Bushwick In Fiction

It was Halloween and the streets of Manhattan was flooded with people in costumes. I however, wasn’t in costume. It was almost 7 PM and I was just leaving my temp office job in Midtown. I was supposed to meet up with my friend, Parker, a former co-worker of mine from the ad agency where I used to work fulltime before my little life turned into shit like it is right now. However, Parker texted me that couldn’t make it because he was stuck in an argument with his wife. I wanted to head back to that shitty hostel in Brooklyn but I don’t want to deal with the new manager who’s a complete asshole. I was behind on my rent for a few days and now he’s freaking out on me. I already explained to him that I have temp jobs in the city all lined up and it’s just a matter of a week and then I can finally pay him. I tried to contact some of people whom I thought were my friends, people that I’ve helped in the past, people I’ve loaned money, and people I trusted and told me that in case something happens, I can always count on them. There I was, in the middle of fucking nowhere and about to get kicked out of the shit house, none of these sons of bitches are picking up their phones. Ever since they found out that I no longer have a fulltime job and I lost my apartment in Manhattan, they’ve been avoiding me. I’m supposed to be disappointed but I didn’t really dwell on it. On the up side, I still have a couple of friends who still talk to me and actually help me whenever I ask for it. For this, I am grateful. I checked the money on my wallet and I have fifteen dollars to my name. I went to one of the cheap bars in St. Mark’s Place, Grassroots Tavern. I’ve been there before it reminded me a lot of Manhattan during the 80’s. And the best part is, a pint of domestic lager only costs three dollars. That’s good news for me.

I stepped in the bar and found three girls dressed up as MADONNA from three different decades. And then I started fantasizing about having a foursome with the three of them. As I looked at the corner of the bar, I saw woman a wearing a white, 18th Century with a burgundy hooded cape. dress like. She’s got porcelain white skin,raven long hair that’s down to her waist, and grey piercing eyes. There was something mysterious and exotic about her face. It was impossible for me to guess her ancestry, but she’s probably Eastern European. The only thing that I’m sensing from her is, she’s definitely not from New York City and it could also be possible that she’s not from this world. She noticed that I was looking straight in her eyes and she gazed back at me like a serpent. There are very few attractive women that knows how to make a boy like me uncomfortable with a single look. I went back to concentrate on my finishing my beer. But when I looked to my left side counter of the bar, she was sitting right there. I was a little creeped out because less that a minute ago she was standing at the corner of the bar and now she sitting next to me. There’s a stupid myth that during Halloween, the Devil is free to roam the world and collect human souls. That was the first thing that entered my mind, then I told myself to stop acting like an idiot and start talking to her.

“Happy Halloween!” I said.

She responded to me with a smile.

“Happy Halloween to you as well!” She replied.

She spoke in a distinctive Cockney accent. She’s definitely from London.

“That’s a nice costume you got!”

“Thank you, yours as well”

I then laughed.

“I just got out of a temp office job”

“I know”

“You know?”

“Of course I do, Lorenzo.”

I was shocked that she knew my name. Instead of feeling strange about it, I continued to play along.

“Haha! That’s a good one, are you a psychic?”

“Something like that! Can I buy you a drink?”

“Absolutely, I’m currently broke so I will not turn down an offer!”

She smiled at me and gestured to the bartender. The bartender comes over to her like a puppy, captivated by her beauty.

“Can I please have two glasses of MAKER’S MARK? Neat. Thank you” She ordered to the bartender.

Okay, there’s seriously something wrong here. How can a stranger that I’ve never met know all these little details about me; my name and my drink of choice. Maybe it’s true that she’s a psychic. I believe her now.

“So, you obviously know something about me. What’s your name?”

“Lilith. Lilith Hamilton.”

“You have a very cool name, I was expecting it to be Lucifer or Satan.”

Lilith then burst into laughter, the bartender came back and served our drinks. Two full glasses of my favorite bourbon, MAKER’S MARK.

“You never change do you?” She asked.

“Can we change the subject of our conversation?” I responded.

“Of course, what do you want to talk about?”

“You, this charade or prank, knowing something about me…”

“Am I making you uncomfortable with all the information I know about you?”

“No Lilith. I just found it strange, that’s all. How did you my name and my favorite drink? And who are you?”

Lilith smiled at me again.

“You ask too many questions, child.” She said.

“What the fuck do you want?” I asked her again.

“I should be asking you that. That’s the reason why I came here tonight in the first place. And to be perfectly honest, you have no idea how lucky you are.”

“What the fuck are you talking about?! I don’t have a fucking job, I already lost my apartment! My life has turned into shit!”

Lilith then touched my face. Her palms are warm, she made me feel like teenager who’s being comforted by a maternal force. I calmed down in an instant.

“Don’t worry child, everything is going to be okay. You’ll see.”

“You don’t know that, you’re not God.”

She then looked at me with a disdain in her beautiful face and took her hand off my face. I gulped down my glass of bourbon.

“I don’t want to be like God. He watched his own son die on the cross. Don’t you ever compare me to him!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you…”

Lilith sighed and then looked at me.

“You didn’t upset me, it just brings back a lot of unwanted memories. I think it’s time for me to go..”

I got a little disappointed when she told me that was about to leave.

“Really? No, don’t go.”

“Sorry Lorenzo, I have to be somewhere else.”

“You’re just gonna leave me here like this? We’re just getting to know each other..”

“Don’t worry child, We’ll see each other again.”

Lilith smiled again at me. She took a business card out of her pocket and handed it over. The card that’s made of high grade material, possibly ivory, indicates her name: Lilith Hamilton with a logo of a serpent and a phone number 212-728-1984. I looked at the back of the card and there’s a pentagram symbol with the name THE HAMILTON CORPORATION. The more I look at it, the more it seems to move. I know it’s not the bourbon that I just had. Then the pentagram itself turned into tiny serpents on my hand. I threw it away and freaked out. Everyone in the bar looked at me. It’s fucking obvious that they all think that I’m fucking crazy. I looked around and Lilith was gone. I looked down the floor to find her business card and there it was. My typical reaction would just leave that creepy business card alone. For some reason, I didn’t feel scared or anything. The only emotion that I felt at that time was, I need someone to rescue me. And I know for a fact that this woman can. I picked up the card and placed it in my pocket. That night, I was worried of where I’m gonna crash. I called my former roommate Judy, I also used to share the rented house with her in East Elmhurst, Queens. Although there was one time that I had a little argument with her about the heater back then, we didn’t let that fuck up our friendship. She actually picked up her phone and when I told her about my situation, she texted me the address of her apartment in Long Island City, Queens. She took me in with no questions. If she wasn’t there I’d be completely fucked. I’m glad I still have friends like her. She’s living with her cat and one roommate, Gaspard, some teenager from France trying to make it as a filmmaker here in New York City. I crashed in Judy’s couch and mentioned to her that I’m currently doing temp jobs in the city and would only need to be in her shack for about a week. As soon as I retreated to the couch, I immediately fell asleep.

The next day, my Blackberry phone started ringing and I answered it, hoping it would be a job prospect.

“Hello?”

“Hello, Lorenzo Basque?”

“Yes, this is he”

“Hi Lorenzo, this is Katya calling from The Hamilton Corporation.”

I started having goose bumps down my spine. I felt that there’s some kind of spiritual intervention. Katya’s clear and soft spoken voice was almost like Katie Couric.

“Hi Katya, how are you?” I said politely since this is obviously a job prospect.

“I’m doing great, we found your resume on LinkedIn and I think we have a position best suited to your background and experience. Just to verify, you did work for the BBC and Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, correct?” Katya asked.

“Yes, that is correct.” I replied.

“Excellent! We’d like you to come in for an interview. What is your availability?”

“I’m actually available today in the afternoon if that’s okay.”

“Okay, can you come in at 3 PM?”

“Absolutely!”

“Perfect! I will send you an email with the address of our office and all the other details. Please note that you will also be meeting with our President so please dress in corporate attire and bring extra copies of your resume.”

“Pardon me to ask you this, but is Lilith Hamilton the President of this company?”

“Yes indeed. We’ll see you today at 3 PM.”

“Sounds good, thank you, bye.”

There’s a sentinel in me that this is all a dream. I tried to shake myself off that maybe someone is playing some kind of practical joke on me but at the same time, this whole situation felt real and unreal. I got up from the couch and looked at the time. It’s 7 AM. I took a shower, put some clothes on and decided to go visit my favorite church in the whole world, Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue. One of the main reason why I love this church so much is because, it treats all its believers equally, even the most evil men and women in history. A lot of criminals who visited it before their court trial at the New York Supreme Court all got acquitted. Its most famous believer is former First Lady of The Philippines, Imelda Marcos. She’s the widow of the late Filipino dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. She and her husband, stole more than $10 Billion from the Philippine government and US assisted funds and funneled it into secret bank accounts in Switzerland during their two decade rule (From 1965-1986). She became famous for having more than 3,000 pairs of designer shoes and skyscraper collection in Manhattan, at the expense of the Filipino people and Uncle Sam. She was also good friends with Saddam Hussein and Fidel Castro, and a regular at STUDIO 54, during her glory days. On the day before she was tried for fraud and racketeering in the New York City Federal Court, she visited Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and prayed for her salvation. The following day, she was acquitted due to “lack of evidence” and the sympathy of the New York City jury. After she got acquitted, she immediately asked her chauffer to drive her to Saint Patrick’s Cathedral and gave thanks for getting off the hook of her crimes. Her story reminded me that salvation doesn’t only come to those who are good and miracles can still happen even to the most vile creature in the face of the planet. If that church listened to prayers of Imelda Marcos, maybe my prayers of guidance and cry for help will be heard. On the other side of the coin, it simply tells me that if you could get away with dirty work in New York, you could get away with it anywhere. Just like that Frank Sinatra song, “New York, New York”, if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere! It’s fucking ridiculous.

I entered the cathedral and it’s still under construction. I haven’t been there for more than a month. As I walked in, something was no longer there. Maybe the Divine presence? Whenever I come in there, I would normally feel safe. But now, it’s so fucking different. Has God forsaken me? Still, I sat down in there for an hour hoping that I would feel some kind of sanctity. Still nothing. Regardless, I still prayed that God would guide me in making every major decision in my fucking existence. I hope he listened.

I finally went over to the address of The Hamilton Corporation. It was located on East 60th Street and Lexington Avenue. The Lobby Attendant then directed me to the 30th Floor. While inside the elevator, I could hear classical opera music, it was Maria Callas singing “Ave Maria”. So fucking theatrical and I love it! The elevator finally reached the 30th Floor and as I got out, there was a pretty, well-dressed woman, looking like she just stepped out of a VOGUE magazine cover. She greeted me with a smile.

“Lorenzo Basque?” She asked.

I immediately recognized her voice. It’s Katya, the woman who called me this morning.

“Yes, hi!” I replied.

“I’m Katya.”

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

Katya and I shook each other’s hand.

“Please follow me.”

I followed Katya as she directed me to the sitting area of their office where I sat down comfortably, with a beautiful view of Midtown Manhattan. The furniture in their office are all Victorian style. The entire aesthetic of the office are all classically designed, more of like from the 18th Century. It didn’t feel like a Manhattan office at all, it felt like I was in a castle somewhere in Europe. I could even hear my own voice echo as I speak due the vast office space and not to mention the high ceilings. I fucking love high ceilings.

“So Katya, how long have you been working here at The Hamilton Corporation?”

“Oh, about nine months. Would you like something to drink?”

“I think I’m okay.”

Katya sat down across from me.

“Alright, I will get started by telling you about what we do and our history. The Hamilton Corporation was founded in 1914 by John Hamilton in Oxford, England. His great-granddaughter, Lilith is the current President and is charge of managing and overseeing operations in our main headquarters here in New York as well as our global offices. We have office locations around the world. That includes London, Dubai, Stockholm, Beijing, Tokyo, Sydney, Paris, Berlin, Rio De Janeiro, Mexico City, Moscow, Zurich, and Tel Aviv. The Hamilton Corporation primarily started as an investment bank in England. Currently, we operate as a multi-investment firm, which means that we offer pretty much everything for our clients to invest. We own oil reserves, television stations, banks, telecommunications, fashion brands, and the last but not the least, The Hamilton Corporation owns one percent of the world’s stocks and bonds.”

“Wow” I gasped.

“Was that too much information for you?” Katya asked.

“I wouldn’t say it’s too much, it’s rather impressive” I answered.

“Well, I think Ms. Hamilton will be able to explain a more detailed summary of this company. Do you have any questions?”

“Yeah, what’s the specific position that I’m interviewing for?”

“Oh that, Lilith has that information for you.”

“Okay, she’s here today right?”

“Yes, only ten floors up.”

I looked at Katya with a baffled face.

“Ten floors up?”

“I’m sorry, I forgot to mention to you that we own ten floors in this building starting from the 30th up to the 40th which is the top floor. It’s a great view up there. Let me just walk you to the elevator and Lilith will meet you on the 40th floor.”

“Sounds good.”

Katya walked me to the elevator and stepped in. The elevator closed in and I hear the classical opera song again. Before I know it, I finally reached the 40th Floor where Lilith’s office is situated. The elevator doors open. It was unusually dim for a top floor. All the walls and ceiling are made of glass. I could see the sky from inside Lilith’s office. In the middle of the floor, there’s a circular elevated space with a glass table and I saw a figure of a woman wearing a beige, silk dress with a headphone speaking in German. It was Lilith. She saw me and gestured to give her a few minutes. I sat down on the leather sofa before the steps to her elevated office. She finished speaking in German, and switched to Russian. Then it was Arabic, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Japanese, and Hebrew. How the fuck does she know all these languages?! If she’s really the Devil, maybe it’s true that they’ve got linguistic skills. Lilith took off her headset and smiled at me.

“Come on up child.” She said.

I slowly walked up the steps to her office space and stood in front of her, right across from her glass table. I’ve also noticed that the executive chair that she has is upholstered with black leather and gold, it looks very luxurious and comfortable.

“Good to see you again!” I said with confidence.

“I told you we will see each other again. Please, sit.” She responded.

I sat down on the chair and that office of hers has some kind of meditative energy flowing around it.

“This is quite an office you got here”

“Do you like it?”

“Absolutely! So tell me, what’s the name of the position that you have for me?”

Lilith grinned at me.

“You’re a very logical person. To be specific, it would fall in the category of an Executive Assistant. So, why are you here?”

I laughed a little bit and realized that Lilith wasn’t laughing, she’s looking at me with a cold face. I stopped myself from acting like an idiot and looked at her straight in the eyes.

“I haven’t been so lucky lately. Four months ago, I lost my job and my apartment here in Manhattan. I forced myself to work on low paying jobs and spiraled out deep into depression..”

Lilith’s face became stricken with sympathy, looking like she’s about to cry.. I noticed that she’s feeding off the miserable story of my fucking life, so I continued.

“And having reached the end of my rope last month and feeling severely depressed and anxious , I decided to take a little break from New York. I went to Berlin where I stayed for three weeks. I recently returned here in New York City last week hoping that there’s still a little sympathy left. So now here I am..”

” I understand your situation, you’re not the only one. Where are you living now?”

“I’m living on my friend’s couch in Long Island City.”

“Can I see your resume?”

“Sure,”

I took out my resume from my worn out messenger bag and handed it to her. She looked at it for about a couple of minutes.

“Let’s see here, you studied film, you worked for production companies in Hollywood, you’ve worked for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, and the BBC. Tell me Lorenzo, what is it that you want?”

I was gonna say that I needed a million dollars to put everything in my fucking life in perspective but I came up with something genuine.

“Satisfaction with work or something close to it.”

” You don’t have a problem with me giving you orders and asking you to interact with out clients?”

“No, I’ll do anything to get out from the shitty life that I’m living right now.”

“Why is your life shitty?”

“I’ve got no friends in this city, I’m about to get kicked out of the couch where I’m living right now and I have no fucking idea where I’m gonna go. But I do know, that I want this job.”

She looked at my resume again and placed it down on her table.

“Do believe in the triumph of the will, Lorenzo?”

“Yes, most of the time I do.”

“My great-grandfather who started this company, a hundred years ago, came up with a business idea after he got fired from his job. He was an insurance salesman. His sales figures plummeted and the company decided to let him go. But despite that, a part of him believed in himself. He explored the possibility that a man can become his own God, without believing in something that doesn’t care about him. In 1934 the Nazis stole his gold reserves in Germany and left him with nothing. Then in 1944, his business came back to life again. It’s also called resilience which I believe that you do possess. What is your sign?”

“You mean my zodiac sign?”

“I’m a Leo”

“The Lion. You should be the master of your Universe right now.”

“I’m sorry, I’m-”

“Don’t be, it’s okay. Just because you have nothing right now, it doesn’t mean that you can’t have everything eventually. After all, you and I share the same sign.”

“This is the first time I felt optimistic in four months.”

“That’s the only way you should feel child.”

“Could you please stop calling me child?! I found that very weird.”

“I tried to have children of my own in the past, but I miscarried all of them. And I reached the point where I can no longer have a child of my own. And all their fathers left me as well. I know you find it strange that I called you that but to me it means something when I see a young person, a promising young person, I would treat that person as my own. I hope you understand.”

“Lilith, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know that about you.”

“That’s okay.”

“I’ve been feeling very tired lately, that’s why I said those things.”

“Child, your boat of suffering has sailed.”

I then looked at Lilith with some kind of relief in my face. I never heard anyone said something like that to me before. It felt like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders.

“You will never have to worry or be afraid of anything. I’d like you to return here tomorrow at exactly 7 AM, don’t be late. I will have you sign some paperwork and arrange for your start date next week. You’re hired! Welcome aboard!”

Lilith raised her right hand for me to shake and I did.

“Thank you so much! You literally just rescued me. Before I leave, I’d like to ask you something but I’m a little embarrassed.”

“What is it?”

“How much is my salary?”

“Oh the money? That’s the easy part, you will be compensated $2500 per week plus overtime and full benefits. You have any other questions?”

“Yes, would it be possible to ask for an advance? I have no penny to my name right now, and I’m so sorry to ask you-”

“Say no more. There’s a $3000 cash waiting for you downstairs, it will not be taken from your paycheck, consider it as an emergency compensation. You may pick it up from Katya.”

“It was already waiting for me?”

“Yes, prophecy is a gift.”

Lilith said that sentence with a bright smile in her face.

“Thank you!”

“You’re very welcome! I will see you tomorrow at 7 AM.”

I slowly walked out of her office and felt weird again that Lilith has the ability to foresee what I need before I even asked for it. I was still in disbelief that a complete stranger just rescued me, financially. Whatever talent she has, she’s putting it in good use. Until now, I’m still confused about the nature of her identity and the functions of the new job. She can speak many languages, can foresee when someone needs something. I think this is the beginning of a different life for me.

TO BE CONTINUED…