Chapter 12 - THE FIRST BORING PAYCHECK
Claire left Sterling’s before the ownership litigation ended.
She had spent enough of her life waiting for David Sterling to do what he promised.
A hospitality group on the North Side hired her in accounts payable.
Regular hours.
Benefits.
Direct deposit every other Friday.
The first paycheck arrived at 12:03 a.m.
Claire woke Rory.
“Look.”
Rory squinted at the phone.
“Did we win?”
Claire laughed.
“No.”
“Then why are you happy?”
“Because someone paid me when they said they would.”
Rory considered that.
“That’s boring.”
Claire hugged her.
“Exactly.”
The unpaid-wage matter resolved through the labor process and civil claims.
Claire received documented wages, statutory amounts where applicable, and her share of the negotiated resolution.
Other workers received theirs too.
The dishwasher paid back rent.
The hostess restored her utilities.
A former server got money after everyone had assumed she would never see another dollar from Sterling.
Claire refused interviews that focused only on Rory.
“She opened the door,” Claire told one reporter. “But eleven workers were standing behind it.”
Rory remained embarrassed by the purple stars.
“I told everybody we were poor.”
Claire knelt in front of her.
“We were struggling.”
“Is that bad?”
“No.”
“What’s bad?”
Claire thought about David.
“Making someone work and deciding they don’t deserve what they earned.”
Rory nodded.
That made sense to a six-year-old.
More sense than liquidity.
May you like
More sense than shell companies.
More sense than adults who could explain away hunger with accounting language.
