Page 26 of Even Robots Die
I first try to call my dad, but when I end up on my own number after the first attempt, I call my sisters one by one.
They’re in school at this time of the day, so I’m not surprised that the only one who picks up is Élodie.
“Flo? Is that you? Are you okay?” I hear her ask through the holo.
“Hey Elo. Yes, I’m fine,” I answer her and weirdly it’s the truth.
I’ve found warriors at every possible exit, but I’m not restrained, I’m fed, and I’m not stuck in a cage.
Well, I’m not stuck in a literal cage. I just have to think of the castle like it’s my current—huge—cage.
“You okay? Dad said he didn’t feel like a prisoner there, but maybe it was just to reassure us. I know you’re strong and you’ll find a way to make this something in your favor,” she tells me, and her voice is calm. Dad reassured her so well that she isn’t worried. It’s probably best that way.
“No, he’s right. I have a bigger bed here than at home. And a room just for myself. They feed me and I can move around,” I tell her.
I don’t tell her that the man in charge here is as infuriating as he is handsome and that I want to punch him in the face half the time. I also don’t tell her that I’m sure it wouldn’t end well for me if I did. I don’t tell her about my little freak out with my bullets or that I had to shoot four men before they released dad, either.
“It’s going to be over soon and then we’ll joke about it,” Elodie tells me before I hear someone talk to her in the background. “I need to go. Call us when you can.”
I sit on the bed and let my holo fall to the ground.
She wasn’t even worried.
The call felt surreal. It sounded almost like it was a normal day and I was just on a normal job where I would repair someone’s holo-puter.
“Milton, can you tell me how much money there is on dad’s account?”
Milton projects a table with my bank account next to dad’s. Mine shows what’s left of my last job for Cassiopé when I built that portable faraday cage for Léandre. Dad’s should show what’s left of the job Itook a few weeks prior because the dragon paid us very well. I said ‘us’ because it was supposed to be dad’s job but I went instead and Elhyor transferred the money to dad's account. But there’s almost nothing left. It was supposed to last us for at least another month. I open the account and I’m dumbfounded.
Dad has only been back in Paris for a few hours and he has already withdrawn five thousand euros, leaving the account with only two hundred something on it. It’s not enough for the girls. They will barely have food for the week. Everything is expensive in Paris. I see the payment for the girls’ school cafeteria is programmed for tomorrow, and it’s way more than what’s left on the account.
What am I supposed to do? If I send some money over from my own account, I’m scared dad will see and think he can withdraw more. But if I don’t, we risk the payment being refused.
I know dad is sure of himself and that he thinks all the money he withdraws is going to be back on the account the next day and more, but it’s hardly ever true, and I don’t want to pay for his bad habits again.
I pick up my holo from the ground and call the school. Someone answers after the first ring.
“Carole Bertrand,la Sorbonnefinancial branch. Hello, how can I help?”
“Hello, this is Florentine Beaumont. I’d like to change the bank ID for the transfer for my sisters.”
“Yes. What will be the new one?” The woman on the other side of the holo answers me and it’s a testament to the fact I’ve been handling stuff for my sisters for too long that she doesn’t even question why I’m the one calling about this today.
It takes another minute for me to give her all the information and then we hang up.
It’s not much, but at least this way I won’t have one of my sisters calling in tears because their cafeteria credits didn’t work and they couldn’t eat at school.
I won’t lose more money either.
It’s easier this way.
17
Florentine
The day passes slowly. I don’t have much to do and I can’t call my sisters. I receive messages from them. Most of them are about the fact they’re happy dad is back and that me being in Blois is a huge opportunity for me.
Like it’s just a very lucrative job, not me being stuck here with no other choice.
