Just Another Job (4 page)

“I think your
hair actually turns redder when you give me such sage advice. Or
did you just dye it again?
”

Frank punched
him in the arm.
“
You know
it
’
s my natural color.
”

“Relax,
I
’
m just saying you can do better than the Molly
Ringwald look.
”

Frank
’
s chuckle turned into
a full out laugh that almost covered up his response,
“
You fuckin
’
shit.
”

A few stray
cars littered the parking lot of the gym. Frank parked to the side
next to the dirt path that looped around a man-made lake and a
miniature park. They never used the running machines in the gym. It
was a waste in both their eyes to run in-place in an air
conditioned building when real dirt, trees, and water could
surround their exercise. But for after running, you
couldn
’
t beat top of the line free weights and
machines.

After a few
quick stretches, Frank pulled out his phone, tapped the screen a
couple times, and thrust it under Chris
’
s
nose.

“Again?
”
asked Chris.

“It
’
s a new one. Hurry
up. I
’
m gonna start without you.
”

Chris pressed
play and watched. A twenty something man was talking excitedly into
the camera. He kept swinging his arms around and then pointed to
his knuckles. The camera zoomed in, but there was nothing out of
the ordinary. A brick wall stood behind the young man and the
camera zoomed in on this too. Then the camera pulled back to show
off the wild gestures of the subject. The man finally appeared
ready. He clenched his hand into a fist and pulled his arm back
farther than necessary. He gave a gleeful look back at the camera
and then shot his hand straight into the wall. A small explosion
went off. Dust filled the screen, but dissipated quickly. The man
jumped in place repeatedly while pointing at a giant hole in the
brick wall. The camera zoomed in again to show broken bricks and
dust that used to be bricks covering the floor on the other side of
the wall. The man shoved his super powered knuckles into the
camera
’
s view again and the video stopped.

“Nice magic
show,
”
said Chris, and handed the phone back.

“I
’
m telling you it
’
s real and
it
’
s all over the internet. Everyone is talking about it
and there are rumors that these aren
’
t the only
two.
”

“Yep. Those
internet rumors are great news sources. Are you thinking we should
invest in the spandex industry or something?
”

Frank gave
up.
“
Let
’
s
go.
”

Sweat dripped from Chris and Frank into the
dirt path as they stretched again to cool down from the run. Chris
thought of the videos, the boy that broke his leg, the signature he
needed, and then if anyone else would break their hand trying to
punch a wall. Why did Frank believe these were real? You could do
anything with special effects even at home with a basic
computer.

“Get your eyes
out of the dirt. We have twenty minutes to run through our
circuit,
”
said Frank.

Just under
that twenty minute goal, Frank led Chris out of the gym and back to
the truck. The two typically sat silent during the trip back, but
Frank couldn
’
t hold it
in.

“It would be
so awesome to have that kind of power.
”

“Yeah, I bet
our boys would love it too.
”

“Real, live
superheroes.
”

“You know,
though, Louise would just complain,
‘
While you were out
fighting crime, Mom had to cook dinner again.
”’

The
conversation ended with Chris
’
s house in view.
Frank parked and grunted a distracted
‘
see you at
work
’
while Chris trotted out of the pickup. Sadie ushered
the kids around the house in stations. Louise got her ten minutes
to primp, Gerry five to clean up his room and then everyone met at
the table for breakfast.

“Put your
phone away,
”
said Sadie to Chris.

“Put your
phone away,
”
mimicked Chris. Sadie gave him a look
fueled by an early morning honking. Chris added,
“
Louise.
”

“I
don
’
t have my phone out, Dad.
”

“Oh really?
Because I know how quick you can be. Phone out texting one second
and then
–
bam
–
in your back pocket the next.
You
’
re probably even faster than the Flash
now.
”

Louise rolled her eyes as blatantly as
possible.

“Bang,
”
said Gerry, and pretended to pull out
a phone and put it back in his pocket as fast as he
could.

“You drive me
crazy,
”
said Sadie.

After breakfast, Chris showered, dressed,
and made his rounds for goodbyes. Sadie was always last.

“You can still
call in sick.
”
Sadie smirked, knowing it was a long
shot.

“It
’
s Friday.
I
’
ll be home early. You
’
ll hardly know I was
gone.
”

“I always know
when you
’
re gone. At least pick up the pizza on your way
home.
”

She kissed her husband and allowed him to
leave.

Chris
’
s local, retail
X-Tech covered a quarter of the shopping strip area off the
freeway. This was the first of many that spanned across North
America west of the Mississippi and was less than five minutes from
their downtown headquarters. A garish grey building with a fifty
foot red x planted in the direct center marked the employment of
hundreds of locals. The community embraced the cheap DVDs, LED TVs,
internet/cable installations and the opportunity to work for a
secure company that offered health and stock benefits. Like too
many other college graduates, Chris and Frank needed an income fast
even if it had nothing to do with what they spent years of
schooling on.

Most of the
employees walked through the main entrance directly under the
crossing steel beams that formed the giant x. Chris had the luxury
of strolling in through the back along with the four other field
tech supporters. He parked the X-Tech pickup in its designated
space, which allowed customers easy viewing of the writing
stenciled on the doors,
“
Home Tech Support
from the Experts.
”

Inside the back room, Steve and Jack doodled
at the break table to pass the time until their shift started.
Chris made eye contact and nodded, then sat down to check his
phone. A door opened and a head peeked in.

“Chris, I need
to see you,
”
said Len.

“Sure thing
Mr. Tesa,
”
said Chris.

Steve and Jack
stopped for a moment at the surprise visit from their manager and
watched Chris stroll out of the break room to Len
Tesa
’
s office. Chris felt the eyes on his back.

“It
’
s cool. I forgot to
get a signature and
…
hey don
’
t forget to make the
caricature of me, with roller skates
…
on the boardwalk.
Thanks guys,
”
said Chris to reassure them. They
nodded at the anticlimactic answer.

The office
shared the same grey walls as the rest of the store and was bare
except for a college degree framed behind the desk. Len motioned
Chris to sit down across from him. As he sat, Chris flipped the
silent button on his phone that had already been hastily stuffed in
his pocket when Len originally intruded into the break room. There
wouldn
’
t be enough time to check for any football trade
updates thought Chris, as he prepared to hear from his manager
about forgetting the signature.

“You probably
know why I called you in to talk,
”
said Len.

“Yeah,
I
’
ll go back and get her signature during my lunch. It
was a bit crazy yesterday.
”

“I can guess.
She called to thank you for your actions. And as helpful as you
were for her
…
it was not the right action to
take.
”

“I probably
should have called an ambulance, I know, but she said they
couldn
’
t afford it.
”

“That would
have been the best thing to do, but as we both know you
didn
’
t do that. Instead you put X-Tech in jeopardy of a
major lawsuit. As you may remember, X-Tech purchases insurance for
home tech workers only. You are not allowed to transport anyone in
an X-Tech pickup, especially a woman with two
minors.
”

“She
’
s suing
you?
”

“No, but we
can
’
t take the risk of something like this happening
again. And as much as we appreciate your years of service, we have
to let you go for this breach of conduct.
”

“What?
She
’
s not suing and you
’
re going to fire me
because I helped her?
”

“Unfortunately, yes.
”

“What?!
”

Len stood up and put forward his hand. Chris
stared at it confused trying to decide what to do. The wait was too
long so Len pulled his hand back and walked around the desk to open
the door. There was nothing left to look at and Chris broke out of
his trance. He wanted to sit longer as a form of protest, but
turned to see Len half smiling and waiting by the open door. Chris
jumped from the chair and pulled the keys out of his pocket to make
a fast escape.

“I need the
keys back too,
”
said Len with a waiting open
hand.

Chris brought
his hand up to drop the keys in Len
’
s hand, but came up
with a better plan and dropped the keys on the floor at
Len
’
s feet instead. As Chris walked out the door, regret
seeped into his head and chest. He thought about turning back to
pick the keys up for Len but the door shut behind him. All he could
do now was leave and Chris couldn
’
t decide which exit
he wanted to take. Shadows formed against the glass window pane on
the door leading back to the break room. He didn
’
t want to
explain to Steve and Jack. Through the store and out the giant x
doors became the best option.

A part of
Chris wanted to run and knock over every end-cap of Blu-rays and
merchandise he could find. Instead he walked calmly out the main
entrance. Chris grabbed his phone out of his pocket. The home
screen leered back at him while he attempted to find the words to
tell Sadie what had just happened. A couple of flicks of the sound
button from on to off and back to on didn
’
t help him form
the words either.

Then Chris jumped in surprise as his phone
lit up with a call from Frank.

“Hey,
Frank.
”

“What
the
–
shit
–
a cop. Hold on.
”

“What are you
doing driving?
”

“I heard what
happened man. Those bastards had no right to fire you over
that.
”

“How could you
have found out already? Where are you going? What the
hell
’
s going on here?
”

“Right behind
you. I figured you needed a ride.
”

Frank
’
s pickup pulled into
the X-Tech parking lot with a sharp turn. The black pickup
comforted Chris somewhat. At least he could tell Sadie in person
instead of awkwardly on the phone that he was fired. Chris hopped
in and Frank peeled out.

“Slow down
turbo,
”
said Chris.