She appeared thoughtful. “Until then, don’t worry about paying me. I’ll still babysit for you when you need to look for work.”

I sighed and felt at least one of my burdens disappear. “You’re an angel, you know that? I promise to pay you as soon as I can.”

“It’s no problem. I love Caylen.” I nodded. “And he loves you, Mian.” I nodded again. “It will get better.” I didn’t react that time. She’d said the same thing each time I lost a gig or the lights were turned off. I just wasn’t sure I believed her anymore.

The sudden intrusion of Caylen’s cries filtered from the only bedroom in the apartment, which we shared. “I have to get that.”

We laughed and ignored the heaviness in the room. After seeing Anna out, I made my way to the bedroom. Across the room, in the crib I had found for a bargain, was the reason I even still tried.

I smiled when I saw that he had managed to kick off his blanket and continue to throw a tantrum fit for an eight-month-old. I scooped him up and cradled his warm body against my chest. He no longer screamed, but his fussing went on as he tried to eat his fist.

“I’ll guess you’re hungry, huh, little guy?” I left our bedroom and entered the kitchen. I hadn’t had the chance to prep his bottles before leaving for work, so I made quick work of it one-handed while attempting to soothe him. After popping the bottle in the microwave, I took stock of what we had and calculated we had enough food and diapers to survive another week. Whatever I did, I had to move fast. Time moved fast when you didn’t want it to.

Tomorrow, I’d search the papers and every square inch of the city by foot if I had to.

There were thousands of restaurants in the city.

One of them had to be hiring.* * *I was stilljobless after a week of scouring as many places as I could, as often as I could. I even took Caylen with me on the cooler days to search for work. I was now down to the last of our food with no money and no solutions.

“Mian?”

I recognized the voice and groaned. Joseph ‘Joey’ Jones was my second-floor neighbor. He lived here with his mom since he was seventeen and still in high school. He also had an unfailing crush on Anna and begged me to talk him up to her every time we ran into each other. The one time I asked, Anna had made it clear she wasn’t interested. “Not my type and never will be,” is what she said. I pushed through the fronts doors and quickened my pace when the sound of his footsteps grew closer.

“Hey, wait up!”

I could hear him breathing now so I turned and forced a smile. “Hey, Joey. What’s up?”

“Damn, girl. I had to run after you. Did you not hear me?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, that’s cool. So where are you headed?”

I shrugged. “Nowhere special.” I attempted casual but his bushy eyebrows bunched together under his backward red cap. I could even see the riots of dark curls peeking out from under it.

“Why so secretive?” He chuckled and stuffed his hands in the pockets of his cargo shorts. I’ve known Joey since the first day I moved in, and he had offered to help me unload my meager belongings. He’s always been nice and helpful and even chauffeured Caylen and me around in his beat up old Chevrolet when the weather was too bad to trek it. I had no real reason not to trust him.

It’s just that trusting people with your secrets made you vulnerable, and I’dhad enough of that already.

“I lost my job,” I offered. “I’m hunting for a new one.” I left out the part about me being destitute and almost out of food.

“With Caylen?” He nodded to him strapped to my chest. The carrier had been a godsend in the form of a hand-me-down I graciously accepted from Tara who lived on the first floor. She had seen me struggling to carry Caylen and two handfuls of groceries one day and had helped me carry them. After thanking her for the help, she’d reappeared at my door with the carrier. Turns out, she had a two-year-old son who’d outgrown it. I turned it down, feeling wrong for taking from a stranger until she patted her arm where her birth control was planted and reassured me she had no plans of having another one.

“Anna’s working today.”

“Right.” He looked from me to the baby and then met my gaze again. “I could watch him if you want.”

I hesitated because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. Joey’s maturity level wasn’t quite there for me to trust him with my baby. “That’s okay. I’m just filling out applications today.”