Immortal Drifter

The grass wasn’t cut yet but appeared healthier than it was before, the shingles and the holes in the roof were fixed, more flowers were popping up around the porch that had a fresh coat of white paint on it but the faded red paint on the house remained, keeping the pale pink color. In the backyard, there was a white private fence put up around the yard with small shrubs planted around the fence. A few windows had been replaced as well as the front door of the house.

Christopher was astonished with the work that had progressed over the past few days of the new residents moving in. He kept throwing glances at the house as he was currently sweating like a pig, doing the chore that got him grounded the other day that his mother ranted about: mowing the lawn. To keep from burning under the blazing sun’s rays, he dressed in a pair of his tight blue jeans and a leopard print hoodie with the hood up to protect his hair. His mother suggested that he wear sun-block instead of sweating to death from wearing such hot clothes during the middle of the day but he refused to put any oily substances on that would cause blemishes to his face and skin.

He was almost finished with the lawn when his father came out on the front porch of his house with two glasses in his hands. The adult nodded towards the lawn-mower and then sat down in one of the rocking chairs on the porch. Christopher let go of the handlebar of the mower and let the engine die as he stepped over the clumps of freshly cut grass and made his way up the steps and sat down beside his father.

“I thought you could use a break and a drink,” he smiled at his son before handing the cold glass to him.

“Thanks,” his son replied, gulping down the cold liquid. A drink his father was famous for making, sweet lemonade. “Is mom still pissed at me?”

His father gave him a stern look at the swear word but answered, “She hasn’t said much about it since she saw the new neighbor at the store. That old man is the only thing she’s been talking about.” He took a sip of his own glass and continued, “Apparently he’s a butler and his mistress is the one that bought the house.”

“His mistress? He’s a guy cheating on his wife?” Christopher questioned, pulling off his large sunglasses to reveal one ice blue eye and one metallic green eye. A sight that made his father’s eyebrow quirk upwards at the choice of colors.

His father chuckled, “No, from what your mother said, he’s pretty old-world cultured. Unlike the meaning nowadays, mistress used to mean a single woman that owns a house or owns something.”

“It’s no surprise she’s still single then. No man would want a woman that dresses like she’s going to a Renaissance Fair all the time.”

“I’m not so sure about that, Chris, I’ve seen her around and she’s a very beautiful lady.”

Christopher turned to his father with a sly look on his face and a growing smirk on his face, “‘She’s a very beautiful lady,’ you say, dad? You thinking of leaving mom for the new neighbor?”

His father shook his head at his son’s nonsense and chuckled, “She’s too young for me, son. I’m going on forty-two and she doesn’t look any older than twenty-five.”

“She looks weird for twenty-five then. Most chicks would be in cut-off shorts and tank tops, not dresses that Queen Elizabeth wears. Did mom ever catch either of their names?”

“Well, the lady wasn’t at the store at the time, her butler was doing all the shopping for her and your mom never did catch their names. But we’ll find out later tonight,” he sat back in his chair as he looked out at the yard that looked slightly better now that most of the tall grass was cut.

“Huh? We’ll find out tonight?” Christopher questioned then he slapped his forehead, “Mom invited them over, didn’t she? She’ll probably interrogate them throughout dinner.”

His father nodded, “Yeah, she invited them for dinner and your mom will want you to have a clean face, no rings or contacts for dinner. We can’t scare the new neighbors away.”

Christopher scoffed, “I’ll wear them just for the hell of it, I can’t look as bad as the two guys they had moving furniture. Those two looked like murderers.”

“Your mom probably won’t say much if you do wear your rings and contacts when the guests arrive but try not to be too disrespectful to your mother. She only wants the best for you. And she’s looking out for your future.”

He rolled his eyes, “Sure. My future is made up of booze, women, drugs, and rock so why shouldn’t I start my life out this way?”

“Son, that kind of future is a one-way ticket to hell on a short trip."

"So?" Christopher snapped.

The older man’s eyes narrowed at his son, “Is it too much for parents to want their son to have a better life than rotting away on some bus, going from woman to woman, smoking and drinking your life away? I don’t care about your appearance as much as your mom does but I will put my foot down if it’s something that’s going to cause you harm.”

He scoffed and stood up, taking his last sip of the lemonade, “It’s my life, dad.”

Before his father could say anything else, Christopher slid his sunglasses back on and walked back out into the yard to finish cutting the grass. He looked back at the porch after the lawn-mower started and saw his father walking back into the house. He sighed to himself, he didn’t get why his parents were so against the things he wanted in his future, it was his life, he could do whatever he wanted to and at any given chance, he was going to. Because unlike his two older brothers that had already graduated high school and became just like everyone else around Abbeville, he didn’t want the boring lives that they had.