Brad came home from college early that afternoon. His finals were finally over. He attended the local community college and still lived at home. As the late May sun beat down on his shoulders, he looked mournfully at his lawn. It needed to be mowed again, and trash pick-up day was tomorrow.
He checked the empty mailbox before inserting his house-key into the lock for the front door. The first thing he saw was his cat, Ania, sprawled across the living room floor soaking in the sun coming in through the window. Brad threw down his bookbag by the front door, scaring Ania out of her afternoon nap.
"Sorry, Kitten. Didn't mean to wake you."
Brad slogged his way to the kitchen. He was already feeling low. His first year of college was finally over. He should be celebrating now, but he felt unsure about that last exam. Unfortunately, it just looked like he had more work to do. Sure enough, as if to verify his dismay, his mother left him a note telling him to mow the lawn. He crumpled up the note and tossed it over his shoulder.
A jump of movement behind him told him that he just hit Ania with the wad of paper. He turned around and saw her running away from him towards the laundry room. Probably on the way to use the litter box.
Brad made his way upstairs and changed into his lawn mowing clothes. He still hadn't washed them since the last time he mowed the lawn two weeks ago. The shirt was even a little damp from his old sweat.
"Nasty."
He took a sniff and the clothes only smelled like grass.
"Good enough."
Brad put on his old jeans from high school. There were large tears in both knees and the inner thighs were wearing thin. Next came the "Out of Body. Back in 5 minutes" T-shirt that was still damp from the last mowing. He didn't bother to tuck in the shirt. No point in looking respectable while mowing the lawn. Finally came the nastiest sneakers that ever existed. They smelled exactly as they looked; beaten and dirty with a green shading on the lower half.
His lawn-mowing attire finally assembled, Brad made his way downstairs and filled up a large cup with tap water from the kitchen sink. With the heat and humidity being as harsh as it had been over the past few days, he knew that this was going to be a bitch.
Brad exited through the garage so he could pull out his mower. He unscrewed the gas cap and poured in some of the gasoline from the gas can next to the mower. Yet again he misjudged the top of the tank and overflowed the gas.
"God damnit!"
He used his shirt to wipe up the excess gasoline and clean the threads of the screw top for the mower.
That unpleasantness out of the way, Brad finally began to mow the lawn. He hated living on the corner of his street. Just more lawn to mow. The tedious task usually took about ninety minutes to complete. Up and down, up and down. Every now and then the monotony broken up by a tree or a bush in the middle of the lawn.
His mind wandered. He was still a virgin. He was never that popular in high school and didn't have any girlfriends. But boy, did he dream about the girls. There was one girl in college he had almost asked out. He could never find the courage to do it, but he really did consider it. She had the softest brown eyes and a smile that could just melt your heart. She had even spoken to Brad once. She had asked him if he had the notes from the last class. The best thing about her though, was her name. Ania. Just like his cat. He thought that must have been fate slapping him in the face.
Brad finished off the front of his yard and went to work on the other side that was exposed to the street. A car passed by and he was glad that the mower was between his pants and the driver. It wouldn't do to have the neighbors staring at the pitched tent that had sprung from his crotch.
As he mowed along the side of his house he continued to think about Ania. Did he screw up? Should he have asked her out? He wasn't sure how to do it. He really didn't know her that well. Sure, she was really pretty, and seemed like a nice girl. But he didn't know what she thought of him. What if she already had a boyfriend? So many questions hit him over and over again. His erection subsided as he pondered all of the reasons why he shouldn't have asked her out. Before he knew it he was done with the side yard.
"Now for the other side." He pushed the mower to the garage and drank half of his water. The sun was beating down hard and his shirt was now heavily beaded with sweat. He then went to work on the other side of his yard. By the time he finished that side his shirt was completely drenched. As he emptied his bag into the trashcan he took off his shirt and threw it into the driveway. It made a wet slapping sound as it smacked into the pavement. He was about twenty pounds overweight, but not too fat. Nobody would care anyway. The kids were still at school and the parents were at work. Besides, he only had to do the back yard and nobody on the street could see him there.
The backyard was oddly shaped due to his patio, but it didn't take that long to mow. As he headed into the last little patch of grass he saw Mrs. Trotter come outside of her house. The Trotters lived next door. Mr. Trotter did something with construction. Mrs. Trotter stayed at home. They had two daughters that were in high school. Brad knew one of them. Karen was a real bitch. She was probably the hottest girl Brad had ever seen, but she really was an ugly person; shallow and spiteful. Brad didn't know the other daughter that well. Just that she was a freshman.
It was a shame, but Brad didn't know his neighbors too well. Karen never liked him and he never talked to anybody else. Just an occasional "Hello" whenever he passed by Mr. or Mrs. Trotter on the street.
Mrs. Trotter was in her early forties; still fairly attractive by many standards. She had short straw colored hair and a decent figure. A few wrinkles around the eyes, but you wouldn't notice them due to the fact that she always had a great big smile. It's hard to ignore a great smile when you see one. At the moment she was wearing a one piece black bathing suit, with red shorts. Her hair was tied up in a simple knot behind her head. She was holding a watering can with a giant daisy painted on the side.
"Hello." She waved at him.
Brad caught the greeting and waved back. Now he was embarrassed by the fact that he wasn't wearing his shirt and was dripping with sweat. He finished off the last bit of grass and turned off the mower.
"Whew. It's a hot one today, isn't it?"
Brad was caught off guard. He wasn't expecting a full on conversation. "Yeah. Um. I had to get this done. So..." Brad trailed off uncomfortably. He really wasn't good at conversations.
"You did a good job there." She gave him that winning smile and he smiled back. "Well, can I ask a big strong guy like you to do me a favor?"
