The Boiling of the Bones

16. New Chapter

It was a seven-hour ride to Manhattan via Albany. We pulled into Penn Station just after six. The train traffic was horrendous.

All I had on me was my guitar, and an enormous backpack with a few notebooks, some sheet music, a few small, prized possessions and about a dozen articles of clothing. I had no money to my name other than one Benjamin.

I had to find a job and a place to stay. I walked out of Penn station headed South toward NYU. It was a thirty-block walk. In New York, that meant a mile and a half.

A few blocks in, I passed a skyscraper under construction. A guy in an orange hard hat was carrying materials from a curbside truck in the front door.

"Hey, are you guys hiring?"

"I don't know. I think so. Ask the foreman."

"Who's that?"

He pointed to a makeshift desk in the corner of the lobby. A big burly Italian guy wearing a blue collared button up dress shirt under a bright orange reflective vest was holding a legal-size clipboard. He was pointing out something to one of his workers.

"Guy in the black hard hat. Over there."

I approached the foreman.

"Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, I was wondering if you're hiring?"

"Do you have any construction experience?"

"No, but I'm a fast learner, and I'm a pretty strong, tough guy."

"Do you show up to work on time?"

"Absolutely."

"Yeah, I guess I could use another laborer. It's tough grunt work and the pay is lousy. It you still around long enough to learn the ropes, you can get more."

"Thanks, I'll take it. Name's Oliver, by the way."

The ripped Italian man shook my hand.

"Anthony Difonzo. Be here tomorrow morning, eight am sharp. Look for the union rep. His name is Ryan Stone. You have to apply and join the union before you can start working for me. It might take a few days to process the paperwork, but there shouldn't be any complications. We work ten-hour days. You get a half hour lunch break at one, fifteen-minute breaks at eleven and four. You'll get lots of overtime. The client just put a rush order on this job and the union approved it. Bring two forms of ID."

"You got it."

Sweet. I was in NY less than twenty minutes and already had a job. I walked the rest of the way to NYU. I sat down at the fountain steps in Washington Square Park. I didn't really have a plan other than finding Sophia, and it began to dawn on me this wasn't such a good idea. I didn't care. I had to find her.

There was a small group of college-aged guys hanging out talking.

"Is there any way I could borrow someone's phone?"

"Yo, you don't have a phone?" A Puerto Rican guy asked as he wrinkled his face and mugged me up and down.

"I lost it. It's a long a story. I just need to make a quick call."

"Yeah, why not?"

The Puerto Rican guy handed me his phone. I unfolded the paper I'd written down Sophia's number on and dialed her.

"Hello?"

It was good to hear her voice.

"Hi, Soph, it's Oliver."