Friday, o’seven hundred hours. David walked from the parking lot to the entrance, in full uniform as his arsenal went Thump, Thump, Thump against his legs. He eventually made it to the entrance and before walking in, he looked at his reflection in the same window as the morning before. He stood to observe himself, in a slight proud manner for getting his first job. He sighed, smirked a little and said, “I guess this is what I needed, right?”. He then stepped away from the window and walked through the automatic opening and closing doors into the lobby. Over by the Toll Stations was Rachel, leaning against the first booth with a nail file, looking downwards smacking gum. David approached her and asked, “Hey excuse me…uh…Rachel was it?”
Rachel looked up at David and smiled at him with those bright green eyes and said “Hey David. Can I do for ya, sugar plum?”
“Do…do you know where Zeb is? He told me to be here at o’seven hundred sharp,” David asked, attempting to sound sincere.
“He’s in Marcus’ office,” Rachel answered.
“Thank you,” said David.
“No problem,” chuckled Rachel flirtatiously, as she looked down to continue her gum smacking and nail filing. David walked sluggishly over to Marcus’ office, still waking up from the early morning. He knocked on the shiny metal door and heard a voice from the opposite side shout “Just a…moment!”. Although it was somewhat inaudible, David heard Marcus say, “Tell me about…uh…yourself,” and “Tell me why you are…uh…fit for this job.” As soon as the other voice answered, over what sounded like loud snoring, Marcus said “Great you’re…uh…hired,” and David could hear approaching footsteps. There was a metal click as the door unlocked from behind and out came Marcus and a new employee, who was trying to conceal a smirk on his face with his head pointed downwards. Something was funny to this employee as he let out a quick snicker. As they were walking towards the Training Room door David approached Marcus and asked, “Hey excuse me?”
“Why hello…der…what was your name again?” Asked Marcus after he turned around.
“David”
“Oh that’s…uh…right. What can I…uh…do for you?”” Marcus asked.
“Well, Zeb told me to be here at o’seven hundred this morning, and I was wondering where I may find him?” Asked David.
“Oh…Zeb the bed head…he is sound asleep like a…uh…baby in there,” answered Marcus, as he pointed that bulgy index finger of his to the closed door.
“Oh, thank you sir,” said David.
Marcus examined him awkwardly, then turned around swiveling on one leg and walked with the new employee through the door leading to the Training Room. David stared at them as they walked through the door for a moment, then he turned around and opened the unlocked door to the office. There was a shadow that crept up the side of the right wall belonging to Zeb, who was sound asleep on the floor as he slumbered against the right wall, trapped in the bliss of his own alcohol inspired dreamscape. He was laying with his long greasy hair covering the right half his face cradling a bottle of whisky in his arms like a teddy bear. His left cheek was complimented with saliva slowly creeping down the side of it. David leaned forward slightly and whispered “Hey, Zeb?”. However, there was no reply, so David whispered “Hey, Zeb?” once more. Still no response, except for his loud snoring. David shook his head and said once more but a little louder “Zeb, it’s me David.” No response. David looked out the corner of his eye in confusion and hummed puzzlingly to himself. Deciding not to disturb the slumbering Zeb, he walked back out the doorway towards the Toll Stations where Rachel was still leaning. “Hey Rachel?”.
“That’s me shockingly, sup?” She asked making a pop sound on the letter “p”.
“Zeb’s asleep in the office,” said David, pointing his thumb to the hallway with a confused expression on his face.
“He’s what?” Asked a now annoyed Rachel.
“Zeb is asleep,” said David once more.
“You’re kidding? Again?” Asked Rachel, now looking at David with a tilted head and cocked hips like a disappointed mother.
David nodded slowly. “Huh, Trina keeps telling Marcus to lock the door, but the fool never remembers to do it!” Rachel shouted, storming away from David and towards the small hallway to the left. David soon followed her to the office, and right before he could reach the doorway, he heard a loud Thwack! Accompanied by what sounded like broken glass and a loud yelp. David froze in place, and before he could enter he saw Rachel storm out of the office mumbling, “Lazy good for nothing!” as she walked past David. Zeb came out soon after, but sluggishly and hunched over with his hands covering his groin. He then looked upwards and shouted “Wuh was that for?!” “For being a daggone Boom Cootie!” Rachel shouted back. “Man do I look like…oh whateva,” said Zeb, stopping himself once he saw David. Zeb then regained his usual posture and said in a groggy voice, “Sup dawg, didn’ expectya ta get here so early. Brings ya to this side of town?”
“You told me to be here by o’seven hundred this morning,” responded David, now starting to become a little impatient.
“Did I, or was that the other dood, ehh nevamind. Come in I gotta teach’ya somin’ else before ya start ya job,” Zeb said, motioning his head towards the office entrance. After wiping saliva off his left cheek, he walked into the office and David followed soon after. “Hope ya don’t mind that incident, that was muy sista,” Zeb said apologetically to David as he walked in. David walked over to Zeb who was standing bent over, looking through the drawers of Marcus’ desk, and he peeped over Zeb’s shoulder at what he was looking for. The drawer contained a pile of portable radios. “Ah! Here we go,” Zeb said as he handed a radio to David, with the long antenna bouncing comically. Zeb then grabbed one for himself, closed the drawer, looked up at David and said “Aight, ya gonna learn how to talk through that thing.”
“See that button?” Zeb said pointing to the radio in his hand.
“Yes,” David responded confused.
“Press it and talk through the speaker,” Zeb said.
After David pressed the button, Zeb said “Aight, now say sommin’ funny.”
“Something funny,” answered David through the speaker.
“I couldn’t hear it, move the radio away from ya mouth,” Zeb said.
“Something funny,” said David once more, slightly moving the radio away from his lips
“Man, I can’t…wait hold on,” Zeb said walking over to David. “Just what I thought. It’s turned off,” he said twisting the small knob at the top of David’s radio. Zeb stood back a few paces and said “Sawy, forgot it was off, know say what ya jus said one more time.” David rolled his eyes and said, “Something funny.”
“That’s betta. Now lemme try. Boom Cootie. Did ya hear that?” Zeb slurred.
David shook his head. All he could hear was static and mumbling.
“Lemme try again. Boom Cootie, hear that?” Zeb said once more through his speaker.
David shook his head.
“Boom Cootie!” Zeb said again but much louder and still slurred.
David shook his head once more, still only hearing static and mumbling.
“Eh, if ya need something jus holler. Aight, we done let’s go,” Zeb said.
David and Zeb walked to a key card box to the left of the office door. It was a thick black plastic electronic box with a small green LCD screen. The box had a number keypad as well as a card slot below the screen. “Gimme one sec,” said Zeb as he shuffled his hands through one of his pockets. “Ah! here we go,” Zeb pulled out a card with his name on it and a small key on a key chain and handed it to David. “This is ya timecard, ya gonna punch in and out with it. Go on try it,” David swiped the thin plastic card, and the words “For work press 1. For training press 2. To clock out press 3,” appeared on the dark green screen. “Press 1” Zeb said. David pressed the “1” key on the keypad and the screen said “Welcome to The City of Jump” in black letters, slowly fading back to a blank screen. Zeb and David began to walk towards the entrances, however Zeb stopped abruptly and turned around. In a semi-serious voice he said “Now, before we continue, I gotta ask ya, is there anything else ya need, cause once we go through the gate ya can’t come out until ya shift is over. Unless ya know, we send ya to run some errands for us. Some of us get hangry without our nachos.”
David pondered for a moment. “Oh, that’s right! I forgot my clothes from yesterday,” he told Zeb. “Heh, I was wondering when you were gonna tell me. Go on and get em’ and meet me by the gate. Just run through that door over there,” Zeb said pointing to the Police Entrance next to first toll booth. David ran over to the door, struggling a little. He reached the door and twisted the door handle, but it would not open. “Hey I forgot!” Zeb yelled over to David, “That small key is a skeleton key! Opens every door!”. David unlocked the door and entered the dimly lit green tunnel. He walked casually with his equipment in his belt clapping his leg, slowing him down a little. Upon reaching the door, he stopped as he heard a buzzing form his radio
“Krzzz…Seth…Krzzz,” the unfamiliar voice said.
“Yeah?” A voice responded.
“Get a move on with that load, we got a new fellow coming in to get his clothes from yesterday,” The voice said. It had a low somewhat condescending tone to it, showing authority as it spoke.
“Roger,” responded the voice talking to the slithering one.
“What?” Asked another voice from the radio.
“Not you, stupid. I’m right next to you.” Then there was silence. After an awkward moment, David started to open the door, but moved once the knob twisted from the other side. From behind the door, Trina and another person came walking through. The person with her wore the same uniform as David, but had a turquoise shirt instead. He was black and had a pair of round glasses, with a red baseball cap resting atop his head. “Need a refresher already?” Trina asked with a smirk.
“No ma’am, I’m…I’m just passing by. I forgot something in the warehouse from yesterday”
“Was it those dress clothes laying behind the gate?” asked Trina with an alluring look on her face.
“Y…yes ma’am,” David stammered.
“Luckily, they were still there this morning when I walked by. They should still be there now,” said Trina.
“Thanks,” said David starting to turn red from embarrassment. He opened the door and tried to walk through quickly but before he could Trina asked “So, who was the lucky lady?” in a playful voice. David then came to a screeching halt and turned bright red from embarrassment. After shaking his head, he walked into the warehouse. There were two other boys around the same age as David inside. They were standing next to The City of Jump a-e-a-d, with a wheel burrow sitting behind them. The kid on the left was an Asian kid with spiky black hair and glasses, standing slightly shorter than the kid next to him. The white kid stood at the same tall stature, only he had long brown hair in a ponytail. Their sleeves were rolled up on their unbuttoned shirts, and the blonde kid wore fingerless black leather gloves. They both wore the same scarlet shirt as David, only the Asian kid was not wearing a hat, and the white kid was wearing a purple baseball cap. They were laughing about something, and as they saw David walk past, the blonde kid shouted, “Sup dawg?”. David turned around and said “Hello”, then he walked up to them and asked, “Have you guys seen a pair of dress clothes back here?”, pointing to the gated area. “Yeah, I saw them, they were right in there. Me and Seth thought someone was doin’ the naughty nasty last night!” Said the dirty-blonde kid laughing. “Man, whatever Roge” said the Asian kid chuckling. “But anyways, yeah they back there slumped over on some boxes,” said Roger. “Thank you,” said David. When Roger turned around, he noticed an unfinished wooden baseball bat, held in place by the diagonal shoulder strap of his belt, and it had the words “Boom Cootie Smasher 3000” painted sloppily in black letters. “What’s the bat for?” David asked. “What this?” Roger questioned, grabbing the bat from his back. “Yeah,” David said. “Heh, it’s for bustin’ racoon Boom Cootie fags like you!” Roger said, giving David a light nudge with tip of his wooden bat. David stood frozen for a moment, but the silence was interrupted by Roger and Seth as they erupted in laughter. “I was only messin’ man! Look like you was about to crap bricks!” Roger exclaimed, giving David a playful albeit hard slap on his shoulder. David sighed from relief and turned around to get his clothes from the gated area, ignoring the howling hyenas behind him. His clothes where still laying in the exact spot he had them the morning before. David grabbed them and tossed them over his shoulder. As David began to walk out, he saw Roger and Seth where now walking towards the Police Exit.
David walked out the opening and towards the Police Entrance. When he made it to the hard metal door he stopped as something caught his attention. The wheelbarrow was still sitting where Roger and Seth left it. The wheelbarrow was constructed of silver metal, with a giant red splotch inside. It looked like rust. However, the color of the splotch was much brighter than what rust usually looks like. There was a strong metallic stench coming from the wheel burrow as well. David observed this for a good minute, then he heard a small click noise as the doorknob twisted. David stepped out of the way as Trina and the new kid came walking through the door. As they walked past, Trina was explaining to the new kid what Zeb told him the morning earlier about getting his uniform and equipment. David then grabbed the door and walked through.
Making another journey through the green tunnel, David then walked across the lobby to where Zeb was awaiting his arrival by one of the gates. He was chewing his nails, smirking a little at something he found humorous. Rachel was still at the register smacking her bubble gum and filing her nails. As David walked past her, she gave him a wink, causing him to blush. David kept silent. When David approached Zeb, he looked up and asked “Are ya ready?” with a smirk still on his face. “Yes sir,” answered David. “Aight. You should start standing proud dude, most people your age stand proud when they get to wear where their new uniform. That is if they like lookin’ like a giant fruit loop,” he smirked, stepping away revealing a yellow rectangle box behind him. The box was in the shape of a traffic light, with the red light currently active, containing a card slot on the bottom. Above the doorway, there was a rectangular electronic sign that was split in half. The left half of the sign read “Please Wait” and was lit up in bright red letters. The right half was dimmed out and said, “Welcome”. “Put ya timecard in the slot” said Zeb pointing to the slot at the bottom of the box. As David did this his hand shook slightly. Afterwards, the green light on the box lit up and Zeb said, “Take it out.” Then David took his card out. The words “Welcome” above the doorway were now glowing, and the two large toy officers lifted their batons. “Let’s go,” said Zeb as they walked through the large opening in the wall through the turnstile gate. As they made it to the other side, David could not believe what he saw as the sign went back to “Please Wait”, as they toy officers lowered their arms.
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