Deadbeat Town

It all started when I mindlessly clicked a link my roommate sent me.

A few minutes later, a notification popped up on my phone. My bank account had a sudden deposit of three hundred bucks. I just stared at the screen, totally bewildered.

While I was trying to figure out how to reverse the transaction, an unknown number called.

The voice on the other end was cold and aggressive. The guy told me I owed their platform fifteen hundred dollars, and the three hundred I just received was merely the interest.

A cold sweat broke out on my neck. I had somehow stumbled into a predatory payday loan trap.

I immediately went to confront my roommate, Harper. She just batted her eyelashes, looking like the picture of innocence. "You took the money yourself, Jess. Paying back your debts is just how the world works, isn't it?"

The debt collectors were ruthless. They threatened to show up on campus and make such a scene that I would never be able to show my face in class again.

Terrified and in tears, I had no choice but to call my parents and confess everything, hoping they could help me bail myself out.

I braced myself for the scolding of a lifetime. But instead, my dads eyes practically lit up through the FaceTime screen. "Hold on, kiddo. Does this app still let you borrow? Think we can hit them up for a little more?"

...

My mom and I were both stunned into silence. Mom slapped him hard on the shoulder.

"Frank, have you lost your damn mind? These are loan sharks! Do you want our daughter's credit score ruined for life?"

I nodded frantically. "Yeah, Dad! I haven't even graduated yet. I don't want to be blacklisted by the banks."

Dad just rolled his eyes at us. He leaned into the camera, a sly grin on his face. "These offshore shadow lenders aren't recognized by the federal government or the state laws. If they have the guts to lend it out illegally, we have the guts to keep it."

With that, Dad pulled out his phone and started making calls. He dialed my uncles, my aunts, and even my cousins. Then he told Mom to get her side of the family on the line.

He asked me to forward him the app link. A minute later, it was sitting in our massive extended family group chat. He was officially rallying the entire bloodline to drain these loan sharks dry.

My older brother, Connor, who works as a corporate lawyer in the city, called a few minutes later. He asked Dad if he had joined a pyramid scheme.

But once Dad explained the situation, Connor went dead silent.

Finally, Connor sighed. "They set up a predatory snare for my little sister. Fine. Tell everyone to borrow as much as they can. If the heat comes down, I'll bury them in court."

Having a lawyer's guarantee was like pouring gasoline on Dad's fire.

He told the neighbors. The neighbors told their neighbors. Our relatives told their bowling leagues and church groups.

Before long, every single household in Brookhollow was taking out illegal loans.

Even Great-Grandpa Sully, who was eighty-eight and half-blind, somehow racked up tens of thousands in debt.

Families were using the scammers' money to put new roofs on their houses and buy decent used trucks.

Mrs. Higgins from down the street patted my shoulder with tears of joy in her eyes. "You really are our little college scholar, Jess. First year out of town, and you're already bringing home the bacon for the whole valley."

Brookhollow was a forgotten little town tucked deep in the Appalachian mountains. Normally, even the crows didn't bother stopping here, and anyone with half a brain had moved to the city years ago.

Because we were so isolated, the folks who stayed were tightly knit. We fought like cats and dogs sometimes, but when it came down to it, we were one big, terrifyingly loyal family.

I sniffled, finally snapping out of the trauma of being extorted.

Dad shoved three hundred bucks in cash into my coat pocket and told me to head back to school and focus on my grades. He promised he would handle the fallout.

But the second I got back to campus, all hell broke loose.

The moment I pushed open the dorm room door, Harper was taking a bite of her loaded burrito. She let out a snort of laughter, spraying lettuce on her desk.

"Well, if it isn't the campus deadbeat. How do you even have the nerve to show your face around here?"

My other roommate, Riley, quietly forwarded a link to my phone.

It was a post on the university's anonymous gossip forum. The debt collectors had posted my full name, claiming that if I didn't pay up, my ID details and a bunch of photos would be leaked everywhere.

The comments underneath were brutal. People who had no idea what was going on were tearing me apart.

"Some girls are just desperate for designer bags. Imagine taking out a massive loan just to flex."

"Total trash. Does she have no respect for her parents or herself?"

My hands were shaking with pure rage. I walked over and slapped the burrito right out of Harper's hands. It hit the floor with a wet splat.

"You think you have the right to laugh at me? If it wasn't for you, would I be drowning in this mess?"

It happened at the start of the semester. I had overspent on textbooks and groceries. Harper was the only one in the room, so I asked if she could spot me five bucks for a coffee and a sandwich.

Instead of lending me the cash, she texted me a link. I thought it was one of those coupon referral codes. I clicked it, filled out a basic form, and instantly received three hundred bucks.

And just like that, I was strapped with a fifteen-hundred-dollar debt.

Harper jumped up, furious about her food, and practically spit in my face.

"Not my problem, broke girl! You're the one who was begging for cash. I didn't put a gun to your head and make you sign up."

A heavy knot of anger lodged in my throat. "I asked for five dollars for lunch! If you didn't want to lend it to me, you could have just said no. Did I ask you to sign me up with the mafia?"

Harper rolled her eyes and shoved past me. "If you don't want the money, just pay it back. Oh, wait. You're just trying to scam them, aren't you?"

When I first saw the fifteen-hundred-dollar balance, I was so sick to my stomach I couldn't even eat. I tried to return the money immediately.

But their "customer service" told me I couldn't pay early unless I paid the entire fifteen hundred in one lump sum.

Where was a broke college kid supposed to get that kind of cash?

I had waited anxiously for the first due date and paid back the three hundred. Then I found out that the payment only covered the interest!

I was still fifteen hundred in the hole.

That was why I went home crying to my parents.

But thank God I went home. Now, I had a spine.

"I never wanted their dirty money," I said, glaring her down. "Even if I did pay, they only get the three hundred back. They're not getting a single extra dime out of me!"

Harper's face went completely pale.

She sneered. "I knew you were just a cheap scammer. You just don't want to pay the interest. Thank God I never lent you a cent."

A bitter laugh escaped my lips. I wanted five bucks. What kind of interest was she planning to charge me on a sandwich?

Harper pointed a manicured finger at the spilled food on the rug. "Clean that up right now, Jess. Or I swear I'll make your life a living hell."

I stepped right over the mess. "Do your worst. Call the cops if you want."

I had already tried calling the police about the loan sharks. The dispatcher told me it was a civil dispute and they couldn't intervene. I highly doubted they were going to dispatch a squad car over a dropped burrito.

I walked out of the dorm, ignoring the dark, venomous look Harper was shooting at the back of my head.

I had barely sat down in the library to study when my phone started vibrating violently against the wood table.

I whispered apologies to the annoyed students around me and jammed my phone on silent.

The screen lit up with endless streams of unknown numbers.

When I didn't answer, the text messages flooded in.

"Jessica, when are you paying the 0-0,500? You're a college student. Have you no shame being a filthy thief?"

"You have until 6 PM today. If we don't see the money, your parents, professors, and friends will know exactly what you are. Consequences are on you!"

"Keep ignoring us and see what happens to your credit, you little deadbeat. Nobody's ever going to hire a thief!"

I had mentally prepared myself for the harassment, but seeing the sheer volume of threats made my stomach churn.

Studying was out of the question now. I grabbed my backpack and headed toward the cafeteria, blocking numbers as I walked.

My thumb slipped on the screen, and I accidentally answered a call.

A rough, gravelly man's voice barked through the speaker. "Well, look who finally decided to pick up! Thought you dropped dead, Jessica."

"You go to Bayview University, right? Pay the damn money! Or I'm coming down to your campus to get it out of you myself!"

I forced my voice to stay steady. "Your loans are predatory and illegal. You have no legal standing."

The guy let out a vicious string of curses. "If you're broke, just say you're broke! Legal my ass. You weren't whining about the law when you took our cash. Pay up now, or I'm gonna ruin you!"

I hung up on him and blocked the number.

I took a deep breath and walked into the dining hall, but the lunch lady practically slammed my tray onto the counter, splashing soup near my hand.

"Kids these days," she muttered loudly. "No respect for anyone, just dragging their families down."

I looked around. Students at the nearby tables were staring at me, whispering behind their hands.

"That's her."

"The one who steals money and bullies her roommates. Total psycho."

My chest tightened. I rushed back to the dorm and opened the university forum. My face was plastered right on the front page.

Harper had written a massive essay online. She played the tragic victim, claiming I was a degenerate gambler who refused to pay my debts and took out my anger by terrorizing her in our own room.

I was officially the most hated girl on campus. The academic advisor was already waiting in my dorm when I got back.

Harper was standing next to her, squeezing out fake tears and looking fragile, while the advisor rubbed her back sympathetically.

My blood boiled. "I'm the one getting death threats! What are you crying for?"

The advisor glared at me sharply. "Watch your tone, Jessica! Taking out shady loans is bad enough, but resorting to physical intimidation? Unacceptable."

"Apologize to Harper right this second, or I'm writing you up for immediate suspension!"

A crowd of students had gathered in the hallway outside our open door, whispering and recording the drama on their phones.

Normally, I would have just swallowed my pride and kept my head down. I hate confrontation.

But I was pushed entirely past my limit.

"Why should I apologize? She's the one who tricked me into clicking a loan shark link! Why do you think I knocked her food out of her hands?"

Harper gritted her teeth and wailed louder. "Stop lying! I never forced you to do anything. You clicked it yourself!"

She turned to the advisor, her voice trembling. "I know I don't come from a rich family, but that doesn't give Jess the right to treat me like garbage! She's been bullying me all semester, and now she wants to blame her debts on me! If you don't expel her right now, I'll jump out of this window!"

She actually lunged toward the dorm room balcony.

The crowd gasped. The advisor nearly had a heart attack trying to pull her back.

She whipped her head around to look at me, her face flushed with fury. "Do you have anything else to say for yourself? Do you think you can just terrorize people because you feel like it?"

"I've heard enough. You are suspended pending an investigation. Your scholarship for this semester is revoked. Pack your bags!"

Tears of pure frustration stung my eyes. My family had been dirt poor for three generations. When did I suddenly become the rich campus bully?

I looked at Harper, soaking up the sympathy from the crowd, and I wanted to scream.

I was half-tempted to say I would jump out the window with her. But right then, my phone buzzed in my pocket.

It was a text from Dad.

I swallowed the lump in my throat, blinked back my tears, and looked the advisor dead in the eye.

"Fine. I accept the suspension."

It took a train, a Greyhound bus, and hitching a ride in the back of a pickup truck to finally make it back to Brookhollow.

But the town was unrecognizable.

Almost every house was putting up fresh siding. The dirt road leading into the valley had been paved with smooth, black asphalt. Even the old hound dog that slept on the porch of the general store was wearing a fancy new leather collar.

Mom had cooked an absolute feast to comfort me. "Don't you worry your pretty head, sweetie. The boys are about to bleed these scammers dry. They won't be bothering you much longer."

Sitting at the kitchen table, a warm feeling finally spread through my chest. Sure, I had been public enemy number one at school for a month, but my whole hometown was living like kings.

The next billing cycle was approaching. Like always, I played dead and ignored the app.

But then a text came through from Harper.

"Jessica, have you no shame? Are you really not going to pay?"

I frowned at my screen. Even if I was a deadbeat, what the hell did it matter to her?

When I left her on read, she started blowing up my phone. Her texts reeked of desperation.

"Don't pretend you can't see this. You think hiding out in the woods is gonna save you?"

"Do your parents even know how much trouble you're in?"

"Do you really want to humiliate your family in front of your whole redneck town?"

I chuckled out loud. My family were local heroes right now. Folks were lining up to buy my dad a beer at the tavern.

Before I could type out a snarky reply, another text chimed in. This one was from the debt collectors.

"Brookhollow, right? We'll be there by 6 PM tomorrow. Have the cash ready, or you're gonna find out what happens."

A thrill of adrenaline shot through me. I typed back immediately: "Doors are unlocked. Come on down."

Our whole town had been waiting for them to show their faces.

Seeing that I wasn't scared, the collector sent back a single, ominous threat: "You just wait, you little bitch."

The next afternoon, the whole town was on high alert. A battered white cargo van with out-of-state plates slowly rolled past the town limits.

Several heavy-set guys dressed like cheap gangsters climbed out.

They used the address from my ID upload to march straight up to my front yard.

The leader, a guy with a neck tattoo and sleeves of faded ink, sneered at me from the grass. "Jessica? You the dumb broad who thinks she can stiff us?"