’What shitty luck. Fuck.’
In less than twenty short hours, he’d come to find the world utterly sickening.
No family, no friends, no ID, no diploma. Nothing.
He wandered the streets like a lost soul for a while longer, but the cold eventually became unbearable. He hailed a cab and went back to the place from last night.
Following his memory through the winding alleys, he soon found the girl’s place.
Her place had no door, and the benefit of it having no lock became clear at that moment.
Zeke Walton pulled back the curtain and stepped inside.
The room contained only a bed, a clothes rack, a stool, and a few scattered personal belongings.
He kicked off his shoes, stripped off his dirty sweater, and tossed it to the floor before collapsing headfirst onto the girl’s bed.
He slept until nightfall.
People came and went, returning from work. They greeted each other and headed to the kitchen to cook, and the noise woke Zeke Walton.
The aromas wafting from the kitchen made him so hungry his mouth tasted bitter. Still, he didn’t want to go out for food, so he just covered his head and forced himself back to sleep.
He drifted off into a groggy sleep again. The next time he woke, it was to the sound of the girl wheeling her electric scooter.
After a series of thumps and clatters, the girl pulled back the curtain and entered. She jumped when she saw the shoes and sweater on the floor.
"Ah!"
Zeke Walton threw back the covers, his hair a tousled mess.
"You’re back."
The girl clutched at her wildly pounding heart, staring at him in fright.
"You... How did you..."
"I came to pay you back. Why are you back so late? What time is it?"
’So he wasn’t here to pester me.’
The girl took out her phone to check the time. "I’m actually back early today. It’s only midnight."
’Midnight is early?’
Zeke Walton was speechless for a moment. "What time do you leave in the morning? How many hours do you work?"
"I leave a bit after six in the morning. I’m not familiar with the routes, though, so even with the long hours, I can’t complete many deliveries a day."
The girl said, pouring herself a glass of water and taking a couple of sips.
"I haven’t eaten dinner yet. I was about to make some noodles. Have you eaten?"
’She works till midnight but can’t even bring herself to buy a meal?’ Zeke Walton was starving; of course he was going to eat.
But he didn’t want to eat noodles.
He pulled five red bills from under the pillow and handed them to her.
"This is to pay you back. Thanks for your help yesterday."
He held out two more bills with his other hand. "Use this to buy dinner. Don’t bother cooking."
The girl was surprised by his generosity.
’She’d helped him last night, but it hadn’t cost her a single cent. And now he was giving her five hundred!’
She hesitated for a moment before taking the money.
"But it’s too late, nothing’s open nearby. You should save your money. I’m a really good cook. I’ll even add two eggs for you, no charge."
Zeke Walton was feeling weak and irritable. If she didn’t want to go, fine.
"Suit yourself."
The girl squatted by the bed and pulled a cardboard box out from underneath. She took out two eggs and a bundle of dried noodles, then went outside.
Zeke Walton waited on the bed, bored. After some time, she came back in with two bowls of noodles.
There was nowhere to even put the bowls, so she set them down on the lone plastic stool and squatted in front of it.
She pushed the bowl with the two eggs in it toward Zeke Walton, leaving herself with the plain noodles.
"It’s ready. Come and eat."
Zeke Walton knew she didn’t have much money and had to live frugally, but he never imagined she’d be *this* frugal.

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