Authors note: This is a requested story from a Literotica reader. Much of the characters and storyline was generated by their input.
ROCK BOTTOM (Part 1 of 2)
Prologue:
Some people, when anticipating ill fortune will describe a sinking feeling. Others, who have a piece of bad luck might saw they've taken a tumble. There are a few who would say after a run of misfortune that they've taken a fall. Then there was Meg Packer. If someone was to take the time to ask Meg to describe her life, unlikely as she wasn't surrounded by many people who would care, she would say she'd started tumbling down a shaft of hardship from a very young age and that she was falling still.
Aged just two, Meg lost both of her parents to a drunk driver. She was taken in by her maternal grandparents, her paternal ones having no interest in saddling themselves with an orphan at their stage of life. Her grandparents had done their best for her, educating her, raising her with a sense of morals and decency. But by the time she turned ten she found herself helping her grandmother tend to her grandfather when he had a stroke. By twelve she had taken on most of the household duties as her grandmother's health also began to wane. By sixteen she found herself acting as a full-time care-giver in all but name for the two of them.
At eighteen she lost them both within the space of just two months. Soon after came the next slice of ill luck, her grandparents' medical costs far outweighed the meagre life insurance policies they had taken out. Between these bills and the mortgage outstanding on the house, Meg was forced to sell, rendering herself homeless.
Her schooling had been erratic given her pressures at home, so she found herself engaged in menial labour to pay the bills. One thing that could be said about her though was that she wasn't one to shirk from hard work. By twenty-three she had a decent apartment that she shared with an older woman, an acquaintance from one of her jobs at a diner. Not only that, Meg had managed to squirrel away a small nest egg, $15,000 to be exact.
Then came the next drop down that shaft of hardship. Her roommate and the meth addict she happened to be dating at the time found Meg's hidden savings. Over the space of a weekend, they managed to go through not only the $15,000 in cash, but also to run up an additional $17,000 on Meg's stolen credit card in a drug and drink fuelled orgy of gambling in Atlantic City. Meg found herself not just broke but in debt, also unable to meet her rent as her roommate never returned.
Aged twenty-five, Meg now lived in a fairly squalid part of the city in a small, rented apartment. Her previous jobs were too far from her new accommodation and so she'd had to switch to a night time job, cleaning offices while the day staff were away. It was a lonely life, the hours not exactly conducive to making friends. Her already pale skin took on a ghostly aspect as she laboured each night, sleeping away the sunshine hours.
Under different circumstances, Meg would have had little trouble attracting men, but living where she did, she chose to hide her appearance where possible. Sweet faced, flaxen haired and green eyed, she stood 5'2. Her curvy body, 130lbs of it would be difficult to conceal at the best of times, her 30G-26-36 figure made it even more so. So, she chose to wear clothes a size or more too big for her, keeping her long hair frizzled and unkempt and where possible her face downward pointed.
Not much of a life but there was still room left in the shaft for her to fall further.
Chapter 1:
"Hey!"
Meg pulled the grubby tan colored raincoat tighter around her, a barrier both against the cold December wind and the voice of the man calling to her. It was just after 6am, the small courtyard that lay between the twin apartment blocks were normally devoid of people at this time, especially in the colder months of the year. This morning however, two figures sheltering by the overflowing trash cans were not only out and about but were also taking an interest in her.
"I said...Hey!" There was a touch of menace in the voice, someone unused to being ignored and unwilling to let it be.
Meg stopped and half turned towards the figures, her hand just inches from the cold steel of the lobby door. She knew them, well knew of them. Zeke and DK, the local pushers according the occasional overheard snatches of conversation Meg had picked up on walking by other residents. From what she could gather the two black youths were residents of the apartment block that was twin to her own. They ran drugs and participated in some petty extortion as well. Equally loathed and feared by the community leaving around them.
"Sorry." Meg replied, "Just heading home from work." She turned back, pulling at the lobby door.
"Hey, Big Tits!" That stopped her in her tracks. "Yeah, don't think we aint noticed. You need to bring those big puppies over here, let us see those big bitches hanging free."
Meg fled through the doors to the supposed safety of the elevator. Even as the lobby door swung closed, she could hear the echo of their crude laughing. She jabbed at the call button, the slow answering creak of the elevator descending gave her some comfort but it was only when the doors slid closed behind her and she started up to her floor did she allow herself to relax. Her apartment was at the end of the hallway, as she passed the other door, the smell of cooking breakfasts reminded her of her own hunger. She'd only had a half-eaten box of crackers at work to tide her over.
The key had a tendency to jam, so she fiddled with it for a moment, trying to open her front door.
"Ahem." the internationally recognised sound of someone clearing their throat as they sought attention came from behind her. Meg turned to find the squat figure of the building manager hopping slightly on the balls of his feet, his familiar red ledger, the rent ledger, clutched in his hand.
Mervin Smith was not a big man, he stood at maybe 5'8 but his bulk gave him the appearance of someone far shorter. The phrase, 'As wide as he was tall', would have been an apt description of him. Meg had little personal knowledge of the black man. His age was hard to judge, north of fifty but how far north she couldn't tell. His close-cropped hair and beard were short through with grey, but that didn't help much. He wasn't a local. He had moved here from one of the Southern States by his accent. She had no real idea if he had a family or where in the building he actually lived. What she did know was that he took his job seriously, there was no corners to be cut with him.
"Rent? Already?" Meg asked in a small voice.
"First week of the month as always. No call to be surprised about it."
"I have my paycheck on me, can you wait a minute, let me step inside?"
"Certainly, lets step inside." he answered.
Meg finally jimmied the front door open and the two of them walked into the tiny one bedroomed apartment. She shrugged her coat off while Mervin settled himself ponderously in the only chair in the room. Meg opened her purse and took out her pay. As she counted out the bills, she felt a dread settle on her as she saw how little the rent would leave her with.
"Is there any chance..." she began but an upraised hand from Mervin cut her off.
