The break didn't feel like one.
Men sat where they stopped, backs against crates, knees pulled in. Someone chewed something dry. Someone else spat into the water and missed.
Copper changed hands without ceremony.
"Two," an older man said, holding the coins out flat on his palm.
"For yesterday," another replied.
"That's short."
A shrug. "That's what he said."
TSUF listened without looking. He rubbed his palms together, slow. The skin there was tight now, swollen. When he pressed too hard it stung.
Nearby, a boy with a cart counted his pay twice. Then again. His mouth moved with the numbers. He frowned and said nothing.
"Fair's fair," someone muttered.
No one agreed. No one argued either.
The foreman's voice carried from further down the dock, sharp and bored at the same time. Names weren't used. Just backs and hands and whether they were still useful.
TSUF stood and waited. When his turn came, the coins dropped into his palm one by one. Light. Too light.
"That's it?" he asked.
The foreman didn't look up. "That's what you earned."
"For the full run?"
"You slow?"
"No."
"Then that's it."
TSUF closed his hand. The copper warmed fast against his skin. He didn't count them. He didn't need to.
Behind him, someone snorted. "Always think they're owed more."
Another voice answered, low. "Everyone's owed more."
A pause. Then laughter. Short. Not kind.
TSUF stepped aside. He leaned against a crate and watched the dock instead of the men. The tide was going out, leaving lines of dark wet wood behind. Marks where things had been heavy enough to matter.
He felt the watching again. Not strong. Just there. Like someone standing too close in a crowd.
He shifted his weight until it faded.
A man passed him and said, "You working the afternoon?"
"Yeah."
"Figures."
Nothing else followed. The man walked on.
TSUF opened his hand and finally counted. One. Two. Three. Four.
Short.
He slid the coins into a small cloth pouch at his waist and tied it tighter than before. The knot dug into his fingers. He welcomed that.
The bell rang again. Not loud. Just enough.
Men stood. Grunted. Picked up where they'd left off.
TSUF did the same.
Copper counted. Work resumed.