4 PM. The sunlight was still as harsh as at noon.
The hard wooden floor made my back feel extremely uncomfortable when I woke up. But there was no other choice because the only mattress in the house already had another owner.
The message notification sound from the phone made me wake up from my afternoon sleep. It seemed Kolnis had sent today's lecture file at the university to me.
If compared to normal, at this time I would be squeezing on a hot bus to go home to prepare dinner. But today is not. I skipped an entire day to rest and recover because yesterday there were quite a lot of things that happened.
Yeah, just some trivial problems. Working night shift at a nightclub, trying to help a suicidal girl but got chased and stabbed almost to death, thought I picked my life back then had to fight with some mutant assassin or something and now brought the girl home and got threatened to be killed. That is a summary of a normal day.
"How the hell am I still alive…" I let out a sigh, raising my hand to rub my face to confirm that I was still conscious.
Kolnis seemed a bit annoyed when I skipped class this morning. He emphasized that the lecturer almost forgot my name because from the day I enrolled until now, I have not attended school for even a full week. But still, I have to thank diligent guys like him so I can comfortably rest and borrow his materials to study.
After sending a courtesy thank-you message to Kolnis, I sat up, stretched, then walked toward my beloved laptop. It took a few seconds for the WiFi system to start and access the Polokis website, reading some news to make sure I was not "outdated" after the nap.
Tch. Seems like it is all meaningless news.
JJ was still sleeping soundly on the mattress. Because her condition was not good, I had to give it to her and accept the sacrifice of sleeping on the floor. Although it was a bit sore, it brought a cooler feeling.
Standing up, I walked to the kitchen and put an instant pasta box into the microwave, turning the timer knob to two and a half minutes. Done with that, I looked for my phone and started going through the contact list.
For JJ to live in this society with me, I had to create a new identity for her. Fortunately, I always had a connection specializing in this kind of work.
Although the price is quite expensive.
Simon. He is a true trader with the mindset "money always comes first." Thanks to a friend's introduction, I have cooperated with him in a few deals before and also went to the police station several times to bail him out so he would not have to "eat government rice." So the relationship between us can be considered partners.
He is a part-time worker for an underground organization in the city of Srimnet. Simon specializes in forging documents related to import tax declarations as well as selling papers for illegal immigrants. For him, creating identity papers is as easy as eating cake. But the price to pay is not cheap at all.
"Let's see… 08## #### ####."
I murmured the phone number and slowly walked toward the cabinet storing miscellaneous things, looking for the Nokia hidden inside. After all, this kind of work is not legal, so being careful is better. In situations like this, using another phone number is safer.
Beep beep…
"The owner of this phone number is currently busy…" a hoarse voice sounded from the other end.
"Cut the nonsense, Paul, Jacob here."
There is a default rule in deals like this, both of us have to use fake names to talk to each other. Not only that, we also have to create codes to negotiate in a way that only the other side can understand.
"Oh! My dear friend! What wind has brought you to this call. What is it, bored?"
"Not exactly, I am just a bit hungry. Are you at the restaurant?"
At that moment, I heard some knocking sounds in the phone, followed by the sound of a door closing and locking. It seems he already understood what I needed.
"Just arrived, the place is not crowded today. I can buy food for you as well. What do you want to eat?"
"Some tacos, today I want something a bit spicy."
That is code for identity documents and Simon understood immediately.
"Tacos? Buying for family or just a small portion for you?"
"Just a small portion, today I eat alone."
"Then I take a different price today?"
"Any discount? I just ran out of money."
My financial situation right now is not good at all, the image of struggling days eating instant noodles to survive is gradually returning in my memory. It made me shiver when recalling it.
And Simon's cold answer ended all my hope.
"Sorry, today our shop does not discount this item. 300 dollars."
Ugh. That is two days of work gone. I had to lower my voice and beg. Better to be a bit humiliated but save some money. After all, now there are two mouths to feed in the house.
"Between brothers, reduce it a bit, 150 dollars. Think about the days we shared hardships together. Do you remember one night in March, freezing cold…"
"Stop the drama… Hmm. Since we are brothers I reduce a bit… 280, do not bargain anymore."
He really is a true trader, a person with no emotion in transactions like this. Maybe he also knows how urgently I need this document.
"200. I cannot pay more. Now is economic recession, money is not easy to earn like before."
"Oh, then we end the conversation here. Goodbye."
"Wait! 250, I beg you, I am really hungry."
I feel like my guts are being cut piece by piece when saying this number. It is not in my spending plan this month and most likely I will have to borrow from Kolnis after this.
"Alright, consider this price acceptable. So what comes with the tacos?"
We reached agreement on price and the next part of the deal is the fake information.
"Thin wrap, short (female, young), with mushroom sauce, black type (black hair, Asian origin)."
"Wait, how short is enough? 18 centimeters or 20 centimeters? (18 or 20 years old)"
"18." I glanced at JJ and spoke quickly. But she seems younger than that. "Everything else you decide as usual."
"Ok, understood. You will have it soon. Just transfer the money. I will send transaction code. Goodbye."
He hung up immediately.
A notification appeared on my phone screen.
[Please pay 258$ for the service…]
"…Damn, 8 dollars tax too?"
Just after a short conversation, I lost two days of work and also had to pay transaction fees. If Simon had any humanity left, I would not suffer like this. Painfully, I closed my eyes and pressed [Accept payment].
Ching.
[Your account has been deducted 258$]
Trying to swallow my tears, I slowly put the phone down and sighed. It felt like a part of my body was gone.