“Trent!” I shouted, shocked by his behavior. He never opened the door without me. Any door. He knew better. We’d gone over it more times than I could count.
The owner of the car was putting his groceries in the trunk, and he lost it. “Are you fuckin’ kidding me?” he shouted as he came around to inspect the damage. There was a tiny nick in the center of his rear driver-side door. He glared at my kid, positioning himself in the open doorway. “What the fuck did you do that for?”
My mommy instincts had me jumping out of the car and squeezing into the tiny space between them. “He’s a little boy and he didn’t mean to do it. Look, I’ll pay for the damage, but you don’t get to cuss at my kid.”
Trent’s eyes were bright as he fought back tears.
“You’re damn right you’ll pay for the damage! I can’t believe this shit. I haven’t even had this car for a month and you let your kid slam his door into it and you’re mad atmefor cussing? I’m not dealing with your dumb ass. I’m calling the cops.” He pulled out his phone and backed up as he put it to his ear.
“Is that really necessary?” Jessica asked. “She said she’ll pay for the damages.”
“Yes, it’s necessary,” he snapped. “I don’t trust some bitch who can’t even control her bad little kid.”
“Don’t call my mom names!” Trent shouted. “And I’m not bad.”
The uncertainty in his voice told me I’d have to reassure him later. After the threat was handled. I took a deep breath and tried to approach the douchebag again. “Look, what do you want from me? My license? Will that help?”
“Yes. You can give it to the cops.” Turning his back on me, he spoke into the phone.
“What can I do to help?” Jessica asked.
Shaking my head as my stomach twisted in knots, I said, “Nothing. Thanks. Go ahead and go shopping. We’ll wait out here for the cops to arrive.”
“I’m not leaving you with this prick, Carly.”
I didn’t deserve a friend like Jessica, but I was so glad I had her. She stayed by my side until the police arrived and filled out their report. I handed them my Idaho license and they asked me for my address. I could have lied, could have told them I was still living in Idaho, but Trent was watching me, listening to every word I said. If I lied, he’d probably correct me and then I’d get a ticket for sure. So, I gave them my address and promised to get a Washington ID right away.
Once the police took our statements and wrote up the report, the asshole left. Jessica went into the store, but I was too upset to even think about shopping. I climbed back into the passenger’s seat and waited, worrying about how I could pay for this new complication to my life.
“I’m sorry, Mom,” Trent said, sounding pitiful.
“I know, buddy. No more opening doors without me.”
“I promise. I don’t want to be bad.”
“Oh, buddy, you’re not,” I assured him. “You made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. That doesn’t mean you’re bad.”
Jessica offered to make Trent dinner, so I went to work, hoping to clock in early and make a few extra tips. I felt defeated, but knew I had to do something to keep moving forward. I couldn’t exactly roll over and let the world crush me. Not when I had Trent to look after.
When I arrived at the Copper Penny, Flint was in the break room restocking the time cards. “You wanna clock in early and meet with me for a minute before you go on the floor?” he asked.
That sounded ominous, and I couldn’t take any more problems today, but I went straight to my locker, answering, “Sure. Let me put my stuff away and I’ll be right there.”
As I locked up my purse and clocked in, my mind raced through the millions of things I could have done wrong last night. Had I made sure all the glasses were loaded in the dishwasher? Had I left liquor open? Had I swept? By the time I reached Flint’s office, my palms were sweaty, and I’d second guessed every task I’d ever done for him. If I lost this job, I didn’t know what I’d do.
The office door was cracked open, so I poked my head in.
“Come in,” Flint said, gesturing at a chair in front of his desk. “Sit down.”
Holding my breath, I did as I was told.
Flint finished typing something on his laptop, and then looked up at me. “Carly. You’ve been with us about four months now, which means I missed your ninety-day evaluation. I’m sorry about that.”
I released my breath, relaxing in my chair. A ninety-day evaluation was something I could handle. “No problem. You’ve been busy, Flint.”
“We all have, and we couldn’t keep this place running without employees like you. So, let’s get to it.” He read over his notes for a second. “Looks like you run a little late sometimes, but other than that I have no complaints. You’re a solid, dependable employee, a competent bartender, and our customers have nothing but good things to say about your service. I’ve been looking over our budget, and I can’t do much, but we do like to show our appreciation to the employees who perform well. I’ll be giving you a fifty-cent raise, effective immediately.”
A raise!At first, I was excited. I mean, who wouldn’t be excited about a raise? I was doing a good job, and not only was I not getting canned… I was getting more money. But then I remembered that more money was bad. Very bad. Trent’s school was for low income families and every month I received a grant that helped cover his tuition. Between my two jobs, I was already skating the threshold of what a family of two was allowed to make and still qualify, which was stupid since we were barely squeaking by.
