[u]Around 2:00pm[/u]

Jin managed to find their way back to their beat-up vehicle and sat in the front seat, blank. Their head was pounding after crying so hard. Everything felt blurry and wrong. Despite not wanting to look at anyone, they noticed several more cracks around the school as they had traveled. Well, that was going to be someone else’s job, now, wasn’t it? And the only cracks Jin would have to deal with would be the ones on the sidewalk where they might be sleeping again… 

A few cars passed by, pausing, but Jin waved them off. They were like parking lot vultures, desperate for a spot on the ever busy campus.

There had to be something they could do. Picking up the phone, they decided to dial a number they hadn’t dared to in a while.

“Barclay First Baptist, how may I direct your call?” 

“Hello, um… may I speak to Pastor Northman please?” 

“One moment.”

There was a brief silence on the line. Then someone new picked up.

“This is Pastor Northman, how may I help you?” 

“Pastor, it’s me. It’s… it’s Jin. Ifriti?”

“Ah, hello Jin. How are you?”

“Not, aah… not great. You see-” The story came tumbling out. Jin had to hold back the tears that threatened to fall again.

There was a long silence at the end of the line, once the story was all told. “You could always stay here. We’ve discussed this before.”

“Yes. We have. But I-” 

“All you have to do is renounce that ridiculous notion about not being a woman.”

Jin winced. 

The pastor continued. “I’m sure the parishioners would love you. But you would have to be normal. We don’t tolerate this newfangled nonsense about a thousand genders and whatnot. Just come as you are, as God made you to be, and you will be fine.” Despite his demeaning words, there was a genuine cheer in his voice. The invitation was real. “Now come on. You come up here, we’ll find you a nice proper dress and work this thing out to find you some more suitable work for a young woman.”

Jin was trembling, though out of anger or fear, they weren’t sure. Now they remembered why they hadn’t called this man back. This is what it had come down to before, the reason they had preferred to live in their car rather than the church. 

“I’m not a woman.” It slipped from their lips before they could stop it. And once that was out, the rest Jin had been holding back decided to follow. “I’m not pretending to be anything other than myself. It’s not ridiculous, it’s my life. I can show up, but it will only be as me.” Their voice was rising, anger spilling forth.

“What if someone made you decide between a hot meal and a roof over your head, or your belief in your precious God? How would you feel about that?!”

The pastor huffed, the noise staticky through the old flip phone. “There’s a difference between you and me, child. My beliefs are real.”

“Argh!” Jin screamed sharply into the phone, and slammed it shut, hanging up on the infuriating man. Unfortunately, that was about all the old piece of tech could take, as there was a distinct crunch and a fizzle. Dreading the consequences, Jin opened up the phone again to see the screen cracked to pieces, black and dead. 

“Shit. Shit, shit, shit!” No phone meant no way to communicate. Meant they couldn’t start digging for new work. Every application – every damn one – needed a phone number.

“Fucking dammit.” They slipped into the backseat of their car, removing a lockbox and opening it up. Inside was cash – Jin’s entire life savings, in fact. It wasn’t much. Jin gathered up as much as they dared, hid the lockbox again, and headed out.

Maybe they could afford something cheap at the school store?

[u]3:30pm[/u]

They could not.

Everything at the school store was priced for students who could afford to go there and spend that kind of money. Jin didn’t need the latest tech, they just needed something that worked. Even the cheapest model there was about a hundred bucks past their limited price range. With sheer frustration, Jin stormed outside, stomping down the sidewalk and dodging cracks. No doubt looking like a crazy person, as no one else seemed to be taking note of them. Their feet followed a large, long crack that only seemed to be growing. There wouldn’t be enough concrete at the school to fix this. 

After seemingly being led to a small gazebo, they entered and slumped against the wall, ignoring everyone around as they were sure they’d be ignored.

“What else can go wrong today…”