When Irene’s son, Ben, walks into their home looking frustrated, she demands to know why. As the boy begins talking, she realizes that their smug neighbor has refused to pay Ben for the month of car washes he has been doing for the man. Will this mom take matters into her own hands?
I could tell something was wrong when Ben walked through the door that Friday evening.
He was dragging his feet, and the usual brightness in his eyes was nowhere to be found.
His hands were still wet, probably from wringing out the towels after washing another car, and he avoided eye contact as he dropped onto the couch.
“Hey, bud, what’s going on?” I called from the kitchen.
I had planned on making him his favorite grilled chicken and mashed potatoes for dinner. I was going to have his plate ready the moment he walked in.
But looking at him now, I was worried. Ben was only 14 but recently got a taste of making money and wanted to be independent.
“Come on,” I said, wiping my hands.
“You can tell me anything!”
For a second, he didn’t answer but stared at the ground. My heart sank when I saw the frustration etched on his face.
It was like he was trying to find the words but didn’t know how to get them out.
“He… he didn’t pay me,” Ben finally muttered.
“What do you mean?
Didn’t Mr. Peterson agree to pay you $50 each time you washed his car?” I asked, feeling my own brow furrow.
Ben let out a sigh that sounded far too heavy for a 14-year-old.
“Yeah, but today, after I finished washing the car for the fourth time this month, he said it wasn’t ‘spotless’ and that I wouldn’t get paid. At all!
He said I should have done a better job if I wanted my money.”
I felt my fists tighten. Mr. Peterson, that smug neighbor of ours who always had something slick to say.
He strutted around in his suits, making sure everyone noticed the shine on his precious black Jeep.
“It’s a beautiful car, isn’t it?” he would ask, leaning out of his car. “Stunning!”
A few months ago, he became interested in Ben, especially after seeing Ben wash my car.
“Whoa! You’ve done a great job on your mom’s car, Ben!
What do you say about washing my car every Friday? I’ll pay you, of course!”
Initially, I thought that it was a compliment, but now I could see it for what it really was:
A way to exploit cheap labor.
“You’ve been washing that car every week this month, haven’t you?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.
The story doesn’t end here –
it continues on the next page.
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