This story is about a small black man and a large white woman. Although the young man is only 16 when the story begins, he is simply working for her by mowing her lawn and not engaging in any sexual activity. There is no sex until the young man turns 18 years old.
Ricky had lived on his own in the streets for several years. He never knew his father, and his mother died of a drug overdose when he was in the eighth grade. He dropped out of school and managed to survive on his own living in the streets. He stole what he needed and worked whenever he could. As a result of genetics, malnutrition and sanitary conditions, Ricky grew to be only four feet five inches tall and he weighed just 96 pounds. His skin was coal black, his ribs were visible when he took off his shirt, and his legs looked like sticks.
When Ricky was 16, he was attempting to break in to a house on a tree-lined street in an upscale neighborhood. The home's owner caught him, and after seeing his tattered clothing, offered him a meal and a job mowing her lawn. Since Ricky had never done that type of work before, it took him more than three hours to mow her lawn the first time. When he finished, she brought some lemonade out on the porch and paid him.
The woman was big, although not fat. She was well proportioned, and she had short dark hair and a pretty face. She was wearing a pair of mid-thigh length shorts and a tank top.
She motioned him to a chair and poured him a glass of lemonade. She looked at his scruffy clothing and his emaciated frame and asked, "Do you live around here, kid?"
"I ain't no kid, lady. My name is Ricky. OK?"
She smiled at his defensive response. "I didn't mean any offense, Ricky. I haven't seen you around here. Where do you live?"
He hesitated for a minute and then said, "I live way over there on Vine Street."
"Well Ricky, If you're interested, I want you to keep mowing my lawn for me. And I'll have other work for you, like trimming my hedges and maybe some painting. Are you interested?"
"Heck yeah!" Ricky said.
"All right then. Come back Tuesday after school and I'll give you a list of jobs that I want done. You can work on them whenever you want and I'll pay you each week on Saturday. Deal?"
"Deal," he said.
Ricky worked at Simone's house a couple times a week as the odd friendship bloomed. She would frequently meet him on the front porch with lemonade where they would sit and talk. Over time, she told him that her parents owned 16 fast food restaurants and a dozen laundromats in the area. They had been killed in a car accident a couple years before. When she took over the company, it had grown to 28 restaurants and 15 laundromats. "Wow, you must really be rich," he said several times.
He discovered that her name was Simone and she was five foot nine inches tall, and had no brothers or sisters.
Over time, she discovered that Ricky's father was unknown to him and that his mother had been a prostitute and heavy drug user. He also admitted to dropping out of school and living on his own for the past two years. He made her promise not to turn him in to the social workers.
Simone offered to pay for an apartment for him near his school, but he turned her down. He wished he lived in a house like this instead of in a back alley downtown.
Ricky continued to work around Simone's house doing odd jobs and mowing the grass. Simone made sure he was properly fed and bought clothes for him so he could get rid of the rags that he wore when they first met. She also researched and helped him to get a social security card and birth certificate, and promised that on his 18
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birthday, she would give him a permanent job in her company.
After each time that Ricky worked, Simone would pack him a goody bag of sandwiches, apples and cookies and then offer to drive him home. But he never took her up on a ride home since he was afraid, she would discover that he actually lived on the streets and alleys.
Over the next two years, this wealthy, tall white woman and this dirt-poor, short black boy became good friends. They shared stories about growing up and what they hoped to be doing in ten years. And, true to her word, on Ricky's 18
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