Mitch walked over to his neighbor’s home the next morning.
He needed some chores done in the yard and knew that
sometimes Brandon and Sean liked to earn extra money.
He knocked on the door. The younger brother opened the door.
“Hi,” Mitch said. “Would you want to earn some quick cash,
Sean?”
“Maybe,” Sean answered. He yawned and stretched. Mitch saw
the glint of medal at the kid’s chest. The amulet looked familiar.
“Well, I have some things for you to do. I need the back yard
mowed.” Mitch, his eyes still fastened on the amulet, shuddered.
The amulet, for some reason, gave the young man the creeps.
“Ok,” Sean said.
Thinking fast, Mitch realized he hadn’t walked his dog. “And take
Reg for a walk, ok?” Mitch said.
Sean shrugged. “Sure thing.”
Mitch shoved twenty bucks into the kids hands. “Thanks, kid.”
Sean took the money, but he bristled at being called kid. He
really didn’t care much for his next-door neighbor. But, if the guy
wanted to shell out cash to have some easy chores done, Sean
really didn’t have that much of a problem with him.
Later, Sean arrived next door. He saw the waiting mower, but
saw poor Reg tied up next to a ramshackle dog house. Maybe he
should walk the dog before mowing the yard.
Reg looked happy to see Sean. The mutt’s tail wagged.
Sean thought about how much poor Reg got ignored. Mitch didn’t
deserve a dog if he could not even be bothered to walk him a few
times a day.
As he untied Reg, Sean looked toward the old, heavy mower. He
didn’t look forward to that job. His regard for Mitch fell even lower.
A big, grown man like Mitch, hiring out a skinny kid to mow his
yard. Maybe Mitch deserved to know what it felt to be a
100-pound-kid pushing that heavy mower back and forth across
the yard.