Aria's POV
"Aria, you're not getting paid this month."
Anita Clark, from the Community Board slapped a slip of paper in front of me as if she couldn't stand to touch it or me. Her mouth twisted into that familiar look of disgust I'd come to know too well from people who thought they were above me.
For a moment, I couldn't move. The broom slipped in my raw, cracked hands, the cold chill biting straight through my gloves.
I blinked at her. "What did you just say? That can't be right. It's only the second of the month." My voice came out thinner than I wanted. "I've still got twenty-eight days left to work. How can I already have lost a whole month's pay?"
Three thousand dollars — gone.
That was food, heat, diapers. Everything Lana and I needed. My chest tightened, a low whine catching
