Seeds of Tomorrow

Eight

If Rocco had seen Victor's lawn, he would have opted to continue on that long ass walk from Castle Rock to Mark's house. There had been heavy rain over the spring months leaving the grass thick and several inches high, not to mention it was still damp.

"Do a good job," Victor told him with a smirk, pushing the mower towards him.

Rocco took the the yard, "I'll try."

"No trying, just do it," he told his little cousin, repeating the same thing his dad used to tell him before disappearing to the house.

"That yard is fucked up," Victor laughed to Raquel as he sat back on the couch, Sergio hopping up beside him.

"Think he's going to finish?" She asked.

"Oh, he better," he chuckled, flipping through channels until he found a baseball game.

****

That lawnmower must have died fifty times as he tried to push it through the thick, wet grass but an hour and a half later, a sweat-drenched Rocco was done.

"Aye Victor, you want to come take a look?" Rocco called from the back door, not wanting to dirty the floors.

Grunting, Victor rose to his feet, tossed the empty bottle of Modelo in the recycling, and went to inspect his cousin's work. He nodded, "This will do," he told him, "You need a ride home or you gonna call your ol' man?"

Furrowing his brows, Rocco shook his head, "Hell naw, he is still on my back."

Victor let out a donkey-sounding laugh, he sounded like Fernando, "That's what you get, Pendejo."

Rocco rolled his eyes, "Shut up, fool," he slapped at him, "We taking the Monte Carlo?"

His cousin took one look at his grass-covered Crocs, "Hell naw, you ain't messing up my car. Go get in my work van."

Clicking his tongue, Rocco headed to the battered white Ford van that Victor drove, the door giving a sad creak as it opened. He climbed in, texted his dad that he was headed home, and texted Evie to let her know he couldn't stop thinking about her.

"So what exactly happened over at your lady's house?" Victor wanted to know.

"Pshh...we literally just ate fruit snacks and chips and watched South Park."

"You two didn't..."

Rocco's ears reddened, "No and I keep telling my dad that but he don't believe me," he replied defensively.

Victor laughed, "I feel like your dad does a lot of projecting himself on you, my dad does it too but not like Krist."

"Yes! That's exactly what he does."

"Dawg, my mom used to trip the hell out on my dad when they'd take off together. 'oh hell naw, fool, I know exactly what you two do when you get together!' And I know you be hearing them talk about when they were young. And you know he was with Nina before he got Karla pregnant, right?"

Rocco's eyes widened, "No!"

"How do you think your dad and my dad met? It was back before I was born but you know how Grandma and Marisol are with the gossip," Victor said, "Bro, and it gets better. So your dad and Nina were together when they were like your age and she left him because he was fucking with Karla!"