The Art of the Hustle

by Edward Mullen

  ***

  Over the course of the next week, I had a hard time coming up with ways to fill my day. I went to the public library and would read for hours. I didn’t like spending a lot of time in my apartment; it felt like a prison. There was no radio, no TV, and relatively no furniture. I would also go on long walks for hours. I did some of my best thinking on those walks. Along the way, I would go into all the grocery stores and eat their free samples. I had to ration my food because my money was almost all gone. I still had not heard back from any companies that I had applied to and it was getting down to the wire.

  On my way back from one of my long walks, I stopped by the laundromat and checked the ads that were posted there. One other guy was there checking the postings as well. It appeared he was looking for an apartment.

  “Hey, are you looking for an apartment to rent?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” the guy responded, as he looked me up and down suspiciously.

  “I actually have an apartment to rent and was just about to post an ad,” I said, as I held up my folder of résumés.

  “Really? What’s the rent?”

  “The rent is…” Am I really going through with this? I questioned myself.

  I still had the keys to both units in my building. It had been over a week and Raashid had not asked for the other set back. In all likelihood, he had completely forgotten about it.

  “The rent is $800 plus $400 damage deposit.” I gave a lowball figure just to secure him. If this didn’t work, I would not want to take my chances and post an ad, too many complications.

  “Wow, okay. Yeah, that sounds good. Whereabouts is it?”

  “It’s only a few blocks from here; would you like to see it now?”

  I’m not sure why this guy didn’t think it was weird that a nineteen year old was out scouting tenants at the laundromat. I guess he was either naive or he was desperate for a place to live like I once was. Either way, it didn’t matter to me. Sometimes opportunities present themselves and it’s a matter of being perceptive and taking advantage of them. In this case, it was a matter of timing; I was in the right place at the right time.

  When we entered the apartment, I immediately opened some windows to let the fresh air in. “The place belongs to my dad, he owns a few units in this building,” I said as I began to launch into my sales pitch. I live across the hall and help him manage these units.”

  The guy nodded, displaying his acceptance of my story, and continued to inspect the place.

  “You’re getting a real bargain here too. I don’t want a lot of hassle; I just want someone who will pay their rent on time,” I paused a moment to let the information sink in before I proceeded.

  “That won’t be a problem,” he responded.

  “You don’t need to sign a contract or anything, you can just pay month to month. All I ask is that you give me at least thirty days notice when you decide to vacate.”

  “Okay, that sounds good. And the rent is $800, right?”

  “Yes. Plus I need a $400 damage deposit.”

  “Okay, I’ll take it,” he said.

  “I can give you the key now, but I would need the first month’s rent and damage deposit up front.”

  An hour later, the guy came back with the money.

  “Okay, looks good, it’s all here.” I went over some other formalities to avoid further suspicion. I needed this guy to think this was as legitimate as possible. “Rent is due on the first of each month. I live down the hall in 2E. You can deliver the rent to me there. Let me give you my cell phone number in case there are any problems, just give me a call and I will take care of it immediately.”

  “Okay. Thanks.”

  “No problem, thank you. Enjoy the suite.”

  And just like that, my hustle-preneurship once again helped me out of a jam. Although what I did was both illegal and unethical, I was helping this kid out. He needed a place, and I needed money. Besides, the real owner wouldn’t be collecting rent from that suite anyway.

  I was now up $1,200.00 and feeling good. This money would be enough to tie me over for a while, but it was still no time to celebrate yet. My rent was due in a few days and I was not sure if Raashid would expect payment. If he did, then I would have to pay him $900.00 for May’s rent and hope he didn’t ask for the damage deposit, or the other apartment key back. I had around $200.00 in my bank account and was holding $1,200 cash, so if I decided to pay the rent, it would leave me with $500.00 for living expenses.

  Another thought also occurred to me, I could use some of this money to take Ashley out to a nice dinner. I couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  C H A P T E R

  S I X T E E N

  The job hunt was frustrating to say the least. My résumé was still essentially a blank piece of paper. I realized if I wanted to get something out of life, I needed to apply myself. Applying did not simply mean dropping off my résumé and hoping for a callback, I needed to force the action. What I was doing was clearly not working. The next day, I went back to the internet café and revised my résumé. This time I changed the format, the wording, the font, and made my name and phone number stand out in large bold letters.

  Now that my résumé looked a lot better, I wanted to update my look. I was beginning to realize the clothing I thought was appropriate was not exactly what the business world considered appropriate. I needed to adapt to my surroundings if I wanted to fit in.

  It was around 12:00 p.m. and I had just left the internet café. I decided to walk downtown again and get a new outfit at the mall.

  I was not sure what I was looking for, preferably something dressy that made me look more mature. I browsed around all the sales racks and discount stores to find something that looked nice without costing a lot. After about an hour of searching, I found a few things I liked so I went into the fitting room to try them on. I decided on a casual-preppy look, a white golf shirt with khaki pants.

  I put on my new outfit and went back to all the same places in which I had previously applied. This time, instead of walking in and dropping off my résumé, I asked to speak with the manager. If I could speak with the manager, perhaps I could impress them like I had done in Banff.

  These small changes made a big difference. Not long after I implemented my new approach, my answering machine had several messages from managers wanting to schedule an interview with me. Before, I had no callbacks and I was desperate, and now I had many companies interested in me. There had been a power shift in my favor. I changed my perception from me needing something from them, to them needing something from me. This allowed me to have a little more control over the process. Since multiple companies desired me, I could simply choose the job I wanted. This added level of confidence allowed me to excel in the interviews. I went to all of the interviews, even for the jobs I did not really want. I did this to get better at being interviewed. By the tenth interview, I was really comfortable and my answers flowed better.

  The interviews were going well, but I still did not have any offers coming in. There was one place I still hadn’t applied to yet because the manager was never in when I went there.

  I put on my outfit and went back down to the mall. When I approached the store, I did not go in right away. Instead, I hung around outside remaining hidden behind a large plant. I wanted to stack the odds as much in my favor as possible, so stayed back to gather intel. I watched how the manager acted, what kind of mood he seemed to be in, and I observed the traffic flow to make sure it was not too busy. When all signs were green, I took a deep breath and walked confidently into the store.

  “Hi, I would like to speak with Marc Andrews please,” I said with the confidence of an FBI agent about to make an arrest.

  “I’m Marc Andrews, how can I help?”

  “Mr. Andrews, my name is Trevor Morrison. I spoke with you on the phone a couple of months ago regarding a sales position.” Before Marc had time to say anything I was already into my pitch. “If you recall, I was not available
at the time, but I would like the opportunity to work for you now. I guarantee you I will outsell all of your top sellers.”

  “Wow, that’s a pretty bold statement, I like it,” he said with a big smile. “I’m glad you came back, we only want the best sales people here, and you certainly seem like you’re hungry for a shot at the best,” he said jokingly.

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Okay, I’m sold. When can you start?”

  “Whenever you need me.”

  “Okay, how about you come in tomorrow at 8:00 a.m.?”

  “Okay, I’ll be here. Thank you so much, Mr. Andrews. I will see you tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m.”

  “Just call me Marc.”

  “Okay, Marc, thanks again.”

  I walked out of the store appearing calm and collected, but inside I was about to burst at the seams with joy. Thanks again to my hustle; I had an apartment, a little bit of pocket money from the other apartment, and now a job. I was beginning to see a pattern here.

  Now that I had a job, I could breathe a little easier. I had now put myself back on the path I once walked. I had to endure a few months of hell, but thankfully I made it to the other side.

  I reached into my pocket and took out my cell phone. I pressed speed-dial 1 and raised the phone to my ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, Ashley, it’s Trevor, what are you doing?”

  “Oh, hey. I’m just at work, waiting for my last table to settle their bill. What are you doing?”

  “Nothing, just walking around in the mall.”

  “You’re in the mall now?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why don’t you come by?”

  “Alright, I’ll see you soon.”

  I walked around the mall for a bit and checked out a few stores. I arrived at Ashley’s work a little after 2:00 p.m.

  “Hey. You look nice.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “This is my job-hunting outfit.”

  “So how’s that going?”

  “I actually just talked my way into a sales position at the Athletic Surplus upstairs.”

  “Really! That’s great, congratulations!”

  “Thanks. I’m really glad to go back to work. My first day is tomorrow.”

  “So we’ll be working in the same mall?”

  “I’m afraid so,” I said sarcastically.

  “That’s awesome, I’m so excited. We have to celebrate tonight.”

  “Okay.”

  “Let me just cash out really quickly and we can hang out.”