HC: Handyman | Ch. 1 - Rough Day (Patreon)

When Jack reached his house, he couldn’t remember how he had gotten there. While his mind recovered from the shock of his breakup, his legs had worked on auto-pilot, bringing him back home.

Each of Lydia’s remarks resounded in his mind, torturing him, suffocating him. Were they really not together anymore? Was he truly that immature?

He trudged toward the door, and the motion sensor turned on the front door lights, letting him easily find his keys.

“I’m home,” he said as he entered.

There were hushed tones in the kitchen. What was going on? Why weren’t they answering? “Hello? Mom? Dad?” he called as he headed toward them. The closer he got to the kitchen, the clearer the voices became.

They were speaking in Portuguese. Even though they had immigrated more than three decades ago, his parents still talked to each other in their native tongue. Jack avoided speaking his parent’s language because his cousins made fun of his accent, but he could understand it without a problem.

“I need you to back me up on this,” his father said.

“But, honey. Things are different from when we were young.” His mom was sitting down, cheeks flushed. She probably had been cooking in front of the stove.

His father was still in his monkey suit, having just arrived from work. He was hunched over the table, holding his phone and pointing vigorously at it. “No, Maria. They’re not!”

“I don’t want to put him through what we suffered. Wasn’t that why we came here? To give him a better life? We just need to be patient, and all will fall into place,” his mother tried, but his father shook his head, resolute.

“Hey,” Jack greeted. “Is everything OK?”

Both turned toward him. His mom looked down, and his father stood erect, fire in his eyes. Jack knew that look. He was in trouble.

His father was a short man who barely reached his chest. He wore brown overalls and had tanned skin, from working under the sun for many hours. His dark skin only accentuated the hard lines and wrinkles on his face. Even though his father’s English was clear, he hadn’t lost the Portuguese accent. “You can explain this?”

“Yo, tubers! This is Jack of Spades! What’s up? I’m about to show you how to quit your job like a boss! Check this out.”

Jack had completely forgotten about the video and hadn’t even checked how well it was doing. The video brought back the painful memory of his conversation with Lydia. After several hours online, it only had 18 views, adding strength to Lydia’s accusations. Seeing how his father kept playing the video while staring him down with accusing eyes, he knew where some of those views were from.

He felt like he was standing trial and his father was leading the prosecution. Lydia was the first witness, and now he was being shown exhibit A, the sorry video he had posted earlier today. What had felt like an epic moment at the Cheap Mart now looked like childish bravado. Finally, the video ended.

His father waited silently. Jack knew the drill. His father would keep looking at him until he said something.

“I was going to tell you I quit, Dad, but you didn’t even let me open my mouth.”

“Son! This has to stop. What I told you? Never close a door. Always leave with style. Why you don’t listen to me?” His father wasn’t screaming or angry. He was sad and disappointed, which was even worse.

“When you told your mom you wanted to drop college and start working, I didn’t agree, but I still supported you. Then, instead of looking for work, you stayed home, sleeping, watching TV, playing with your phone.”

“Not this again,” Jack protested.

“José…” his mother started but his father kept talking, ignoring both.

“I had to find a job for you and beg you to go there. Then you quit. Then I find more jobs. But you keep quitting. ‘It’s too tough,’ ‘they pay too little,’ ‘I am too tired.’ How many jobs have I found for you, son? You know?”

Jack was exhausted. He had never expected that he would be coming home to this. “No, Dad.”

“I do. 13. The longest you lasted was three months. Your record for the shortest time is one day,” he said, shaking his head.

“My supervisor at Cheap Mart was a jerk, Dad. I couldn’t take it anymore.”

“You always blame the boss and others, but the guilty man is in front of me,” he countered, pointing at him.

Jack felt dizzy. This had to be the worst day of his life. “Listen, Dad, I’ve had a long day and need to go to bed. We’ll talk more in the morning, OK?”

“No! We talk now!” he said with a fury. “When your mom and I left Portugal and came here, we had to work hard. Two jobs. Three, sometimes. Do you know how we made it? Do you know how we bought this nice house?”

“By doing the work no one else wanted to do,” Jack recited.

“Yes! Dirty work. Hard work. Why you don’t want to work? What’s wrong, son? Explain to me.”

“All these little jobs aren’t for me, Dad. I want to do something great. No offense, but I don’t want to slave for others as you guys did. I want a nice job.”

“Nice job? What is a nice job?”

“I don’t know. Something that pays good money without me having to do all this hard, dirty stuff you’re saying. Again. No offense, but you guys are the immigrants, not me. I should be able to do better for myself.”

“Something like this?” his father said while shaking his phone in front of Jack. “An internet star?”

He would have replied confidently before today, but Lydia had shaken him. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

His father turned to his mother and asked in Portuguese, “See what I was telling you about?” His mother looked down again, almost like she was the one on the chopping block.

“Listen, Jack. Things are going to change around here from now on.”

“What do you mean?”

“From now on, you’ll pay rent.”

“Dad? Come on, I-”

“No! You will pay rent. 500 credits.”

“Isn’t it enough that you no longer pay me an allowance? Now, you want me to pay you to live in my house?” Jack protested.

“It’s reasonable. It helps with mortgage, water, gas, power, and internet bills. It’s the least you can do, son. If you don’t want to pay this much, feel free to look for somewhere else to live.”

“Oh, my goodness. You’re serious.” he realized, shocked. “Mom,” he said, looking at her beggingly, “please, talk to dad.”

“Honey, maybe we-”

“No! He will pay rent, Maria. The only reason why he even works is because we’ve stopped giving him money, and I’m always on top of him. We won’t be around forever. He has to learn.”

“José, come on. We-”

“Maria, this is for his good.” Turning toward Jack, he continued, “I’m sorry, son. We can’t enable you anymore. You have to learn to pull your weight in this world.”

“I can’t believe this! Why are you going all ballistic on me?! I just had the worst day ever. Lydia just broke up with me, and instead of finding two understanding parents, you bring this bomb down on me?!” He didn’t want to shout, but he couldn’t control himself.

His mother brought his hands to her mouth and gasped. His father sighed and put a heavy, callused hand on Jack’s shoulders. “I didn’t know about Lydia, Jack. I’m sorry to hear that. But that doesn’t change my decision. You have one month from now to pay the first rent. It’s for your good, son.”

Jack turned away and stormed off to his room, careful to slam the door as hard as he could.

*

Knock, knock.

Jack awoke to the sound of someone knocking. When had he fallen asleep? He remembered throwing himself into bed and staring at the ceiling for a while, and then there was a big blank.

Knock, knock.

“Come in,” he called out while checking the clock. It was 8:30 pm. He had slept for an hour. His mother came in through the door in her uniform.

“Hi, sweetie.”

“Sorry, mom. I fell asleep.”

“I just came to check on you before work.” She approached and sat beside his bed. “How are you doing?”

“Rough day.”

“I’m sorry about Lydia. What happened?”

Thinking back to his father’s earlier scolding, he clenched his jaw. “I’m not ready to talk about it yet.”

“That’s fine, baby.”

“Mom, is Dad serious? Do I have to start paying rent?”

His mother nodded gravely.

“Can’t you talk to him? 500 credits is serious money! I don’t have that much.”

“I’ve tried talking to him, but you know your father. He’s stubborn as a mule. Once he makes a decision, he doesn’t budge.” She looked over her shoulder and added in a whisper, “I can probably put in 100 credits to help you out, so you only have to worry about the rest.” She winked at the end while Jack’s mouth twisted. 400 was still a lot. After he received his salary from Cheap Mart and paid his credit card debt, he wouldn’t have even that much left.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Anything for my baby.” She kissed his forehead and left to go to work.

After taking a nap so close to bedtime and his mother’s visit, he was fully awake. He replayed the conversation with Lydia and then the one with his dad. He checked his phone and saw that the Cheap Mart video was still sitting at 18 views. Jack stood up, grabbed his keys, and left the room. He needed to get some air and figure out what to do.

*

After walking around the neighborhood for a while, Jack found his legs had worked on auto-pilot again and brought him to Roberto’s building. Knowing his cousin only went to bed around 11 pm, he rang the bell and waited.

“Jack? What’s up?” His cousin, Roberto, was at the door, his usually combed hair all over the place. He wore sweatpants and a white sleeveless shirt.

“Hey Rob, can I come in?”

“Of course,” he said, disappearing back into his apartment. Jack followed and closed the door behind him.

Unlike Jack, Roberto was born in sector 3, what used to be called Portugal, Spain, and France. He had immigrated a few years back and found a one-bedroom apartment near Jack’s house. They had the same thick eyebrows, dark Latin eyes, and round faces. Many people who saw them together asked them if they were brothers, but they were, in reality, cousins.

“What’s up, cousin?” Rob asked as he sat on his sofa. “I was just about to have dinner.”

Jack smiled, hearing it. Typical Portuguese. Having dinner super late and going to bed almost at midnight.

“Is everything okay?”

“I had a rough day.”

“How come? You looked super happy when you quit your job.” Roberto was one of the few who always took the time to watch his videos and leave a like and a comment.

“Right.”

Rob chuckled. “You’re a crazy dude.”

“So I’ve been told. Anyway. Went out for a walk to clear out my head, and since I was nearby, I thought I’d drop by and see you. New TV?” he asked curiously as he pointed at the screen that covered most of the wall.

“Yeap.”

“That’s awesome,” he complimented. His cousin turned it on, blowing Jack’s mind. “My goodness! The 3D rendering is off the charts!”

After taking a closer look around, Jack realized that that wasn’t the only thing that was new. There was a brand new coffee machine that could rival the ones in Lydia’s cafe. He also spotted a cleaning droid charging in the kitchen. “You’ve got yourself some new toys since I was last here.”

“What can I say? I’ve been doing well for myself.”

His joy quickly soured. “I’m jealous,” Jack promptly admitted.

“Construction is hard work, but it pays good money,” explained Roberto.

Jack frowned. “You’re telling me you bought this TV with what you make at the construction site?”

His cousin scratched his chin, “Well, I do have a new gig, too.”

“What’s that? Did you get a second job?” asked Jack, secretly hoping that the answer was no. He didn’t need another living case of success to make him feel bad about himself.

“Kind of.”

“What do you mean, kind of?”

“Have you heard of New Earth?”

“The game?” Jack remembered the ads that he’d been seeing all over town.

“Yeah. I’ve been playing it every night for the past few months. You can sell in-game items for real-life money. See the TV? Sold a rare gem at an auction online, and BOOM!” he shouted, “New TV!”

“What? You’re making money from playing the game?”

“It’s awesome. That way, even when I’m sleeping, I’m making money. You know you can play it while sleeping, right?”

Jack had read online about how more and more people were making a living through gaming. Auctioning in-game items for IRL money and making gameplay videos and guides was a market that kept growing year after year. “I’d love to try it, but those helmets are crazy expensive.”

“Yeap. 1000 credits only get you the worst model.”

Jack grimaced. That was too much.

“However, if you’re short on cash, there are some companies that rent a helmet for 50 credits a week.”

“Really?”

“Oh yeah. Big business. If I had the money to invest, I’d open a helmet rental business myself. Lots of people can’t afford to buy the helmet, or they want to try the system out first.”

“What about New Earth? How much does it cost?” he remembered that the ad on the bus spoke of a monthly fee.

“It’s 100 credits a month,” he answered.

“Yikes! Seriously?”

“I know. And it’s still the most-played game right now. Shows you how good it is. They do offer you the first month free if you get a referral from an existing player. I can hook you up if you want.”

Jack thought about the money he was going to receive from Cheap Mart and the rent he would have to pay soon. “How much money do you make on New Earth a month?”

“I don’t know. Depends. In my worst month, I only got 300 credits. In my best month, which was when I found that rare gem… 900?” he said after some thought. “But I only play at night. Some people make much more.”

Jack thought about his day. He had no choice but to find a way to come up with 400 credits. He got all his jobs through his father’s friends and connections, but that was probably not going to work this time.

Comparing the hassle of sending CVs and going to interviews to lying in bed and playing a game, he didn’t have to think twice. This seemed like a much better option.

“I think I’ll want that referral, cous.”

“You got it!”

Jack grabbed his phone and checked his balance. Cheap Mart hadn’t paid him yet. “By the way, Rob.”

“Yeah?”

“Can I borrow 50 credits? I’ll pay you next week.”

Prologue

INDEX

Ch. 2 - Tutor Ezekiel