AN INTERVIEW

At first I thought I was dreaming but when I looked around in my dream environment I couldn’t find the ringing phone. The incessant ringing was like a drill screwing through my head. Finally, out of frustration, I woke to find that it was my cell phone on my night stand ringing. It was Ben. “What time is it?” I asked him, covering my eyes to shield them from the sunlight that streamed through my bedroom window. “Its 9:30 in the morning. Rise and shine. We need to get you back in the saddle.”
“What are you talking about?” I said groggily.
“A job Hank.” Ben’s voice had lowered sounding unsure.
“Oh yeah. Right.” I rubbed my eyes and turned onto my stomach, wrapping my sheet tightly around me. “How much did I drink last night?”
“I’m not exactly sure but if you’re wondering whether it was a lot, it was.” I paused considering whether to tell him that I could hardly remember the events of the night before. “Forget it,” I finally said.

The throbbing in my head that I had first taken notice of when I woke up intensified. The thought of a hangover made me remember college and the parties we had. Ben and I had been college roommates for two years. Our dorm was the party dorm and our room was party central. I think guys liked us because we knew how to throw a good party and girls liked us because we were good looking. Ben and I had a lot in common too. Both of us had evolved from being skinny, plain, nerds, living tortured lives as nobodies to being babe-magnets our first year of college and then we discovered the benefits of being popular. We were both political science majors and we both played hockey. Truth be told, I had never met a black person who played or even liked hockey before Ben.

Ben says, “I’ve got a lead for you. Do you remember my friend Gigi from last night?” “The one with the dreadlocks, right?” “Yes. I hope you don’t mind but I told her about your situation.” What the hell, I thought. Things couldn’t get any worse than they already were. “She was in the same situation a year ago so I thought she might be able to help. She gave me the number of the employment agency that she used to find a job.” That was good news. I opened my eyes for the first time. The throbbing was still there but only enough to be a minor distraction. I felt hopeful. I reached for a pen and notepad on the night stand and wrote down the number. “Call them today,” Ben said. He sounded really concerned and I appreciated it. “Thanks, man.”

I slept for a few more hours before calling the agency. To my surprise they gave me an appointment for an interview the next day. I’d never worked with an employment agency before but I felt like things were going in the right direction for me.