Judas: Dark And Stormy Day

Most stories, Judas thought, began with "It was a dark and stormy night." This thought crossed his mind as he stood in the hot sun, feeling the sun beat down on his head.

Not only had it been a late night, but the letter from the City about the state of the lawn, which he was already not happy with , made for a less than pleasant day.

He hadn't even known that there was a lawn mower in the garage. He'd never had to worry about grounds keeping before. As a personal assistant, he'd made sure other people took care of that.

Now, it's hot, it's sunny, and the fucking mower just won't start. He was pretty sure it had gas, he could hear it sloshing back and forth when he rolled the mower. He found a key on a nail above the mower, but no fucking
I can't get this mower to start and machines are not one of my things, I didn't grow up with a yard."

"No problem, man." Cooper replied, "No one's good at everything. Let me show you a couple things, help you get going. I'll help this once and then you can decide if you like doing it or not. If not, I'll give you my boss's card and we'll take care of it."

Cooper looked at the mower for a moment. Then, he looked at the yard.
He shook his head.

"Let's head to the back for a few." Cooper said, starting that way.

Leaving the mower and gas can in the front, they walked around the house. Cooper surveyed the back yard as well.

"It's been let go a while, your landlord's not keeping up. The City will be after you for that hedge. The side ones in the front need a better trimming. Looks like the neighbors are just trimming what hangs over. It's nice garden, but it needs some work too." stated Cooper,
"Let's see what you have for gear."

Judas knew Gillian had spent a lot of time on the garden, but she'd been gone for a while and it did show.

A quick go-through of the garage revealed a mostly empty gas can, a rusty pair of shears, and a number of tools for the
"Tell you what," he continued, "I'll get you going on the mower and help with the front a bit. You grab a couple cases of beer tonight or tomorrow. I'll get a couple of the guys to swing by with me after work. $40 each for them and we'll get the hedges and front beds cleaned up and haul the crap away. Then, if you want, I'll show you how to maintain it or you can just call my boss and get on the schedule." A large weight lifted from Judas's shoulders, he wasn't being made fun of, instead he was actually being helped and taught something.

"I do," Cooper continued, "like doing this kind of work myself. The mind can wander and think, but the body's busy. Good for a guy. Not for everybody though."

With more patience than Judas expected and no jokes at his expense,
Cooper quickly and thoroughly showed Judas how to drain the gas tank, get good gas into the mower, and go though what Cooper called "the ritual of starting". He had never heard of gas going bad, but apparently it was a thing. Cooper emptied the mowers tank into