Workers of the Night

Chapter 10: Not Alone

As Abraham walked in, he looked at the menu on the counter to see what he wanted. "Hmmm, let me see here! There seems to be plenty of choices! A chicken sandwich with fries sounds scrumptious! A southwestern chicken salad with garlic bread is my fave! A bacon-cheese burger with onion rings hmmm! Maybe too much for my stomach! Oh! There it is! The chicken enchilada special with tortilla chips!'' "Sir, Are you ready to order?" Yes, mam! I would like to have the chicken enchilada special with chips!" "Did you want anything to drink with that sir?" "Yes, I would like to have a medium sweet tea, but better yet le me have a large cup of water!" "Any dessert sir?" "No thanks!" "That will be $11.59." How long will this take?" "It will take around 10 minutes." "Oh sir! Will that be for here or to go? "Abraham checks his watch and notices that it is 11:15 a.m. "Well, I won't be able to talk to Luis for long. Maybe I should just have this meal as a "to go" order. About to tell the register, Luis walks up to Abraham."

I could see that he was looking at his watch most of the time and saw that he was in a hurry. I wanted to invite him to my table to show him my gratitude. "Hello Abraham! I wanted to thank you for loaning me the twenty dollars! Would you mind sitting with me for just a small chat?" "Well, Luis, I guess I do have fifteen minutes; however, I will have to leave around 11:45.!" "Well, I guess that I will make the time!" "Thank you Abraham! I wanted to share some great news about my wife and a new full-time job!"

Looking sad, Abraham thought to himself, "Oh-great news for you Luis! You have a job, and I am going to be jobless after tonight! Jesus, I don't know what benefit this talk will be, but maybe this guy has some connections in the city!" Abraham takes his order number from the counter, places it on Luis' table and sits down waiting for a waitress to bring him his food. "So, Abraham, I have a new job working on cars at Taylor Department Stores in Wake City!" "Is that the grocery store located on 212 Progress Avenue?" "Why yes sir!" "Why do you ask?"

"Well, Luis, I need a new job and quick!" "Why Abraham? What happened?" "Well, my manager at Servantes Dining informed me that it was going to be my last day serving as the head chef!" "Abraham, why would he do such a thing?" "Well, Luis it was my third time being five minutes late in this month alone!" "Did you happen to tell him that you were helping me out?" "Yes sir, I did but he did not want to hear it! He wanted somebody that he could depend on, so he chose another chef to take my spot!" "Well, Abraham, that is awful news! Well listen to me! You do not need to work for a company that does not appreciate your giving heart!" "I can tell that you have a servant's heart and that you fear God." "Do you happen to have a church you belong to in your hometown?" "Well, not right now! I had talk with my wife and children yesterday about Wakeview Methodist Church!"

"That is interesting! Because two hours after you let Ruben's this morning, a white Chevrolet Blazer came to the drive through, and asked if I needed help finding a new job! The owner of the Blazer happened to be Daniel Ortega, the senior pastor at Wakeview Methodist Church!" "Oh! Luis, I listened to him on the radio this morning!" "That is awesome Abraham! Well, anyway, Pastor Daniel drove me to Taylor Department Store where I talked to the store manager, Jim; he informed me that there was a shortage of mechanics at the store." "Luis, did they have any openings for a chef?" "Not that I was aware of; however, they desperately need stalk people to work on the night shift!" Looking Luis in the face, I thought to myself: "Okay, night shift! No way! I am not a night person!" "Well Luis, I am no mechanic! I really need to talk to my wife about taking a night shift." "Well, Abraham, the night shift is going to pay sixteen dollars an hour and will provide you benefits!" "Well, that is awesome Luis! But I need something that is going to pay more money! My annual salary at Servantes Dining was sixty thousand dollars!" "Well, Abe, I would just work at Taylor Department store until you find another job?" "Well, I guess that you are right? Oh Luis, what did you want to share about your wife!"

"Well, my wife did happen to give birth to our third-born child! We decided to name her Sophia Abraham Maya Cabello! Sophia happens to mean wisdom, Abraham we decided to name after you for your charity. Maya happens to be my mother's name."

I was surprised for him that he used my name! After all, I just met Luis this morning! With tears rolling down my eyes, I grabbed a tissue from the table. Overjoyed to hear my name being honored, I muttered, "Thank you so much for doing that, but don't you have a father on your side that you can name your daughter after?" "Yes, but I never knew my biological father." "He left me and my mother when I was four years old." "That is so sad! Well, Abraham, Pastor Daniel Ortega acts like a father to all the fatherless in Wakeview, Texas. He is in his forties and is a widow and has no children." "Luis, He sounds like a God-fearing man! I cannot wait to meet him this Sunday! "Well, Abraham, I wish I could attend church, but I am busy taking care of my wife and my new-born child. We also do not have any transportation." "Well, Luis, I will talk to my wife when I get home and see if we can provide transportation for you and your family!" "Thank you very much Abraham! Is there a number that we can reach you at?" "Well, right now my wife and I do not have a cell phone, but you can contact the Dees Community Shelter and ask for Luis and Mariana Cabello! Here is the card for the shelter!" Abraham took the card and put it in his wallet.

At this moment, I did not know if Abraham was going to follow through or not. I had met many people who proclaimed themselves to be Christian but did not follow through. Jesus, I do pray that this Abraham will be different. Maybe, the message that Pastor Daniel spoke about on the radio may have had an impact on him. "Abraham, I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to talk with me but what did you happen to order? It is around 11:30 a.m.! Is your food ever going to come?" At that moment, a waitress walked towards the tables, "Number 220! Chicken enchilada special with chips for Abraham Cortes!" "Oh Mam! that is my order!" "Thank you so much for bringing it over! You are welcome, sir! Let me know if you need anything else!"

Let me see! I have fifteen minutes to eat my food and then I must rush over to Servantes Dining! It may be wise for me to get a box for this food, and then I will eat it at Servantes. "Mam, I do have one request! "Yes sir! What did you want?" "Can I please have a to-go box for my food? "Yes Sir!" Man, I hope that Abraham Cortes was not upset with my service. I hope that he leaves a big tip for me. Lord knows that Ruben's House does not pay me enough for I am short fifty dollars to pay my rent. Looking into his wallet, Abraham found a fifty-dollar bill. Thinking to himself, "Man, I could really use this money for groceries next week, but I know that I need to leave a tip! Well, I know that I am not alone in this world and that everybody needs a little love to get by! Holding tightly to the fifty dollars for ten seconds, Abraham heard a still small voice in his head saying, "Son, just let it go! It's better to give than to receive!"

I did not know what to do but I decided to let it go. I did happen to write a note besides the fifty dollars saying, "I felt led to leave this tip of $50.00! Please use it for your whatever need you have!" "That was a nice thing to do," remarked Luis. "I know that you need to go! I will make sure that the waitress gets the tip! "I will see you later Luis; I hope that you have a blessed day! Did I happen to give you my name and phone number?" "Yes, you certainly did! I still have it in my pocket!" "Well, sir please call it if you need any help going back to the Dees Community Center!" "Well, Abraham I do not need any more help for today! Pastor Daniel is supposed to pick me around 12:30 p.m. and take me to home!" "Okay, Luis, then God bless you and your family!" Waving goodbye to Luis when exiting the building, Abraham thought, "Well, Lord, I guess only have seven hours left. Let us get back to Servantes Dining! Wait a minute, I don't have to stay until 7:00 p.m. Usually, the last hour is to prep for the next day! I get to go home early! Well, I guess there is bright side to everything!"