A Battle of Pride and Desire

Chapter Two

Brigette walked the short walk home faster than usual. She reached her small home within ten minutes because she didn't stop at The Good Folk's home. She opened the creaky door and was met with the smell of dust. The house stank of cigarettes and old peppermint sweets. The walls were damp from lack of care and the wallpaper was peeling off the walls. Alba and Brigette tried to fix up the house one weekend, only to realise it was a foundation issue they were dealing with and no amount of wall painting or floor scrubbing could fix the house. They had no electricity so it was constantly cold and the draught from outside threatened to make the hallway even colder. Brigette shut the door quickly and hung her coat on the wall, pulling off her shoes in one quick motion. Her mother's bedroom was the first room in the house. Brigette knocked on the door.

"Mother?" she peeked her head around the door.

Her mother was in bed, eyes closed. The covers were up to her nose in an attempt to get any warmth she could. Her father's side of the bed lay empty, untouched since his passing.

"Mother? I'm home from the market, you'll never guess what happened."

Her mother opened her eyes a fraction, "Brigette, my darling, can we talk about this at dinner?"

Her mother's eyes were dark, rimmed with red, as if she had just stopped crying two minutes ago. Brigette stared into the depthless pits that reflected her own eyes. She knew her mother would not be down for dinner, she ate after the girls had gone to bed most nights.

"Okay, mother. Let me know if you need anything," Brigette said and closed the door behind her.

Alba walked up the hallway, their father's sweater in tow. She handed the sweater to Brigette silently who accepted it. Alba turned towards the kitchen and Brigette knew that meant she had to follow. They walked in silence until they reached the dingy hob and table. The kitchen was small and dark. It could fit about five people standing and four people could fit around the dinner table. Brigette took a seat at one end of the table.

"Everything OK?" Brigette asked as she wiped some crumbs off the table.

Alba took the seat opposite her and pulled some parchment from the drawer behind her. Brigette recognised the stamp instantly. The Erinean government.

"What do they want?" Brigette whispered.

"We're ten months overdue to pay our rent. Money from the government stopped coming in four months ago," Alba sighed.

Their family was receiving a measly 20 coins a month from the government to help them after their father moved on to the after life. This was custom in Erinea, to help the family get back on their feet. However, they spent the money on food and left rent to build up over the months and now the government was finally pulling them up on all their missed payments. Land lords were not a concept in Erinea, the government owned all housing. This meant they always knew where its citizens resided, where they would hide. Brigette weighed her options. Either they would be thrown out of their home and forced to beg at the markets or by some miracle they could come up with whatever money they owed.

"How much do we owe?" Brigette sat up straight.

She refused to allow this to wither within her, the last thing she wanted was to end up like her mother. Would her mother even care that they could be homeless in a month?

"It's not good, Bridge," Alba grimaced.

"Say it."

Alba took a breath, "1000 coins. 100 coins a month, for ten months."

Brigette rubbed her hands along her face.

"Don't you worry about it Brigette, I'm the eldest, I'll sort this out," Alba said.