Pink Slip Prophet Read Online Free Page A

Jack.
    He thought about Jack and that hurt face of his. I really screwed up.
    Michael came out of his room off the kitchen and stopped short when he saw Ian blocking his only way out.
    “You get a job yet, Dad?” Michael asked. His hands fidgeted below his waist and a nervous smile crossed his face. “Never thought I’d be asking you that question, huh?”
    Ian narrowed his eyes. He studied the boy. Nineteen, his first-born son, and still at home. No job prospects, never excelled at education. Not even a girlfriend. I know he’s doing drugs. What do I do with this kid? “Nothing yet, what—”
    “See, Dad? It’s not that easy to get a job today! You had a good job so you could judge me, but not anymore!” Michael sniffed.
    I should have been home more often. I should have given him more of my time. Is this my fault? No, it can’t be. I did my job. I brought home the money. I worked. I paid for everything. I let Candy take charge of— Maybe that was my mistake. “Nothing worth doing is easy, son.”
    “Fuck you and your psalms, or whatever those are,” Michael said. “I’m going out.” He took a step towards Ian.
    Ian stepped into his path. This was his chance, maybe his last chance, to get Michael onto the right track, to start fixing their relationship. To whip the lazy whiner into shape. “You’re not going out, not until we figure this out.”
    “Forget it, Dad, there’s nothing to figure out. You’re an asshole and I’m a lazy whiner, right? I know that’s what you think of me. You can’t deny it!”
    A door opened behind him and Ian heard undersized, traipsing footsteps headed in his direction. “Dad,” Jack yelled, “can we play now?”
    Ian crossed his arms. “Michael, tell me, what do you do around the house? Do you cook? Clean? Do you help pay for groceries? What exactly do you contribute to this household?”
    Michael’s face contorted into an expression of hurt and outrage. “How dare you? I’m your child. I’m your responsibility. You have to take care of me. You…”
    Ian smiled thinly. “You’re not a child anymore, Michael. You’re—”
    “Anyway, I’m getting the basic income now. I guess now that you lost your job you’ll want to mooch some of that off of me, huh? Well it’s only two-thousand a month. And I need that for my car and my gaming career and other basics. So—”
    Great. I produced a parasite. Ian swallowed as he carefully selected his words. Screw it. “You can’t live in my house and be on welfare. It’s that simple. We’re Blakes. We work for a living.”
    Michael’s face visibly relaxed. “I signed up last night. I was the first one in our neighborhood. Starting next week, I’ll get two-thousand dollars per month, every month, for the rest of my life. If you’re smart, you’ll do the same thing.” He pushed past Ian and strode out the door.
    ***
    “I win! You lose!” Jack yelled at his father and then collapsed into giggling. “Why did you do that?”
    Ian shook his head and rolled his eyes. “I… just have my mind somewhere else, I guess.”
    Jack jammed his hand into Ian’s ribs and started scratching around with a smile on his face.
    “I’m really not in the mood for tickling, buddy,” Ian said. I’m about in the mood to jump off a bridge.
    Jack sat back, crestfallen. He was silent for a moment, then spoke up, “Dad, there’s this new game—”
    Ian studied his youngest son’s gorgeous face. Out of all of them, he was the only one who looked like his dad: a pleasantly-rounded face, brown hair, blue eyes. If only I could buy him everything he ever wanted, I would. Over and over again . “I can’t do it, not right now. I just lost my job.”
    Jack looked down. “It’s only three dollars. I mean, if you get a chance.”
    “After I get a new job, okay? It shouldn’t be long.”
    The boy’s face darkened. “It’s okay, Dad. I can wait.” He got up and walked towards his room.
    Ian’s heart sank. He leaned back into the