From Garbage To Glory

1 Jeremy Kavill was riding his scooter with a takeout bag on his shoulders. He was riding fast while glancing at his watch from time to time. "s**t! s**t! s**t! I have two minutes to deliver this pizza but this traffic. God! I can't afford to be late. This will be my twenty-third time in the month." Jeremy gritted his teeth as he halted again along with the other vehicles. He looked up at the sky at the sun. It was scorching hot today and Jeremy was sweating profusely. His delivery uniform— a red half-sleeved t-shirt with the logo of their pizza shop printed at the back— was slightly dirty and fully drenched in sweat. It was sticking to his body and he stank horribly. Jeremy made a face as the smell of his sweat wafted to his nose. However, it was the sweat of his hardwork. He did three jobs a day. First in the morning— to pick up garbage from door to door in the Garbage Truck the cleaning company provided. Second— Washing dishes in a local restaurant starting right after his garbage collecting shift ended at 2 Pm in the afternoon. And then the third job— Working as a delivery boy for a famous Pizza shop from 2.30 pm until late night. Sadly, he had no fixed working hours. His boss was a bully, and given Jeremy's performance, he forced him to work overtime to compensate for the loss he incurred because of Jeremy's lateness. What's more, his boss didn't give him any bonuses either. "Yes, it's clearing!" Jeremy's lips widened in a hopeful smile as the vehicles ahead started moving. But then his smile quickly turned into a scowl when the vehicles ahead of him stopped again. "Damn it! I'm late again. The boss will be crazy mad now." He slapped the screen of his bike in rage and sadly the engine that had been thrumming under his thighs went still. Jeremy's face paled, "W-what happened to the scooter now?" He moved it left to right, banged his fists on the seat, kicked the tyre, and tried to restart. Unfortunately, nothing worked. "Hey, you dumbass! Are you deaf or what?" Jeremy saw a man yelling at him from his sleek blue car. "Don't you hear the honk? The traffic is cleared. Get moving, else I will trample you under my car." Jeremy stared at his face in mixed emotions. He was enraged, tired, sorrowful.... And envious. It wasn't really a man in the expensive-looking car. He was likely a teenage boy, greatly younger than Jeremy. But he had a shiny car whereas Jeremy had a scooter; which was also now broken. "You loser, you heard me or not! I said get out of our way!" The boy screamed again, and a few other drivers peeked out of the windows to yell at Jeremy. With a defeated sigh, he dragged his broken scooter to the side of the street and parked it. As he sat down on it with a sigh, the boy from the blue car sneered at him. "People like you are a cancer to society! Can't afford a working scooter either. Die, mother fucker." He drove away while wearing his goggles. Jeremy hung there with a sullen look. Removing his helmet, he wiped the sweat off his face and closed his eyes. Suddenly his phone blared loudly and he pulled it out. His eyes froze in fear as he looked at the caller. Boss calling... "s**t!" Jeremy cursed, and with trembling fingers he took the call. The second he pressed his second-hand smartphone to his ear, his eardrum rattled because of the loud noise coming from the phone. His boss was cursing him, asking him to die, calling him worthless, a waste of space and what not. "I... I'm sorry, boss. There was... There was traffic and on top of that my scooter broke. I didn't intend to delay the delivery." He replied respectfully. The boss scoffed on the phone, "There was traffic, then your scooter broke down. If I hadn't called you then you would've said you broke your leg because you were running to deliver the order. Son of a b***h, you're a jinx. My business has gotten more one star ratings since you joined than I ever got before. We've given away more free pizzas according to the delay policy than we did before just because of your laziness." "I regret hiring a mother fucker like you. Someone should trample over you and end your life. You're useless, Jeremy!” The boss snarled and Jeremy quietly listened. “I'm going to deduct the charges from your salary. And I'm going to make you work extra time to cover the loss your laziness is incurring me." He was cursing him again as Jeremy removed the key of the scooter and started to walk. He had several orders with him. While he delayed two, he could deliver the others in time. But still, his boss was berating him, "You're a good for nothing loser, Jeremy! Now deliver all the pizzas and come back to shop quickly. Run if you have to but complete the orders. Am I clear?" "Yes, sir." Jeremy set the phone back in his pocket and ran in the heated day to complete the orders. "I'm sorry, ma'am. There was traffic and my scooter broke—" "That's not my problem. According to the policy, if the delivery is late then you give us free pizza. So I'm not paying." The customer put a slice in her mouth and took a bite. She moaned in delight as Jeremy continued to beg her, "Ma'am, please try and understand. Pay half the amount at least otherwise it'll be deducted from my sal—" The woman slammed the door on his face. Jeremy's eyes stung with tears. He still didn't lose hope. He attempted to convince the second customer to pay at least half the price so he wouldn't have to cover the loss by paying from his salary. Sadly, the second customer did the same to him— close the door with a loud bang on his face. And since Jeremy wasted some time in trying to coax them to pay, his third order was delayed as well; and that customer didn't pay either. Today was a bad day. Luck wasn't on Jeremy's side. With tears in eyes, he rushed to finish the remaining three orders and luckily they were on time, so he got paid. The last customer was an old kind lady. She gave Jeremy a tip of ten dollars. The day was getting hotter. The sun was unleashing a storm of heat. Those in the air-conditioned car enjoyed the sultry summer days while people like Jeremy struggled with sweaty bodies and a headache. His belly was growling in hunger. Jeremy looked at the time. He hadn't eaten anything since last night. Looking at the tip the nice woman gave him, he bought himself a veg tortilla wrap from a street-side cart before he went back to the pizza shop. His boss insulted him. He threw a glass of water on his face and deducted his entire week's salary. Jeremy didn't counter. He was too tired to do anything. He just wanted to go back home. When he left the shop after having his daily fill of humiliation from his boss, he recalled his scooter. "Bloody hell! I forgot about my scooter. I was supposed to call my friend Simon at the garage to pick it up!" Jeremy ran to retrieve his scooter, alas it was gone. He sat by the curb with teary eyes in the same spot he had parked his scooter. "M-my scooter? How will I deliver orders now!" He sobbed quietly. He was in so much pain that he decided to call his wife, Vanessa Kavill, to share his pain with her. "Nessa, I—" "What do you want?" A man barked on the phone. Jeremy knew him. He was the head manager, Kim, a 50 year old man at the restaurant where his wife worked. "I... I want to talk to—" "Vanessa is busy, scum. She's not jobless like you. She's got tons of things to do. Don't call her again." Old Kim snapped and cut the call. More tears brimmed in Jeremy's eyes. The only person he supposed would be able to lessen his pain had no time for him either. While the street was abuzz with cars, and couples walking on the side lane, Jeremy sat alone with his sorrow. He felt completely alone. Tbc..