Recycled Lives

by Yasmin Hawken

  “Hey, how you holding up?” India asked.

  “I’m doing okay, thanks. Are you okay?” Ava replied.

  “Yeah, I’m cool. Can I come in?” India said, indicating Ava’s room. Ava stepped back from the doorway and gestured inside. India entered and settled herself onto the center of Ava’s bed.

  “So… What’s up?” Ava said.

  “Well, it’s like this. I was at the party and Candice Miller came up to me and was like ‘OMG when did you get that outfit? I need one’ and I was like ‘It’s from an exclusive boutique’, and now she totally wants some of her own, and because she wants it, so does everyone else in the class. So can I give out your message to them to get some custom stuff cos they are going crazy for it and I’m the most popular girl in school right now?” India said. Ava was pretty sure the girl had said the whole thing in one breath.

  She blinked, a little bewildered. India talked at a million miles a minute, and her brain was still trying to catch up with all the information that India had spouted at her. She hadn’t thought the outfit would have been that popular, especially considering it was something she just threw together in twenty minutes. If the kids were impressed by something so simple, she could be making money hand over fist before she knew it. That was if the kids had any money to spend.

  “Not personal messenger, no, but I’ll set up something so they can send requests. It not going to be free, though, so they better be able to pay properly,” Ava said sternly. She didn’t want India getting it into her head that Ava was her private tailor. The girl was sweet but also likely to push her luck as far as she could.

  “Of course they can pay. Candice has her own credit account that her dad gave her for her birthday, and everyone gets some allowance from their parents for stuff.” India scoffed at her.

  It was strange for Ava to imagine a world where even the children had enough money to spend it on whatever they wanted. In The Fringe, a child accepted what they were given and hoped their parents kept a roof over their heads. Anything else was a bonus.

  “As long as they pay, I don’t care where it comes from,” Ava said, giving the girl a grin. If she could make a little money off India’s school friends, she’d have enough to start up her business properly. “Now, you gonna give me back my jacket, or am I gonna have to wrestle it off you?”

  India huffed good-naturedly and shrugged the black jacket on to the bed. Suddenly, India’s gauntlet started chiming at her. She looked at the caller ID, squealed, and rushed for the door.

  “Oh my god! He’s calling me. I can't believe it. Chat later, Ava. Bye bye.” And with that, India rushed from the room.

  Finally alone, Ava settled back into packing her things. At least if she had to move, she had the beginnings of a customer base, and in truth, they were the best kind. People with a little too much money and not enough sense on what to spend it on. Even though her future at the Casket was uncertain, her life was generally looking up. Things with Jacques were going well, and soon, she would be able to make a start on being her own boss. She had come a long way from the trash heaps of The Fringe, and she knew she could only get stronger no matter what was thrown her way.

  *****

  Jacques had been blind for eight days. They had been the hardest days of his life. Although, he had learned something he’d never expected. He’d learned what it was like to truly trust another human being. Ava had barely left his side in those eight days. She’d made sure that he was safe, and that just made him feel like the luckiest man on Earth. Their nights had been spent cleaning up the Oaken Casket, or rather Ava cleaning and him feeling rather useless, and the days curled up together in bed talking and ‘watching’ TV.

  He’d originally planned to get his eyes replaced with Dr. Silver, but Ava had insisted that he didn’t get more black market ‘ware. After what he had seen, he had to agree with her. The payback scheme was intense, more than he’d usually pay for anything, but the Network health insurance covered a large portion, which was something he was glad for. At least now he’d be able to rely on these eyes. When he’d opened his new eyes for the first time, it had been her face that he’d been looking at, and it was the best first sight. At least the image of Glass and her was gone, not that he’d ever forget it.

  Hamish’s funeral had happened only a few days after the brawl. The man wouldn’t want to waste time, and so many people had turned out to the funeral that not everyone could fit in the church. He’d never seen such a large group of criminals and runaways that owed that man so much. Things wouldn’t be the same without him, and he wasn’t sure where he was going to go from here. How did he move forward without Hamish? He’d always looked after Jacques, been there with an answer when he needed it.

  It turned out that even after his death, that didn’t change. Two days after his funeral, a lawyer had turned up on Jacques’ doorstep. What he carried was a document which made the Oaken Casket solely his. A letter included explained how he didn’t trust Glass to be the proprietor of the bar and the right person needed to keep the place alive. He’d had Ava read the note aloud, and the overwhelming sense of care and love overcame him every time. It was a responsibility that he saw as an honor, but it wasn’t for him. That’s why he was at the Casket today.

  He pushed the door open and stepped into the familiar setting. The scent of blood still hung in the air, but he suspected that the bar’s cologne wouldn’t change. Not now. Ava was behind the bar refreshing the bottles of spirits. He smiled a little as he remembered how he’d lost himself within her body this evening before work.

  “You’re really going to have to wear looser jeans to work,” Jacques said as he leaned on the bar.

  “And why’s that?” she asked as she turned around. She grabbed a beer from the fridge and slid it his way.

  “Because if anyone touches that ass, I’m gonna kill them,” he said with a smirk.

  “Is that a new rule, Boss?” she said with a smirk. Even if he tried to enforce that rule on her, there was no way she would listen.

  “That’s actually what I’m here to talk to you about,” Jacques said.

  “What’s going on Jacques?” she asked. Her brows knitted in confusion.

  “I don’t want to run the bar. It’s not for me. The Network is where I belong, and it suits me so much more,” Jacques said.

  “Wait, you’re giving this place up?” Ava asked as she lowered her voice.

  “Kind of. I’m giving you full control, if you want it,” he said.

  She stopped for a second. The look of confusion on her face as she tried to understand what he was saying was damn cute. He sipped at his beer while he waited for some response from her.

  “What do you mean?” she asked.

  “I’ll still own the bar, but that’s it. You run it, and you’ll have complete control over it,” he said. “You’ll never have to work for anyone again. You’ll be your own boss.”

  “Are you serious?” she asked.

  “Yeah. You have the bad ass attitude to keep the mercs in line, but I know you’ll do the right thing to help those who need it. I’ll still be here, but I’ll just hover in the background. Oh, and drink for free,” he said with a smirk.

  “I won’t let you down,” she said. “Between this and my new business, I’m not going to have time to be bored. You think you can give up all that time with me?”

  “As long as I get to curl up with you at the end of the night, I’m happy. You have a right to your own life and to do with it as you please,” Jacques said.

  The look on her face was one he’d never seen before. If he had to guess, it was somewhere between triumph and contentment. This must have been the look on his face when he realized that she was his, the look that said my life is where it needs to be. But now that he’d helped her out, he had one more question for her.

  “What was it that you had to get from Big Boss’ house the night we left The Fringe?” he asked. “Sorry, it’s been bugging me for months.”

  A look o
f confusion briefly flickered over her face before she started to laugh. It was so true and unrefined that he knew she was happy. It was a laugh that couldn’t be masked by anything else. He watched her, and the joy on her face brought a smile to his.

  “Okay, that was a question I wasn’t expecting,” she said, wiping tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes.

  “Well, you didn’t seem forthcoming with the information before, so I thought you’d be more likely now that I’ve given you a bar,” he said.

  “It wasn’t anything huge or special. It was a dress,” she said. His eyebrows creased. She had gone back into the house to pick up a dress?

  “All of that risk for a dress?” he asked.

  “It would seem crazy to most. When I was with the Valkyries, everything you had was theirs, and everything you wore was at their discretion. I had a client once, a woman. I saw her regularly,” Ava started.

  “Chicks, too, huh? Wild,” Jacques said.

  “Some did, some didn’t, and I did. Well, after a while of…you know…she asked me to meet up outside the brothel. Usually, we weren’t meant to meet clients outside of the safety of the brothel, but I decided to take the risk. We went for a drink, laughed, walked the bazaars. I saw the dress; it was so pretty and nothing like what I already wore. She bought it for me. Told me that I deserved to feel beautiful once in a while. When Big Boss kicked me out of the compound, I didn’t have the chance to save it, so when I went back with you guys, I took my shot.”

  “So what happened to her?” Jacques asked.

  “I don’t know. She just stopped coming one day. I heard on the gossip train that she had died,” Ava said with a shrug. “An unfortunate side effect of living in The Fringe.”

  “I’m sorry, love,” Jacques said.

  “Don’t be. It was a long time ago. I guess I just needed that one part of my past back,” she said with a smile. “Anyway, I thought you had a meeting at work?”

  “Yeah, I’m on my way there now,” he said with a smile.

  He finished the rest of his beer before getting to his feet. He leaned in and gave Ava a kiss. There was a wolf whistle from one of the mercs, which Jacques responded to with a playful middle finger. As he left the bar, there was a huge smile on his face.

  After what was probably the most traumatic two weeks of his life, things were finally starting to look up. Now he was on his way to see Sinclair. The Oaken Casket could become a good resource for the Network if they could make a deal. A lot of whispers passed through that place, and not just that, but plenty of mercs who would kill for a position that came with health insurance. For the first time in many years, he felt like he could breathe. He had a job, a flat, and a beautiful woman to come home to at the end of the day. For the first time in his life, he felt truly happy.