Odd Jobs
Moments in the continued existence of Duplicate O'Neill
At first, the whole returning to high school schtick had been a blast. He'd been easily absorbed into the social scene and passing classes with flying colors was simple this time around. The shine wore off pretty quickly, though.
He'd taken an interest in a tall, hyper-intelligent air force brat named Sal who sat a few rows away during his physics class. Something in the way she talked at length about math and physics reminded him of a certain major. It didn't help that she was brilliantly blue eyed, cut her blonde hair super short, was equally if not more knowledgeable in astronomy as Jack was, and had her sights set on a career in the air force. If there had been a clone of Carter, Jack swore this girl was it.
Sal had been just as interested in him, as it turned out. Jack had spun a line about "training" together for their air force careers which had set them up for a great deal of physical activity one on one. The whole training and flirting dance lasted about a month until one Friday afternoon. A few laps around the school track ended with a mad dash to the semi-private space behind the bleachers. Jack cringed, remembering exactly how young and innocent Sal suddenly looked. Despite being roughly 15 or so years himself, he still had the mind of a much older man. The idea of touching romantically, let alone making out with a teenager seemed suddenly wildly perverse. He had claimed sudden illness from cafeteria food poisoning and ran off, changing to a school that allowed him to complete his high school education online that evening.
The winter that followed had been incredibly lonely. He'd sped through all the online learning and was set to graduate in the spring and sign up for the air force. When he wasn't trying to get the whole GED thing over with, he'd taken to going on long, snowy runs. The fact that it was so cold in Colorado made it important to bundle up which, Jack realized, made it difficult to recognize him. He'd taken to running by his old haunts at first. Everything seemed the same. He'd been worried that Original Jack would recognize him, but, as it turned out, when their paths had crossed, Original Jack not only stopped his truck to let him cross the street, but rolled down his window and complimented him on his running form, his fortitude for running in the winter weather, and suggested he consider a career in the armed forces.
Bolstered by his success, Jack had changed up his route to check in on his former teammates. At first, everything seemed normal. Daniel and Sam, as usual, were working too much, but then, as February ended and March arrived, things changed. Daniel wasn't home for a long expanse of time and, when he finally was, he was on crutches and seemed to have difficulty moving on them, probably due to other injuries, Jack surmised. He looked like he wasn't sleeping well either. Jack suspected he'd survived some sort of capture and torture, given the haunted look in his eyes. When the winter weather hadn't let up, Jack had taken to popping over at odd hours and shoveling and salting his porch and his walk so the man could get to and from his house more easily. Sometimes, he'd crouch in the bush across the street and watch Daniel to check in on his healing. He was relieved when his friend finally looked back to himself, but his relief at Daniel's recovery was short lived.
No sooner had Daniel been back to business, than Sam seemed to go missing and, when she did surface again with the arrival of spring, she seemed to be injured, too. Given the pinch to her brow, how unsteady she looked on her feet, and her pallor, he suspected a nasty concussion. Not good – her brain was a national treasure. Jack had taken to doing odd jobs for her when he could – taking in the trash bins and recycling, weeding the garden, moving the newspaper up to her front porch so she didn't have to walk all the way to the curb every morning. By the time everyone was healthy and everything was back to normal for his team, it was close to the end of May, he was done with his GED, and facing the long, lonely stretch of summer.
It was 6 am and he was kneeling, tying a knot in his unruly shoelace and panting from having raced up a hill when he realized where he was. The sun was just barely rising, but there was no mistaking the familiar blue-gray bungalow with the rhododendron bushes, old jeep, and weatherworn bicycle and basketball hoop in the driveway. The grass looked un-mowed and, with a burst of glee he hadn't felt in ages, Jack realized this job didn't need to be a secret. He'd run home with at a giddy speed and swung by the hardware store for a new lawnmower as fast as his feet would carry him.
He hoped the backwards baseball cap, hole-filled t-shirt, and worn-out sneakers were enough of a disguise as he pulled the lawn-mower into her yard and got to work. He was slightly surprised at how long it took her to realize someone was mowing her lawn, but no more surprised at how, for the first time in so very long, he felt like he was exactly in the space he was supposed to be. Here was the swing set. Here was where Charlie would stand and catch the baseball, grin splitting his face from ear to ear. Here was the spot they'd planted daffodils one year until the squirrels came and dug all the bulbs up. Charlie had been so angry at those squirrels.
"Um… hi? Hello?" Sara's voice startled him from the memory. She was standing barefoot on the back deck, wearing the same old denim jacket. Other than a confused look on her face, she looked exactly as he remembered.
"Hi, there," he called back, turning off the lawnmower and waving. She crossed her arms and picked her way over barefoot through the grass.
"I don't remember asking anyone to mow my lawn." She bit her lip and looked him up and down. Jack smiled.
"Oh, no worries. I'm mowing lawns all around. Yours looked a little long. Figured you wouldn't mind." Jack took off his cap and ran his fingers through his hair, averting his eyes. Sara was staring a little too intently at his face.
"You… who are you? You look just like… just like someone I used to know. Your eyes, they uh… How old are you?" She was too smart. Jack kicked himself internally. This was a bad call.
"I'm… I'm sixteen." The instant the words left his lips, he saw her face fall as he realized – Charlie would have been sixteen this year.
"Really? What's your name?" She looked desperate. Jack didn't know what to say. Jack was a common enough name, but would that hurt too much? At least it wasn't Charlie and there was no other way to know. Jack was his legal name still. If she somehow saw his driver's license …
"Jack." To his surprise, her face didn't crumble. It looked hopeful.
"Jack? Nice to meet you, Jack. I'm Sara." She extended her hand. Jack shook it. It was soft and warm and just like he remembered.
"Hi, Sara. Nice to meet you." Jack reluctantly let go of her hand. With a wince, he realized it was the first touch he'd felt in many months.
"Thanks for mowing my lawn. Do you just mow lawns or do you do other odd jobs? This old house has become a bit more than I can handle. I could use a hand." There was a new sadness to her voice. Jack wondered if something had happened to Mike.
"Oh, yeah, sure. Odd jobs are my specialty." Jack grinned. Sara grinned back.
"Let me know when you're done mowing the lawn and I'll show you my list. I'll pay you well and the ice tea is on the house," Sara called as she turned back towards the house, dodging sharp pebbles on the way, "You're welcome any time!"
Jack pulled the cord and started the lawn mower back up, walking back and forth over the surface of the yard and in and out of memories. It was hard to be a duplicate of himself, it was hard to have to start over, but, amidst all those hard things, an odd job here and there and the chance to start over, to start fresh with Sara in a completely different way made at least some of it worth it. Jack watched Sara set out a very familiar pitcher of ice tea on the back step and smile at him in the same way he used to see her smile at Charlie as she placed not one, but two glasses beside it. Perhaps he owed Loki a thank you. It seemed both of them didn't have to be lonely anymore.