A hot August Friday afternoon and the street festival was just getting underway. Vin glanced down the long street toward the intersection another block away where rides and arcade games were just starting to hum into life. He muttered to himself under his breath. Having to mow Nettie's lawn today. Not only the hottest day of the year, but the opening day of the Maplewood Avenue Festival. Still, he mowed her lawn every Friday and by God, he'd mow it again today.
Nettie's house was half a block down the street from the corner apartment building Vin lived in. It was an old neighborhood, still decent though, with a mix of races and cultures, and the last weekend of every August since forever was the street festival. This was the first year Vin lived in the neighborhood, the first year he would go to the festival, and he was determined not to miss a minute of it.
Sweating just standing still, he unbuttoned his shirt and dropped it off his shoulders, letting it drag out of the waist of his jeans. He gave a few hard tugs on the rope pull of the old gas mower and it convulsed to life. A few more mutters under his breath at the bad timing of having to mow today, and Vin began to mow her lawn. Nettie came onto the porch after awhile and watched him work. She owned an old house on an old block, and not much lawn came with it. A half dozen laps back and forth and he was nearly done. She walked down to him to get his attention.
"Don't forget Mrs. Millette's lawn," she shouted over the din. "I always mow her lawn too."
Vin nodded and she went back into her house.
"No you don't," he said to himself, though. "I always do..."
People flocked down the shaded avenue, on their way to the games and food tents. Vin paid them no mind, unless their eyes met and they'd nod and smile a hello. No conversation could be held over the roar of the mower. Twenty minutes tops and he'd finished both lawns. He cut the engine, much to the relief of his ears.
"Hi, Vin," sounded dully over the ringing.
"Hey, Maria..." Vin smiled when he saw her. She was a sweet girl, fourteen maybe, she lived down the hall from him with her parents and little brothers. "Going to the fair?"
"Un hunh..." Her eyes swept the sidewalk in front of her, a slight blush on her features. She wore baggy clothes, jeans and an oversized t-shirt, she usually did, Vin thought to hide the fact that she was growing up. She was such a shy child, he always liked to see how big of a smile he could get out of her.
"Well, you meet me by the ice cream booth in an hour, and I'll buy you a Mexican sundae, okay?"
"Okay..." She smiled up at him sweetly and hugged her small brown paper bag a little closer before heading on to her home.
"Okay." Vin smiled back. He watched her a few more moments, making sure she got to the doorway of the apartment building, before turning back to the task of stowing the old mower back into the even older storage shed in Nettie's backyard. He'd only gotten as far as the picket fence gate strung between the two houses, tugging his shirt back on, when a sharp cry caught his attention.
"Stop it! Get away from me!" It was Maria's voice, in distress, and Vin was down the block in an instant. Maria had fallen, or been pushed, and sat nearly lying flat on the old tile threshold of the apartment building. Three boys stood above her, older teenagers, laughing at the girl and kicking at the contents that had dropped out of her bag - tampons.
"Guess you're a woman now, hunh?" One boy said. The others laughed. "Guess you know what that means..."
"Get away from me!" Maria was close to tears, trying to crawl away backwards, but she was blocked by the closed door. The neck of her t-shirt sagged as though it had been pulled on, and her eyes were wide with panic. Vin didn't recognize the teenagers and he shoved them out of the way as soon as he touched them.
"Get away from her!" he snarled, shoving them away to stand between them and the girl. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Two of the teenagers were taller than Vin, and the third outweighed him.
"We're just having a little fun - what's it to you?" The tallest of the three snapped back. "Just trying to tell her she's got a little magic going on there, shouldn't hide it from the rest of us..."
"Shut up!" Maria yelled, even closer to crying, bundling the neck of her t-shirt closed with one hand. Without turning around to her, Vin said calmly:
"Maria, get up and go inside. Go to your Mom. Have her call the police. Go on honey, it's all right."
The three boys hooted when he called her 'honey' and Vin stared them down. There were police officers just a block away at the festival. He knew it and they knew it.
"C'mon, let's go," the leader finally said. One of them spat at Vin's feet and flipped him a crude gesture as they walked away. But they left. Maria hadn't moved and Vin finally turned to her, crouching next to her.
"Are you okay? Did they hurt you?"
In answer Maria threw her arms around him, crying now in earnest.
"They - they - t-t-t-t-ried to t-t-t-t-ouch m-m-m-m-m-e..."
"Okay, okay, shh honey, it's okay." Vin gathered her into an embrace. "Shh, shh... come on, let's go get your Mom..."
The police came and took a statement, got descriptions and said they'd keep an eye out at the festival for the toughs. Maria took to her room and tearfully insisted she'd never go outside again. Vin promised Maria he'd bring her back ice cream, and told her mother he'd stop by Dr. Hyde's apartment and ask him to come up. The doctor was a few months past retirement but was more than willing to help out wherever necessary, with anyone in the building. With that all accomplished, Vin went back to finally finish putting away Nettie's lawnmower. She was standing on the porch again.
"There you are. I thought you'd abandoned me for fried dough," she teased.
"Naah, Maria had a little problem. Some boys harassing her. I chased them away and got her back to her Mom... poor kid, she hardly knows how to handle decent attention."
"Is she all right?" Nettie was instantly concerned.
"Shook up, I told her I'd bring her ice cream, said she wasn't going to the fair. Maybe tomorrow I can coax her out." He tucked in his shirt as he talked. "She's a good kid, I hate to see her scared like that...well, I'm going to park this baby..." He indicated the lawn mower. "Then I'll take a shower and meet you at the fair. All right?"
"Okay Vin, I'll meet you at the cotton candy."
He grinned at her. "First one's on me."
Vin stopped at Maria's apartment, she was sleeping. Dr. Hyde had checked on her and other than being frightened, she was okay. Vin promised to check back later, to see if she was awake for ice cream, then he headed up the stairs to his own apartment. He stripped off his clothes in his bedroom and pulled on his bathrobe to head to the shower. He felt good. He was worried about Maria but she'd be okay, he'd make sure of it. He'd mowed Nettie's lawn - and Mrs. Millette's. Work was still two blessedly long days away and he was a few scant minutes away from the street festival and cotton candy. He felt good.
The old pipes complainingly offered up the hot water and Vin didn't hear the soft creak of his apartment door being jimmied open and softly closed again.
When Vin didn't make it to the fair, Nettie figured he'd been called away to work. It happened a lot. Later, after a few hours at the fair, she stopped by Vin's apartment on her way home. She rang the doorbell, but he didn't answer. Working late on his night off. She headed home, reminding herself to call him in the morning and invite him for breakfast.
Vin heard the doorbell. He knew it meant somebody was trying to get in touch with him, but he couldn't remember what he was supposed to do about it. Huddled in a corner of his bathroom, with his robe on inside out, he waited for the pain and nausea to go away so that he could take another shower and try to pull the fractures of his life back together.
to be continued