\u201cWell that\nescalated quickly,\u201d Pri said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She sat on the bare\nfloor across from me in our shitty apartment, mugs in hand. We\nwatched the cheap coffee table between us in rapt attention, where\nmost of a law textbook had grown. Only the last inch was left, still\nwriggling out of the wood. The wood of the table squealed like nails\non a chalkboard as the book worked itself out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHas your career\ngrown in, yet?\u201d I asked her. I didn\u2019t mean it to come out in a\nwhisper. Speaking any louder seemed to make the whole thing real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot even a hint.\nI thought only prodigies and shit got their careers in their teens.\nIs there such a thing as a law prodigy? Oooh, are you going to be a\nsupreme court justice?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It started as\nnothing but a nub in the wood when we noticed it, something we could\nhave polished out tomorrow morning. Maybe something that we should\nhave polished out. The first book of my budding future had grown in\nbefore the end of our first cup of coffee. We were planning to go\ndancing tonight, but Pri had changed into sweats. I was still in my\nsequined dress, heels discarded by the door.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The textbook made a\nlittle popping sound and a bang as it settled on the table, fully\nformed and properly inanimate. I couldn\u2019t touch it. I couldn\u2019t\nstand to look at it but I couldn\u2019t look anywhere else. I thought\nthe grain of the wood beside the book wavered. Maybe it was just a\nshadow passing over the knot. I couldn\u2019t get two books in one\nnight. No one had two books grow in their first night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pri cocked her head\nninety degrees to read the title. \u201c\u2018Questions and Explanations\nfor Civil Procedure.\u2019 Sounds dull as fuck.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I slammed my mug\ndown over the knot in the wood to keep it from shifting again. \u201cWe\nshould go out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re not\ngonna read your book tonight?\u201d Pri asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m not even\ngoing to be a lawyer. I can\u2019t afford to be a lawyer,\u201d I said,\ngetting my keys. \u201cC\u2019mon. If you don\u2019t want to change then at\nleast let\u2019s get some food or something.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
I followed Pri\u2019s\ngaze to my mug on the table. Like something out of a dinosaur film,\nit rattled once, twice, the dark coffee dribbling over the lip. I\ncouldn\u2019t move. Pri caught the mug just before it fell as a second\nbook pushed its way out of a stupid coffee table that I\u2019d saved\nfrom a dumpster two years ago. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t need this\nshit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m going,\u201d I\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d Pri was\nstill mopping up coffee. My coffee, which I should have helped her\nwith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Somewhere without\nlawyers or the rule of law, if I had my choice. There had to be an\nisland somewhere without careers. \u201cI don\u2019t know. I\u2019m just\ngoing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou okay, Nina?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I had my keys, my\nphone, and my purse. I didn\u2019t need anything else in my life. \u201cI\u2019m\nfine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I slammed the door\nbehind me. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By year four of\ncollege, I had hundreds of law books piled up in my living room. I\u2019d\nstopped counting somewhere in the five hundreds. I could hear them\ngrowing while I tossed and turned in bed. The \u201cpop\u201d of a book\ncoming into full form would wake me up just as I fell asleep every\ntime. I was drowning in books. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hadn\u2019t taken a\nsingle law course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo career yet?\u201d\nmy college adviser asked when I sat down in her office for what was\nsupposed to be our final meeting. Professor Angie Cole. Her walls\nwere crammed with books on education, teaching, and self-help books\nfor mentors. I could pick out at least three books on therapy for\ndelinquents in the corner of one shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I slumped in my\nchair, ready to get this over with. \u201cNot so much as a nub.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She nodded along.\nHer eyes flicked from me to the self-help books on the shelf. I took\nsome pride in the idea that I was a particularly difficult case. It\ntook the edge off the pity in her eyes if I maintained some anger. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou can keep\ntaking gen ed courses, if you\u2019d like. The government pays until\nyour career grows in and takes over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGen ed courses.\nSure. Great. Just what I need.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her lips formed a\ntight line against my bullshit as she handed me a list of available\ncourses. \u201cThere are some gaps in your general curriculum.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indeed there were.\nI\u2019d gone to some lengths to avoid absolutely any class that I had a\nbook for. I\u2019d had to skip a good deal of modern politics, history,\ncommunications, and basic computer skills. I wasn\u2019t going to let\nher bully me into taking any of those courses now. \u201cI thought I\nmight take Irish poetry, Numerology 105, and The Art of Walking this\nsemester.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Professor Cole\nrubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed. \u201cGen ed courses form the\nbasis for an educated workforce in this country. We want informed\ncitizens who can apply the basics to whatever career path they might\nhave. We do not need more people who study Irish poetry. Besides,\nNumerology can only be taken if you have the book for it already. Has\nNumerology grown in for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I handed the list of\ncourses she\u2019d suggested back to her. \u201cHow about Auto Repair and\nMaintenance, then? That has to be useful. As part of the workforce\nand all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNina, you\nunderstand that this is your final semester of paid college, right?\nAfter this, you have to pay for any courses the universe hands you\ndown the road. Are you sure that you want to squander it like this?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI suppose I could\nadd Archery 201, if you want me to take an extra class.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou should be\ntaking this more seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I maintained my\nslump. I was very serious about slumping. \u201cI know, I know. If I\ndon\u2019t have a career I won\u2019t be able to get a job or have a family\nor whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The barest hint of\nkindness touched Professor Cole\u2019s face. \u201cYou\u2019re a late bloomer,\nNina. And not the first one I\u2019ve met. You have to believe that a\ncareer will come to you. The universe knows what it\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the universe knew\nwhat it was doing I would be getting typing manuals and basic office\nmanagement courses by now. The universe was all messed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I took car repair,\narchery, and environmental geology my last year in college. It didn\u2019t\nsatisfy anyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was a\nboyfriend. Jimmy. Or maybe his name was Johnny. Georgie? Something\nlike that, not that it mattered for long. He stared at my books for\nhours after sex. There as always a new one growing in. Business law,\nfamily law, ethics, history of law. As each new one grew in, I\nstuffed them in the kitchen cabinets, the pantry, under the couch.\nThe apartment was packed to the gills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Joey dragged them\nout, including those I\u2019d stuffed behind the pipes in the bathroom\nhoping they\u2019d mold. I came out of the shower to a perfect castle\nwall, separated by subject.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis is so cool.\u201d\nHe\u2019d seen me but not the look on my face. Not my body language as\nthe towel on my head slithered off my hair and fell to the floor,\nunleashing a Gorgon\u2019s nest of hair. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow did you find\nall of them? Jesus, that one was jammed up inside of the couch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re lucky\nbabe. A good career like this growing in. A good man like me. Yep.\nWe\u2019re set for life.\u201d The muscles in his neck rippled as he\nstretched. \u201cI don\u2019t know why you try to hide that you\u2019re going\ninto the family business. If I had a books like this growing in, I\u2019d\nframe them and nail \u2018em to the goddamn walls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I left my damp towel\non the floor to discolor the wood laminate and grabbed a couple of\nbeers from the kitchen. I kicked books off the coffee table and\nplopped my feet up. \u201cWhat about you, Jamie. What career did the\nuniverse ordain for you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to be\na food technologist.\u201d He took a big swig of the beer I offered him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLike a cafeteria\nworker?\u201d I asked. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re gonna be\na big fancy lawyer like your mom and you don\u2019t even know how your\nfood gets made?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am not going to\nbe a lawyer.\u201d I kicked the last of the books on the coffee table\nharder than I meant to and sent them flying against the wall. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I let the towel\nwrapped around my midsection fall to the couch as I stood up. \u201cI\u2019m\nsick of these books trying to take over my life. I\u2019m not going to\nbe a lawyer. Or a judge. Or a Supreme Court justice. I\u2019m not even\ngoing to be a stenographer, not that the universe gives me a choice\nin the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I grabbed a book to\npunctuate each proclamation. I shouted at Jerry as I turned on the\nbathtub and let it fill. I tossed each book in with a splash, filling\nthe tub.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I let the books soak\novernight until my tub was full of ink and false promises. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Jakey the food\nscientist and I didn\u2019t work out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
#<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Life was full of\ntemp and part-time jobs. Most of my coworkers were regular career\nfolks trying to earn some extra money to pay off their medical bills.\nI never told them that my other jobs were all part-time or temp, too.\nI wasn\u2019t moonlighting. This was my regular life. But you didn\u2019t\nhave to declare your career unless you applied for a full-time\nposition. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Unless your boss\nfound you out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I knew I shouldn\u2019t\nhave stayed at that fast food position so long. I did my fucking job\njust fine. Slap some condiments on a burger, hand it over to the\ncustomer with a smile. I didn\u2019t need a book on how to do that. No\nmysterious hamburger book ever showed up while I slept. The law books\nhad given up. I got the occasional light reading from the universe. I\nslept like a baby when I wasn\u2019t trying to work three jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy are you in\nsuch a bad mood, today?\u201d Carey asked as the ketchup pump exploded\nall over my cleanest work polo. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I wiped ketchup off\nmy face as I stared at her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOkay, other than\nthe ketchup.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTurner\u2019s trying\nto force me out.\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo?\u201d Carey\nasked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I looked at her\nround, earnest face. \u201cI need the money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere are other\njobs. Just move to one of them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t know how\nto explain that I\u2019d burned my way through a full sixty percent of\nthe part-time jobs in town. I\u2019d have to move within a year at this\nrate, or risk cycling through the temp jobs again. I didn\u2019t want to\nanswer certain questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you ever\njust want to choose a job for yourself and stay there?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A nervous laugh\nbubbled out of her before she managed to clamp down on it. \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChoose your own\njob,\u201d I repeated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut I did choose\nmy job. This one. And I chose my company.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot your career,\nthough,\u201d I muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy would you\nwant to choose your career? What if you were bad at the one you\nchose? Or it wasn\u2019t suited to you?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The words ran out of\nme as I stared at her, shaking my head just a touch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But the boss called\nme away and I didn\u2019t get to answer her. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My employment file\nsat on his desk, flipped open to the half-true CV I\u2019d submitted.\n\u201cHi Nina.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t take the\ngrimy seat across from him. \u201cWhat can I do for you boss?\u201d \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know we\u2019re\nputting in the new kiosks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Everyone knew. They\nwere downsizing. So that\u2019s what this was about. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve worked a\nfew different part-time positions. I\u2019ve called around. This isn\u2019t\neven half of them.\u201d He flipped the CV over to show the list he\u2019d\nmade. He didn\u2019t have even a quarter of them, so far.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I didn\u2019t say\nanything, just nodded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPaying off\nmedical debt or student debt?\u201d he asked. He kept his tone\nconversational, but there was a bite beneath it. As though he\u2019d\nsuddenly realized those might not be the only two reasons someone\nwould work here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I shrugged, hoping\nhe might take it as an answer without having to lie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He nodded back. I\nwasn\u2019t sure what conversation we were having but I knew I had to\nleave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t\ndeclare your day career on your resume. I know we don\u2019t usually\nask, but are you interested in correcting it now while we\u2019re\nconsidering everyone\u2019s contracts?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For a second I\nthought he might be offering me a job. His hand hovered over a pen,\nas though he could just fill in my answer and clear this whole thing\nup. Maybe if I told him. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo career then?\u201d\nhe sneered. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My hope dropped into\na pit in my stomach. He wasn\u2019t fishing for a promotion, but he was\nfishing for something. The CV was to prove how many people he knew in\ntown. He could blackball me with a handful of calls. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I still hadn\u2019t\nsaid anything when he tsked at me. \u201cTsk, tsk, tsk.\u201d He sounded\nlike a deranged clock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo career to\ndeclare? I see. I\u2019ve met criminals before. They always think they\ncan hide out in these temp jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWait? Criminal?\u201d\nI asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy else would\nyou be here, Nina? The only people who don\u2019t stay in their careers\nare criminals and fools. Are you a fool, Nina? You don\u2019t look like\none.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMaybe I didn\u2019t\nlike my career,\u201d I offered. \u201cMaybe it brought up bad memories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, you can\ntell them to the police. I\u2019m sure they\u2019d like to hear all about\nyour memories.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I stormed out of the\noffice before he could get out of his chair. I still had ketchup on\nmy shirt and I didn\u2019t bother to avoid smearing it all over Carey as\nI pushed past her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s up?\u201d\nshe asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFuck this place.\nI should take that bastard to court,\u201d I grumbled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOoo, are you a\nlawyer in your day job?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll see,\u201d I\nsaid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Only time will tell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cWell that escalated quickly,\u201d Pri said. She sat on the bare floor across from me in our shitty apartment, mugs in hand. We watched the cheap coffee table between us in rapt attention, where most of a law textbook had grown. Only the last inch was left, still wriggling out of the wood. The wood […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[358,1004],"class_list":["post-11267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","tag-escalated-quickly","tag-short-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11267\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.confabulatorcafe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}