And through it all, there was a part of Fantine that wanted to blame her mother. To lay it all on a dead woman’s shoulders. That was bullshit, though. She’d taught Fantine the trade, but she wasn’t the one who pushed her into the life.
As she walked down the block, Fantine thought about the very first time she cracked a safe. It was a fast food joint she took a part-time summer gig with while she was in high school. By the end of the week, Fantine managed to get enough faith in the manager to help count out all registers and set up the bank deposit bag. Within the month, she was left alone to do it. In two months, she was skimming a few dollars here and there, enough to get some extra clothes every other week. Once she was tired of smelling like French fry grease, she cleaned house.
It wasn’t difficult. Fantine wasn’t allowed into the safe, but it was a cheap piece of crap corporate provided. She cracked it with a stethoscope—just like in the movies. On top of it all, her night manager had become so comfortable with skirting responsibility he never noticed her using his office the last night to count out the registers. He also failed to check the deposit bag full of newspaper in the safe. She ran off with nearly ten grand and left behind an employee record for one Maggy Yeung—her mother knew a lot of great ID guys. A few months as a blonde and a school transfer made sure she got away Scot free. It also hooked her. That made her serious about pursuing her mother’s career. Jae stood on the sidelines, unhappy but never able to muster the nut to say no to Fantine or her mother, who had by that point become comfortable with her daughter as a partner. They’d never been closer.
At the time, the only thing Fantine regretted was forgetting the night manager’s name. Now, she felt regret for the whole thing. Manipulating her mother for her own weird needs, for breaking the law without realizing how many people she actually hurt, and most of all, breaking her father’s heart. Any other person would have said Jae was weak—a spineless twit who should have walked away from the insane women in his life—but he wasn’t. He was strong enough to stay, to at least put some effort in redeeming Fantine and her mother. It was a shame he never got to do it for the woman he loved. Now, Fantine was about to ruin the small victory Jae had in pulling her out of the fire, even if he egged her on to tell stories of past victories. She knew that was only because he believed she was done.
Like her mother always told her, “You’re always going to disappoint the ones you love—it’s how you know they love you.”
Fantine couldn’t go back to the apartment, not with how angry she was with Pete. She had no idea where she was going to stay for the next few nights. It was one thing to put on the brave face and act like she had a solution in front of Pete, but now, with the streets staring her in the face and the only human being who’d support her living in an old folk’s home, she was up the creek. Fantine shook the worry away and switched gears. She had to get to work. She’d taken the day off to speak with Aleksei, but she could convince her boss to shift it to a half day or just two hours off if she stayed later than normal. It was a good idea; get through the rest of the day and then she could focus on next steps. Maybe she’d ask around at the job. Everyone was cool, even with Fantine keeping most at arm’s length. That was a good idea, she decided. Her mood was light and she didn’t have to worry until later. This was the right mindset.
No Pete. No Aleksei. No crime. That lifted her spirits even further.
Fantine figured she could milk maybe ten, twenty minutes of that until she got herself back down in the dumps. Bright side: at least she didn’t want a drink.
6
The Twins were leaning on their Escalade as Fantine turned the corner and walked towards the front of her job’s building. She made an attempt to turn, but one of them lifted a paw and waved her over.
“Goddamnit,” she muttered under her breath before walking over. “I thought I didn’t have to see you two for the rest of my day.” How did they know she was going back to work? Were the following her? Aleksei was a smart man, he bet she would go to work rather than the apartment and it paid off. Fan wasn’t fond of assholes who bet against her.
“Change of plan. We need you to come now,” said the Twin with what looked to be lighter hair. Fantine really needed to sort the two of them out.
Fantine didn’t have time for this silliness. If Aleksei wanted to offer more details, he should have remembered to do it on his own time, not hers. “I sort of have to work, so, that’s a big no.” She turned and walked to the entrance of her building.
“Do they know about your past too? Do they know your real name?” one of them called out.
Fantine winced and her shoulders slumped. Of course this would come up. There hadn’t been much of a chance for Fantine to get a job that paid a livable wage, so she maybe, kind of, sort of, did a little lying on her application and license—also social security card. The people at Advanced Security Innovations may have also known her as Abby Kim. There were about as many Kims in the world as Parks, so if things went to hell, it would be easy to disappear while getting a job in the same neighborhood. With Peter gabbing away with his father, there was little chance this was a missed subject of conversation.
Fantine didn’t turn around. “Can you let me go in and tell them I have an emergency? I sort of have a real, adult, non-criminal life to account for.”
There was laughter behind her. “Fifteen minutes.”
“Fine, great.” She walked into the building. Fought the urge to tell Ross at security that two lunk-heads were harassing her. Inside, she passed the empty security desk—how absolutely perfect—and entered an elevator. She watched the little TV above the elevator control panel. The weather ticker said something about a storm hitting over the weekend, but she mostly ignored it. Fantine was more surprised that it was a Friday. “Damn,” she said to herself, “I need to get my shit together.”
The elevator opened to her floor—a cramped cubicle farm spread out before her. Fantine walked to her cube and logged into her computer. She set her out of office message and then wandered over to her boss, Craig’s, office.
She peeked her head in. “Craig?”
Craig was a forty-something nobody. Doughy, glassy-eyed, and weak-chinned—all the hallmarks of the type who peaked at middle management. He hastily swiped his mouse to the right and clicked. Fantine imagined he was looking at those forbidden websites the rest of the employees were blocked from accessing. Well, not her. She figured out the firewalls here in two days. It wasn’t much of a surprise that a company that sold security to others was at best amateurish at maintaining their own. It was the same way at Empire City. It was the cost of allowing the men in charge to know as little of the day to day as possible. Operations and logistics became magical—an illusion—and the further rubes believed it, the more open access became.
“Hey, good morning, Abby.” Craig smiled and fidgeted in his seat. “What can I do yah for?”
Fantine gave a wide smile and waved before awkwardly walking into the office. “Well, I logged in to work the rest of the day, but now I sort of need to leave. Had a bit of an emergency with my dad as soon as I walked in. I’m sorry; I know it’s been a trend lately.”
Craig sat up straight. “Is he alright?”
Fantine sighed. “General mental health issues. They found him wandering outside naked.” She felt guilty to paint her father into a corner like that. Age wasn’t treating his body very kindly, but his mind was doing just fine—better than hers.