She smiles at me as I get up. “We have great taste in clothes,” she says. “Come this way.”
“We must be all the rage,” I say as we walk down a short hall.
She laughs. “We are.” She leads us into a conference room. “Symphony, I am definitely impressed by your recommendation letters. Professor Hofsteder? I thought he hated everyone.”
“You know him?”
She settles in a chair and gestures to one in the corner. “Know him? More like barely survived him about ten years ago.”
“Maybe he’s gotten gentler with age?”
She shakes her head. “Or maybe you’re something special. Let’s talk about the position. The situation with student loans caused more turnovers than we expected at the beginning of summer. The grad students we normally maintain are spooked about debt, and they moved back home in unprecedented numbers.”
So, there’s one answer about why so many positions came available.
“I’ve seen some dropouts in our program,” I say. “It’s rough out there.”
“I’m glad you’re surviving to the end.” She moves aside papers until I spot my application. She’s friendly and prepared. This is good. Really good.
As I set my bag and its pointless buzzing under the table, I shut out all thoughts of anything else. I’m off to a wonderful start here. I can’t be distracted by a man who may never talk to me again.
Time to focus on my future.
CHAPTER 34
DIESEL
Merrick and I get turned loose from jail Wednesday afternoon with a hefty fine. But we’re warned that if we come back to the premises, they might arrest us again.
The fix is in.
We drive back to our houses in silence. We are good and fucked. They’ll use this as an excuse to deny our permits.
The Leaky Skull will be shut down in a matter of weeks.
I kill the engine in my driveway. I need a shower, food, and about twenty-five beers.
Merrick sits with his head tilted up, resting on the back of the seat. “What the fuck now?” he asks.
“Hell if I know.”
“You won’t let Sherman bail us out?” His voice has an edge to it.
“Fuck no.”
“What about the bar staff?”
“Hell if I know.”
Merrick sits up. “I’ll message Jose. Tell them to keep it going cash-only until someone shows up to shut it down. Sell out of everything. Then they can all split the money. It’ll be a nice severance till they can find something else.”
“Sounds fine to me.”
“We selling these?” He gestures to the two houses.
“Maybe.”
We sit there for a while, sweating in our dirty suits.