Inflation & Seduction ( Short Story)

Chapter 1

Everyday I ask myself why does the government seem to hate poor people? Or the working class? Why must I have to choose between paying my light bill or having a decent meal to eat every month? These questions have answers, answers that are the reasons for my declining motivation. When I wake up knowing I have to work for the remainder of my life, it makes me want to find the nearest bridge and do a somersault. Or maybe I'm just lazy? So many of these questions come into my mind. Even now as I sit on my apartment floor that I was lucky enough to rent out, and share with my roommate, I ask myself why am I about to slit my throat looking at my rent money in a white envelope. I counted the money for the fifth time.

I'm short. Shit.

I'm short. How could I possibly be short $200? It doesn't make any sense. Unless. I looked over at my roommate, my drunkard best friend Sally, as she slept on our 10 year old coffee stained couch. I threw the envelope, containing our rent money, on the ground and started shaking her awake, violently. She left out a muffled groan, scratched her blonde thinned out hair, breathed out lightly and went back to sleep.

"Sally!" I shouted at her and she groaned loudly in answer without opening her eyes.

"Did you take out $200 of our rent money?"I asked her. She didn't answer.

"Sally!"I shouted out. The neighbor's dog barked loudly next to us and I groaned in aggravation and covered my ears. That damn dog had supersonic hearing and howled at any slightest noise. I curse the day they moved in. These walls weren't even that thin, it's just that damn dog had supersonic hearing.

"Sally wake the fuck up!"I shouted again. Sally shot up, her brown eyes slowly blinked at me, registering me as if she didn't recognize me, and sucked in a breath at the noise of the dog next door. She got up, hazy on her feet, my hands still on my ears as she went over to our tiny kitchen, grabbed a broom and started beating it against the wall.

"Shut your fucking dog up or I'll come over there and skin you both!"Sally shouted angrily. The dog's howling died down immediately and Sally gave a huff of triumph as she fixed her pink bra that was popping out of her stretched white dirt tank top. I released my hands from my ears and looked at Sally in a little admiration. I might have hugged her if I wasn't already seething about the missing rent money.

"Now why are you yelling?"She asked, her voice cracking as she walked over towards the refrigerator and took out a can of beer and began drinking it.

"Did you take out $200 from the rent money?"I asked. After she finished drinking, she started scratching her skinny almost bare ass. She usually walks around the apartment in skimpy outfits like this. A colorful pair of panties, a dirty shirt with barely a bra on, I was lucky she had one on right now. Sally is an attractive woman, she could even be a model, if it wasn't for her unhealthy lifestyle.

"Yeah, why?"She burped out and it took all of my energy not to launch at her. I took a deep breath.

"The rent is literally due today. If we don't turn it in time, the landlord will kick us out,"I said.

"Dude, chill, I get paid like a week from now. I'll replace it by then. Plus no one in this damn building has ever seen the landlord. I'm pretty sure they won't give a fuck if we're a week late,"Sally said crushing the beer can and throwing it in the trash can. She immediately went into the refrigerator and took out another one. My eyes couldn't help but to venture to our nearly broken clock on our beige drywall that needed a repaint. It read 2:24 pm. She really needed help. I understood it was a Saturday, but she's already drinking.

"Do you remember what happened to that couple just a couple of floors above us? They were two days past their rent and immediately they got evicted,"I said, nearly pacing back and forth now.