CHAPTER 5 - THE RESPONSIBILITY
It seemed to Jose that he had no sooner closed his eyes when knocking began at the front of the house. Jose squeezed his wine-shot eyes tighter, the better to blot out the sunlight. The knocking continued and Jose became angry. He made this clear to whoever was outside. "Stop that racket!" he howled. "I am becoming enraged." The knocking grew louder. "I will come out there and make you stop!" he shouted. The knocking stopped abruptly and Jose rolled into a tight little ball. He was just drifting back into oblivion when the shouting began.
"JOSE, MY BOY, WHERE ARE YOU?"
Jose sat upright in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Jacob?" he asked in a wondering voice.
"May I come in?" called Jacob. Jose muttered unintelligibly and rolled over. "YOO HOO, dear boy," the old man persisted. "I am here by the front door. And a thermos of coffee I have brought," he said placing the offering on the newly acquired table.
"Come on, my boy, we had a gentleman’s agreement, did we not?" Jacob asked as he poured Jose a steaming cup of coffee. Jose groaned in answer. "Come, come, Jose," Jacob chided. "You were due at the hotel a half-hour ago. I am expecting you to work today. Julia is expecting you to begin your new job and the roof is expecting you to repair it."
Jose considered this for a moment.
"Well?" persisted Jacob.
"Stay there," Jose growled, "I am coming out."
Jacob took a soft, flat package from under his arm and tossed it into the bedroom.
"Ahhhhhhh," moaned Jose as the parcel struck him in the head.
"It’s a hotel staff uniform," Jacob explained. "Put it on." In a few minutes Jose had struggled into the new uniform and staggered along the wall until he found the front room.
"A good fit!" observed his new employer with satisfaction. "I have an eye for such things," he confided as Jose regarded him with glazed eyes. "The coffee," Jacob insisted, pushing the cup into Jose’s hands. "Drink, my boy!"
Jose began to sip the coffee. It was good and it was hot. It wasn’t long before Jose had emptied the cup. "Thank you," he told Jacob and closed up the thermos.
"Come to the hotel and breakfast you should have before starting on the roof," Jacob declared. He moved toward the car, waving to Jose to come along and bring the thermos. Jose scooped it up with the cup and trotted dutifully after the old man.
And Jacob proved to be as good as his word. Not just an employer, but as a friend, he trained Jose for the various hotel positions.
"This way there will always be work for you, Jose," Jacob had said. So, one day, Jose would drive tourists to and from the airport. The next day he would fill in for an absent kitchen attendant. The following day he helped the gardener maintain the grounds, and so it went.
"I am becoming important to them," Jose told Maria when speaking of the Tannenbaums. Maria beamed proudly at the news and Jose, too, puffed with pride.
And while Jacob was at it, he instilled his own values in Jose.
"The customer is always right, my boy," Jacob had instructed. "You cannot shout back if they are in a bad mood. You are a professional now and must be a gentleman at all times."
Jose found being a gentleman very difficult, but he trusted Jacob. And Jacob was patient and believed in him, so he kept trying.
Yes, Jacob had been good to him. Jacob had given him a good job and a chance at a new life. Meanwhile, Jose’s baby was growing inside Maria and, as Julia had predicted, the new mother did insist upon naming the baby Luis.
Spellbound: a Tale of Magic, Mystery & Murder Page 6
