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General

Eden stared at her friend. Kim shrugged helplessly.

"Eden, look, I didn't mean to, alright?"

"You didn't mean to use a credit card that wasn't yours?" Eden waved the wallet that Kim had been trying to dispose of in the air.

Kim ran a hand through her hair, agitated. They were standing by a dumpster in the alley behind Garden Favourites, the salad place where Eden worked. "I was desperate!"

Eden scowled at Kim. "Jonathan is your friend! How desperate do you have to be to use a friend's credit card?"

Kim closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She whispered something too quiet for Eden to hear.

"What?"

"I told my sister that I'd pay for her groceries so that she could use her money to pay off her rent! She was going to be homeless if I didn't do something! When I saw Jonathan had forgotten his wallet at my house I planned on giving it back the next time I saw him! But I just- my sister was desperate, Eden. I was desperate. I didn't think things through, yeah, and I feel really bad about it, but you know my sister! She doesn't want mom to know she's in financial trouble. And she found a job now, a new job, so she can pay me back and then I'll pay Jonathan back--please don't tell him."

"You were going to throw his wallet away."

"I was guilty! You don't understand what guilt is like! I've pretended to be sick for the past week to avoid you guys. It's a burden! It's crushing me, and I felt like you'd have seen it hanging over me!"

"When are you going to learn that some things will never be okay, Kim? There are some things true friends never do!"

Kim flushed. "Don't talk to me," she hissed, "about right and wrong."

"I'm just saying-"

"'You're just saying'."

"It's not right to-"

"Don't you dare! Don't you dare tell me what's right and what's wrong!" Kim shoved Eden. Eden hit the rough stippled siding, scraping her clothes. Kim's breath came in quick heavy snorts. "It isn't 'right' to let my sister become homeless. It isn't 'right' to let people suffer alone. The right thing to do is to help people!"

"I agree, but it can be done in a law abiding way-"

"Laws aren't always right! You really are blind aren't you? Wake up, Eden! If laws are always right then you're supporting assimilation, anti-semitism, conversion therapy, racism! If people didn't challenge laws then we wouldn't have the right to vote, just because we're women! There would still be slavery! The environment would be in even worse shape than it is now! So don't talk about right and wrong like there's some universal morality! Don't try and force your goody-goody views on me without first thinking about my circumstances! You know what the most accurate book title is? Fifty shades of grey. Because there is no black and white right and wrong, Eden. Get your head out of the clouds and wake up."

Kim stood panting, nostrils flared. Finally she snatched the wallet out of Eden's hand and stormed out of the alley.

"I'm going to find Jonathan and explain everything to him. He doesn't have to understand."

Eden stared blankly at her retreating back. Her watched ticked quietly, reminding her she had places to be, salad to make. Eden ignored it. The clouds drifted by overhead, apparently immune to the laws of gravity.

February 17, 2020 16:52

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