Meanwhile, in the small city of Mid-mount. Ethan was currently changing into his clothes from earlier. Work had just ended and he was waiting for Jaem who was trolling the other boy whom they waited tables with. Jaem was the clown In the group. The third boy called Paul was the serious one and Ethan was a bit of both.
"So fuck-face, how much did u make today? ", Jaem asked Ethan.
"Who you calling fuck-face, pinhead?". Ethan shot back in mock anger.
Jaem chuckled," pinhead? What is this?, Hell-raiser?. Grow up, man."
"Pft...if you must know, I made 40 UWC (United World Currency) today" Ethan answered Jaem's first question.
Jaem cocked a brow at the answer whiles looking at Ethan. "That's not bad, but I thought u were gonna make more," he told Ethan truthfully to which Ethan just shrugged.
What people did with their money was none of his business. He could only hope they tipped him well after he waited on them.
"Hey Paul, we going to see Jerry for the moolah. Wanna come along?" Ethan asked Paul.
"Naa..you go ahead, I'll go see him when I'm done here". Paul replied.
Ethan just shrugged as he walked out of the changing room with Jaem in tow.
Paul was always like that. Very serious and hard to read. If you didn't speak to Paul, he will never speak to you. He was just that type.
Ethan and Jaem made their way to Jerry's office. This was the best part of their job. The end of the month for all workers was a cause for celebration, but for Ethan, it was just another source of worry.
Yes, he liked getting rewarded for his hard work but how could he be happy when most or at times even all of his money got stolen from him by that punk who called himself his stepfather.
If not for the tips he made on the daily from waiting, he and his mother would have starved a long time ago. He just hoped the bastard left him with enough today after his assault.
Ethan knocked on Jerry's door as he and Jaem reached the office. A curt "come in" came from inside and Ethan pushed the door open as he stepped into Jerry's small office.
Jerry was watching a soccer game on a tv that was mounted on a wall bracket to Ethan's left. "You know how it goes. Pick the envelope with your name on it and leave. Remember we got work tomorrow too" Jerry hurried the duo as he turned to his game. The two boys proceeded to pick up their respective envelopes, thanked Jerry, and then walked out.
They both knew how much was in each envelope. A full month's work without absence made calculation pretty easy. Jaem was smiling brightly as he opened his envelope right outside Jerry's door, scooped out his cash, and proceed to count it.
"Yep, all here.all 750 UWC of it. This makes things so much easier for me this month." Jaem said with a grin as he turned to Ethan.
"What about you worm of krypton? , Aren't you gonna count your cash?, you know Jerry is a crook, right?. I'll count my money if I were you" Jaem advised as he turned to leave with Ethan.
The girls had already left. Jerry always made sure they left early since he didn't want his trusty workers getting hurt. Mid-mount wasn't an overly dangerous place but it still had its fair share of criminals roaming around. And for a business like 'The corner paradise' that didn't close early, Jerry feared he'll be in trouble if anything happened to any of the girls.
"Jerry isn't that bad. Besides, I'll open the envelope at the grocery shop. I need to buy some groceries for home" Jaem said nothing to this. He understood Ethan's situation even if he didn't know the full story. He himself was in a similar situation.
The two boys walked out of the restaurant unto the somewhat busy streets of Mid-mount. People were walking to and from work. Shops in the process of closing and others waiting a little to see if they could increase the day's sales.
Jaem patted Ethan on the shoulder as he took a turn to Ethan's left. He lived on a different street away from Ethan. Ethan then continued alone with his hands stuffed into his hoody.
It was quite cold tonight. Much more than normal. Ethan hurried his steps as he saw the grocery store where he normally did his shopping. He pushed the door open and stepped into the store.
"Good day Mr.Clement", Ethan greeted the old man behind the counter.
"hello, Ethan. How are you sonny?", Mr.Clement smiled at Ethan as he responded.
"I'm fine. How is business?" Ethan asked,
"Business is slow as usual. Nowadays I'm beginning to think people don't even cook anymore. It's crazy" the old man lamented.
Ethan could only shake his head as he went ahead to do his shopping. If he was going to lose his salary, he might just as well spend some for a good cause. This might make things worse for him but he didn't care. Last time he made the mistake of taking all his money home. That Jerk took everything from him and disappeared for a week without a care as to how Ethan and his mother were going to survive without food.
Ethan picked the last item he needed and dropped it into his basket before making his way to the front to pay. A minute later he was done with shopping and was heading outside.
"Greet your mom for me Ethan", Mr. Clement shouted after him as he left the shop.
"Will do Mr.Clement!" He shouted back before closing the door.
Ethan then pulled out his remaining cash and started counting. "50..100,150....450 UC minus my tip, that should be enough for that asshole". Ethan then took out his tip for the day and stuck it deep in his socks. He wouldn't let his stepfather touch that money.
That money was his for school. He then took his bags from the floor and resumed his journey home. Sometime later Ethan was home. Standing in front of their small two-bedroom apartment with his hand on the door handle, he took In a deep breath and turned the handle whiles simultaneously pushing the door inward, but alas the door won't budge.
He tried again to open the door but it wouldn't open. 'Did that animal lock the door? What a jerk!' he screamed in his head as he got ready to rip the door from its hinges, but just then he heard the sound of rapidly approaching steps.
Before he could step back, the door was quickly unlocked and an angry face poked out from inside as the door was yanked open. Ethan jumped back as he saw who was standing in the doorway.
A large topless bald man with earrings and tattoos on his chest looked at Ethan. The large man had a wicked smile on his face which grew even bigger as he saw the grocery bags in Ethan's hands.