“I went to this pet store to buy a proper litter box for Snowy. She had a plain tray before that. There are so many things that a cat needs beyond food.” Hands flailing, she looks between me and Merida, who is nodding her head in agreement.
“Like?” Having seen some of her possessions, I have no doubt she wasted a chunk of her money on useless items.
“Nip toys. Cat tree. Her litter box is equipped with a sensor. Would you like to see?” And there she goes, proving me right.
“Let’s hold on to that and discuss your money problems instead.” I open the forgotten food bag and pass around the boxes to both of them. “So, you have no money left?”
Her hand opening the plastic lid halts and she looks up at me. “I’ll pay your rent as soon as I get my paycheck.”
“Forget about the rent. There is quite some time until the month end. How are you going to survive?” I ask, digging the fork into my food.
First, the thought of Clementine being so careless and later the knowledge that it’s affecting me more than it should, frustrates the heck out of me.
“How are you going to go to work, with no car and no money for a taxi?”
Her eyes widen as if that thought hasn’t crossed her mind. When Clementine doesn’t answer, Mere offers, “You can borrow my allowance.”
“Not at all.” I shake my head at my overenthusiastic daughter, who doesn’t know her modest pocket money will barely cover her friend’s expenses.
“But Dad—”
“I said no, Mere.” I give her a pointed look and turn to Clementine. “Monitoring your expenses is the first thing you need to learn. When I was sixteen, my mom gave me a journal to record my pocket-money expenses. I used it for years.”
I don’t know why I’m telling her all this. She is leaving in three months anyways. At least that’s what her family hopes.
“That’s a great idea. I can do that.” She looks at me starry-eyed.
“But now you have no money to spend,” I deadpan.
“That’s true.” Her excitement deflates. “I found a book of how to live on a low budget. It mentions not buying coffee from outside and even packing lunch from home. But I still haven’t done any grocery shopping. I went to the store…it was quite overwhelming.”
I feel an odd catch at the expression splayed on her face. But I also don’t understand her financial situation a bit. Clementine belongs to one of the richest families in this area.
“How is it that you are short of money?”
“I didn’t want to start with my mother’s help. I want to do this on my own but I’m still waiting on my first check.” Her gaze drops to the untouched dinner. She doesn’t need to add that she is failing pretty badly at her plan.
I now understand why her family is expecting her to return in three months. They know she has limited experience of the outside world or living by herself.
“I can loan you some money to get you through the month. If you want, we can go grocery shopping tomorrow. Try to make a list of things you’ll need, like what you’d like to pack for lunch.”
Her head bobs like a cork in water. “Thank you, Keith. Thank you so much.”
* * *
“Tomatoes.” Clementine reads from her list and dashes back to the vegetable section from the frozen goods aisle. This is the third time we have gone back and forth.
“Clementine!” I release a heavy sigh in frustration. “This time check what veggies are on your list and find all of them at once.”
She only half-listens, giving me a halfhearted nod before dropping a whole bunch of tomatoes in a plastic bag. “I’ll weigh them.” She then skids to the weighing balance that I showed her minutes ago. “It’s six pounds.”
“What the fuck will you do with six pounds of tomatoes? They’re perishable.” I grab her bag and toss out half of them.
“Okay, next is blue cheese.” Before she can start her flight to the dairy aisle for the second time, I grab her hand and pull her back. “Check the fucking list. I’m not coming back to this section again.”
“Okay, okay. Jeez, calm down.” She goes through the list. “Eggplant.”
“Why the hell do you need an eggplant?”