“Yeah, Pops, what’s up?”
“This here is Aaron. I just hired him. After he gives his shit to Marie, take him around and show him stuff.”
“Fine.”
“Aaron, listen to Lennie. He’s in charge.”
That was it. Like that, I was hired, and relief poured through me so strong, I was left weak. “Thanks. I’m gonna do a great job, whatever you need.”
“Yeah, sure. Go on with Lennie.”
I walked out with the paper clutched in my hand, hoping I wasn’t sweating all over it. Lennie led me over to a girl, about twenty-five, with thick black hair done up in waves and a full face of makeup. I recognized her type from my neighborhood. They wouldn’t dream of going to the store without getting done up. But her smile was friendly enough, and her gaze swept over me with obvious interest.
“Hiya. I’m Marie.”
“Stop flirtin’, Marie. Pops just hired him to work here. He’s got paperwork to fill out.”
“Oh, shut up.” She rolled her eyes, and I had to bite back a grin. A pang of sadness hit me afterward, wondering where my sisters, Carmela and Jasmine, were. I hadn’t seen them since ACS took them away and sent them to a foster home.
Marie gave me a big smile. She pointed to the chair. “I’m bein’ friendly, is all. I got a boyfriend, Dominic. Sit down, and it’ll only take a minute. Not like you’re so busy, Lennie, you got something else to do.”
“Oh, brother,” Lennie muttered under his breath to me. “Don’t say nuthin’. She’ll have you engaged and married to her best friend, Regina, before you know what’s happening.”
“There’s nuthin’ wrong with Gina. She’s just shy.” I filled out the forms, keeping my head low, hoping to stay out of the cross fire of questions. “You gotta girlfriend, Aaron?”
“No.” I scribbled my address.
“Dating anyone seriously?”
“Not at the moment.” I bit my cheek, hating the fact that I kept Frankie a secret, but in this macho atmosphere I didn’t think they’d appreciate it if I told them I liked dick.
“Lay off him. Poor guy came to work, not to get engaged.”
I gave Lennie a grateful smile. “Here.” I handed the papers to Marie. “I filled everything out.”
Scanning my answers, Marie zoomed in on my address, and her big brown eyes lit up. “Oh, you live not far from us. Maybe you’ll come over some Sunday for dinner.”
“Don’t do it. It’s a trap,” Lennie said and grabbed my shoulder. “She invites all her girlfriends over, and you’ll spend the whole night surrounded. Let’s get you a locker and get started. We just got a load in of bushes that need tagging, pricing, and placement. Then Pops wants the flower flats arranged by color.”
“I’m ready.” Anxious to leave Marie’s questioning, I jumped out of the small chair. “Thanks and nice to meetcha. See you later.”
“You too. And don’t listen to him. What could be bad about spending a night surrounded by pretty girls? We’ll talk.”
Still shaking his head, Lennie waited for me to catch up. “She’s never gonna stop until you tell her you ain’t interested. Maybe make up a girlfriend.”
He had no idea. Giving him a weak smile, I nodded. “Uh, yeah.”
“I mean, her friends are cute and everything, but they only want to get married. We’re young, know what I mean?” He winked and nudged me. “Got a lot of time to play around before we settle down.”
“Right, sure.” The less I said about my personal life, the better, I decided.
“Here’s your locker. You can put your shit inside. There’s a fridge in the back to put your lunch in for next time. You’ll wanna bring something ’cause there ain’t no place to get anything decent.” He leaned on the side, watching me hang up my jacket and stow my wallet away. “So where’d you work before?”
Not wanting to lie about everything in my life, I figured Lennie could handle my being arrested better than he would my being gay. Plus, nowadays you could Google everything anyway.
“I, uh, spent seven months in jail. Assault.”
As predicted, it didn’t faze Lennie. “No shit? My best friend is inside for stealing a car. It started out as a joke, ya know? But then he crashed it and hit someone, and it wasn’t so funny, I guess. He gets out in two months. Whad’you do?” He narrowed his eyes. “You didn’t hit your girlfriend or your mom or nuthin’ like that?”
