Having just turned 18 I decided that I would go to college, which meant taking on a second job to pay for it. What started out as simple lawn cutting and maintenance for a few neighbors turned into more that 20 regular customers, including one who had become my favorite.
While I was trimming someone's lawn, the next door neighbor approached me with a friendly greeting. He was somewhat of a recluse, rarely ever coming out of his house and kept quietly to himself. The neighborhood, once all white, was quickly becoming integrated as Black families moved in, prompting many people to move away due to racist motives. But me and my family welcomed the diversity, often times taking in small children whose parents had to work during the day, Anyway, Carl, the man who approached me, was a good looking elderly man, well dressed, portly, light skinned Black man.
"Hello there!" he greeted me warmly. It was a warm, sunny day so beads of sweat collected on his mostly bald head. His short sleeve button down short was slightly open, revealing a nice furry chest that was mostly gray.
My return greeting sounded more enthusiastic than I intended but I had been checking this man out for awhile trying to figure out a way to get to know him. "Hello sir!" I exclaimed. His cute smile and chubby cheeks just added to the attraction I was feeling for this man.
"Got room for another customer?" he asked.
"Absolutely," I said despite the fact that I was already overbooked and working all hours of the day.
"Sounds good. Name is Carl," he said, extending his hand.
"James here," I said, returning his strong shake. Just then the man whose lawn I was trimming came out, not looking particularly happy. Already generally grumpy, he seemed more upset than normal.
"Hey, I'm not paying you to stand around and talk!" Mike shouted, not bothering to acknowledge his neighbor. Mike was an elderly white guy, one of many who was unhappy about the rapid integration of the neighborhood. Whenever he tried to voice his displeasure over it, I would disagree with him which thankfully ended the conversation. I assumed he would also be moving soon.
"Stop by when you're done," said Carl, not paying any attention to grumpy Mike. As he turned to walk away, he gripped my shoulder and smiled. In a hurry to continue the connection with Mike, I hurriedly finished the job and knocked on Mike's door.
He handed me my money, the closed the door without saying anything. While I didn't care for him personally he did pay well and showed appreciation for my work. And his wife, Nancy, was an adorable person who often sent baked goods home with me.
When I knocked on Carl's door, he soon answered, telling me to come in. His place was very clean and orderly with pictures of his family throughout, indicating he was at once married and most likely had children and grandchildren. While we didn't get into family life, or much personal detail at all, we did talk about the changing neighborhood an how some people, like Mike, were not taking it well. His attitude was to take the high road and got into the religious aspect of how God loves all people. That's when I found out that he was a retired pastor.
He went on to explain that his lawn mower was not working and wanted me to take care of his lawn until he got it working again, and that he would pay me the going rate. Seeing how much I was attracted to him I probably would have done it for free.
As week after week passed I was becoming more disappointed that he didn't seem to want anything from me, except his lawn cut. We would often talk which is how I got the lowdown on his personal life. He was married for over thirty years when his wife died, had five children and several grandchildren.
Then one day everything changed. Out of curiosity I went into his garage to look at his lawn mower to see what was wrong with it, only to discover the spark plug was unscrewed just enough to make it not start which seemed intentional. When I told him I found out what was wrong, the awkwardness was apparent.
"Oh, I had no idea," he stammered, looking as if he had been caught doing something wrong. When I screwed it all the way in, it started right away.
"Well," I said proudly. "Looks like you won't be needing me anymore. Save you some money," I said, hoping to get a response from Carl that would disagree.
"Well thanks James," he said, inspecting his lawn mower. At this point I figured that maybe he did not unscrew the plug on purpose and that maybe it just worked itself out over time. He seemed genuinely perplexed. "Appreciate it," he said, sounding dejected.
"No problem. Want me to go ahead and cut it today?" I asked.
"Yeah, do that for me. Although it is really hot out."
"That's ok Carl, for you I'll do whatever you need." While I meant to flirt, I wasn't sure if that would be taken the same way I intended.
"Alright James, I'll let you get to work," said Carl, grabbing my shoulder and giving it a squeeze as he turned to walk away. "Go ahead and use my mower, get the rust out," he said as he left the coolness of the garage. "Damn it's hot out here," he said as he waked away.
The temperature was already over one hundred degrees which gave me the opportunity to flirt one last time. Thinking this would be the last time I would provide Carl lawn care services, I had one more chance to see if he had any sexual interest in me. I took off my shirt and started his mower, hoping he would see. While my body wasn't buff, I had a solid, thick build that many guys seemed to like.
While working in the heat I checked out the windows several times and did see the the curtains moved, indicating that he was watching me. By the time I finished I was covered with sweat. As I was cleaning his mower, he came out with a glass of water. What I thought the normal conversation would follow, Carl offered a different idea.
"Why don't you come in and take a cool shower, looks like you could use it," he said, handing me the water. I found it curious that he knew I lived just down the street and that I could go home and shower. But I took it as a sign that he was trying to set the sage for something else.
I hesitated, knowing the decision I made would most likely propel us to a relationship I had been hoping for. "Yeah sure," I said, at a loss for more words.
We quietly went inside and he showed me the where the clean towels were, then turned on the shower. "I'll let you decide how cool you want it," he said, testing the water. He then left the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. He had a wide variety of soaps and shampoos that I used to clean myself off, taking my time in hopes that it would send him a message that I was waiting for him.
