Wish Me Luck

Era was checking for familiar faces in the buzzing crowd, hoping to find someone she knew that could give her a ride to the main highway. 

She checked her phone and saw a missed call from her mother and she released a sigh. She felt a feeling of dread when she saw a message. Thinking of the worst, she held her breath and opened the text message and the corner of her eyes watered. 

The message was straight forward, Jake's computer was taken by the loan shark because she was not able to give them the money they were asking for. 

She bit the inside of her cheeks to stop the tears from falling. She cursed inside her head, thinking how Jake could be feeling right now that his computer that he was using for studying was taken at this time of the night. 

The loan shark was being ruthless in their bullying. They knocked on their door in an hour where they could not hide from them, and tried to even fight them off. 

She wondered if they let Jake have a copy of his files that were in the computer. Or if he had some external hard drive to even save his files. 

Era felt her heart being crushed inside her chest, thinking of her family. She felt an overwhelming helplessness but she knew that it was not the time to self pity. She scanned the crowd once again and felt frustrated that she did not know any of the faces she was seeing. 

She knew that if she approached any of them and asked them for a ride, they would agree but she didn't want to do that because she did not want the consequences. 

She was still in deep thoughts, weighing if the consequences were worth it when she felt someone tugging her elbow. 

She slowly turned around with furrowed eyebrows and the creased in between her brows tightened when she saw it was Berry. 

"What is it?" She asked with sheer curiosity mixed with disbelief. She did not expect her to be here still. Not when she was with Seven, talking of some after party. 

"Well, I have some proposition for you," she said with an awkward smile on her face. 

Era knit her brows with how Berry was speaking in a low tone of voice, glancing over her shoulders as if she was checking if someone was taking interest in her, approaching her. 

"What is it?" She asked, keeping a neutral expression on her face. She didn't want to show Berry that she wasn't interested in whatever proposition she was going to offer because right now, all she wanted was to go home to her family. To make sure that they were okay after what happened.

"I didn't want to offer this to you because I know you don't do this kind of stuff but you told me in passing that you need some cash," she smiled tentatively, watching her reaction. 

Era kept her face blank but at the back of her mind, she heard the possibility of earning some cash and she got interested. Anything that would let her have her hands on some cold cash, she would take it. 

Berry looked disappointed with the disinterest in her face but it did not stop her from grabbing her elbow and tiptoeing to whisper in her ear. 

"Someone needs an escort tonight, purely escorting. No hanky panky and everything will be paid on top of your rate."

"I don't have a rate."

Berry stepped back and flinched by the sharpness of her tone. She knew what Berry was offering her and she felt disgusted by it even though she needed money, she wasn't desperate enough to start whoring herself. 

"Listen, I think you're misunderstanding me," she said, putting up her hands in the air, giggling awkwardly. "You see, it's not what you think it is. It is purely escorting someone to a party. It doesn't involve anything, I swear! A lot of girls do it. It's how they got access to those super exclusive parties." 

Era was about to decline Berry's offer when her phone rang and she saw her mother's number flashed on her phone screen. 

"Let me answer this one first," she said with a small smile, stepping back for some privacy. 

"Hello, Ma," she whispered on her phone. "Are you and Jake okay?" 

"Emerald, another one is here and we really don't have anything more to give," she said, wailing on the other line. 

Era gritted her teeth. She cursed the universe with how cruel it could be for them when they were just trying to get by. 

"Ma, can you give the phone to Jake?"

The phone went quiet then she heard some scuffle before she heard the quiet voice of her younger brother. 

"Jake? Tell them you need to go out to get some money. Meet me at the corner of 15th Street. At the burger cafe in twenty minutes." 

"Uhm, okay." 

Jake dropped the call and did not wait to hear anything from her. 

"Era."

"Berry…can you give me at least thirty minutes before going to the party?"

"Uhm…you need to change and if you'll spend thirty minutes, I don't think we have enough time." 

"But I need to meet my brother first," she said in a tone of voice with no chance for negotiation. 

Berry exhaled a deep breath. "Well, I can give you the address of the hotel. You have to be there before midnight. Can you do that?" 

Era nodded. "Yes. And I need to know how much money we are talking about for this job?" 

"Double the amount you get tonight and maybe more if he likes your company."

Era chewed on her lower lip and nodded. "One more thing, can you drive me off at 15th Street?" 

Berry creased her brows but nodded. 

***

"Did you win?" Jake asked, accepting the pouch with twenty grand in it. He did not check the pouch and just put it inside his jacket. 

Era nodded with a proud smile. "I'm going to another one so I can't go home yet. Wish me luck?" She said the lie as she apologized for it at the back of her mind. 

She had cleaned up her makeup in the cafe's bathroom because she came ahead of Jake. She had ordered the two of the bestsellers of the cafe. One for Jake and their mother. Jake can have a taste now of the burger that his friends were talking about.

"Be safe. I'll just take it home because Ma…"

Era nodded with understanding. She was thinking of the same thing. Their mother was alone with the company of those disgusting men from the loan shark. Hence, she had ordered a takeaway for she knew that Jake had no time to enjoy the burger in the restaurant. 

"Go. And don't worry about your computer. Let's get it back tomorrow, okay?" 

Jake chuckled. "You're feeling too confident to win, huh?" He said in a light tone, teasing her to appease the worry in her face. 

Era laughed a little under her breath. "I'm going to bring home some cash tonight, no matter what."