Let me start by telling you that since I've been home I've worked pretty low stress jobs. In fact the highest stress job I've had in the last 3 years has been an on location "Wine Expert" which was a breeze. About 3 months ago I gave that job up to learn a trade. So, I started Floor installation, tile, laminate and all the good stuff in between. I was working as an apprentance and was a natural at it, therefore I loved what I was doing for the first time since I was in the military. Around the same time this happened my Mother called and told me she was about to lose her house. I gave up whatever savings I had, even selling my car and buying a junker to help her out. Because of that I was put in a spot where this job needed to work out for me. Three weeks ago I had a floor to do about an hour from my house, in my junker I drove to the job(it was a simple one day job) and on my way I swerved off of the road to avoid two cars that collided. While doing this I messed up my suspension, busted a CV joint and flattened a tire. With a spare however, the car still drove so I continued on to work. When I got there I showed to the guy I was working for what had happened and explained that the week of pay that he already owed me I was going to need to fix my car. He pays me off the books so he usually just pulls the money out of the ATM when pay time arrives. He told me that tomorrow would be better because he needed a check to clear.
I got home later that night with my busted car and no money with the expectation that I had now 2 weeks worth of pay heading my way. That was 3 weeks ago and my boss won't answer any of my calls, to his house line or cell phone. I have no car and no money at this point and it's hard to find a job with no car in Palm Beach county. The nearest bus stop is 9 miles away and starting Tomorrow that will be my only hope to get out of this mess. My question is this: Do I have any recourse since I was being paid off the books? Or am I just completely screwed? I can't even go grocery shopping for me and my 8 year old. Things are getting bad, it's one thing to lose a job but when that job has claimed your only source of transportation then well, I don't know anymore. I'm loosing it here folks and any advice is welcome.