Chapter 8: Apprenticeship

Cortez was having his home’s decrepit and unsafe “Federal Pacific Electric” service panel replaced before the defective components inside could burn down his little house. In a stroke of good luck, that’s how he learned of a possible opportunity and got in touch with Andrew. After a complex application process, Andrew was accepted as an apprentice electrician with a starting hourly pay of $25 and, importantly, health insurance.

It would take years of work and study, but in his area, the rates for a fully credentialed and experienced electrician were approaching $90 hourly—over $180,000 in annual income potentially, for full-time work before taxes. With that kind of progression, he felt, his future was looking bright.

All he needed to do was work his fingers to the bone. Being the youngest and greenest on the crew, he was required to do all the least desirable jobs, like digging trenches for burying underground cables. But in time, he showed not only that he was willing (and even cheerful) but also that he could handle whatever task they assigned him, no matter how complex.

That was all in the future. In the first weeks, he would come home after a brutal day out in the weather. He was dirty and sweaty, and when Nia came to hug him, she recoiled a little.

“You smell, you’re stinky!”

“And a gracious hello to you, little sister. It’s fine, you’re right. I’m going to shower now. You can hug me later, OK?”

He rushed into the master bathroom because he also needed to pee. But Leah was in there, sitting on the toilet.

“Oops! Sorry.”

“It’s fine, I’m almost done. Oh, and you need a shower, dude.”

She wasn’t moving very fast, then she noticed the tense expression on his face, although he was looking away to the side, trying to be polite.

“You OK?”

Anxiously, “Can you hurry? Please?”

Now he was shifting his feet.

Realizing why her brother was agitated, she jumped up and scooted over to the sink.

“Just go now while I wash my hands, it’s fine. You can sit and pee like a girl if you’re shy.”

That’s exactly what he did. When she heard him groan, she had to peek. There he was, seated, mouth open, and eyes closed, finally getting relief. She couldn’t suppress her giggles.

“Feeling better?”

“Yeah, it’s a load off my mind.”

“Oh, no, you’re not...”

“It’s only pee; don’t fret. This is easy, I’m going to do it more often. I don’t have to aim.”

“Yeah, our little brothers are terrible; they’re so sloppy. And they don’t put the seat down after they miss—the little shits. Is it really so hard, uh, I mean, difficult to point those things?”

“Leah, you better let ME talk to those boys. I will make them clean the bathroom until they learn their lessons. And no, it is not hard to aim. I can show you if you want.”

“Ick! Andrew Bailey!”

Her hands were still wet, so she flicked drops of water in his face while shouting at him and scampered from the room.

“Take a shower, jerk. You smell.”

After she left, he started tugging off his dirty clothes.

“Yeah, I know. So says Nia. Val would scream bloody murder. At least it’s Friday. God, I’m just tired and hungry.”