MARTians by Woolston Blythe

Author:Woolston, Blythe [Woolston, Blythe]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780763680503
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2015-10-21T07:00:00+00:00

. . . and . . .

PAYDAY! Congratulations, your wages have been autodeposited in your account. Have a great day. Have an AllMART day.

I tap the link to my account, press my thumb to the screen, and enter my PIN: 1226. A to Z, Anna to Zoë.

I think I must have checked too soon. I don’t have any money.

No. That isn’t correct. I have less than no money. I am overdrawn. Even the little bit of lunch money I had left in my account when school ended is gone. That money didn’t even cover the cost of my physical. Blood tests are expensive. I trained, and I worked, and I have nothing to show for it. No. I have the debt I owe on my AllMART uniform. It cost a shocking lot.

When were still doing classroom training, we got some helpful budgeting advice from Pearl the Squirrel. She showed us how we could $trrreeeetch! our paychecks by shopping AllMART deals. Pearl bought nuts and berries, but only after comparison-shopping and checking to see if she had digital coupons. There was a real happy ending at the checkout stand. But Pearl the Squirrel is an animated cartoon animal. She doesn’t wear clothes. That may explain why the cost of the shirt on my back wasn’t included in the budget.

Meanwhile, I owe AllMART money. Then I think about compound interest.

I am not alone. Suddenly, short emphatic words punctuate the air above the shelving units and slither along the aisles. That passes, but I can hear a whispered weeping at the other side of the canned soups.

“I shoulda warned you about payday,” says Timmer. “But even when you know how it is, it’s a crap sandwich.”

“How am I supposed to live on nothing?”

“Same as you have been,” says Timmer. “Eventually, you will get money. I get money now, which is why we have delicious cereal.” He shakes the box. “Just be glad you aren’t living in the dormatorium. The kids in there will never stop being in debt to AllMART.”

I think about Belly. When she complained about the dorms, she complained about everything — except the rent. Maybe she didn’t know. Maybe she thought she was living there free, like a squirrel in a tree. How much does an emergency ambulance cost? What about stitches? When Belly gets back from the SpeedyMed clinic, she is going to find that the dial on the suck-o-meter goes way beyond what she thought was infinity.

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