“You need to get a real job!” My wife hands me a Notice to Quit. I have exactly five days to pay back 6 months back rent.
“Look I’ll talk to the landlord I just got paid for a gig, we’ll be ok.”
“So you got 6 months of rent in that gig? Playing in band is ok if you live in your parents’ garage. Get a real job or go move in with your parents.”
Looking for a job was harder than I thought. It used to be that you could look in the classified ads. Now things are different. I let life pass me by. I don’t have any good job experience. If I was honest my resume would look something like, “Would you like fries with that? With a full tank you get a free…”, you get the point.
So downtown there are more office spaces than jobs. Many that are sells job are really Multilevel Marketing scams. Like I really want to go through my contacts asking if they want to invest in life insurance with me. There’s a lot of crap. Going down my list of the newspaper ads, there is only one job left. It reads, “Are you organized, detail-oriented, and ready to take on a dynamic role in a dynamic company? We’re looking for an Executive Assistant to join our team!”
Just down Wilshire I see a large tower of a building. As I walked in, it seemed overwhelming. My excitement left when I went up to the secretary. She was busy chewing gum and looking at her own cellphone to pay attention to business.
“Yeah, you’re hear for the executive assistant position, have a seat right there.”
I sat down trying to look as professional as possible. A few moments later the secretary flicked her fingers in a completely uninterested come-hither motion.
“It’s for you”.
I picked up the cell phone and I hear man’s voice with an accent I don’t recognize.
“Yeah, Hello. You are here for the job?”
“Yes sir, It was the executive assistant job?”
“Do you have a car?”
“Yeah I have a car, what are my duties…..”
“So the secretary will give you list of things you have to finished today. Follow the directions completely. She will tell you all you need to know.”
The phone was dead. It was the most unceremonious hiring in my life. I tried to make sense of what happened. the secretary took the phone and handed me a list. It read:
Retrieve dew water from a tree off of Mulholland Drive
Acquire 5 Red Buttons from a Thrift Store
Retrieve a Tattered Map from an Antique Shop
Pick up a bird from the pet store off of Catalina, no later than 3:30 PM You must sing this to it for the entire length of the drive, the words below.
“In shadows deep, where secrets keep, A rooster’s call, the spirits enthrall. Beneath the moon, a mystic tune, Sing to the idol, in the night’s thrall.”
Return the back with all the items by 4:44 PM, sunset.
“What the Hell did I get myself in to?” I said walking out of the building. I thought the important thing is that it’s a job. “I’m spending gas money, they have to compensate me, right? I’m not going through my contact lists to sell crap. Besides I can have the nights for my band. Once this is done I can move on.” This thought went through my head over and over again to reassure myself
I got into my car and headed to Mulholland drive. I usually don’t drive to downtown for business, so the city’s huge skyline and unique traffic patterns made it a unique experience. The city’s energy shifted with the changing sky, and a sense of urgency settled in as the clock ticked toward the approaching sunset at 4:44 PM. Mulholland drive is a different part of the city, it leaves one of the last vestiges of rural wilderness in one of the most urbanized parts of the country. The dewdrops glistened on leaves as the I carefully collected them from a tree just off the road. Each droplet seemed to carry a whisper, a secret that echoed in the fading sunlight.
Driving back, I navigated through the streets of Los Angeles, and I went into a thrift store. All of these places smell of old milk. In the back after an old woman finished monopolizing the button section I had captured the five red buttons. The city’s eclectic spirit mirrored the eclectic assortment he gathered. At another part of down town, I found an antique shop. I thought I was making good time for so little instruction. Inside they had a tattered old map, its worn edges holding tales of a bygone era. “He didn’t say what type of map. As the sun dipped lower, I had to rush to the vet.
The task at the pet store off of Catalina introduced a bird to the mystical song. Somehow the aggression of the rooster calmed down and went to sleep.
With each passing moment, the city’s lights flickered on, creating a mosaic of brilliance against the darkening canvas. The mystical tasks, woven into the fabric of the city, needed to be completed before the descent into darkness. The streets of Wilshire are always crowded the lights that, were supposed to be synchronized to stop traffic, but never were. The fading lights of the downtown skyline told me that time was fading. I pulled into the executive office at Wilshire with a couple of minutes to spare. I handed the rooster, the list and the other items back to the secretary. She was still yapping on the phone but not to our boss.
“You did better than I thought, here you go.” She handed me a thin white envelope. I knew from experience that you never open payment in front of someone, act like you been there before. As I walked down the steps outside of entrance, I pulled out the loot. “Twelve Hundred dollar, Twelve hundred frickin’ dollars.” I didn’t care that they were tattered old hundreds with the small president heads. I could start turning things around in my life.
My wife kissed me as soon as she saw the money. Immediately the questions came, “Did you kill someone? Did you have to make a movie you’re not proud of?” I didn’t know how to answer these questions, so I just said, “I worked downtown. I can get back early. I just asked for cash.”
“Just keep it up, we can move up in life.”
I did the usual weird tasks. Everyday it was doing stuff like going to a botanica and pinking up a Bottle of Whispers, going to the fashion district to get silver thread spun by moonlight, Five one-foot by one-foot enchanted marble tiles, a diamond amulet from the jewelry district, a silver mirror that has no reflection. It was always something different. What was the same was the small white envelopes of cash.
My band started to get some serious play time at club. It all happened when I was humming then singing the song:
“In shadows deep, where secrets keep, A rooster’s call, the spirits enthrall. Beneath the moon, a mystic tune, Sing to the idol, in the night’s thrall.”
The bass player heard my voice and started to make a baseline. The drummer set a decent beat and the rest of the band put a song together like magic. At gigs that was our signature song and we picked more money, merch, and publicity. Now that I had the money issue handled the band started to come together,
Months and months past, and my weird tasks at work become routine. I ran over town. It was pretty cool how I was able to see all over town. Who knew this city had a little Dhakka, a Thai town and an Ethiopian section? Everyday I had several tasks that were boring and some kind of creepy. I just followed the rules and everything worked out. The cash at the end made it worth it. My friends saw me wear a suit and tie on my way to work and saw that I was moving up in the world and my luck changed.
Then one day I went to the office. “Here’s your list follow instructions.”
“I have been working with a almost a year, tell me your name.”
“Aman…”
“You looked like an Amanda, I knew it.”
The secretary took her attention from her phone call and looked me in the eye. “No, a man tried to do that before. Don’t.”
“Geez” I looked at the listed and got going. What was the on the agenda today?
A pair of Nike shoes but a pair of a blue and red but in everything else identical.
Get a cup of a water from a well at Griffin Park
Get two 7 cent stamps (not identical)
Pick up the rooster from the Vet on Catalina St. at exactly 4:00 PM
You must sing the song to it the entire trip.
“In shadows deep, where secrets keep, A rooster’s call, the spirits enthrall. Beneath the moon, a mystic tune, Sing to the idol, in the night’s thrall.”
Finish before 5:56 PM sunset
It was the same thing as before go to different parts of the city and get exotic things. By this time, I was pro at getting these tasks accomplished. Usually had to go from the periphery of the city to avoid traffic and then go to the middle. I could go near the city limits to Griffin Park and then head over to a stamp store just off the 10 freeway. About lunch time I got a call from the Bassists.
“Check it out we have an interview on the rock station in town.”
“What?”
“If this interview goes through we might get picked up by a label.”
“Great I get off of work just before 6.”
“No bro we got to do this at 5:00”
“I can’t do it man I’m working.”
“Look you came up with that hit song you can work around it.”
I went back to work thinking of a solution. I could pick up the rooster earlier… no that won’t work. I’ll think of something, I always have to fix my own problems. I was ready to head over to the vet at 4:30 till I got the idea. It says I have to sing the song. I can play my bands song on loop during the interview. That way I can do the interview and the rooster will be happy. Yeah that’s the only way.
I picked up the call and talked on the interview. Radio Host, “Good evening, listeners! We have a special treat for you tonight. We have the rising stars in the pop music scene, Crystal Beats, joining us in the studio. Welcome, everyone!”
“Thanks for having us!”
“Let’s dive right in. Crystal Beats, you’ve been making quite a buzz lately. Your song with the mystic lyrics has become a sensation. Can you tell us about how that song came to be?”
“It’s funny, the lyrics just kind of came to me. I was inspired by a moment of clarity, you know? In shadows deep, where secrets keep, a rooster’s call – it’s all about embracing the mysterious and finding joy in unexpected places.”
The bassist said, “Yeah, it’s a bit mystical, but that’s what makes it unique. We’re all about bringing different elements into our music.”
“Absolutely. Now, Crystal Beats, any exciting projects or collaborations in the pipeline?”
I said, “Oh, we’re always working on something new. Can’t spill all the beans just yet, but let’s just say, expect the unexpected!”
“Thank you, Crystal Beats, for joining us. We can’t wait to see where your journey takes you. Best of luck with everything!, Especially with your new performance at our Christmas Concert “
Christmas concert that was chance of a lifetime. That would set up or band for life. Oh crap what is the time. I raced to the executive office to drop of the bird. When I got there, I see my boss face to face at the office. He was setting down in the lobby opening up his brief case, doing business on his phone. He was a black man wearing an expensive earth toned suit. He voice was just like it was one the phone. Hearing his voice in public it had a much more gravitas to it. “It’s great to finally meet you. So, it’s you that has been defending the fort when I’m not here.” I just said thanks, I had no idea he’d be here today. He pulls out a similar looking envelope that is much thicker than before. “Write down your number I may need to follow up with you.” I wrote down the number and walked out of the lobby of the executive office.
I counted the envelope there was $20,000 all in the old money as before. How do you get such old bills? When I left the secretary is running from the parking lot to meet me. Out of breath she hands me the usual white envelope and says that something went wrong and this is his severance pay. The boss has been in Lagos and will stay there for another 3 weeks.
“I am sorry for all the trouble. My name is Amanda, I’m sorry for being a jerk earlier”
Scratching my head, “I just said sure no worries… um Amanda.”
“You were the best employee I have ever seen, no one lasted 10 months before. That’s why I don’t bother introducing myself. Good luck.”
At this point everything was looking up I had cash in my hands, music on the air and a happy wife.
And then I remember: I stopped singing that the song to the bird.
Is that why I got let go? How the hell can they tell? The rooster can’t tell them. Wait? Amanda said the boss in Lagos, who the hell was in the lobby?
I looked up the lyrics from the song. It’s from Yoruba folklore. If misused the song has horrific consequences. And now I am about find out what they are. I just got a text notification from a unknown caller.
“We have unfinished business”
A photo loads up. It’s him and he’s outside my door.