Money

 

(I'm a broke dead dick.)

Yesterday, I woke up at 6 a.m. and drank a cup of coffee. Then I read the headlines on my smartphone while taking a shit. A woman from Daegu was forced into prostitution for three years. She managed earn $400,000 during that time by having sex with complete strangers. However, she wasn’t allowed to keep any of the cash. Instead, she had to hand it over to her pimps who were comprised of two men and one woman. They said that she owed them money and therefore turned her into a slave to collect restitution.

I ate hash browns for breakfast as I watched Fox news. A big bank in California called SVB just went tits up. The company is now under control of the feds. It still owes more than one billion dollars to its customers, but those poor suckers are out of luck. However, the leaders of the institution managed to sell their stock a month before the collapse. Imagine that. Those motherfuckers must have seen the writing on the wall.

I drove to work with Rice-Boy Larry. We struck up a conversation along the way.

I said, “You’re spending way too much these days.”

He said, “What are you talking about?”

“Every time you go out, it cost me fifty bucks. I’m a poor man, so try to tone it down.”

“That’s why I’m looking for a job.”

“Promises, promises. Most days, I just see you playing soccer with your friends.”

“I’m trying to build rapport with my classmates. It’s not a crime.”

“Good for you. But I’m broke, your majesty.”

“Your point?”

“My point? Isn’t it obvious? Give it a rest, already.”

Rice-Boy Larry has an expensive hobby of visiting barbecue restaurants with his buddies. And beef and pork aren’t exactly cheap here on the peninsula. It adds up.

I got to school at 8 a.m. and walked straight to my classroom. Then I called my mother using Facebook Messenger.

I said, “Are you in your car?”

“Yes.”

“Where are you going?”

“I’m on my way to Walmart to purchase notebooks and pens.”

“Why?”

“Your sister says that I need to start writing things down. I keep forgetting stuff since the stroke, and she believes that this will help exercise my mind.”

I nodded approvingly. “That might be a good idea.”

Mom changed the subject. “Ken’s girlfriend came over again last night.”

“What did they do?”

“They smoked pot on the patio.”

“That’s disappointing.”

“Well, he’s still a kid. Plus I’m too old to argue.”

Nurse Ken is taking a semester off from college to study for the HESI Exam. He has to make a good score in order to be officially accepted into the nursing program. He’s completed all the prerequisite courses. Statistics, biology, chemistry, etc. The work is very demanding. Lots of science and math. I couldn’t do it.

I said, “Nursing school is pretty strict. They’re going to give him a piss test before he’s admitted.”

“He told me that he’s going to quit the weed next month.”

“Let’s hope so.”

Smoking dope is more dangerous these days than it was during my youth. I’m afraid that he could get a batch laced with fentanyl. It’s not easy raising kids these days.

Later that morning, I taught my students. We’re still reading The Most Dangerous Game. I’m on the part where General Zaroff explains why it’s OK to hunt and murder people from the lower social classes. Zaroff says that their lives are actually less valuable than those of his dogs. The kids got a kick out of that. They seem to be enjoying the tale. Good for them.