Year 1 to Year 2
Part 2: Searching for a job
Manny walked around the Rubacava centre. He had only recently just been fired by his boss, Celos Fernandez, and was in search of a new job. Manny
walked into the Blue Casket. He spotted Olivia and went over to talk with her.
"Um...Olivia? Can I ask you something?"
"What, I'm in a hurry."
"Well, Fernandez just fired me, and I was wondering...um, well..."
"You're hired, Manny. Your clothes are in my little room. Take care of the place while I'm gone. I'll be back in a few days. Adios!"
Olivia walked out the door. Manny walked into her room and picked up his clothes, which were hung on a peg that said, WAITER in bold writing. Manny
put the clothes on, and looked at the tables. He didn't notice until now that the Blue Casket was empty. A lady walked through the door and looked at Manny.
"Who are you?" she said. "And what are you doing in a waiters outfit?"
"I'm the new guy," said Manny. "I just got hired a few minutes ago. And you?"
"I'm Lola. For today you'll just have to tag along with me. You'll understand the system after an hour."
Manny's first night at the Casket wasn't too bad. In fact, he was quite used to it already. Manny didn't have any where to go, so he more or less lived at the Casket. One day Manny was clearing Olivia's room, when he noticed a door handle sticking out of the brick wall. Manny pulled at it and opened a door! Manny walked through and saw some stairs. He walked up them, and came to a large room with a bed, a table, a few closets and some furniture. Manny saw another door. Manny went through and found a large safe and a filing cabinet. Manny tried to open the top drawer of the cabinet, but he ended up pulling the whole cabinet away from the wall to reveal a shelf with a key and a strange box. Manny tool the key and tried it on the safe. It pulled open and inside was a briefcase. Manny opened the case, and inside was a gun and several cans of sproutella. Manny shut the case and took it to a police officer.
***
Manny walked away from the Blue Casket. Olivia was now in jail for a few months, and Manny needed another job. He had only one last hope, Maxamino. Although Manny had a large disliking for cats, Manny didn't really have a choice. He walked to the Kitty Kat track and into Max's office.
"Uh, Maxamino?"
"Ah, who are you?"
"My name is Manny Calavera and-"
"Manny Calavera? You're the guy who shut down the Blue Casket."
"Yeah, well, I-"
"Get out of my face!"
"W-what for?" Before Manny recieved a reply, a man with a tuxedo walked in and punched Manny in the face.
Manny woke up to find himself in a strange room filled with barrels. He heard Maxamino's hoarse voice say, "Manny, you don't, I repeat don't shut down my girlfriend's place."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"Forget it, just get out of here."
"Can I ask you some-"
"Get out!" Max roared. Manny ran out of the room into the bright sun. Scratch Max off the list. The end of the list. Manny was on the street. While walking around, Manny bumbed into a strange individual in a green suit.
"Oh sorry," the man said.
"No, it was my fault."
"Hey, you look like a wreck. Mabye I can help you. My name is Chowchilla Charlie."
"Manny Calavera. How can you help me?"
"For one thing, I can get you a new suit."
"That's one thing I need. Can you also get me a job and some confidence?"
"Job, yes. Confidence, no. Howsa 'bout a waiter in the High Rollers Lounge? They're high paying.
"No, I want my old job at the All-Day Cafe back."
"Hmmm. Okay, follow me." Manny condsidered his options, and did just that.
***
Manny watched Lupe sweep the floor. Manny didn't find out until late that Charlie was a con artist. He had used counterfeit money to get Manny his job back, and in a better position, as a waiter. He had spent a few months in his new position as waiter and thought about starting a relationship with Carla. He was going to say so to Carla, when he heard voices in Fernandez' office. The door was slightly ajar, so Manny listened in.
"Um, Carla, can you take this to Glottis, it tells him how make something new we've put on the menu."
"Sure thing, dad." Manny was shocked. he replayed the sentence in his head. "Sure thing, dad." It was terrible. He could never start a relationship with Carla. Fernandez would surely have Manny's head on a platter.
"Also, Carla, you've done great in the All-Day. I'm now transfering you to the Kitty Kat track, as a security officer."
"Oh, dad! Thank you, thank you, thank you. That's great, but who's going to replace me?"
"Ah, that Calavera kid will take your place. Have a good time at the Kitty Kat track."
"Thank you, dad."
Manny ran down to his room and shut the door. Then a man opened his door and walked in.
"Oh," said the man in an Irish accent. "You're not Celos Fernandez"
"Who are you?"
"My name is Nick. I've come to make a...'deal' with Celos."
"We don't call him Celos. We call himMr. Fernandez."
"Who cares?" said Nick as he left the room.
Nick became a common figure at the All-Day, and Manny took a large dislike to him. He always had 'deals' or 'propositions' to make with Fernandez. And, for the first time since Manny had arrived, Fernandez was worried. He seemed to...fear Nick, and Manny didn't like it. If you had the power to frighten Fernandez, you could scare anything. Manny, now security officer, didn't have much to do. After a while, Olivia was given early bail from prison. Manny gave her some flowers, to say he was sorry. But every since Olivia came back, Nick seemed to come to the All-Day less and less often, which in Manny's case, was good. Nick and Olivia got along well, too well. But that was none of Manny's buisness. Soon Nick became jealous of Max, mainly because Olivia loved him.Soon, the whole team was invited to the christening of Max's BalloonShip. The team walked out of the door, unaware of the danger ahead.