Page 7 of The Politician

Chapter Three

The teaching position was up for grabs, being the regular teacher was out with Covid for however long it would take. There were only a few weeks left of school, so she used her personal time to recover.

Eli wanted it, of course, but there were other subs up for the position and they’d been working at the school longer.

Sandy was playing cards with another of their roommates, Felix. Felix was Puerto Rican and though he worked most days, and had crazy long hours, he still kept the house entertained.

“Hey,papi, come play some poker. Get your mind off things.”

“I have no money to lose.”

“We’ll play for chores, eh? You do my laundry next week if you lose.”

Eli laughed as he plopped on the couch next to Sandy. “No thanks. Those stakes are way too high. I’ve smelled your socks.”

Sandy laughed until he fell into Eli. “God, that’s ano shitkinda statement.”

“Fine, you fuckers. I’ll do my own laundry and take Sandy’s money on top.”

“I’d rather lose all my money than do your laundry,” Sandy countered and while they were bantering back and forth, Eli took out his phone to check his social media, then saw he had a new email.

Sitting up, he read the email, sure it was spam or worse, a scam.

“What’s that, Eli?” Rhianna asked as she sat on the arm of the big sofa.

“I don’t know, probably nothing, but it is a possible offer for a job. Seems they are looking for Georgetown graduates to become personal assistants to some of their older alumni. It says it’s an effective way to make contacts and further career paths. Weird. I never signed up for anything.”

“You graduated from there, so sure, they have lists. Call the school maybe?”

“It says it’s not directly affiliated with the school, but a group of alumni heard a lot of us recent graduates are having a tough time finding work in our chosen fields.”

“That’s certainly you,” Sandy said, throwing down an ace to win the hand. “Who’s doing who’s laundry now, Jose?”

“My name ain’t Jose, Sandra.”

“Ooow, that hurt,” he teased.

Rhianna poked Eli. “Listen, don’t get your hopes up because it could be a scam, but call them. If you are directed to apply to some weird site, or if they send you to a part of town that you know is sketchy, then just book out of there. It can’t hurt.”

“Sure, it could, but I am curious. If this is for real, it’ll be the first time my graduate degree would have helped me.”

“That’s right. All that money you owe for going there, it’s about time.”

He concurred. “There’s a number and a return email. Which?”

“Call. If they start off asking for your social security number, you’ll know.”

Eli nodded to her as he started to pull up his keypad. “Aren’t those usually for older people?”

“Scammers attack everyone, Eli. Call!”

They were all staring at him, and it made him nervous enough for his hands to tremble.

He pressed the numbers, referring back to the email only once to make sure he had the right ones, and then he placed it to his ear to listen.

Rhianna snatched it and put it on speaker. “We’re in this with you.”

He chuckled a little before the line was answered, “Hello?”