I took a bus away from my new foster home, away from the overly zealous couple with 4 screaming kids at home. They “expect me to help out”, hell no. I wasn’t gonna waste my life slaving after those brats, they could just go back to the agency and get themselves another sucker. So I was headed out on my own at the ripe old age of 19.
The bus took me to a small town on the outskirts of.. does it matter? I just wanted a place to stay, something to eat – which probably requires a job of some sort. I walked the streets trying to find a place that would hire me. After trying a grocery store, a clothing store, and a candy store, I found a shabby little restaurant called Earl’s. I walked in.
I walked up to the bar where a tall skinny man wearing a dirty smock was drying some glasses. He eyed me up and down with narrow eyes. “What can I do ya?”
- I was hoping for a job.
- Well.. kinda young aintcha?
- I’m 19. I’ve left home. I really need a job. And a place I can stay if you know of one…
- Hm…. I’ll give you a try. You could come on with me home, my wife and I, we have a spare bedroom. Don’t got any kids. Of course, you’ll get a lil bit taken out of your paycheck..
- Great! Sounds perfect! Thank you so much.
- Just for now. We’ll have to see how ya do.. Go sit over there while I finish up.
- Ok. Should I help?
- No, no. I’m all but done.
- K. What’s your name?
- Earl. Yours?
- Cherry.
- Nice. Cherry. Like the sound of that. Jenny, you can get up now. Go on home.
It was then that I realized Earl wasn’t alone behind the counter. A blond girl came up, wiping her lips. Imagining what had been going on made a deep blush come up on my cheeks. Without a word, she was gone. I never saw her again after that night, never asked Earl either.
Thus started my employment with Earl. Two weeks later, I was a veteran. I had the menu memorized, waited tables, made drinks, even cooked a few things. And as far as homelife went, there wasn’t any discomfort at all. Earl and his wife pretty much left me on my own, just like I was renting my own apartment. Except for the meals that they insisted on my joining.
Just one little thing was a bit uncomfortable. Sometimes before or after me and Earl leave for work, Earl would cash in on his wife’s “womanly duties”. Being in the room next door, it was hard not to hear.
- Oh Earl. I got a headache.
- Uhn. It’ll be over in a minute. I’ll make it real quick.