Shine03: Into which job opportunities enter my life

Title: Beta Test 01
Subtitle: Into which job opportunities enter my life
Author: Harper Kingsley
Rating: mature
POV: First person

.Into which job opportunities enter my life.

There’s only so long that you can surf on someone’s couch before they either tell you to get a job or get the fuck out.

Curtis lasted for two weeks, which was four days longer than I’d thought he’d last.

“I have no job skills. I have bad credit. I dropped out of high school, so I have no education.” I thumped my head against the table. “Who’s going to give me a job? I’m fucked, man.”

“How have you been living this whole time?” Curtis asked mock-patiently. He was sitting across from me at the diner table, the ravages of a hamburger and French fries ruining the plate in front of him. He’d managed to get ketchup everywhere. It was like splatters of blood.

I sighed and raised my head, chewing on my lip. “I get money from a trust my parents set up for me before they died. It’s just enough to pay my rent with a little — a very little — left over. But I’ve already spent my money for the month and there’s no way I’d be able to rebuy all my stuff anyway. And to get a new place I’d need security deposit money and all that. I should have gotten the renter’s insurance, but it seemed too expensive.”

Curtis sighed. “It does sound like you’re pretty close to fucked.” He slurped loudly at his soda. “I don’t mind you staying with me until you get yourself back on your feet, but you need to get some money rolling in.”

No duh, I barely didn’t say.

“I know a guy,” Curtis said slowly. “He’s looking for some reliable people that know how to keep their mouths shut.”

“I can do that,” I said excitedly, sitting up.

“It’s…” Curtis leaned forward very seriously, his voice lowering until I could barely hear him. “The job is pretty shady. If you go into this… it’s some very serious business.”

“Dude, I need the money. I’m in.” I gave him my most serious look, which was then ruined by my stomach rumbling loudly. I hadn’t eaten anything all day and no matter how disgusting his leftover food looked, it was food and I was starving.

Curtis sighed. “I’ll give you the guy’s address and I’ll call him to give him a heads up.” He waved his hand at the little blond waitress flouncing by in her tiny denim shorts. “Until then, order something to eat.”

I opened my mouth to protest, “I…”

He pointed at my nose, making me snap my mouth shut. “Be quiet. I’ll pay for your food, so stop acting like a bitch. You can pay me back later when you’re rich.”

“Okay,” I said meekly. There’s always something so humiliating about having to let someone help me out, but there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it now. I’m poor. I’m hopeless. I’m about an inch away from driving right over the edge.

So what was the big drama about letting Curtis buy me a burger?

——

The address Curtis sent me to was a third-floor walk-up that gave me a bit of a danger vibe. I had a definite sense that I was about to enter a career in crime and I should have probably felt bad about it or something.

Honestly, I don’t give a damn. I need the money and I’m going to get the money. That’s just the way the world shakes itself out.

Drawing in a deep breath, I pulled open the lobby doors and strode inside, trying to pretend that I belonged. I could feel eyes passing over my skin, but I just hunched my shoulders and ignored all those assholes that just couldn’t mind their own business.

There was no elevator, so I took the stairs two at a time just because.

It was super hot in the stairwell and every impulse burning through my brain urged me to get back out into the open, back into the places where I could breathe. There was a faint buzzing in my ears and I had to wonder if all the heat was going to make me throw up or something equally embarrassing.

God but I hate the heat.

I burst out of the stairwell like I was escaping the womb. It wouldn’t have been such a great surprise to look back and see that I was trailing blood and amniotic fluid. I drew in great big gasps of breath and shook my head back and forth like a dog, trying to clear my mind of disturbing imagery and the awfulness of having been trapped, even if it was just in my own mind.

Once I was in the hallway, my heartbeat slowed down and I felt calmer and less like I was about to start screaming like a maniac. I glanced down at my hand where I’d written the address and walked until I found the right door.

I stood there for several long minutes just getting up my energy before I was able to ring the doorbell. Which sounded like a high-pitched scream.

Almost immediately the door was jerked partway open and I caught a view of half of a big black guy’s face. “Yeah?”

I licked my lips, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other. “Hey, yeah, dude, uh, I’m Shine. I’m supposed to see a dude.”

The guy pursed his lips, his eyes flowing up and down my body as he tried to judge whether I was telling the truth. Finally he released the bolt and pulled the door open. I couldn’t help a squirm of fear when I caught a good look at him. He was at least two feet taller than me and was three times as wide with a thick layer of fat over powerful muscles.

“Well? Are you going to get your ass in here?” he demanded.

“Oh, yeah, right.” I tried not to brush against any part of him as I went inside an apartment that smelled like weed and day old booze. There was a mishmash of people arrayed around the living room, with a couple doing something at a small table with their backs to the room. Some dangerous looking guys were sitting on the couch in front of the TV playing video games and drinking booze. They didn’t glance up at me, but I knew I had their attention and if I caused any trouble I’d probably be dead.

“Who are you?” A white guy with red dreads demanded from the black leather recliner. He was wearing a large white tee shirt and blue jeans and there were about twenty dozen black bands jangling on his wrist as he raised his hand to his mouth and took a big toke, smoke swirling around his head like the face of the devil.

“I’m Shine,” I said, trying to keep my spine straight. My eyes wanted to flick to everyone else in the room and away. There was a sickening churn going through my stomach and I suddenly felt like I had to pee.

I’m okay once I know what I’m supposed to do, but it’s the unknowing that drives me to the brink of crazy. I have a thing for rules and routines and standing in front of a guy about ready to beg for a job was messing me all up.

“Full name,” he demanded, flashing me a pair of snake-eyes. I’d never seen someone with a real life EyeJob before and it was pretty creepy, those slit-eyed pupils in an otherwise human face.

I wanted to mutter it so no one else could hear, but there was no way I was getting a job if I acted like a pussy. “Sunshine Moon Beam.”

I braced myself for the mockery and I wasn’t disappointed.

His laugh was a rich deep sound so much louder than the laughs of the rest of his crew, but they were all laughing at me. Humiliation burned my cheeks and somewhere in my brain there was a sudden bright rush of hatred I hurriedly controlled. I needed a job from this guy, and letting myself go bonzo on him wasn’t going to get me very far. Especially if his guys just turned around and killed me.

“What kind of name is that?” he asked once he’d regained control.

I shrugged. “My parents thought they were hippies. Since our last name is ‘Beam,’ they thought they were being clever or something.”

“You sound bitter,” he said.

“Yeah, maybe a little. They got to be cool for five minutes and I was left with a funny name for the rest of my life.” My hands twitched to go into the safety of my pockets, but I stopped myself. There was no room to be a weirdo, not right now. “I just go by Shine.”

He grunted. “All right. Good enough. You’re hired.”

I was shocked. “What?”

He laughed. “Curtis called me and got you the job already. He said you’ve got anxiety issues and shit so you’d be bad for an interview, but you didn’t do so bad. You’re hired.”

“Oh, wow.” I huffed a disbelieving laugh. “Thanks, uh, sir.?”

“Did you hear him boys?” He turned his head toward the other guys. “He called me ‘sir.’ That’s the sign of a good upbringing.” He looked back at me. “My name is Damien Storm. You can call me Damien.”

I fought to keep my face still. What a lame fucking name, obviously a fake. Who did he think he was kidding, picking something out of a romance novel? I said aloud, “Thank you for the job Damien. What exactly am I supposed to do?”

He smiled at me and I fought not to notice that he had an awful lot of teeth. It looked like he’d had more done than an EyeJob, though I’d never met an animal with so many pearly whites.

“All you’ve gotta do is deliver a few packages for me, no questions asked, no peeking. It’s not that hard.” His eyes were serious, assessing me for my worth. “Do you think you can do something like that?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said, nodding my head. “I can do that. I’m not a very curious person at all.”

“Good. Good.” He bobbed his head up and down as though hearing some silent music. “I think we’re going to have a great relationship. Very workmanlike and solid. You will be my new go-to guy, at least, if Curtis is to be believed. He seems to think you hung the moon and pissed on Jesus.”

I didn’t know how to respond, though inside I thought I heard a voice mouth a disbelieving “Wow.” I mean, what do you even say in response to something like that? I did the only thing I could do. I completely ignored the way he’d phrased it and focused on the main idea.

“I promise to do a good job,” I said fervently, nodding my head to show I was honest and trustworthy. Because I really need the money and I could put up with a lot as long as I was being paid.

“Fire,” he agreed, like that was supposed to mean something to me.

I just nodded and smiled. I was no longer unemployed.

/CHAPTER

[table “19” not found /]