The day I lost my job I knew it wasn't going to be a normal day, like any other. You don't wake up and think that you'll get fired on any given day, it just happens like a car accident or finding a twenty on the street. You can't plan for it.
Fittingly enough it was raining, but not a downpour. The rain came down in a steady drizzle since before the sun came up and never really let up. It poured down on me as I walked in a depressed shuffle to my car, wondering how I was going to pay for it. It continued as my tires sloshed through puddles and my wipers cleared my windshield while I drove home wondering how I was going to pay rent which elicited a groan thinking of how I'm going to tell my roommate that I'm going to be short next week.
"Hey man," I said as I slouched against the back of the chair opposite his.
He nodded a grunt in my direction as he continued playing his PS5.
"I uh, got some bad news."
I trailed off a bit, not sure how to present it. We didn't have a bad relationship as roommates. I answered an ad in the paper because it was the perfect distance to where I worked and where I had been living at the time so I wouldn't have to move all of my stuff too far. We never really hung out except for the occasional time he would come in and watch whatever I was watching, or I would stop temporarily and watch him playing a game.
He wasn't home a lot anyways. He would be out with his friends or work or wherever he went. I think he had a girlfriend, I wasn't really sure. There was a girl who had come over once in a while anyways and I could hear them fucking in the next room, but she wasn't around enough to really consider her a steady girlfriend.
I waited and he never responded. His head maintained his gaze on the screen while his fingers rapped on the controller. The one side of his headset off his ear so he could hear what I was saying, even if it seemed like he wasn't listening at all.
"So uh, yeah. I just got fired. Some bullshit really. They said they had to downsize the staff because of some fucking shit. I don't even know, they were just using all these fucking buzz words and crap."
"Fuck man, that sucks," was all he said. He really was barely listening.
"So, like, I'm gonna be short on rent next week. I uh, fuck. Would you mind covering me until I can find something?"
He heard me clear that time. He paused and pulled the headphones off of his ears.
"Naw, man. I can't cover you. You gotta find a way to get the rent money. I'm not playin that shit again. The last roommate tried to do that shit and thats why I threw his ass out, he wasn't coming up with his side. So I don't care what you do, but you gotta get your half of the rent by next Friday or you're out."
My heart sunk. He wasn't yelling at me but I could tell he was pissed and this wasn't something he wanted to deal with.
"Come on, man. I swear I'm good for it. I never missed rent. Its always my first priority. Just cover me this month man. It'll be the only time. I swear."
"How do I know that? What if you don't find something for two or three weeks, huh? Then you ain't gonna have enough money to cover anyway and then its gonna be two weeks that you're good for it. I'm not playing that game."
"You seriously can't spot me just this once? I really don't want to move again, man."
He leaned back in his chair and looked at me, "man, what's in it for me?"
"What do you mean?" I looked at him confused.
"What's in it for me? He said as he shifted in his seat.
"What are you going to do for me? I can cover the rent easy, I just don't want to be burdened every month with it. I can get one or two months until I find someone else. I don't have to move, you do. It's all on you. So, what's in it for me if I spot you?"
I was confused. If I didn't have any money to pay rent what would I have that he'd want.
"I don't know, what do you want? Like, I don't have any money. I'll pay it back eventually."
"I don't want the money, how about we make a deal?"
"What kind of deal?" I looked at him and he looked at me with a smirk on his face.
"How about you do me a favor and I let it slide?"
"What kind of favor? I can do your laundry I guess. Like that?"
"Naw man, not like that."
"Then what?" I was getting a bit weirded out the way he was looking at me.
"Keep an open mind, okay?"
"Okay...," I looked at him really funny now.
"You see the girl I was fucking on the side, she got all clingy and wanted me to start seeing her regularly right? Well I'm not into that kind of thing. All I wanted was to hang out and fuck every now and then. So she got all pissed off and told me to go fuck myself, which I've been doing. But, you see, I get kind of bored of that and thought it might be a good idea to have a live in mouth on waiting for when I needed it. You see where I'm going?"
My mouth was probably on the floor with the way he was almost laughing as he told me what he wanted.
"What the fuck? No! You gotta be fucking out of your mind. I ain't no faggot."
"Hey, hey, hey. Ain't nobody said you were a faggot. I'm just talking about a simple transaction here. You ain't gotta worry about nothin man. All you gotta do is put your lips around my dick whenever I want and I'll let you slide this month on rent."
"Fuck that. FUCK that. Hell no, man. What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"Think about it though. All you gotta do is suck my dick and I'll give you the rent money. You ain't gotta fuckin date me. You don't even have to have it up your ass or nothin. All you have to do is suck my dick for the next month and its all good. Once you get a job and can pay rent then you're good. You're back to paying rent. It'll just be between us. Nobody has to know."
"No. Hell no. HELL no. I'm not sucking your dick man. I'm not gay."
"I know you're not gay. I'm not gay either. I just need my dick sucked man. Just fucking think about it, okay? You think it ain't worth it to get a full free month of rent for just letting me use your mouth to jerk off with? It's not that big of a deal. Think about it and get back to me. I won't judge. I won't treat you different. You just gotta let me use your mouth whenever I'm in need."
"I dont need to think about it. I'll get your money. I'll get a job, fast. I ain't doing that man. That's fuckin sick that you'd even ask."
"Whatever, man. If you don't have the money by Friday I'm throwing your shit out then. The offer only stands as is for so long. If you take too long on taking me up I might not be so generous."
After that he flipped his headset back on and went back to playing his game. I stood there, dumbfounded that he just asked me that. Who the fuck does he think he is? What the fuck does he think of me, that I'd suck his cock for money like a god damn prostitute? He's out of his damn mind. And he asked so fucking casually too! I'll have to look for a new job and probably a new place, with him thinking that was some normal thing he could ask me. I wasn't going to get caught up in some sick kink play of his.
I went into my room and throw my shit on the floor and fell onto my bed thinking of how fucking gross he was and the smile on his face as he was giving me the option. He had to be joking. He wasn't serious. He wasn't, was he? Nah, he couldn't have been.
I'd spent most of the next 5 days looking for a job, and on the side looking to see what kind of apartments are in the area. I didn't really want to move, the location of this place was great and I'm settled in. I fucking hate moving. But what Aaron asked me was too wild for me. Like, I get it if it was a joke, pulling my chain to see if he could get met to No Homo or something, but he didn't let up. He really led me to believe that he was serious.
There was some nervousness setting in as the day got closer to rent being due. Thankfully I had an interview today and rent was due tomorrow. If I could get this job then I'd be set. I wouldn't have the money but I'd have it soon so Aaron wouldn't have to worry about me fucking him over like his previous roommate.
Aaron saw me leaving for my interview in the morning and called out to me.
"One more day, T."
I nodded at him, trying to hide my mix of frustration and nervousness.
All I had to do was get this job. It didn't seem to hard. Some overnight stuff in a hotel at the front desk. It seemed like there would be easy work and I might not have to do a whole lot, but I underestimated what they wanted.
The job called for some accounting work during the overnight hours since there wasn't a lot of need for customer check ins at that time and I had never done anything like that. I tried to bullshit my way through the interview and say I had taken some accounting classes in college but I could tell from the woman's expression that she wasn't having it. I left the room knowing I wasn't getting a call and I was going to be completely screwed.
I sat in my car and took my frustration out on my steering wheel for a minute or two before deciding to, begrudgingly, head to my last resort plan. There was a Burger King a couple of blocks from the apartment that had help wanted on their sign. I figured they couldn't be looking for too much and I should be able to walk right in and get a job.
The place was pretty much empty in the morning, which would be a great shift to work. There was a girl at the front counter leaning against it. She was pretty cute too. It would be a nice side benefit if I ended up having to degrade myself by working here.
"Hey, you guys still hiring?" I asked her.
