Chains Of Desire

Part 3: The Interview

Anaya's POV:

I pull into the parking lot of The Grindhouse nightclub and park the car before turning the engine off. I look out the window staring at the building with a giant grayed out light in a shape of a woman looking like she's actually sitting on top of the building.

In all honesty, I shouldn't even be here. Not after what I just went through back at the church. But I have to make money and sitting at home sure as hell isn't going to help with that. I take deep breaths. "You got this, Anaya," I say to myself. "Let's get in and snag that job." I open the door and step out of the car.

(Moments later)

"You have no drink making experience. No dancing experience. And no server experience," the club's manager, Eddie says, looking over my resume. "Is that correct?"

"Well, yeah.... But if you give me a chance you will see that I'm actually a pretty fast learner," I tell him.

He lets out a cackle. "That's what they all say, sweetheart and usually they be the ones I have to fire because of their constant fuck ups." This guy is definitely giving me an asshole vibe, but I really need this job so I'm not about to give up so easily and take no for an answer.

"I understand. But I can definitely tell you that I will not constantly fuck up," I promise. "Okay, look I'm not perfect so of course I'm going to make a few mistakes somewhere down the line. But at least I'll learn from them so that I wouldn't make the same mistakes again. Please, give me a chance. To learn something new. I swear I will be one of the best workers in this place. It may take some time for me to earn that title but I swear to you that I will give this job my all. All I ask is for a chance to prove myself."

He taps his fingers on the desk, leaning back in his chair while locking eyes with me without even blinking as I sit there quietly waiting for his response. "Do you always dress like that?" he ask, eyeing my outfit.

"Um, no. Only when I attend church," I tell him.

"Ah. So you're a religious girl," he states, leaning forward in his chair. "Listen, your good friend, Solange. She was kind enough to put in a good for you. Said that you'd be a really great employee for this place. And part of me believes her. I just hope she's right. For your sake." Thank you, Solange. I can always count on this girl to look out for me. "With that being said," he slams his hand down on the desk. "You start Monday." YES!! "Your usual start shift will be 7pm but since you're new and will need training I'll need you to come in at 6 for the first two days. Tiffany will be in charge of training you since you'll be working with her."

"Oh my gosh! Thank you!" I declare my gratitude. "You won't regret this, I promise you."

"I hope not." He flicks his hand, gesturing for me to leave. I stand up and head for the door to leave my new boss' office. "Oh and one last thing," he calls out. I stop in the doorway and turn to look at him. "Make sure you leave the religious act at home. None of that Christianity talk when you're here." I really hope this dude isn't always going to be a pain in my ass. "Noted," I reply before turning to leave. I can't wait til I get back home to share the news with Solange. I know that she usually starts her shift at 7 too so once I finish my first two days of training I'll be able to give her a ride to the club since she doesn't have a car or drive herself.

(Later in the evening)

"Thanks again, girl. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you for looking out for me," I tell my best friend while sharing a box of pizza we ordered.

"Girl, no biggie. I told you I got your back," she says, taking a bite out of her slice of supreme pizza. "Besides, you can be my ride to and from work." She cackles as I roll my eyes. I mean, she basically said what I had already thought about. "Yeah," I say, smiling and shaking my head.

The thing with me and Solange is we've known each other and been best friends since community college. I went to study education and she went to study law. Originally, Solange was suppose to become a lawyer, but end up switching paths once she realized that being a lawyer wasn't something she always wanted to be. It was actually her parents' dream for her to work in the law field. But instead, she chose to become a "dancer" and of course her parents weren't too please with her decision, which is why she and I agreed to get a place together, especially knowing that she wasn't going to be able to afford the place we live in now by herself. My parents didn't agree with me moving out of the house but I was 18 at the time so they didn't have much of a choice really.

"But I want to get back to talking about these so-call tough guys who came into your family's church today tryin' to start some mess," Solange brings up. I told her about the situation earlier when I got back home.

"Girl," I say, rolling my eyes and shaking my head. "When I tell you I can't stand my uncle.... Like, how you get cut out of our lives and still manage to cause problems in our lives?" Sometimes I wish he was stayed behind bars and never came to our home that night. But that's a story for later.

"What exactly did these guys claim he did?" my best friend ask.

"They said he killed one of their men," I tell her.

"What?! Why on earth would he do that? Was he trying to rob the dude or something?"

I shrug my shoulders. "Girl, I don't know. All I know is these people believe he killed a friend of theirs and they're out looking for him." I rub my temple feeling myself getting annoyed and frustrated about the situation. My uncle already put my family and me through so much crap in the past and so for him to have these guys barge into the church the way they did today almost makes me wish and hope that someone will just erase this man from existence. I know I shouldn't be saying or thinking this way as a Christian especially about a family member, but when someone like my uncle constantly do things that hurts and upsets you you just can't help but feel the way you feel towards that person.

"Do you believe he's responsible for someone's death?" she ask. After what he did to my family years back, I wouldn't be surprise at all. Anytime I hear about him and the things he does I just feel myself resenting him more and more. I don't think I'll ever have that family love for him I once had for him again.

"Girl, I'd be surprise if he didn't kill those bikers' friend," I tell her. It sure as hell wouldn't be his first rodeo, but again that's another story for later down the line.

"Mm. Well, I better get outta here," she says, getting up off the couch. She goes to grab her jacket and black purse. "I'll see you tomorrow." I wave bye as she opens the door and leaves the apartment.

I get up and start cleaning up, putting the box of leftover pizza in the refrigerator and tossing the two plates in the sink. I'll wash them in the morning before I head out to church. Right now I'm a little tired from today so I turn off the lights in the kitchen and living room and head to my room for bed.