Burning Ember by Darby Briar

fast.”
    Dozer laughs, “I doubt that, pretty girl.” He motions over me. “That all you got to your name.” He says it more like a statement than a question. At my nod, he leans forward and looks past me to Lily. “Any of these girls got clothes that will fit her?”
    Lily taps her fingers on the bar top. “Don’t know. Maybe. The closest to her size is Bethany—”
    Dozer shakes his head. “No, find somethin’ here from one of the girls even if it’s a little big. Tomorrow you can go into town and pick out some stuff for her.”
    Standing, he reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his wallet.
    “No.” I stop him by putting my hand on his. “You’ve already spoken up for me. I’m not going to take a handout too. If there’s a washer around here, I’ll just wash what I have on and . . .” It’s not until I really think about it that I can see how one set of clothes around here might be problematic. What am I going to wear while my stuff’s in the wash? Maybe Lily could loan me something. “Maybe there’s some way I can earn some cash, or somewhere I can work within walking distance after I do the jobs you need me to do here.”
    “You’re gonna need some things for a bit to get you by.” He hands the money to Lily. “Get her what she needs.”
    Lily gives me a smile as she tucks the money into her back pocket. “My pleasure. Any excuse to shop.”
    Dozer sits back down. “If you want to get a part-time job or somethin’, I’ll check around and see if we got a spot open somewhere at one of the businesses the club owns.”
    Lily chimes in, “I could run you around to some of the shops in town to fill out some applications.”
    “Thank you.”
    “So you know how to do laundry and shit?” Dozer asks.
    I quirk a brow. “Define ‘and shit’?”
    He laughs, “You know how to use the washer and dryer, iron? That shit?”
    “Yeah.” I smile and a little bit of the tension in my body melts away. It feels good to let it go. Be real for a minute. However, I can’t let down my guard fully.
    The side of his mouth jacks up. “Good, I’ll spread the word. Make sure you charge for that shit though, yeah? You’ll make a fuckin’ killing.” He grins fully, and adds, “You can start with mine.”
    Surely, he’s kidding.
    I cock my head to the side. “Let me get this straight. You’re going to pay me to do your laundry?”
    “Hell, yeah. Then I don’t have to talk some sweetie into doin’ it for me.”
    He must misunderstand my expression because he goes on to say, “Some of the guys have old ladies, or citizen wives, who do that shit for them. Others like me usually get some girl we’re dating or a random hook up to do it.”
    “So no wife? Or old lady or whatever?”
    “N-no.” But he hesitates as if he’s not being completely truthful. “Which means I either have to keep buyin’ new clothes or I have to talk some chick into doin’ it for me. And it’s not easy findin’ clothes to fit me. I’d rather pay you to wash ’em.”
    We’re quiet for a minute afterward. He’s studying my reaction so I keep my face blank and take a drink from the water bottle Rigor left in front of me.
    “Can you dance? The club owns the strip club in town,” Lily asks.
    One abrupt laugh leaves me at the idea and her eyes widen. “Um, no, well, yes, I can dance. But no, not like that.”
    “I could teach you,” she offers.
    My skin feels itchy at the idea of taking my clothes off in a club full of horny men, which is kind of crazy considering what I just signed up for. I rub my hands on my shorts and try to stir my employment prospects into safer waters. “Maybe I could find an ad in the paper for a nanny or something during the day. I’m good with kids.”
    Lily leans forward as if to address us both. She gives Dozer a long, meaningful look and says, “You know, Bethany’s been looking for some help with Medda. She mentioned it the other day and—”
    With clipped words Dozer says,