A Second Job?

After his grandmother left the room, Kane sat there with the ziplock bag filled with ice in his hands. He raised it up and pressed it against his face. He wondered just what he should do. 

While yes, he was sacrificing a lot for his grandparents, he did not wish for them to live uncomfortably. He wanted them to have the years they had left in this world to be as comfortable as possible. That was why all his extra money went to them so they could do the things they wanted to do. 

But she did say one thing that he could agree upon. He needed to follow his dreams. “Heh, looks like I am going job hunting once my face heals! Tss! That hurts!” As he spoke to himself pain shoot through his cheeks.

That night he did indeed get yelled at by his boss for having a messed up face. He spent the next week working in the back room until it was fully healed. During that time, he had been putting his pen to paper and trying to come up with lyrics for a song but without any kind of music to go with it; it was hard to come up with anything. He had a few beats in his head, but the whole process of matching everything else to go along with it was not easy. He had written many songs this way, but he had long forgotten the beat and rhythm that was supposed to accompany the song. 

“I need a guitar…. And a manual on how to play.” He had just gotten home from work and was once more burying his head into his music, but he was still unable to come up with something he felt was good. This song was different from what he had always written. Before, he would just put anything together, and it always sounded mediocre at best in his mind after it was finished. But now he was trying to write something that was more about him.

“Tomorrow, I can finally look for a second job, so maybe I can get a second-hand guitar for cheap.” He was only now starting out. He had always spent his money on others until now, so thinking about getting a second job and being able to finally learn how to properly play and make music really put him in a good mood. 

“Sorry, we are not hiring.” These words were the same words he had heard over twenty times now. Growing up before his parents died, his father had always told him that you need to stick yourself out there and show that you want to work. These words always stuck with him, so Kane was not one to give up easily. 

No matter how many times he was turned down, he would make his rounds and fill out applications while getting rejected on the spot. He did not seem phased by any of the rejections either. The current job he had now was a job he had gone back to three times before he was hired.

This was his master plan. He would keep circulating the same places for an entire week at most before moving on to another location. This meant going to the same doors, knocking, filling out the application, or being rejected, time and time again. Motivation was key. As long as he showed he was willing to work, they might even find him some minor duties to do for a bit of change. Even one day would make him happy as it would bring him closer to his goal.

On the fourth day, Kane made his rounds once more when he stopped off at a pizza shop where he had been rejected at many times already. “You are back again!?”

    Kane rubbed the back of his head as he gave an awkward laugh. “Haha…. You never know, right?”

The old woman who ran the place looked at Kane and shook her head. “Come back tomorrow. I just so happen to need a dishwasher during the day.” 

Kane’s eyes lit up. He almost hugged the old woman. He smiled brightly and thanked her over and over again. “Thank you! Thank you!”

After giving his thanks many more times and saying goodbye and that he would see her tomorrow, Kane left the pizza shop and headed back home. The old lady he left stared at the excited kid’s back and shook her head. “Mama Claire, I thought you said you would never hire a man to work here?”

A girl with beautiful emerald eyes and red hair asked curiously. She was short, around five foot three, with a petite body. She was a beauty in her own right and had been working for the old lady known as Mama Claire for two years now. 

“I know I said that, but that child. I have seen many people come and go in my time since opening this place almost forty years ago, but none of them had this much spunk when looking for a job. I can tell the kid must have a reason for wanting a job so bad.” Mama Claire, the owner of Mama Clair’s Pizzeria, smiled softly, just thinking about Kane. He had reminded her of her husband when he was young and ambitious. “If he harasses you in any way, feel free to kick him between the legs and come tell me.”

“Hehe. I will make sure I do.” The red-haired girl smiled brightly. Her name was Audry Stampson, and she was a year older than Kane, who was now eighteen. She had gotten into a fight with her parents back in her home state of Iowa, got kicked out, and moved out to New York. She had been trying to enter show business, but so far, she has had no luck. She got a few background character gigs due to her looks but nothing more than that. She had no training and no agency, so she had been struggling.

But she was determined to try to at least land one true acting role before she reached the age of twenty-five. She had promised herself that if she did not get at least one gig, then she would give up and become a yotube star.