The Art of the Hustle (Complete)

Chapter Nine

Darrell had grown up a bit in Vancouver, so he was familiar with the city. Whether it was taking the bus, finding the best pizza places, or going to the best neighborhoods to look for an apartment, he seemed to know it all. So I just followed his lead.  

For the first few weeks, I conformed to Darrell's lifestyle. We didn't really do much. We would wake up and watch TV until noon, have lunch, shower, and then hit the town. We were supposed to be looking for work, an apartment, and getting our lives together, but Darrell had other plans. He was more interested in going around town writing graffiti and hanging out at the mall. I was being drawn into the 'Darrell trap' - the unmotivated carefree life.  

During dinner, Jack and Judy asked us how the job hunt and the apartment search were going. Darrell always told them about all the places where we applied for work and all the apartments we had looked at. It was a complete lie; we hadn't done any of that.  

I think Darrell believed his dad would allow him to live in his house forever, but I was a little more sensible than that. At night, we could hear Judy screaming at her husband. She had reached her boiling point with us staying in the house. It was time to start making some serious moves, and we knew it. 

One day, Mr. Channing came downstairs to talk to me. Darrell was staying upstairs in the spare bedroom and was still asleep. I had been up for hours reading a Bill Gates biography I borrowed from Mr. Channing's personal library. 

"Good morning," Mr. Channing said. 

"Good morning," I replied. 

"How's the book?" he asked. 

"It's good so far." 

"So how's the job hunt coming along?" 

"To be honest, sir, we don't spend enough time looking for work. I don't really know the city that well so I end up following Darrell around and doing what he wants to do." 

"So is that your plan for life, just follow Darrell around?"  

"No, of course not." 

"Look, I know my son has some issues, but you seem to have a good head on your shoulders. You need to take control of your life." 

"Yeah, I know." 

"Trevor, let me tell you a little story." 

I settled in, waiting for Mr. Channing to tell his 'when I was your age' story. 

"Trevor, when I was your age, I was the father of two kids, my wife had just left me, and I was broke. It was one of the lowest points in my life. Instead of dealing with the problem, I found comfort hanging out with my friends and drinking until the early hours of the morning. I had no direction in life and therefore spent most of my time in dingy pool halls, drinking, gambling, and getting into trouble. Some of the guys who I was hanging out with at the time were...well, let's just say they were not outstanding citizens. Many of them sold drugs and did all kinds of nefarious activities that were against the law. Even though I hung out with them, I knew I wasn't really like them. 

Well, one day I saw this really cute girl walk pass me. She was so beautiful, I just had to talk to her, but I couldn't." 

"Why not?" 

"I didn't have the courage." 

"So what did you do?" 

"One of my buddies dared me to go talk to her; he was making fun of me, calling me a chicken. So I got up, walked right up to her and introduced myself. I was really nervous, but I think she liked that in me. I guess she could tell I was a good person. After that, we exchanged numbers and eventually started seeing each other.