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I am a wholesale reseller. As margins are getting thinner I am looking for an edge by creating bundles of branded products or a mix of branded + private label. Most of the brands I sell are large brands I may or may not be directly authorized to sell. Yes, I understand the risks of this.
I have read a lot of mixed information on creating bundles for these brands. Will Amazon allow me to create bundles of branded products? Is it 50/50 whether the listings gets through or not? I know this is the case for creating new listings for brands I am not the registered agent for.
I have seen many sellers already doing this. Ex. sony camera with a memory card, carrying case, etc sold under a seller's brand with their branded carrying case. I doubt this seller has been approved to do this by Sony. I also thought the listing needed to be under the brand with the highest value product. My thought is as long as I add a private label product and list it under my own brand it will likely be ok?
(this was pulled from Personal Finance thread. I am NOT trying to politicize or insult/bash the US Government.)
I'm writing this to spread awareness of this situation in hopes no one ends up like me.
Did you know you have to pay the student loan refunds back?
Here's my story:
After graduating high school in 2006 I went straight into community college for an associates degree and then to a 4 year university for a Bachelor's. With college comes student loans which I honestly didn't give any thought back in my early 20's. I graduated, moved to a new town and let the student loans fall by the wayside to the point of ending up in collections.
It took a few years but I did eventually get my feet under me and ended up in a position where I could finally fix this issue. In 2019 I started the work of getting them out of collections. By the time this happened I was into April/May of 2020 when the student loan forbearance kicked in. Note: by the time I got them out of collections I had enough interest accrued on 2 student loans to be another whole loan on it's own so I was roughly $30k in debt on student loans.
During the pandemic I busted my hump to pay them back. I still had my job and add to it the stimulus checks I managed to pay off the loans completely by November of 2021.
Then I start reading about not only the student loan forgiveness but also the refund for payments contributed during the forbearance. I only had a few news articles to go on as a lot of the media the student loan forgiveness was getting was all about just that, the forgiveness part, not the refund part. I figured I'd at least see if I qualified so I called my loan company and asked. The lady on the other end told me I qualified for $20k in refunds. That's all she told me, the amount and that the application for a refund was be sent to the Treasury Department. This was October 2022.
Fast forward to March 2023 and I get a federal check in the mail for $20,691.84. I will admit I cried happy tears seeing that check and promptly started putting in various places. I paid off a credit card debt where I'd put copays for a major surgery I had last year, I put a portion to my car loan, some in savings just incase I got taxed on the check next year, and even gave myself a nice birthday gift of 1K into my first Roth IRA. The afternoon of the day I started the Roth I come home to find a letter from the Department of Education saying I had an unpaid principal of $20,691.84.
You heard me right.
By requesting the student loan refund it apparently reactivated my student loans and that entire check I will now have to pay back.
Naturally I was quite upset and promptly called the loan company.
The very nice lady on the phone told me that what it boils down to is what will happen with the supreme court. If the court opts in favor of the borrowers and forgives the student loans they will waive wither 10 or 20k of my loans. If the court votes against the borrowers(or no decision is made by June 30,2023) I will owe the money back in the entirety (with interest).
I told the woman that I'd never heard this part of the refund information. I'd never received anything in writing, no email, heck even the woman I'd originally talked to about the refund hadn't said a word about having to repay it all, because if I'd known that I wouldn't have requested a refund in the first place! She told me that everything was currently still frozen and no money was actually due until after June 30, 2023.
If you want the truth yes, I'm mad at the government for not sending out proper information to the people of this nation. I am also mad at myself for not inspecting into this refund thing further before submitting documentation requesting a refund.
In the meantime, no, I haven't spent it all, and what I have left is sitting on standby because I honestly don't know what to do just yet (after all this just came to light as Monday).
I'm posting this to spread awareness of this. I want people to know about this backside to the student loan refund so other people won't get stuck with a bill, like me. Now, instead of $7,500 per student loan as a principal (plus interest) which is what my original student loans were in 2010 and 2011 when I put in FASFA paperwork to get them, now they are $10k a piece (with interest) once the fiscal year ends.
Now you know. Please, I'm not trying to bash the Us Government. All I want is to spread the word about this. Let the people who've worked hard to make their lives better, who've scraped and saved just trying to get by and are finally getting their feet back under them after this pandemic know: Don't bother with the student loan refunds.
#studentloans #studentloanrefund #refundchecks #spreadtheword
A special thanks to
u/bluefishcake for the wonderful original story and sandbox to play in.
A special thanks to my editors LordHenry7898, RandomTinkerer, and Swimming_Good_8507
And a big thanks to the authors and their stories that inspired me to tell my own in this universe. RandomTinkerer (City Slickers and Hayseeds), Punnynfunny (Denied Operations), CompassWithHat (Top Lasgun), CarCU131 (The Cook), and Rhion-618 (Just One Drop)
Hy’shq’e Ay Si’am (Thank you noble friends)
Chapter 22: The Concern of Parents
Andy drove the old pickup out of the base impound lot, with Aftasia and Sitry beside him on the bench seat. It was an old Rez truck, faded with age, dented, and rusting out in places, but it ran well enough and had a half tank of gas.
They’d landed easily enough, and Andy had let Aftasia and Sitry step out first to explain to the surprised militia garrison about him and his rifle. Andy was conscious of the leering faces of the Shil’vati women as they walked off the tarmac to the impounded vehicle lot. He’d spent twenty minutes convincing the two of them not to take one of the Marine transports. Now they bounced along in the old truck, and he had to stop himself from laughing at how they had to keep readjusting their ears as they folded over against the ceiling.
He drove out on the old coast road towards the river that had once been the border between the North Straits Salishian Reservation and Washington. Andy opened the window and the cab filled with the sea breeze as he drove over the neglected and bumpy road carefully. His two passengers were silent as they drove through the old abandoned suburbs of the town until they reached the crossing by the old collapsed bridge that used to span the river. Andy pulled the vehicle up on the bank and got out. The water was muddy and moving fairly fast. Andy took out a cigarette and started considering his options. The storm had swollen the river, and while the truck could probably ford the crossing, it wouldn’t do to have to go for a swim in front of the maybe boss and her cute daughter.
“Is this how you get home?” Andy turned when he heard Sitry’s voice behind him. Both of the Erbians had gotten out too, and Andy put the cigarette back in the pack unlit. Sitry was looking at him expectantly, and Andy found himself suddenly at a loss for words. Behind her, her mother had pulled out her omnipad and had popped in a set of earbuds.
“Hold on, Yes? Ah, Akil’eas, I was wondering when we’d get your call…she’s fine, I checked her myself. Her eyes are still black, her skin is still purple, and she has no viral lesions. Sakalbi and Rhaxiid are taking her to that little hospital in Bellingham. Yes, and no, I don’t want you calling her when you’re in this state. Kalai doesn’t need an overwrought father right now, she needs a mother who’ll flick her ears and tell her what an idiot she is.”
Andy couldn’t help but chuckle at hearing the one-sided conversation before looking over at Sitry and cracking a smile.
“My sister’s in trouble,” Sitry whispered as she moved to stand next to him as they watched her mother speak to what was presumably Kalai’s father on the other end of the line.
“So how does that work, exactly? Is she adopted or something?”
“Akil’eas, smart people do dumb things sometimes, and I choose to focus on the outcome…no one was permanently hurt, she’s on her way to the hospital for a check, and she’s back with….I’m her parent too, you know…I
have been for years while you’ve been here, and quite frankly, if this is the full extent of her ‘pre-teen rebellion’, I’ll happily take it over what some of my other children have done when they were her age!”
Sitry looked around and walked over to sit on a fallen log and patted the space next to her. “Yes and no? Dr. He’osforos is an old family friend. He went to school with my moms and my dad, and he used to teach and do research at VRISM with them, too. Me and Narny were born around the same time as Kalai and Gadea.”
Andy huffed in amusement and unwrapped the blanket from his shoulders to refold it over him like a sash. Sitry turned bright red and averted her eyes while he did before he took a seat next to her.
“Our folks put us all in the same nursery and we all went to the same school…we’ve been in each others’ back pockets ever since.” She started up again after a moment. “When the…attack went down, all the Shil’vati got sick. The virus doesn’t affect us, so our House didn’t lose anybody, but…almost everyone in our class got sick and died. Kalai lost her sister and her two mothers. Her dad came to Earth looking for a way to cure her, and he’s been here ever since. Kalai’s been living with us for so long, she may as well be Erbian at this point, but she’s not officially a member of our Warren or anything.”
Akil’eas….AKIL’EAS!
She is fine, a sprained ankle, a sore shoulder, and too much humble pie at the moment.
That’s all! Yes. Yes, she won’t be let out of our sight until you wrap up whatever it is you’re doing that’s so important right now…Well, I think that’s something I need to speak to you about in person.” Andy locked eyes with Aftasia for a moment and gulped before turning back to Sitry.
“So sisters but not. Family, but not. Strangely, I can relate.” Andy focused on Sitry who seemed to be playing with her hair while deliberately trying not to look at his exposed chest.
“You had a brother too, right?”
“
Have. I have a brother. Like I said, he got nuked by the Imp Navy and all it did was nothing. He and grandpa took what stommish were ready to fight and went to war.” Andy felt a wave of sadness wash over him and his breath caught in his throat for a moment. “I can barely remember him, I was so little the last time I saw him. He took
no shit from anybody.” Andy felt tears in his eyes and he sniffed them back, as he recalled a story that he could tell her without falling into tears.
“You know he, uh…one of the few things I remember about him was…there was this kid on the base, and he used to knock me down when we were coming home from school. Kay Tee…Konstantin…he found out and he followed me home, but he thought he was James Bond or something because he was running behind fences and trees and mailboxes waiting to ambush the bully. So the kid, I don’t even remember his name, walks up and pushes me down…and Kay Tee just bull-rushes him from the side and does this flying jump kick into the kid's nads and beats the piss out of him.” Andy started laughing at the memory. “So he puts the kid on his ass, and he says, ‘You mess with one Salish, you mess with all of us, and we
don’t fight fair!’ He picks me up and tells him ‘You push my brother again, I’ll cut your head off and stick it on a stake on the beach!’ or something like that.”
“He sounds like Leonidas.” Sitry’s voice had an airy quality and she was staring at him with very large blue-green eyes.
Andy burst out laughing. “
What?”
“You know, a hero! Blight, that didn’t come out right!” Sitry giggled nervously and she looked away.
“I mean, if you say so. Leonidas got himself killed, and Kay Tee isn’t dead," Andy laughed while giving Sitry a side eye. She squealed and pulled her ears over her face as she flushed a deeper red.
“-No I won’t, so message me when you can…alright, the human Shel, your place. We’d love to, and we’ll be bringing a guest…yes. We’ll see you then, and I’ll let the rest of the family know. Goodbye, Akil’eas!” Aftasia walked over to them as she wrapped up her phone call and removed her earbuds. “So, you two seem to be getting cozy,” she said in a flat tone and a raised eyebrow to her daughter.
“I wasn’t looking, honest ma!” Sitry mumbled, going red again in embarrassment. Andy looked from Sitry to her stern looking mother and he cleared his throat to get her attention.
“So I know
why you want to hire me, but what
exactly is it that I’d be doing on a day to day basis? A thousand credits a week is an exorbitant amount of money around here. I want to know what it is I’d be getting myself into.” And folded his arms over his chest as he studied Aftasia, watching her closely to try and discern what she might be thinking.
Aftasia’s stern expression softened and her ears swiveled forward towards him. “Well, ideally, you’d come live with us at Headquarters in Victoria, so you’d have twenty four hour access to the facilities and our people. I think my husband wants you to be a field guide for our restoration teams, which would mean leading expeditions and excursions. I’d imagine there’d be a training component to it as well. Teaching us to identify invasives, avoid causing ecological harm, and so on. We’d also like to ask you to speak to your people about perhaps
not trying to shoot us or sabotaging our equipment? Would you be willing to do that for us?” She held her hands open at her side and they moved slightly as she talked.
Andy felt his brow get heavy and his mouth pulled down in a frown. “That last one might be hard. I don’t speak for all the humans that live around here. I don’t even really speak for all of my own people…but there are enough that would at least hear me out because of my name and my heritage.” He schooled his features back into a stoic mask to hide the sudden wave of fear that threatened to make him shiver. “Living with you…giving up my home…”
Aftasia knelt down in front of him, concern clear on her face. “You’d have transportation at your beck and call, if that’s what it takes. If you’d rather not live in the arcology, then we’d make arrangements for ground transportation or even a shuttle service.”
Andy took a deep breath and considered his words carefully. “It just feels…well, almost like I’m being conscripted. Instead of a rifle and that black catsuit armor, I’d get a clipboard and a collaborator’s jacket.”
“We aren’t the military, Mr. Shelokset. Even if you signed the contract, we’d
never ask you to compromise your people or yourself.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, causing Andy to flinch, and instinctively pull his hand away and he stiffened, unable to hide the sudden burst of panic on his face. Aftasia seemed to pause and looked at him with an expression he couldn’t read, and her face fell before she spoke again. “Andrei, I don’t know the details of how the Imperium treated you, but…I know that there were many cruel and ‘inhumane’ things done to you. I can’t change that, but I know that
we want to be better. We’ve been trying to reach out to humans for a few years now and…all they see is the marines and the nobles. We aren’t those women, Andrei.”
Andy felt himself begin to untense, and he fought back the sudden desire to flee, letting Aftasia continue. “My family…our Warren…was tasked with the restoration of Earth to showcase the benefits of being part of the Empire. We’d like to be a force for good. To make a gift of your homeworld restored to the brilliant and beautiful garden world it was. We’d like to build a working relationship with humans and
earn your trust and hopefully, your friendship. That means when you speak, we listen. When you tell us how it is, we believe you and act on it.”
Andy stood up and walked a few paces away. He stared down at the coursing mud-brown river, as he tried to silently calm himself down. Now was not the time for a ‘Cry Song’, and he longed for the bottle of Jack Daniels he’d hidden in his closet. He focused on his breathing until the panic and fear subsided before he spoke again. “Well, this was the way home, but the water's a little high at the moment to risk crossing here. The bridge over by Ferndale’s still up, so we’ll detour around.” Andy made a show of brushing himself off. “Should only add about fifteen minutes to the drive.
“Well, at least our flood prevention is keeping the river contained.” Aftasia said brightly as she watched Sitry walk back to the truck like a hawk.
“Yeah, about that. We’ll need to talk about what you did to the river. You caused more problems than you solved," Andy replied as he clambered back into the truck and started it up again.
“Wha…really? I’d ask now, but I’d rather wait until we can pay you for your time and expertise. Your knowledge should be properly honored,” Aftasia sighed as Andy turned the vehicle around to drive the back roads to get to home.
“I think if you take that approach, it’ll make things a lot easier with my people in the long run," Andy added hopefully as they drove alongside the farm road by the river. The new raised and reinforced embankments to either side that contained the river and straightened its course out had made him and most everyone else grind their teeth in frustration. It was one of the reasons the salmon populations were dying in the rivers.
They fell back into silence again as they drove on and around, crossing the bridge onto the old Reservation. The road led past The Silver Reef Casino, and he felt a wry sense of amusement to see the parking lot full of both human and alien vehicles. They were doing good business at least, and he’d check in with the Kwainset and the George families that ran it and coordinated their less than legal activities.
“Is that another one of those Indian Casinos?” Sitry asked as they passed by the only buildings in the middle of the abandoned farmland.
“Yeah, each Band has its own, and that’s the Silver Reef, which belongs to my Band. Grandma’s Clan owns half of it because they built it with their money. We do alright, but we’re nowhere near as successful as the Lower River Salish between here and Seattle,” Andy grumbled bitterly. They may be Salish, but some Band rivalries ran deep and the formal dissolution of the Tribe had broken their unity as a people with everyone out for themselves.
Stand together or die alone. That was our way. His jaw tightened and he growled.
“So what’s the difference between a Band and a Clan?”
“Oh, uh, not much really. Bands are what the American and Canadian Governments organized us into when they took our land and forced us on different Reservations. The Clans were our own Warrens, so to speak. Some Bands have only one Clan, others have multiple Clans.”
“So which are you?”
“Bear Clan, North Straits Salish Band. We’re the northern most Indians that the United States kept inside their borders. Which reminds me, there’s a good chance my grandma’s not home. So if she’s not, I’ll just run in, get cleaned up and into civilian clothes, then we’ll go to the Casino. The Council officially meets there these days. If we do, just…let me do the talking.” Andy was gratified to see Aftasia nod earnestly before turning to whisper to her daughter. Andy brought his attention back to the road as they drove deep into the Rez and around back to the old coastal road to his home.
By some miracle, their old two story home had survived the orbital bombardment and the firestorm that had followed. The old blue and gray house sat on the top of the cliff, overlooking the bay towards Bellingham and had a beautiful view of the volcano, Kulshan. The gravel driveway crunched noisily as he pulled up the small dive, and found his grandmother’s car parked in front of the garage.
“Huh, looks like you’ll be able to meet my grandma after all,” Andy noted as he killed the engine and opened the door.
“This is your house? Your view is amazing!” Aftasia exclaimed as she followed him out and took in the view of the rising green hills, dominated by the single snowclad mountain behind them.
“Thank you. You’re welcome to come in if you’d like, but if you’d prefer not to, I’d ask that you stay close to the house. Not everyone around here is friendly to hwun’eetums. It might help that you’re not Shil’vati, but I’d rather not risk it!” Andy called back to them as he made his way up to the front door and the porch. He heard them scurry up behind him as he pushed the door open. The smell of smoked salmon wafted out of the house and he closed his eyes happily as he crossed the threshold. Old blankets hanging over the bay windows cut the light and suddenly he felt his head nod. The events of the last two days finally caught up to him and reminded him of how tired he was.
“Grandma! I’m home!” he shouted as he looked over at the living area in the front of the house. The potbelly stove in the corner was cold, and the couch that faced the windows was empty. Magazines and bills filled the coffee table and he walked quickly over to poke his head in the kitchen. She wasn’t there either.
A sudden loud chain of high pitched barking, scrambling, and scratching, followed by a series of thumps from the stairs by the kitchen heralded the approach of the worst guard dog in the world. Puck, the little snow white, fox-faced, American Eskimo Dog came tumbling down the stairs in his excitement, skidding across the hardwood floor like an idiot. Andy knelt down happily and the little fluffy cannonball jumped up into his arms barking and whimpering in his excitement.
“Oh my goodness, a Rakiri!” Andy heard Sitry practically shout as she and Aftasia came in after him.
“Not exactly. This fluffy idiot’s my dog, Puck. Don’t worry, he’s all bark and no bite,” Andy huffed as Puck hopped out and barked loudly at the two alien women. He skittered excitedly over to them and started hopping in place barking at them while panting happily. Aftasia held her ground admirably, but Sitry shrunk back from the loud little puffball.
“Alright, you little idiot! I know we’ve got alien invaders! Now sit!” Andy commanded and the dog half squatted, half sat as he danced from foot to foot. He fell mercifully silent, save for the panting and he looked up with a happy smile.
“
Tsu’ti’tsi’uqw!” The iron twinged voice, gravelly from years of smoking, echoed from the back rooms where grandma’s home office was located. She appeared in the doorway, dark eyes blazing with anger. She spoke in Salishian as she advanced into the kitchen, and he stood up at attention, the blanket falling to the floor as he put his shoulders back and his chin up.
“You took the Ancestor Masks out to Orcas and held a Gathering? Are you insane?” she roared at him in their language. She was smaller than him by almost a foot and a half, but there was no one in the world he was more terrified of in that moment as she came blazing up to him. The carved ivory necklace she wore clacked and clattered against the beaded hair ties that kept her steel gray hair in two tight ponytails as she stared up at him.
He refused to meet her eyes, staring over her as he felt his insides turn somersaults. “There were more than twenty Clans there, Grandma! Representatives from-”
“And no tumulhs except you! It was an insult and a failure that will set our plans back
again! Do you know I’m getting calls from the tumulhs of those Clans claiming everything from Wendigo attack to you turning traitor and…what and who are they?” Grandma Kwainset looked over and behind him at the two suddenly fearful Erbian woman who had gone stock still. “Cover yourself, for God’s sake, and I’ll deal with you later,” Grandma said as she moved to stand in between Andy and the Vaidas.
“Uh, good morning!” Aftasia managed brightly, though her tone was a bit unsteady to Andy’s ears. “Would you happen to speak Vatikre?”
“Fluently,” Grandma replied icily in the alien language with a look back at Andy as he quickly rewrapped himself.
“Ah, well, I’m Aftasia Vaida and this is my daughter-”
“Yes, I know your name. You work with the Ministry of Sciences and are one of the advisors to Governess Ta’naios. You and your family are responsible for the…
environmental protection of the region.” Grandma’s icy tone did not abate and Aftasia closed her mouth for a moment.
“Grandma, they stopped the marines from abducting me, and they brought me home-” Andy continued in Salishian, moving around to stand beside her.
“And they’ll want something in return, no doubt.” Grandma’s reply in Vatikre was curt as she stared at Aftasia, appraising her.
“Grandma, they
want to offer me a job-”
“Enslave you-”
“Grandma, they saved my life! Be mad at me, not at them!” Andy’s voice was firm as he stepped in front of her again, shielding the two aliens from grandma’s wrath.
“Oh, I’ve no need for your permission to be mad at you, grandson!” Andy felt the full weight of her authority hit him like a tsunami and he did his level best to hold his ground against it.
“Grandma, they want to hire me to fix the things they’re fucking up on! They’re willing to listen!”
“Of all the people to suddenly develop a naivete about the foreigners…” Grandma growled at him before walking over into the kitchen. “May I offer you something to drink?” She called out to Aftasia and Sitry in Vatikre, switching her language to one they could understand.
Andy looked over to Aftasia and nodded his head. “Uh, yes, please and thank you.” There was clattering from the kitchen and Andy rushed over to whisper to Aftasia.
“Our rules of hospitality mean she can’t kick you out if you accept food or drink; just don’t finish it. If you do before we resolve this, claim hunger," Andy whispered before quickly moving back to where he stood as Aftasia gave him a nod of understanding. Sitry’s eyes went wide as she stood next to her mother and gulped audibly. Grandma Kwainset came back out carrying two small glasses of water, which both Aftasia and Sitry accepted graciously and sipped at.
“So you have a job for my grandson. What is it?” Her tone was brusque and she folded her arms over her chest as she glared at the two of them.
“We’d like to hire him as a cultural expert-” Aftasia began before being cut off.
“His culture is not for sale.”
Andy took a deep breath to steady himself and interjected in the short silence that followed. “Grandma, she wants me to help them restore the land!”
“I’ve seen how they’ve been going about it. No deal. I’ll not put our plans, your reputation, and the family name at risk with the Clans to see you sell out to the invaders.” Grandma’s words stung him to the core and Andy felt that old core of frustrated anger that lived inside him start to awaken as his heart began to pump faster in his ears. The two of them glared at each other with neither backing down an inch.
Aftasia’s voice broke the small battle of wills and the two of them turned to look at her. “Missus uh…”
“Kwainset,” Grandma responded, and Andy bit back an angry growl at her use of her maiden name.
“Mrs. Kwainset, I’m not asking him to sell out. We need your help-” Aftasia began.
“I’ll say.” Grandma’s words were a challenge that Aftasia did not take, but instead she soldiered on admirably. Her tone remained gentle and even, just as it was in the shuttle when she’d talked with Andy.
“...your grandson has made us aware of several of the shortcomings in our approach to land management, and we would like to ask for his help in correcting these shortcomings. He’d even help us undo our mistakes in a way that honors and restores the historical territory of your people.”
“And by ‘your people’, you mean
us humans?” Grandma shot Andy a severe look.
“No, I mean the Salishians. The
indigenous people who have lived here since…how did you put it, Andy?”
“Since time began. Nilh tu’ oh,” Andy said, folding his own arms over his chest as he gave Grandma her own look back.
Aftasia finished her drink deliberately and set the cup on a coaster lying on the coffee table. She looked over and gave the clearly terrified Sitry a reassuring smile before moving to stand before Grandma Kwainset. “Yes, exactly. You are quite right, of course. We are in desperate need of your help, and we are also indebted to your grandson. He saved three of my children last night; this one in particular.” She motioned to Sitry who gave a nervous nod of agreement as Grandma turned her gaze on the teenage girl.
Aftasia continued when Grandma said nothing. “He is a credit to you and your family, and his care for and knowledge of your ancestral homeland is something we admire and would like to engage with to protect and restore it. He was adamant that he needed to receive your blessing before giving us an answer to our offer. We will, however, abide by your decision as his Matriarch, and if your answer is no then we will not impose upon your family any longer.”
Grandma Kwanset held her gaze for what seemed a long while, and Andy could see the impending negative answer building in her eyes. As she drew breath to speak, Andy felt a wild stab of courage compel him to make one last plea in Salishian. “They’re willing to listen! Something is better than nothing and better late than never, Grandma! Please!
They’re willing to listen and change!”
Grandma’s words halted in her mouth as she fixed Andy with that hard appraising stare, and again Andy felt as though she would crush him under the weight of her authority and inwardly he trembled at what felt like the inevitable answer. Seconds felt like hours as the silence hung, before grandma finally spoke. “Andy, go get cleaned up. I want a word with this hwun’eetum.”
It wasn’t a no, but it wasn’t a yes either, and Andy felt a different tension settle over him. A feeling of defiance that had seen him into so much trouble in the school, but had kept him alive ever since. It reared its ugly head and tried to rebel at the order. She wanted to speak to Aftasia, and that at least was something. All he could do was nod and turn to give a reassuring nod to Sitry and Aftasia that he didn’t feel before trudging up to the stairs that led to his room on the upper floor. When he’d gotten halfway up he stopped for a moment as he heard the front door open and close. His jaw clenched as he turned around, ready to fly back down the stairs to confront Grandma when her voice stopped him in his tracks and he stayed rooted in place, silent.
“Your warriors killed my husband, my sons, and all my grandchildren
except him. He is
the last of several long lines of leaders and
LET ME FINISH…if he is frozen out by the Clans, or worse, taken
AGAIN to be held hostage and brainwashed, then everything he represents will be lost.” Andy knew Grandma didn’t believe like he did that Grandpa and Konstantin were still alive. It had been far too long, and the two of them argued over it incessantly. He knew why she believed them dead, and why she was so insistent that he stop believing they were alive. She wanted him to sit in on the Council Meetings. The Shelokset name was an old and very respected name, but had become controversial. Many of the Clans still held Grandpa Wiley in high regard for his decision to go to war, and several of the surviving elders that had been recovered and brought home from the relocations had made it clear that until the exiles were recalled, there would be no reunification, recognized or not.
Grandma had wanted Andy to step up and take over as a young voice on the Council, but to do so would be to usurp Grandpa and Konstantin’s place, not to mention put him in the limelight, which he feared more than anything. He shivered and his skin got goosebumps as the thought of having to be ‘in charge’ frightened him. What if he got something wrong? Who was he? Just some kid, but doing something was better than nothing, and Grandma’s grand plan of Imperial recognition was never going to work. The Imperium just didn’t give a Goddamn about anyones’
inherent rights.
He quietly trudged up the stairs, avoiding the ones that creaked and went straight to the bathroom. With the shower heating up, he turned to look at himself in the mirror. His paint was a mess. Large areas had washed away or smeared all over him, and the bags under his eyes reminded him that he’d been awake now for almost two whole days. His blanket fell away and he stared at himself, wishing he could be certain of something,
anything, about himself. The only things he felt any surety in was his roles as a tumulh, and a Speaker.
“Some Speaker though, the voice and Witness of my family and outside an official gathering I can barely hold it together without either trying to kill somebody or wanting to go fetal. At least I found some hwun’eetums willing to listen. Maybe I’m not such a failure of a healer after all.” Andy wiped the mirror as it began to fog up, so he quickly washed his face and shaved the patchy stubble before stepping into the shower. The hot water felt good and he stayed to enjoy it for a bit longer than he’d meant to. Remembering that he’d left the two Erbians downstairs with his grandmother had him speed up through his normal routine. Slipping and sliding a bit on the floor, he moved quickly to his room to get dressed. His mind chased itself as he wondered what to wear and if he’d need to pack or prepare to say goodbye.
They’ve seen me at my most ‘primitive’, now might be the time to try and impress. He thought as certain lessons about male deportment came bubbling up from the school. Andy squeezed his eyes shut and forced the memories and the feelings of white hot rage and hatred back down deep as he quickly dressed in some of his best. “If they want a fucking Indian Prince, I’ll
give them a Goddamn
Indian Prince," he said aloud to himself as he finished dressing and braiding his hair. Andy stood in front of the mirror on the dresser and looked himself over. Black slacks, white shirt, beaded pattern vest buttoned up, black coat left open, ivory beaded choker with three carved ivory feathers hanging down over his chest, and three Bald Eagle feathers secured in his rope-tight braid that hung down to the small of his back. “You’ve seen the savage half of me, now let’s see what you think of the noble,” Andy told his reflection sarcastically before looking back at his bed. He’d pulled his suitcase out, but had left it empty.
Hope for the best, plan for the worst. Andy made his slow way down the stairs, straining his ears for any sound from the living room, but heard nothing. When he rounded the corner of the stairs, he saw his grandmother in the kitchen, leaning over the sink, and Aftasia’s ears poking over the back of the couch. He cleared his throat to get their attention.
The red ears over the couch rotated almost comically and Aftasia poked her head up to look at him. There was a moment where the woman did a double take and had a look of surprised shock as she looked him over. Grandma on the other hand took a moment to turn around and look at him. When she did, her face was unreadable. She walked slowly, heavily, towards him until she was standing right in front of him. When Grandma spoke, she spoke in Vatikre.
“You are your own man now, grandson, and you are a Chief of the Salish. I cannot tell you what to do, but I will not give you my blessing to work for our overlords.” Andy felt his jaw tighten, but he waited as Grandma took a breath and looked over at Aftasia, who averted her gaze from the two. “Nor will I forbid you either. You do what you think is right, but remember that your actions will be carried forward by your children and your children’s children. Succeed, and you will be praised. Fail, and your name and line will be
forgotten. If you’re willing to gamble your heritage and your birthrights on these hwun’eetums, then there’s nothing I can say or do that will stop you. My door will always be open to you, but the Tribe’s doors may close and you well know that once they do, they
never reopen.” With that, she gave him a brief hug and walked away back towards her office in the back of the house.
Andy stood alone looking down the dark hall she’d gone down and heard her shut the door.
She doesn’t want me to do this. She thinks I’m making a grave mistake…maybe I am. We need the money, especially if the Tribe’s ever going to…no. We have to succeed! If the Clans take this the wrong way, they’ll freeze me out…but if THEY think I’ve turned, I’ll wind up in a black bag or worse. Andy felt a soul crushing icy pressure settle in his chest, and he felt very alone and small in that moment.
Aftasia approached slowly, stopping a few feet from him and she seemed subdued when she spoke. “I would understand if you turned us down. Your grandmother laid out your situation quite clearly, and as much as I’m convinced that we need your help more than ever, I cannot in good conscience ask you to give up-”
“I am a tumulh…and the
last Shelokset tumulh. If not me, then who?” Andy said, interrupting her as he continued to stare down the hall after his grandmother, emotions whirling too fast to make any sense of. “Can you promise me that you will listen? That you will make what I stand to lose worth the risk?” Try as he might, he couldn’t keep the trepidation out of his voice.
“Andrei, you don’t know me yet, so I don’t expect that at this moment my words will carry much weight with you.” Aftasia spoke firmly and with conviction. Andy tore his eyes from the empty hall to look her dead in the eyes. He saw iron resolve reflected there and the claws that had him by the heart started to lose their grip to see it. “Come what may, the Vaida Warren will do right by you and your people. Upon my degrees, upon my children, upon my marriage. When you speak, you will be heard. If you need shelter or protection, our Warren will provide it.”
“And you speak for the others too?” Andy pressed, hoping for an answer that would shake the last of the tendrils of fear from him.
“As I said, you don’t know me yet, but you will…and when you do, you’ll understand the significance of what I’ve pledged. Suffice it to say, yes…I speak for my spouses…and all the Houses within the Warren.”
Andy stared at her in concealed amazement. She spoke like the elders and the fear subsided enough for him to make his choice. He stood still, his face a stoic mask to hide his feelings behind, until at last he made up his mind, and held out his hand, palm open.
“What…what is…I don’t understand?”
“A handshake. For us, the most unbreakable ‘contracts’ are sealed with a handshake and backed by your sacred honor.” Andy quoted one of the many video-letters his father made for him and his brother whenever he went on deployment. Aftasia looked down and slowly held her own out. He clasped her hand firmly and gave it a single shake, never breaking eye contact with her. “Then it’s done. I’ll come work for you.”
Aftasia’s face broke into a smile. “We’ll still get it in writing for appearance’s sake…for the Accountants and ITAD. They like their paperwork.”
“Government, the necessary evil,” Andy replied. “Where honor dies, and it’s only what you can prove in a packed court.”
“Spoken like a true citizen of the Imperium. Get packed, our driver is on his way to pick us up. We’ll fly over to the hospital, pick up the rest of the family and head out to Headquarters. We’ll get you your own apartment in the complex so you don’t have to worry about shuttle availability. Of course you’ll be able to come and go as you please…which reminds me, we’ll need to get you an Approved Entry pass from the Governess’ office.”
Andy nodded and hurried back upstairs to shove as much as he could into the one or two bags he owned. One for all the clothes he owned, which was enough to see him through a week if he ever fell behind on laundry, and the other for his regalia. Plans started to form in his mind, and he hoped that Atasia and her husband would be true to their word.
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To be posted 4/9/23
I have been AU of a citi card for a few year and I have applied for Capital one on Febuary 2023 and get approved with Quicksilver with 1000 limit. I would have to pay for the balance twice a month because of the low limit but paying itself is not an issue.
On March I applied for AAA Advanatge but got rejected because AAA claim they cannot verify my information. I try calling Comenity to figure what they mean but they toss me to robo call and say nothing will be revealed and reapply in a month. That was a complete waste of a hard pull.
So, I have 2 hard pull atm. I really want to get a visa card that I can use at Costco since atm I will have to buy the costco cash card with my quicksilver online a week or 2 before planning a costco run.
My Quicksilver finally show up on my Experian report and my current score there is 749. I wonder if May should be a ok time to try applying for another card. I want to go for Venmo since it get warehouse cashback or Elan cash max since it get good gorcery cash back but I would be willing to go for Usbank cash + secure if needed. How hard is it to get Venmo or Elan cash max. One of my local bank have elan as credit card but I heard being a member of the said bank does nothing to improve the odd of being approved.