d the heavy wo

tered desk, flipping throug

anding there with Ava trailing behind h

t," Eleanor snapped, pointing a man

own. He reached into his inner jacket pocket, pulled out a f

ingers as if it were covered in disease

ntenance worker?" Eleanor le

ave a stable income? Raising a child

f his nose. He stuttered slightly as he recited a

er his words. Her chest loosened slightly. He was a n

tory is completely blank. No loans. No debt. Nothin

barrassed. He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm j

nor asked, her tone d

-defense at the community

ked up her heavy red 'REJECTED'

, Ava stepped forward. She wrapped both of her

etting her lower lip tremble just enough. "I just want this dad

ional weight of the broken li

ng to him. A brief, almost invisible fl

dly patted Ava's back, playing the

choed. "Check the nurse's station.

r fingers dug into Jerimia

et. He extracted a crumpled wad of bills of various denominations-twenties, fifties, and a few hundreds, all wo

form and pushed it toward Eleanor. "A

shifted instantly. She slammed the red stamp down on an

e paperwork was finalized. From thi

ith one arm, holding her against his chest, and w

avy metal doors of the fire escape, perfectly bypassing t

parking lot. Ava saw a dull gray

eat. The cheap vanilla air freshener hit her nose, and for th