The Martin Chronicles by John Fried

Author:John Fried
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2019-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

“How was your first day?” my dad asked as I sat down for dinner.

“I don’t think I’ll be making it a career.”

“Now you know why they’re striking,” my mother said.

I said, “Why are they striking?”

“Better pension. Better wages,” my dad said.

I poked at my plate of leftover Chinese food. “Give them whatever they want. That job is terrible.”

* * *

Later that night I met Max and Dave on the steps of the Natural History Museum. Dave was working at his mom’s office, filing papers, stuffing envelopes, and running errands. “If one more person calls me the ‘gal Friday’ I’m going to stick them in the shredder,” he said.

“At least you don’t have to deal with customers,” Max said. He was working at Steve’s Ice Cream, famous for letting you mix in anything you wanted, like crushed Oreos or peanuts. He had brought us a pint of chocolate loaded with gummy bears. The three of us sat on the steps of the museum, smoking a joint Max had stolen from his cousin, while Dave and I made our way through the tub of ice cream.

“Don’t you want any?” I asked Max.

“If I never eat ice cream again it will be a good thing,” he said.

“You wouldn’t believe what they ask me to do,” Dave continued. “This one guy had me take his dog to the groomer. Said the heat was getting to little Coco. I had to sit in this weird office, surrounded by blue-hairs and their shih tzus, while some girl shaved his poodle. When I left, the dog looked like a goat.”

Max took a hit of the joint, passed it along, and then said, “Try smelling like Mocha fucking Fudge all day.”

Nearby, some kids were skateboarding off the steps, attempting flips and tricks, but they kept falling and then getting up and doing it again. It was depressing to watch. “Any cute girls at the store?” I asked Max.

“Sure. Maybe. I don’t know,” he said. Dave passed the joint to me and said, “The girl who shaved the dog was kind of sexy.”

I took a long drag and exhaled. The smoke hung in the air. “What about you?” Max said. “How’s the elevator?”

I had called them the night my dad hired me to run the elevator. They both thought it sounded like the easiest job in the world. “It’s okay,” I said. “Harder than I thought.”

“Yeah, right,” Dave said.

One of the skateboarders did a kick flip off a bench, but as he landed, his skateboard cracked, splitting in two, splinters flying everywhere. He picked up one piece, looked at it, and then threw it on the sidewalk in disgust.

* * *

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