Jean Catherwood

Jean Catherwood strutted off of the bus, looking up at the brilliant lights of New York. Surprisingly she was not excited, but overwhelmed. As she watched the bus pull away from her she thought she became discouraged . “I'm here.” she thought, “But what now?” This was nothing like she imagined. The city was gritty, dirty, and dark. The streets were filled with trash and rotting food. Drunk men stumbled and hookers flirted. She suddenly was aware of how little she was, and how little she had. She clutched her 50 dollars in her hand tighter and walked down the narrow sidewalk, keeping her head down and eyes on the pavement. She walked for at least a mile or two before she found a apartment building. It wasn't what she expected to see either, it was shabby and falling down. She gathered up her courage and went to talk to the land lord.
She gave him a smile “Hello Mister, Do you have any rooms available?” The landlord looked up at her and smiled. She fought the urge to cringe, most of his teeth were missing and the ones that were still intact were yellow and black.
“I sure do. Its 60 dollars a month and 50 down” he said eying the bill that she had in her hand.
She laughed “60 a month! What kind of Bim do you think I am! This whole joint isn't worth such the money!” she crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at him, a trick she learned from her father. He looked like her wanted to slug her for calling him out, but she stood her ground. After an intense stare off he gave up “Alright 20 down and 40 a month.”
“Make it 15 down and 35 a month and we have a deal.” His face twisted. He grumbled something incoherent under his breath.
“Fine, you have a deal.” She smiled and handed him the money. In return he handed her a key. “Your room is 44D” She bounced up the creaky stairs to her room. The room was more disappointing than the city itself. The walls were rotting and they looked like they were about to fall down. The bathroom was nothing more than a bathtub with a faucet that leaked black smelly liquid. Once in a while if you listened, you could hear an occasional mouse scurry in between the walls. At the corner of the room there was a small metal bed with a thin mattress. She smiled a halfhearted smile.
“Well,” She thought
“At least there is a bed.”
She ran enthusiastically and flopped down on the bed. She soon regretted it. The mattress stunk like it had been stuffed with fresh roadkill. The second she flopped down on the bed. It made a crunching noise and Cockroaches and other types of beetles that she had never seen before scurried out frantically. She yelled and jumped off the bed. She swatted at them as the crawled up her arms and her legs. After making sure that there were no more cockroaches crawling on her and then sat down on the floor. She felt her face get hot and her eyes get blurry. She gave up everything to come here. She looked out at the street from a window. She imagined that she would see stars in shiny clothing walking the streets. Instead all she saw were drunks and hookers.
She wiped tears from her eyes and prayed a silent prayer.
“God, please don't let this all be in vain.”