Chapter Text
Having Shaundi had really helped more than she’d expected. Sure, she could handle being alone and handle the renovations in Stilwater on her own but having company and someone to bounce ideas off of was nice. It was even nicer to have someone as blunt as Shaundi tell her when an idea was absolutely ridiculous. She appreciated the way her friend spoke her mind without fear of retaliation.
Even if she did want to shoot her in the toe sometimes.
“What’s your plan in the projects?” Shaundi asked. Max barely looked up from their accounting sheets, feeling more confused that comforted by all the numbers. “Boss?”
“Mm.”
“The projects.”
“What about ‘em?”
“What are you gonna do about rent?” there was silence for a few more minutes before Shaundi huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Boss.”
“It’s Max.” she glanced up finally, blinking hard as she saw nothing but typed numbers floating around Shaundi’s head. “What do you think?” she asked finally. Shaundi actually paused, not having expected the question to come. She bit her lip, playing with her choker idly as she considered it.
“Well, most of the people who live there are Saints, right?” she asked. The Boss nodded, sitting back in her chair a little and resting her elbow on the arm of it.
“Most. Still a good few that aren’t. They were already there though.” She bit her thumb nail, seriously considering her next words. She could go with her gut, opting to not raise rents too high to not push out the residents that were already established there. In her mind, it would make a lot of sense to keep prices close to the same, raising them just enough to cover some expenses. They could make the rest up in other ways.
Or they could take a loss because a Saint didn’t pay for their housing. It was theirs, paid for in blood and loyalty. Not the smartest business decision but one all the same. If that was the route they were going to take, they would have to jack rents up just to cover some of their losses. But she knew, from firsthand experience that most of the residents there wouldn’t be able to afford too much of a rent hike. But did Shaundi? And if she did, would the woman care enough to consider it.
“We can’t charge Saints.” Shaundi started. She sat down in a seat close to Max and bit her lip. “Tell me about some of the residents. Why haven’t you gotten rid of them?”
“I know a lot of ‘em.” She admitted openly. “Grew up in those same projects, they’re like my roots. Half of them people been there since I was there, never made it out.” She picked up a pencil in her left hand and began to twirl it.
“Why not? They’ve had chances.”
“You know anything about livin’ in some projects?”
“Well…no.”
“Don’t be so sure ‘bout that then.” It wasn’t defensive. Nothing about the exchange was judgmental. Just two differing views that were being respected.
“So why not let them work for us. They don’t have to be one of us, but they can- “
“We don’t need drug runners or hoes. Z has that cornered.” Max broke in. Shaundi glared at her.
“They can work in some of our stores.”
“And what? Pay ‘em a livin’ wage just to get that money back in rent? Don’t that sound kinda fucked up?”
“Do you have a better idea?” Max made a sound in the back of her throat as she went back to her earlier idea. She put herself back in the shoes of a resident, wondering if she would have taken a job like that herself. She also wondered how it would feel to have any extra income yanked from her hands just to cover the cost of living for some gangbangers who had unlimited resources.
Oh, she’d be pissed.
“Raise rent a few bucks, offer the jobs but otherwise leave ‘em alone. That way they ain’t gotta feel like they gotta work for a street gang if they don’t wanna.” She had a feeling a lot of them would take the chance, though.
--
Shaundi didn’t get it, and it sounded like they were going to lose a lot of money, but she didn’t push it too much further. She knew that at the end of the day, Max could just toss her entire idea out and do what she wanted. But she appreciated that she was being asked for her input before the fact. Not like it had been in Steelport. They’d often acted and then asked what she thought. Like they were asking for forgiveness instead of permission.
Not that they needed either from her.
Still, Max asking her made her feel more involved than she had before. It seemed, so far at least, that the switch was working out just as well as she could have hoped. The entire thing left her feeling both good and confused.
The confusion stemmed from the fact that the other woman even cared. About her opinion, about those people in the projects, about their image. The violent, carefree nature she was used to didn’t add up to the image of the woman behind closed doors. She didn’t think her boss was soft, not by a long shot, but she though she was a little bit softer when she let her guard down. Almost like there really was another side to her, outside of what they saw daily.
It wasn’t a surprise, not really. She thought back to when she first joined the Saints and how the boss had been fueled by anger at a betrayal. Betrayal from someone she cared about and looked up to. She’d heard stories about how fucked up the boss was after that Lin chick had died, before Shaundi met her. She remembers how the other woman reacted to Carlos’ death, how she still reacts. Aisha, Gat. All the heavy emotions that influenced every move the boss made.
For every extreme there had to be a lower, softer end she guessed.
“So, it’s settled then.” She said after a few minutes of silence. She leaned forward, holding her hand out and smiling to herself when Max slapped her hand. “Pen.” Was all she said. The pen found it’s way into her hand and she made a couple of notes, deciding she’d get some higher-ranking Saints to help get the word out about Freckle Bitches and Planet Saints hiring. And with the number of Rim Jobs around town, they could stand to do with a few more mechanics. Construction could use help.
Yeah, they could use these people.
“Shaundi?”
“Mhm?”
“Thanks.”