Regrets, Delusions, and Tough Luck

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[regretsdelusionstoughluck]

NT Parliament votes to decriminalise sex work

The Northern Territory becomes the third jurisdiction in the world to decriminalise sex work, as MPs vote to adopt new legislation which mea

[regretsdelusionstoughluck]

PART 5

FRIDAY EVENING: 4:15 PM

An hour after Oliver left work, he briefly passed by his apartment, washed some dishes and folded some clothes before heading out. He finished off the remainder of a bottle of sangria in his refrigerator before following the alcohol up with a two glasses of water. He sat on the sofa for about an hour before he headed out the door. He printed the directions off of Google reviewing them for about 10 minutes and drove off. He stopped at a nearby Publix and purchased a bottle of Arbor Mist and some small plastic cups before completing the trip. The drive was approximately 50 minutes with traffic. Oliver’s state of being could be described as a nervous, beginning to experience stomach cramps upon arriving to the apartment complex. When he got to the door, he shot Evandro a text before knocking. Evandro, who was still in his uniform was in the process of fixing a snack when he walked to the door.

“Ollie?”

“Yep” Oliver responded nervously. Holding the bag of wine.

“Come on in”.

[”Ollie”? The last person to call me that was Damon. And before him, it was my high school sweet hart. Of course, she’s now a single mom with four kids and not a baby daddy in site. I see you]

After a long embrace, Evandro asked him what was in the bag.

“Well sit down!” Evandro said, “Let’s have a drink”

“Sure thing, and FYI, whatever we don’t finish today, it’s yours to keep”

“Thanks man”

As Evandro put the crushed the ice up on the counter, Oliver sat at the table. “So man, nice place so far”

“Thanks, considering the circumstances, I’d call it a blessing” After pouring some of the blackberry Arbor Mist, Evandro began the conversation.

Finishing half a bottle of wine, they switched the conversation to general things, such as the TV system in the living room.

“We’ve nearly finished a bottle of wine” Evandro said “You might wanna hang here for a bit, let the alcohol simmer”

“Not a bad idea” Oliver responded.

They caught up with “The Resident”, watching that last two episodes before Evandro walked him out. 

“Get home safe”, Evandro said as he watched Oliver get in his truck and exit the complex. Oliver had a smooth trip home, w/o encountering any traffic jams. He stopped by Subway and picked up a sandwich, eating in his vehicle before arriving at his apartment. He threw his empty bag in the dumpster before unlocking his door. Noticing a very unpleasant odor in the apartment, he looked around to see what had spoiled. He saw nothing in his refrigerator that would have gone bad. He concluded that it must have been his neighbor.  

“Nasty fucking people” he said under his breath. He turned on the fans in addition to spraying air freshener in his home. 

[So yeah, I have a client to see tomorrow for an overnight stay. I rarely bring client’s to my place and in the even that I do, I give them a 50% discount as this is awful. I have an overnight hotel stay. Shit like this is why, they don’t come. That and the fact that this is a dangerous job. My neighbor is what we call one of those hippie types. Doesn’t believe in using soap to shower, he has animals that he really isn’t supposed to have, and he doesn’t clean up after them. It’s like those folks, who bring their animals to restaurants and let them shit where people are sitting, and then when people call them on it, we have a new “discrimination” case.]

He left his home and stayed out for another hour or so, hoping to give the fans some time to eliminate the scent out of his apartment. 

Coming back to the apartment, he noticed the temperature in his home had gone down, however the stench was as strong as ever, as he was walking in, a neighbor informed him that there were rats caught in some of the vents. 

“I’m getting out of this lease, I’m packing my shit and I’m moving out!, I’ll stay with mom for a bit until I can find another place. I can’t do it anymore!”  He ranted. 

[It’s almost worth just leaving the door open, not like I got shit worth taking]

He called Damon, in the heat of the moment to see if he could crash.

The plan was that Oliver would pack his clothes tonight as he’d be staying at a hotel Saturday anyway. From there, he’d move in with his mother. He packed his clothes for the night and locked the door behind him and headed to Damon’s place. Where he slept. 

The following morning, the pair had breakfast at a local diner where Oliver disclosed more about the plan. He would stay the night as he did at Damon’s. From there, he’d pack his laptop. Going by his apartment he’d pack items such as his television and his other electronics. He’d meet his mother somewhere and have these items descreetly shifted. He would then put his furniture in storage.

“Well damn” Damon said. Oliver wasn’t going to be at his apartment much anyway this Saturday as he had an overnight appointment. Conversation was interrupted by the waitress

After Clara left to fetch their drinks, they resumed the conversation regarding his Oliver’s situation. “I’m going to pay to penalty man” Oliver said. 

“I don’t blame you” Damon responded. “You’ve been having problems at that apartment for years. That son of a bitch needs to be burned down.” 

Oliver laughed while looking at his phone. “You crazy”

“I know” 

Clara returned with their drinks. “OJ here and water here. I bought you some extra lemons for your water”

“Thanks!” Oliver exclaimed

“No problem, your food should be out in a little bit. Let me know if you need anything else”

Oliver knew the place was a dump. “My neighbor is nasty AF” 

[That’s the problem with apartments. One unit has roaches, everyone one else does.]

“That’s why I got a house. Apartments are the worst. Shit like that is why you can’t eat everybody’s cooking and you can’t invite everybody to the potluck.”

“And you can’t go to everybody else’s potluck either”

Oliver felt trapped. He would hold back rent payments but he’d have to pay that back. It was like a nightmare one couldn’t wake up from. The furniture was inexpensive so he didn’t mind leaving it a while longer. His complex was disgusting. Think “Infested!” On animal planet with the Ottawa, Canada apartment. After breakfast, he planned to obtain the remainder of his valuables.

“Yo, you mind if I stop at the gas station on the way back to the house?”

“Not at all, got a while before checking in to my hotel anyway”

“Hotel? Oh shit!”

They eventually finished breakfast. Cleaning their plates and getting the checks.

“The gentleman in the khaki shorts agreed to cover your bill.” Clara said much to Oliver’s surprise.

“Well let me get my friends bill”

“Thanks......” Damon said

“No big, Mom said when someone blessed you you bless others and that’s what happened to me today”

“Well, I got the alcohol this evening. There’s this joint in Miami Beach that has all the good shit at low prices if we’re talking alcoholic pricing. The clerk Raja, let’s just say, I got the hookup.”

“So you throwing the next party?”

At the store, he picked up a Pinot Grigio, a bottle of Blue Curaçao, and some Hypnotic.

“What else you want man?”

“Ummm I guess some pineapple juice for the curaçao. Make a good blue Hawaii”

At the register Raja noticed items “Somebody is about to get wasted.”

“You already know, but I’m a smart guy, home only”. They left and went Oliver’s apartment, to check on the status. He stood there momentarily and thought to himself He’d come back and pack up his items after his “date” with the client. 

[My client is already paying an arm and a leg to have his way with me. At the least, I’ll put up the hotel fees. Some may do otherwise, but it’s a one night stay and I figure I’ll get it back.]

The pair went back home to drink, when Damon asked him if he ever tried weed?

“No way! If I were too, I wouldn’t smoke that shit in here in the states.”

[Unless it’s in Colorado.] 

As the afternoon passed, Oliver left to check into his hotel and put his things in his hotel room. He decided that he’d take a swim and then took a short nap before getting ready. The date would include a dinner, have a cocktail, followed by making out. After showering and douching, he put on a pair of brown khaki pants and a cream colored polo that he sported with a navy sports coat. He brushed his hair and then headed down to the hotel bar where he had a beer.He got a text from his client saying that he was on his way. 

[Oh joy. Another date with a self-entitled corporate goon.]

He responded by informing the client that he was at the hotel bar and that he could locate him by his outfit. Cody is a man in his mid 30s, he’s an accountant at a firm downtown. Height wise, he’s about 6′6′ with a slender build. 

[He’s probably married and I’d be willing to bet that they don’t have an open relationship. If you get my drift.]

He escorted Oliver to his car, 

“Nice ride” Oliver said.

“Thanks”

They arrived at a fine dining establishment with a dinner reservation for 7:00pm. Oliver ordered Lobster while his client ordered duck. 

They talked about the job market, ethical issues, etc while waiting on their meals and as they ate their meals. Cody surprisingly made for good conversation and wasn’t full of himself much to Oliver’s surprise. 

[White guy, far left type of kat. Works in corporate american but actually gives a damn. Yeah, he’s a keeper.]

Cody grew up in a rather liberal household southeast standards. He came out to his parents at 15, he had a long term relationship that last about three years. After that breakup, he has been happily single but likes to have fun. They returned to the hotel where they ended their night. Oliver suggested that they chill in the hot tub on the 5th floor initially. “Gotta get out of these clothes first” Cody said.

“Fair enough” Oliver said as they entered the elevator.

Upon entrance of the hotel room, he pointed Cody to the bathroom. “Alright I’ll see you in a bit”.

TO BE CONTINUED WITH PART 6

STORY SYNOPSIS

CHARACTERS

[regretsdelusionstoughluck]

PART 4

PART 4

It’s a Tuesday Morning and Oliver has already called Ms. Cara to inform her that he’ll be in a bit late. “I have a meeting” he said.

“The career fair?” she asked, “I heard you talking about it last week. Hope you see so good stuff.

“Thanks I’ll be in later and I’ll make up the hours over today and tomorrow”

He was dressed in a pair of black dress pants and a peach button down. He got a tie that he YouTubed to figure out the best way to tie and was at the fair 15 minutes before it began. The set up was nice with a map listing each company or agency listed. He had his resumes ready and was prepared for any potential interviews. Looking at his map he decided to work his way slowly to the exit. His first area of stopping was with the U.S. Dept of State. “Hello, Oliver”. “Cynthia Levines” she said before proceeding to discuss what the duties of the Dept of State and mentioned that she was in the Atlanta Resident office. “We offer internships to students. Most do not pay, on the other hand, an internship here is a once in a lifetime experience. We are currently looking for clerks and IT managers. Are you in school?”

“I actually graduated 4 years ago. I worked for FEMA and did other disaster recovery projects”

Oliver explained that while the work was rewarding it had an expiration date. He handed her a resume and she gave him a business card and a card with the agencies website. Working his way to the other end of the fair he saw Primerica with a table, not interested. State Farm and Aflac were also there. He talked with two age agencies before running into Claudia.

“You made it!” She said wearing a navy blue pants suit and blue heels. “See anything good so far?”

“Just finished talking to the US Dept of State. Passed by IEM, gonna go by the social services table”.

“Non profit agency here. Saw VOA. I signed up to take the PRAXIS in a couple of weeks.”

“Anyone hiring thus far?”

“A lot are not”

This wasn’t a shock. It was almost like clickbait you see on the internet with tragic titles for views and then once being clicked on, you wish you had skipped. “Sometimes they call them ‘customized hiring events’. They tell you shit like you need to come dressed to impress only to find out that you didn’t even need to get out of bed for it. Oliver had gone through this routine one time too many. At this rate he’d be whoring himself until he was 50. He had a game plan He decided that he’d start graduate school in the spring, however he wasn’t sure where. The pair stayed at the fair for about two hours before leaving. Oliver decided to make a quick run to Subway before heading back to the office.

“Good afternoon” Ms. Cara said Oliver walked in. “See anyone good?”

“Saw a few interesting things. Put my resume out there. Going to check out the U.S. Dept of State”

“That’s great!”

“I’m actually starting graduate school in the spring. I’d like to see if I can compete the studies online”

He then proceeded to input records until an excel sheet.

Claudia returns from lunch and they talked abbot about the job fair. “A few disaster recovery agencies” [of course, to clean up debris]. “I applied to a few places but there were a lot that were very job specific” Oliver complained as he begin to file papers.

He worked until closing time. Later at the gym as he was finishing a set of squats, he walked passed a young man when the young man stopped and turned around. “Oliver?!” pauses for a minute. “Wudup?”

“Man, remember me? Swim meets, we were always paired up against each other”

“Wait a second, Milek??”

“Yep”

“Where the hell have YOU been?”

“Long story”

He explained that after graduating high school that he had taken some time to travel. However he’s currently working as a server.

“I’m at this new bar that just opened downtown, you’ll have to come one day”

“I’m in the non-profit field right now”

“What’s your number man? You free tonight? I got a night off.”

After they exchanged contact information, Oliver returned to his workout. “I’ll catch you later?”

“Sure thing man”

Later that night the two of them met at TGI Fridays.

“I love that chicken and shrimp pasta” Oliver said as he looked at the menu. Milek decided to begin the conversation that they left off at in the gym.

[like sucking off, jacking off, and risking my life]

Oliver continued the conversation after taking a sip of his lemonade

Milek chuckled for a moment before taking a sip of his beer.

They conversed for a long period covering everything from family to school to the news before eating. After they ate, they parted ways. 

“Guess I’ll see you at the gym” Milek said as he got in his truck.

“I’m sure you will, it’s my second home”.

[”Pray”, that’s what I was taught growing up. “God helps those who help themselves”. “Pray without ceasing”. Ummm yeah, we all see how well that went. I’d say more, but I’d be doing endless Hail Marys if I did.]

At home, Oliver went straight for the sofa when he received a phone call from a number that he didn’t recognize. He ignored the phone the first time, and said, “they’ll leave a message”. He went to the kitchen to get a cup of water and when he came back, he noticed two more phone calls from the number. He deiced to listen to the voicemail. It was Evandro. The voicemail was somewhat lengthy, with explaining that he had gotten his number from his cousin and that something was put on his heart to call Oliver.

Oliver decided to call, immediately Evandro picked up the phone

After hanging up with Evandro, he decided to shoot a Facebook message to Carlos. “Thanks”.

STORY SYNOPSIS

CHARACTERS

PART 5 TO FOLLOW

[regretsdelusionstoughluck]

[whoresarenotcriminals]

““We chose sex work after we did a lot of things we couldn’t stand… It is the most honest work I know of””

— Veronica Monet for Gauntlet Magazine

[regretsdelusionstoughluck]

PART 3

WEDNESDAY MORNING

While Damon was online looking for odd jobs he noticed an add for dancers needed. He’s had a stripper license since he was 19 and used this as a means for extra money when not deployed. He sent this to Oliver in an email prior to calling him on his way to the pharmacy.

“Morning”

“Check out the email”

As he pulled out his iPad, he saw the email

“What the fuck is this?”

“Strippin....you already do way more,  plus a bachelorette party would get you a killing. I used to dance at a few of them when I was home”

“Got anything else?”

“Banquets, I know a lot of companies. I can send you a list of catering companies you could do work for. What you got going on right now?”

“Laying on the couch, going into the office”

[Really? That’s the best you got? What part of “I want out of this life do you not understand?]

While he wasn’t thrilled about it, he took some time to think about t and he realized that bachelorette parties are for the entertainment value and he did keep his body in shape. However, didn’t want his current situation to mirror that of “The Players Club”.

Oliver got up from the couch to fix himself an omelette while continuing to talk. “Yo, I got you on speaker phone, doing some stuff in the kitchen”

“Man, remember when we were young and we would see vacationers out here, we vowed that one day it would be us taking trips with our families?”

“I do, and when I look at where I’m at, I think to myself “What the actual fuck?”

[We were lied to. In 2008, when we were in high school, we were told to go to college. That it was the ticket to a successful life. What they didn’t tell us is that the economy would tank. They didn’t go cover any alternatives. They never went over the cost of living and the fact that people here are working three jobs. I should have seen this with my own parents. Dad worked for the state and then worked as a janitor in the evenings. Mom still works as a financial aid officer at a state college. The preparation sucked. What the fuck am I gonna use creative writing for? Why was that in school?]

He cut the conversation short to eat his breakfast and get a shower in before work. Afterwards, he ironed a pair of pants and a golf shirt and heaved to the office where the direction informed him and Claudia:

“I have a project for the two of you. Our event is coming up at the mall. You two are going to be drawing outlines to these animal pieces on the construction poet right there. We’re expecting about 200 kids”

“No problem” Oliver said looking at the green construction paper in front of him

“It’ll be a breeze” Claudia assured him as she took a pair of scissors and the elephant trunk and demonstrated. 

“So it’s like build a bear type of think but with other animals but they’re decorating their bags with them. That’s cute”

“Yeah, so are you gonna go to the career fair next week”

“The one at the convention center?”

“Yea, I heard there’s going to be several companies there.”

[Resume-FEMA, fucking, and non-profit]

“I plan on it. Do you know if any government agencies are gonna be there? I couldn’t find a roster anywhere”

“Not sure”

They continued working while talking about goals and aspirations when he noticed an alert on her phone. Knowing the conference due to getting the same alert an hour earlier, he asked her how she knew about it? Somewhat embarrassed, she snapped “What are you doing looking at my phone?!”

“I merely glanced over!” he exclaimed before taking her aside and confessing to being involved in the worlds oldest profession “I hate it. One would think attractive people and pleasure but there’s no real live and frankly it feels like a modern version of slavery. I can’t get a decent date to save my life”

After a moment of silence, she admitted that she was a phone sex operator and that she worked in evenings. “I have a friend who also is in high class escorting”

“High class?”

“Let’s talk about it later? How about we meet for a drink after work? We need to get a bit more of this done.”

Meanwhile, Damon was scouting on the web when his eye caught the attention of a webcam modeling website.

 He though about his current life and how he’d mange to file his taxes. He normally got a 1090 at the end of the year. He also though about the repercussions of this and the thought that the clientele could  be from his local area. He had a flashback to being deployed in Germany where he and some buds where in a night club, partying surrounded by beautiful women. “We are like royalty!”  He thought about a conversation he had with his peer about wanting to serve for eight years and then retire and start college. Little did he know that half way though that time frame that he’d suffer a back injury along w/ PTSD from witnessing the death of a friend at the hands of a grenade.

He applied for work with multiple agencies and thought about how he could sporadically work vs checking in daily. With webcam modeling he could set his own schedule. With that in mind he decided to text Oliver.

“Who was that?”

“My friend Damon”

“So about how long have you with with this company?”

“About six months. I’m trying to start grad school”

They chatted while filing paperwork. They talked about politics, racial issues, economic issues, and the like. Claudia made for good company. She graduated with two degrees. She majored in English Education and Journalism and worked as a teacher’s aide for a period. She was tired of the work with virtually no pay. She responded to an add. Currently she works for a phone sex. One has seen the commercials late at night. She’s one of them. Definitely more conventional than Oliver’s current job. 

As he was getting ready to eat lunch, she Claudia asked him if he wanted to eat while they worked. “Sure” he said as he went to grab his lunch out of his bag. 

“We work with several schools in their special ed departments”

“What do y’all do?”

”We will be finalizing contracts for events mainly. But we do outreach and after school programs on social etiquette and speech practices our goal is to  help those with autism be as integrated into society as possible” Noticing Oliver’s garden salad, she asked him “you health conscious?”

“Yep. Grew up like that. My parent’s rarely fried anything, but they didn’t ban them from the house. My mom was always big on vitamins and drinking plenty of water. I practice that today, to keep things under control. Being a diabetic, I have to watch it.”

Shocked at the revelation she asked him when he was diagnosed. He was diagnosed at 6 years old.

“I’m trying to lose weight, but I find myself emotionally eating more than I should”

Trying to avoid saying anything that could be interpreted as offensive, he simply said that he had his days too, hence the reason he goes to the gym six days/week, doing a combination of cardio and weights. After they finished eating lunch, they cut more construction paper and bagged it. They filed folders away for about an hour when Oliver signed out.”See you tomorrow?”

“You’ll see me in a couple of hours.”

The sun was beaming as Oliver drove home. He rolled down his window and plugged his phone in to have some music playing. He checked the mail and saw the electric bill was in. “Shouldn’t be this much” he said “I’m never home”

He checked his email as well as his escorting profile receiving three request including one overnight stay. Booking these trips back to back, he thought about his weekly check at $8.75/hr at 25 hrs per week along w/ the money from the three client’s that he’d earn. He’d have enough to pay his final payment on his only student loan and to pay his car note.

He kicked off his shoes to give his feet some air and called his mom.

[I’m being nice. This place is a shithole, in fact the only reason my unit isn’t laden with roaches is because I frequently buy those foggers and then I have to open the damn windows and door risking my shit being stolen. Also, Bengal and Boric Acid along the cracks and corners have done wonders.]

He looked up and realized that it was time to meet Claudia. He traded in his work outfit for a pair or black cargo shorts, a zero-nineteen tank top from K-Mart, and a pair of flip-flops and headed out. He got in the truck, turned the air on and arrived to the bar 20 minutes later. Locating Claudia at a table in the bar area we walked in to meet her when the waiter took their drink order.

[She’s a pharmacy tech and she still needs to be a lady of the evening by night? I’m fucked-literally and figuratively]

She advised him to update his profile to include massages and casual dates at a lower rate. While they were talking, A woman walks up, dark skin, about 5′9, in her mid 20s. She spotted Claudia and walked in the sit next to her.

“Hey chick!”

“Hey!”

“Hello, I’m Aya, how are your doing?” she said as she reached out to shake Oliver’s hand

“Oliver, I’m good. How about you?”

“So this is the guy? He’s cute”

“He’s taken”

“Actually I’m very available”

After ordering a drink, she begin to explain to Oliver how she got into her current part time job.  “I started off escorting however a client of mine introduced me to a coworker of his that owned a matchmaking service. I showed up to a mixer I went out on one date. I never saw the guy again afterwards. That said, he did mention to me that he had utilized services where one would rent a dates for events. I eventually branched off and begin advertising on craigslist and the like.”

“So do you still...….you  know?”

“Sporadically, but that’ll cost extra.”

Later that night, he decided to update his profile w/ additional services offered. He decided to try out a couple of speed dating events himself. He might even snap a client or two.  Perhaps, he’d been looking in the wrong places, maybe it was time for more upscale social functions. His current evening work was not a glamorous job and frankly it was quite dangerous. 

[Prostitution can be traced back as far as biblical times. Not a new profession and it’s a profession that’s always been available for the money. Sometimes, we use it to pay off a loan or some sort of debt. For others, it’s the love of sex. Some just like the temporary luxury that comes with being one’s bitch. Me? I’d like nothing more than to settle down. I know there’s a way. It may take a while to find it, but I refuse to have THIS be my stop.]

STORY SYNOPSIS

CHARACTERS

PART 4 TO FOLLOW

[regretsdelusionstoughluck]

PART 2

TUESDAY MORNING:

After taking a shower and eating breakfast, Oliver got in his truck and started driving to work. It was his first day on the job and he wanted to make a good impression. He put on a sky blue Polo shirt and a paid of black business casual pants. He arrived to the site at 8:45 pm where he sat in the Lobby until Ms. Cara came and escorted him inside. "Good morning"

"Good Morning" he responded.

"This will be your work station, this is Claudia and she'll walk you through a bit of what you'll be doing. Today you're going to be helping file"

"Hello"-he was greeted by a young woman with brown hair with blonde highlights. Her complexion was that of a light brown, she appeared to be about 5'5 in height and approximately 130 in weight.

"Hi, Oliver"-In an attempt to make small talk she asked him how he ended up applying for the job.

"Got a degree in Sociology and it's been kind of tough without a masters. I did Disaster Recovery work for a little over two years and was laid off from the last project"

"Sociology? That was my minor. I majored in English Education. The PRAXIS is beating me down."

"I'm actually trying to start graduate school in the spring of 2019. I'm looking at Public Administration. In my interview actually, I was asked why I was drawn to this job. I majored in Sociology w/ the intent of going right to getting my MSW. I was going to take a year off. The storm hit. I worked for FEMA for a year. Normally, these jobs last 4 months, but they extended it. That ended, I was a part of a disaster recovery project that was supposed to last three years, however I was laid off after a year. Found another one that was going on, it was a housing assistance project and that one was a joke. I was fired out of the blue, no write ups, no nothing. Being at-will no explanation was required. I do little odd jobs here and there."

"I'm working a customer service job in the evenings, actually"

[  "Customer Service"? No ma'am.]

Continuting to file paperwork, he was told that they were getting ready for an annual event at the mall. It would be a in a couple of weeks. "Ms. Cara will tell you more about it in your meeting with her later on today. But it's an event they do every year to promote the services of the agency"

"My brother is autistic. High Functioning" "We work with autistic children of all levels".

As time went by he took his lunch. He took lunch for about an hour arriving back to work just in time for his 1:00 pm meeting with the director. They went over some of what he would be doing, the expectations of behavior at work and the rules on lunch.

He finished out the rest of his shift getting off 3:00 pm when he decided to call his mother.

On his way home, he decided to make a quick stop to a nearby convenicne store and purchase a bottle of grey goose and a bag of ice to go with the bottle of cranberry juice that he had in his refrigerator. He didn't have much of an appetite, so the plan was to drink himself to sleep. At times he found himself drinking in order to keep from crying. He arrived at his house and as he was getting ready to fix the concoction, Damon texted him.

He looked over at his phone and said "I'll get back w/ him later". Little did he know that Damon would call him shortly afterwards. He let the phone ring three times before he picked up.

But he didn't take a shower right away. He drank half of the bottle of liquor before laying in the middle of the bed. Looking at the clock he decided to make the phone call.

"Negro, you two hours late. Where you been?"

"Drunk"

"Damn bruh"

He paused and said "Man, I think I need to go back to work." "You don't like working for your uncle?"

"I wanna keep that, I'm talking about a day job."

"Doing what?"

"Merchandising stores maybe, DRIVELINE is hiring. Plus Florida always got road work going on".

"This is Miami, jump on another drug cartel?"

"Fuck that, after witnessing my older brother's murder when he tried to leave, Never again"

"you willing to ditch the SSA?"

"Yeah!" Damon said as he scoffed. "It's a joke. The VA is okay, but the Social Security is a joke. My SNAP is a ripoff. I can't even buy milk and eggs with that shit. If I was a woman with 7 or 8 kids, that'd be a whole other story"

Oliver had to laugh for a minute. "I'm laughing with your not at you just so you know" He cut the conversation short by stating that he was getting ready for the morning.

"Goodnight"

Damon sat up for a bit looking for odd jobs online when he came across an ad. "Oh damn, I gotta call Oliver in the AM" He then had a flashback to him leaving a hotel following an event.  He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and graphic t-shirt with a pair of headphones.

"$900 in one night? Not a bad way to spend time off right?" He asked his army mate.

"Right! Two weeks before we head to Germany, but this weekend we are going to get toasted"

"Man, so this is Miami? The women. There's such variation"

"Look my brotha, you don't need to be making no baby, you about to be deployed in two weeks. I saw you eyeballing that girl. You might not ever even see her again"

He wondered where his army buddy was at. If he was even still alive. After his flashback, he decided to go to bed.

 PART THREE TO FOLLOW

 STORY SYNOPSIS

CHARACTERS

[regretsdelusionstoughluck]

PART 1

The atmosphere of the auditorium was exciting as the students were preparing for graduation. Oliver excitedly put on his cords for graduating Magna Cum Laude in Sociology and being in the National Honor Society.  Marching out on the floor, he saw his mom, dad, brother and sister sitting near the floor slightly above where he’d be sitting at. The graduation was about three hours with a large class. He listened to sounds of horns as his parents heard his name. It was a lovely day. He worked hard for this. He finished his undergraduate studies at the young age of 21. Through high school AP courses and early admissions he completed two semesters before setting foot on the college campus. As the graduation came to an end and he through his cap in the air, he waited for his parents to meet him on the floor before they all walked down and headed to lunch. He had his plans laid out, he was going to take a year off and work and then go to graduate school. 

FOUR YEARS LATER

[Oliver Narrating]

[I didn’t  think that this would be my path. I thought that by now I’d have my MSW. Hard times hit. The economy kind of fucked up where I’m at when I got to college and the bachelor’s degree is essentially the new high school diploma. I know social work is a relatively low paying job, but prostitution was not my aspiration. I grew up in Miami Gardens, my parents both come from the West Indies. My mom is from Haiti and my dad is from Trinidad. I was raised the typical black Caribbean way. Got our asses whipped quite a bit. There was a lot of spices in our food and our parents wanted better for us than they did for themselves. My mother? She thinks I dance, but she doesn’t  know it all]

Laying in the bed, motionless as he watched his client get dressed to leave after a long night, he pondered on how the he got to this place and what he missed when he was in school. He earned $750 for the night, which was enough to make the rent in his run down apartment.

“Thanks for a great time”, the client said as he slipped on his tank top and escorted himself out. Oliver Still numb struggled to get up and make it to the shower. He took a rather long shower before going to make his car payment. While running errands, he met his childhood friend Damon for breakfast. Damon is a disabled veteran (retired from the Army) who lives a simple life. He lives in a small home in a low income community.

[Damon, black father of Jamaican ancestry. Mom is of Dutch descent. White mama black daddy.nothing new. He grew up in the same community as me. His dad fled when he was really young. It was in the cards that he escape the community that he grew up in]

“So how you holding up?”

“I’m here” Oliver said “make a good little bit of change last night”

Damon unimpressed simply responded “good”

“Good?”

“I’m just sad that you wound up like this?”

“So am I, I thought I played my cards right but so far the best job I’ve obtained outside of work has been a temporary job, I worked for FEMA and that job was much longer than I thought it would be. It lasted two years.”

[My job lasted for two years and I did a bit of modeling part time. Of course “modeling” in this area is just a code word for pornography. I wound up jacking off on two videos and then I begin to advertise on craigslist. Shit. Did I need to go to school for this?]

“At least you have something on  your resume”

“How’s your mom?”

“She’s good. My dad died in October of last year. He had cancer”

“Sorry”

“It’s fine, it was aggressive. He had deteriorated to the point that he was no longer living. He was miserable”

“How about you?”

“My check allows me the basics. Food stamp amount is shit. I fight wars for the country and this is the thanks that I get?”

“Basically, we know you served our country and risked your life but ‘fuck you’ right?”

“Yup” as Damon scoffed.

After brunch, Oliver suggested that Damon get int he car with ihm while he finishes his errands.

“Gotta pay some bills, it won’t take long”

“Got all day”

He payed his electric, water, and phone bill. He went to the bank to make a deposit.

“ballin”, Damon joked

“Yeah right! It helps that I don’t have cable, I use this service called NUMEDIATV that’s only like 50 a month”

After an hour and a half, he dropped Damon back of fto his car. “How long you gonna be in town?”

“I got nothing but time, ain’t shit going on at the house”

“Well how about we go for drinks later?”

He was on his way home when he recieved a phone call from the non profit orginazation that he interviewed for.

[Lord knows I wanted to say “well thanks, still not enough to retire from sucking dick”, but it gives me a little relief. Client’s can ge quite ungrateful. It’s difficult being bisexual, black, and still wanting to date. Girls? It’s hard to find one who is willing to date a guy who’s attracted to other guys. Guys? I’m either in denial about my sexuality or they all want to fuck. Just because this is my part time job doesn’t mean I want you grabbing my ass at the beach.]

He arrived home and decided to turn Hulu up. After watching an episode of “The Resident”, he decided to go the the gym. He stayed at the gym for roughly two ours. He worked out hard. He takes good care of his body for health and job security. He recalled a moment where a client tried to rape him in his first year of the profession and barely got out alive. That trauma actually fueled his work out and made it want to work out even harder.

With his bag already packed for the weekend, he met up with Damon at Publix and Damon followed him to the resort where he’d be staying for the weekend.

The drive was about 45 minutes away from where Oliver resided with a stunning view. The town was impressive and give Oliver some time to  think. He was glad to have a little relief with this part time job and a night off with no clients. He arrived at the resort where he checked in. After he checked in, he called Damon and told him that he was on his way out and suggested that they go to the mall to kill some time.

There was a moment of silence and then Damon asked when Oliver had last seen Carlos.

“I saw him about a year ago, I talk to him on Facebook, he lives in Tallahassee now. He does the modeling thing.”

[We grew up with Carlos.  He lived in a neighborhood not far from ours. Miami Springs is a majority black suburb of Miami. Damon is my ace from pre school. We met Carlos through a mutual friend in basketball camp. His parents were working class. He dropped out of school due to circumstances beyond his control. He recently enrolled in high school online and earned his high school diploma]

“When I last talked to him, he said he was going to a medical training school in the fall”

“Nice!”

They spent a bit of time in the mall before heading back to Oliver’s hotel room to shower. 

“You know the deal. Drive behind me and follow me in”The hotel room had two bathrooms that way neither one had to wait on the other.

Upon getting out of the shower, Oliver sprayed some Axe on and sat on the couch of the living room. 

“Damn, you clean up sharp”

Damon said noticing the lavender button down and pair of khaki pants Oliver was wearing. While Oliver said “you too! I like that color” pointing to Damon’s bright green button down which he sported with a black vest and pair of dark blue jeans.

“Yo I found this steakhouse up the road, looks like they got a nice bar”

At the bar, the bartender noticed them well dressed and asked what kind of work they did.

“Hospitality, but we’re here for a conference”

“What will it be boss?”

“Dos Equis”

“Mai Tai”

They each ordered Sirlons medium well. Wondering how Damon was doing, how he was managing he admitted that his uncle had a construction company.

“I do a little work under the table. I handle the clerical duties for my uncle’s business. Doesn’t pay a whole lot but, gets me out the house. Gives me extra money”

“I landed a part time job with a non profit agency, start next week”

“Great! Man, I’ve never known you to settle for “ok”. You’ve aspired a better life for as long as I can remember”

“Here you guys are” the bartender said as he put their plants in front of them.

“Man, I’m about to kill this!”They ate rather silently, keeping the conversation somewhat wholesome as they were sitting at the bar and did not want the bartender knowing too much of their real work situation. After paying the bill, they drove back to the hotel.

“Damon, why don’t you just crash for tonight”

“Okay Thank!”

“It is so nice to come to a hotel and not have to suck dick”

“Umm.....yeah, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that with me”

“Duly noted. I find I get along better with straight guys than other gay dudes for this very reason”

“You hate your job don’t you?”

“Ummmm yeah!”

“Well goodnight”

“’Night”

Friday Morning around 10AM, they woke up and decided to go to the pool.

“Can I say thanks for the invite?”

“No problem, it must be nice to have your uncle as your boss”

“It’s got it’s perks. As long as I don’t take advantage of him.”

With the sun beaming down and the pool very enticing, Oliver decided to locate a ladder on the deep end and plunge in in order to immerse himself.

“Bruh, you might as well do it now”

“Oh shit, HOLY SHIT! THIS IS COLD”

As they swam to the shallow end towards the steps, Damon asked him if this was the nicest place that he had been. 

Oliver nodded, and looked at the sky ahead of him and thought about it. It seemed so far away right now. 

PART TWO TO FOLLOW

STORY SYNOPSIS

CHARACTERS