It was nine o'clock on a Thursday evening. I was bored and drunk and had sat in the chair outside my apartment hoping to people watch. The apartment complex was eerily quiet since the landlord raised the rent two months ago. I was disappointed and only a now nearly empty pack of cigarettes was around to keep me company.
Not that anyone would want to keep me company given my current state. My hair was now dirty blond as I could not afford to visit my stylist. I had lost weight, about ten pounds in the last two weeks, but still wasn't happy with my body. I was braless in a grey tank top and I could feel the sagging of my 36C breasts - an event I had hoped would wait until I was well into my thirties. My nipples were showing through the grey fabric but at this point I didn't care. I was poor and tired and craving just about any drink or pill I could find.
Javier walked around the corner carrying a plate covered with tin foil. He had made a habit of bringing me meals once or twice a week after his wife Sonia left for work. It wasn't healthy food but it was free and at this point that was more important than nutrition. Perhaps it wasn't exactly free on second thought. Even though Javier never asked for anything in return, he knew that each time he brought me food he got a blow job. It was a Pavlov's dog but with fellatio.
Javier sat down and placed the plate on the ground at the foot of the chair before pulling out his own pack of cigarettes and lighting one.
"It has been way too quiet around here since people started moving out," Javier said to me after exhaling rings of smoke.
"How many people moved out?" I asked.
"Four families so far and two more next month. Rent has just gotten too high for families living here."
