Capítulo 4: WHAT NEXT ?
JOSHUA'S P.O.V
Erica drove me home; the cold weather transformed my spit into ice cubes. "thank you for the late nights you kept me company, you never left my side, I mean you literally never left my side, I wouldn't have made it in there two weeks if it wasn't for you, you didn't have to but you stayed, now you need to get some rest, your job is done."
"Aren't you forgetting something?" Erica asked.
"What?"
"a paycheck." I pressed my lips on hers, soft as usual, my heart was beatboxing, we hugged and afterward, she assured me, "The job was worth it."
"It sure was" so I pressed my lips on her soft lips and since she was just collecting her paycheck, we stood outside and I continued to give paycheck, after paycheck, after paycheck.
When we finished going through the books, Mama walked out of the house, I shifted away from Erica, she shouted, "I'm headed back home Lizzy; got some work to catch up on, I'll stop by later!"
"Okay dear, have a good one!"
"You too." Erica asked, "Are you sure you don't—"
I placed my finger on her lip to shut her up before she could finish and insisted, "Go home I can carry my bags in don't worry." She gave me a peck on the cheek and got in the car. I couldn't wait to stand on that aisle, before the day I got down on one knee she was already considered family, mama loved her, not only cause Erica is a lovely lady, but because anytime I wouldn't budge, she knew just who to go to, to change my mind, Erica would just walk up to me, slide her fingers around my neck and tell me we can do this the easy way or the hard way, and of course, hell hath no fury like a woman's scorned.
I carried my luggage to the basement, In my en-suite bathroom, I slid my blade upon my cheeks and neck, shaving in an attempt to feel and look young again, Erica loved the beard, said she loved it when I brush her cheeks, but I wanted to experiment,
As I put my clothes on I screamed out, "Alexa Hello!" It didn't respond, I walked closer to the table, tapped the Echo speaker, and shouted, "Alexa what time is it?!" Still, there was no response, my patience was wearing thin as I said to myself, "I told Erica to get me a watch, a bulldog's jersey but instead it's Alexa, Alexa this stupid robot."
Alexa said, "That's not a very nice thing to say."
I pulled back smiled and mumbled, "Well, I'm not a very nice person Alexa."
Alexa told me, "I'm sorry I did not hear that, could you please repeat that?"
I shook my head, glued my earphones to my ears, put on two jackets and a hat was on.
I climbed upstairs. Stepped out the door, the body couldn't handle the temperature, so I went back in for my scarf and gloves, walked back out "ahh…. that's better." The new neighbor a woman in her early 30 waved, I waved back but began to admire a bit too much more than I was supposed to, after a few seconds later my feet were ready to move. I told myself, "Don't stop for compliments or praise, just keep walking, keep walking."
I put on some old-school jazz music and strolled down to my workplace, an old slum dog warehouse, where I made 10 dollars an hour. I felt like a stand-up comedian, my career was flourishing, I never uttered any words but still got laughs. People's eyes spoke louder than words they spoke, so eye contact was never a connection I made. The neighbors laughed in silence whenever I walked by. When I shared those thoughts with Erica, she considered it paranoia, held my hands insisted the medication is getting to my head. She might be right.
On the way to work a neighbor spotted me and waved. I waved back, he screamed out "Joshua!" My fingers increased the sound of the music and my feet danced away, I never looked back.
I arrived at work, tapped in my password, it didn't go through, but one of my co-workers let me in. I said, "Thank you." Then, I walked in with a grin, colleagues walked up, male, female, five of them gathered around me asking "What's up to Josh, hey Joshua how're you feeling? Where have you been? Was it successful? I heard you were in the hospital." A new question was asked before I even had the chance to answer the previous. "I'm great thanks," I replied.
"It's good to have you back."
"Well, I can't say I missed the place but I'm here and I missed the people." There we stood shaking hands; I had no clue what the names of most of these people were, but I said, "Thank you, Sally."
She corrected me, "It's not Sally, It's Jessica."
"Oh, sorry medication still playing with my head."
The French supervisor who was also some kind of a friend was walking by a few feet away from me. I excused myself. "Be right back gotta go talk to Susan."
"Okay Josh, get her number for me." That's what the man standing next to me said. And the woman next to him blurted, "Pervert."
I chuckled, walked towards my supervisor, and said, "Susan! Susan! Bonjour belle femme." (hello beautiful woman).
"Joshua tu nous a manque." (Joshua, we missed you).
"Wow, one word at a time."
"Tu."
I repeated after her, "Tu."
"Nous."
"Nous."
"A manque, tu nous a manque."
"I'm biting my tongue here."
She laughed. "Joshua, first of all, I'm sorry I didn't pay you a visit."
"It's all right. I know you'll make up for it. Come to think of it here's a great way to start, get me some overtime."
She chuckled, rubbed my shoulder, and asked, "How are you?"
"Still standing, got released this morning."
"You just got released from the hospital, you sure it's not too early to be strolling and wandering around the streets. If Erica finds out, she's gonna kill you."
"what Erica doesn't know won't hurt me."
She rubbed my arm. "You should be in bed."
"You sound just like her, you know that? I don't plan on getting back to work right away, just here to plan ahead."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I'm here to talk Erin into making me first shift not second." She frowned but before she could say anything I continued, "Come on, put on that French charm; I know you can do it. We both know he's got a crush on you, every man in here is crushing on you."
She chuckled and blushed before insisting, "Joshua walk me to my office please."
"D'accord" (Okay)
We walked to her office, and she said, "Why don't you take a seat." I sat and then she said, "I see Erica didn't pass on the message. Look, Erica and I discussed this over the phone after she saw an email sent to you by human resources. Now, I don't want you to worry but they told Erin having you work here is a safety hazard. Now listen, you're a hard worker, it's not that you're not wanted, it's just having you work here would become more of a liability to the company than a benefit. I am so sorry. I thought Erica would have passed the message on by now, but we have to let you go." I opened my eyes wide, sat still, unable to think of anything to say. She held my hand and asked, "Joshua are you okay?"
I took a deep breath and replied, "It's okay. I mean, it had to come, it had to come sooner or later. After the third seizure, I had here last time I'm surprised they didn't fire me then. I mean I woke up, woke up in my greedy boss's office, and found a Red bull in my hand so I know they must be fed up with the seizures by now."
"Why don't you just stay home and file for a disability grant?"
"I'm better now, I mean, I mean I'm not gonna spend my last days on this planet waiting for three hundred dollars a week. Anyway, I better get going."
I stood up, she gave me a hug and I said, "I'll pop in occasionally for some French classes."
"My door is always open to you."
We walked to the entrance of her office, and she smiled and said, "Tell Erica I said hi. Take it easy on her, she is probably just waiting for the right time to tell you. You have my number, one of these days we can all get together with Steven for dinner."
I laughed. "Really?"
"What?"
"You two are still together?"
She laughed. "Yes, he has his flaws but we're still together."
"A lot of these guys here will be heartbroken after I tell them."
She put a finger to her lip. "So shh."
I looked at a group of young men and shouted. "Hey Guy's, she's taken! She's not single!!" I had my Mona Lisa face on, they walked away from me one by one, I got on my way back home, looked at the warehouse from the outside, and began to slowly walk away. My phone rang, the screen displayed the name Princess, so I picked up. "How can I be of service to you this afternoon?"
"Forgive me."
"Susan said I should say hi to you, but you already know that, that's why you're asking for forgiveness."
"Yeah, she called to give me a heads up, I was going to tell you but-"
"You were waiting for the right time, I know. Did you ladies rehearse this?"
"Princess My body is tired"
"My hands will work magic on your muscles later".
"My mind is confused"
"I'll sing for you".
"All I have is my heart, please never break it".
"never, it's too soon for you to start working such a high energy demanding job anyway, but I'm sorry you lost the job."
"Sorry I think you're cutting off. Please repeat the last statement, the last one."
"I'm sorry you lost the job."
"Good, good. Now say it as you mean it."
She chuckled. "You're destined for greater things that don't involve picking and packing boxes."
Out of nowhere, she mumbled, "Got to go boss man is walking to my office." Before I got a chance to tell her I loved her, she cut the call.
I looked to the phone to get the time, walked to the bar down the street from the house in an attempt to celebrate my unplanned retirement. I walked into the bar, Straight to the owner named Andre, who I called Dre and was a kind of a friend, I was rubbing my hands hoping that day he would consider being generous. The place was packed considering it was two-thirty in the afternoon. I couldn't imagine what the crowd capacity would be like for the night. I slithered to the bar stand and said to Andre(bartender) "Guess whose back?"
"Hey, the genius himself has graced us with his presence. The bar stands missed you."
"The bar stand, or the cash register? I had an incident but there's no place like home, I see business has really picked up."
"Yeah, a couple of people got laid off from a factory down the street, so that's why the first glass is on the house. the usual?"
"Yeah, the usual." He poured the whiskey, no ice filled up the glass.
"There you go drink up, be right back gotta make a call."
"Take your time I'm in no rush."
I looked around, enjoying the vibe I was getting from the place. Neither I nor the person sitting next to me knew what they were doing.
Dre was on a long call and kept looking at me as he spoke on the phone, so I looked around, he returned and I requested, "Pour me another glass, again no ice."
"You sure?" Dre asked.
"Yeah."
"All right one glass of jack Daniels coming up."
My fingers touched the bar and drummed along with the music as I hummed, patiently waiting for my drink. "There you go man, fifteen dollars twenty-eight cents."
He handed me the drink and I said, "Thank you." As Dre walked away to get my receipt I groaned, "Damn what does a guy gotta do to get a discount around here?"
While I was looking at the ceiling he returned and asked, "Anything else?"
"Not yet, I was just wondering what I would do with the place if I owned it." I took a sip from the glass.
"Well, it was a wreck when we started it, but now the drunker I get them the more money I make."
"Getting wasted at three-thirty, What? Their wives not giving them any?"
"I hope so, This is business dude, if I gain from their pain, my credit score is healed. The more issues for them the fewer tissues for me; that's the number one rule in this business."
We toasted "I hear you brother."
Dre picked out a man, pointed, and said, "Check that guy over there, right there the one with the green shirt on, We call him Shrek."
"Yeah, I see him."
"He got lucky, won some cash in a draw, lives alone, no wife, no kids, just an empty six-bedroom house.."
"Double story or a standard house?"
"Standard."
"If he doesn't wanna get rid of the house, let him get some C. N. A. together and use it as a nursing home, there's a lotta rich married people in this neighborhood that can't stand living with their old folks, you're talking to one right now, let him start the business, he gets customers and he buys more liquor, the bar receives it's share."
Dre laughed, we stood there, judging people. I pointed at another guy, "That guy once robbed me of 100 bucks in a pool game".
"Who? Joey? He started getting wasted after his wife left him. My favorite customer, who lives in a trailer, keeps making payments on a van he hardly ever uses, as long as the van gets him to the bar that's good for me, right?"
"That's all you care about. You know, I once knew a woman who owned a van, a smart woman from Texas. She came down here, started a business catering for events during the weekend, and cooked, folding her food upright. Lunchtime during the week she swings by the warehouse, By the way, I just got fired, but as I was saying, at lunchtime you'll find her standing right next to her van making money selling her homemade food for five bucks, never made less than 300 a day. As soon as I get out of here, go ahead and tell him this story."
Andre picked out another man, the noisiest of them all, pointed at him, and asked, "Any tips for him?"
"What's his story?"
"Got no clue, the man has no life, he comes in here gossips and answers questions I never asked."
"Tell him to become a journalist, the opportunities are plenty but they gotta think outside the box, tell him to take a shower as well, hmmm seems like these people are satisfied with this horrifying lifestyle."
"Yet you sit with them, trying your best to fit in." The sound of the voice that said that came from behind me; it sounded familiar. My head fell to the table before I turned around and stuttered "Er, Er, Er Erica, Princess fancy seeing you here."
"Huh-huh, you get lost on your way back home?"
"Dre this is my woman Er-"
She interrupted me, "We've met."
"How did you know I was here?" I asked, puzzled.
"Lucky guess." She touched my shoulder and said, "I've got to get back to work Joshua let's go."
I picked up my glass to drink what was left; she gave me a dirty look, took the glass from my hands, I said, "Dre my ride is here, I gotta go thank you for the company."
"Anytime bro."
I purposely left my phone on the other sit next to mine, Erica let me walk ahead of her. I glanced back to see what was going on and spotted her slipping Dre some cash.
I groaned "Snitch" settled my hat properly and walked out to the parking. Erica's car stood out from the rest; it was the brightest of them all.
I took my next few steps carefully to avoid losing balance but craved one more drink. I looked at the van to my right, chuckled but kept walking. A few seconds later Erica walked out of the bar with no smile on her face, found me leaning on her most prized possession. I could hardly get a word in before she gave me a bear hug "Don't worry we'll get through this."
I was surprised, it was a long hug and we touched as she hugged me, kissed my neck, tried to keep me warm, and assured me, "Don't worry, something better will come up."
Now, I was far from a saint, which is why I purposely left my phone inside of the bar, so I could walk back in, buy a bottle of Jack Daniels, hide it in my pocket and be on my way. So, I insisted, "Princess why don't you wait for me in the car? I'll be right back; I think I dropped my phone or something."
She looked at her watch and said, "Okay honey don't take too long, I've got to get back to work."
"It's a big bar and I'm a bit tipsy so five minutes tops I'll be out."
She nodded her head, put a smile on her face, and got back into the car.
I sprinted back to the bar, walked straight to Andre, and threatened, "You're gonna pay for this."
He smiled and said, "How much?"
I raised my fist at him. He smiled and I said, "Give me one more drink snitch."
"Joshua, I don't know what you're talking about. You left something, by the way."
He handed my phone back to me and I grabbed it furiously. He asked, "What will you be drinking gentleman?"
"The usual, hurry, actually give me a bottle fast before Erica walks back in here."
He held out his hand. "Money first."
"What do you mean money first? I've spent the last three hours here."
"New rule; you wanna quench your thirst, hand over the money first."
"Stop rhyming you're not a damn rapper!" I snapped. I dug into my pocket to pull out my wallet, but it wasn't there. I kept digging and searching, feeling my jacket and asking, "Where's my, where's my wallet?"
Dre answered, "I don't know man."
I replied, "My wallet, it's, it's gone, just pour the drink while I search."
"Man, I own a bar. Do you know how many times a day they use that line on me? Shame on you."
As I spoke, I looked to the ground and assured him, "Dre you know I'll pay you, come on, just pour me a damn drink."
"Money first."
I became aggravated and said, "I think I've been pickpocketed."
I looked around the bar, searching for who looked the most likely to be a suspect, until Dre with a smirk on his face suggested, "Ask your girlfriend. she might know"
I glared at him and realized how vulnerable a man is to a woman's touch. I realized while I thought Erica was hugging and comforting me, she was actually pickpocketing me. This woman could read my mind; it was one of the things I admired and despised about her, so I pulled my phone off the sit and said "Dre I see she got to you." He smiled and I sprinted back outside, folding my arms, but as I got back her car was nowhere to be found; she was gone. As I said, this woman could predict my every move, so with my phone still in hand, I tapped the screen, saw I had an unread message. I opened it; it was from Erica and it read, "Really? Tonight, 7:30, get ready wear something nice".
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