When the doorbell rang at 6PM, Larry, my 18 year old son, hollered, "I got it," and went flying to the door. That was fine with me since I wasn't expecting anyone and assumed it was for Larry or his sister, Beth.
I looked up to see Brian, Larry's friend and team mate.
"Mom, me and Brian are gonna be in my room, okay?"
"Sure, just don't make a mess or play any violent video games," I replied as they trudged on by. "Hello, Brian," I added when he seemed to ignore me.
"Oh, hi, Mrs. King. Sorry, forgot my manners." He seemed confused and upset, but that's not unusual with teens, so I brushed it off.
An hour later, I yelled to Larry, "Dinner's going to be soon. Is Brian staying?" Meals were often crashed by one or more of their friends, so an extra plate wasn't rare. After a minute, Larry said, "No Mom, he's leaving."
When they came down, Brian still looked dazed. It wasn't like him not to be hungry. Both boys towered over me at 5'4. Each was 6 feet, with Larry the more muscular. They were outfielders for the high school team and were constantly working out.
"Bye, Brian," I shouted and he gave me a perfunctory wave and was gone. This was not like him at all. He was always pleasant and polite, much like his parents who we knew socially.
We sat down for dinner, just the three of us, myself, Larry and Beth. Their father was at a conference out of town. Since kids never give up any information without prodding, I asked, "So, what's up with Brian? Girl problems?" With both being jocks, they had plenty of attention from the ladies.
"Brian? Hah!" Beth chimed in. The guy's got girls lined up. If he wasn't your friend, Larry, I'd be after him, too."
Larry gave her a smirk, then said, "No, just some school stuff. Is anybody gonna finish that meatloaf?" He was already reaching for the plate.
I gave up and went back to minding my own business but later that night, Larry came in as I watched a cooking show.
"Hi, Honey, what's up?" I asked.
"Mom, do you know if Dad is hiring?"
"Your father? He's always looking for good workers. Why?"
"Well, it's Brian. His Mom got laid off and you know that Mr. Riley left them last month, right?"
"What?" This was the first I'd heard of this. "What happened?"
Larry said that Brian didn't say much, just that his parents had fought quite a bit lately, and now his father had moved out.
"I'm so sorry, Larry. That explains why he was so down in the dumps. But, your father has all the office help he needs, so he'd have nothing for Brian's Mom."
"No Mom, for Brian. He's gonna quit the team and get a job."
"Well, he's not going to make much part-time, you know, and Dad usually wants experienced full-timers."
"Oh, okay, just thought I'd ask."
A few days later when my husband got home, I brought up the subject of Brian. It seemed so sad that he'd have to give up baseball and other sports. Bill just shook his head. "The kid could get hurt on the job. It can be dangerous work on construction sites. Sorry."
He drank his martini then said, "Why doesn't he do odd jobs, yard work? He can make some bucks that way." I hadn't thought of that and remembered that our contract was up with our lawn service, who we weren't too thrilled with. I asked Bill what he thought.
"Fine with me, but does he know anything about flower beds and fertilizers? You know how you like your lawn just so."
"I could take over the flowers, let Brian do the heavy lifting. It will give me something to do."
The next morning, I mentioned it to Larry. He said he'd tell Brian.
That afternoon, the doorbell rang and I was home alone. It was Brian.
"Hi, Mrs. King, Larry said you may want some gardening work done?"