The Landlord

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

My faith was crushed. I changed the prices of every damn article of clothing I had for sale. Not one sold yesterday. Not one. I was more pissed that he was right than not making any money. What money I will make won't be much anyway. I lowered the price of everything to a couple dollars. Yes. Just a few dollars for real designer stuff. People are either just cheap or stupid.

Day two of the sale, Blake and I were each sitting in a lawn chair behind a little table where the money box was. People started buying my clothes right away now that they were just a few bucks. However, I was more focused on Garrett. He was antsy and bored – and honestly, so was I. Not to mention, I would hate for Garrett to have a boring weekend. Especially when I knew my time with him might be numbered. Ugh, just the thought felt like a punch in the gut.

So, to solve out bored-ness, I did the unthinkable: I went to a few garage sales.

Garrett and I walked up the road, went to the park, and on the way back, stopped at the other garage sales. I was not impressed by any of it. It was all old and used stuff I would never purchase. Honestly, it was hard hiding my disgusted expression. I reluctantly bought a few toys Garrett wanted, which I would wash later – but hell no to any used clothes he wanted. I drew the line there.

We headed back towards Blake's house. In the hour or so we were gone, someone took my chair next to him. It was Sherman. The bird wasn't as scary to Garrett as it was to me.

"Wow! Mom, look! Mom, look, it's a parrot! Look!" he shouted, super excited. He ran right up to it, startling the bird enough to squeal and jump up onto Blake's shoulder. "I didn't know you had a parrot!"

Blake was lounged back in the chair, smiling to Garrett. "His name is Sherman."

"Can I pet him?" he asked.

"Sure," Blake said, "Only if your mom sits back down."

I stood a good few feet away from them. Sorry, but I wasn't brave like Garrett. Which is why I raised my eyebrows at Blake. "You want me to sit down? Next to you? While the bird is on your shoulder?" If I sat down, that bird would be in pecking-zone. How lame would it be to die from a bird during garage sale weekend?

"It's an insane idea, I know, but I don't think the world will end," he teased.

Jaw tightening, I contemplated it for a second. Seeing Garrett stare at me, waiting with such excitement though.... Ugh! The kid better fucking brag about his mom for doing this shit. Giving Blake a glare, I stepped closer... until I was next to the empty chair. My eyes met with Sherman's deep and adorable ones. He was such a cute fluffy bird... but that could just be a disguise.

"Mom, sit down, it won't hurt you."

Leaning my torso back, I slowly lowered my body... and awkwardly inched closer and turned until I sat back down. Holy fuck, the bird was directly next to me on Blake's shoulder. "Happy?" I mumbled. "Now pet the damn bird, Garrett."

Garrett laughed at my discomfort and reached forward. He gently pet the top of the birds feathery head. It cocked it's head and squeaked a couple times, leaning into the touch of of my son's hand. Sherman was clearly loving it. It was actually extremely cute.

"He loves being pet. Here," Blake said, reaching up towards the bird. He guided Sherman down to his lap. Which weirdly gave the bird permission to roll over on it's back. Laying on Blake's thighs, Sherman cocked his head and looked up to his owner, as if waiting to be pet. "The sweet spot is his belly," Blake said, rubbing the birds stomach. Like a damn dog!

"That's cool!" Garrett said, reaching down and taking over the bird belly rub. It made Sherman purr loudly.

It was honestly the coolest thing I've seen in a while. I've never seen anything like it. It enticed me to slowly lean over and get a closer look.