Beautiful writing, J.R. You've captured the universal pain, shame and rage at being fired. Your character is struggling to make sense of his sudden powerlessness, refusing to accept his status as a mere pawn.

I like the statement "That born again son of a bitch" followed by the closing line "He was probably on speakerphone with Pastor Mike right now." This lets us know that the main character has some sort of religious connection to Kyle. This is intriguing and leaves me wanting to know more.

I also like the character descriptor "Never in my history of terminations..." I want to know more. How many times has he been fired? Why? What's going on with this character?

Nice touch with laundering the salsa stains out of the apron as if scrubbing bloody clothes from a murder scene.

Compelling opening to your story. Looking forward to reading more.