I wait for the garage door to rumble down on its tracks and walk into the living room. Jake’s perched on the edge of the couch, leaning his whole body, ducking and bobbing along with his avatar on his game.
“All right, bud, finish up whatever mission you’re running and then shut it down,” I tell him.
“Quest.”
“Huh?”
“It’s a quest, not a mission. And I have to get the spear of light and then meet up with my guild to save the village.” Jake leans sharply to the left and bounces on the cushion before letting out an ear-splitting screech. “Dang it. Now, I have to start all over,” he groans.
“Turn it off and take a break.”
He slides me a side-eye, challenging me, testing to see if I really mean it.
I do, little man. I absolutely do.
“Come on. We’ve got shit to do,” I tell him. “Get your shoes on and come on out front.”
Bronson lifts his head and watches me—I’m sure gauging to see if he’s invited to join in on the adventure. It takes longer than it should for Jake to get his shoes on, and by the time he joins me in the front yard, I have the mower on the edge of the lawn, the gas can on the driveway, and am digging through a tote markedextension cords, finding everything but.
“Do you know where your mom keeps the cords for the trimmer?” I ask as Jake jumps down the steps.
“Um, in the Christmas bucket. What are we doing?”
Christmas bucket. I guess that makes sense, but why the hell wouldn’t she just put it back in with the rest of the extensioncords? God love her, she tries to be organized but falls a little short. At least in the garage stuff. Maybe I should have done a more thorough job when I dug into her garage mess after fixing the bathroom, but things were pretty new with us then. Hell, they’re still new.
“We’re going to mow the lawn, trim the edges. Maybe pull some weeds,” I tell him, pulling the tangled orange extension cord out with a sigh.Why? Why wouldn’t she just wind it up before putting it away?“And we’re going to clean this shit and put it away where it belongs.”
Jake giggles as he grabs a tennis ball from the corner and bounces it against the wall.
“Why don’t you start mowing? I’ll straighten this mess and get to edging.”
The ball whizzes past, and Jake lunges, missing it. He chases it down and jogs back. “I don’t know how,” he says matter-of-factly, slamming the ball against the wall again.
I reach out, pulling the ball from midair, and hit the kid with a look that’s a cross between disbelief and shock. “Say again?”
He shrugs his shoulders and repeats, “I don’t know how. My mom didn’t teach me.”
I toss the ball to him. “Put that away. It’s time for you to learn.”
I go over the basics—gas, oil, spark plug. Show him how to prime the engine and start it. What I don’t show him is the self-propel lever. Sure, it’d be easier, but Jake needs to get the feel of the mower, respect the power, and figure out how to make a straight row. Besides, the extra effort he expends, pushing that thing across the yard, will wear his ass out. That’s something Chloe seems to appreciate. The kid is a bundle of energy.
When I’m satisfied that he’s got it, I get back to untangling the extension cord, keeping an eye on Jake. I finish edging the front about the same time he finishes mowing, and we move tothe back. He’s doing a good enough job, but it’s best if I keep an eye on him.
The mower engine sputters and dies, and Jake’s a sweaty mess with a smile stretching from one side of his face to the other.
“I did it,” he says, looking damn proud of himself.
“You did. Good work. From now on, the job is yours. Every week.”
His eyes go wide, and his mouth falls open. “Every week?”
“Yep. Do it without reminders, and I’ll give you ten bucks.” I should probably clear this with Chloe, but she can’t do everything around here by herself. She needs some help.
“Really?”
“Mmhmm. Working hard is one of the rules of being a gentleman, and when you’re ready to hit the trimmer, I’ll bump you up to fifteen.”
Jake pumps his arm in the air in the goofiest fist pump I’ve ever seen. His gangly legs propel him toward me, and he windmills his arm wide for a high five.
