【第一章】E04 外教版 | A tall, elegant woman

Chapter 1 A tall, elegant woman 

Permanently. The word echoed in Joe’s mind for the rest of the morning. He knew he should be happy. He’d barely been scraping by on his part-time salary. This job would change all that.   

But his position at M.S. 74 was only supposed to be temporary, just something to keep him afloat until he got his big break. The only thing Joe wanted was to play great music—and not just for a bunch of half-awake middle schoolers.

When class let out that day, Joe still felt uncertain. He decided to go see his mother. Maybe she would have some words of advice. Not to mention that he had laundry to do.

Libba Gardner owned a small tailoring shop in Queens, New York. She was a tall, elegant woman in her sixties with cropped white hair and a no-nonsense attitude. As Joe folded his laundry, he filled her in on the job offer.

“After all these years, my prayers have been answered! A full-time job!” she said, clasping her hands together.

“Yeah,” Joe said heavily.

His mother fixed him with a stern look. “You’re going to tell them yes, right?”

“Don’t worry, Mom,” Joe said. “I’ve got a plan.” 

Libba’s lips pursed like she’d sucked on a lemon. “You’ve always got a plan. Maybe you need to have a backup plan, too, for when your plan falls through.”

Joe didn’t know why he felt so stunned. She’d never supported his career choices. Why had he thought this time would be any different?

Libba sighed. “Joey,” she said in a softer voice, “we didn’t struggle giving you an education just so you could be a middle-aged man washing your underwear in my shop.”

“Yeah. But, Mom—” Joe began.

Libba cut him off. “With this job, you’ll finally be able to put that dead-end gigging behind you.”

“Yeah, but ...”

“And just think,” Libba went on, “playing music will finally be your real career. So you’re going to tell them yes, right ?”