The Marrying Kind (6 page)

Authors: Monique Miller

BOOK: The Marrying Kind

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It wasn't until the entire shift was over that Benny let Travis know that he didn't think the fast-food business was for him and he strongly encouraged him to look for work in another type of industry. When Travis asked about the paycheck for that day of work, Benny told him that he could come by to pick it up in two weeks.

The whole fiasco made him feel as if he were on an episode of
Hell's Kitchen
due to the glares he was getting from his coworkers about all the mistakes he'd made. And when Benny let him go, it felt like he was being told to take his apron offâjust like they did on the show.

It wasn't all bad, though. Benny had been one of the nicest people he had ever been fired by, and Travis had been fired by many bosses. Benny was professional in his manner and Travis appreciated that. Because of Benny's demeanor Travis would continue to be a patron of the business. And as he left through the doors of the restaurant, he had a newfound respect for people working in the fast-food industry.

As Travis got himself settled on the bus for the ride home, he checked his cell phone and saw that he had a voice mail message. When he checked it, there was a message from a guy named Andre asking him to call back for a job offer.

Travis returned the call. Andre told him that he had an opening for a car washer. Travis would be detailing cars at the Silvermont Wash and Dash. He was told that the Wash and Dash was known for washing and detailing cars at record speeds so that customers could quickly get their cars cleaned and be on their way.

Gladly, Travis told the guy that he could start that Friday. He didn't want his body to still be sore on his first day of work there. Luck was truly on his side. He'd just gotten fired and now he was gainfully employed once again.

Chapter 7

Andre showed Travis around the Wash and Dash. And then let him observe the Wash and Dash process to see how it worked. The manager showed him the time frame that was normal for the basic Wash and Dash package to be completed in.

Travis watched in amazement as a car pulled up, the driver got out, and it was driven over to a car wash area. Before the driver of the vehicle was in the door of the waiting room, a group of eight Wash and Dash employees, wearing their purple and green Wash and Dash uniforms, had descended on the car.

Each person was responsible for certain areas on the inside; then once done with the details of the inside they cleaned the outside. It reminded Travis of the pit crews he'd seen on television during races as they changed tires and quickly added gas to the cars.

“Many of our customers come through wanting the basic package,” Andre said after he'd shown Travis the layout of the place.

Travis nodded his head.

“Others want custom services and want to feel like they are getting a more tailored treatment.” Andre pointed at the sign with the packages and prices. “There is the silver package, the gold package, and the platinum package. And as you can see each package builds on the services that are offered and the prices for those services.”

Again Travis nodded.

“The guys around here like to joke that the basic package should be called the scrap metal package.” Andre laughed.

Travis laughed also. But he wasn't laughing because what Andre said was funny, but because Andre had a funny laugh. Andre looked a bit like a laughing hyena and now that he was actually laughing, the man sounded like one as well. A couple of the customers in the waiting area glanced over as Andre laughed, and Travis knew he wasn't the only one thinking what he was thinking.

Andre acted as if he didn't have a care in the world, and as if not too much really bothered him. Travis thought that it might be nice to work for someone who wasn't too uptight. He'd worked with enough people like that in his life.

Travis was given a Wash and Dash uniform to put on. The uniform of khaki shorts and the cotton short-sleeved shirt fit him so much better than the uniform from his previous job. He actually felt as if he could move around freely in the outfit. He also liked the fact that he didn't feel closed in at the car wash.

Andre watched Travis as he was given a couple of cars that had been left by a company to be detailed. Because the company wouldn't be there to pick them up until the next day, there was no need for Travis to rush. His boss mainly wanted to see how Travis worked and if he had an eye for detail.

The cars didn't seem too dirty to Travis, but he made sure to vacuum every nook and cranny and made sure to wipe down each and every crevice he could find. He'd cleaned the windows, making sure there wasn't a speck of dirt or a fingerprint smudge. When he was done he was pleased with his handy work.

Once he was finished, Andre gave him the thumbs up. Travis thought the guy was bordering on the corny side. He didn't really care, though, because watching how his new boss acted provided entertainment for him.

Later in the afternoon, Travis had just come back from lunch and Andre pulled him to the side and told him that they had a customer who needed the Barbie package. When Travis asked what the Barbie package was, because he hadn't seen it on the board, Andre rolled his eyes.

“The Barbie Package isn't really a package. We have a few customers who want touchups between car de-tailings and because they come so frequently we cater to them. I called it a Barbie package because it is a woman who wants her touchup. When it is a guy we call it the Ken package,” Andre said; then he laughed.

Travis did his best not to laugh this time. He really didn't want to prolong Andre's laughing.

“So, I need for you to do a few touchups on that BMW over there. Wipe down the interior, redo her windshield and other windows, and spray a little of this fragrance in there.” Andre handed Travis a little bottle of spray.

Andre looked over toward the waiting area where he nodded to a woman dressed in skin-tight jeans and a fuchsia baby T-shirt. Her hair, which Travis figured wasn't naturally hers, hung down to her mid-back area.

Travis didn't realize he was staring at the woman until Andre tapped him on his arm and said, “Come on this way. Here are the keys.”

He followed Andre over to a sleek black BMW X5. As he walked up to the SUV Travis admired the shine coming off of the vehicle, the tinted windows, and the fog lights. And upon opening the car his mouth salivated over the soft leather seats, the sunroof, and the satellite radio. As he cleaned while looking for nonexistent smudges and dirt, Travis imagined himself driving in the car, with the sunroof open, while listening to some smooth jazz.

His hand accidentally hit the glove compartment and opened the dashboard as he cleaned around it. The inside held a mini flashlight, a pair of gloves, and the car registration. Instead of quickly closing the glove compartment, Travis looked around to see if anyone was watching him. When he saw that no one was paying him any attention, he examined the car registration more closely. The name on the registration was Jade Morris. She lived at 61 Lafayette Street in Silvermont.

He didn't remember seeing a Lafayette Street on any of the bus maps or the city map he had used before. He figured that with the way the woman was dressed and the car she drove, she might not live in an area that had public bus transportation.

He placed the registration back in the glove compartment and closed it back up. “Jade Morris, huh?” Travis whispered to himself, thinking it was a pretty name for a very attractive woman. Then he imagined driving down the highway with Jade in the passenger seat.

When he heard a tap on the window, Travis figured he must have been daydreaming for too long, because there was a frown on Andre's face. “Travis, are you done yet?”

Travis opened the door. “Yeah, I was just finishing up.” He took a cloth and wiped the window where Andre had just knocked with his knuckles.

“Okay, little Miss Barbie is getting impatient over there,” Andre said.

Travis smiled over toward the woman, who hardly paid him any attention as she looked down at her watch with impatience. He handed Andre the keys back.

The rest of the afternoon, Travis worked helping with gold, silver, and platinum package jobs. Andre had told him that as he got better with those jobs, he would be able to move up to be one of the purple crew: the guys who did the Wash and Dash basic package speed clean. Throughout the afternoon, Travis thought about Miss Jade Morris. He figured she was indeed a Miss because she wasn't sporting a wedding ring or even an engagement ring.

The Wash and Dash was open seven days a week. For six days straight Travis worked and learned how to properly detail cars to the specifications of the Wash and Dash corporate office. He was given a day off, on a Friday; then, the next day, when he came back, Andre moved him up to the purple crew. He was given the task of cleaning and washing the back right side passenger area of the car.

When the first car rolled in, he was ready and raring to go. He pulled the door open, pulled out the mats just as he had seen the other guys do, then he commenced vacuuming the back seat, the floor, and under the front passenger seat, then started vacuuming the mat that he'd previously pulled out.

As he glanced at the other guys who were bound and determined to be the first ones finished with their sections, Travis pushed himself to go even faster. He loved a challenge. He placed the mat he was cleaning back into the car just as his counterpart on the other side of the car put his mat back in.

Within thirty seconds, the two guys covering the front sections put their mats back in and all closed the doors. Next, each guy was responsible for washing his section of the car. They sudsed the car down and then stepped back as a fifth guy then hosed the car down.

Once all the suds were off, Travis's team stepped back over to the car and toweled it down until it was dry. Their last step in the process was to take window cleaner and clean the windows to a sparkling shine.

The head of the blue team inspected the inside and outside of the car. With a clipboard the guy checked boxes off to ensure that it was cleaned to Wash and Dash's satisfaction. The guy then held up two thumbs to the crew; then he drove it to the customer service area for the customer to retrieve the car.

Travis figured the guy was striving to one day take Andre's place as he emulated him with his two-thumbs-up gesture. Travis shook his head, breathing hard, as he looked at what he thought was a bit of a spectacle. Before Travis could catch his breath, his team headed toward the next car that was being pulled up to start the whole process again.

He did his best to keep up with the guys for the next two cars, but by the fourth car, Travis was spent. He was hot, sweating, and tired. But the rest of the team was rolling like a steam engine.

As the next couple of cars rolled in, Travis found himself cutting corners by only using the vacuum to pick up large particles that he saw instead of methodically sweeping the vacuum in rows as he'd been instructed to do. His cutting of corners caused him to fail inspection two times in a row, thus causing the area to have to be redone. Because the car was not cleaned within the guaranteed time, both of the customers received coupons for a free car wash on their next visit.

After his third failed inspection, Andre came out to the car with another guy in a purple shirt and pulled Travis from the team. He pulled Travis into the office to talk. Travis was glad to have the break. He needed a bottle of cold water.

Andre must have been able to read Travis's mind because he pulled a bottle of cold water out of the refrigerator in his office.

“Travis, you look pretty hot and tired,” Andre said. Travis took long gulps of water. He'd never felt so thirsty in his life. His stomach didn't feel good and he was starting to feel a little dizzy. He sat in a seat in the office.

“You okay?” Andre asked.

“Yeah,” Travis said, even though he did not feel well at all.

“Travis, my man, we've had a couple of customer complaints about the time it took for their cars to be cleaned. And we've had to give out three coupons today within a three-hour period.”

Travis nodded his head, knowing that the coupons had been given out because of mistakes he'd made.

“Well, I gotta tell you, we normally only give out three coupons a week, at the max.” Andre shook his head. “Man, at this rate, Wash and Dash store number 103 will go out of business in no time.”

Travis knew exactly what was coming next: the ax.

“Man, I gotta let you go. Wash and Dash isn't for everyone and it looks like it isn't for you either.” Andre, who looked like the hyena, wasn't laughing like one now.

Travis took another gulp of water. He set the bottle down on Andre's desk and gave him a two-thumbs-up sign. Then he jumped up and ran to the bathroom, where he threw up most of the water he'd drunk.

Andre was gracious enough to drive him home. After stepping out of the passenger side of the car, Travis looked back toward the window Andre had rolled down and thanked him.

“Thanks, Andre, for driving me home,” Travis said.

“No problem, man. Are you sure you are going to be okay?” Andre asked with concern.

“Yeah, I think I just got a little dehydrated. I am going to head on in and take it easy as I try to get some fluids in me.” He held up the second bottle of water Andre had given him. “I need to sip the water instead of gulping it down.”

“Okay, well take it easy, man. And I am sorry I had to let you go, but you understand.”

“Yeah, I understand. You take it easy too.” Travis turned and headed up the driveway to the front door.

As soon as he got into the house, he set the bottle down on the counter in the kitchen and pulled out some grapes from the refrigerator. His stomach felt empty. He turned on the radio and started humming with the lyrics to the song “The Moment.” And it only took him a moment to realize that he needed to be the ninth caller so he could win tickets to the Sonnette concert.

He had no idea if he was too late, but it was worth a try. He dialed the number to the radio station and it rang on the first try. Travis felt sure that someone had already probably been chosen as the ninth caller. When the DJ answered the call Travis was prepared to hear the words “Sorry, we already have a winner,” but he didn't hear those words.

“Hello,” he heard the DJ say.

“Ah, hello,” Travis replied.

“Who am I speaking to?” the DJ asked.

“This is Travis.”

“Travis,” the DJ said.

“Yes,” Travis said.

“Do you know what caller you are?”

“Uh, caller number nine?” Travis asked, thinking that he might be since the DJ was taking more than two seconds to talk to him.