The bus lurched past Ashley's stop while Captain Brann Keld listed his fees from the phone in her palm.
"Wait, wait, wait, that was my stop!"
She slapped the bell twice, and the driver braked half a block later with a long-suffering sigh.
On the little screen, Hajin stood in a muddy lower yard, tapping the buyer's purse on his belt.
"And how many have finished paying?"
"Debts are private matters," the captain answered, calm as a clerk.
'Private debts, closed road, that is not a fee, that is a cage with paperwork.'
"Your machine gets fed, your valley stays dry, and these people walk home tonight, how's that sound, Captain?"
Ashley jogged up the sidewalk with the phone held at her chin, nearly colliding with a man carrying a ficus.
'Four o'clock, three boards, Nadia's first pitch as lead, and I'm jogging behind a toll argument.'
