Chapter 2: Working Woman

Much like Keith Scott, Maria Malone always slept during the day, but never found her head super-glued to last week’s paperwork the way her co-worker seemed to on a regular basis. At daybreak every day she made sure to return to her small apartment in the Dusk District and get at least eight hours of shuteye while the sun was up. It wasn’t always convenient for her to leave the office for sleep in the middle of a case, but if Maria didn’t leave the office before sunrise, she would never leave it at all, and then she’d end up married to the job the way Keith seemed to be. That man had no life outside the office, at least from what she had learned of him over the last two years.

But Maria really had no interest in getting involved in her partner’s personal life, and had never had an interest for that matter. If he wanted to pay rent for an overpriced apartment in the Dawn District and spend all his time in their crappy office, it was his business. As long as he kept bringing in cases, she’d still be gainfully employed and able to pay her bills.

Dusk broke at about eight o’clock, and Maria’s alarm was blaring by eight fifteen. As the last rays of sun vanished from the sky, she threw out a hand and slapped the button on her clock, silencing the obnoxious chirping noise that had forced her out of her slumber. She scratched her head with her long, thin fingers and brushed her dark wavy hair out of her eyes, squinting at her open window and the rapidly darkening sky on the other side of it. She smiled and sat up, crawling out of her spacious double bed and towards the door that led to the bathroom. She didn’t bother with turning on any lights; she didn’t need them.

Maria groaned and stretched while she waited for the water to heat up. She really needed a shower; her white shirt was stuck to her body, still slick with sweat and dust, and her long hair was tangled and scraggly, hanging down her back in unintentional dreadlocks. The rest of yesterday’s clothes were in a pile at the foot of her bed, and they were also covered in sweat and dust, in dire need of laundry day to come around.

Maria felt herself wake up a little more as the warm water sprayed down onto her head and shoulders. Yesterday had been long and drawn out; three of her cases had finally been wrapped up, Keith had given her another lecture about completing her paperwork, and her mother had called reminding her about her five-year high school reunion. Maria couldn’t believe they were doing that now; five year reunions? What the hell is the point of that? She wasn’t supposed to see all her classmates until she was twenty-eight, married, and making a six-figure salary. Right now, the last thing she wanted to do was go back to Chicago, smile through clenched teeth at the stay-at-home mommies and up-and-coming executives who would smirk and remind each other of how they knew that Maria Malone wouldn’t do anything with her life but beat people up and rant about Creature-Human inequality.

The sad part was that wasn’t an inaccurate description of her life right now.

Maria washed and dried her hair, gingerly rinsed and disinfected a gash on the left side of her stomach, and dug through her closet for something clean and unwrinkled to wear at the office. Her search yielded little, but after attacking a blouse with an iron and scrubbing at a stained pair of slacks, she was dressed and moderately ready for another working day.

Maria found her boots next to the sofa in her miniscule living room where her roommate, Rufus, was curled up watching an Oprah re-run.

“I can’t believe you actually watch that crap Rufus.” Maria muttered to the recumbent cat on the couch.

“I’ll watch what I please.” He replied, stretching out and running his claws over the nearest pillow. “I’m paying for electric right now.”

“Sure, only because the Dawn has a market for talking animals.” Maria scoffed, sitting down and pulling on her cracked leather boots. “You film a commercial, make a few hundred thousand dollars, and then sleep the rest of the day.”

Rufus shrugged, or at least as much as a cat can shrug. “Hey, that witch turning me into her familiar was the best thing to ever happen to me.” His tone was smug. “Well, that and the Freiburg Act.”

Maria shook her head and went over to the kitchen. “You may be making more money than I am Rufus, but you still need me around to work the can-opener.”

Rufus leapt down from the sofa, his black coat making him invisible in the shadow cast by the light of the TV, which was the only light on in the entire apartment. “And that’s why you’re the most delightful, caring cousin ever to grace the face of the planet Maria.” He rubbed against her legs and purred as she cranked open a tin of tuna.

“And don’t you ever forget it.” She tipped the tuna out of the can and into a dish, where Rufus purred gratefully and began to stuff his face with fish.

Maria rolled her eyes at her feline compatriot and grabbed her coat from the pile of clothes hanging over her desk chair. “I’ll be back by dawn Rufus.” She called back over her shoulder, grabbing her backpack. “If you feel like barfing, try to do it on the tile; it’s easier to clean up that way.”

“I make no promises.” The cat replied, his mouth full of tuna.

Maria opened the bay window and grabbed a large, angry-looking axe that was leaning up against the wall. She strapped it across her back, and then hoisted her backpack up around her shoulders.

She looked out at the nightscape from her twentieth-story window, at the lights of the city shining below her. The air smelled of rain and car exhaust, and in the distance Maria could hear the car horns and sirens of the Dusk blaring and coming to life. She smiled a pointed, toothy smile, her prominent canine teeth hanging slightly over her bottom lip. It was the dusking of a new day, and she was ready for anything.

She jumped up onto the windowsill and leaned outwards, latching the window behind her. And with that, she let go of the ledge and dropped down into the night and the city.

All material is copyright © Lora Hibbard 2008.

*

< previous chapter  next chapter >

Comments

Name

Email

Comments