“Wait, listen. There’s nothing for me here. I haven’t eaten in two days, maybe three.” Jioni’s eyes darted through the room. She stumbled backwards. “And I don’t have a payment for tomorrow. A-and I don’t want a handout, I want to figure it out myself!”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think deflecting is gonna fix that. You’ll only suffer out there. At least it’s safe here, and I’m here for you.”
Jioni shook her head. “Suffer there? I’m suffering here. Can I at least choose how to suffer?”
“I can help you.”
“No, you can’t. And if you could, for how long? You can’t!”
