I sat on the bed, slightly furrowing my brow, not understanding the meaning of the infighting Coco had mentioned.
But now, my heart was itchy with excitement because from Coco, I had learned news of Alice!
The University of Memphis wasn't far from the St. River Bay Baths, only about seven or eight kilometers away, but I was incredibly conflicted.
The youth I had wanted to forget was now like a withered tree sprouting new buds, and a desire to go find Alice was budding in my mind.
"Three years have passed, it would be nice to see her," I muttered to myself, making up my mind in my heart that I would find time to visit her in a few days, at least to put a perfect end to my youth!
I lit a cigarette, put it in my mouth, and walked out of the room.
As I passed the front desk, Lisa tried to hold back her laughter as she looked at me:
"Manager John… you… came out so soon?"
I laughed awkwardly:
"I'm a bit tired today, not in the best state!"
"By the way, has Shawn assigned me any tasks for the next step?"
Lisa pointed down the corridor behind me and said:
"Boss Shawn said you should pick a room to stay in for the night tonight, and he'll take you to rent a place tomorrow."
"Alright, thanks, Lisa!"
I thanked her and then walked down the corridor towards Tiger's office.
Arriving at the door, I knocked and, upon hearing Tiger's voice, pushed open the door and walked in.
Tiger's face broke into a grin as I entered:
"How was it, little brother? The beauty's service not bad, huh?"
I nodded:
"Pretty good, Tiger. Thanks for giving your brother a job to eat!"
Tiger waved his hand:
"Fuck, what are you saying? Being polite with me? I have a similar temperament to you and am happy to have you as my little brother!"
Then, as Tiger and I chatted, he explained to me the main services offered by the bath center.
The first was simple bathing and scrubbing, which didn't need much explanation as everyone understood it.
The second was the guest room department, which was the area I was responsible for.
Some might wonder why people would book rooms in a bath center instead of a hotel. Tiger explained that the guest rooms in his bath center were better decorated and had a nicer environment than regular hotels. Plus, there was no need to register identities, which was convenient for those with sensitive identities who couldn't book rooms in hotels. This last point was linked to the third service he was about to mention.
The third service, and the most profitable, was massage and female companion services.
Massage was ordinary massage, while special services were the kind Coco provided. Most people who booked rooms were looking for technicians for overnight services. This massage service was managed by Shawn, and all the girls followed Shawn's arrangements and deployments.
Tiger told me that my job was relatively relaxed, starting work at 1 PM and finishing at 9 PM.
The front desk and waitstaff handled room bookings; my job was to deal with matters the waitstaff couldn't handle and to inspect the cleanliness of the guest rooms on a daily basis.
After chatting with Tiger for a while, he looked at me and smiled:
"John, you haven't eaten yet, have you? Normally, I should treat you to a welcome dinner since it's your first day out, but unfortunately, I have something to do later."
As he spoke, he opened a drawer, took out a stack of hundred-dollar bills, and threw them at me:
"Go out and grab something to eat first, then buy a phone, and do what you want with the rest."
I stood there, not knowing what to do:
"Tiger, I haven't started work yet, how can I take your money?"
"Take it, consider it a token of my appreciation. Work hard in the future!"
I didn't refuse anymore, as I was indeed short on money. I picked up the stack of money and knew it was exactly three thousand.
"Damn, Tiger is really generous, this is almost a month's salary for me!"
"Little brother, tomorrow morning, you and Shawn will go rent a place. If you have any difficulties, just tell Tiger. I still have some influence in the northern part of Memphis," Tiger said with pride.
Looking at Tiger's confident face and holding the money in my hand, I felt deeply touched, thinking that following Tiger was the right choice, and that I would definitely have my day.
After thanking Tiger a few times, I left the office. Seeing that it was still early, I put on the clothes Shawn had given me and left the bathhouse.
I had to admit, Shawn knew how to arrange things; the clothes he picked fit me well, especially the jacket, which was much warmer than the one I had when I was released from prison.
After showering and dressingI turned my head and saw a strange man in his thirties with a buzz cut standing behind me, smiling as he looked at me.
"Brother, you're quite generous! Can I borrow a few game tokens to play?" he asked.
I furrowed my brow and said, "Mate, I don't think we know each other."
"Oh, little brother, we can get to know each other by sharing some game tokens. You have so many, you won't be able to use them all!" the man said, reaching for my game tokens without waiting for my consent.
I grabbed his hand firmly and said with displeasure, "Brother, don't go too far!"
The man, seeing that I wasn't giving in, immediately got angry, glaring at me and snorting, "Kid, I'm doing you a favor by asking to borrow your game tokens. Don't be ungrateful! If you make me angry, the consequences will be severe!"
I laughed and said, "Don't bullshit. Even Nomie (a fictional gang leader in this story) got shot!"
Seeing that he hadn't intimidated me, the man lost his temper immediately.
"Damn brat, you're not taking what I'm giving you!" he shouted.
As soon as he finished, he lifted his hand to slap my face!