PARADOX

PDX28

December 30th 2022
Dallas, Texas
12:35 pm

So far, Rashad having Samir work under him was going well. Samir was getting his pack off just as fast as he was getting them, they were both eating, so there were 0 complaints on either end. Rashad noticed the confidence increase in Samir, he remembered how it felt when he first started touching real bread too. "You registered for your spring semester yet?" Rashad questioned as he quickly thumbed through the money. Mental math had always been his thing, he was quick and sharp to reduce the chances of getting played out of his money.

"I dropped out." Samir announced, causing Rashad to briefly look up at him. "Why foo?" Rashad questioned. He didn't have a speech lined up for him or anything, he wasn't the one to preach about going to college. For the main fact that he didn't go. Rashad only asked because he was curious.

Samir shrugged, "Shit just ain't for me no more." He poorly explained,

"Don't let this be your main income, especially since you so young. Too many cash deposits and no direct deposits from an employer is a red flag for the bank." Rashad spoke as he tightly wrapped the beige rubber band around the stack of money and pushed it to the side. He felt like this was common sense, but he knew common sense wasn't so common.

"Oh, I know, that's why imma pick up more shifts here." Samir replied, causing Rashad to nod his head. "And you know the new hire—Gianah?" Samir questioned.

"Yeah—why?" Rashad replied. Gianah was the newest addition to Blue's staff. She was hired as a waitress, but she'd double as co bartender from time to time throughout the week. "Can you schedule us together? It seem like we work on the opposite days, I ain't seen her since her first day here." Samir explained. Causing Rashad break out into a cool chuckle.

"I'm foreal Shad, put me on or something." Samir spoke in a playful stressed out manner, "Hell Nah." Rashad replied.

"Why not?" Samir questioned, "Cause that'll do more bad than good, you not in high school nigga. Don't no woman want a nigga to send another nigga up to her on his behalf." Rashad elucidated.

"And besides...that girl a lesbian." He added. The way Samir's eyes widened was priceless, you could tell his lil spirit was crushed. "W-w-How you know?" He stuttered.

"Her girlfriend pick her up and drop her off all the time." Rashad answered, causing Samir to slightly kiss his teeth. "I mean...what if she bisexual though?" Samir raised his eyebrow, Rashad shook his head, as he fought his laugh.

"She still got a girlfriend son, relax." Rashad spoke, focusing his attention on the MacBook screen. "Well maybe if we can meet—she ain't married, so it ain't serious." Samir spoke before the room went silent.

"I'll see what I can do bout this schedule though." Rashad added, breaking the silence, yet keeping his eyes on the screen. "Good looks Shad, foreal." Samir spoke. Rashad nodded his head in response.

Samir left the room, leaving Rashad by himself, which is honestly how Rashad preferred it. He was currently on a search for somebody who could paint the mural that Amina suggested. In the midst of doing so, he realized he needed a reference photo to send to the candidates. Rashad grabbed a blank piece of copy paper, and began to sketch on it. He wasn't the best at drawing, but he felt like he was doing pretty alright.

Suddenly, he was interrupted by his phone ringing. He used his free hand to reach beside him and answer the call, "Yeah." Rashad greeted.

"Hey." Isis' voice traveled through the speaker, "Wassup." Rashad replied as he picked up the pen and continued to sketch.

"I heard you came to the city for Christmas...Drea told me she saw you at Ock's last week." Isis announced before letting out a villain esque chuckle. "And you had a girl with you." She added, but Rashad didn't reply.