The Hornet (a Daily Comics origin story)

A New Beginning

*5 days earlier*

A shrieking alarm wakes me up, as I jolt up from my bed.  I squint over to my phone to see the time; 4:00 A.M.  Time for work.  I stumble out of my bed and turn on the light.  Shifting through the clothes in my closet, grabbing a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans.  Bringing them into the bathroom, I shut the door quietly to make sure I didn't wake up my mother and sister.  After a shave and hot shower, I got dressed and got out of the bathroom, looking at the clock again; 4:30 P.M.  I still had a little time, making iced coffee for myself too.  I glanced over to the living room, my mother passed out on the couch.  

My poor mother, that's all I could think about.  It was bad enough she had been laid off from her job at a local bar, but now she had been having trouble searching for a new job to care for my 13 year old sister Gabriela.  Thankfully, while I still had my job at the construction site, I was keeping this house paid and with some to spare for food on the table.  I could have had the opportunity to leave at 18, to make my life better, but I couldn't leave my mother and Gabriela behind homeless.  I fixed the paperwork on her side table into a neat pile, with numerous job postings circled and crossed out respectively in the newspaper.  She was trying, and that's all that mattered to me.

I took out my phone to check the time; 5:00.  Damn, I was almost going to be late for my shift.  I quickly packed my lunch (consisting of a bag of Cheetos and a water bottle), grabbed my hard hat and coffee cup, and ran out the door.  I tossed the hat and lunch box into the carrier of my bicycle, and placed my coffee cup into the front cup holder.  I unlocked the bike, kicked up the stand, and looked up to the top window is the second floor.  Gabriela watched down from her room (as she did every day) and kissed the window for me.  I kissed back in the air, and off I went. 

The sight of the neighborhood wasn't pretty, but it was at least somehting to look at.  Smog filled the air, with the obvious smell of pollution corrupting my lungs.  South Boston wasn't the best place to live, but it was all I could afford to accomodate my mother and Gabriela.  The perk of having a shift this early?  No traffic, I just had to ride my bike straight to the construction site.  I had to admit, there was something about teamwork that made a finished product look muy bueno.

Thankfully, this site wasn't far away from home for me, or else I would have been real late for a 5:30 punch in.  I grabbed my punch card and placed it under the hole punch; in at 5:30 A.M., on time.  I pulled up a chair in the breakroom, and sat down for a sip of my coffee.  The door opened next to me, and Lewis Bender, the foreman, peeked through.  "Oh, it's just you Santos.  Listen amigo, can I have a word with you in my office?"  Dios mío, this better be for a raise.  I got up from my chair, and went over to the foreman's office.  He sat with a crushed cigarette in his ash tray, preparing a new one between his lips.  He glanced over from his lighter, and waved me over.  

"C'mon in Miguel, I just wanted to have a word with you," Lewis said, pointing at a chair in front of his desk.  I cautiously walked over to the chair, and sat down, hands on my knees.  I wasn't sure what to expect from Lewis.

"What is it you wanted to talk to me about, sir?" I asked.  Lewis was more of a closed book compared to the other guys.  While some of the other workers went out for dinner, Lewis quietly moved into his truck, not paying any of us mind.  He never really called anyone to his office, but then again, we never really did anything wrong that would set us behind schedule.  

Lewis placed both of his elbows on the desk.  "Look amigo, I've always noticed that you come in at 5:30 every morning on that bicycle, and you never really seem to let anyone bother you.  Besides that, I must say that I've enver seen you cause any problems around here," he said.  I had no idea where this was going.  "You take care of your mama and sister, don't you?"

I nodded.  "Yes sir.  My mother has been struggling to find a job ever since a couple weeks ago when she got laid off," I replied.  God I hoped he wasn't going to lay me off.

Lewis leaned back in his chair.  "Listen son, I understand that these early shifts take a lot out of you, and I can understand that.  Back around thirty years ago, I was a kid with a dream to be a fancy entrpreneur, but unfortunately I got stuck here for construction.  And I didn't have a family that I needed to take care of," he said.  "All I'm saying is, between you and me, what do you say that I give you a 2% raise, just to make sure that you have enough money to take care of everyone, does that sound good?"

My eyes widened.  ¡Oh Dios mío!   A 2% raise could do so much, and with my pacheck already coming in at around $30,000, I could actually afford a real Christmas for mi familia, as long as I saved it.  But I didn't want to tell Mama or Gabriela.  I wanted this to be a surprise.  "Oh thank you very much Lewis!  This is a huge favor and I will never forget it." I said, going out to shake his hand.  He took my hand and gave a firm shake.

"Yeah yeah, no problem, just don't think this is going to happen every year, I mean let's face it, any more raises and you'll be making more than I do," said Lewis, sarcastically.  I really couldn't believe it.  I was going to have a decent paycheck for once in a great while.  Maybe things weren't going to be so bad after all.

I walked out of the office to see a couple more coworkers in the break room.  A couple of them looked up, one of them being my best friend Frank.  Frank Hendrickson had been one of my best friends since freshmen year of high school, and when he found out that he didn't qualify for any college universities, he and I had been working for this construction company ever since we were 19 years old.  

"Oh God, you're coming from Bender's office.  What's the bad ews bud?" he asked.  "You fired or something?"

I stared back at him, but slowly cracked a grin.  "Mr. Bender just gave me a raise to take care of my mother," I replied quietly.  The last thing I needed was the whole breakroom to hear that Lewis gave me a raise, or else they all would storm in there demding for one as well.

Frank gave me a slap on the back.  "There you go, pal, that's what I'm talking about!  And I'm not surprised either," Frank started.  "You're one of the hardest working guys here!  You deserve it more than a lot of us buddy."

I nodded in approval, a stupid grin still on my face.  All of a sudden, a shrill horn played, and all of the workers got up from their seats, all putting on their hard hats.  Well, that raise is no good unless we start working.