The building loomed above me, as I turned to face it. I exhaled, dreading the entry of my place of employment. It wasn't that I dreaded what I had to do- often it was mildly entertaining or even enjoyable- it was just the simple fact that my boss was the bitchy spawn of a demonic, chaotic deity. I suspected either Hades, Satan, or Beshaba, but who knows; she could be the daughter of some new form of evil created by corporate America.
Go ahead. Knock. What will she do to you for being late? Bite your head off? I coaxed myself to walk up the steps to their front door, that was freshly painted, and knock.
"Who the hell is it?" I heard her high pitched voice shout.
"Um, your nanny." I said, unsure of what the proper way to answer. She was clearly angry and one wrong phrase could send her into a complete rage. "I mean, your daughter's nanny. Not your nanny. You probably-" I began nervously blubbering on about what I actually meant.
"Look, I don't know if you own a clock, but it's fraking early." The door flung open, to reveal a woman who had just dyed her hair and was in what I assumed was tribal themed lingerie that probably wasn't something I would open the door in and also cost more than what I was paid in a month
"Your hair looks nice." I said politely; the last time I'd seen her, Friday afternoon, she was a fiery redhead. Red matched her personality better, but platinum blonde did make the slutty gold digger message more prominent. "Did you go to the salon over the weekend?"
"Of course." She snapped. "Boxed crap is classless."
"Ah. I see." And corsets and garters are totally classy. "Is Scarlatina awake yet?" I felt sorry for the poor toddler; apparently neither of her parents were intelligent to realize that Scarlatina wasn't just a smashup of the names Scarlet and Tina, it was what scarlet fever used to be referred to as.
"No, you weren't here to wake her up... hey. You're late."
"My apologies, ma'am. My alarm-"
"Excuses are not proper. I have a session with my personal trainer at nine and it's eight thirty. You're suppose to be here at eight."
"I'm sorry. I ran here as quickly as I could."
"You ran? No wonder you're sweaty. I'm afraid we need to have a bit of a chat darling."
"Of course. Of course."
"You lack the air of professional class I want the person raising my daughter to have."
"I know. I'm trying to improve everything; the sitting up straight, not leaving the G's off of words that end with ing."
"You have indeed improved ever so slightly."
"Thank you. I am working on it, even if you can't tell."
"Did I not just say I could? This what I was referring to. I'm afraid we're going to have to let you go."
"Begging is unbecoming, darling." She sighed, glancing out of boredom and vanity at her manicured nails.
"You're right. I mean, I know. I just... I need money to pay the bills."
"I'm aware of the need to have money. I'm sure you could sign up for those, oh, what do you call them? I'm afraid the name has slipped my mind. Those government programs for lazy people who sit on their asses, doing drugs and becoming obese."
"Some people actually need help." I said, disgusted with her description of government assistant programs. "You know, if you're making minimum wage, your yearly salary would be less then fifteen thousand dollars. It's employer's fault for being selfish and not paying people a decent wage, not people who are so desperate for work they'll accept anything."
"Excuse me?! Did you can me selfish?"
"No, no! I just-" I tried to back peddle and ended up failing miserably. Ever since this mess began; since I lost everything... Did you lose it or leave it? You did have to go away. Go away to protect yourself and what you love.
Ever since I came to this town, started living in the trailer, and began working for pennies I became aware of how difficult life really was for the bottom percentage of America. I was in the bottom percentage. I was looking for a second job, but it wasn't exactly like jobs were being handed out. It wasn't like people wanted to hire someone who just had a high school diploma and couldn't afford college.
"I frankly don't give a damn. Go away, now. Leave and why don't you go apply for those aid programs you seem to be in love with?"
"I'm not in love with them." I tried to defend myself, as her toddler began wailing. I couldn't apply for programs. They require personal info. Information I can't give, because they might find me. The thems, theirs, and theys had ways of finding things even I wasn't aware existed.
"Darling, get the hell away from my home or I'm going to contact the police." Her voice had a venom in it, unique to only the most poisonous of snakes. Maybe she was the offspring of one...
"Oh course." I said, turning and running away from her porch. I was unemployed now.
The job I'd received a year ago, only days after I first moved here, was gone. The job I had faithfully shown up to, never late, excluding today, for countless weeks. The job I showed up to on the Fourth of July, New Year's, and even Thanksgiving, not asking for a bonus or health insurance or any type of benefits, was gone, all because of half an hour. Half a fraking hour. Thirty minutes. I glanced back at their home, as I heard the door slam shut, while she shouted some profanities at her daughter. Stupid hypocrite.
I didn't have anyone to use as a reference other than her and now we weren't on good terms. How the hell was I suppose to find work? I looked up at the sky, as a rumble of thunder crept into my ears. Wasn't this lovely? I rarely was driven to my trailer, but now I couldn't even try to convince my employer to let me ride in one of her cars, allowing the taking gas money out of my paycheck; I'm going to become soaking wet.
Oh, she was a nanny. Poor Wren. T_T
ReplyDeleteNow what's she going to do? LOL.
Yeah, she didn't have many skill sets, and couldn't handle retail or the food industry, since she is a bit snarky and handles rudeness and ignorance poorly, however she is pretty good with children.
Delete:)