Page 18 of Base Block

I had discovered something interesting and hopeful when I had gotten a SIM card and gone through Callum’s emails: in fact, he was supposed to get paid for this summer stuff! It wasn’t a ton when you compared it to what he would make when he was an actual player on the team, but it was a daily amount (they used a foreign term to describe it, something in the Latin language). He was supposed to use the money for food and lodging, which cost a lot so the help would have been great. But since I’d learned about the summer salary, I had been going back and forth with one of the Woodsmen payroll people, trying to set up a way for us to collect it.

It didn’t help that Callum didn’t have a bank account and neither did I. It didn’t help that, at first, he hadn’t been able to recall where he’d packed away important documents, like his social security card (and for a while, he also couldn’t remember where he’d put his Indiana driver’s license).

But I had all the documents with me today, and I wanted to find someone who could fix this problem immediately—except there was also another problem. It was five o’clock on a Friday afternoon, so there weren’t a lot of people in this department who might have been able to help.

“Hello?” I called into the empty room. It was large and divided up into cubicles, and in the back corner, a woman stood up.

She didn’t look very happy to see me. “Can I help you with something?” She walked forward, squinting at my face. “Do you work here?”

“No, and I’m sorry to bother you. I was on a stadium tour because my boyfriend Callum is trying out for the team but he’s been having trouble with his…shoot, I can’t remember what you guys call it. The daily allowance.”

“The per diem,” she said, nodding. “Yeah, Joy is the person you want to talk to. You can call or email and she’ll get back to you on Monday.”

“Um, I have been emailing for the past week and I’ve left her a few messages, too.” I held up my phone, like that was proof of my actions. “I haven’t heard back from her and I don’t mean to be a pushy bitch, but we could use that money.” Employment up here wasn’t as easy to come by as I had expected, not in July when the temporary summer jobs had already been taken by people who had arrived before me. Callum had some cash and a credit card that we were putting too much on—like, even paying for the gas for the drive north had been more than he’d expected (and more than I had calculated for, because I’d had no idea how quickly his old car burned through it).

“Oh,” the woman said. She was nodding again, but she looked a lot friendlier. “Let’s see if I can look into it. Who is your boyfriend?”

“Callum Frazier.” I handed her his ID and her eyes moved over the information there before she returned it. “My name’s Rainey,” I continued as I followed her through the maze of cubicles.

“I’m Victoria,” she said and sat at her desk. That was covered in papers and also framed pictures of a little boy in various stages of growth. The short walls surrounding the desk had even more, some with her holding him and smiling.

“Is this your son? He’s so cute!” I told her.

“Thank you. Yes, that’s Finley.” She started typing and it seemed like she was logging back in.

“I’m sorry to keep you from going home to him.”

“No, that’s ok. His dad has him this weekend…oh, I see the issue. We just need account information for the direct deposit.”

“That is an issue because Callum doesn’t have a bank account and I don’t, either. Is there a way he could get a paper check?”

“Then how will he deposit it?” she wondered.

“He would take it to get cashed.” Then we would use that wonderful money.

“But check-cashing places take a cut,” she told me. She stopped and literally bit her lip before she spoke again. “That’s not any of my business.”

“No, it’s really good information for me. I’ve only dealt in cash and I didn’t know that.”

“Oh.” She bit her lip again and I realized that she probably thought I was a drug dealer or sex worker. Not that it mattered…

“Before, I worked for a friend’s business and I got paid under the table,” I said. “She had a domestic service company and we were maids.”

“Sure, and someone as young as you are doesn’t have much experience with this stuff...that’s not my business, either. Sorry,” Victoria told me.

Being young was a good excuse for my ignorance and I went with it. “I just turned twenty-one,” I agreed. “I guess that Callum and I should open a bank account—”

“Two,” she broke in. “One for each of you. At least, that’s what my parents always told my brother and me. They wanted us to keep things separate from our partners until we were married and legal in the eyes of the law. I’m not sure if that’s old-fashioned advice but I always followed it.”

“That makes sense.”

“Until he has his bank account, I can get paper checks cut for him, but it’s going to have to be on Monday and probably not until late in the day. Can you wait that long?”

Not really. “Sure, we’re good,” I answered. “Should I have him come here?”

“Take this.” She handed me a business card with her name in orange above the Woodsmen football logo. “Have him stop by after their afternoon practice. He can call me on this number and I’ll come down and meet him. When he has the bank account, then he can call me again and we’ll set up the direct deposit.”

“Wow, that’s so great of you,” I said. My phone was ringing and I quickly silenced it. “That was Callum, wondering where I am. I’ll tell him what you said to do and thanks again.”