Two Unexpected Surprises
So I was scolded by the lawnman Sunday when I called to schedule a yard cleanup. Long...dramatic..pause "yeah, ah, man you guys really let it get too out of hand. It's too much work. I'd even work with you to have it mowed every three weeks." Admittedly, we did let it get a bit out of hand, but he didn't have to make it seem as though I own an acre of land. This little "kiss-mah-ass" yard, as my father would say isn't worth the price. He said he'd try to get to it Monday morning but didn't want to die of "a heat stroke". I thought that a bit dramatic but maybe Black people are more prone to dropping out from heat strokes due to their super-absorbent complexions.
I stressed that I really wanted it cut before next Saturday afternoon due to the party we were having. Monday came. Grass still long. Tuesday. Same deal. Today, I wake up to the sound of weedeaters and lawn mowers. I notice my phone died sometime during the evening but my body woke me sometime after 1pm. I ran downstairs and noticed two strange Asians in the back yard mowing up a storm and weed whacking in figure 8s. I pieced the clues together that the home owners must have received a notice from HOA and took matters into their own hands. I felt terrible. Goddamn James. If he had come when he promised, they wouldn't have had to dispatch their own crew.
So now the yard is lovely for the party for good or bad. I'm just lucky to have such a good Landlord. Now if i allow the front shrubbery to cover the entry door, maybe we can get the bushes trimmed....
* * *
Yesterday the doorbell rang sometime in the late afternoon hours before work. I assumed it was James telling me that he had arrived to rescue the yard. I looked out the window on the door and noticed a long silk robe in black and white pattern. When I opened the door a woman turned slowly to face me and I jumped back a bit startled. She had an old, weathered East Indian face with sunken eyes, black hair that was greying and dark, sunbleached skin. One snaggle tooth dangled from her mouth like a diving board over a long-dried well. "Excuse me." she said laboriously with a peculiar face as she realized she rang the wrong house, "Does an Indian woman live here?" I pointed to next door. "Thank you," she said without smiling and turned slowly to hobble away as though her legs were made of wood or she had the worst case of arthritis.
"Who was that?" Danny asked as I walked in the bathroom and he was tinkering with his hair. "I think that was Mrs. Ganush. That was awfully frightening." I told him what happened. I just hope that the Indian woman she was searching for was the one that lived next door less she'll be back to place a curse on me. "You...shame..me. Now it will be you, who will come begging to me." Shudder....
I stressed that I really wanted it cut before next Saturday afternoon due to the party we were having. Monday came. Grass still long. Tuesday. Same deal. Today, I wake up to the sound of weedeaters and lawn mowers. I notice my phone died sometime during the evening but my body woke me sometime after 1pm. I ran downstairs and noticed two strange Asians in the back yard mowing up a storm and weed whacking in figure 8s. I pieced the clues together that the home owners must have received a notice from HOA and took matters into their own hands. I felt terrible. Goddamn James. If he had come when he promised, they wouldn't have had to dispatch their own crew.
So now the yard is lovely for the party for good or bad. I'm just lucky to have such a good Landlord. Now if i allow the front shrubbery to cover the entry door, maybe we can get the bushes trimmed....
* * *
Yesterday the doorbell rang sometime in the late afternoon hours before work. I assumed it was James telling me that he had arrived to rescue the yard. I looked out the window on the door and noticed a long silk robe in black and white pattern. When I opened the door a woman turned slowly to face me and I jumped back a bit startled. She had an old, weathered East Indian face with sunken eyes, black hair that was greying and dark, sunbleached skin. One snaggle tooth dangled from her mouth like a diving board over a long-dried well. "Excuse me." she said laboriously with a peculiar face as she realized she rang the wrong house, "Does an Indian woman live here?" I pointed to next door. "Thank you," she said without smiling and turned slowly to hobble away as though her legs were made of wood or she had the worst case of arthritis.
"Who was that?" Danny asked as I walked in the bathroom and he was tinkering with his hair. "I think that was Mrs. Ganush. That was awfully frightening." I told him what happened. I just hope that the Indian woman she was searching for was the one that lived next door less she'll be back to place a curse on me. "You...shame..me. Now it will be you, who will come begging to me." Shudder....