Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

by Brennen Tammons

  Jesse, although he has his attention to the game he’s playing on Russell’s phone, is eavesdropping on their conversation. Russell looks up at John, and nods his head. John smiles in support of him. Their food arrives at the table in minutes after that, and the men start eating. Once they finish, John pays for meal, leaving the waitress a tip, and they all go about their separate ways, with Russell agreeing to pick up John tomorrow morning. The next day, Russell dresses for his job interview, and puts on a well-tailored dark blue suit with a red tie. This particular suit is one that Russell wears, when wants to feel lucky. Jesse is wearing a nice looking outfit as well. Which is a blue sweater vest, and black pants. Russell compliments Jesse on his attire, and Jesse then explains to Russell why he’s dressed nicely.

  “I figured that while you and John are that the job fair, I would try to get a job myself. On the way there, a ‘Walgreens’ is hiring for workers. I thought I give it a shot to see what happens.”

  Russell fastens his tie, and nods his head at Jesse, and responds to him.

  “I’ll drop you off, and once we’re done I’ll come back and pick you up.”

  Jesse is an agreement with Russell’s plan, and both of the men then leave together. Russell drives over to John’s house and picks him up. Jesse moves to the rear seat, and John hands Jesse his crutches, to which Jesse sets them down in the rear area. Russell continues to drive, dropping Jesse off at the drug store for his job interview. Before Jesse gets out the car, Jesse leans from the rear seat next to where Russell is sitting, and kisses Russell on the cheek.

  “Good luck Russell, you’re going to do fine. You’re gonna get that job, I know it.”

  Jesse then leans across at John and kisses him on the cheek as well.

  “Good luck to you too. Thank you for helping out Russell, that was real nice.”

  John smiles back at Jesse, and Jesse walks out of the vehicle. Russell drives away with John. Jesse is now heading towards the drug store, to inquire about their open positions which are available. Upon walking into the store, Jesse lets an employee know that he’s here about the job opening. The employee he speaks to, happens to be the hiring manager. She gives Jesse an interview on the spot right there.

  Jesse hands her his resume, and she’s impressed at what she sees. Being that she enjoys Jesse’s attitude and personality, she hires him to be an associate at the store as a cashier, and to stock items as well. She brings Jesse to the back of the store so he can fill out pertinent information regarding the job.

  Russell and John have now arrived at their destination. “Northrop Grumman”, is an aerospace defense company, which deals with engineering and science business as well. Russell and John notice an extremely long line of candidates standing outside the door. This causes Russell to feel frustrated, as he doesn’t think his chances are high of being hired, from the amount of competition that is currently there. He decides to stay anyways. Russell hands John his crutches, and they both start to walk to the building. They fill out a great deal of paperwork while they are waiting to be called for their interview. Russell and John continue to sit in the waiting area for an extended amount of time, which makes Russell become stressed, as he’s an impatient man. Finally, Russell is called first. John smacks him in the behind.

  “Go get em’ tiger. You’re going to do great. Just relax, everything is going to be fine. Russell smiles at John. Russell follows the interviewer, who is a very soft faced geeky and pudgy Caucasian man. He name is Chester Wright. He is the same age as Russell. Chester has puffy cheeks, and he also wears glasses. He has short styled black hair, and is wearing a striped brown suit. Once he’s seated in the interview room, Russell introduces himself, and hands Chester his resume. Chester begins to chew on his pen, as he’s reading Russell’s resume. Chester then speaks to Russell, with his vision still directed at Russell’s resume, and also while he’s still gnawing on his pen.

  “So you know, we don’t discriminate against people who are disabled. We are an equal opportunity employer, so don’t feel that we aren’t accepting to handicapped people. We are.”

  Russell smiles and nods his head at Chester. Chester then sets Russell’s resume down.

  “Listen, I know you saw that big line out the door. It’s okay though, don’t fret. All of those are for different positions. I’m looking at your resume, and based on your experience, you’re more than qualified to be an accountant. If you can deal with math, and numbers, and taxes, and figuring. You’re hired. Be here on time, Monday through Friday, nine to seven with breaks, and the job is yours. Welcome to the team Russell.”

  Chester extends out his hand for Russell to shake it. Russell and Chester shake hands. Chester then hands Russell some forms to fill out, and once he’s completed that, Russell walks back out to the waiting room. Russell doesn’t see John, so he assumes he’s currently being interviewed. As Russell is seated, he looks down and smiles; happy that he has a job again, and in a somewhat related field too. John finally emerges out of his interview, and he was hired by the company as well. Russell and John hug each other, and John kisses Russell on the cheek whispering to him.

  “This is my way of making everything up to you man. We start over today.”

  Russell and John walk back to Russell’s car, and Russell heads to the store to pick Jesse up. Jesse mentions that he was hired, and both Russell and John are proud of him. They then explain to Jesse that they got their jobs as well, and Jesse is overjoyed once he’s notified of that. Russell then decides to make an unexpected detour towards “Home Base”. He wants to introduce John to Max, especially if they are going to be working together as friends now.

  “John, there is this guy I want you to meet. He’s the one that fixed my arm up, and saved my life. I also want to show you me and Jesse’s secret hiding spot. You can’t tell anyone this.”

  John rubs the back of his head, and laughs at Russell. He then responds to him.

  “Who am I going to tell? I thought we were boys? Nobody will believe me anyways.”

  Russell looks over at John and laughs at him. Russell continues towards the “Home Base” area, and parks his car outside of the unit. He then walks over to Max’s unit, and unlocks the door. All three of the men walk in, and Russell introduces Max to John. Max would occasionally wink at Russell, not revealing all of the information surrounding their history to John. After this, Russell walks John over to the “Home Base” unit, and gives John a tour of the place. Russell grabs several beers from the refrigerator, and gives one to John. As he’s walking through the unit, John is in disbelief at what he sees.

  “Holy shit, so this is where you guys did all the action at? You sly fuckers. Ha-ha.”

  Russell takes a sip of his beer, and smiles at John responding to him.

  “I’m not saying shit. Those are your words, not mine. I never mentioned any of that.”

  John turns his head towards Russell and laughs at him. They end up staying in the unit for a while longer, with John complimenting the Oldsmobile convertible. Russell then says that he’s going to take the car to Yvette’s wedding, as he wants to show up in style. All the other cars Brian kept in the unit, Russell and Jesse donated to charity. Russell also plans to take the convertible to an auto show in Malibu; competing in a car competition at the event, next week. All of the men then proceed out of the unit. Russell shuts the door, and locks it right behind him. They get back in Russell’s car, and Russell drops John off back at his home. Russell and Jesse say goodbye to him. Jesse hands John his crutches, and John gets out of the car, waving to both of them. Russell continues on driving, heading back to his residence. Jesse climbs up to the passenger seat, and talks to Russell, facing him.

  “John is a nice guy after all huh? See, he got you a job. Everything worked out didn’t it? You have a new job working finances for aerospace, you have a new best friend…”

  Russell then laughs very loudly at Jesse, interrupting him. Russell then corrects him.

  “John is not my best friend
. He’s just a friend for now, and he’s cool. We’ll see.”

  Jesse smiles at Russell, and turns his head facing forward; Russell heads home. The day of Yvette’s wedding arrives. Russell and Jesse wake up immediately, getting ready. Jesse who already has his outfit to the wedding on, notices Russell is struggling to put on his tuxedo. Jesse helps him. Russell starts to talk to Jesse, who’s fixing Russell’s bow tie.

  “Even with one arm, I still look good don’t I? I look good, smell good. I’m good.”

  Jesse and Russell then kiss passionately for nearly a minute. While they are kissing, they fall on Russell’s bed laughing at each other. Russell then shoves Jesse away, snapping at him.

  “Okay, that’s enough of that shit. Go get the wedding gift. We don’t have time to waste. We still have to go and get the car, and I have to pick John up.”

  Jesse quickly obeys Russell, and grabs Yvette’s wedding gift. Russell and Jesse then quickly leave, and depart towards “Home Base”. Russell parks his car outside the unit, and opens the garage gate. He looks over at the Oldsmobile convertible, not believing that he is finally having the chance to drive this car for the first time today. Russell opens the door, and starts the ignition. He lays down the top, and Jesse sits in the passenger side of the car. Russell drives the convertible out of the unit, and walks back to the garage door locking it. He gets back into the car, and gets on the highway.

  The sunny weather and breeze, makes this a perfect day to drive a car like this. Many people are turning their heads at classic car, and Russell feels like a celebrity driving it. He drives the car towards John’s house, and picks him up. John who has already seen the car, is impressed that Russell is driving it to the wedding. Russell is enjoying driving this car, and has always wanted to drive it, the minute he saw it. He continues to drive down the highway in style, on his way to Yvette’s wedding. He finally reaches the venue, and he notices that many people are there. Being that Yvette is Hispanic, and her soon to be husband Matt is Caucasian, there are a mixture of different people attending the wedding.

  Russell and John set their wedding gifts on the gift table, and they manage to take a seat in the back section of the wedding. It is a romantic outside venue, located in a private country club in Hollywood. There are many lovely peaceful conservation pieces, and natural flower arrangements being used as decorations. Russell, Jesse and John manage to see Tiffany, Sally, and Abel, but they do not go up and introduce themselves. They instead remain seated in the back area, waiting for the wedding to start.

  Matt, Yvette’s groom, soon walks to the altar of the wedding waiting for her to arrive. Yvette then walks down the aisle in her wedding gown, which the dress and veil are white as snow and very beautiful. Yvette walks up to the alter, and she and Matt are now married. Russell, Jesse, and John congratulate them, and watch them in joy.

  During the reception that afternoon; Russell, Jesse, and John, sit with each other at a table in the back area of the reception area; situated near a bunch of trees and a pond. You can hear the water from the pond from where they are sitting, and it’s a nice comfortable and relaxing section to be sitting in. It’s a very quiet area, to where they can’t be disturbed or seen by that many people. They are simply eating and drinking, trying not so much to blend in with the rest of the crowd, but to keep to themselves, and mind their business.

  Russell gazes at several people in the crowd, some he recognizes, some that he doesn’t. Russell then looks down at his plate, and the food they are serving at the wedding. It is cream of mushroom chicken and rice. It is actually not that bad tasting, and Russell seems to enjoy it. Jesse who’s also looking around, speaks to Russell, and rests his head on his shoulder.

  “This is a nice wedding. I don’t know if I want to have my wedding like this. Possibly not. This is a little too fancy for me, but I don’t know. I still want to get married someday.”

  Russell takes more bites of his food, and nods his head. John who’s eating as well, being nosy, listens to Russell and Jesse’s conversation; shaking his head at the both of them. John then takes out his phone, and starts to watch an MSNBC news finance stream. Russell takes a sip of some champagne, and with Jesse still laying on his shoulder, Russell responds.

  “Well, in order to get married, you have to be in love with someone. Who are you in love with, and who are you in love with deep enough for them to want to marry you? Ha-ha.”

  Jesse then shakes his head while he’s still laying down on Russell’s shoulder. Jesse then closes his eyes, and continues to speak with Russell who’s looking at the wedding venue.

  “Yeah you’re right. It’s too bad I don’t have anyone that loves me. Oh well.”

  Russell stares out into the distance of the wedding and shakes his head. He takes more bites of the food, and drinks some more champagne. The men remain sitting, watching the festivities at the wedding, and seeing the other patrons dance and play party games. The sun then starts to set in the outside venue, and the sky is now dark with the moon and stars out. From where Russell, Jesse, and John are sitting, it exhibits a lovely romantic setting. Jesse then starts to make out with Russell, as the the DJ is playing loud Hip Hop music from the dance floor, located far away on the other side of the wedding venue. John watches in amusement, as they both kiss. He smiles at them, and goes back to watching the news stream on his phone. Russell feels that Jesse has had enough fun, and he is finished making out with him. Russell then pulls Jesse away and snaps back.

  “It’s all this wedding bullshit got you acting crazy. You have a cigarette?”

  Jesse looks at him angrily, and rummages through his tote bag, grabbing a carton of cigarettes. Russell asks John if he wants to come smoke with them, and he refuses. Russell and Jesse then walk away from the table over by a secluded area near the pond, and start to smoke. They sit on a bench facing the pond, and Jesse lays his head on Russell’s shoulder. Russell takes puffs of his cigarette, and begins to whisper to Jesse.

  “Me and John start work in two days. You only work part time, but I’m going to be gone all day and all week. That’s going to be alright for you?”

  Jesse nods his head, and continues to lay down on Russell’s shoulder. They both remain in this area for a short while, looking at the gorgeous and lovely view, then they walk back over to their table. At this time, John wishes to go home, and all three of them start to exit out of the wedding. Russell drops John off, and he and Jesse say goodbye to him. Immediately after that, Russell directs himself to “Home Base” to park the convertible. He gets back into his regular car, and proceeds to his apartment. He and Jesse go to sleep not long following that. On Monday morning, Russell gets himself ready for his first day of work at “Northrop Grumman”. Jesse is already dressed for work in his Walgreens vest, in which Jesse picked up his uniform days before. Jesse doesn’t have to be at work until noon; he is going to take the bus to get there. Jesse gets off work at seven like Russell does, so Russell offers to pick Jesse up when his shift is over. Russell stands in the mirror making sure his suit looks nice.

  Russell is wearing a light gray suit, with a black tie, and black shoes. Jesse helps Russell look good for his first day. Russell reaches for his briefcase inside his closet and grabs it. He gives Jesse who’s sitting on his bed, a kiss. Russell then looks in the closet mirror, speaking to Jesse.

  “You be a good boy. I’ll pick you up later. I gotta go to work.”

  Jesse tells Russell goodbye, and he lays down on Russell’s bed, happy that Russell is going to work, but upset because he doesn’t want him to leave. Russell walks out towards his car, and starts to drive. He notices how sunny the weather is for today, and hot humid it is, despite it being early on in the morning. Russell arrives at John’s house, and picks him up. The two of them head to start their first day of work. Russell is shown where his cubicle is, and he and John both work in the same section.

  Their computer monitors and work stations are positioned right next to each other. Despite this, Russell and Joh
n do not use this as an advantage to chit chat or fool around. They strictly get to work, and complete their work tasks. Russell despite only having one arm, is able to work quite well. He can file papers easily, type on his keyboard without any issue, and he can carry things just fine.

  Russell is certain that he is going to like his new job as an accountant, and can see possible career growth. As John is doing his work, he looks over at Russell, proud of him, despite being handicapped without an arm. John starts to feel happy that he has this brand new life with Russell. They were former enemies, now they are turning into close friends, working in a different setting. John, like Russell, never wants to work in a bank ever again; this is a great way to deal with all of their insecurities. Russell himself is also appreciating his brand new lifestyle.

  Even though he’s not glad that he lost his arm from all the poor decisions and choices he made, he is happy that he was given a second chance, and can now live a life that makes him free to start over. Anything that happened before this point, Russell wants to wash away from his memory like it didn’t exist. He concentrates on his work, filing all the appropriate documents and financial records in their proper order. This type of work comes simple for Russell, as it’s something he’s familiar with, working with finances and money.

  As the day continues, he and John are doing rather well with it being their first day. Lunch time finally arrives, and he and John take their break. They head to the cafeteria to get themselves something to eat.

  Jesse walks out of Russell’s apartment, and locks the door; walking to the bus stop to start his new job. While he’s standing at the bus stop, he starts to talk to an older African-American woman. They engage in small talk. Jesse gets on the bus, and rides the half hour ride to get to the Walgreen’s he works at. He gets off the bus, and walks in the building to begin work. Jesse starts stocking several items on the shelf, entering them into the stocking database, using a small handheld scanner device to do so. Meanwhile, Jesse also checks customer’s items out at the cash register as well.