Post by Thebe Nwadike on Sept 16, 2021 19:11:18 GMT -5
Looking over a desk at some rich, white dude with a bad combover looking over the single page of my resume has to be the most nervous I’ve been. This mother fucker turns the sheet like he’s expecting to see a hundred dollar bill on the other side just so he has some reason to hire me.
“So.” He places down the paper with a wiry smile. “Thebe, am I saying that right, Teb-ay?”
“Yeah- Yes.”
My fingernails scratch the leather of the chair and I adjust the jacket of the suit my pops lent me.
“You're young, got a lot ahead of you, why do you want to work for this company?”
Money.
“I just think it’ll be a great opportunity for me; I see this office a lot and I thought to myself, man, I can picture myself in a corner office right there facing the hills.”
He wags a finger with a slight laugh. “You got a chip on your shoulder, huh? Why do you think you’d be a good fit here?”
“Well.” I lean forward in my chair. “Like you said I’m young, got a lot fire, willing to learn, basically man- Sir! Sorry, I, uh, I want this job and you can interview a line from your door to down the street and you won’t find another guy as good as me.”
I cradle my hands and lean back, rocking on the chair a little. He gives a nod as he inspects me.
“Alright. What are your biggest strengths?”
“I’m smart, I like to work. You put me in front of anything I’ll get it done. I get on with people, like I’m a team player but kinda I’m best in a leadership role if you catch my drift.”
“You look pretty big too, you hit the gym? Play any sports?”
Don’t say basketball.
“Basketball?”
Mother-
“Not in school or nothin’, did a bit of amaetur wrestling. Work out when I can.”
“Yeah you wrote that down… Speaking of, you graduated, correct? Can’t see a high school diploma mentioned at all.”
“Oh I uh, must have forgot to add that.”
“Probably on that second page you didn’t bring, yeah?”
“Y-yeah.”
My body sinks into the chair. He taps his desk, his smile sucking into his cheeks.
“We’ll be in touch.”
Polite way of saying fuck you.
>>>
“Thebe, Thebe Nwadike.”
The woman in front of me shuffles the binders against her chest and frees a hand to shake mine. My head twists to the sound of ringing phones from the cubicles around me and snaps back to the short, tired woman as she speaks.
“That’s an interesting name, are you from around here?”
“Yeah, Oakland born and raised.”
“Oh good you didn’t need to travel far.” The fuck’s that supposed to mean? “I’m grateful you came out here but I’m not gonna waste your time, we don’t think you’d be a good fit here?”
I breathe a slight laugh “Just like that? I haven’t even handed you my resume yet.”
“It’s just we like our employees to have a certain decorum and no offense at all but I don’t think you’d be right here. Your voice would be the first and only thing our customers will hear from you and you…”
“Don’t sound white?”
“No! Not that at all!”
“It’s cool!” I begin to step back. “Didn’t want this fucking job anyway, stuck in a cubicle with a bunch of depressing ass bitches trying to sell fuckin’...” I look at a poster on the wall. “Alorica, whatever the fuck that is!”
“That’s er, the name of the company.”
Walking back I crumple up my resume and bank shot it into the trash “Fuckin’ stupid ass name, y’all would have been lucky to have me, damn near degrading myself just stranding here."
I turn knocking some folders or some shit off a desk and leave down the hall.
>>>
“Yeah Eastmont, down on 62nd.”
He releases smoke from his mouth and points up at me from his plastic chair, as he speaks I barely hear him over the power washer in the background.
“I have a nephew who lives on 64th, Mescudi.”
“I know a Jay Mescudi?”
“That’s him! Y’all hang out, he keeping out of trouble?”
I exhale through my teeth. “As far as I know yeah.”
“Good to hear.” He stamps the cigarette out onto the cement and leans forward in his chair. “Listen Thebe, I wish I could help you out here. I wanna help out any local kid who wants to work but the truth is we full up.”
I sigh, throwing my head back before urging on. “C’mon man, I need a job. I’ll wash the cars with a toothbrush if you need me too.”
He laughs. “Boy, you wanna do that go Lakeside and clean cars in traffic.”
I tut and begin to walk away. “Thanks anyway.”
“Sorry youngblood, best of luck out there.”
I drop a peace as I exit.
>>>
The bell above the door rings as I enter a pizza place; my stomach rumbles as the smell hits my nostrils, walking to the counter I look up at the menu and toss my jacket onto the greased marble as I loosen my tie; the warm sun hitting my back through the heated glass as it sets behind me. Folding my arms down and resting my head on top of them peeking at the dollar menu, some fat dude whips his nose and comes towards me.
“What can I get cha?”
I dig into my pockets and count the coins. “What can I get for a dollar twenty?”
He chews his cheek and grabs a polystyrene tub of mixed salad and places it gently in front of me. I sigh, placing my shrapnel down and taking the tub, he slides two dimes back my way. As I open the top I notice a ‘now hiring’ sign and grab his attention again. “Ayo, you hiring?”
He looks to the sign and back to me. “Not there for decoration, kid.”
I wipe my mouth as I swallow down a dry baby tomato. “Can you hook me up? Been rejected all day, could use it.”
“Brimming with confidence ain’t chu.” He looks me up and down and clears his throat. “You dress alright, I’ll give you that. You got any priors?”
“Nah, man.”
“Good enough, when can you start?”
“Shit, whenever bro.”
“Come in tomorrow at noon. Wear comfy shoes.”
A smile curves on my face. “Appreciate it, I’m Thebe.”
I go for a handshake and he plants a wet palm in mine and almost tugs my arm out the socket. “Nikos. See you around.”
“Yeah later, man.” I grab my jacket and turn around to walk out, twisting around briefly as my hand hits the door. “Thank you!”
Nikos tosses a hand back as set out back home. Walking down the street enjoying what little meal I have, can’t help but feel happy. Yeah, yeah, it’s a shitty job but I can just picture the look on Mamma’s face and how proud she’d be… Plus not like I’m gonna be there long, right?
Right?
17 MONTHS LATER...
Walking into Nikos hoping the traffic outside drowns out the sound of the bell ringing as I throw open the door and grab an apron, going around the counter and clocking in. Nikos walks around the corner and looks at me.
“You’re late… Again.”
“Yeah sorry man, won’t happen again.” I tie my apron back and head over to the toppings to check they’re full. Nikos puts his back to the wall grabbing a handful of olives and begins picking at them one by one.
“You said that last time.” He delicately eats an olive one by one accompanied with a loud sucking sound. “And you have black eye, been fighting again?”
“Yeah.” I wanted to explain that it isn’t fighting but I know it’d fall on deaf ears.
“How are you going to serve my customers when you look like that?”
I spin around with a raised eyebrow. “Nigga, what customers!?”
He chews looking at me. “They’ll come.”
I laugh getting the mask out my pocket and placing it over my mouth. “Yeah sure bro, regular ol’ Field of Dreams you got going here.”
“Maybe you scare all my customers away with your deformed face.”
“Still more handsome than you.” I tap his stomach as I move past him to check the salad hasn’t grown legs and walked out the door.
“Psh, back in Greece women would call me Hercules.”
I laugh my ass off. “Sure, Nikos.”
“Here.” He waves two fingers for me to stop moving around, he grabs my mask and motions it over my swollen eye, tangling the sting in my hair. “Much better, now customers won’t think you’re some gangbanger.”
I stare back at this fool “Good thinkin’, boss.”
He claps my shoulder and move to the back. “Get to work, I want this place spotless.”
I sigh and flick off my mask and fix it as I continue the same routine I’ve been doing since I started. Check the food, stock up, clean around, explain to a customer why we sell pizza and not gyros, clean again, check the food again, mop up and stare at the clock until it’s time to go home.
It’s during my most valuable mopping time that my cell rings, I reach into my pocket at look at the unknown number before answering. “Yo who this?”
Resting my elbow on the mop a voice cracks through. “Is this... Theebee Nuahdyke? Pretty sure I nailed that.”
“Close. Thebe Nwadike, again who this?”
“Oh right, Marcus Welsh. I work for OCW, I’m sure you’ve heard of us.”
I drop the mop to my side and let it slip in my hand as I look out the windows. “Yeah a little… What’s this about?”
“Well, Thebe, got it right that time huh? We’re always looking for new talent and one of my guys happened to see your fight last night. And, we’re interested.”
“Oh.” It takes a lot to play it cool right now, pretty sure he can hear my heart thump over the call. “Like… Sign me, interested?”
“Well, I don’t wanna take you out to dinner. Yes, we would like to sign you. I’ll send you over the details and I’ll be waiting for your call, that cool?”
“Ye-Yeah! Yes! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, take care.”
“Thank you- thanks, you too…” I stop my hand from shaking as I end the call and put my cell away. Controlling my breathing I drop the mop to the ground and pop off something huge. Just smiling as wide as I can, laughing so loud. Never felt like this in my life.
Fuck, feels like a dream.
Nikos comes out to the front and interrupts me with a loud clap. “Thebe! Quit dancing and carry on mopping.”
I stare back at him and chuckle, removing the apron. “Nikos, you’re a good dude.” And toss the apron over the counter towards him. “But fuck you and this place. Peace!”
And I walk out into the blinding sun leading to something brighter.
“So, uh, never done this shit before. Usually I just get a fight lined up and we go in the ring and we try and fuck each other up… Used to fighting in school gyms too so, yeah, lot of firsts I guess. Shit I dunno, feel like a fucking fool talking to a camera like this, man. Especially against some dude named Zeus.”
“Psh.”
“All I know is that this man gonna be a myth when I’m done with him. That’s all I gotta say, put in more effort than this bitch is gonna pull out anyway... How long do these gotta be?"
*Mumble off camera*
"Dope so we can jus-?" I run two fingers over my throat and start to get up before looking back at the camera. "Thebe Nwadike, bitch, remember the name!"
“So.” He places down the paper with a wiry smile. “Thebe, am I saying that right, Teb-ay?”
“Yeah- Yes.”
My fingernails scratch the leather of the chair and I adjust the jacket of the suit my pops lent me.
“You're young, got a lot ahead of you, why do you want to work for this company?”
Money.
“I just think it’ll be a great opportunity for me; I see this office a lot and I thought to myself, man, I can picture myself in a corner office right there facing the hills.”
He wags a finger with a slight laugh. “You got a chip on your shoulder, huh? Why do you think you’d be a good fit here?”
“Well.” I lean forward in my chair. “Like you said I’m young, got a lot fire, willing to learn, basically man- Sir! Sorry, I, uh, I want this job and you can interview a line from your door to down the street and you won’t find another guy as good as me.”
I cradle my hands and lean back, rocking on the chair a little. He gives a nod as he inspects me.
“Alright. What are your biggest strengths?”
“I’m smart, I like to work. You put me in front of anything I’ll get it done. I get on with people, like I’m a team player but kinda I’m best in a leadership role if you catch my drift.”
“You look pretty big too, you hit the gym? Play any sports?”
Don’t say basketball.
“Basketball?”
Mother-
“Not in school or nothin’, did a bit of amaetur wrestling. Work out when I can.”
“Yeah you wrote that down… Speaking of, you graduated, correct? Can’t see a high school diploma mentioned at all.”
“Oh I uh, must have forgot to add that.”
“Probably on that second page you didn’t bring, yeah?”
“Y-yeah.”
My body sinks into the chair. He taps his desk, his smile sucking into his cheeks.
“We’ll be in touch.”
Polite way of saying fuck you.
>>>
“Thebe, Thebe Nwadike.”
The woman in front of me shuffles the binders against her chest and frees a hand to shake mine. My head twists to the sound of ringing phones from the cubicles around me and snaps back to the short, tired woman as she speaks.
“That’s an interesting name, are you from around here?”
“Yeah, Oakland born and raised.”
“Oh good you didn’t need to travel far.” The fuck’s that supposed to mean? “I’m grateful you came out here but I’m not gonna waste your time, we don’t think you’d be a good fit here?”
I breathe a slight laugh “Just like that? I haven’t even handed you my resume yet.”
“It’s just we like our employees to have a certain decorum and no offense at all but I don’t think you’d be right here. Your voice would be the first and only thing our customers will hear from you and you…”
“Don’t sound white?”
“No! Not that at all!”
“It’s cool!” I begin to step back. “Didn’t want this fucking job anyway, stuck in a cubicle with a bunch of depressing ass bitches trying to sell fuckin’...” I look at a poster on the wall. “Alorica, whatever the fuck that is!”
“That’s er, the name of the company.”
Walking back I crumple up my resume and bank shot it into the trash “Fuckin’ stupid ass name, y’all would have been lucky to have me, damn near degrading myself just stranding here."
I turn knocking some folders or some shit off a desk and leave down the hall.
>>>
“Yeah Eastmont, down on 62nd.”
He releases smoke from his mouth and points up at me from his plastic chair, as he speaks I barely hear him over the power washer in the background.
“I have a nephew who lives on 64th, Mescudi.”
“I know a Jay Mescudi?”
“That’s him! Y’all hang out, he keeping out of trouble?”
I exhale through my teeth. “As far as I know yeah.”
“Good to hear.” He stamps the cigarette out onto the cement and leans forward in his chair. “Listen Thebe, I wish I could help you out here. I wanna help out any local kid who wants to work but the truth is we full up.”
I sigh, throwing my head back before urging on. “C’mon man, I need a job. I’ll wash the cars with a toothbrush if you need me too.”
He laughs. “Boy, you wanna do that go Lakeside and clean cars in traffic.”
I tut and begin to walk away. “Thanks anyway.”
“Sorry youngblood, best of luck out there.”
I drop a peace as I exit.
>>>
The bell above the door rings as I enter a pizza place; my stomach rumbles as the smell hits my nostrils, walking to the counter I look up at the menu and toss my jacket onto the greased marble as I loosen my tie; the warm sun hitting my back through the heated glass as it sets behind me. Folding my arms down and resting my head on top of them peeking at the dollar menu, some fat dude whips his nose and comes towards me.
“What can I get cha?”
I dig into my pockets and count the coins. “What can I get for a dollar twenty?”
He chews his cheek and grabs a polystyrene tub of mixed salad and places it gently in front of me. I sigh, placing my shrapnel down and taking the tub, he slides two dimes back my way. As I open the top I notice a ‘now hiring’ sign and grab his attention again. “Ayo, you hiring?”
He looks to the sign and back to me. “Not there for decoration, kid.”
I wipe my mouth as I swallow down a dry baby tomato. “Can you hook me up? Been rejected all day, could use it.”
“Brimming with confidence ain’t chu.” He looks me up and down and clears his throat. “You dress alright, I’ll give you that. You got any priors?”
“Nah, man.”
“Good enough, when can you start?”
“Shit, whenever bro.”
“Come in tomorrow at noon. Wear comfy shoes.”
A smile curves on my face. “Appreciate it, I’m Thebe.”
I go for a handshake and he plants a wet palm in mine and almost tugs my arm out the socket. “Nikos. See you around.”
“Yeah later, man.” I grab my jacket and turn around to walk out, twisting around briefly as my hand hits the door. “Thank you!”
Nikos tosses a hand back as set out back home. Walking down the street enjoying what little meal I have, can’t help but feel happy. Yeah, yeah, it’s a shitty job but I can just picture the look on Mamma’s face and how proud she’d be… Plus not like I’m gonna be there long, right?
Right?
17 MONTHS LATER...
Walking into Nikos hoping the traffic outside drowns out the sound of the bell ringing as I throw open the door and grab an apron, going around the counter and clocking in. Nikos walks around the corner and looks at me.
“You’re late… Again.”
“Yeah sorry man, won’t happen again.” I tie my apron back and head over to the toppings to check they’re full. Nikos puts his back to the wall grabbing a handful of olives and begins picking at them one by one.
“You said that last time.” He delicately eats an olive one by one accompanied with a loud sucking sound. “And you have black eye, been fighting again?”
“Yeah.” I wanted to explain that it isn’t fighting but I know it’d fall on deaf ears.
“How are you going to serve my customers when you look like that?”
I spin around with a raised eyebrow. “Nigga, what customers!?”
He chews looking at me. “They’ll come.”
I laugh getting the mask out my pocket and placing it over my mouth. “Yeah sure bro, regular ol’ Field of Dreams you got going here.”
“Maybe you scare all my customers away with your deformed face.”
“Still more handsome than you.” I tap his stomach as I move past him to check the salad hasn’t grown legs and walked out the door.
“Psh, back in Greece women would call me Hercules.”
I laugh my ass off. “Sure, Nikos.”
“Here.” He waves two fingers for me to stop moving around, he grabs my mask and motions it over my swollen eye, tangling the sting in my hair. “Much better, now customers won’t think you’re some gangbanger.”
I stare back at this fool “Good thinkin’, boss.”
He claps my shoulder and move to the back. “Get to work, I want this place spotless.”
I sigh and flick off my mask and fix it as I continue the same routine I’ve been doing since I started. Check the food, stock up, clean around, explain to a customer why we sell pizza and not gyros, clean again, check the food again, mop up and stare at the clock until it’s time to go home.
It’s during my most valuable mopping time that my cell rings, I reach into my pocket at look at the unknown number before answering. “Yo who this?”
Resting my elbow on the mop a voice cracks through. “Is this... Theebee Nuahdyke? Pretty sure I nailed that.”
“Close. Thebe Nwadike, again who this?”
“Oh right, Marcus Welsh. I work for OCW, I’m sure you’ve heard of us.”
I drop the mop to my side and let it slip in my hand as I look out the windows. “Yeah a little… What’s this about?”
“Well, Thebe, got it right that time huh? We’re always looking for new talent and one of my guys happened to see your fight last night. And, we’re interested.”
“Oh.” It takes a lot to play it cool right now, pretty sure he can hear my heart thump over the call. “Like… Sign me, interested?”
“Well, I don’t wanna take you out to dinner. Yes, we would like to sign you. I’ll send you over the details and I’ll be waiting for your call, that cool?”
“Ye-Yeah! Yes! Thank you!”
“You’re welcome, take care.”
“Thank you- thanks, you too…” I stop my hand from shaking as I end the call and put my cell away. Controlling my breathing I drop the mop to the ground and pop off something huge. Just smiling as wide as I can, laughing so loud. Never felt like this in my life.
Fuck, feels like a dream.
Nikos comes out to the front and interrupts me with a loud clap. “Thebe! Quit dancing and carry on mopping.”
I stare back at him and chuckle, removing the apron. “Nikos, you’re a good dude.” And toss the apron over the counter towards him. “But fuck you and this place. Peace!”
And I walk out into the blinding sun leading to something brighter.
“So, uh, never done this shit before. Usually I just get a fight lined up and we go in the ring and we try and fuck each other up… Used to fighting in school gyms too so, yeah, lot of firsts I guess. Shit I dunno, feel like a fucking fool talking to a camera like this, man. Especially against some dude named Zeus.”
“Psh.”
“All I know is that this man gonna be a myth when I’m done with him. That’s all I gotta say, put in more effort than this bitch is gonna pull out anyway... How long do these gotta be?"
*Mumble off camera*
"Dope so we can jus-?" I run two fingers over my throat and start to get up before looking back at the camera. "Thebe Nwadike, bitch, remember the name!"
2000 words (exactly!) according to Google Docs
