A symphony of guitar riffs played from a broken phone in a small, one-room apartment announcing that the morning has come.
*tap tap*
It was 6:00 am. She got out of bed, stretched, and trained for the next 30 minutes. The sound of the news could be heard from her phone throughout the small apartment as she moved.
"The streets have been more dangerous than ever with the increase in gang activity and a recent string of murders targeting young women at night. We advise all to get home early in the following days until the police have dealt with the culprit behind these unfortunate events. Furthermore-"
After breakfast and a change of clothes, she left for work.
________________________________________
Two men talked in front of the apartment building as she walked by.
"Yeah, I mean, it's not that hard to just- oh *pff-*, like a clock, 7 on the dot. Hey!"
She looked over to the older man.
"I got you at 5, right? I can't wait another day on it."
She didn't say anything, just gave the man a nod and a tired but assuring smile before continuing, putting on her worn down but somehow still functioning headphones.
"Not the talkative type, cute though. Who is she?" said the more rounded man.
"She's a neighbor. She's never been one to stay and chat, but she leaves every day at this hour without fail to work and doesn't come back till late hours."
"Won't get much work with those clothes."
The older man gave the other a bad look before relenting.
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"sigh"
"I'd judge you, but I thought the same thing at first. After all, a girl like that working in this kind of an area and till late hours at that. But in actuality she's just a handyman, or I guess you could say handywomen."
"Wait, seriously? I mean, I guess that explains the getup. Still, you don't exactly see that very often. Well, at least it pays. But isn't there anything better she could do?"
"She doesn't talk much, but I've lived here since before she was born so I have a good idea of what's up. I believe she's a high school dropout, that's why she can't get better work."
"So, she's an ex-delinquent or something?"
"No, nothing like that. Her mother, Alice Garner... wasn't in the best of life positions. So when Alice got very sick, her daughter took it upon herself to keep up with the bills... all of them."
"Dam, that's pretty rough. It's also respectable that she hasn't resorted to selling her body like most girls around here would... she'd probably make a killing though."
*bam*
"ugh"
The older man punched the other's arm hard in disapproval of the remark.
________________________________________
It was 4:30. Before going back to the apartment building to make good on the older neighbor's request and the other jobs she had around the area, she stopped by a hospital about 10 minutes away from home.
She stopped by the front desk. The nurse at the desk, already recognizing the young, tired, short, black haired girl that always comes with clothes covered in paint, dust, oil, or any other work related substance, already starts preparing the paper work for her visit.
"Don't worry, just go ahead."
"Thank you." She said, trying to give a sincere smile.
Room 215, it's both her drive and the shackles that hold her. The room where her mom fights to stay alive. Due to a mix of previous drug use, an already bad physical sate, and over exhaustion Alice's body had many complications and needed to be hospitalized. Now, she lives with the help of machines powered by the money that her daughter sweats and bleeds for.
She sat down next to the hospital bed and held her mother's hand, contemplating on life until this point. The blank and tired expression never left her face.
"sigh"
"Just wait a bit more. I'll repay what you've done for me."
As if stuck in Limbo, an empty quietness filled the room, and everything became still. This kept on for a few minutes before the silence was interrupted by a gentle sounding alarm, she then left to finish what work was left.
Like this she continued till late at night and finally ended another tiring day. This being just one in the continuous cycle she let herself be sucked into, and like that it continued until one particular day broke said cycle.