“Well don’t say it like that, Eleri. It sounds so cheap when you say it like that. You haven’t even asked after Rhys. He’s not well by the way. I’ve been absolutely beside myself with grief over your poor brother.”
Eleri bit her lower lip and tried to prevent herself from saying anything unkind. It would only send her mother spiraling, and the histrionics were nothing if not exhausting. “What happened to Rhys this time?”
“Oh, you know how he is. Your brother is so misunderstood. We were going to use the money from your IA contract to pay for another round of rehab for him, but he had to use the credits to pay to get one of his friends out of trouble. He’s a good boy under all that trouble.”
“Mum. You know he’s using the money for iridescence. How can you not know he’s using the money for iridescence?” Eleri wanted to shake some sense into her mother through the holoscreen, but it wouldn’t have the desired effect and more likely than not would just end up damaging the unit. Instead, she practiced some breathing techniques she hadlearned to prescribe to patients with high levels of stress and anxiety. The breathing helped, but it wasn’t going to solve the root of the problem.
Her mother’s face pinched with a predictable sourness. “Don’t say that, Eleri. This is a rough patch. We’ll get through it, we always do.”
“I don’t want to see him ruin your life too.” Eleri hung her head. “I’m just trying to help. You know Aunt Morgan will let you live with her if you go without him.”
“Enough, we’ve had this conversation before, and you know how I feel about it. Rhys isn’t a liar. He’s my son, and it’s my responsibility to help him.”
“Are you at least taking care of yourself?” Eleri asked.
This question finally made her mother pause. She adjusted the curtain of beads to hide her eyes. “It’s been difficult having him around lately, he rants and raves and breaks things. I know if we can just scrape together the money to put him in rehab one last time, things will be different. The spirits have told me it will work this time.”
“He took all the credits from my contract?”
“It was very important to him to help his friend.”
“I don’t have anything else to give you.” Eleri stared hard at her hands, willing herself to keep practicing the deep breathing. At this point it felt more like she was trying to save herself from drowning than doing anything productive. “If I had some, I would get it to you, but I won’t have any credits for several months at least.”
“What about your husband, dear?” Eleri’s mother pushed her glasses high on the bridge of her nose. “Surely you can ask him to help out your family?”
“I can’t.”
“Well, why not? Your brother is in a desperate situation. How can you let him down like this?” The holoscreen let out a merciful gurgle and the call dropped. Clearly whatever her mother could afford to pay for wouldn’t allow her to continue browbeating Eleri for credits, but she knew with sinking surety that her mother would call again with the same sob story. Poor Rhys. Poor sweet, misunderstood Rhys. Eleri should be a good, dutiful younger sister and donate all her hard-earned credits to saving him.
But she wouldn’t do it. Not this time. That’s why she’d left after all. Out of curiosity, she tapped the pulse point at her wrist where her identity chip was implanted.
It flashed a series of information on a small holosquare. Her name, date of birth, planet of origin.Then, all the way at the bottom, was her miniscule balance of credits. She’d scrimped and saved and hidden credits away from her family by way of a friend before she left, but even with all that effort she barely had enough to purchase a few articles of clothing. Eleri considered sending the money she had, but the thought was fleeting. She couldn’t keep feeding into it. If she gave them more credits now, they would just ask for more later and keep leeching away everything she had until there was nothing left of her.
Her IA contract was the end of the credits. They would never get anything from her again. She had to remind herself of this again and again as she trudged her way back to the clinic. The IA contract was the end. No more credits for her family, no matter how tempted she was to give in. Alone in the alleyway between buildings, she took a moment to compose herself. It wouldn’t be forever until her mother could scrape together enough credits for another interstellar call, but at least she’d have a few weeks to brace herself against the incoming onslaught of guilt.
For now, she was going to put all her efforts into passing this next module of content and start preparing for the series of exams that would determine her licensure. As she emerged from the alleyway, she encountered Myla and an unfamiliar female. The other female was also kyrot, but her fur was fuzzy and patchy in places which marked her as still a juvenile.
“Were you on a holocall?” Myla asked.
“I was,” Eleri confirmed.
“Oh! Was it someone special? Calls here are so infrequent.”
“Just my mother. She wanted to make sure I was settling in.” Eleri rubbed the bones of her wrist. She hoped Myla would change the topic quickly because she wasn’t prepared to elaborate further.
“How nice!” Myla chirruped. “So, I was speaking with Talin here and we were thinking we might take a trip over to Indras, the next town over on the next resting day. Talin is the daughter of my mother’s sister, in case you haven’t met before. Anyway, Indras isn’t much bigger than Laurus, but they have some good clothing vendors, and well, you’ll need to dress better if you’re hoping to find a mate soon.”
“Soon?” Eleri’s heart stilled. Had something happened? Did S’samph finally terminate their mating contract.
“Well, S’samph technically nullified your mating contract when he rejected you. You can leave the contract and find someone else any time you like. I have a few males in mind for you whenever you’re ready.”
“It’s been so long since we’ve had a mating to celebrate in Laurus,” The other female, Talin, chimed in. “I’m hoping mine will be soon as well, but I won’t come of age for another two standard years.”
Myla’s left wing outstretched around Talin’s shoulders in an affectionate gesture. “Talin and her sweetheart Nyz have been sneaking around together since they were pups. They think they’re very clever about it though.”
Talin’s wings snapped up and around her face as she hid her snout in embarrassment.
Eleri took a hesitant step back. She did need new clothing, and she was sure she didn’t want to endure an entire day hearing others talk about matching her with someone new. But she hated to say no, so she found herself smiling and accepting the invitation even though her instincts reared against the outcome.
