Chapter Text
The view she had of Atlanta was pretty preem, the pile of buildings on top of eachother creeping towards the sky, or at least it would be if she wasn’t crammed into an apartment full of people that could barely afford the rent together. It was one of many buildings that were toeing the line on being straight up illegal but no one cared enough to report it. She herself could barely afford the eighth share of rent she owed but It beat being caught out in the weather. And it was only in moments like these that she was truly alone.
V was half in, half out of one of the two windows their apartment contained, trying to get some fresh air and also not wake up any of the people sleeping. It was barely four in the morning, the soft breathing and gentle snores faded into the background as she dialed a long ago memorized number on a borrowed phone.
It rang too many times.
“Hola, amigo. This is the phone of The Jackie Welles. Leave your deets and I’ll get back to ya”
She couldn’t help but snort at the message he left, it was very Jackie of him. She shouldn’t be surprised she reached Jackie’s voicemail but she was still disappointed. It was in the wee hours of the morning back in Night City and she was just waking up in Atlanta.
“Hola, Jackie. It’s me…V, in case you couldn’t tell” she muttered, looking up at the night sky. It was tainted by the light of the city, reminding her of home. Of a city that never slept.
She had promised to check in, keep Jackie and Mama up to date on all things V when she moved out east. She hadn’t, like a piece of shit. So now she was ‘borrowing’ her roommate's phone in order to let her family know she was still alive.
“Been over a year without me, huh. Must suck” she said, forcing a fake laugh. “Been a fucking year without you for me, so not sure which of us has it worse” she pondered, looking down the side of the building. She was only twenty floors up, pretty low for anyone of class and pretty high for anyone who was broke as shit. All the cheap housing was long gone, the tent city beneath the overpasses was her only other option. Her first weeks in Atlanta had been spent on the streets and she did not want to go back there. So she jumped on the first chance she got to get a roof over her head. It wasn’t great, not even close, but at least someone would notice if she disappeared. Might take them a day or two, but she might actually be missed. Her family back home would probably never know and that thought settled in her stomach like a lead ball.
She shook those dark thoughts off and returned her mind back to the voicemail. “Anyways, this is me, checking in. Not dead yet, though there have been attempts. Mostly not my fault” she said, a smile creeping into her voice. Some things she knew Jack would keep from Mama. This would be one. “Turned 24…eight minutes ago if my mother remembered correctly. Well, eight minutes ago your time. Feels weird not having you here to celebrate. I’m sure I’ll have a good party with my friends later tonight though” she said, absolutely lying through her teeth.
She had plans of getting drunk, alone, off of shit alcohol after her shift at the bar later in the day. But saying that would only worry Mama and Jackie. She wanted them to think she was living it up in some great new city, not slumming it worse than she had in Night City. She was out of lies for now, already regretting this call.
“This isn’t my number, so please don’t call it. I’ll call again sometime soon. Bye”. Another lie to make them feel better. But hey, who was counting.