The Struggle Of Our Lives

Chapter 13, continued.

Tomorrow's gonna be an amazing day.

10 a.m.
After eating some cereal with the kiddos, I asked them to grab any school supplies they brought with them, and walk with me to the nearest bus stop. Turns out, when you ask 6 year olds to grab "important" belongings, they'll also pack their backpacks.

We walked down the road to the public transit bus stop, and waited for about 5 mins before the bus came around. In our town, children road transit for free, so we walked on, and took our seat in the middle of the bus.

We road around town for a bit before I noticed we were near their school. I pulled the line above the window to have the man left us off, and he did so, almost right in front of the school.

I walked with the kids across the street to their school, and kissed them goodbye, wishing them a good day at school.

Their last day of school was June 13th, and that gave me time to myself, but more importantly, time to find a job.

I wandered around town for a bit, looking for any stores with a "hiring" sign on a window or two, before stopping at a restaurant that looked half built. I pushed the glass door in, and saw a woman at a front desk in the middle of a waiting room, still half furnished.

"H-Hello?" I said. The lady looked up from her phone and greeted me.

"Hello, how may I help you today?" She asked.

I used my thumb to point behind me at the window. "I saw your sign. What's the minimum age to work here?" I asked.

She looked me up and down, assessing my frame, and answered, " technically we hire at 15, so if you say you're 15, you get the job."

I knew she knew I was younger than that, but I assumed they were desperate for workers.

"Deal." I replied. She reached her hand over the desk and I did mine to shake her hand.

"So uh, what's this place gonna be called anyway?" I asked. She leaned back and smiled at me. "Miranda's ."

"Pretty" I replied. She nodded and asked me to come with her. She stepped out from behind the front desk and showed me to the main dining room, which had a half-assembled bar in the middle of the space.

"If you're free now, I'll pay you to help us set up the dining rooms?" She requested. I agreed, and began building the red chairs alongside a man I would come to know as Adam.

I read over the instructions maybe twice before I memorized how to screw together the chairs. After putting together 3 tables and 12 chairs, the lady I met earlier introduced herself as Amelia, and I introduced myself as Terry.

She asked me to help set the bar up, and I quickly realized they were the same type of chairs, so I immediately got to work screwing the legs onto the stools.

Amelia praised me for my quick work, and I thanked her. We discussed the pay for working, and how I could make extra money. If I stayed at the front desk, I'd get $13 per hour I stayed there. If I went to show people to their seats and worked as a waitress, cleaning up the tables after, I'd get $5 per family.

Then, If I worked at the bar, I get 20% of the money spent on the drink, and of course, I'd get tips. She explained she'd train me to mix drinks properly, learning all the recipes.

I thanked her and Adam for their generosity, and soon left for the day at 2 p.m. An unknown woman came out of the store just after I left and called my name.

I turned around, confused and saw a tan woman with dark black hair with a small handful of grays sparkled in-between.

"I'm Miranda, the owner. This is for all the work you did today. Same time tomorrow, got it?"

She handed me two bills which upon closer inspection, were two $100 bills. I thanked her and agreed to see her again tomorrow.

I turned back around and began following my footsteps back to the kid's school.

Finally, I got there just as the afternoon bell rang, kids of all ages running out of the large building as if their lives depended on it.

Not long after, I saw Teddy and Char amongst the children, running towards me. With outstretched arms, they almost tackled me to the ground with their enthusiasm.

I asked them if they were ready to go home, and they agreed. We walked back to the nearest bus stop, and waited about 10 mins for the bus to take us back home.

Other people followed us up the stairs into the bus, and most stopped to pay the man for the ride. The children who were with us didn't, of course, due to the 18+ fee rule. I was thankful the ride was free for us.

We sat in the farthest corner of the bus once again, with the twin's backpacks on their laps. I asked them how their day was, and they went on to explain what happened.

I listened intently, honestly not understanding some things due to their excited babble. Then as we were almost home, the kids turned my question around, and asked me how my day was.

"What you do Tday, Tewwy?" Teddy asked, mouth full of a small turkey sandwich the school's lunch ladies had sent him off with.

"Well, I got a job!" I exclaimed. Char gasped ecstatically , "What kind?" I thought for a minute before concocting an answer that was kid-friendly.

"A food place! Like Kirby's!" I responded. The kids gasped again, and began rambling about what food they hope we serve.

Finally, we were near our new home, so I pulled the line to stop the bus driver.