she would’ve felt had Alejandro been here with him. She was feeling even more emotional now about how close she’d come and still she wasn’t the least bit closer to finding him.
Cido didn’t comment on her hoping to find Alejandro. Instead, he mentioned how he was still single himself then changed the subject altogether. “Are you in National City now? With family?”
“No, it’s just me and my mom. We’ve only been here a few months, but it’s been so hard to find jobs. I finally got one only it pays so little I’m still looking for a second job.”
His eyes brightened. “My dad and I are looking to get another truck, so we’ll be needing more help. We can’t pay too much hourly, but we would pay you minimum wage at least, and we’re out here all day most days, so it’d still be a lot of hours. Ten or twelve hours some days if we don’t run out of food. The hardest thing about this business is being slaves to it. Unless you trust your employees enough to leave them on their own, it’s hard to take time off.” He smiled even bigger. “I know I’d trust you and your mom.”
Isabella felt her gloomy mood take a turn, and she was even smiling now too. “Oh my God, that would be such a relief. My mom hides it well enough, but I know she’s been so stressed about not being able to find a job yet, and we’d be willing to work all the hours you need us to. Whatever days.”
Cido smiled big. “I’ll talk to my dad tonight, but I know it’s the one thing he worries about most. We’ve had some issues with past employees. Coming up short in the register, them giving their friends free food and shit or just flaky employees who call out last minute and we’re scrambling shorthanded. I know you and your mom would be trustworthy, Isa. I’m not sure when we’ll be getting the new truck, but we’re already short, so I may be able to get you some hours in this truck already.”
Bringing her hand to her chest, Isabella was once again feeling emotional. The past few months had been more stressful than she cared to admit. Her face scrunching involuntarily had Cido hugging her again, and she wrapped her arms around him. “Don’t worry, amiguita. I got your back.”
As promised, Cido had Isabella and her mom working that very next week. Her mom was beyond relieved. He wasn’t kidding either when he said they’d been shorthanded, especially on the weekends.
They had spots near some of the clubs and bars that let out at two in the morning with many drunken and very hungry customers. They were the shifts that most of their employees flaked on, being that they were young and likely wanting to go out themselves.
Isabella didn’t have much of a social life, and her first priority was to get out of that trailer park. They’d already had several incidents where they’d been woken up in the middle of the night by sirens and patrol car lights called out for domestic disputes. They’d even witnessed a car chase that ended at the trailer park when their idiot neighbor thought he’d outrun the cops and make it into his trailer. Isabella wanted to at least be able to afford even a studio apartment somewhere safer.
Two weeks into their new job, Isabella was working the closing shifts with Cido and another co-worker Magdalena. Her mom had been opening with Octavio and it seemed they’d been getting scheduled that way more and more.
Magdalena was a tiny thing with short fuse and a mouth to match. Though unlike the girls Isabella had grown up with, her attitude wasn’t aimed at her more so than the men they worked around. Especially Cido who constantly had to remind her that, yes, he was her boss when she’d snap at him with her “you’re not the boss of me” line. Her famous response to that, which she delivered each time with what Cido called her sassy neck roll was, Okay pero no te pases!
It didn’t take long to figure out why Cido put up with his feisty employee’s attitude. Despite being one of his youngest, she was also one of his most reliable and punctual. She was also a very good listener who could be trusted to keep things to herself, and Isabella began opening up to her. For the first time in like ever,