Chapter Eight
Araceli insists I wear her father’s clothes the next day. She has me cover my entire body from head to toe until the only thing anyone can see are my hands, neck, and face. She even finds a hat to cover my head. I move outside ahead of her, determined to check the vehicle for predators before she gets anywhere close. She just sighs and gets in, starting the engine before I can get to my seat. Our drive is much the same as it was last night, only this time I can feel the tension rolling off her in waves.
“Let me do all the talking. Do not say a word,” she says as we pull into the parking lot of her place of employment. I know how to exit her vehicle this time and step out as if I’ve done this all my life. Perhaps I will blend in easier than Araceli believes.
The scent of home hits me immediately, and I find myself stumbling over the shoes Araceli insisted I wear. Had it not been that strong yesterday? I look around and spot the reason immediately–a large rectangular vehicle has backed up to one of the doors. Several men are unloading dozens and dozens of tires. I take a deep breath and let the scent fill my lungs. It’s been so long since I’ve been home.
“Kai,” Araceli hisses, nudging me. “Hurry up.”
Araceli grabs my hand and drags me behind her through one of the open bays until we find a tall man with brown skin. He watches me carefully as Araceli pulls me behind him.
“Brandon, I need your help,” she tells the man. The man eyes me skeptically, then nods his head in my direction.
“Who’s this?”
“My man, Kai. He needs a job. I know we have openings.”
Brandon wipes his hand on a rag and meets my eyes. “You want me to hire a man who makes his girl speak for him?”
“Sorry, sir,” I say, stepping in front of Araceli and extending a hand. I know she said to let her do all the talking, but I don’t believe anything she says will salvage her plan to have me work alongside her. “Araceli thought it best to approach the idea with you personally before having me enter the conversation. My name is Kai, and I have a lot of experience with tires. I have worked on…” I pause as I think about how to describe it, “High-altitude aircraft in the past and would need a little training, but I am a hard worker.”
Brandon wipes sweat off his brow. “High-altitude aircraft? Are you a military man?”
“He was,” Araceli says. “He just finished his enlistment, and is looking for a new direction.”
Brandon nods. “We are vet-owned and operated,” he tells me.
Tires AND they can treat Chorizo if he becomes ill? It seems humans are all about convenience, though I’ve yet to see an animal on the premises. “We always prefer to hire our military guys and gals when possible. Araceli, get him an application to fill out. I’ll give you ninety days. Don’t fuck up and the job will be yours permanently on day ninety-one.”
“Lucky for you, we’ll only need five,” Araceli grumbles softly, as she leads me through the bay. I do not respond. What can I say that will make her feel better about the inevitable? She draws me into a small chamber and we sit side by side at a table as she scratches on paper with a small tube.
When she finishes, she stands up and has me follow her back out to the bay. Brandon takes the paper, reads over it, and nods.
“Araceli is still in training, but I’ll team you up with Marcus over there. MARCUS!”
A younger man bounds over to us from across the bay. “Marcus, this is Araceli’s man, Kai. He was a military guy, so we’re going to give him a ninety-day trial.”
Marcus has curly hair that obscures his eyes. He shoves the hair back and nods, “Sweet, bruh. What were you, Air Force? Navy? Marines? I did a little time in the Army myself.”
“Air Force,” Araceli answers for me.
“Nice. Let’s get you a work shirt, you’ll be sweating bullets out here in no time.”
“Marcus, don’t be a dumbass. Kai has a skin condition. See?” She takes my banded hand and holds it up. “He has to stay covered up all the time. Be respectful.”
“Shit man, I’m sorry. No disrespect intended. C’mon, let me show you how to clock in.”
Araceli grabs my arm and leans close, the smell of rubber so strong my knees want to buckle. I hold my breath as her lips approach my ear, forcing myself to appear calm as my heart threatens to escape my chest.
“Do not go far or I will kick your ass.”
I nod, surprised at the vehemence in her voice. I guess she has not forgotten my mission after all. “Of course,” I tell her before following Marcus as far out of range as possible before faking a cough to alert Araceli.
We have not officially measured the distance–her not speaking to me has made anything of that sort nearly impossible–she could move from me, but I had a rough idea of how far I might go. I hear her small feet shuffle quickly to my side of the bay. Once I spot Araceli, I continue on the rest of the way.
“Bruh, you don’t have to worry about Araceli,” Marcus tells me, the fourth time I move to keep my proximity close to my mates. “She’s like a big sister to everyone. No one would ever dream of trying to take her out.”
“Not that she’d be interested,” remarks another young man named Juan. He shakes his head and leans closer to Marcus and me, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I don’t know if she ever told you about her ex?”
“The pussy?” I ask.
Both men laugh. “Yeah. He’s come around here a few times acting a fool. She doesn’t talk a lot, but you can tell he really did a number on her.”
The capacity for the AI in my translator to parse out unfamiliar things has grown significantly in just the past eighteen hours, but there is no translation for “did a number on her.” Is she tattooed? Did he play a song? Whatever it is, his face, and that of Marcus seems to think this number was a negative thing.
I mull over this until Marcus tells me it is time for lunch. “You gotta clock out for your lunch–we only get thirty minutes, but because you’re in training, you’ll be able to take lunch with your girl.” Until this moment I had not thought about food. We had already eaten a meal Araceli had prepared at her domicile for us, her father keeping conversation for both of us. Eating more than once a day was a luxury during my time in the military.
Araceli appears at my side and takes my hand. “I packed us lunch. Let’s go sit in the car.”