Sacrifices

Naomi was surprised when Brandon sat up and greeted her. “Naomi!” he exclaimed.

“Brandon,” her voice was hoarse from crying. “I… I thought you’d be asleep. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, fine,” he said, smiling. “I was just surprised you were gone so long. What happened? Did you get anything?” Brendan was used to this nighttime ritual. If they wanted to survive, they had to steal. Naomi hated for Brandon to have to shoplift, but she also took a secret pleasure in it. Brandon was used to Naomi leaving around sunset, only to return later with food, or clothes, or occasionally a few dollars she’d managed to sneak out of a tip jar. Usually Naomi returned before or very soon after dark.

“Sorry I was gone so long, Brandon,” she said. “But… uh, yeah. Look at this,” She produced the bills from within her bra, and handed them to him.

“Oh my God…” Brandon breathed. His eyes widened. He had never seen, let alone held that much money before. “You got fifty fucking dollars!”

“Don’t say that word,” Naomi muttered, flopping down onto the floor. After a moment, she laughed. “Fifty dollars. It’s a lot, isn’t it? What should we do with it all, Cowboy?”

“We should buy a house,” Brandon said.

Naomi laughed. “Well, I don’t know if we can do that, but we’ll think of something. “Now give it here. I’ll put it in safekeeping.”

Brandon handed over the money, and Naomi tucked it back inside her bra. “Ready for bed?” Brandon yawned.

“Yep,” Naomi said. “Let’s go to sleep,” Naomi kissed the top of Brandon’s head, and Brandon pressed his thumb onto her chin. “Goodnight, Cowboy,” Naomi said, as she did every night.

“Goodnight, Cowgirl,” Brandon answered, as always. They curled up next to each other, and fell asleep.