting like that.
Her face curling in disgust, Tammi purged the thought from her mind, instead preoccupying herself with finding somewhere to sit so she could eat her sandwich before the bread got soggy. After only a few seconds of searching, she managed to spot an empty bench overlooking the pier through the crowd and bee-lined towards it, pushing through the throng of people to reach it before someone else took it.
She made it to it in time and plopped herself down, sighing happily as the weight was taken off of her feet. As she settled in, she got stared at by people walking by as she took up practically half the bench with her backpack, but she didn't give a shit what they thought. She'd been for over two hours and this was her bench now, and would be until she decided to get up again.
She unwrapped her sandwich and bit into it, closing her eyes in bliss as garlic and oil slid over her tongue and coated her mouth in its delicious flavors. Oh yeah, this was definitely worth the hour-long walk.
As she ate, Tammi reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out her phone, rolling her eyes as she turned it on and was immediately met with over a dozen messages from people she was almost certain she had blocked. Guess they really wanted her back if they changed their numbers just to get ahold of her.
Deciding that there was no harm in looking, she picked one of the message chains at random and opened it up, reading what they'd sent her. Threats from Alabaster and Krieg, some attempt to appeal to family by Purity which she probably could have predicted, and pleading by Ophelia to come back before her aunt did something crazy to try to get her back.
Tammi scoffed at the notion. Agnes probably didn't even know she was living in a homeless shelter now, much less which one she was at. The old bag could try and find her but with her power, she could be halfway across the state in just a few hours.
Tammi deleted her cousin's message, and then went through the rest of them and did the same, not even bothering to read what they said. They were probably all threats or some shit anyways.
As she deleted the last one, a bright white box lit up on her screen, causing her to scowl as she was met with a warning that her phone was dangerously low and would need to be charged soon.
She dismissed the alert angrily. That was just fucking great, there was no way any of the stores around here would let her sit in them and charge it. They were all tourist traps, they didn't like sit-ins and she wouldn't be surprised if she got the Enforcers called on her.
Hell, the only place that she could think of that had outlets and would let you sit and use them was that cafe she and Yuko always hung out at but that was at least ten miles away and in the other direction of downtown and she was not walking that far from her only place of shelter right now.
Yuko. The thought of her friend made Tammi frown slightly as she tossed her empty sandwich wrapper into a conveniently-placed trash can nearby. She hadn't heard from her best friend in way too long and even though her own state of affairs wasn't exactly the best, she couldn't help but start to worry about the other girl. They had been texting basically every day before this sudden lapse in contact, but she hadn't heard a single thing from the girl since before she abandoned the Empire. What was she up to? Was she okay?
Her frown deepening, she looked down at her phone, debating with herself as she took in the eight percent of charge the device had left.
'Screw it.' She decided as she pulled up her contacts to find Yuko's name, 'Not like I'll die if my phone does.'
As she pressed call and put the phone to her ear, Tammi wasn't really expecting much. She had been trying to get a hold of her friend for the last week and hadn't been able to. None of her texts had gone through and her calls didn't even connect, and she had a feeling today wouldn't be any different-
Tammi's thoughts halted as the call was picked up before the first ring could even finish, "Hello, Tammi." Yuko's soft voice came through her phone speaker, "I'm very sorry if I've missed any of your calls or texts. My phone was broken and I only just managed to replace it today."
Yuko's voice was like a soothing balm on Tammi's frazzled mental state, even moreso since she hadn't even truly been expecting to hear it. The worry for her friend that had been sitting in the back of her mind for the past week disappeared, replaced by an intense feeling of relief that filled her easily.
"Holy shit dude, I've been trying to call you for like a week!" A nearby person gave her a dirty look at her language but she didn't, ignoring them in favor of her best friend, "What happened to your phone? Is everything okay?"
"I'm alright, Tammi. Thank you for your concern." Despite her words, Tammi could hear something hidden in her friend's normally sincere tone that she was doing her best to hold back.
"You don't sound alright. What's going on, Yuko?" Tammi said, a bit of concern leaking into her voice.
There was a small pause after her blunt remark, "I… may have exaggerated a bit." Yuko admitted, "Truth be told, I received some horrible news recently and am having trouble coping with it. I believe I was on the verge of another panic attack the other day but of course, with my phone broken I simply had to deal with it."
Tammi sat up on the bench slightly, "Wait, really? Shit, I'm sorry to hear that. What got you so worked up?" She asked.
"It is a variety of things. Though the news definitely played a rather large factor in it." Yuko sighed, "Not to mention, on top of that, my workload has increased nearly threefold in the last two days alone. The combination of the lack of sleep and the stress of my occupation is not doing wonders for my mental health."
"You haven't been sleeping."
"Not much. Maybe two or three hours a night."
Tammi winced, knowing how hard Yuko already worked before the change, "Seriously? Is there nobody around to help you?"
"Even if there was, I likely wouldn't trust them to." Tammi could almost see Yuko shaking her head and heard the shuffling of papers in the background, "My job is extremely important. If someone else were able to do it, it wouldn't be nearly as required as it is."
"You want to talk about it? The bad news, I mean." Tammi asked, despite knowing what the answer would be. Yuko was oddly secretive when it came to certain things and she had a feeling this was one of those things.
She was proven right as Yuko immediately denied her help, "No. I appreciate it, Tammi, truly, but I think I need time to truly process things before I'm ready to talk about it. I hope you understand."
"Of course. I get it." Tammi said, understanding leaking into her voice, "If you ever do want to talk about it though, just give me a call. You're my best friend, dude. I don't want you feeling bad if I can do something to help, you know?"
"Thank you, Tammi. I'm very grateful to have someone like you in my corner." Tammi could hear Yuko's smile in her voice as she spoke, and it caused the blonde to smile as well, happy that she had cheered up her friend.
"Anyway, did you need something or would you just like to chat?" Yuko asked, her chair creaking in a way that Tammi assumed meant she was leaning back, "I'm not doing anything that requires a great deal of attention at the moment."
At Yuko's words, Tammi suddenly had an idea. She wasn't sure if it was a good one, but it was one that would get her out of that homeless shelter if it paid off.
She bit her lip, debating for a moment before deciding to just go for it, "I did need something, actually. If you don't mind, I mean."
"Of course I don't, Tammi." She could tell Yuko was smiling, "You're my friend. Ask away."
Tammi took a deep breath, gathering her courage, "Alright so uh, this is gonna sound super weird, especially since I haven't even really been to your house before but… You mind if I chill at your place for a few days? Maybe a week or two? I kinda got kicked out of mine and don't really have anywhere to stay."
There was a pause on the other end of the line as Yuko processed what she just said, before her voice came back, a small layer of anger underneath her polite tone, "Your parents kicked you out?"
"Well they didn't say they were kicking me out exactly but uh, there was a lot of shouting, screaming about responsibility and maybe about sending me to juvie too." Tammi sucked her teeth, "I miiiight have broken a lamp and maybe a really nice vase too before I left so I guess it was more me running away than being kicked out. Sorry."
"When did this happen?"
Tammi winced slightly, "A week ago? Give or take a few days."
"You've been on the street for a week!?" Yuko's polite voice gave way to one filled with horror which just made Tammi feel like shit.
Tammi tried her best to reassure the other girl, "Nah, I got a spot in the shelter downtown the first day so I've been mostly fine. I'd rather not stay there longer than I have to, though."
"Tammi, I'm so sorry. If I had known I would have done something right away. Of course you can stay with me."
Tammi smiled, a massive amount of relief filling her, "Seriously? Thank you so much, dude. I really appreciate it. I'll try to stay out of the way as much as possible and not overstay my welcome, I promise."
"Nonsense, I enjoy your company and would be more than happy to host you for however long as you'd like, Tammi." Yuko said and the sound of something moving in the background bled through the speaker, "There are several unused guest rooms in my house that I can get prepared for your arrival. Would you prefer the ground floor or the second floor?"
Tammi's mind stalled at her friend's words. Several unused rooms? Tammi had always suspected that Yuko had money given the clothes she wore or even the way she spoke, but she was thinking upper middle-class at best. If she was actually telling the truth, then Tammi had severely underestimated just how loaded her friend was.
"Uh… ground floor, I guess. I don't think I'm capable of using stairs when I first wake up." She said after a moment of thought.
"Wonderful, I'll tell someone to make sure it's clean for your arrival."
And she had servants too!? Holy shit, was she some sort of princess or something? Now Tammi couldn't wait to get over there and take a look at the house her friend lived in. It was probably absolutely massive.
Yuko spoke again, this time with much more hesitance in her voice, "Although…"
Tammi's smile fell at Yuko's tone, "What? Is there something wrong?"
"Possibly." Yuko said, "Before we do this, I need to speak with you about something. Something I've been meaning to speak with you about for while now."
Tammi's eyes widened slightly. A sentence like that could mean many things, but her mind automatically went to one. One that had been on her own practically all week after she was freed from the constraints that being in the Empire forced on her.
Her mouth felt dry as she spoke, "Yeah? What is it?"
"Not on the phone. It is something best explained in person. Do you know the fancy Italian restaurant off of Sixth and Cedar downtown?"
Tammi did. It had been a place she had been wanting to try with Yuko for a while now but had never asked. It was the kind of place that you didn't bring someone to unless you were with a party or had intentions. That made it off limits, Or at least it did while she was still in the Empire…
"Yeah, I know the place. Osteria-something, right?"
"That's the one. Would you like to have dinner there tonight? Say around…" Tammi could hear Yuko shuffling paper's in the background, "Eight? It would be my treat, of course."
Tammi's breath caught slightly, "Are you asking me out?" She asked before she could think. The moment the words were out of her mouth, she realized what she had said and immediately went into full-panic mode, trying to recover from her fuckup, "B-Because I wouldn't mind, you know. If that's even what you're asking, I mean."
What the fuck was she doing!?This wasn't some cheesy romance movie, people don't just ask that! They just kind of hope it silently until they get to the restaurant and are disappointed that they got their hopes up! She'd just primed herself for rejection and humiliation at the same time!
Fuck, she might have just screwed this all up. She hadn't wanted to let her feelings be known until she was sure that Yuko actually returned them! Spouting shit like that out of the blue was not the way to do it!
Yuko was silent for a long moment, only adding to Tammi's anxiety, before she finally spoke, "...That wasn't quite what I had in mind, no. The talk I had in mind was of a much different nature and certainly not so fanciful. I just felt it would be better received over your favorite meal. My apologies."
A knot of intense disappointment formed in Tammi's stomach, but she tried not to let it show in her voice, "Uh, right. Sorry I just thought… you know." She said after a moment, finding it oddly hard to speak all of the sudden.
"Of course, I understand. It's just… this is something that I probably should have told you quite a while ago. I would like to get it out of the way before you commit to living with me."
"Yeah. Yeah I get it, dude. Sorry for jumping the gun like that." Tammi said softly, cursing at herself in her head for being so hasty.
"It's completely fine, Tammi, really." Yuko's voice took on a different quality, much lighter and far less serious, "I will say, I certainly wouldn't be opposed to revisiting that subject after our talk. Should you still wish it after what I need to tell you."
Tammi blinked, barely believing what she had just heard, "...Really?"
Yuko giggled, the sound ringing in Tammi's ears like a soothing bell, "Of course. I'm rather fond of you, Tammi. You are probably the person I find myself looking forward to speaking to out of everyone I know." As Tammi was left stunned by Yuko's words, there was the sound of an opening door and a male voice saying something that Tammi couldn't understand, "Ah, I need to go now. I have a meeting I need to attend in a few minutes and need to get ready for it. I'll see you at eight?"
"Yeah." Tammi said, nodding her head automatically, "I'll be there."
"Wonderful. I look forward to seeing yo-"
Yuko was suddenly cut off in the middle of her sentence, breaking Tammi out of her daze, "Yuko? You there? Hello?"'
Nothing. Tammi pulled back her phone and was met with a completely black screen, and it only took her a second to realize that it had finally died on her, just barely lasting to the end of the conversation between herself and her friend.
Tammi stared at her now-dead phone for another moment before slowly putting it away. Afterwards, she just sat there for a few minutes, thinking about the conversation that had just ended. And what it meant for her and Yuko's relationship.
Tammi wasn't some stupid schoolgirl who had never had a crush before. She knew exactly how she felt about her friend, had for a while now actually, though she'd admit it took her an embarrassing amount of time to actually get there.
Even just a year ago, if someone had said that she would have developed a crush on another girl, much less an Asian girl, it would have sent Tammi spiraling into a raging denial that would probably have ended with a few thousand dollars in property damage at the very least. But that was a year ago when she still bought into everything that they were selling. Since then, Tammi had met Yuko and had had plenty of time to be introspective and more importantly, truthful to herself.
Tammi always knew in the back of her mind that the way that she interacted with Yuko was different. At first, she had just chalked it up to the fact that Yuko was pretty much the only friend she had, but there were only so many times that you could have your entire mood lifted by a single text from said 'friend' before you started to wonder if something else might be there.
Denial was the first reaction that she had to the realization of the depths of her feelings. She was still firmly in the Empire mindset, and although that mindset had been loosening more and more as the two of them hung out, she still maintained that she was completely straight. She'd had boyfriends before and even enjoyed the relationships for as long as they lasted. That meant she couldn't be a lesbian, right?
That defense fell apart extremely quickly as the two of them spent more and more time together, before eventually crumbling to dust completely after the trip to Boston. It had taken a little while, but she and Yuko had finally managed to get together so the girl could teach Tammi how to properly use the supplies that she had bought.
Since neither of their houses were available, they had rented out a room in a local store that was meant for board games and D and the like. They had set up there for a few hours as Yuko did her best to teach Tammi how to partake in one of her favorite hobbies.
Spending that much time with Yuko, just the two of them in that tiny room as she showed Tammi the basics of color theory and how to properly shade and all that jazz, had been extremely enlightening to her. As the hours went by, she found herself scooting closer to the girl to take a look at an example she was being shown and not moving back afterwards, instead remaining right there, their shoulders touching as Yuko practically gushed about art, ecstatic that Tammi was taking an interest in one of her own interests.
It was in that room, when Yuko had turned to her to answer a question and left their faces mere inches away from one another, that Tammi was forced to admit her feelings. A straight girl wouldn't have glanced down at her best friend's lips and wondered how said friend would have reacted if she leaned forward to close those last few inches. A straight girl wouldn't have spent the entire next day wondering how her best friend would have reacted if she had actually followed through on her fantasies and closed those last few inches between them, pressing their lips together in a decidedly not friendly kiss.
Faced with all of these facts, Tammi had to face the truth for what it was. She wasn't straight. Not only that, but she had feelings for her best friend. Her Asian best friend. While being a well known Empire cape.
That realization had led her to be much more careful with Yuko on the occasions that they spent time in person. She tried her best to ignore the things she was just now noticing, like how she had a tendency to close her eyes when she laughed too hard or the way that the other girl's touches seemed to linger just a bit too long on occasion and the hope that stirred within Tammi when they did. She ignored all of this and more, because she knew that she wasn't sneaky enough to hide a relationship from Kaiser and that being discovered would mean a beating at best and something happening to Yuko at worst.
…But now she wasn't in the Empire anymore. She didn't have to give a single shit what they thought or approved of. She was free of them. Free to do whatever the hell she wanted without them being able to do a damn thing about it.
Free to date the girl who, if she was reading the conversation right, might actually return her feelings.
Picking up her things, Tammi stood from the bench and began the long walk back to the homeless shelter. It was a little after five right now so she should have time to actually take a shower and make herself a little bit presentable for her date.
'Not a date, Tammi. Not officially.' She reminded herself as made her way back into the crowd, 'Yuko has something important she needs to tell you and you're gonna listen to what she has to say before trying shit.'
Her thoughts did absolutely nothing to bring down her mood however, and for the first time in days, Tammi found herself smiling as easily as she had before all this shit went down. She was glad that even when life had completely fallen apart, she at least had a best friend who was willing to assist her in her time of need and help her pick it all back up.
And maybe a bit more if she plays her cards right. Yuko said this talk might change her mind on wanting to date her but Tammi severely doubted it.
After all, it wasn't like Yuko's secret could be worse than her own.
Next five chapters available for Patrons!