Promises | ✔️

Chapter 19: Car, Coffee, Coins, & Crying

I woke up early on Monday morning. The power had gone out for the night, just like the landlord had said it would for some nights, and I couldn't sleep in the heat. I probably got around 4 hours of sleep.

It was 8:00 and I still had a little over an hour before I would need to leave for the marketing program. I decided I would do some household chores. I washed the dishes, but I didn't really have many, so that took about 10 minutes. Then, I vacuumed the floor. I sat outside on my balcony for a little while.

I must have dozed off because when I got up, it was already 9:30. I quickly went to change because I had already showered after waking up.

I made my way downstairs and stepped outside to be greeted by the breezy July air. The sky was grey. I walked in the direction of my car but saw something that grabbed my attention.

There was a truck in front of my car and a guy was standing on the right side.

"Excuse me. What are you doing?" I asked the guy.

"Is this your car?" He asked me.

"Yeah." I nodded.

"You are parked in a loading zone. I'm sorry but we will have to tow this."

When I came home yesterday, my usual spot was taken, so I parked here. I didn't really check my surroundings.

"WHAT?"

"I'm sorry ma'am. Come by to the Fairview Garage to pick it up and fill out the paperwork. There will be a fine, though." He said while turning to walk away.

"What? How much?" I asked.

"$200." The man said nonchalantly.

"$200! Are you kidding me?"

"No ma'am. Haven't kidded since 1982." And with that, the man walked away.

I stood there, staring, as he took my beloved car away. I can't even afford to spend $200 right now. It wasn't in my budget. How am I supposed to go to the college now? I looked at the time and it was already 10. Great. I mean, I could take an Uber? But, I'd still be at least 15 minutes late. 

I had bought myself a laptop last week, even though I had calculated I would buy it next week. I needed it for the marketing program, so I had used up most of the money I saved for the month. Uber costs weren't filtered in my monthly expenditures.

Guess I was skipping today.

I went back up to my apartment. I decided to work on my bills. My dining table was piled with electricity, water, and rent bills that I kept procrastinating to work on. 

I opened up my laptop and went to see my credit card balance. I started with the electricity bill. Really? This much for a crappy apartment that shuts off the power like three times a week.

I wasn't very sure when I dozed off, but I woke up around 1. I decided I should go get some coffee because I clearly was going to get nothing done today.

As I was walking home, two men carrying a box walked in front of me out of the building next to me. I abruptly stopped, which caused my coffee to spill. You've got to be kidding me right now. The coffee had stained my yellow top.

"Sorry miss." One of them said.

I walked home, aggravated because of the day I was having. I changed into a different shirt and went back to my table to finish up my bills.

At 7 pm I went out to do my laundry at the laundromat. As I pulled out the quarters from my pocket, they all scattered on the floor. I took a deep breath because my patience was on edge at that point, and I bent down to pick them up.