The stranger said it was time for him to get to school and he gathered his things. I asked him what grade he was in. “Geez, Mom, seventh. I started junior high this week. What’s wrong with you?” he asked.
Then he bent down to kiss me on the cheek. My little boy runs up to me and hugs my leg, staring way up at me, and smiling his goofy, mom-adoring smile.
I followed the stranger out the door, pausing in the driveway to watch him stride to the corner, where he waited for his bus with girls who have breasts. My little boy goes to kindergarten with girls who have pigtails. The stranger didn’t so much as glance toward the house when the bus came. My little boy always runs for one last hug before he goes through the kindergarten door. He is never the first to let go.
Later, the stranger returned to my house, apparently believing he lives here. After consuming half the contents of the refrigerator, he claimed his father left him instructions the night before to teach my oldest daughter (who I swear is just a toddler) how to cut the grass.
I joined the stranger out on the lawn and watched as he showed his younger sibling the mechanics of the mower, patiently and carefully detailing safety instructions.
“Are you listening to me, or do you just want to fool around?” He asks my daughter, who has been busy rolling her eyes. “I’m not talking for my health, you know.”
He showed her how to turn corners, empty the catcher, fill the mower with gas, and pull the cord to start the beast. He demonstrated the “proper” row, unable to resist showing off by pushing the mower with one hand before turning it, like a runner’s baton, over to his sister.
In an instant, she was off cutting her own paths, not exactly the same way he had done it, but capably. The stranger turned to me and said, “She’s doing better than I expected. She’s actually doing a good job. It’s funny how fast they grow up, huh?” He elbowed me in the ribs and laughed.
I stared at the stranger—who, now that I think of it, will always look exactly like my little boy—and smiled.
