Roads Not Taken, page 2
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“This year? It’s always the other guys,”
one of the men answered, scowling.
Before Malcolm had a chance to answer him, a middle-aged Asian woman in business attire appeared at his side. “Malcolm? I’m Annabel.”
“Hi,” he replied.
“Let’s go into my office.”
The men watching television never averted their eyes from the screen and continued to grouse and grumble about their lousy team. Malcolm assumed it was the Dodgers since they were in Los Angeles, but he knew that many people came to Venice from other places. It was quite possible that they were Chicago Cubs fans and those fans had plenty to complain about, at least they used to until the Cubs finally won the World Series after a 108-year drought.
“Sorry about the mess in here,” Annabel said as they entered her office. Malcolm looked around and found very little out of place.
Apparently, Annabel liked perfection. In fact, he figured the best thing would be to say nothing. He just sat down quietly and waited for her to do the talking. “Thanks for coming in on such short notice,” she continued as they sat across from each other. She took his application 20
off the desk and scanned it. “I haven’t had a chance to look at this yet. Savali just called me and said that you were one that I shouldn’t let get away.”
“Wow. I’ll have to be sure and thank him, uh her, uh Savali.”
“I see that you’ve been in the army, worked in television, and volunteered with the homeless and with sick children. But have you ever worked with the elderly?”
“I took care of my foster mother at the end of her life.”
“You wait tables at Cafe Gratitude. So you know about food?”
“I guess.” He wasn’t sure what to make of all this. He felt like it was a bit of a stretch to assume that he knew much about nursing the elderly or about diet and nutrition from his experiences, but if she wanted to make the connections, who was he to stop her. “So what exactly is the job? I’m still unclear.”
Annabel sat back in her chair and smiled at him. “This is a residence for low income seniors. It is not a nursing home or an assisted living facility. It’s an apartment building for people over sixty-two. We don’t offer medical assistance, housekeeping or transportation services. Some people living here have home 21
health aides that come during the day but don’t spend the night. We don’t offer classes or arts and crafts type activities, but we have a computer room and a community room for the residents to use. We just need someone to monitor and help the residents. It’s more about having a rudimentary knowledge of computers, being able to plan and help when we have events and well, basically just being personable.”
Malcolm smiled. “I’m pretty sure I can handle all that.”
“Yes. I have no doubt that you could.”
“What are the hours? I work at the cafe five nights a week.”
“What time do you have to be there?”
“Five.”
“We can work around that. The only problems would arise if we have a party or event scheduled, but that is a pretty rare occurrence.”
“If I know enough ahead of time I can always trade with someone if I’m scheduled to work that night.”
“That sounds good. I just need to make some calls to check your references and then fill out some paperwork. I’ll call you this afternoon.
I’m sure Savali will be very happy.”
22
Malcolm was dying to ask Annabel what Savali’s gender was. He was hoping she would refer to her with a “he” or a “she” and racked his brain trying to find an appropriate way to get her to spill the beans. But Annabel stood and opened the door to her office. The interview was over. “Thanks,” he said. “I’ll wait to hear from you. Do you mind if I look around?”
“Sure. Ask Savali to show you.”
Malcolm walked out and stuck his head into the back office where Savali was typing on a computer. “Hi. Annabel said I should ask you to show me around.”
“Awesome. So you’re gonna start
working here?”
“I think so. She needs to check my references and complete some forms. She’s going to call me later, but I doubt there will be any problems.”
“Let’s go.” Savali stood and took Malcolm’s arm. He welcomed the change in her manner. “You’re going to find some of the residents are fun and interesting, but there are a lot of old fogies who are negative about everything. I just try to ignore them.”
“They’re just a microcosm of the larger population.”
23
“Microcosm huh? Hmmm. Big word for
a waiter.”
“I’m a regular walking dictionary.”
“Ha! And a comedian too.”
“Not really. What about you? Now that you’ve read my resume, you know all about me.
What’s your story?”
“Born in Samoa. Moved here when I was a kid.”
“Here being America or Venice Beach?”
“I’ve been in Venice for something like fifteen years. Hey Nick!” Savali called out to a man coming down the hall. “This is Malcolm.
He works here now.”
“Nice to meet you, Nick,” Malcolm responded.
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Nick waved his hand as he walked off.
“Nick’s one of the cool ones. He’s a grouch but he’s funny.”
“By the way, you probably shouldn’t be introducing me as someone who works here. I haven’t gotten the final okay from Annabel yet.”
“You have the job. She always listens to me.”
Savali steered him toward two tables with three computers on each. They were older 24
models of desktop PCs with an ancient printer and a tangle of wires covering the middle of the table and the floor. “Do these all work?”
Savali shrugged. “That will be up to you to figure out. Some of them do. I think the printer is on its last legs though.”
They saw the same guys watching the ball game and a few others wandering around aimlessly. “Do they stay around here mostly?”
Malcolm asked.
“It varies. There’s some you hardly ever see, the ones with family and friends. But there are some who don’t seem to have anywhere to go.”
“By the way, I need to thank you for the endorsement.”
“I’ve got good instincts. See ya, Malcolm.” Savali was gone before he had a chance to answer. He watched her walk back to the office and tried to decipher her gender from her gait but without much luck.
25
4
MALCOLM WASN’T SURE HOW HE FELT
ABOUT THE PLACE OR THE JOB. Savali seemed like a good co-worker and Annabel was hardly ever there. He always felt more comfortable when the boss wasn’t around much. But he still didn’t understand what the job would entail. He spent the afternoon scanning employment websites and Craigslist but had to admit that nothing jumped out at him. This job would be an easy walk to and from home and to and from the cafe. It might be a good way to earn some money while he decided what to do as a career and it would help toward purchasing that car. He wouldn’t have much invested in it and he could quit without feeling guilty.
He started a search for used cars. Now he was really letting his daydreaming take over.
He had a long way to go before he would have enough saved up, but working two jobs would 26
speed him towards his goal while giving him less time to spend.
He found himself searching for vans and campers and wound up on a page listing old VW buses from the seventies. At first he felt like a fool. It was such a cliché to look for such an iconic symbolic car. But they were so cool! Their prices ran the gamut too. He found several in the $10,000 range, but there were also some selling for $90,000. Maybe if he restored it to its original condition. But what was he talking about! He wasn’t a car guy and wasn’t interested in becoming one. Luckily for him, his phone rang.
“Hello? Oh, hi Miss Lee.”
“Malcolm, I’ve called the cafe and the homeless shelter, and they both had nothing but praise for you. I’d like to offer you the job.”
“Okay. By the way, we didn’t talk about salary and how many hours a week.”
“Let’s say nine to four. Will that give you enough time to get to your evening job?”
Malcolm thought for a minute and calculated the time for walking and showering and getting dressed. “Yeah. That would work.”
“Twelve an hour to start.” Malcolm was silent. “I’m sorry but that’s the best I can do.”
“Can I think about it?”
27
“It will be an easy job for you and we can be flexible with your hours.”
“I know.” She was right. And what did he expect for a salary? He thought again about working more hours at the restaurant and how much more he could earn with tips. But this would be a steady salary that he could count on.
And it wouldn’t be tiring. “Okay. I’ll take it.”
“Wonderful. When would you like to start? There’s some paperwork you need to sign.”
“I could come in tomorrow and sign the papers and then start Monday. It is a Monday through Friday job, right?”
“Yes. Just let me know what time you’ll be coming in. I have meetings all morning, but anytime in the afternoon.”
“I’ll come on my way to work. Four?”
“Fine. I’ll see you then. And call me Annabel.”
“Okay. Thanks.” He hung up and went
back to his computer. He still had a little time before he had to go to work. He went back to the trucks/vans for sale page and let his mind wander.
It was a busy night at the restaurant.
Malcolm wasn’t sure why. Thursdays were not usually his night to work. He had agreed to take 28
on an extra shift. He was one of the few people who didn’t have much else to do and was willing to work as much as he could.
He approached a table that had just been seated. The couple was dressed fashionably and in fancier attire than the usual Cafe customers. They were both attractive, he in a rugged way with an athletic build. Her body was muscular, but her face and dress were feminine and sensual. Savali looked up at him and grinned, a childlike twinkle in her eye. “Hi Malcolm.”
He almost dropped his tray. “Savali?”
“Yep. This is Byron. And this is Malcolm.” The men shook hands. “I wasn’t sure if you were working tonight. Byron wanted to go somewhere more upscale, but I talked him into coming here.”
Malcolm was still in shock, seeing Savali dressed up as a woman. He hadn’t been sure what her gender was, but he had been leaning toward male. He still wasn’t sure and found it hard to answer as he racked his brain trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
“Do you serve drinks?” Byron asked, breaking the spell.
29
“Uh, just beer and wine. They’re listed on the back of the menu.” Malcolm finally found his tongue.
Savali was still grinning, relishing every moment of Malcolm’s confusion. “Thanks. So Annabel tells me that you took the job.”
“Uh, yeah.” He took a deep breath. “I’ll be right back to take your order.” He left hurriedly, practically running into the kitchen.
He leaned against the wall, watching the other servers bustle about.
“You okay, Malcolm?” one of the servers asked.
“Yeah I’m fine.” He smiled self-consciously. He was usually the picture of the cool, calm and collected waiter. He was good at his job, knowing exactly when to appear at a table without being overly attentive. Savali, all dressed up as a woman, had really thrown him for a loop. It wasn’t even so much that Savali was perhaps a she, or that she might be a drag queen. It was how beautiful and feminine she looked. And how attracted he had been to her.
He took another deep breath and went back out to the main dining room to attend to his customers.
30
“We’ll have a bottle of the Pinot Noir from Chile,” Byron said pompously to Malcolm as he approached their table.
“Excellent choice.” Malcolm wasn’t going to let Byron act like he knew more about wine than he did. Was he really competing with this guy for Savali’s attention? “I’ll get the wine and be back for your order.” He left hastily, without his usually cool, professional demeanor.
Malcolm tried to give good service to all his tables while sneaking glances at Savali and Byron. They seemed to laugh a lot more and louder as the wine bottle emptied. He watched to see if they also got affectionate. Thankfully that didn’t happen, but they certainly seemed to enjoy each other’s company. Byron was a good tipper. Apparently, he hadn’t noticed Malcolm showing an interest in his date.
“Thanks for the great service, Malcolm.
And tell the chef the food was delicious.” Savali grinned and Malcolm tried to detect if it was meant sarcastically.
“Thanks for coming in.” He smiled back. He really was glad she had come in. At least he now knew he could call her “she”
without offense, even if she was a he. He watched them leave and took a peek out the window to see if Byron put his arm around her 31
or took her hand. He did neither. Malcolm felt relieved that they had left, and he could concentrate on his other tables.
The rest of the evening went quickly, and he had ended up with a good take. The servers sat around a table counting their tips and compensating the bussers, drinking the bottles of wine that customers had left unfinished on their tables. “We’re heading over to The Brig for a drink. Want to come?” one of the servers asked Malcolm.
This was not something he usually did.
He just wasn’t that much of a partier or a drinker. But he thought that it might be one of the last nights he’d be able to stay out late since he was starting the new job on Monday. And on the weekend, his job ended later and the bars in Venice were lively and crowded. “Sure,” he answered. He could use a little decompressing.
Savali’s coming out (if that’s what one called it) threw him for a loop. But what really shocked him was his attraction to her.
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5
MALCOLM ENDED UP STAYING WITH A
FEW OF THE SERVERS UNTIL LAST
CALL AT 2 AM. It was hip-hop night, so he danced most of the time. That meant he didn’t drink as much as some of the others. He made up for that by going back to one of the servers apartments and sharing some weed. He went home when they started doing lines of cocaine.
Malcolm fell into bed at four and slept straight through until noon. He hadn’t had a night like that since before Miss Ruthie died. He had gotten most of those kinds of nights out of his system when he was in college, in the army and working in Hollywood. Taking care of Miss Ruthie had reminded him how bad things were before she had adopted him. He never wanted that life again of being on the run and living in fleabag apartments, and then being homeless.
And truthfully, he had never found drinking and taking drugs to be all that much fun.
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He got up leisurely and spent the early part of the afternoon looking at cars on Craigslist. He still found himself gravitating toward the trucks and vans, but at least he had moved away from the old VWs. He wasn’t sure why. It was probably more prudent to be looking for small cars; something easier to park and good on gas made much more sense in Los Angeles. Maybe he should be looking at a small SUV. None of this really mattered since he was far from having a decent amount to spend.
It was soon time to shower and dress and stop off to sign the papers. He was conflicted on how he felt about seeing Savali after their encounter last night. Her dress at the senior residence could be described as unisex yet the night before she was the picture of sensual femininity. He knew that she was quite aware of how she looked, and how she made him feel. That embarrassed him and he was beginning to feel that maybe it wasn’t a good idea for him to work there. First of all, he still wasn’t sure what gender she was physically and wasn’t interested in a sexual relationship with a man. Secondly, if she was a female anatomically, it was never a good idea to have a romantic relationship at your job. Yet he liked her and wanted to know her better.
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Savali wasn’t at the reception area when he got there, thankfully. Annabel was waiting for him, so he was able to sign the papers quickly and be out of there before Savali showed up. He wondered if she was purposefully avoiding him.
The night was busy; Fridays usually were. He had enough seniority at the cafe to get the weekend shifts. He also got his choice of weekday nights and often he made more tips on a Tuesday than on a Saturday. On Mondays and Tuesdays he would often be the only server on, so if it got busy, the customers would feel sorry to see him rushing around and tipped especially well. He actually enjoyed waiting tables. Most customers at Cafe Gratitude were friendly and knew how to tip.
