My Home Is With You [LGBT+]

Nine

BY THE TIME I finally get a call from the Dunkin manager asking to return the following day, I owe almost two months' worth of rent and am absolutely exhausted from working overtime at the fast food joint despite doctor's orders to take it easy.  Even then, all those extra hours only seem to amount to nothing as my paycheck gets smaller and smaller each time.

With a tired smile I look at Aless as we head inside.  Gabby holds my hand while Miguel sits on my hip.  He's not too heavy, but at six months old he's definitely growing and only getting bigger.  As I adjust him a bit, a hunger pang makes me lose my breath and my stomach growls loudly.

I let go of Gabby's hand and rub my stomach soothingly, cheeks heating up in embarrassment as I look around the nearly empty library to make sure nobody heard.

Slightly out of breath and feeling a bit dizzy from lack of proper nutrition, I take a seat beside Aless in the small computer section.  I place Miguel down and watch as Gabby leads him to the kid's section where they look at the picture books.  I keep an eye on them even as I pretend that everything is okay.

Sluggishly, I pull out my library card and fire up the computer in front of me, making good use of the hour I have.  I look through FB, noticing a message from my mom and a small smile twitches on my lip.  Sometimes, these little messages I manage to read once a week keep me going.

I tell her that they're doing everything that they can to speed up the process for her residency, but the truth is, that that two year mark has now turned into three.

I plan to send her whatever is left over from my next paycheck, heaven knows what my family has to live through over there.

Just as I wait for her reply, I scroll through the feed only to pause at an advertisement.

Ads are everywhere, true, but they're usually about trivial things like clothes or useless products.  This one is... different.

It's a man with a black mask sensually kissing down someone's smooth pale throat.  It's advertising a website and the mini description that follows reads:

SugarMeetBaby.co

An exquisite site where sugar mommies and daddies find the right sugar baby to spoil and love.

Each profile is manually certified so there is no risk.  It's free and easy to navigate. Join now!

I've never seen such an ad before, didn't even know such sites advertised at all.  I guess I was wrong.

I hear a cry and quickly turn to the kids only to find them entertained and in their own little world.  A woman with a bawling child on her hip gives me an apologetic look as she hurries outside to calm her daughter.  Feeling relieved that nothing happened to my own brood, I turn back to the monitor only to find that I accidentally clicked the ridiculous sugar whatever ad.

I move the cursor over the red "X" at the top, but curiosity gets the best of me.  Making sure nobody is actually looking at my screen, I scroll down and read the supposed testimonials.

I want to scoff at some of them.

And yet I find myself clicking the Become A Member button.  It's stupid and I feel like an idiot, but I fill everything out and press submit.  I scroll through FB and upload a photo to my profile after altering it just a bit, so I'm not completely exposed.  I don't expect anything from it, to be honest.

I can only think of wrinkly old men looking for someone 30 years their junior.  Or maybe a lewd man looking for a quick fuck.

And still, I sit there looking at my profile, wondering if maybe there is a decent guy who wouldn't mind helping me financially without expecting sex in return.  Maybe just some company. I could dig that.

My heart races when I see a notification pop up.  I hesitate to open it. But again my impulses get the best of me.

I slowly click on the tab and regret it instantly.

Dick pics.

Not a surprise, but there goes any hope I had left when I receive three more similar pictures within the next 20 minutes.

This was a mistake and I can't tell if my ego is hurt or not.

I head to settings and try to delete my account, only to find that I need to wait a 15 day period because apparently everything is done and reviewed "manually".

Slightly disappointed and disgusted, I logout and exit out of everything.

Bad idea, that was a bad, terrible, horrible idea.

"Oso?"

My heart stops at the sound of my name, but soon realize that Alessandra didn't see anything she shouldn't have.

"Done?"  I ask.

"Yeah," she sighs.

We print out whatever she needs for her science project and head home without another word.

I try to forget what I just signed myself up for.