Dollar Store run

Dan ended up spending another twenty dollars on what he deemed as essentials and a cheap breakfast from a chain fast-food restaurant.

Two new cars were parked outside the motel as he entered the lot. Dan couldn't remember if they'd been there when he left. Movement in the downstairs room, under his and his mother's room, drew his eye as he started to asend the stairs. A blonde woman, nude from the waist up, had her face between a hairy set of legs just visible on the bed.

Dan grunted and continued up the stairs. The sleazy motel had a reputation for a reason he supposed. "Coming in," he called as he unlocked the flimsy motel door with the key.

"Wait!" Laura called. Dan froze by the door. "Okay," she called again.

Entering the room, Dan spotted his mother sitting on the bed with her cream blouse covering her chest. "I have food and clothes," he called and set the bags on the table.

"Thank you," Laura said as she flashed him a bright smile. "My stomach is trying to eat my spine."

After a quick, luke-warm meal, the mother and son set about making a plan for the day. "I need to stop by the bank. It'll be easier than trying to access my account from my phone. Also... we've been using a lot of data this month already," Dan said as he checked the app on his phone.

"Sorry, I've needed to use Maps to find the places for my interviews."

"No, I'm not complaining. Just stating a fact. We're already looking at eighty or more for the month on that bill alone."

"We'll make it," Laura said with a pained expression. "Should we rent another night?"

"We've got another three hours before check out. Let's see if the Red Cross can do anything for us."

"Good, idea. I meant to call, but... well, I got distracted," Laura admitted with a rueful expression. "Anyway, I'll do that now."

Dan listened in on his mother's side of the conversation while laying in bed staring at the ceiling. The entire call took almost two hours. His mother paced the floor at the foot of the bed as she talked. She hadn't even changed into the new clothes he got her.

"Well... that's that," Laura muttered.

"A gift card and up to a week's stay at a hotel?" Dan asked to make sure he heard everything correctly.

"Apparently, the sinkhole was a localized incident, so they can't do too much for us. She was able to authorize a three hundred dollar gift card to Big Bucks."

"That'll be amusing," Dan muttered. "At least it's something."

"Oh, honey, thank you," Laura said as she sifted through the bags on the table. "I... well didn't think about panties yesterday."

"I honestly have no idea if they'll fit you," Dan admitted. "They were on the clearance rack near the back."

"I wish I could wash these. This shirt is already itchy."

"A laundry mat, maybe?"

"No sense in going until we get more clothes. I can deal with the discomfort for now."

Fifteen minutes later, his mother came out of the bathroom. "Well... you tried," she said with a sardonic smile.

Dan looked up from his phone and blinked. "Uh... what? Oh... why? I bought the size you told me to."

"You did," Laura answered with a laugh. "I got a men's size, extra-extra-large. You bought a woman's size large. These aren't unisex shirts. Oh well, I can make it work well enough. I just can't use it as a nightshirt. The... panties didn't work out. Thank you for the thought though."

"Why?" Dan asked more out of curiosity than anything else.

"Honey... I might have a smaller waist, but my hips and butt. Well, they might have worked as a tight thong, but not much else. It wouldn't have been pleasant to walk around in for any length of time."

"Oh, sorry," Dan groaned. "I got the size I thought you might be."

"That... is kind of flattering in its own way. Thank you."

"Alright, what's the plan for the day?" Dan asked.

"The bank first, let's see what we can pool together. Then... I guess we'll look at the place... my sister told us about. While you drive, I'll make the call to the insurance agency. I... well... I don't want to put my fears out in the universe," Laura muttered as she stared into the distance.

Laura at first dressed in one of the new, cheap shirts and her knee-length skirt from the previous day. She eventually decided to just change into the cream blouse again, without a bra. They loaded everything into the bags, dropped the bags in the trunk, and went over to the motel to turn in their key.

"Oh, you that Palm couple," the overweight woman behind the counter complained. "Mark said you'd stop by. Did you leave my room a mess?"

"No, we cleaned up a little," Dan shot back with a glare. Something about this woman grated on his nerves. Laura put a hand on his arm.

"Have a good day," she said before moving toward the door, a faint flush on her cheeks.

"What's wrong?" Dan asked as he got into the driver's seat of his mom's car.

"She... well, never mind. Let me make the calls while you drive."

Dan went into the bank and check his and Laura's accounts. What they had to work with wasn't much. He took a sizeable portion of his savings out as cash so they'd have cash on them for any purchases over the next few days. His next paycheck wasn't for another week or so.

"... you're kidding me?" Laura gasped as Dan got in the car. "How can our homeowner's insurance not cover this!"

Dan froze, halfway in the process of starting the car. "Are you kidding?" he echoed his mother as he stared, horrified at the implications.

Laura waved him off as she listened to whatever the person from the insurance company was saying. "This was a disaster! It should be covered. No, I'd like to speak to a manager. No... no... yes... what does that mean for us? Nothing? You can do nothing?"

Dan drove in silence as he listened to the one-sided conversation. A feeling of dread increased in his stomach. They would have nothing. The lifeline he'd been holding out hope for sounded like it wouldn't be available to them. Any money they could get would be the difference between living with a roof over their heads and living in the street somewhere. He felt a little sick to his stomach.

"That... I can't believe I trusted a stupid insurance company," his mother said in a soft voice as she hung up the phone. A small sob escaped her lips.

Dan pulled into a parking lot and parked the car. He hugged his mother. Her tears wet his shirt as she silently cried.

"This... is the place," Dan said into the silence twenty minutes later. The two-story converted cotton mill, renovated for low-income housing, looked worse for wear. Fifty years ago or more, the mill might have had a fresh coat of paint, now, it looked closer to an abandoned building than a housing option. "Do we go in?" he asked.

"We might as well," Laura said with a sigh. Her quietness and unwillingness to engage in even small talk worried Dan.

While the exterior of the building looked like the place might fall in on itself, the main hallway of the ground floor looked clean and maintained. Bright lights from industrial lamps lit the off-white walls and sky blue concrete flooring. The office, written on a laminated sheet of paper attached to the wall, was the first door on the left from the entrance.

"Hello?" Dan called, as he knocked on the wooden door. The small and spartan workspace had one large counter with a computer against the far wall. An older man with a handlebar mustache looked up from a stack of documents on the high counter.

"Afternoon," he greeted with a smile. His two missing teeth on the right side of his mouth drew Dan's eyes before he could look away.

"Good afternoon," Laura said with a smile as she stepped up to the counter. "I... have an acquaintance that recommended us here. She said you might have an apartment we could rent."

The older man's eyebrows raised as he looked first Laura over and then Dan. "I might have something," he hedged. His voice changed a little, but Dan wasn't sure what that meant.

"We just lost our home yesterday. A sinkhole," Laura continued.

"Oh, hey, I heard about that on the news. Sinkhole opened up across town. About the size of a football field, someone said. Went down into some old garbage dump or something that the developers covered up."

Laura and Dan exchanged looks. It was news to them. "We... hadn't heard that," Dan admitted.

"You'll be needing a place then? I don't hold much with the government. Do what they require and nothing more. However, no hard **** or crazy orgy parties are allowed. No pets, human or otherwise are allowed either. I take pictures of the moment you walk into my apartment and the moment you hand over the keys. You sign a contract saying you'll take care of my place or I'll have it out of your hide. Cash always, no check or cards. I've got a place on the second floor open if you're interested."

Dan blinked at the old man but didn't comment at the odd stipulations. "How much a month?" he asked.

The proprietor pursed his lips. "I can't go lower than seven hundred a month. These aren't five-star apartments, but I don't ask questions and that'll include power and water," he seemed to pause for a moment after seeing something on their faces. "I employed a helper to do things like sort mail, do laundry for the building, and clean the floors. Oh, if I find either one of you littering in my building, I will throw you out that day. I despise trash. What you do in your room, is up to you. However, if your lifestyle invites pests and other crap like that. You might as well go elsewhere."

"We clean up after ourselves," Laura answered. She glanced around the office as if confirming what the man claimed. "Can we get back to you?" she asked.

The older man shrugged. "The name is Mack. I've run this place for years. I can't promise the place will be open if you wait too long, but I can hold off for a day or so. I've got a fairly steady flow of tenants though. Take a card," he offered and gestured to the small rack on the counter.

"Thank you," Laura said and took the card. She blinked when she saw something over the counter.

"Lost both legs," Mack confirmed. "Nasty bit of business as a young man. It's why I hire help from the tenants sometimes. I live well enough, but sometimes I need a little extra help."

"Oh," Laura said as she nodded. "We'll let you know one way or another."

"Do that, and see you soon, I think," Mack called as Dan led the way out of the office. "What did you think?" he asked as he got into the car.

Laura pursed her lips and shook her head. "We should have asked to see the open room," she answered after a moment.

"It can't be all that good," Dan said with a shrug. "Maybe we should look somewhere else. Seven hundred... for what? A rundown place on the outskirts of town?"

"That... isn't as bad as you'd think," Laura sighed. "I know someone who's paying eight hundred for just the apartment, not including water or anything else. This... might have to work for a while. We were lucky to have the house paid off."

"We should have asked, but do you think it's a lease-type deal? Or month-to-month?"

Laura glanced at her son before answering, "I think he deals month-to-month only. It's just a hunch."

Dan drove over to the closest Red Cross affiliated store. It happened to be next to the Big Bucks he worked at. The second-hand surplus store, known to give freely to the homeless, had everything ready for them once Laura told them why they were there. The owner, a time-worn woman with an ageless quality, gave them some ideas on how to get through the next few months.

"So, do we stop in?" Laura asked as she eyed Big Bucks.

Dan knows they need clothes at the minimum. He wasn't excited by the idea of showing up to work the next day in three-day-old clothes. He sighed and nodded. "Yeah, we might as well," he answered. "Or, we could go across town to the other store?"

"I'll leave that up to you," Laura answered with a smile.