Esmerelda paced down the hall, avoiding ironcrunching, visibly tense. After 4 cups of coffee she was finally lucid. "Sheheeeera!" she trilled.
"Hey girl!" Shehera greeted warmly. "What's up?"
"Oh my god," she rushed. "They kept me here last night till...guess?"
"7:30? Again?"
"9!" she bulged. "I didn't get out of here till after 9:00! Can you believe it?! Metalcrunching is making me insane!"
"Yeah it is! Are you at least getting extra credit for your sweat?"
"NO! According to Ant, 'No overtime, kid. Ya paycheck is what it is.' Fucking dicks! I can't ironcrunch anymore. This pit is taking over and ruining my life!"
"Dude, that's not even legal. You should turn them over to the Smithguards."
Esmerelda pondered this. "Nooo!" she gasped.
"I can't stand it! Everything in this pit runs on garbage and intimidation. It's my second week, and already I'm sending out smoke signals to get the hell out of here."
"Yeah me too," though she'd been there for six months. Her hate quickened. "Whatever you do, don't talk to Ant. He's a rat!"
"How so?"
Esmerelda fumed. "The other day I was talking to him about that fight with Marlene.." She never exhumed the reason, but the previous week Shehera witnessed Esmerelda, standing in the causeway between the frontpit and the yard, screaming, "FUCK YOU MARLENE, YA STUPID WHORE!" as did three shocked clients. "...you know, because Ant's good for advice sometimes. He's blunt." Blunt, or habitually obtuse? Shehera pondered. "Later that day, I heard him telling Dan everything." She growled. "He's a RAT!"
"Ugh." Shehera was disgusted. Not a rare sentiment at Metal Parade. "Awful. I wouldn't worry about it, though. As long as it doesn't interfere with business they can't hold it against you." Esmerelda looked dubious.
The mail came. The usual assortment to and from nom de guerres, plus a letter addressed to Dan from the Head Smithguard. Esmerelda gasped. "Wonder what that is?!"
"Karma?" They chuckled apprehensively. "Oh, we can dream, can't we?" Shehera exhaled. "Wanna walkabout while I unload this junk?"
"Sure!" And they were off.
The minute they entered the yard, Ant rose above the din: "Watch it, Marlene. I'M the driver. You? You're my mule. Remember that." Esmerelda, who discreetly savored Marlene's humiliation, beamed triumphantly along with the grunts.
After delivering the loads, they headed to the dump. "They MUST get off choking on this, don't you think?" Esmerelda posited. "The taste of iron can't be that good, can it? They could be dregs at regular yards if they wanted! It's sick!"
"The grunts, yeah. There's obviously something wrong with someone who stays in a place like this by choice. Anyone with any self-respect at all would avoid this place like a biohazard unless they were desperate." Shehera washed her hands.
"Fucking metalfreeze!" Esmerelda blurted in anger as she slammed down her purse.
"It's a shame, really. Most of these dregs would be pretty cool if they weren't career con artists. I feel dirty just directing traffic in this gilded trash heap. Every other phone call is an angry victim of iron loss! I'm sick of having to cover for people like Len."
Esmerelda gasped. "Oh my god, I meant to ask you! Did you fuck Lenny? I heard that you went to his hole after the final whipcrack yesterday." Lenny aint so discreet after all.
Shehera let out an angry belly laugh. "Hell, NO!" she snarled.
"But you did go to his crib? Cause he was bragging to the guys that you did."
"Yeah."
"Why?" Esmerelda squirmed. "He's creepy and he smells wierd."
"Check it out - he invited me over to smoke under the pretense of 'just friends'. Under the same pretense, I accepted. He's nice enough. Decent sense of humor, sometimes. Why not? Obviously I suspected a hidden agenda." She became austere. "But he invited me as a FRIEND, and I hung out as a friend. Nothing more. If he's mad that his little after hours bait-and-switch scheming didn't work, then fuck him!"
"Woah," Esmerelda replied, digesting the logic. "Well...I guess that makes sense."
"Shehera flashed a sly grin. "It's no big deal. Thinking he can mine women like he mines customers...nope! It didn't work, so he's spreading a rumour about himself that it did to LOOK like a stud. What a dumbass!" She dried her hands intently. " And besides, what kind of loser has to try and trick a girl into fucking him anyway?! There are millions of horny women in this city, and if he can't find even ONE who ACTUALLY likes him, than he should go buy a hooker with all that 'bling' he brags about constantly. Whatever. I just played a player, that's all." She cackled. "Ant's right about one thing: They're beyond saving." She mocked his headshake. "They're far beyond saving."
"Yeah, girl," Esmerelda said warily. "Just be careful, ok? You don't want to get sucked into stupid games with guys on a vendetta. It won't work." She sighed. "Don't become counter-predatory. You're better than that."
Shehera mulled it over. "Your right. I've got better things to do than get sucked into idiotic games. What the hell was I thinking?" She continued to rub her hands raw. "And god, now everyone thinks I fucked...Len!" She grimaced. “This nuthouse is warping my mind.”
"I know you didn't," Esmerelda consoled. "And Len lies so much that most people probably don't even believe that you hung out with him after hours!"
"You think they care about what's true? These gossips will believe whatever entertains them the most." She grabbed a light, becoming flippant. "Oh well! Speaking of smoke, lets go out for some," adding in mock drama," '...for tomorrow, we may die!'"
"Or this landfill will finally get shut down by the Smithguard!" And they shared a nervous laugh.
They waited for the elevator. "It's too bad that the institutions designed to protect us dregs mirror the boiler rooms that pay them off. We're all screwed." Shehera panicked inside after blurting that out, afraid that she had just signed her own pinkslip. Sam was behind them - uncharacteristically silent - the entire time. Another spy for Dan, I suppose. As much as she hated Metal Parade, she DID need iron, after all.
Esmerelda met her friend's gaze, making light of the tension. They giggled at the absurdities, just short of tears.
©M. F. Lemoine
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