Page 46 of You + Me – Against the World

“Keith got me a scholarship so I could go to film school. I work odd jobs to pay the rent for my apartment. That’s our deal.”

“Why didn’t you get a dorm room on campus?”

“Because I don’t want to be policed twenty-four hours a day. I need my independence. I’ve almost always been alone, so I have a hard time living with other people.”

“Okay, so far, no dead bodies.”

“But there’s Felix. He’s my partner in hardship. We spent our childhood in the same foster homes, getting separated and finding each other again. We’ve made some bad choices, but he has always helped me. I owe him, and I can’t let him down.”

“And he needs money?”

“He has nothing, Alma.”

Even though Vadim is speaking quietly, I can hear the emotion in his voice.

“Why doesn’t he live with you?”

“Keith said no. He doesn’t want us to go back to the way things were, dragging each other down. That’s part of the deal.”

“So, why doesn’t he work?”

“He has a record. It’s complicated. When you’re not born into the right circumstances, your past follows you your whole damn life.”

He drowns the sense of injustice he feels in a gulp of soda.

“And so what’s this ‘business’ you’re doing?”

“I have a kind of job,” he admits. “On campus. I get paid to do assignments for other students. Rich kids, like you.”

I can’t help but burst out laughing at this uncalled-for dig.

“I do my assignments myself!”

“Okay, let’s say lazy, rich kids. Or dumbasses who need to improve their grades so they can play hockey, football… or basketball.”

“I’ve got no idea who you could be talking about.”

My feigned innocence makes him smile.

“Anyway, they give me their topic, I write an essay for them, they get an A, and I get my money. That’s all.”

“How much?”

“It depends on the subject.”

“A lot?”

“Enough for Felix to get by. And for me to be able to take you out to a restaurant.”

I don’t know whether to laugh at that… or be embarrassed.

Vadim watches me intensely, and I find I’m powerless in the face of it. His expression is filled with something I can’t decipher.

“You know I have money. Well, my parents do. I could pay for dinner.”

“No way.”

“I could help you with the other stuff then. All I’d have to do is give you my allowance. You wouldn’t need to do this anymore.”