BREEDERS

Chapter Four: Mother

Of course I would run into my mother hanging around the Lion's Den. She spotted me from across the sidewalk and waved at me, jumping up and down excitedly. "Salice!" She called across the way. I tried my best to ignore her and the extra intent stares I was getting from the creeps around me.

She ends up running along side of me, grabbing my shoulder and pulling me to a stop. "Salice, I'm talking to you!" She said with annoyance.

"And I don't want to talk, Janice."

"Excuse me? What on Earth is wrong with you Salice?"

"I don't want to talk," I said. I knew she could hear my voice shake and wasn't convinced.

I was angry. I was so unbelievably angry. I was angry that my mother worked a corner to feed me. I was angry that Sam kept hiding things from me. I was angry that I wasn't going to be around my family for the next few months. Mostly I was angry that no one understood why I was doing what I was doing.

"Sam wants this happy life- here. I just can't be happy here. How am I supposed to raise a baby like this? I can't," I cried. I felt my mother engulf me in her arms and rub my back, whispering to me that everything would be alright.

"Something happened with Sam?" My mother asked carefully. I was painfully aware of the men around us, who were slowly gathering closer to us curiously. My mother grabbed my hand and walked me briskly down the sidewalk away from them.

"Tell me what happened with Sam."

"We had sex," I said bluntly. I was waiting for her to overreact- for her to scold me and ask me what I was thinking. But she didn't. She kept a steady pace and didnt stop, a note of seriousness written on her face.

"And?" She pressed.

"We got into a fight," I admitted. I was surprised by her calmness and it made me feel better, as if I could say anything right now.

"Did he hurt you?" She asked carefully.

"No," I sighed. I could hear her breathe in a sigh of relief and inwardly scoffed.

"So then what happened?"

"I can't talk about it out in the open like this."

"In here then," she said, pointing to a blaring red sign that read; The Red Dragon.

"We don't have money for this place. They are going to kick us out." My mother digs into her pocket, a small blue holographic card in her hands. She smiled at my look of shock.

"I had a high roller yesterday. He gave me a Unit card. Platinum!" She squealed. There it was. That girlishness that made me smile and roll my eyes at the same time. I tried not to think about what she had done to get that Platinum Unit Card equaling to 1000 Units. She quickly put it back in her pocket.

My mother got us a corner booth, away from people and flashed the waiter a smirk. I had never been to The Red Dragon before and it smelled incredible. Women were on the arms of sketchy men, high off their asses and laughing through puffs of smoke. It was not the type of fancy restaurant that you would see advertised on billboards when riding the D Train- those were all out of reach.

I looked at the menu, the most expensive thing on it being a type of farm raised fish. I looked up at my mother with uncertainty. "All this stuff is really expensive. 25 Units for a fish," I scoffed.

She looked up at the waiter and smiled. The waiter, a young man who had not even looked my way, instantly became flustered. "Bring us two Red specials please." The waiter nodded and took our cheaply made menus before making his way to the kitchen. I took of a sip of my questionably made ice tea.