The Window Of Corruption

First Day

I decided straight away that I would apply, it might not be the most prestigious job in the world but it was a start. There was information on where to apply and after researching the area it appeared to be only on the other side of the bridge in Manhattan in a small crevice between the skyscrapers. I quickly dressed into my best suit as I wanted to make a good first impression. Said goodbye to my grandparents and I was out of the door.

There was a bus that was going to Manhattan that I managed to flag down and in no time I was riding over the Brooklyn Bridge. The bus dropped me off somewhere near South street Seaport, it already looked busy, in fact everywhere did and it wasn't even 8:00am yet. I guess it really was the 'city that never sleeps'. I continued walking to where the address was, it seemed to be in a back alley and wasn't as pretty as the rest of Manhattan.

I was wearing my best suit trying to make a good impression and I had rehearsed at least ten different reasons why they'd hire me while on my way here on the bus. I knocked on the door and was greeted by a short hairy man with a cigarette in his mouth.

"You here for the job?"
"Yes I am" I smiled and put my hand out to him, he reluctantly shook it with his filthy hands and gestured for me to come in.
"Woah pal why you wearin' a suit?" he asked with a hint of mockery in his voice, his New York accent made him sound even more mocking.
"I uh... I wanted to make a good first impression" I answered honestly feeling a bit embarrassed now.
"Well hey, I respect ya for that. The job's yours. I'm Tony, your new boss. Meet me around the front in five minutes and we'll get you started, here change into these" He threw me some clothes and walked into a back room with no explanation. I was stunned how easily I was hired; he didn't give me an interview or anything. I did what he said and quickly got changed into some standard blue overalls and a leather utility belt that held everything a window washer could have hoped for, it also had clips and rope which I assumed were so I wouldn't fall to my death while a hundred feet above the ground. Once I'd got changed I went to the front of the shady looking building.

There was another man standing there as well, wearing the same blue overalls and utility belt as I was, he was taller than Tony but had a similar olive colour skin tone, with dark black hair that was half heartedly gelled back. He was stood slightly slumped over looking like he'd rather be anywhere else than here. Tony appeared again,

"Hey uh...what's your name?" he was addressing me.
"It's Tobiasz. Tobiasz Szczepanski."
"Yeah well Toby or whatever, this is your new buddy Vinnie he'll be your partner and you two will be closer than a married couple after a few weeks. Vinnie started yesterday so he'll show you the ropes. You'll meet with me each week to get paid and for me to tell you where you're going and what to clean, but apart from that you're on your own. Good luck and don't screw up." and with that Tony went back into his 'office' and slammed the door leaving me and Vinnie awkwardly standing in the alleyway.

I eventually broke the silence "So...where are we supposed to go to first?" Vinnie sighed.
"Follow me" and walked off at a surprisingly quick pace, I had to run to catch up with him. "the first building we need to clean is just a small Cafe in Soho, jump in the van and let's go, all the gear we need is already in the van." so I did what he said and got in his van, it was quite cramped with all the cleaning equipment and looked like it hadn't been washed in years.

So far Vinnie didn't seem to like me very much, I didn't know why. Vinnie was a similar age to me, probably in his mid to late 20's, he looked like he had Italian origin due to his skin tone and his manner of speaking was very much a hybrid of an American New York accent and an Italian accent. He had quite short hair that he attempted to spike up and seemed to be in pretty good shape.

I tried to make small talk with him "Where are you from Vinnie?" trying to seem as friendly as possible.
"I was born in New Jersey but moved here a few years ago to find work. At the moment I'm livin' in a small apartment in Chinatown, it's terrible." a few moments passed "so what about you? You from like Russia or somethin'?"
"Actually I'm from Poland originally but moved to New York City yesterday in fact. I'm living in Brooklyn at the moment." There was another awkward silence.
"So here we are" he said. We got out and started getting our equipment ready, it didn't take long to clean the windows, me and Vinnie talked some more and I got to know him a bit better, he had two sisters and a brother that all lived in New York, one of his sisters was apparently some 'big time politician' according to Vinnie. I told him a bit about where I was from and about my grandparents.

"OK next place", Vinnie said and we went off to our next building, this one was a skyscraper in the financial district of Manhattan. We used ladders for the first couple of floors of the window but then we had to use the swinging stage. This was a metal floor that was surrounded by railings and a machine that lets you increase height and scale up the side of the building. For the rest of the windows we used this. After about ten floors I only just realised how high we were.

"Wow, that's a long was down." I thought aloud. Vinnie laughed
"Yep sure is. Can you imagine if you fell off?"
"Thanks" I said sarcastically, even though I wasn't specifically scared of heights, it was a bit unnerving how easily we could have slipped and plummeted to our deaths.

After hours of being hundreds of feet in the sky it was relieving when we finally got back onto solid ground. It was 5:30pm and we had finished for today, it was time to go home. "See ya tomorrow Tobiasz"
"Yes see you tomorrow too Vinnie" And with that we went our separate ways. I headed back to the bus stop to get the same bus I had gotten this morning. After a 15 minute walk, I finally arrived at the bus stop. I was very happy with my new job; maybe it wasn't too bad after all. I was just thinking about what I'd do tomorrow when I heard a blood curdling scream coming from behind me.