Maya huffed a laugh, but it didn’t reach her eyes.“That doesn’t sound so bad.I’ve lived in worse places.”
A cold prickle of foreboding ran down my spine.“Worse places?I’m not sure there are worse places than college dorms.”
She watched her fingers as she played with her sleeve.“No, it’s not that.I actually didn’t go to college.”
My entire body went rigid as my heart raced.Suddenly, Where was this conversation heading?“What do you mean you didn’t go?”
“By the time my parents told me I had to leave, it was too late to figure out financing.I’d missed the deadlines for scholarships and student loans.I had enough money saved for tuition and books, but I’d spent the rest on a car, thinking I’d be commuting from my parents’ house.And I had already quit my job at the bookstore because I wanted to focus on enjoying the last few months of high school, make some real friends, maybe even find someone to go to prom with.”She shrugged.“I figured I’d get a job closer to campus when I settled into my college classes.”
My heart sank as I pieced it together.“So you stayed in your car.For longer than the summer.”
She let out a shaky breath.“Yes, I did.Much longer, as it so happens.”
I gritted my teeth, trying to keep my voice calm.“Did you at least have a safe place to park?An okay job?”
She huffed a bitter laugh.“Not quite.Turns out the sorts of jobs I could find not only didn’t pay well enough for me to afford rent, they came with the worst kinds of bosses imaginable.”Softly, she added, “You wouldn’t believe what some men think they’re entitled to when they show the bare minimum of human decency to a woman.”Her words hit like a freight train.
My vision ran red, but my voice stayed deadly calm.“Who?Where are they now?Did you call the police?”
“It never got bad enough for that,” she said, shaking her head.“I always got out before things escalated past unwanted groping and lewd suggestions.”
“You shouldn’t have to tolerate unwanted groping and lewd suggestions.You were at your job.You should feel safe there.”I needed to figure out who these guys were and pay them a visit.A painful one.
Before I could demand their names and locations, she smirked.“I crushed my fair share of testicles on the way out, though.So, there’s a bright side, I guess.”
Her confession shocked me out of my murderous train of thought, and I spluttered a startled, “What?”
Her lips tipped into a small smile.“And I don’t feel a single bit bad about it, either.One guy, my boss at this one crappy diner the first winter, offered me a place to crash because there was an extreme cold warning in the weather forecast that night.”
“That sounds like a nice gesture.”
She rolled her eyes.“He knew I slept in my car and said he’d feel awful if I froze to death when he had a comfortable couch and, you know, proper heat.I wasn’t looking forward to waking up every hour to run the heat in my car for a few minutes so I could survive the night, so I took him up on it.”Her slight grimace didn’t prepare me for what came next.“We got to his disgusting apartment, and the second we walked through the door, he dropped his pants.He thought I would fall to my knees in gratitude for letting me sleep on his filthy couch.Yeah, right.”
My anger ratcheted up several notches, and I forced my jaw to unclench before my teeth cracked.“Did you squeeze his nuts until they burst?Give them the old twist and pull?Please tell me you left him unable to father children.”
She dazzled me with a grin.“I didn’t stick around long enough to find out, but I know I did some serious damage.And I didn’t use my hands.There’s no way I was touching that guy’s junk.I’m confident something popped under my knee, though.”
“Good.”I relaxed.“I hope he’s still writhing in agony.He deserves permanent damage.”
She chuckled.“Sometimes I think back on it and wonder if it was wrong of me to leave without doing more.What if they tried it with someone else?”
“Did you press charges?”
She opened and shut her mouth several times before speaking.“I didn’t exactly have a great track record with the cops, you know?Some of them had a real chip on their shoulder with the unhoused population in the city.It didn’t matter how quiet I was, or how much I kept to myself; some cops just loved hassling anyone who didn’t have a permanent address.”She must have noticed the horrified grimace on my face because she rushed to add, “Like, writing me tickets and scaring me awake and stuff.Nothing violent.”
“These cops found a young woman sleeping in her car and instead of helping, they wrote her tickets?”A fresh wave of fury tore through me.“Expected her to pay fines when she couldn’t afford a place to live?”
She forced a small smile.“Can’t fault them for doing their job.”
I snorted.“Maybeyoucan’t, butIsure as hell can.”The more I learned about her past, the angrier I became.She deserved so much better.“The stockpile makes more sense now.After having so little, I could see not wanting to run out of supplies.”She tensed, and to lighten the mood I added, “Not that I think there’s anything wrong with being preparedsolelyfor a zombie apocalypse.I’m still sticking with you if that happens, by the way.”
She chuckled and shook her head.“It is nice knowing where my next meal is coming from at all times.And that I’ll always have access to basic toiletries.”
I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her to my side, wishing I could protect her from her past hurts.Surprisingly, she relaxed into me, resting her hand over my heart.
We sat in silence until a thought hit me like a lightning bolt.“Wait, wait, wait.”I reared up, jostling her.
“What now?”She groaned in protest.
