other than to make this work. I had my back to the wall . . . quitting was not on the agenda.
"I don’t know how you’ve done it all these years. I mean, no disrespect to you or your mum, but how the hell did you survive?" She was staring at me with large round eyes, a glimmer of understanding dawning.
I grimaced. Living hand-to-mouth as a single parent had taken its toll on my mother’s health. I’d learned from an early age to make the best of what we had, and to be grateful for small mercies. It was a lesson that was staring Cassidy Goodwin in the face.
"We get by . . . we always have. Mum is an amazing woman. My only worry with being here is leaving her while I chase my dream." My throat tightened at the thought of her alone back at our small apartment. Fortunately our neighbor, Mr. Lancaster, was sweet on Mum, and promised to help her out if necessary.
"You’re lucky, having your mum for support. Mine thinks if she throws money at problems they’ll go away. I wish I were as close to my mother as you are to yours. It's priceless . . . something money can't buy." Her wistful expression brought tears to my eyes. I blinked a few times, determined not to get all blubbery. We’d never had much in the way of money, but with the amount of love I received, I never felt deprived. I honestly believed that Cassidy would trade places with me in a heartbeat to have her mother care a fraction as much about her as mine did for me.
I squeezed her hand and changed the subject. "Honey, it's getting late. We better start looking for an apartment, if we want to be settled in before I start my new job. We’ll have plenty of weekends to do all the touristy things in the next six months."
"You’re right, as always, Miss Practical. Remember, you promised I could have the pick of which bedroom I wanted."
I nodded. Which bedroom was mine was the very least of my problems.
DEBONAIR: PART 1 BY JANI KAY
3 - Brooklyn
Drinking in the sights of the city, we landed in Times Square as night fell. It was our third day in New York, and already the city that never slept mesmerized is with its frenetic pace.
We’d spent most of the day looking at furnished places for rent, catching subways and walking till we had blisters on our feet. Finally we’d found an apartment that looked reasonable. It wasn’t crawling with cockroaches or falling apart, and hopefully neither the rent nor the neighbors would strangle us.
Far from being able to afford two bedrooms, we had settled on a one-bedroom apartment with twin beds and a tiny kitchen. At least the living room was reasonably spacious, as we’d probably spend most of our time hanging out in there. At first Cassidy had refused to share a bedroom, but after viewing five two-bedroomed apartments we couldn’t afford, I'd convinced her that it would be fun to share a bedroom where we could chat before falling asleep.
We’d collected our baggage from the hotel storage room and moved straight in to what would be our new home for half a year. After unpacking our few belongings, and since we had no food yet, we decided to soak up the city’s atmosphere and get a bite to eat.
Gawking open-mouthed at the huge flashing billboards that probably used the equivalent of an entire month’s worth of electricity for our apartment in mere hours, we found a place to sit where we could devour our dinner. I’d seen many pictures of this famous spot, but nothing compared to the buzz and cosmopolitan feel of actually being there.
"I can’t believe how small and expensive apartments are around here. Luckily I saved my birthday money for the deposit, or we’d be screwed," Cass said as she dug into her slice of pizza.
"We have our own small kitchen, and it’s close to a Laundromat, so we’re going to be fine." My optimism was dwindling fast, but I couldn’t let her see my alarm. The poor girl had already had so many culture shocks that I didn’t have the heart to discourage her further.
"Yay. Lucky
"I don’t know how you’ve done it all these years. I mean, no disrespect to you or your mum, but how the hell did you survive?" She was staring at me with large round eyes, a glimmer of understanding dawning.
I grimaced. Living hand-to-mouth as a single parent had taken its toll on my mother’s health. I’d learned from an early age to make the best of what we had, and to be grateful for small mercies. It was a lesson that was staring Cassidy Goodwin in the face.
"We get by . . . we always have. Mum is an amazing woman. My only worry with being here is leaving her while I chase my dream." My throat tightened at the thought of her alone back at our small apartment. Fortunately our neighbor, Mr. Lancaster, was sweet on Mum, and promised to help her out if necessary.
"You’re lucky, having your mum for support. Mine thinks if she throws money at problems they’ll go away. I wish I were as close to my mother as you are to yours. It's priceless . . . something money can't buy." Her wistful expression brought tears to my eyes. I blinked a few times, determined not to get all blubbery. We’d never had much in the way of money, but with the amount of love I received, I never felt deprived. I honestly believed that Cassidy would trade places with me in a heartbeat to have her mother care a fraction as much about her as mine did for me.
I squeezed her hand and changed the subject. "Honey, it's getting late. We better start looking for an apartment, if we want to be settled in before I start my new job. We’ll have plenty of weekends to do all the touristy things in the next six months."
"You’re right, as always, Miss Practical. Remember, you promised I could have the pick of which bedroom I wanted."
I nodded. Which bedroom was mine was the very least of my problems.
DEBONAIR: PART 1 BY JANI KAY
3 - Brooklyn
Drinking in the sights of the city, we landed in Times Square as night fell. It was our third day in New York, and already the city that never slept mesmerized is with its frenetic pace.
We’d spent most of the day looking at furnished places for rent, catching subways and walking till we had blisters on our feet. Finally we’d found an apartment that looked reasonable. It wasn’t crawling with cockroaches or falling apart, and hopefully neither the rent nor the neighbors would strangle us.
Far from being able to afford two bedrooms, we had settled on a one-bedroom apartment with twin beds and a tiny kitchen. At least the living room was reasonably spacious, as we’d probably spend most of our time hanging out in there. At first Cassidy had refused to share a bedroom, but after viewing five two-bedroomed apartments we couldn’t afford, I'd convinced her that it would be fun to share a bedroom where we could chat before falling asleep.
We’d collected our baggage from the hotel storage room and moved straight in to what would be our new home for half a year. After unpacking our few belongings, and since we had no food yet, we decided to soak up the city’s atmosphere and get a bite to eat.
Gawking open-mouthed at the huge flashing billboards that probably used the equivalent of an entire month’s worth of electricity for our apartment in mere hours, we found a place to sit where we could devour our dinner. I’d seen many pictures of this famous spot, but nothing compared to the buzz and cosmopolitan feel of actually being there.
"I can’t believe how small and expensive apartments are around here. Luckily I saved my birthday money for the deposit, or we’d be screwed," Cass said as she dug into her slice of pizza.
"We have our own small kitchen, and it’s close to a Laundromat, so we’re going to be fine." My optimism was dwindling fast, but I couldn’t let her see my alarm. The poor girl had already had so many culture shocks that I didn’t have the heart to discourage her further.
"Yay. Lucky
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