Going Down by Rachel Kramer Bussel

Author:Rachel Kramer Bussel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cleis Press
Published: 2012-04-10T00:00:00+00:00

TRIMMING

Tenille Brown

Jefferson was minding his business the best way he knew how, driving his old, gray truck slowly through the quiet neighborhood, looking for work.

He didn’t get much of it nowadays, what with the economy and everybody determined to be his own aspiring landscape artist. Just a few yards here and there when somebody’s riding mower was in the shop or when a husband was out of town. Then there were his regulars, the old ladies in the big hats who he only charged thirty dollars or so because his mother had raised him right.

He saw Daphne during his rounds. He wasn’t looking, really, and he might have missed her altogether had she not been making such a racket.

He could tell just by looking that she hadn’t touched a lawn mower a day in her life. She was tugging that poor line as far as it would go and it popped back in place without so much as a choke.

It was such a scene that he had to pull his truck over to watch.

It was a good ten minutes before Daphne noticed him and by then she was washed down in sweat.

The sleeves on her button-down shirt were rolled up to her shoulders. Her tiny arms glistened in the sun. Oblivious to his watching, she wiped her face with the tail of her shirt, exposing a flat, sweaty stomach, the color of pecan.

“If you’re that worn out now, I’d hate to see you when you actually get the thing started.”

He had spoken before he realized it, had gotten out of the truck and walked over to her without thinking about it.

Daphne dropped her shirt and placed her hands on her hips.

“Don’t you have anything better to do than ride around and watch women? Are you a pervert or something?”

“No, I’m not a pervert,” Jefferson said. “I’m a yard man, and it looks to me like you could use a little help with yours.”

She was going to protest, Jefferson could tell, feisty little thing that she was. She had her hands on her full hips and her little lips perched into a scowl, but Jefferson bent over slightly and tugged on the lawn mower’s chord.

It started right away.

Daphne rolled her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said.

“No problem. You got it from here?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

And she took the handlebar from him and before she could move an inch, the lawn mower shut back off.

Jefferson shook his head and chuckled.

He pointed. “See this lever here? You want to hold that down at the same time you’re gripping the handlebar. That’s what keeps it running.”

“Oh,” she said.

Jefferson knew the answer, but he asked anyway. “You ever done this before?”

After only a slight hesitation, Daphne said, “No. But it can’t be too hard. Up, down, back and forth. Easy.”

“Won’t you let me do it?” Jefferson asked.

“I said I can get it. It’s not like I need the help. I got a man and he usually does it, but he’s not here right now.”

It was true that

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.