"Are you serious?" Jade couldn't stop smiling. Tristan really needed her in his life. Oh, it was a big sigh of happiness even if it was the dead of summer and rather stifling at the garden center.
Tristan went on with moving sod as if he'd said nothing. Why was he like this?
"Is it going to bother you?" She wanted to ask about Mona. She'd figured it out. He still had pictures of her.
"What?" He finally asked as he looked down at her.
"You know, that girl Mona." Did she have to say more? She picked up her load of sod and it really killed her lower back, but she did her best to stick with it. She didn't want to be a baby about this horrible job. Is this what they'd be doing in the winter to? She didn't really know if she could take much more of it.
"I don't want to talk about her. Just..just don't say her name." He pressed his lips tight and then started talking about his worst job ever. Corn detassling.
"You were a corn detassler?" She kind of smiled. Who did that anymore?
"Yeah, I was twelve. The guy who hired me thought I was fourteen. Most were migrant workers." He nodded. "They put bug spray in my water. I didn't mean to tattle on them. I didn't know any better. But I got them fired and I kept going for another four weeks. I made close to two thousand dollars." He smiled."I got the gaming system I had wanted," Tristan nodded. "And I got asked back the next summer."
"Why would you do it?" Jade winced.
"I just wanted to work." He sighed before he mentioned he'd taken a break from it. "I guess I was just too high and might. I was going to be somebody. But back then I only wanted a job to get things I wanted. And well, I guess I have that feeling again."
He moved a few more bags of sod and he moved hers too. She watched. A part of her felt numb. She watched him in his soiled shirt. He was sweating. His hair in his eyes. Finally, he looked back at her standing there so still.
"I wish I could be who you want me to be, but we both know you deserve better," Tristan told her. She didn't believe him. She didn't want to believe him.
Love the chapter 👏👏👏
ReplyDeleteCorn detassier
ReplyDeleteMudou o cabeçalho do blog,
ReplyDeleteficou lindo, gostei!
Boa semana!
Beijos! :-*
Changed the header of the blog, it was beautiful, I liked it! Good week, good week. Kisses! :-*❤️❤️❤️Thanks!
DeleteGarden centers are hard work. And corn detassling. I remember doing that (not as a job though ha ha). My dad would buy corn and guess who got to shuck it? Me haha. Good memories. :)
ReplyDeleteGood :-D
ReplyDeleteUy que pena por Tristan te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteLook at Tristan and Jade, getting close. This part is so haunting and poignant: "He moved a few more bags of sod and he moved hers too. She watched. A part of her felt numb. She watched him in his soiled shirt. He was sweating. His hair in his eyes. Finally, he looked back at her standing there so still." There's something deep brewing between these too. And yeah, being a corn detassler sounds just awful.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard work, but he succeeds.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Coisas de Feltro
Oi Ellie!
ReplyDeleteMais um lindo capítulo, gostei de ler!
Beijinhos
ReplyDeleteI loved the details and the character development.