Part 2- One Step Forward, 2 Steps Back
Alas, the hunger to do more became unbearable. I wanted more like a greedy fat kid living in his parents basement, except, this kid wasn't fat, hardly living and didn't have any parents. As a matter fact, I had almost nothing... but that didn't stop this lad, no. The mere sight of 'nothing' only compelled me to explode with ambition in a surefire direction. It was funny how the cosmos worked that day, because the very boss that had just given this poor old irish cunt a job, was the same lad who decided that he needed an Irish driver to "Improve his customer relations with a good looking lad from Ireland."
There was, of course, only one problem. I did not have a valid drivers license anymore, since I accumulated a few tickets in North Carolina back when I was still in the service. I remember I had left NC before I had the chance to actually pay the tickets off, so I never could renew my license. It was yet another example of how I was clearly still worth more dead than alive. I told the Steve, the boss, of my current status quo, and to my amazement, didn't care. He asked me "how much do you have to pay to take those tickets off? Maybe I can pay them for you and you just reimburse me through your paychecks. We can talk about a percentage that seems fair to be taken out every paycheck. What do you say?" Honestly, I was bloody shocked! I was excited and I was still in disbelief. I was never the type of cunt who would ask for ANY type of help for a situation I put myself into. I figured that if I was going to survive correctly in LA, you show what your worth through actions, vs. vocalizing a humiliating call for help. Of course I agreed to Steve's offer, and began calling up any to all NC offices that could guide me in the right direction to remove these blemishes off of my already convoluted list of violations I felt I had. Turns out, I owed around $2000 for two tickets that accumulated over time. Driving without a seat-belt and speeding. I could had sworn I had more, but perhaps that was my own disparity and depression I had plummeted to that allowed me to believe that I was just a shit bag with all sorts of problems. I told Steve, he agreed to the amount, and just like that, I went through the long lines of the DMV and had my new California drivers license in a few weeks.
There was no pay raise, but to be fair, I didn't give a shit. It was definitely a win in the eyes of a homeless man that had nothing only a month ago.
Another issue that presented a problem for me, if I were to ever consider moving into my own place, was my child support that garnished about $500-$700 of my paychecks. Based merely off of how much I made. See, when I was in the service, I made pretty decent money. Almost $5000 per month, which I gladly paid the max I could for my son's child support. This was great and all while I was still in, however, presented a HUGE problem for me after I was out and making $0 per month. The back-pay added up with interest, which is where "Part 1" of this story started. My son was located in Texas, and in order to reduce the court ordered amount, I would have to:
Go to Texas,
File an adjustment,
Wait for the state to take it's sweet ass time to finally give the mother of my child a notice that I was asking for an adjustment,
Wait for that civil hearing to pass because she stated that "If it isn't manditory, she isn't going to go",
Call up the attorney generals office to note that she was a no-show,
Have them take another few months to finally issue a court ordered appearance governed by law,
Have them set a date for an opening in the courts system for the following months,
THEN, finally explain my case and hope that they vote in my favor...
(Estimated Time of Completion for Texas: 9-10 months)
Needless to say, the odds weren't looking too great for me in reference towards fixing that gear in my life. I mean, I was homeless, so even $300 paychecks seemed nice. I thanked Steve for this HUGE advancement in his company and asserted 100% of miself to do the best job I possibly could, until...
Check Back Tomorrow For: (Part 3)