Who: Ali Bell and Christy Nord What: Meeting neighbors When: Recently Where: Their hotel Rating/Warnings: None. Status: Complete when posted
Christy didn’t have much in the way of things. Everything she’d owned was in the duffel that had been unpacked and was resting at the foot of the bed. Having been here for a few days and looking to see what job she could get quickly she was feeling more than a little disheartened.
She’d dragged her chair out onto the walkway in front of her motel room and was sitting on it, feet up on the railing and soda resting on her stomach, cradled in her hands. She had no idea what she was going to do: she couldn’t go back to the home as she was too old, and she had no one to take her in or support her. Petty theft had gotten her so far, and the cash she’d either managed to steal or obtain from pawning items would run out eventually. She couldn’t risk getting a rap sheet out here, it’d affect her chances of college and the bright future she knew she wanted, even if she didn’t deserve it.
Pulled out of her brooding thoughts, she tipped her head when she heard the sound of footsteps.
“Shit, sorry, am I in your way?”
***
Ali was exhausted. There was no nicer way of putting it. It had seeped into her bones by this point and she was sure that she was never getting the scent of the onions out of her clothes from her shifts at the restaurant. Okay that last thought might have been an exaggeration on her part but it didn’t change the fact that the smell always seemed to cling to her for hours after her shift, hours after she’d showered and changed back at the motel. She had a bag of food in her hand as she got out of the truck, heading towards her room and trying to figure out how many more paystubs she would need to prove that she wasn’t going to bolt so that she could get into an apartment. Someplace she could actually cook a decent meal and have more than just microwave fare. She was getting so tired of those microwave meals.
She noticed who she could only guess was her new neighbor sitting in front of the room next to hers and had to laugh a little at that question. Especially the way it started off with that cuss word. She could see herself growing to like this girl if they were going to be neighbors for a while. But she’d been here long enough to realize most of the people who came here weren’t staying long term like she was. “Just a little bit. I’m next door to you.” She said, not smiling because she’d been smiling all day long at people and she just didn’t have it in her top make herself smile again.
***
Christy tipped her head, dropping her feet and scooting the chair back pretty much immediately when the woman told her she was in the way. “Better?” She rubbed the back of her neck and watched the woman move a little closer. “I wasn’t expecting to have a neighbour.” She had figured that this place would be empty, considering how easily she got a room and the overall creepy vibe of the place.
Well, it was cheap, and that pretty much had to do. Once she had a bit more money behind her and was enrolled in college officially, she might be able to get an apartment. If she could find someone to live with, someone from the home might provide a reference but she didn’t want to count on it.
“I- uh, I’m Christy.” She tipped her head up and offered a small smile, though the woman looked exhausted she wasn’t expecting much back. “Only got here a few days ago.”
***
At that space Ali did give the other woman a small, tired smile. “Thanks. I hope I didn’t wake you getting up so early. First shift is a nightmare. I didn’t realize there was anybody next door or I’d have been quieter.” She just had to be glad that she hadn’t accidentally dropped anything this morning right outside the doors. That would not have been a good way to meet someone.
“I’m Ali. I got here a few months ago. This place is home until I can get enough work history to satisfy a complex in a less...haunted looking area.”
***
“It’s okay,” Christy said with a lift of her shoulder. “I’m a really light sleeper.” After all, she’d been homeless, on the run and in group homes for a very long time and none of those were safe. “I’ll get used to it once I’m confident the lock on the door holds.”
She glanced back at the doors in question slightly suspciously. “But I’m here too for a similar reason. No history to make a landlord comfortable. If I can find somewhere,” and someone to share with because rent was expensive, “I might be able to get a guarantor but I’m not sure if that’ll even be accepted. Until then, I’ve slept in worse places than a possible haunted motel.”
She smiled. “Kinda good to know I’m not staying here alone though. That reduces the creepy factor a bit.”
***
“I haven’t had any issues with the lock on my door but I’m not sure that works as a guarantor for yours.” Ali said with a shrug as she walked past to unlock the door and set her bags inside.
She grabbed her chair and sat in the doorway facing her neighbor. “The only person I know who’d be willing to sign off on guaranteeing the rent on a place for me is Gran and she’s in Florida so she can’t help me there. I’m getting close though to the required amount of pay stubs so they know I’m not going to just flake in a few weeks. I’ll just need to find a place then that’s affordable and safe. With no haunted ice machines.” She was mostly joking about the ice machine. She didn’t think it was haunted so much as possessed.
“I will give you this tip: don’t get too close to Phil in the room next to the office. He gives off major creep vibes. I’ve had some closing shifts and seen him going in and out of his room with these brown paper boxes. Looking around him like he’s expecting to be caught. He also screamed at me one night for daring to park near his room. When it was the only available spot. I just don’t know what his deal is but … be careful.”
***
Christy snorted. “I’ll keep shoving a chair under the handle for another few days then,” she deadpanned, but it was followed by a small smile. Leaning her chair back again, she lifted her feet once more and stretched her legs out. There wasn’t a lot of room but it was enough and she was at least comfortable. And maybe even a little relieved that her neighbour wasn’t just immediately dismissing her.
“Yeah, I think I could probably ask m- I could probably ask someone but like you I probably need work history and someone to split bills with. I’m going to college in the fall but I’m intending on being able to pay my own way as much as possible.”
She grimaced but nodded her thanks at the warning. “I- I have a feeling I know the type. Thanks for the heads up, I’ll make sure to carry a can of mace around.”
***
“I was putting one of those glass bottles at the edge of mine for a while so if somebody came in it would fall over and break.” Ali confessed to her with a shrug. “I eventually started throwing the bottles away because I couldn’t find a recycling place for them. Which I’ll be honest was a shock with how everybody out here is supposed to be so health and environmentally conscious.” She added.
“Yeah that’s definitely something I’ve learned. If I’m going to afford a decent place to live I’m going to have to find a roommate. And I’ve already crossed most of my coworkers off that list because I could not put up with that much time with them.” She sighed. “So I might have to sacrifice safety for affordability. And even with that I might still end up having to find someone to split bills with.”
“Also - don’t do laundry by yourself when he’s in the laundry room. One too many times he’s commented on my underwear.”
***
“I think the rule is don’t live with the people you work with, ‘cause you can’t get away from them at the end of the day,” Christy offered with an upward quirk of her shoulder. “Besides, you shouldn’t sacrifice being safe. You’re already doing that living here in this, uh, place. But then beggars can’t be choosers and all. I don’t know how anyone affords to live alone out here, the rent’s so high.”
Wrinkling her nose, Christy nodded, pushing her hair behind her ear. “Thanks for the heads up,” she said, “stay away from laundry when creepy Phil is there. Got it.”
***
“I’m betting that they have rich families that help them pay the bills. That or they have some secret to income that they aren’t sharing.” Ali said, shifting in her chair. “Oh God yeah. I need that space from my coworkers at the end of the day. Especially since I can’t stand to be around most of them even for my entire shift. First thing after I get an apartment - a new job. Maybe I can start my own food truck business or something.” One of the first friends she’d made out here had actually gotten the idea of her own business stuck in her head.
“If he’s down there just come knock on my door and I’ll come down with you to do mine. If you see that old truck down there? You know I’m home. I’m the only person that lives here with one like that. Or possibly the only person in the entire state of California with one that hasn’t registered it as an antique.”
***
“If living in New York taught me anything,” Christy said with a smile, “it’s that there’s always space for another food truck. If you’re good at cooking and have an idea that’d work, I’d say go for it. Once you’ve found somewhere to live that isn’t a motel, I mean.” She needed to think about how she would juggle work and school in the fall. She was aware she’d qualify for a few grants, and had already applied for them, so that was a bonus and she knew she’d at least have some money coming in that would allow her time to sleep and eat around her studies and job.
She leaned forward to look at the old truck and then looked back at Ali. “That’s an old truck alright,” she agreed, “but if it still runs you don’t gotta donate it to a museum just yet.”
***
“Grandma taught me when I was living with her. I’ve got a couple ideas that I think could work but I’d need to have a real stove before I could start on any of them really. Refining the recipes and all that. Definitely nothing that would require a lot of employees because space and...do I really want that many people that close to me while working if I don’t have to?” She asked, one brow raised curiously.
She laughed at the comment about her truck. “She’ll keep running for a while. My grandpa took good care of her. Taught me how to take care of her too. And to always always keep my triple A active on her. Those tires can be a pain to change when they blow.”
***
Christy listened and then nodded, “I mean, you gotta have your space. If you don’t need to have other people working with you then it’s easier on you. I mean, you might want someone to run it so you get time off but you guys can pass like ships in the night or whatever. But since you’d be running your own thing? Screw that. No need for other people.”
Leaning forward, she took another look at the truck and then smiled a bit. “I’ve never had a car, but if you’re looking after it then that’s what counts, right? I always figured they’d just eat money.”
***
"That's what appeals most to me about the food truck idea I think. I decide what the hours will be. And where pretty much. And maybe somebody to pass out orders so I don't have to. But that's a down the road plan. Way down the road maybe." Ali told her with a shrug. She leaned into her room and grabbed the bag to pull some chips out, offering the bag to Christy after tearing it open.
"Oh she eats money but there's something freeing about it for me. No waiting on a bus or anyone else. And I also like driving."
***
Leaning over and helping herself to a couple of chips, Christy nodded. Future plans were all good, she didn’t have any past ‘start college’ which was fine for her for now if she was honest. There had once been a time where starting college hadn’t been on her radar so much as ‘survive the winter’ had been.
“Never learned to drive,” she admitted, leaning back in the chair again. A plane flew lazily overhead and she tilted her head up to watch it. “Guess I’ll add that to my list of things to do.”
She looked over at Ali once the plane had disappeared from view and smiled again. “Nice to meet you, neighbour,” she said. “Thanks for being so nice to me.”
***
Ali gave her a smile back as she grabbed her own handful of chips. “Nice to meet you too.”