Austin stumbled out of his 2014 dodge charger, cringing up at the crashing rain down onto him. He walked over to the flight of stairs leading up to his apartment, mentally preparing himself to try and take on such a difficult task while drunk. He braced himself at the foot of the stairs, cooing supportive words to himself, before picking his left foot up to start climbing when a sharp tug at the back of his shirt collar drug him down onto the ground. "Fuck!" The moment his butt slammed into a pool of water, he quickly scrambled to pick himself up and tend to his wet clothes.
Austin whipped his head around to see his mother, standing right in the frame of the veranda with her arms crossed over her chest, an unamused frown upon her face. "What are you doing? Where are you coming from?" She said, taking in his outfit and drunken form. She looked down at her phone and took a peek at the time. "Austin, it's midnight; what are you doing getting back so late?" Austin sighed loudly and ignored his mother so he could turn back and focus on trying to climb the stairs. He wasn't really in the mood to fight with her, especially not at this time of night. All he wanted to do was get a hot shower and climb in bed, maybe even get some attention from Zorana if she was awake. Yet, his mother was determined to get answers out of him. "Austin! I'm talking to you." She steadied her son when he withered a little so he wouldn't fall. "And you're drunk! Austin, really? Where is Zorana?"
Austin shook his mother's hands off of him and grabbed hold of the railing on the stairs for support. When he made it up the first flight, he turned to look at her. "Inside the house, ma, where else?"
"She didn't go with you?" His mother put a dramatic hand over her heart and shook her head in disappointment. "If she went with you, you wouldn't have driven home drunk! Bless her heart. You left her all alone in this house. Who knows what she's thinking. She's probably lonely. She just lost her mother, Austin!"
"I know that, ma! Zorana is fine; it's not like she's depressed or anything."
"That's not the point I was making. You're her significant other, and I know I taught you to be compassionate. Why aren't you in there comforting her? Wouldn't you want someone to be there for you if you were to lose me? She doesn't have her parents, and now-"
"Zorana is fine," Austin snapped over his mother's rant. He wanted her to stop. He didn't want to hear her scolding him over his personal life. He treated Zorana just fine, and besides, she seemed happy when he left for the studio that morning. Well, not necessarily delighted he was going to the studio, but she wasn't like crying or anything. He knew she was in a vulnerable state; that's why he decided to come home earlier to spend some time with her. Maybe if she came with him to the studio, she would be preoccupied with having fun; she wouldn't think about her mother. "She doesn't like coming with me to the studio."
"The studio!?" Shit. Austin frowned to himself as he finally made it to the front door. He was trying to keep that he went to the studio from his mother. He was supposed to be there at the apartment before she made it home, but time got away from him, and he didn't leave when he initially wanted to. He shouldn't drive while intoxicated, let alone speed. Austin argued with his mother a few days prior about his trips to the studio. It would seem that she was finally cracking and putting her foot down on the whole idea of him becoming a rapper. Not because she felt it wasn't a valuable career, but because Austin's spending had gotten out of control. Austin didn't have a job and strictly lived off whatever his father sent him every month. She wasn't one for sticking her nose in his personal life and didn't dictate whatever he spent his money on; however, it was to the point where he wouldn't even pay his car note nor insurance. Austin could rack up at minimum seven hundred and fifty dollars worth of trips to the recording booth within a week. So when he couldn't pay his expenses, she would have to pick up the slack and pay in his stead. It was ridiculous. She sat him down and explained that he no longer got his money from his dad strictly to his bank account. His father would give the money to her, and she would pass it along to him after she paid off that month's expenses on his behalf. This left Austin with little to no room to visit the studio as much as he used to. With the amount in his account from the last time she checked, he shouldn't have been able to go anymore that month.
Ms. Thoman watched as he fumbled with his keys longer than he should have. When he opened the door, she shoved him inside and all the way to the couch. He groaned as he fell onto the cushions. She sat across from him in the opposite-facing chair and took in a deep breath. "Austin." She said slowly. "How are you paying for your sessions? When I checked your account yesterday, you only had enough for food and gas." She gave him a stern look as he ran a hand over his face.
"Zorana is helping me."
"And your phone bill,"
"Zorana is helping me."
"Helping you Austin-" She shut her mouth and sighed as she pressed a hand to her forehead. She could go on for hours with him on how bad this looked for him as a person. How could he even have the nerve to ask her for money when she didn't even have a place to stay? "How.." She finally said in a shaky breath, "How is she helping you?"
Austin looked up at his mother and rolled his eyes. "You really think she's broke and got absolutely nothing from her mother? She has some money."
"I figured as that much, but after the funeral costs and any other lingering bills from her mother's house, I wouldn't have imagined her to have much."
"Well, she does, she told me." Ms.Thoman stared at her son for a long moment.
"How much did she send you?"
"Enough" A wave of emotions came over Ms.Thoman as she let everything sink in. No matter how selfish it was, she couldn't help shake the feeling of relief spreading throughout her. If Zorana were to support Austin, she wouldn't have to stress herself out over the bills any longer or the possibility of Austin losing his car. She tried to bury the thoughts in her head, but the more she thought it over, the clearer everything became. Zorana was staying with them now, and she didn't pressure Zorana to pay them anything in rent; maybe helping Austin pay a bill or two would be enough to suffice as rent. She knew rapping was her son's passion, and she didn't really want to stop him from pursuing it. She just couldn't afford to. After using her savings to put him through college and for him to drop out, she had nothing left to give him financially, but if Zorana could, who was she to stop that. They were both adults, albeit young and still practically children, but they were adults. They had to make their own decisions. Zorana wasn't her child; she had no authority to tell her what to do with her expenses.
Ms.Thoman was jolted out of her thoughts when Austin stood up and started for the hallway leading to his room, "I'm gonna go take a bath and go to bed. If you're still mad at me in the morning, feel free to yell at me again." She didn't say anything as she watched him leave. Instead, she only criticized herself silently for being okay with her son's immature tendencies.
Austin opened his bedroom door and looked down to Zorana's sleeping form on the pump up. He glanced over to her phone, still on beside her playing a youtube video she fell asleep on. He grabbed the phone and double-clicked the home screen to shut it off for her. That's when he saw the open tab for her banking account app left open in the background. Austin sucked in a breath thinking back to when she told him she'd gotten some money after her mother passed. He could admit he was curious but never plundered farther out of respect. Yet there it was. He looked back down to her sleeping body before clicking on the app and opening it back up to where she left off. It looked like she was looking at her checking account. He slid his finger over the toolbar icon, and a drop list opened for other options. Austin chose "other accounts" then "savings." He nearly gasped aloud when the page fully loaded.
What was she doing with all that money left in her account!? Austin shuffled to put her phone back the way it was and set it back down beside her on the pump up. His brain immediately danced with ideas of what he could do with that kind of money and the brand he could create for himself as an artist.
A small smile crept over Austin's face as he sat on the edge of his bed, looking down at her. All he could think about was his future.
~X~
The following weeks moved slowly for Zorana. Austin seemed to be gone every night now, and she was reasonably happy about it. By the time he made it home, she was already asleep and didn't have to be bothered by what he got into while he was away. But, with him being gone meant he was at the studio, and by him being at the studio, he asked her for help paying the session fees. It was beginning to be a routine now, every other day sending him a hundred and fifty so he could stay away from her for six hours. Besides, he had to pay her back anyway when he got his money for the show. In the meantime, however, her money was running low, and she was afraid of taking anything from her savings. To combat the diminishing funds, she chose to find a job. Sitting around at Austin's house all day was getting boring. She wanted something to do to pass the time. And that's how she ended up sitting in a small sushi bar in downtown Raymond waiting on the manager to come out and interview her.
She'd had a small job in high school working at a friend's family restaurant, but she was only the host. She didn't have any experience working as a bartender, so she was concerned she wouldn't get the job. When a short African American woman frantically rushed from the back, Zorana quickly straightened her posture and put her phone into her pocket.
"I'm so sorry! I have a truck order coming in right now, so I was just trying to help show the man where to put everything." She said as she took a seat in front of Zorana. "Good morning!"
Zorana smiled at her back and stuck her hand out to shake the other woman's hand. "It's okay! I didn't wait long," she said, "Good morning." The woman ruffled through a couple of papers before settling on one, Zorana could tell was her resume.
"Great, Great. Zorana, was it? Did I pronounce it correctly?"
"Yes, ma'am, but you can call me Zoro if it's easier." The manager tapped her stack of papers onto the table a couple of times.
"Zoro sounds great." She pushed the stack down and then folded her arms on top of the table and looked Zorana in the eyes. "So, Zoro, my name is Renetra Landry; I'm the general manager here. As you can see, we're pretty short-staffed. We just went under a massive change as a whole, and not many employees liked the changes. We're required to wear a uniform, all of the servers are trained as bartenders, the menu has changed, and we've brought the schedule down to one person in the front every shift. It's a lot to take in, especially if you've been working here for a long time. So I understand why people left, but that left me in a bit of a bind, you know?" Zorana nodded. Renetra gave her a warmer smile, this one feeling more genuine. "But that's just a small introduction. Tell me about yourself, Zoro."
Zorana sucked in a breath. She wasn't expecting to be asked something so personal right off the bat. What should she say? Something about her mom, college, her hobbies? "Um.." She started, "Well, My name is Zorana Hardy. I'm in college for psychology. I'm originally from Windle, but I moved here to be closer to my school." She didn't mean to lie, but she also didn't feel comfortable talking about her mother's passing with a stranger. Besides, she didn't want Renetra to feel any sympathy for her.
Renetra nodded, "Would you need a specific schedule because of school? What school do you go to?"
"Uh.." Zorana tried her best to let go of the heavy lump sitting in her throat. "Hinder Community College, and no... I'm taking a break for right now."
"Okay, great! Did you prefer to work mornings or nights?"
"Either, I don't have a preference." Renetra scribbled a bit on her notepad and proceeded with the next question.
"You're okay to work Weekends?"
"Yes. I don't mind."
"Do you have any bartending experience?" Zorana tried to hold back a cringe.
"Uh...No. I don't. Would that be a problem?" Renetra put her pen down and looked up at Zorana.
"Well, as I said earlier, all of the servers are required to learn the bar now. When you're on the shift, the restaurant is yours." A small pinch of disappointment cramped into Zorana's chest. She figured something like that would affect her chances of getting the job. She applied to quite a few places over the last few weeks, but no one reached out to her. For a while, she thought she wouldn't find anywhere to work until Renetra sent her an email this morning. Zorana was so excited she scheduled an interview for an hour later.
Renetra could see the disappointment in Zorana's face and smile. It appeared to her that she was serious about getting the job. It was refreshing it see someone excited for a server job. "I don't mind training you for the bar if you want. "She said slowly. "You'll have to go and get yourself an alcohol license by taking a course and test, but it's straightforward; you can complete it in a day." Zorana perked up and smiled up at the older woman. "I can send you the link for the course through email. If you can get that back to me by Friday, we can start training Saturday."
"That would be awesome! I can get it done tomorrow and have it to you by that evening." Renetra grinned.
"If you do that, we can start Thursday!" Zorana grinned back and nodded her head.
"I Would love to!"
"Well then, I'll go ahead and give you some paperwork to fill out, and we can get you on your way to starting Thursday! I'll be right back, okay?" Zorana smiled and watched as Renetra excused herself to the back where Zorana assumed was the office. A few minutes later, she reemerged and handed Zorana a stack of paper. "Fill those out for me and bring them to the front. You can leave them with Ms.Liz over there, and she'll give them to me. Expect an email from me a little later on for instructions on how to get that license."
Zorana looked over the papers in her hands before looking back up to Renetra. "Thank you so much!"
"Thank you! I'm excited to work with you, Zoro!"
"I am too. See you tomorrow." Renetra gave her one last smile before walking into the back.
Zorana quickly filled out her paperwork and handed them over to Liz standing at the host stand. Renetra waved at her from the kitchen window as Zorana opened the main door and walked out onto the chilling autumn air. She couldn't help the bubbly feeling brewing in her chest after the wave of nervousness she felt washed away. She paddled over to her cobalt, took a seat inside, and started back towards Austin's house.