Reincarnated as a Deadbeat Dad
RDD 133

RDD 133

After dropping the five construction workers off the highway, I sped up and reached the FCIE with a bit of hassle. 

It was rush hour and the road was quite packed with cars and jeeps. Students and workers ended their classes and jobs around this time. 

It was a good thing that FCIE was close to our subdivision so it didn't take a long time for me to get there. 

Just like what happened yesterday, Santiago and Waylen already neat and cleaned the shop. I didn't have to tell them what to do since it was already a standard procedure. 

"Boss!"

Waylen greeted me when I stepped into the shop. 

I paused and looked at him. 

"Waylen, I have the documents of the workers. I wonder if you can take a look and tell me if you know them."

The documents have 2×2 pictures so Waylen can probably recognize them. 

"No problem boss!"

While I'm counting the money we got this time, Waylen started looking at the documents seriously. He can probably read them, right?

Cavite province has a good education system so most people here graduate at least Elementary and Highschool. As for college, perhaps only 1/3s of high school graduates enter college, and an even smaller portion graduate from college. 

Anyway, I believe Waylen can read... I'm kinda an asshole for thinking of that. 

"Haha, reading English is really troublesome. We are Filipinos but all of our legal documents are written in English." 

Waylen joked. It seemed that he didn't like reading English. 

Honestly, I can relate. I was never proficient in English. My grammar, preposition, and reading comprehension were shitty as fuck. I can speak English but it doesn't mean that my grammar and diction are right. 

Can you imagine? The past tense of "go" is "went" and "choose" is "chose". I thought it was all about adding "ed" in the end. Who the fuck made these irregular verbs?

"It's a good thing that I recognized all of them, boss. In my opinion, you should cross this Randy Cruz. I can testify, he is not a good guy." Waylen pointed at the picture. 

"Randy? Isn't he the youngest one out of the five? I remember him, he looks promising and behaves well. I think he's around 24 years old."

I was confused. My impression of Randy Cruz was good. In fact, he is the one I wanted to hire based on appearance and age. 

"That's right boss. He is the youngest but it doesn't mean that he is a nice person. He may look nice but he actually beat his wife."

"What?" I frowned. 

"I'm not lying. I met his wife a few months ago... She had bruises all over her face. I heard that she filed a lawsuit against Randy but the case didn't reach the court for unknown reasons."

"..."

I was speechless. I'm a deadbeat dad and I'm a drunkard bastard but I never reach the point where I hurt my wife or my children. 

Most of the time, I will say hurtful words that might traumatize people... I think I know what is the worst between the two. 

Anyway, I have to cross this Randy Cruz. 

"Furthermore, his NBI clearance is suspiciously clear... He went to jail for five years after stealing a car and injuring a police officer. Everyone in the company knows it."

'Damn.'

I almost hired a dangerous one. As expected, you can't judge the book by its cover. The most naive looking one was actually the dangerous one. 

"One this is clear. This NBI clearance is fake. He probably bought it from a fixer."

Unlike Waylen who was honest about his circumstances and showed his criminal record, this Randy Cruz used a fake one just to convince me. 

"In my opinion, except for Randy Cruz, everyone is all good. Although I recommend Uncle Jim Iglesias. He is a good and hardworking guy. His wife just gave birth to their 8th child so they need bigger income. I heard he worked in a restaurant for three years when he was young."

"I see. Thank you, Waylen. I appreciate your time."

"It's all good boss. I'm doing my best. I don't want troublesome people in the shop, or else the business might get bad."

"Indeed." I nodded and finished my task. 

After taking the money for today, I bid farewell to the two and returned to the house. 

Charlotte was still staying in our house. She was playing with Sophia and Roman. It was a surprise that Roman dropped his Gameboy to play with Charlotte. I guess my son wants to make Charlotte happy. 

Kids didn't linger on bad stuff as long as they have friends they can play with. Right now, Charlotte already forgot that she cried a lot earlier. That's a good thing. 

Penelope smiled at me. I smiled back and gave her the envelope filled with money. 

For us husband and wife, there's no best hobby than counting money. People said that money can't buy happiness, I beg to differ. They just didn't know how important money is. 

"I'll count it later."

"Honey, I'll be going to call Sean and ask him about some stuff. Take care of the kids."

"Hm, return fast."

I walked a few meters away from the noisy kids and dialed my brother's number. 

--Keith? What is it this time? 

Sean answered my call faster than I expected. 

"It's nothing, I just want to talk about Randy Cruz. Bro, do you think I can hire him?"

Even though Waylen is a good guy, there's nothing bad with seeking a second opinion. My brother probably knows about Randy's background. 

-- Who? Randy Cruz? Are you insane? That guy is good at his job but he is a shitty man. 

"Then why did you keep him?"

-- He begged and kneeled in front of the company every day just to get his job back.

"..." 

I didn't know what to say. 

-- Anyway, I don't recommend him. I recommend Old Man Jim instead. He is in his 40s but he is much better than Randy. At least that man can be trusted.

"Thanks, bro."

-- I'll visit your house together with my girlfriend next time. Mari wants to see Penelope and the kids.

Our conversation ended after a few minutes.

Apparently, Waylen was not lying and I feel bad that I didn't trust him. 

"... Maybe I'm still a deadbeat?"

Well, I didn't regret it. This is a business and I have to make sure that it will not fail. Hearing Waylen and Sean's opinions is never bad. At least I know that my first choice to hire is actually a wife-beater. 

"I guess I have to talk to Jim Iglesias alone tomorrow."