XII. 2 Kings
4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the LORD. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a little oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbours for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
5 She left him and afterward shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring. 6 When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.”
But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing.
7 She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.” 2 Kings: Chapter 4:1-7 (The Holy Bible, New International Version)
In this chapter we continue the story from chapter 6-Joshua-where we left our main character, Dwayne Smith, feeling very happy because he had been given a “second chance” through securing a job at the Lord Westbury Restaurant, situated in Clapham, London, England.
1
Dwayne was happy. He considered himself extremely lucky to be where he was right now. He had been working at the Lord Westbury for the past eighteen months. The job was great because of a whole lot of factors. The Boss, Mr. Rawlings, was a great guy and so was Sam, the Head Waiter, his immediate supervisor. Most of the patrons were very generous with their tips and there were actually some weeks when Dwayne made more in tips than he was paid in wages. Extra-ordinary!
Today, Monday, was his day off. He was reflecting on these aspects about his job whilst sitting in one of the seats in an “under-ground train”, commonly referred to as the “Tube”. He was on his way to Shepherd’s Bush where he wanted to look for a suit at the flea market. His thoughts kept on coming back to his job and all the wonderful things associated with it. During the last three weeks, there had been one particular couple who came to the restaurant twice a week and who were now insisting on being served by Dwayne at all times. Dwayne did not know why this couple always insisted that he “waits” at their table. Dwayne considered himself no better than any other waiter at the restaurant. In fact, some of the waiters were much more experienced than he was and Dwayne thought that these more experienced waiters probably performed better than he did.
For some reason, however, this one couple seemed to just prefer to be served by Dwayne. Prefer was probably not the right word, this couple actually insisted on it. Dwayne himself was a bit embarrassed by this state of affairs, especially the fact that the couple would also tip him quite heavily. Dwayne suspected that the woman was the one who insisted on having him at their table. She was much younger than her husband. At a guess, Dwayne thought she could be in her early thirties whilst the husband was clearly past sixty. It was an odd couple in that respect. Just the other day, this couple had given Dwayne a tip which was more than fifty percent of the total cost of their dinner.
Strangely enough, the other waiters did not seem to be jealous at all. They actually seemed to be quite happy for Dwayne.
2
When Dwayne disembarked at Shepherd’s Bush, he headed straight for the flea market. He knew exactly the shopping stall he was going to check out because he had visited the place the week before. His intention was to quickly pick up the suit that he wanted and then go on to Piccadilly Circus to watch a movie before going back home.
When he arrived at the stall from which he was to buy the suit, he was surprised to see “the generous lady” from the restaurant standing nearby, talking to an old lady who owned the stall adjacent to the one Dwayne was going to.
“Why, isn’t this my favourite waiter in the whole of London town? Hello, Dwayne,” she quickly said when she saw him.
“Hi, Mrs. Harper. Fancy seeing you here! Really, what are you doing here, Mrs. Harper?” Dwayne responded.
“Probably the same thing that you are doing here, shopping,” she said. “Oh, come now, Mrs. Harper. You don’t expect me to believe that you do your shopping from Shepherd’s Bush? The last time I heard, Harrods was still in full operation,” Dwayne said jokingly.
“Of course, I don’t buy clothes from this place but you will be surprised at some of the treasures you can find from a place like this. The other day, at the Liverpool Street Flea Market, I found a Chinese vase which I am sure must be five hundred years old,” said Mrs. Harper. “And Dwayne, before you run away, I want to “propose to you”, well not propose but I do have an offer I want you to consider. Get whatever you want to get and walk with me back to the car,” continued Mrs. Harper.
3
As he selected the suit that he wanted, Dwayne was at a loss as to what Mrs. Harper might want from him. What on earth could they talk about? He quickly paid for his purchase and indicated to Mrs. Harper that he was ready whenever she was finished.
She led the way to her Rolls Royce, where her driver was waiting. When they reached the car, she got right to the point. “Ricky here is retiring at the end of the month, and we have not had any luck in finding a replacement,” she said.
Dwayne breathed a sigh of relief and thought to himself, ‘This is all she wanted. She wants to know if I know a driver who might be looking for work.’ Dwayne then quickly said, “Well, Mrs. Harper, unfortunately I don’t know anybody to recommend and I am also surprised that you have not been able to find somebody soon enough. I would have thought a lot of drivers would kill to get a job like this.”
“Well, what about you Dwayne. Don’t you want to take the job?”
“Oh no! No! Mrs. Harper. Not me, I have a job and besides I do not think that I would be a good driver. For one thing, I hardly know the City of London.”
“Oh, Dwayne, who needs to know London when there is GPS? Think about the offer seriously before you turn it down,” said Mrs. Harper.
Dwayne did not think he had to give the offer any serious consideration. Even if he was interested in the job, he would not take it because he owed that much to Mr. Rawlings, the restaurant owner. He felt he owed his life to Mr. Rawlings who had given him a “second chance.” How would it appear if he were to go to him to say he was leaving after being with the restaurant for only eighteen months? No, there was nothing to consider.
But Dwayne did not want to seem to be “ungrateful” for the kind offer and he promised to think about it and advise the next day if she could give him her phone number. Of course, he had no intention of taking the job but it seemed to be the right thing to say. Mrs. Harper drove off with “her-soon-to-retire-driver,” leaving Dwayne to stand starring at the big departing Rolls.
4
When Dwayne arrived at work the next morning, he was advised that Mr. Rawlings wanted to see him. His first thought on hearing this, was, what had he done wrong? He had been extra-careful to please and perform beyond the call of duty. Why does Mr. Rawlings want to see him? Hopefully, it will be for something nice. Dwayne was sure that he had not done anything wrong.
Dwayne went up the stairs to Mr. Rawlings’ office. There was an elevator which went to his floor but all the workers at the restaurant used the stairs when going to see Mr. Rawlings. It was as if there was an unwritten rule which stated that the elevator was exclusively for the Boss’s use. Dwayne was certain nobody at the restaurant wanted the Boss to wait for the lift if ever he wanted to use it.
Mr. Rawlings was his usual exuberant self when he saw Dwayne, “Come in. Come in Dwayne and take a sit. It seems Mrs. Harper has taken a liking to you. I think you should take the job. Of course, it’s up to you but I think it would be a good move for you as long as she keeps her hands off you, ha..ha.ha..”, Rawlings laughed.
Dwayne was speechless. He remained standing having been rendered both speechless and motionless. “Yes, I know about Mrs. Harper’s job offer. In fact, I recommended you, myself. Take the job Dwayne. You see, James Harper is actually my partner. He just doesn’t want the staff to know that he owns a piece of the restaurant because he wants to find out for himself how ordinary customers are treated by the staff,” continued Rawlings.
“Dwayne, all you need to worry about is that she remains a good girl and does not molest you..ha..ha..ha. She does have a reputation, you know!”
The next chapter-1 Chronicles- will be published not later than Monday, 21 February, 2011
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