What happened?

A new Job

Christina

So, after a few months, I decided to look for a real job, because I had education, and I was a part of my new family now. I felt like I have to give them back what they gave to me. I asked Taniv about my decision first, because he did his best to feed his family, but surprisingly, he let me the choice. He knew that I haven't been really up to everything and also not really happy recently. It was more like the question 'Are you already okay to do it?' not the point 'You will get way more money than I do, and I'm the father. I have to earn the money.'

I started as a server in a cafe. I really liked it. And I also got a new friend. What a surprise, she came to India from Canada. She was also a server who just started working in the cafe. I was actually really lucky that I met her, because she was English. Canzie is her name.

So, the first time we talked was on the third day I got to work there. I messed up my order and it was really embarrassing because people kept starring at me. In that moment Canzie came up and fixed everything. We didn't even know each other. Not even each others names. Well, she gave me the sign to go away. After she fixed everything, she came up to me and I thanked her for doing that. She just started laughing and told me that it happened to her a couple times already and that she knows how it feels.

'So, I'm Canzie, what's your name?' she asked. I was surprised that she talked English that well.

'I'm Christina. Your English is really good.' I complimented her. She started laughing because of some reason.

'Haha, I'm Canadian. I'm coming from Alberta. I moved here because my Dad grew up in India. Where are you from? I noticed that your Indian isn't that good and you have an accent.' she smiled.

'Ohh, I'm American.' I laughed. Then we got interrupted by another server who wanted us to hurry. We both rushed into different ways.

'Oh and Christina?' Canzie turned around to ask me something.

'Wanna go on a coffee after work?' she asked before someone interrupt her again.

'Yeah.' I said and quickly rushed to a table.

So, after work we went to the city and kinda talked about some stuff... somehow we came to the topic why I am here...

'So, why are you here Christina?' she asked and seemed like my face dropped to the bottom, because she asked if I am okay.

'I'm okay... it's just because..' I didn't know how to start, because she was the first someone actually asked and it was the first time I was about to talk about it.

'If you don't want to tell it, it's totally okay. I mean, I was just curious.' she said.

'No Canzie. It's actually good to talk about it even tho I don't want to...' I answered and collected the words in my head. She looked kinda surprised but in a bad way..

'So... did you hear about the Tsunami in Australia?' I decided to ask first. She nodded.

'Well, I came to Australia with my family... And then the Tsunami came over Australia. I don't remember much of that day.. But yeah... I'm a surviver brought to India. I don't know if my family is alive. I don't have any contact to my old life.. I was taken by an Indian family.' I said and I was pretty sure that tears rolled down my face. I know, I knew her since just a few hours, but she was actually the first one I had contact to like a friend. And she was actually the first one who really asked me. And it was actually really good to talk about it.

'Omg... I don't even know what to say except sorry..' Canzie said and gave me a tissue.

'It's okay.. thank you.'

'Do you feel safe and well in your new family?' she asked.

'I'm really thankful for my new family now. They took me when I had no one else. I really miss my real family but my new family is keeping me safe and they're really lovely....Omg, what time is it by the way??' I suddenly got worried, because Taniv wanted me to be back at 6pm every day. Sounds kinda strange, because I'm an adult, but I had to swear that I'll be back by 6, otherwise he wouldn't let me take the job. No he wasn't strict, he was just actually doing his father job. He knew that I was still not alright when I wanted to work. And he knew the streets of the district. He just wanted me safe and I was actually thankful for that... but I didn't know how he would react if I would be late.

'It's 5.55pm... why?' she said and put her phone down. Omg, 5 minutes to go! But I needed like 15 minutes to be back... I was literally shaking, I didn't know what Taniv would do.. I have never seen him angry before..

'I'm sorry I have to go... gonna explain it tomorrow.. if I'll be back..' I said and quickly rushed away.

I tried to run, but since the... um accident... (that's what I like to call it... tragedy makes me sick!) it was the first time I tried to run. I quickly noticed that I was still not really 'healthy', because running made my leg and stomach kinda hurt. Even if I actually didn't have the time to rest, I stopped for a minute, cause my leg started getting worse. Just after a few minutes, I was able to go on.. I kinda ignored the pain, because the fear started sploading all over my body as closer as I came to my family.

When I arrived, I straightly walked up to Taniv to apologize to him, but he was faster in talking. (Oh if you wonder, Taniv and Shivani were able to talk English with me. Not really perfect and with a strong accent, but it was good enough to understand each other.)

'Christina, you're late. Like 20 minutes.' he said in a deep voice. Wow, because of my leg, which was still hurting like crazy, I didn't even notice I needed almost twice as long as I need usually.

'I'm sorry Taniv, I was... I'm really sorry.' I said.

'I hate it if someone is late. What did you do that long? The cafe closes at 5.' He said in a strict tone I never heard before.
I decided to tell him, I didn't want to lie.

'I found a friend. She's working with me at the cafe. We went on a walk and it was..' in that moment I couldn't continue talking and just fell, because my stomach and my leg gave me lots of pain and I could stand it. Taniv stood up and came past me.

'Are you okay??' he asked, with a waaaay more soft voice, but all I could focus on was the pain of my body.. I pressed my hand on my hip. He carried me to my 'bed' and stayed with me until the pain softened.

'Do you feel better?' he asked again and I started nodding.

'Do you see why I want you to be home at 6? That's one reason. I'm worried about you. It was just 3 months ago.' he said with a soft voice.

'I'm really sorry Taniv. I really appreciate it.' I said. Wow, he was amazing, just like my real Dad... I think I lost a tear.

'That's just one reason. There are many things out there Christina. You don't know about the bad things in India. You're not used to India yet.' His voice got deeper again. It was terrible. I had to swallow really hard.

'Don't be late again. Otherwise I don't think you can keep this job.' he added. I didn't know if he was overdramatic but maybe he was just right. I wasn't used to India at all and I still haven't been alright. His deep voice made me shiver. He meant it and I didn't want to know what would happen if I'm late next time.

Well, this was my first real job experience in India.