Piper McFarr's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Piper knocked on the apartment door and counted to three before it opened. A woman stood there, tired eyes looking her over, then stepped aside without a word. Inside, the noise hit first — crying from one room, shouting from another, something crashing in the back. The woman pointed at four kids scattered across the cramped space, then grabbed a coat from a hook. "They need to eat, sleep, and not kill each other," she said. "Back by morning." She was out the door before Piper could ask a single question. Piper turned to face the apartment. The walls were covered in layers of graffiti that had been painted over and tagged again. A broken television hung on one wall, its screen cracked into a spiderweb of colors that flickered and buzzed. The oldest kid, maybe ten, sat on a stained couch and stared at her. The others kept moving — one climbing on furniture, another pulling things out of cabinets, the smallest one still crying somewhere she couldn't see. This wasn't watching kids while parents went to dinner. This was survival. She stepped outside to clear her head and nearly tripped over the gutted vending machine propped against the building. Someone had torn it apart for parts or food or both. The whole block looked the same — cracked concrete, broken things, people getting by with nothing. She thought about the tuition money folded in her pocket from the deposit. She thought about walking away. But the deadline was three days out, and no other job would pay half of this. When she went back inside, the oldest kid was standing in the doorway holding a pot. "They're hungry," he said. "Mom didn't leave anything." Piper looked past him at the empty kitchen, the three other kids watching her now, waiting. She pulled out her phone and checked her account balance. Forty-two credits. Enough for noodles and maybe rice. She nodded at the boy and grabbed her coat. The job wasn't what she thought, but she was already in it. The only way out was through.