Chapter 19: The Desperate Measure
The convenience store fluorescent lights hummed their familiar, grating tune as April restocked the drink fridge for the third time that night. Her shift at Seven-Star had started at 10 PM, and it was now 2:47 AM. She had to be at school in four hours. After school, she'd work the tutoring center from 4 to 7 PM. Then she'd head to the restaurant for the dinner shift from 8 PM to midnight.
Three jobs. One girl. Zero hours to sleep.
Her hands were shaking as she arranged the bottles. Not from exhaustion, though that was there too. From the hospital bills that kept coming. From her mother's voice on the phone that afternoon, thin and desperate. From the knowledge that $18,000 might as well be $180,000.
"You look like hell, Mendoza," Mr. Han said from behind the counter, not unkindly. He was a man of few words, but those words usually carried weight. "You need to stop working so much. You're going to make yourself sick."
