Chapter: Part 1

Part 1

Tired and exhausted, the woman got out of her last customer's car.
In her bra there was 300 of your hard cash, valuable money.
It was 6 a.m. and she should be up again in an hour.
With exhausted and dragging steps she went to her house, an old, rotten thing in one of the worst parts of the city.
She went up the stairs to the third floor and finally unlocked her apartment door.
Darkness immediately greeted them, too, and the apartment was quiet.
Her shoes stopped at the door and she quietly crept into the bathroom.
She felt bad, dirty and dirty.
She had sold her body. For money.
Was a whore, a whore.
An ordinary whore.
She had never believed that she would end up like this.
But it must have been her fate.

After she had stripped off her clothes, she stood in the shower.
A warm, gentle jet of water touched her and at least washed away some of the dirt that was clinging to her.But everything stuck to her soul.
The dirt, the shame. The blame.

But ... could you take it badly from a loving mother if she sold to feed her child?
What if she did everything for it?

It was the last resort. Nowhere else had she got a job.
In this part of the country the job market was already bad, a mother wanted even less.
The few jobs that existed were most likely given to strong, young men who could work long hours.

Since she quit her old employer, she was left with nothing and on the street.
She didn't have enough money to move around an area where work was looking better.
Even with her old job, she only earned what was absolutely necessary. It was never enough for more than an average apartment, the monthly costs, food and basic clothing.
Only the bare essentials had been bought. No more.But she used to get by this way, but Toshio wasn't planned. It just came, but she didn't regret getting it.
She could not have known that her boss was firing her. Just because of the kid.
Somehow she could have afforded a childminder or a supervisor for the little one, if necessary she would have done without food herself as long as her son was doing well.
But her boss hadn't wanted it.
'You cannot work and also care for an illegitimate child! You will be sick more often and go on vacation than the rest of my employees together! ', he had thrown that at her head, the resignation immediately afterwards.

With tired and longing eyes the young woman looked outside, through the window.
The sun shone brightly against her, but she would soon be covered by rain clouds.
The sky would then be gray and cloudy. Just like her life.

She sighed.
She had to get some sleep at least.She didn't want Toshio to wake up. He needed his sleep, needed security and the appearance that everything was in order. He was still so small.

With quiet steps she went to her room, carefully opened the door.

It was as quiet as a mouse, only the steady breathing of her son could be heard.
He was sleeping peacefully in his cot, which was right next to her bed.
The room wasn't big.
More like a chamber.
But it was enough for both of them, it was really enough. First, until Toshio grew up.
With a loving smile, she leaned over her son, stroked his cheek very gently and carefully.
The dark, short hair fell on his face.

She wished her life was as peaceful as Toshio slept there. Without worries, free in a dreamland.
She leaned a little lower and breathed a kiss on the little one's forehead.
He grumbled something very softly, but then was quiet again.

Tenten's eyes literally glowed with warmth and love.Her son was everything to her.
Your life.
Once more she stroked his head very lightly before she turned away from him and went to bed.
She didn't change clothes, she would have to do that again in less than an hour anyway.
It wasn't worth getting changed now.

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She dipped her hands into the sink again.
The foam stuck to her arms and to the dishes that were lying in the water, just waiting to be finally clean again.
The young woman's hair was tied back and she hurried to wash the dishes.
Toshio soon had to be taken to kindergarten, before that he had to be finished.

Another plate found its place on the towel next to the basin.

Toshio sat at the table behind her and ate his morning cereal.
Tenten was always amazed at how independent the 4-year-old already was.
It took a long time to teach other children how to eat with cutlery, but Toshio had been able to do it on his own from the start.It was a great help to the young mother.
So she didn't always have to sit next to the little one while he ate and did other things while he was doing it.
Today she would go back to the employment office right after he went to kindergarten.
She hated going there almost every day, because it was useless.
Nobody wanted a mother with such a small child. Not around here.

She sighed as she put the last knife on the towel by the other dishes and rinsed her hands, draining the water.
She dried her hands before turning to her son.

"Finished with food?" She asked with a lovely smile.

Toshio looked up at his mother and beamed at her.

"Yes Mama!"

Tenten laughed lightly, and unexpectedly took her son in his arms.

"Fine, Toshio-chan ..."

The young mother hugged her confused son.
She had to control herself very hard to keep from crying.
How glad she was that her son was at least okay.She hugged him so tightly as if she was afraid that if she let go of him she would lose him.

A low sob could be heard from the brown-haired woman.

"Mom, is what? Mom, are you sad? Did I make you sad?"

The little boy was slightly panicked and wondered what he could have done wrong, why his mother was sad.

"It's nothing of my little ones. It's nothing. You certainly haven't done anything wrong."

She had pulled away from him again and was stroking his cheek.

"Come on, get dressed, then it's time to go to kindergarten."

She nudged her son lightly.

"Okay!" He shouted before running happily into the hallway to put on his shoes and jacket, as he was told.

Tenten had knelt down to hug him and is now standing upright again, wiping the tears that have come from his face.

She turned back to the kitchen counter and took the lunch box off the shelf.
The bun and the apple in it rattled a bit as she put the can in Toshio's bag.In the hallway she gave her son the bag and got dressed too.
Together they made their way to kindergarten.

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The man drew on his cigarette.
His gaze wandered to the large, imposing and glass building next to him.

He frowned. How could such a tall building stand steadfast on the ground?
With all the baggage in it?
It was a mystery to the man, but it wasn't his concern.
His concerns were more about what was happening in that building.
He sincerely hoped that the merger of the two companies would work out.

For a long time he had weighed up the advantages and disadvantages of such a merger, but he had come up with more advantages.
If it were a mistake, he would be to blame for many job losses and the group's deficit.
He was the chairman. The fate of many people was in his hand.

With a wave of his hand he took the butt out of his mouth, threw it on the floor and stubbed it out with his bare shoe.If his cousin saw him.
She would probably start with her theory, which had existed for years, as to why he still smoked.

[i]"Most people smoke to relieve stress, forget problems, or just relax. But some also smoke because they want to numb a pain.
You don't have a lot of stress at work, you've been doing your job flawlessly for five years. There have never been any problems. And don't tell me the story now, it's due to the imminent merger. Papperlapapp, it's covered. It's because of then. Even if it's been over ten years now, you can't get over it. About the events of the years. Even if you try to deny it, I'm right. Because of that, you never got to be right with a woman again. Give it to Neji, you can't forget her. "

He hated it when she said that.
She was a psychologist, knew exactly what she was saying.
But she was wrong. He had finished with the one from back then.It was a chapter in his life, in the past.
Not more.

With a slight grumble, he made his way back into the building.
After all, the session had to go on.

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Toshio was lying on the carpeted floor in the small living room, filling a picture with crayons.
He hummed softly to himself and had a blissful smile on his face.
His eyes shone at his favorite pastime and his leg bobbed slightly back and forth.

Tenten was standing in the kitchen doing the dishes again.
Your thoughts revolved around today ...
A day like any other.
Gray and bleak.

Again the way to the employment office had been as good as in vain.
It hadn't worked.
Even the shops she had rummaged through all denied her request for work.
There was too much demand, unemployment too high.
Almost 4 million people were waiting for work here in Japan.
2 million here in Tokyo alone.Why should she find a job then?

She sighed as another cup found its way out of the sink.
Her hands ached from washing up and working.
It was not easy to walk around all day, through the whole part of town, since she did not own a car.
A car was an absolute luxury item, although a television was already a luxury for her.

She bit her lip as she thought of the letter on the table.
A warning.
She was behind with the rent of the apartment and the electricity bill.
400 yours each.
But she had no money. Not so much money. She had already transferred last night's earnings, but that wasn't enough.
How should she pay the rent for