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hour! I’ll be late for work! On my first day!
    I can’t risk losing the job before I even officially start it, and the thought of handing over twenty-three dollars for the lift will eat away at me, I just know it. That alone could pay for one of the gymnastics classes that I want to put Sasha in.
    I bite my lip and weigh my options silently. “Oh. I’ll find another way. Sorry to waste your time, ma’am.”
    The clicking on the other end of the call is the only response I get.
    Great. Now what the fuck am I gonna do? I can feel the second hand on the imaginary clock in my mind ticking by as more and more time is wasted. I have no choice. I’ll have to drive myself. If it becomes an issue, I’ll just explain that my ride fell through. I’m sure he’ll understand, I mean, he’s a reasonable guy, right?
    An image flashes through my head of him staring down at me yesterday when I tried to hand over the cash he’d given me. I swallow hard. Okay, maybe he’s not a reasonable guy. I’ll just tuck my car in one of the farthest spots in the back lot and hide it. It’ll be dark, I tell myself. He’ll never even see it.
    Smiling to myself with my little covert plan in place, I grab my bag, my keys, my sunglasses and head out to work, locking up the apartment. We were robbed once and I know the feeble front door is no match for anyone with half a mind to get in, not to mention half of the windows don’t even lock properly, but it’s a habit so I work the key in the old door handle.
    It’s late afternoon and there’s just a little bite to the air that tells you night is coming. I breathe deep, always having loved this time of year. There’s a crispness to the air that only late summer can offer. For the handful of years I was away at college in Miami, I missed this, always trying to find some kind of hint of it but never being able to.
    There were two different seasons there. Hot and Hotter.
    My student loans had barely covered the expensive tuition, so I almost never came home. Maybe if I had, I’d have been able to tell how bad things were getting for my family, would have been able to step in before things got as bad as they did.
    I shake my head. Would’ve, should’ve, could’ve. Hindsight is always twenty-twenty and there’s no use crying over spilt milk. Things are what they are. I’m only glad I got here when I did otherwise Sasha would probably have been put in foster care and mom would have ended up on the streets.
    Life may be hard now, but it’s nothing compared to what it could’ve been. I tell that to myself over and over whenever things feel hopeless and it usually snaps me out of it real fucking fast.
    Once inside the Honda, I perform the usual ritual and close my eyes tight while starting the ignition. The Gods take pity on me tonight and it starts on the first try.
    Wow! This must be my lucky day.
    I throw my sunglasses on, look over my shoulder while taking the car out into the street and head off to a fresh new start, a new beginning.
    Things are looking up.
    Finally.
     
    ~*~
     
    The loud music is the first thing I notice as I turn the corner into the front lot of the club. The deep beats of the classic rock spill out into the open air every time the front door is opened.
    The neon lights are turned on even though the sky is barely starting to darken. I guess this place fills up early. Almost every single spot in the front is full, with row after row of cars. All except the first row, of course, which houses about three dozen motorcycles meticulously lined up all facing the same way.
    I didn’t realize the Slayers were that large of a group.
    Driving past the bikes, I hug the side of the building until I clear into the small private lot directly behind the structure. This is the employee’s lot, filled with shiny new cars no doubt belonging to the dancers. I know someone who used to dance here years ago and she told me she could clear somewhere in the neighborhood of seven or eight