Lawn mowing wasn’t the only job I provided. I was a jack of all trades in the neighborhood. I cleaned gutters, trimmed bushes, pulled weeds – if you were paying I would do it. On this particular day, I was doing Mrs. Tillman’s hedges, something I did every other Tuesday. She lived right next door to Ian, which sucked for him, because she would find any opportunity to talk to him. It was pretty pathetic watching her attempt at flirting.

“You’re mail got mixed with mine, Ian.” Or my personal favorite: “I made too much ___ (usually something generic like mac and cheese) so I thought I’d stop by and drop some off.”

Mrs. Tillman was working overtime to impress Ian, and he wasn’t rejecting her. But then again, he wasn’t really accepting her advances either. He seemed indifferent. Well, on this particular day, Mrs. Tillman had pulled her most famous line of them all. The line she used to reel all the men in.

“You must get pretty lonely in that house of yours and I’m sure you haven’t had a home cooked meal in a while. Why don’t you come on over to my place and have dinner with me?”

The look on Ian’s face when she had invited him over for dinner was priceless. He was too nice for his own good. I felt bad for the guy, but I was eager to see how he’d get out of that mess.

“Well, Mrs. Tillman, you see I can’t – I can’t because well I have to -,” he began stumbling across his words. Oh great. He was one of those guys. I cut in quickly. If he took any longer, she’d definitely suspect something.

“But Ian you promised you’d help me with this summer paper I have to write for college,” I interjected, quickly saying the first thing that came to mind.

“Oh,” Mrs. Tillman replied waving her hand. “If you’re helping Ryder with something, then we can just do it another time.”

“Oh yeah I almost forgot,” Ian said slapping himself in the forehead. “Short term memory! I’ll see you later, Mrs. Tillman.”

She nodded, waving, as she strutted into her house. Ian sighed with relief as soon as she was out of sight. God, he needed to learn how to be a jerk to survive her advances.

“Thanks,” Ian replied, running his fingers through his hair. “I owe you one.”

“No problem,” I huffed. “Mrs. Tillman can be a bit of a shark when it comes to men. She smells fresh meat and she pursues until another fresh piece comes in. Thank god, she’s never tried anything on me. I dread the day I turn 21.”

“Ha,” Ian chuckled, that deep throaty laugh of his echoing through his mouth. His hazel green eyes twinkling as his almost perfect teeth stretched across his face. I couldn’t help but notice. It was pretty obvious why he had caught the attention of almost every woman within a ten mile radius. 

“Well, I should get back to unpacking,” Ian sighed. “I have a ton left believe it or not.”

“If you need help, I’m not busy and I won’t even charge you,” I offered without a second thought. “I’m feeling generous today.”

“Oh really,” he replied raising an eyebrow at me. “Well I mean if you have nothing else to do. The help would be greatly appreciated.”

“I’ll be over in a minute,” I nodded, glancing at the last hedge I had to do. Ian nodded, as he walked back over to his house. There was something about Ian that made me want to help him. Maybe it was his demeanor or the fact that he had no one else to help him, I didn’t really know. He was like the new kid in school, and I was showing him the ropes.

After I finished up on Mrs. Tillman’s hedges, I proceeded into her house to get paid. I walked inside, only to hear her talking loudly on the phone to Mrs. Sampson.

“He’s playing hard to get definitely,” Mrs. Tillman said her voice echoing through the hallway. “I just don’t understand him. I mean I’m an attractive woman, right? I know. But he – yeah, exactly. He could be a widow or a divorcee. No. He’s way too attractive to be queer. He doesn’t even act like a queer, anyways.”

I bit my lip – queer. Of course, any man that won’t go for Mrs. Tillman has to be queer. I wish I could deflate that huge ego of hers. She thinks she’s the hottest woman on the street or something. I cleared my throat, causing Mrs. Tillman to turn around. She continued her phone conversation, handing me a fifty dollar bill, then shooing me off home. I rolled my eyes, as she continued.

“Yes! I mean he ditched me to help Ryder Anderson – Yeah, Erin’s son. Can you believe it?”

I slammed the door behind me, casually walking over to Ian’s house. His door was open. I closed it shut behind me, finding Ian sitting on the floor in his living room, opening up boxes. He glanced up as soon as I walked in. My heart skipped a beat, when his eyes met mine, the words of Mrs. Tillman echoing through my head. Could Ian be a homosexual? If he was, then the neighbors would have a fit. Homosexuality wasn’t common around here.

“So just grab any box and start unpacking,” Ian replied as I pulled a box out, opening it wide. Ian and I began talking as we unpacked about where he came from, why he moved, etc. Apparently, he grew up in New York City and moved to our small suburban neighborhood because the city was too loud. He needed a quiet place to work on his next novel and what better place than Pear Street. He didn’t mention anything about being divorced or widowed, so I figured that he was neither of those things. I talked to him about state and swimming. But compared to his life, mine was pretty mundane.

“What college did you go to?” I asked curiously.

“I graduated with a degree in creative writing from NYU,” he replied stacking his collection of VHS tapes in the cabinet. “What are you studying at state if I may ask?”

“Economics,” I sighed.

“Interesting,” Ian nodded. “I would have never guessed considering your scheming yard business.”

“Scheming?” I said feigning shock. “I do quality work.”

“Eh,” Ian laughed as I wrapped his box back up. I stood up, dusting myself off, as if I was going to walk out. Ian folded his arms across his chest, staring me down with a raised eyebrow.

“You sir, can unpack by yourself,” I retorted, glancing out the window. It was already dark outside and I was certain my mother was wondering where I was. Ian stood up from the ground, resting an arm on my shoulder.

“You should be getting home, Ryder,” Ian suggested.

“Yeah, I’m starving and your fridge was empty,” I smirked.

“Tell me about it,” he replied. “I’ve worked up quite the appetite.”

“Well, I’m sure Mrs. Tillman’s offer still stands,” I snorted jokingly. Ian shook his head at the thought. He must really not like Mrs. Tillman, but I mean I don’t really blame him. She wasn’t at the top of my list either.

“I wouldn’t want to lead her on,” he admitted.

“You know she thinks you’re queer because you rejected her, I heard her say so to Mrs. Sampson,” I groaned. “These woman sure love to gossip.”

“And if I was,” Ian muttered almost uncaringly. “What business would it be of hers?”

I paused for a moment. Had he just admitted to me that he was gay? I chewed on my lower lip. I didn’t really know what to say to that. My parents rarely talked about homosexuality and if they did it was usually in a negative context. I never met anyone so open about it. I was kind of in shock, so I blurted out the first thing that came into my mind.

“Yeah,” I said quickly walking out of his front door awkwardly. I had never met a homosexual person before. I mean sure I knew they existed but for one to live in my narrow-minded conservative neighborhood just completely blew my mind. If anyone found out about Ian, I was certain they’d run him out of the neighborhood. I wanted to protect Ian desperately. I don’t know why but it just seemed like the right thing to do.