Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Justified II

My boss is a bit of a law jack of all trades, he handles a little bit of everything. This is good because it gives us a wide cliental possibility but it also attracts a lot of the less desirable elements who have no business in a respectable lawyer’s office. If the lawyer I work for ends up with a bad name how will it look on my resume? I am working this hard for the good of both my boss and my boss you see. I do feel bad for them but my career is important. I have a mother to support with my income and if it gets damaged then she will suffer. It’s not like I enjoy being a man who turns away people, but mother depends on me.

We got a phone call from a client, complaining about how we had lost his case. I made my excuses and finally got rid of him. There wasn’t a lot we could do about that case, he hadn’t got a leg to stand on, and it wasn’t our fault he had lost. Even worse our opponents had been really strong for that case, I don’t understand the law stuff, I’m not a lawyer, but I do know that we did everything we could, of course we did.

Once I got off from work I walked back through the congested streets to where my car was parked. It was parked in an alley, illegally, but I couldn’t afford to pay the parking meters. I told myself that if they would only lower the downtown parking costs I would obey the law. They must expect at least some of this, I told myself, they make allowances for people breaking these little laws when they jack up the parking costs so high.

I live alone; my wife divorced me a few years ago. We have a couple of kids but I never see them, I would go see them but my ex-wife hates me and I don’t feel right going to her house. She might as well just not let me see them at all for all that she makes me welcome the few occasions I did go see them for an hour or so. With the way she treats me I don’t see why I should pay child support, she should expect that since she treats me like that. They aren’t my kids anymore, they’re hers, and it’s all her fault, not mine.

I had potato chips for dinner, it’s not like I like eating junk for dinner but I don’t get paid enough to buy real food and I don’t have time to cook anyway. If my wife hadn’t divorced me I would still be eating real food. If I didn’t work such long hours for such terrible pay I would eat better. I don’t have a choice as it is though, except to eat potato chips for dinner.

I watched TV until bed and turned in early. I don’t have a lot to do with my evenings. I haven’t washed my sheets for several months now and they are starting to feel sandy but I don’t have time. I wish I could afford a maid like my boss hires for our offices but I can’t, not with all of the house and car payments. Life demands so much debt; you have to have a place to live, a way to drive, so you have to buy a house and a car. Then society complains because you’re too much in debt, like it’s your fault.

The next day the cycle continued. I don’t think I really have to go over it again. I pushed through the crowd, made it to the office to deal with clients, talked to my boss and then got ready to go home. Pushing through the crowds of people I heard sirens up ahead and a black cloud of smoke rose from between the buildings. Well it was none of my business if there was a fire, which was my thought until I got closer to it. I am not sure how close I was exactly when I realized that the building that was on fire was one that faced into the alley I parked my car on. I walked quicker then.

To be continued...

No comments:

Post a Comment