Teenage Fever

New Opportunities

I took a step back and decided to do a do over. The tie looked crooked.
"Damn."
As I was fixing it Jackie stepped into the doorway.
"Stop worrying," she says with a dead tone to her voice.
"Bae, I want to make a good impression."
She scratches her light brown, blonde hair while looking elsewhere. She still looked tired.
"Les, we're in Section 1 now. You know what they say about this place. They'll probably hire you on the spot."
She may be right. Still wasn't like me to not go all out, though.

My girlfriend of almost 2 years and I just moved to Section 1 from Section 3. I know, I know. I know what you're thinking. Why the fuck would we go and do that for? Even my parents looked at me like I was stupid. But there were plenty of reasons for our move: Our lease was up, I sort of wanted a new scenery (Jackie didn't know that), but mainly she got a better job offer here working at the hospital.

It was also cheaper here.

We've only been here for 4 months. I was jobless now and it wasn't like me to be without a job but finding work that wasn't retail and food related was hard. But I did it and this morning I have an interview. I need this job, depending on my girl is not the wave.

I reached on the sink to grab a brush to brush out my short beard. Jackie rolled her eyes at me while my phone started to ring. I checked and answered it.
"Hey, Ma."
"Good morning, son," she tells me in her sing song voice. "I'm just calling to tell you good luck."
"Thank you, mama."
"Your dad is going fishing with Derek this morning so if you get the job come down. I'll hook up some fish fry."
I chuckled.
"Sounds good, I'm sure Jackie will love that." I side glimpse at her with a smirk, knowing she probably heard 'fish fry'. And sure enough she makes a gagging noise.

I arrived to the community center at 9 on the dot. Walking up to the receptionist I noticed a stank look on her face, phone to her ear. She hung up right when I approached.
"I'm here to see a Mrs. Davis."
She stares at me for a beat too long, sizing me up.
"You got an appointment?" She asked with a little attitude.
"Yeah, I do."
"About what?"
My eyebrows shot up at her. Was it any of her business? But she stares at me, waiting.
"It's for an interview."
She still just watches me. About forever later she picks up the phone. Not a good way to start the morning before my interview, I was now irritated.
"Mr. Thompson."
I snap out of my thoughts and hear heels clicking from down the hall. It was an older woman, probably in her 50s. She indicates to me.
"Come on."
I follow without another look at the receptionist. I could feel her eyes on me all the way down the hall. And then it dawned on me that if I get this job I'll have to see her face probably everyday.

"You can sit."

I sit in the chair on the other side of her desk. Mrs. Davis was a black lady, she wore her hair pinned up, glasses. Something about her reminded me of my mom. I took comfort in that.

"I apologize for the other day when I called back and referred to you as Miss. I should have looked at your application closely."
I chuckled.
"It's fine, I get it quite often."
"It's just rare to run into a man named Leslie."

I shrug her off. She hadn't looked my way since I sat down, her eyes glued to the computer screen.

"Okay." She finally looks at me and smiles. "I'm sure you're aware of the job but I'll just go over it again. As a Program Coordinator you will be in charge of overseeing the activities and events the students will partake in. Communicating with students' parents. Overseeing staff members on their job roles. You pretty much would be in charge of the staff members."

I nod my head.

"I see you have a history of counseling for after school programs so this shouldn't be too unfamiliar. But I will work with you on budgeting. We currently have two other coordinators but they work for different age groups. Okay? We have 3 different age groups: elementary, junior high and high school. We need one for the high school students. Is that something you were interested in?"
"That sounds perfect."
She cheeses at me.
"Great. I like you." She shrugs. "We'll see you Monday at 9."
Wait, what?
"For real? I mean, thanks!"
I stand up to shake her hand.

"Congratulations, baby!" My mom cheers in my ear. I laugh.
"But lets be real, I wore a tie, it was probably the tie that did it in."
She laughs.
When I make it back to the receptionist I knock on her desk.
"See you Monday," I tell her with a cocky grin. She just smirks at me.

Once I stepped outside it felt like a new day. The sun was shining, it felt like a weight was lifted off my shoulders. This was the best job I could have snagged.

"Baybay," I call when I get back to our apartment. It was quiet at first but then I heard faint music playing. I head into the kitchen. "Bae, I got great news!"

When I get into the kitchen the music becomes clearer. It's coming from our room. She's probably in there cleaning like she usually does while listening to music. I grab a wine cooler from the fridge and take a swig before setting it down. I head for the bedroom while calling her name.

Slow Motion by Juvenile happened to be playing when I entered and caught two bodies jump to hide under the bed covers. Without even thinking I rushed over and tore them away. Jackie laid there trying to cover herself while the dude tried to cover himself with the pillow I laid my head on every night.

I couldn't even verbalize how livid I was. I balled the covers up and chucked them at Jackie. That's when she finally made a sound and started crying.

"Les!" She called after me after I
walked out, tearing my blazer off, ripping my tie off. She had the audacity to run after me in the man's t-shirt. "I'm so sorry, Les."
"Don't fucking talk to me right now," I warn. She tried touching me but I dodged her. "Don't fucking touch me, Jackie!"
"I'm sorry, Les," she cried into her hands. "I didn't want you to see that."
I give her a questioning look.
"So you would have preferred if I walked in after y'all was finished and he was walking out the door?"
She shakes her head, eyes squeezed shut with her face stuck in a ugly cry. But I look at her with new eyes.
"Is this why we here?"
I heard the front door slam shut. Good. I start moving back towards the room.
"Les, it's not like that. I can explain everything."
"I ain't trying to hear a fucking story."
She talks and begs in the background but I start plotting as I begin moving my stuff around.

Fuck, this was about to be awkward. I pulled out my phone and hit up Messenger. Where is he?
I find Damario's picture and call him.
"Yeeeoooowwww," he answers.
"Mario, I need a favor."