The Hand Job

by Rip Peterson

Table of Contents

lawn work. Besides mowing my lawn, I haven’t done much of either but if it would earn me a bit of money to make it to a different town, I could learn.

I didn’t get good at it.

But I did make sure I got paid before the people I was working for noticed my work. It wasn’t completely bad but definitely could have been a bit better.

But I would earn enough for a meal and a bus ticket.

I did find out that the former president won the election and is president again.

Good for him.

I’m hoping that he forgot about me. Or found some other way to rejuvenate himself.

Anyway, the workers I met who could speak English were really nice. They would each share a little bit of their lunches with me since they hadn’t noticed how bad of a job I was doing.

By the second day of the job, no one would talk to me.

There usually wasn’t a third day so that’s mainly why I moved on.

It took quite a while to get to Chicago. I don’t know what made me go there. Someone mentioned something called a Gym Shoe and I really wanted to try it.

Being broke with no ID and no way to earn money legitimately usually led me to the areas of towns where the immigrants congregated. I don’t know if they were here legally or not. I didn’t ask. I assumed they weren’t because they were trying to get the same under the table work I was.

I heard whispers about ice. Winter had just gotten over with so I don’t know why they were talking about it.