Esmeralda twirled and moved to the rhythm of the song coming from her iPod speakers. As she swayed her hips her palda swished back and forth. It was her paborito palda to dance in; mainly because it was madami of a loin cloth style and it attracted the attention of the men walking passed. Each one paused a moment to watch Esmeralda dance and then dropped some money into the baseball takip she had set on the ground in front of her. Esmeralda smiled a thank you at each person who tipped her. It was mostly men and a couple of masculine-looking lesbians, but money was money and she didn't care where it came from; she thanked each one of them politely.

A siren rang out from the kalye and a few moments later a police car pulled up in front of Esmeralda. She stopped dancing and eyed the man coming out of the driver side. He was a beefy man with a buzz cut and dark sunglasses; despite the sun setting almost two hours ago. The small crowd that had gathered to watch Esmeralda quickly dispersed, though Esmeralda didn't know why since no one was doing anything illegal.

The cop adjusted his sinturon as he walked over to Esmeralda. It was dark outside so the red and blue lights from his car were almost blinding. Esmeralda lowered her eyes.

"Is something wrong?" Esmeralda asked.

Before the cop could respond, another car pulled up behind his. This car was a rather new gray BMW. Esmeralda recognized it immediately and groaned to herself. The cop turned to face the car as a muscular man stepped out of the car. His black and gray hair was slicked back and he was wearing a gray suit with a red tie. Clayton was the tax collector for the city; the most dreaded face anyone could ever see. Esmeralda knew exactly why he was here and she couldn't help glancing down at the hat with her money in it. Clayton noticed the hat, too, and bent over to pick it up. Esmeralda started towards him, but the cop grabbed her.

"Let go of me! That's my money," Esmeralda demanded.

Clayton gave her a smug smile and shook his head. "You know the law, missy; all income must me taxed." He scooped out three-quarters of the money from the hat, then set the hat back on the ground.

"That's not fair!" Esmeralda cried. "I earned that money."

"Your city thanks you."

"You mean your wallet thanks me. I know our taxes helped pay for that suit your wearing and your fancy car."

Clayton shrugged. "The law is the law; pay or be arrested."

Esmeralda glanced up at the cop, but didn't say anything else.

"Good girl," Clayton said. His eyes lowered to her skirt. "Now, I suggest you put on some clothes before you're arrested for public indecency." He got back in his car and sped off.

The cop let Esmeralda go, then got into his car and slowly pulled away. Esmeralda sighed as she turned off her music. She dropped her iPod into the now almost empty baseball cap, and then pulled on a pair of black leggings under her skirt. She picked up the hat and slowly started walking home.

Esmeralda and her brother, Aladdin, lived with their mother in a small apartment. Though they were both in the early twenties, neither of them could afford to live on their own. They shared an apartment for a while, but when their mother got sick, they moved back into the apartment they grew up in to take care of their mom. Eventually they both got laid off, like most people after Ratcliffe became governor and started taking everyone's money. Esmeralda was always looking for another job, but it had already been a couple months and she was having no luck. That was why she resorted to dancing in the streets to earn money. It was never enough, though; even on the nights when she didn't get busted sa pamamagitan ng Clayton. Aladdin had ibingiay up on finding a job and start stealing pagkain for them. He had never gotten caught, but Esmeralda couldn't help worrying about him. He was a taon younger than she was and with their mother being as ill as she was, it fell on Esmeralda to look after him.

Esmeralda took the elevator up to their floor and walked down to their apartment. She unlocked the door and made her way inside. Her mother was sitting at the kusina table, staring at the newspaper. Esmeralda set the hat down on the mesa and then sat down susunod to her mom.

"I'm making dinner," her mom said, not looking up.

Esmeralda glanced over at the stove. A small pot was sitting on it, but there was nothing in it and the stove was off.

"I'm making spaghetti," her mom told her. "It should be done any minuto now."

"I look pasulong to it." Esmeralda stood up and walked over to the stove. She filled the pot with water, then turned on the stove. She listened to her mom rifling through the newspaper as she pulled out a box of noodles and a jar of spaghetti sauce out of the cabinet.

"Do you remember when I used to make spaghetti for you and your brother, Emma?" her mom asked.

Esmeralda's puso felt heavy and a lump formed in her throat. Her mom was in her fifties but had already been affected sa pamamagitan ng Alzheimer's disease. It was still in the early stages, but it was rapidly getting worse. They didn't have any medical insurance and no money to get her help. Esmeralda felt completely useless as she watched her mother fade away. Every once in a while, she'll have a good araw where she remembers most things, but those days were becoming madami and madami rare. She still had some of her old memories from when she was younger, but she was starting to forget Esmeralda and Aladdin. She knew they were her kids, but sometimes it was like she didn't recognize them and she had long forgotten their names. This week she was calling them Emma and Alan. Last week it was Emily and Aaron.

When hapunan was done, Esmeralda scooped it onto a couple of plates and brought them to the table.

Her mom smiled at her. "I told you I made dinner. Just like I used to. Remember all those nights when I'd make hapunan for you and Alan? I do. The memories I have of those nights are my favorite. I remember them so clearly. I think my memory is getting better, Emma."

Esmeralda gave her mom a sad smile. She couldn't bring herself to tell her that her name was Esmeralda and that she had never cooked for her and Aladdin a night in her life.