Under The Bridge(Chresanto August)

0.2

Melanie's name is pronounced the same as Melony, it's just a different spelling.

"Hey, Melanie, I have to go see about this job." I shake her shoulder.

"Okay." She replies, still tired.

I had dressed in some jeans and a shirt. I have five outfits. I put clean clothes on everyday, I keep the dirty ones in a bag, and when I'm out of clean clothes, I go to the laundry mat. It's this place called 'Quarter Cleaning', it only costs a quarter to wash and a quarter to dry. Most the time, you find quarters lying on the ground.

I quickly put on my socks and shoes. "Hey, Chres." Melanie said. She was now up, watching her daughter sleep.

"Yeah?" I ask.

"Thank you for letting us stay here. It means a lot."

"It's no problem. Will you still be here when I get back?" I ask.

"Yes, if you don't mind." She nods.

"It's fine. It's nice to have some company."

"Okay." She smiles.

I say goodbye, then head out, with my backpack of course, you never know when you'll need it.

After about twenty minutes of walking, I finally get to the shop the lady was talking about yesterday.

The owner was there, and apparently he knew I was coming. I guess he was the lady's father, and she told him yesterday.

"Well, let's see what you can do."

He tells me what needs to be done on a car, it was pretty old, 1999, Dodge Dakota. It needed new tires and a fuel change. Which I did, that was easy. I used to work on cars with my uncle, but he moved to Georgia.

"I think you're good." He nods. "When can you start?"

"Whenever you tell me to." I answer.

"Can you be in tomorrow at noon?" He asks.

"Yes, sir." I nod.

He hands me a card, "We can fill out the paper work tomorrow, in case you need to get in contact with me, this is my number."

"Okay, thank you sir." I shake his hand.

I head back to the tent I stay in, only to see some children's things on the side of the road. It was near the fence, it said free. There was one of the things you put kids in to sleep. I think it's called a bassinet, I'm not really sure. There was also a bag, possibly full of clothes, maybe a few blankets. I really should've brought Melanie along with me. I think I can carry it all. I can put some of it in the bassinet to carry, some in my backpack. We can wash everything tomorrow.

I work it out so that I'm carrying everything. Even if Melanie says she doesn't need, she can sell it to a pawn shop and get money for it, to buy the stuff they do need.

It takes work, but I get everything together, and make it to the tent. Going under the fence was the hardest part. It was really hard to get everything under the fence without dropping or breaking something, but I did it.

"Melanie, come here, please." I poke my head into the tent. She was rocking her daughter.

"Sure, just let me set her down." She nods, laying the baby down.

She steps out with me, looking at the stuff. "You can check it and make sure nothing is wrong. It was all free, but I was trying to hurry back, so I didn't check yet."

Melanie stares at the objects on the ground, then quickly wraps her arms around my neck. I awkwardly put my arms around her waist. The hug was unexpected. "Thank you, Chres."