Page 14 of All or Nothing
Joss smirked. “Well if you’ve only ever lived with your parents I guess it might not be obvious that you have to pay for those things. But yeah, you have to pay for the roof over your head and the food that you eat, and other stuff like electricity and medical care and all that good stuff.”
“Oh, you mean with taxes?”
“What?” Joss’s smooth golden brow scrunched again with confusion. “I mean I guess a little, but most stuff you have to pay for separately, or else you’ll wind up homeless or starving.”
“That isawful,” I breathed, pity for Joss and her primitive planet washing through me. “On Billieu that doesn’t happen.”
She blinked. “You don’t have homeless people?”
I shook my head, making my horn ornaments tinkle. “No, if you cannot afford a private dwelling you simply move into the public dorms. Then they give you stipends for food and whatever else you need.”
Joss sagged, wonder filling her wide brown eyes. “You’re socialized. You live in a goddamn socialist utopia,” she breathed, her eyes growing glassy and wet with tears. “No one—” her voice cracked, and she swallowed thickly. Without thinking, I took one of her hands and held it on the table. She didn’t react except to squeeze my hand back. “No one is homeless?” she finished with a rasp.
“This is correct,” I assured her gently. “Are you alright?”
She nodded, snatching her hand back to swipe at her eyes. “Yeah, I’m okay,” she said. “It’s just that I was homeless for a little while when I was younger.” I made a noise of shock in my throat. Her people had let her live without a home? On thestreets?As a child?!
“I’m so sorry,” I told her. “Is there not enough room for everyone on your planet?”
She shook her head, her laugh bitter. “No, that’s the really shitty thing. They have empty houses, I’m pretty sure, that just sit there rotting away because someone couldn’t afford them anymore and no one else can or wants to buy them.” She shook her head. “Our systems on Earth are just way more fucked. We…we don’t really take care of each other. People think if you’re homeless it’s because you did something to like, earn it. You fucked up in a big way and now you’re getting what you deserve.”
I wanted to be sick, to fly to her home planet and shake some sense into those people. How could they think that someoneearnsmisfortune? Even if someone spends all their credits on drugs or gambling it is not their fault, they are simply sick and in need of help. If anything those are the people who should be getting themostattention and care. A society is only as strong as its most vulnerable people.
“That…is horrible.” I swallowed down the bitter taste at the back of my tongue. “I am so sorry that you have had to endure that. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like. And you said you were just a child when this happened?”
She nodded, hugging herself. “Yeah, I was…maybe ten?”
“And no one would even helpyou, an innocent child?”
She nodded, more tears spilling from her eyes. “Yeah, no one did. They—they actually teased me, the other kids, because I was dirty all the time and got free lunch.”
It felt like my hearts were breaking in my chest, shattering into dust from how unfair that was. To think that she had gone through something so senseless and cruel and was still kind enough to help me, despite my not having any excuse to need help. I was in no danger of living like that. I was just going to have to move and get rid of many of my things.
They were nice things, but compared to having nothing, I could make that sacrifice. Meeting these females, seeing the harsher realities of life in the wider universe, was putting a lot of things into perspective for me. I was realizing just how sheltered and—andprivilegedI’d been. It was hard to sit with.
“That is…unbelievable,” I murmured. “That will not happen again, especially if we get you Billieuan citizenship. There is always a safety net.” Her lip wobbled, but she managed a faint smile.
“That’s so good to hear. It’ll make it much easier to get you on your feet, if you have room and board already covered.” She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. “So whatdoesn’tthe government cover?”
“Entertainment expenses. Most leisure activities you have to pay for with credits, and for any clothing beyond the government-issued jumpsuits. I’m sure there’s more, but I haven’t had to look into it before so I can’t remember.” I felt myself flush again. “Sorry,” I added lamely.
She shook her head again. “No, that’s fine! We can always look it up, I’m sure.” She twisted her mouth to the side and hummed a few discordant notes. “I guess then I’ll help you figure out how to live on your own, and we can work on getting you a job to pay for all of that other stuff, since that’s still important. You’ve got to have a fun budget!”
I nodded, smiling at her shyly. “Yes, that sounds wonderful. Thank you so much for helping me, Joss.”
She smiled back, her tears already drying from her sweet face.
CHAPTER NINE
Skeletons in the Closet
JOSS
I WASstill reeling from what I’d learned about Xollen and his world, Billy-ooh (or however it was spelled; I’d probably have to figure that out soon, huh?). No comics but these guys had interstellar travelandhad a successful socialist society?! Screw Earth, I wanted a big ‘ole slice of that. No more breaking my back and stifling my soul just to scrape by, no more panic attacks when I looked at my bank account, no more boring nursing classes to make my mom happy. And no more Alex lurking around, trying to shove his skinny new girlfriend in my face.
Xollen himself was a pretty nice perk, too. He’d been really hurt on my behalf after I’d accidentally spilled all about my past, and he wasn’t ogling my free-swinging tits at all. I couldn’t say that about most of the men I interacted with in a day back on Earth. And boy was he hot, I mean like,seriously.Whoo-mama.
Now that we’d gotten to know each other a little bit better I felt comfortable asking him for some stuff. If I had to sit around in ratty old pajamas for one more minute I might scream.
