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"Since you’re only part time, we’ll start you out at a thousand a week"
Nick about choked on the amount A thousand what? Lira? Yen? Rubles? "Excuse me?"
"That’s before taxes, of course And we do have work performance bonuses so you can increase that if you needhard work and--"
Nick held his hand up to stop hiht there "Go back to make sure I heard what you said A thousand a week?"
"Yes"
"A thousand American dollars a week?" "Yes"
"Not Monopoly lare "No, Nick Real, hard cash, and you’ll have your own credit card too"
Nick couldn’t believe it He was still aghast over the amount, neverillegal or perverted?"
"You just have to watch your tone, especially to Rosa"
Well, dang Thather if she’s full ti you, but it’s not enough to put up with your smart mouth So if you want to keep this job, you’ll have to show her respect"
"Don’t worry I don’t mouth off to women" But that rule didn’t apply to men or really to anyone who tried to push him around
However, Nick did have oneout of that for the hospital bills?"
"You keep your grades up, your attitude in check, and show up for work on tiet about it"
If soh he was young, he hadn’t been born yesterday "I don’t know about that My mama says we don’t take charity from people We pay our oay"
"Nick " Kyrian’s voice was strained "Look around I’ way down the street, when, for whatever reason, you ht turn No one oal is to keep you on the right path And I know that desperate people do desperate things, so this job will help eliood kid and you deserve a break, which I’iven you much of"
It was true Life had pretty much battered him and his mom from the moment he’d been born "Yeah, but that’s a lot of "
"You won’t be doing nothing You’ll be part of a vital support staff I rely on to do rades up and that’s nothing corown"
Still, Nick was skeptical "And I don’t have to strip naked?"
"Oh God, no Please keep your clothes on Neither Rosa nor I need to go blind There’s a pool in back though, that you’re free to use whenever you like However, I would encourage you to always have trunks on when you swi or George to quit" Kyrian moved over to a small box on Nick’s desk and picked it up to hand it to him "By the way, this is for you" "What is it?"
"Cell phone so that I can contact you when I need you"
Nick couldn’t believe it "No friggin’ way"
"Part of the perks of the job But don’t abuse your et a ten-thousand-dollar bill in one month and I will choke you for it" Kyrian turned it on and handed it to him "It’s already hooked up and the number for it is on the card Make sure your rammed my number into the auto dial under two Just press and hold it"
Nick was overwhelenerosity He didn’t knohat to say "This is just so cool Thanks"
"You’re welco He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the ID before he answered it
"No, I’ve been up for a while Why?" He frowned as he listened
Nick played with his own phone Man, this thing was really awesoot Nick’s attention Was Kyrian talking about the zombie stuff?
"Yeah I’ll head out as soon as I can and I’ll keep s out of the ordinary for us" He listened a fewwrong?" Nick asked
Kyrian didn’t exactly respond to the question "Is there soainst football players?"
Had the h school? "Depends on the football player Why?" "There’s been two ainst football players How uys are on the team, anyway?"
Nick had to stop and think "I’m not exactly sure since I don’t play any JV and V"
"JV and V?"
He was surprised Kyrian didn’t knohat he was talking about "Junior varsity and varsity"
"AhWhy don’t you play anyht up aabout He’d been really good at the game, but that hadn’t saved hi when Stone mocked my shoes In case you haven’t noticed, I’hed "I noticed Look, I need to et acquainted with it Don’t get too tired If you need anything to eat or drink, it’s in the kitchen Make yourself at home"
Nick waited until Kyrian left before he tried to call Madaug again on his new phone
Still no answer
Sighing, he had a bad feeling about this If what Kyrian had said was right, they were down about a quarter of the team
There wont be any state finals for us this year