"Jamie?" "Oh hey girl! How are you?" "I'm okay, same ol, you know how that goes! How are you?" "Great actually. Are you back in town or just visiting?" "Well, I managed to get my daughter away from Ronnie and I've been home for about a month now. I just got my own place and I've been working at Cleo's on Richards." "Ewwwwe, why didn't you call me bitch?" "I left unprepared, so I didn't have a chance to grab anything." "Here, take my number. You know I own an agency here, I could get you working with better clients and higher pay than that shit hole."
I took her number and we went our separate ways. As I got on the train, I started thinking about the last time I had seen Jamie. It was the one day there was snow in Vegas. It didn't last long, but it was there. "Oh my God! There is snow on the ground!" "Corey, get back to bed, you're drunk!"
The night before was a mess. Her and I had gone to the Drink nightclub with a friend of hers who was visiting from California. We met him at his hotel room and had a few drinks before we went out. "Hi, I'm Derrick." "Hi Derrick, Corey." "You enjoying Vegas?" "Probably not as much as you are!"
When we arrived at the Drink, we went right passed the line and into the club. We made a bee line straight to the bar and started ordering drinks. Within the hour, Jamie and I were up on the bar selling hooter shooters. "Five dollars a shot boys, but you have to buy the shot first!" The line went on and on. We both left the club with a few hundred dollars just for doing hooter shooters. On the way home, Derrick stopped at an adult toy store and Jamie and him picked out a few items. I was drunk and passed out in the back of the car so I had no idea what they bought. At the hotel, Derrick had to carry me through the lobby and to the elevator. "It's a good thing you got a room with two beds." Jamie and Derrick went buck wild in the bed next to me and I didn't hear a thing. They let me watch the video the next day and I couldn't believe I was able to sleep through all that noise.
Jamie and I had spent a lot of time partying together. More time partying than working, though partying was working for her. She always managed to turn fun into a financially rewarding situation. I had decided I was going to call her later that evening and find out where her business operated from. Maybe it would be better for me to work for her than at the massage parlor. I was still displeased about working in the industry now that I was free, but I had no other work experience and had to make sure I had rent for next month.
My mom had just moved back to Vancouver from Vernon, so she was taking care of Kiarrah for me when I was going to work. They rented a basement suite close to where I was living so they could be close to us. Before that, my friends were taking turns on who had Kiarrah. One was Shannon and the other was Nico, a girl I had just met through an old friend named Paul. He had begun dating her while I was gone. She was a pretty little Philipina girl who was five months pregnant. The first time I went to his house after returning from Las Vegas, I paraded through his front door with my daughter saying 'go see daddy' jokingly, not realizing she was in the house.
There were three of them, all sitting in the living room as I walked in like I owned the place. Nico, his friend Leroy and him. Paul and Leroy had already been bugging Nico by telling her that another one of his baby mother's was coming over so he could spend time with his daughter. I didn't know that any of this was happening prior to my arrival, but my joke perpetuated their joke and I could hear the guys laughing once I finished my statement. Nico was not in the least bit impressed and went to the bedroom to hide. After we had cleared up the joke and she realized I was just a friend, Nico and I became close. She would look after Kiarrah for me when I needed to run errands and Paul would drive me around. He loaned me a big part of the money I needed to get my identification and helped me find the apartment I had rented.
"Hey girl, are you busy?" "No, actually, I was just thinking of you and wondering when you were gonna call. Can you come down and meet me tonight. I think I have a position open for you to work immediately on the phones instead of on calls. The pay is just as good, but don't tell the girls that." "I'm not sure, I have to call my sitter and see if she's available. I just picked my daughter up from my moms house and I don't want to take her back over there." "Ok, call me back as soon as you know."
Nico didn't answer her phone. I tried again an hour later and got the voice mail, but I didn't leave a message. I called Jamie back to let her know I didn't have anyone to watch Kiarrah, so we made arrangements to meet after I was done work the next day. When I dropped Kiarrah off with my mom, I let her know that I was going to be working late and that I had an interview afterwards for another job. She seemed frustrated, but waved me off saying whatever Corey.
Work was fairly typical except that I had sat down with Danielle to read her palm. I let her know what was about to happen before I engaged in telling her anything. "First, I will go into your past and tell you things you know so you believe me. Then I will tell you about your situation now and after that, I will tell you what you need to do to create a better future for yourself." "Ok."
As I reached out and grabbed Danielle's hand, I sensed a deep pain. I closed my eyes and walked down the hallways of her memories as if they were my own. I found a door that was painted red and decided to open it. What I found behind the door terrified me. I began telling her everything I could see, in the room and described the man that I saw. Quickly I opened my eyes and looked at her and said "I'm so sorry you had to go through that!" Danielle had tears building up, but maintained her composure. "Do you want me to continue?" "Yes." I continued walking through the hallway. I was looking for things that were more recent and less painful. I had found another door that was left ajar and I decided to go through there, because I felt that was a part of her life that needed to be healed.
I was in the same room and everything was identical. I was telling her that the bed was in the same place, the dresser, the clothes were in the same pile, but the man was different this time. I told her what he looked like and then I told her what he is doing. I watched as this memory played like a movie and I began crying compulsively. Before I knew it, Danielle had let go of my hands and I was curled up on the floor. Some how, she had transfered her emotions onto me. Once I had settled down from the experience, I found that I was in state of shock. Danielle walked over to me with a cup of water. "I'm sorry. I have been in denial for years about what has happened to me and what is happening to me. I have never told anyone what my father did or what my boyfriend does and when you started telling me things I have never shared with anyone I panicked. I'm sorry."
I left work that day with no intentions of ever coming back. I met up with Jamie, who had a condo not too far from where I was. We went to Starbucks for beverages. She had a soy latte and I had a green tea. A lot of the first couple of hours was spent talking about the position she had available. "Jasmine has been stealing from the girls and double charging them. I can't have that in my business. I need my girls to trust me and trust my operator." "Ok, so what exactly is it that you want me to do?" "You're going to be answering the calls, booking appointments and sending the girls to these addresses. You will check them out at the appropriate times and take the money from them once they return." "Sounds fairly straight forward." "It is, but Jasmine was screwing with the girls money and my money, so she could make more money and really, she has a good income as a phone operator. Not only that, the girls frequently tip well on top of the wage that I pay her. But it is time for her to go and if you want the job, you can have it, starting tonight or tomorrow night." "I can't tonight. I was already at work all day and I need to get home and spend some time with my daughter." "Ok, tomorrow it is."
Jamie and I sat and reminisced for another hour, laughing and shaking our heads at all the crazy shit we did. She reminded me of the guys we had taken to sushi with us at San Remo. "I told him that the wasabi was Japanese ice cream and he believed me and ate a big scoop of it." "He nearly fell off his chair with his mouth on fire and all the sushi chefs were laughing hysterically . I remember that!" "We definitely had some great times together. I still have the scar on my left arm from when I had to carry you up to the room cause you were too drunk to walk. When I nearly slipped you grabbed my arm cause you thought I was going to throw you over the edge of the staircase and that idiot sat in his car watching us fumble up the stairs instead of helping us." "Well, you have to admit Corey, watching us try to do it was extremely entertaining."
It was getting late and time for Jamie and I to say our goodbyes for the evening. She had to go do her calls since Jasmine was fired and I had to pick up my daughter and put her to bed. I arrived at my mothers house around 9:00pm to find that she had a huge meal prepared for me. It was the first proper meal I had had since returning to Vancouver. I could smell the roast as I walked down the lane to her house. When I walked in the aroma made my mouth water. There was a beef roast, mashed potatoes, carrots and yorkshire pudding with gravy.
As I sat down to eat, I told my mom that I had been offered a new job and was asked to start tomorrow. She wanted to know about my old job, because she thought I was working in a restaurant downtown. I told her the money isn't good and the job was not secure. "They don't even have me on the schedule next week. I'll go in and do my shift tomorrow, but I will be quitting and working at this other job full time." "So is Kiarrah going to be with me at nights now?" "Yes mom." Larry, my step-dad, walked in the door. "Hey stranger. I don't get to see you very often." "I know, my mom tempted me with a beef roast. I tried to save you some, but I was real hungry." "There better be some here for me!" "Can you give us a ride home after you're done eating?" "Sure."
I sang Kiarrah to sleep after giving her a bath. We cuddled for a few minutes before I felt her slip deep into dream land. I gently kissed her on the cheek and went to the bathroom to shower and get myself ready for bed. Today was a good day.
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