She loved the smell of freshly ground coffee and she found making coffees to be a therapeutic act.

She’d prefer if people didn't talk to her when she was making them, but Nicole didn’t know that. She was too excited to run into a high school friend, so she kept chatting.

“I can’t believe that high school’s already over. Can you?” she said.

“Time sure flies,” Violet replied shortly.

“I know, I’m excited about college though. I’m going to Georgetown.”

“Georgetown’s a great school, congratulations.”

“Thanks. And I heard you got a full-ride scholarship to Harvard. Is that true?”

“Yeah,”

“That’s so cool! When are you leaving?”

“I’m not going to Harvard,”

“What?” Nicole squeaked so loud, people nearby turned their heads to her.

“I had to turn it down,” Violet shrugged simply.

“You turned down a full-ride scholarship to Harvard?!”

“Yeah. I wish I could go, but I can’t be too far away from New Jersey right now. My mom needs me,” she gave Nicole a weak smile and turned back to the coffee she was making.

“Aw. You’re such a good person, Vi,” Nicole pouted and sighed. “I don’t know if I could do that if I were you.”

“Here’s your ice latte. That’ll be 3.75,” Violet put the drink on the counter.

“Here you go, keep the change,” Nicole handed her a five dollar bill.

“Thank you,”

Nicole took the drink and smiled. Violet smiled politely back and turned her attention to the next customer. Nicole took the hint and she headed outside.

“Hi, welcome to City Coffee, what can I get you?”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Violet’s shift at the coffee shop ended at around 5 PM. She was tired from standing around all day, but the day wasn’t over yet. She took a quick dinner break before jumping into another bus, this time it was heading to The Union in Jersey City.

Ever since she graduated high school and she wasn’t going to college, Violet thought about filling her time with as much work as she could. Not only that her mother needed money for treatment, but the Carvey family still owed a lot of money to a lot of people. She had to do her part to help chip in any way she could.

Violet arrived at The Union just before 7 o’clock. The Union was a fancy western saloon-style bar that had been around in the neighborhood since the 1980’s. The owner, Danny, was a good friend of Violet’s dad because they grew up together in high school. Danny felt bad about what happened to James, so when James’s son and daughter asked for a job at his bar, he allowed them to work and paid them a little extra sometimes.

Violet started working as a waitress there a few months ago. Danny noticed right away that she was a smart girl. She was also a skilled barista, and once she started watching the bartenders mixing drinks, it didn’t take long before she ended up picking up that skill as well.