Six months slipped by.
Randal landed on the official national list of deadbeat debtors, locked under strict spending restrictions.
He could not board planes or high-speed trains, book rooms at formal hotels, apply for loans, or register any new business.
Every legitimate company turned him away right after checking his credit report, which listed forty-three separate overdue debts.
He moved into a windowless basement room tucked inside a run-down urban village for a four-hundred-dollar monthly rent.
His landlord charged an extra hundred-dollar security deposit, put off by his terrible luck and reputation.
Debt collectors showed up once every week. They either knocked on his door or kicked it straight down without warning.
A jagged scar cut across his left eye, left from when collect
