Chambers Lane Series Collection

1. Jose Luis-2

“I see that you are still stealing spoils from your job.” Daniel was referring to the Coke cans.

For seven years, Jose Luis had worked for Coca Cola as a driver delivering merchandise to the various stores and restocking the shelves. He loved the job because it gave him unfettered access to each store with little to no oversight from his employer or the store"s local management. Jose Luis could walk in unnoticed and unsuspected, inspect the floor for missing product, unload what that store needed for the week, and then go on his merry way. If it took him three hours to complete his route, Jose Luis would bill eight hours. No one was the wiser. Who could know where he was or what he was doing? Most of the time he was actually just playing video games in his room when he claimed that he was working.

But this time, things were different. In some ways, Jose Luis was excited that his brother was here and that he could explain it all if Daniel would just listen and be supportive.

“I can no longer work there.”

“Not again,” Daniel muttered to himself. “Did you quit?”

Not again,“No. They fired me. That"s what I want to talk to you about. You"re a lawyer. Don"t you know any lawyers here in California?”

“I only know a few, but I can ask someone to recommend one if you really need one.”

“I do. I think I have a great case. So great that you should take it.” Jose Luis grinned in excitement.

“I"m pretty selective of the cases that I take. Besides, I"m not licensed to practice in California. Only in Arizona.” Daniel did not bother to say that he was also licensed in Nevada. It did not really matter in the end. He already knew that, whatever his brother was going to say, Daniel did not want to get involved in it. “Yes, a referral is all that I"m going to do. He is family. At least he won"t be able to say I never helped him,” Daniel thought to himself with a slight sense of pride.

Yes, a referral is all that I"m going to do. He is family. At least he won"t be able to say I never helped him,“After you hear this, I"m sure that you will want to take it. We"re going to make a lot of money. We"ll be rich.” Daniel doubted that but did not say so because he wanted to appear objective. He also did not want to prejudge the situation even though he was skeptical.

“Tell me what happened.”

“Well, I went into Von"s at Figueroa and Central to restock the Coke products. One of the managers stopped me and told me that this female employee complained that I cursed her out. I told him that I didn"t. But he insisted. She was lying and he believed her over me. So I was fired for that.”

“Why? Doesn"t your manager like you?”

“Well, he isn"t my manager. He is the store manager at Von"s. He works for Von"s, not for Coke.”

“If he works for Von"s, then he can"t fire you.”

“He didn"t fire me. He called Coke and complained and then I was fired.”

“What did you tell your manager at Coke?”

“I told him that she was lying, that she always lies and wants to get me in trouble.”

“Why would she do that?”

“I think she likes me.”

“So she likes you and tried to get you fired? That doesn"t make sense.”

“I don"t like her. She"s fat and has kids. And I don"t want that. So she is making this up to get back at me.”

“Didn"t you tell the Von"s manager that?”

“He won"t believe me because I am black.”

“You"re not black, Junior. You"re Hispanic.” Daniel"s stern look betrayed his subtle anger.

“He doesn"t care. I"m black to him and he doesn"t like black people.”

“So he"s white, I take it? Did you tell your manager that?”

“I didn"t have to. He knows the guy is racist.”

“Why do you say that?”

“It"s obvious. He always says bad things about how black people are no good, steal, are lazy, and are on welfare. He was looking for a way to get me out of that store and this was his chance.”

“So why didn"t they just give that store to another driver so that you didn"t have to deal with the manager? I thought you said that you are a good worker and Coke needs you and won"t get rid of you because no one works as hard as you. They didn"t need to fire you for a mistake especially because you deny saying it. What did she claim you said to her?”

“She said I called her a bitch.”

“Well, did you?”

“I did. But that"s because she was acting like one and being mean to me. She wanted me to make sure that the Coke products were fully stocked and I told her that I stocked them earlier in the week and that I couldn"t come back until next week. She felt like I wasn"t concerned about their customers and that I was being lazy.”

“So why couldn"t you do that store twice that week?”

“I didn"t feel like it. Why should I? It"s not like they are going to pay me twice to go there?” Jose Luis was adamant and proud of it.

“So what did your manager say when you told him that you didn"t want to do the store twice and that you did curse at the female employee?”

“I told him that I was tired of listening to a manager who couldn"t stand up to people and allowed his favorites to get away with things while hard workers like myself have to do all of the work.” Jose Luis stood up and anxiously paced around the motel room. “I am a hard worker,” he insisted. “No one knows the job like me. And he put me on days when I told him that I only wanted to work nights because I am going to culinary school during the day and need to work at night. There are plenty of guys who can work the day shift and who want to work days, but he put me on days. And then he had the nerve to cut my hours. So I told him that I am going to work the hours he gives me, but bill the company whatever I want to bill and there is nothing that he can do about it.”

“You told your boss that?!!”

“Yeah. He had nothing to say.” Jose Luis said this as if he was very proud of himself for confronting his boss.

“And you think you are going to sue your company for wrongful termination and discrimination and win? You don"t have a case.”

“What do you mean I don"t have a case? They fired me because they think I am black. They are racist.”

“Junior, you called that woman a bitch.”

“Yeah.”

“You basically told your boss that you were going to steal from the company. What do you think he was going to do? Fire you. That"s what I would tell your company to do if I was their attorney and they asked me what to do.”

“You"re not going to take my case?”

“No. Why would I?”

“You"re my brother.”

“I only take cases that have merit. I can"t go in front of a jury asking them to rule in your favor when you cursed out that woman and threatened to steal your company"s money by cheating them. No jury would believe you were fired because of racism.”

“What about referring me to another attorney?”

“No way. I would be a laughing stock. No attorney would ever take any other case that I would refer to them if they learned that I knew the truth.”

“What the hell are you good for then? I"ve been there for you your entire life and you"ve never been here for me. Not you. Not mom. Not Maria. When are you guys going to be here for me?”

Daniel resisted the strong urge to curse Jose Luis out. He was used to these incessant tirades when Jose Luis would not get his way. First, there was the modeling career when Jose Luis claimed that he worked out, got a six pack, and modeled swim wear for a catalog that never came out. Jose Luis never revealed the name of the company that he purportedly modeled for. So no one in the family could confirm this non-existent modeling career. He fancied himself like Tyson Bedford or sometimes Marcus Schenkenberg. But there were no photos. No catalogs. No go sees. Just the worthless words that Jose Luis kept spouting and the praise that he wanted everyone to lavish upon him undeservedly. When Daniel confronted Jose Luis after he claimed the catalog was out, Jose Luis could not give an answer. He could not produce the catalog. He instead lashed out at Daniel with every curse word that Jose Luis knew. Some of the curse words were in Spanish.

Then there was that culinary school where Jose Luis never really applied to. He never actually attended, but he insisted to everyone in the family that he had been attending culinary school. Jose Luis could never seem to produce the letter of acceptance or any report card or proof that he paid any tuition. And then there was the hot dog stand that Jose Luis wanted to buy. He claimed that he was a good cook and that everyone loved his cooking. Daniel had never seen Jose Luis cook once nor tasted any food that he ever cooked. Or the time when he worked for Home Depot and claimed that after three months he was going to be promoted to department manager because he was such a good worker. He was fired a week later for refusing to heed his manager"s wishes. Or the time when he joined the Army and went to boot camp. He quickly chose to be honorably discharged because the wool exacerbated his eczema and caused him to itch all over his body. Never mind that he longed for his under-aged girlfriend at home on Chambers Lane. He chose instead to leave the military because he wanted to be with her. The military doctors could have treated Jose Luis"s eczema and stabilized his condition. He regretted that decision years later.

Jose Luis was a quitter. Most of his jobs lasted only three months. But for some reason, he worked at Coke for nearly seven years. It was the longest job that he ever had. Everyone was surprised that he lasted even that long. Perhaps it was because one of Jose Luis"s co-worker was a d**g dealer and sold Jose Luis m*******a in exchange for routes. Perhaps it was because the job gave him the freedom that he longed for which he did not have at a regular nine-to-five job. Or perhaps it was because he was actually good at the job. Jose Luis could have made it a long standing career if it wasn"t for his oversized ego that did not match his character.

“Look at me. I"m living in this rat hole. No one comes to visit me. This is the first time you have even bothered to visit me in years.”