Page 22 of All the Ways You Save Me
“So, what are you going to do, then?” I ask.
Jason lays his head back against the couch cushion. “I was offered a job at a local electronics company. They need somebody to deliver equipment to their satellite offices, run errands for one of the owners. It will be really good for my resume since I plan to go into business. Plus, I’ll make connections and get some good references.”
I’m impressed that he’s found himself a job like this, and I can’t help but feel a sense of inferiority. Jason is savvy enough to plan for his future, while mine feels vague and uncertain. I hope to work my way up to be a mechanic, but I haven’t really thought through the details past working as an assistant.
“They’re actually looking for a couple of guys,” Jason continues. “All you need is a car. They just text you when they have an errand, and you go and do it. It pays a lot more than Broadway Automotive, and it could be an opportunity to work your way up in a company where you don’t have to come home covered in grease.” His gaze drifts to my hands. “I seriously don’t know how you manage to keep a girl like Madeline when half the time you look like a coal miner.”
Jason gives my shoulder a shove to let me know he’s joking, but I can’t help but feel the dig anyway. Madeline doesn’t seemto mind my hands looking dirty. But I wonder if she’ll feel the same when she’s off at college and I’m still in Maple Ridge under the hood of a car. Maybe having a few options for my future wouldn’t be a bad thing.
Plus, I’m intrigued bypays a lot.
“How much are you talking?”
“Listen,” Jason says, “just do one job for them and see for yourself.”
The next evening, I get a text telling me to pick up a package from a company called CyTech Electronics Systems on the east side of town and deliver it to an address in Glassport, just over the border in New York state, about two hours away. I have a brief pang of worry about filling up with gas and how much this is going to cost me, but Jason said the pay covers expenses. So, as instructed, I pull up to the loading dock in the back alley and knock on a heavy steel door.
A young guy with reddish hair and a pale face answers and hands over a nondescript medium-sized cardboard box marked with a red logo. I’m guessing it’s computer equipment.
Two hours later, and after a stop for gas, I pull up to another CyTech Electronics Systems warehouse. Another youngish guy answers—this one is beefier, with wide shoulders and a thick neck. I confirm his name and hand over the box. He gives me an envelope in return.
I wait until I’m back in the car to open it, and I’m stunned when two hundred dollars in twenty-dollar bills falls out into my lap. Two hundred dollars for a little over four hours of driving. That will definitely cover the thirty bucks I just put into my gas tank and still leave me with close to forty dollars an hour. It’s mind-blowingly more than the minimum wage paycheck I earn at the autobody shop, and this is under the table and tax-free.
With that thought, I hesitate, staring at the money in my hands. Is ittoomuch money? I would have happily done the job for half of this. How can they afford to pay so much for a simple errand? I pull out my phone to call Jason.
“Hey, dude, did you make the delivery?” he asks through the phone speaker.
“Yeah, I’m sitting here in the parking lot.” I set the cash on the dashboard, still staring at it. “They paid me…a lot.”
Jason chuckles. “It’s great, right? I told you, easy money.”
“Yeah, but… are you sure this is legit?”
“Of course it’s legit, the owner is a friend of my dad.”
Jason’s dad is a corporate lawyer who’s probably represented half of the large businesses in the area. Every time I’m out in public with him, people come up and shake his hand and want to chat. He’s definitely what I’d call well connected, and I could see him pulling strings to get Jason a job. My gaze drifts to the CyTech Electronics Systems sign on the building. It looks like they have multiple locations in different states, and if they’re well-connected with Jason’s dad, they’re probably successful.
“This kind of money might seem like a lot to you,” Jason says. “But it’s a pretty middle-of-the-road amount to pay a professional driver to handle expensive electronics equipment.”
I pick up the cash and shuffle it into a neat stack. That’s probably true.
“The problem is that you think of yourself as a kid who’s only qualified to do menial jobs,” Jason continues. “But people are willing to pay for good help. You prove that you’re a hard worker, and you could make a lot of money. You could go far with this company. I was willing to vouch for you, so you already have a huge leg up.”
I’m reminded again of how smart Jason is when it comes to planning for his future. It makes sense—he’s watched his dad make connections, build his business, and earn a boatload ofmoney. My parents were too busy struggling to pay bills to ever think beyond the day-to-day. But maybe I don’t have to follow in their footsteps. I remember my mom coming home from the diner every night, exhausted and smelling like french fries, and my dad covered in grease from the autobody, his back aching from leaning under the hood of a car all day long. Just because we didn’t talk about planning for my future doesn’t mean they wouldn’t have wanted a better life for me than they had.
But as I stare at the cash, the doubts ripple through me again. “Why do they pay under the table?”
“Big companies do all sorts of things to avoid paying taxes and doing extra paperwork. They probably bury it as some random expense on their books. It’s really not a huge deal.”
At my hesitation, Jason lets out a heavy sigh. “If you’re not sure, I can ask one of the guys from the swim team…”
“Don’t do that,” I say quickly.
“Look, just try it out. Keep working at the autobody and do this on the side. Don’t even mention it to anyone. If you’re not feeling it in a month or two, you can quit, and your girlfriend won’t even have to know you gave up a good corporate job to fix cars instead.”
There’s no harm in trying it out, right? This could be my chance. I’m lucky to have Jason and his family to open doors for me. I should grab this opportunity with both hands and use it to learn how to get ahead, to move up in the ranks of a company where I could have a career and not just a back-breaking job.
And in the meantime, I could save so much money. Hundreds of dollars a week, maybe more if I’m willing to work even harder. After graduation, I could afford to get my own place. A nice apartment and not just a friend’s basement. Someplace that’smine. And maybe someday, I could even afford to go to college myself. My grades aren’t great, but I could start small, a few classes at the local community college.
