When I went down to the shop on July 5, I found the eviction notice on the floor. My ears were still ringing from the sounds of the fireworks. I used to like watching them when I was younger, but now I wondered if all of that money turned into smoke and ash wasn’t just a waste. It was close to ten in the morning and Des was still asleep, her shades drawn against the light. She groaned when I raised them. Her pillowcase was a mess of blue glitter and red lipstick. I thought of the way my hands shook on the first date with Tom, when I lifted the wineglass to my mouth. I thought of the way the man after him had pinched me on the ass, hard enough to leave marks. We had ten days to leave, or else Bill was going to call the cops.

“What the hell, Des? Shouldn’t we be caught up on rent now? That’s why I was going on those dates!” I waved the notice in front of her face. She rubbed her eyes, and one of her false eyelashes clung to the back of her hand like an insect. “Bill is evicting us, Des. We have ten days to pay the rent we owe, plus this month, or else we get kicked out. Where will we live? Where can we go?”

“Darling, it’s not as bad as that.”

“Don’t darling me! I’m not one of those dupes from the club or a dumb tourist. I’m not just another person you can con.”

“Let me see this.” Des took the notice from my hands. The money I’d saved was enough to cover some of the back rent, but I didn’t know where we’d get the rest. By my math, we needed almost two thousand bucks.

“How much do you have saved? Des? Tell me.”

“Three hundred, maybe. Could be a little less than that.” I figured she had $100, tops.

“Where did it go, Des? I thought that was the whole reason I was going out with those guys. So we could pay our bills.”

Her voice rose to match mine. “So I bought some new clothes. So I went out a few nights. Poor little Clara had to eat fancy dinners with a few rich men, giggle a little bit. Boo-hoo. Such suffering. Well, you know what? I’m sick of living here, where everything feels like half of what I used to have, then half of that, then half of that. So sue me if I want to find a little joy in the tiny little bit of my life that I have left.”