[MB] Job Hunt

[Tamika Weir]

Time: Afternoon
Weather: Sunny
Warnings: None
Characters: [OPEN]


Tamika pulled her Toyota into a parking place and flicked off her radio, which had been blaring music. She stared at the store called the "Milk Barn" through her windshield, then glanced down a a small sheet of paper she had pulled out of her pocket. On it was written:

Milk Barn
A&G Diner
Galaxy of Terror
SWERY65

New store!!! Sun Drip?

"The job market here isn't that great. Only 5 viable possibilities in this whole town. And there's no way in heck I'm working in a bar." Tamika winced at this, remembering all the times her dad...no...Scott Shepard came home drunk and threw beer bottles at her. "No, this is not the time for reminiscing. Just get out of the car and scope the place out." Tamika did as her head told her and clambered out of the car.

"This place is heaven," was Tamika's first thought after walking inside. Rock music poured out of the intercom. Posters for concerts lined the walls and an electric guitar sat on the counter. "Oh yeah, I could work here." Sadly, the work force put a damper on her happy thoughts. There was a man sitting behind the counter and she saw a woman walking around restocking shelves. "This place already looks pretty well set." Her smile, which she tried to perpetually keep on her face almost fell at the thought. "Oh well, I might as well take a look around. Maybe I'll see something interesting..."

[Polly]

Polly leaned on her shopping cart and contemplated tomato sauce. Normally she'd make a batch of it homemade, but with her back thrown out and so many people to cook for, she was forced to fall back on store-bought. But which one?

Suddenly she spotted the familiar face of one of her guests wandering the aisles. Tamika or something, wasn't it? And why did she need groceries? She grabbed a jar at random and made her way toward the woman. "Hello! Planning on cooking something?" she called. "Need any help?"

[Tamika Weir]

Tamika turned to face the old woman. She hadn't talked to Polly much, even though she was staying at her hotel. From what Tamika could tell, Polly was somewhere between from 60-80, had some type of back issue, and had to have a moderate some of money. "Well, might as well try to learn a bit more about her if I'm going to be staying in her hotel."

With a smile, Tamika replied,"Nothing special, most likely. Probably just some ramen." Noticing the can in Polly's hand, she added, "What about you? Anything special?"

[Polly]

Polly smiled back at Tamika. She didn't know much about the young woman, but Polly found her quite intriguing. She looked so unusual--such strange hair, and most of the women in town still tended to wear neat dresses and heels--but she had a sweet smile. She also looked a little lost. Polly surprised herself by feeling quite maternal toward the virtual stranger.

What did Tamika say she was making? Rayon? That sounded a little worrying, until Polly's glance happened to fall on the display of ramen noodles. Oh! Well didn't she feel silly. Still, wasn't ramen those bland noodles? Anything you cooked in a Styrofoam cup couldn't possibly be good for you, either.

"You can always have dinner at the hotel, you know. Meals are included in the room price, if that's an issue." She looked down at the can in her hand. "El Cheapo's Little Italy Taste," proclaimed the gaudy label. Well, that was a little embarrassing. "Oh, dear. I was planning to make a nice big batch of lasagna for tonight, but I think I might use a different brand," Polly said, setting the offending can down on a nearby shelf. "I'm afraid I'm not used to all these choices," she confessed, smiling sheepishly. "I haven't bought ready-made tomato sauce in such a long time. I don't suppose you have any suggestions?"

[Tamika Weir]

"Hmm...Polly seems to be the kind type." Tamika never knew her grandparents, but decided that Polly would be considered "grandmotherly". Hearing that meals at the hotel were free was a relief to Tamika "Well that's one burden off my wallet, though I may want to visit the diner anyway to check out job options..."

Tamika's eyes suddenly lit up "Wait a minute! Polly lives here, and by my guess has lived here for some time. Maybe she can help with my unemployment dilemma." In response to Polly's question, Tamika sadly shook her head. "Sorry, I don't know much about tomato sauce brands. I haven't done much actual cooking since..."

A sudden memory came to Tamika's mind. "Can't you cook any faster girl!" A beer bottle sailed over her head as she frantically stirred a pot of stew. "I'm sorry. I'm working as fast I can." Footsteps pounded toward her. "Well that ain't good enough!" A fist slammed into her back, almost causing her to spill the pot. As the footsteps retreated, silent tears ran down her face.

Realizing the pause and the slightly scared/sad look on her face, Tamika shook her head and her face recovered its perky expression, though slightly less perky than before. "Since a long time ago," she finished.

Wanting to change the subject, Tamika asked "So Polly, do you know many of the businesses around here? I was kind of wondering if any of them happen to be hiring currently."

[Polly]

Polly was alarmed by the sudden change of expression on Tamika's face. What was wrong? She glanced behind herself to make sure there wasn't some kind of axe murderer sneaking up on them, but the aisle was empty. When she looked back, Tamika had composed herself and changed the subject.

Polly didn't want to pry, but--no, that wasn't even close to true. She very much did. "If the poor child's upset by something, she could certainly use some comforting," she justified to herself. "Then again, I'd be upset if I didn't have a place to work. Maybe that's the problem." She took a breath and thought. "Well, dear, this is a very small town. The businesses around here barely make enough money as it is, I'm afraid. I suppose the Milk Barn here might not be a bad place to start; I know they're always having trouble in the stockroom. The Mash Market or the General Mart...it's hard to tell if they're even still in business. But then again, maybe they just don't have enough people to open up regularly. If you feel like taking on a mystery, you could always try to track down the owners and ask them.

"The diner--oh." Suddenly she connected the query to recent events. "Oh dear. I really don't know how to put this without sounding awful, but...the A&G's going to find themselves...without a waitress," Polly said quietly. "That's...not something that they're going to want to think about for a while, though. They're definitely going to want someone eventually, but I wouldn't go bring that up just now. I don't suppose you've heard about the murder? Such a terrible business."

Polly went back to talking about job openings, even though it was hard to turn down an opportunity to talk about Anna. "Let's see...there's a new book store in town, but I haven't been there yet so I don't know too much about it. Lysander's place and the Panda Bear always seem to get by even though the owners are the only ones working there, but they might be getting a little tired on their own." Polly's back twinged in sympathy.

"That's a thought. Those two aren't the only ones who're being rushed off their feet. I don't know this person very well, but she seems all right to trust." Polly waved a finger in sudden inspiration. "You know, my back's not doing so well, and I always had my dear departed husband around when we were busy. I can handle all of these guests coming in, but it might be nice to have a little help around the hotel. I couldn't offer you much work, though, and it wouldn't be permanent. Just a few hours a day cleaning the place until most of the guests are gone." Polly wished she could do more, but she knew that the hotel was going to dry right up after this murder business was solved. "You could help me with the cooking, but you probably don't want to do that," she added, thinking of their discussion and how upset Tamika mysteriously got. She reached out to pat the girl on the shoulder. "And don't worry. Whatever happens, things will work out just fine."

((I hope Polly offering a job like that isn't getting too far away from canon! If it is, I'll retract the offer somehow.))

[Tamika Weir]

"Smooth, Tamika. Real smooth. Just have your face freak like that in front of everyone. That's a surefire way to get people to like you," Tamika mentally scolded herself. She supposed that leaving Spokane must have unhinged a few things, but she couldn't just have random memories pop up all the time. "Just relax and don't think so much."

Hearing that the Milk Barn did have some issues gave Tamika some hope and made her a bit happier. "Maybe I still have a chance here. I'll just have to make sure to seem organized and able to move a box when talking to the owners. " The second one might be a bit harder than the first, considering she had the height of an eleven year old. Tamika almost laughed remembering all the times she was asked how old she was when she'd try to get a job.

"Now there you go remembering again. Didn't we just agree that you'd stop doing that in front of others?" She mentally slapped herself. Though that wasn't a painful memory like the first, she should try to not remember anything while talking. "Dang it! Now I missed part of what she said."

When Tamika resumed paying attention to Polly, she had begun explaining the job opening at the diner. And the issues with it. "Oh right, the paper mentioned something about strung-to-tree-with-big-frickin'-cut-in-her-stomach-girl working at a diner." Tamika had most skimmed that part of the article, deciding it would be better for her not to know the victim. Now it was biting her in the butt. "Maybe it would be best to avoid talking to the owner's of the diner about a job for now."

Tamika was only mildly interested in the other possibilities. The book store still sounded like a good option, but she still didn't know much about it. She could barely remember what it was supposedly called. "Sun something, I think. Crops? Mops? Stops? Oh, it could be called Sun Burn! Burn! Everybody burn! for all I know." Neither of the other two options sounded good. Tamika only knew enough about cars to drive one and was not very interested in working in a place full of guns. "If just thinking too hard about how long it's been since I last did any cooking caused me to freakout slightly, a place full of guns would be bad memory city." Besides, the place was called Panda Bear. Panda. Bear. The last store she heard of called anything thing related to large, black and white Asian bears was a Panda Express she went to once with a fellow DJ in Spokane.

"Ah, Spokane." The thought made Tamika slightly nostalgic, even though she had only left a few days ago. Her time there had been some of the best of her life. She had so many good memories from there. Then she mentally slapped herself yet again. "Stop. Thinking. About. The. Past," she commanded herself.

Polly's offer made Tamika smile one of her rare genuine smiles. "This has got to be one of the nicest people I've ever met. Information and a job offer all in one conversation. She didn't even ask any questions about my little freakout." Though a couple of the words she said made her a tiny bit sad. "'Not permanent.' Yeah, I've heard that a lot." Tamika had slightly been hoping that Greenvale wouldn't end out being like the many places she had stayed in before going to Spokane. "No, I'm not going to give up hope yet. This will just be a job until I can get hired by the Milk Barn or somewhere else here."

"Thank you for the offer Polly." Tamika answered, "I would be happy to help you around the hotel, if you need it. And I don't mind cooking. I just kind kind of zoned out and ended out someplace weird." "Not the best excuse I could have used, but maybe it will work." "I swear, I didn't remember some horrible kitchen related accident or anything like that. "

Polly's kind gesture made Tamika want give Polly a big hug. It also made Tamika slightly sad again. No one had ever been so genuinely kind to her besides her mother. Slightly choked up, she managed a "Thanks Polly," with a smile.

[Polly]

Polly noticed that Tamika's mind seemed to be wandering while she was talking, and what she said about zoning out seemed to confirm it. "Oh, I wonder if she has that AT&T they talk about on the news? How strange that must be. Oh, I'm sure she doesn't have that, though." Polly was also a little flustered and pleased by how deeply Tamika seemed to take her little gesture. It was really nothing special, but the poor girl really seemed to need it. She seemed so lost, and Polly fervently hoped she would find her way back from that painful place someday. This tiny little woman had a hard life showing on her face, but she looked so much younger when she smiled.

Out loud, Polly replied, "Oh, that's wonderful! These past few days haven't been easy, and I'm not getting any younger, you know. Have you ever worked at a hotel before? You make sure you get a good night's rest and come see me at the desk first thing. If you don't mind starting that soon, that is," she amended, realizing that Tamika may already have plans. Her eyes fell on the can of tomato sauce still sitting abandoned on the shelf. "And you know...having some help with the guests' meals might not be such a bad thing.

Oh, I've taken up too much of your time already. Go get your Roman noodles! Or you could have dinner with the rest of us tonight. ...I think I'll save the lasagna for some other time. We'll probably just have meatloaf tonight."

Polly's eyes softened again. "And please, if you ever want to talk, just let me know. This town is just full of good people--" Suddenly, Polly got taken by a memory of her own, of a horrific night such a very long time ago. Why was this coming to mind? She hadn't thought of that for years. Was it this recent murder? She composed herself and continued, but in a very different direction from where she had started. "--and of course one very not nice person. Be careful, please, Miss Weir. Poor Anna..." She shook her head and turned away.

[Tamika Weir]

"Um..." Tamika had to think for a few seconds. She had worked in so many places, she sometimes lost track of where she'd worked at. "I think I worked at a hotel in Moscow once. The one in Idaho I mean, not the one in Russia." "Of course that was only for a week, I think. And they only had me clean bathrooms. Then they got shut down by the Health Department for unsanitary living conditions. That was one terrible week."

"I won't mind starting work tomorrow. To be honest, I'd actually prefer it," Tamika responded. "Maybe work will help me keep my mind off the past. That and it'll just be nice to have a job again. Even if it is only for awhile." Tamika listened politely to Polly and was about to leave, deciding that diner at the hotel would be nice. "Maybe I can check out that bookstore, Sun whatever. Or just drive around for a bit. Whichever." Suddenly, Polly's face resembled her own when she was remembering something particularly awful. "What the heck was that?" Tamika almost asked Polly about it, but then bit her tongue. "No. Polly was polite enough to not ask when I remembered something. I should return the favor and say anything."

As Polly walked away, Tamika turned and headed toward the exit. "Well, I've spent enough time here. Maybe I'll come back and talk to the owners later. But first, time to go find out more about this small town." She pulled her MP3 player out of her pocket and put on her headphones.

Well, life's like a road that you travel on
There's one day here and the next day gone
Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand
Sometimes you turn your back to the wind...