The Vase

When the cicadas made the first sound in the early summer, the whole neighborhood seemed to be awakened by it, the leaves from all the trees suddenly grew out, the grass turned to dark green from brown in just one day, and people realized they had to take the bug sprays out when they were outside. Even though the wind didn’t feel chilly anymore, instead, it brought the warm flower scent and made you feel tipsy. The sky seemed higher, the clouds turned whiter, the sun came out more often and it seemed to be never dark anymore, all the animals started showing up, like they had never left. The sound of the lawn mowing in the morning annoyed everyone, like it was screaming to everyone that summer is coming in case anyone doesn’t realize it.

When Jack walked in the neighborhood with his dog Rylie, he was thinking about what happened yesterday. It felt like summer today in a sudden which made what happened yesterday felt like a long time ago, maybe he was the only one in the whole neighborhood that hadn’t realized the weather change yet.

“Hey Jack, how is it going?” Jack turned around and saw a lady talking to him, she looked like in her fifties and sat on the bench in her front porch, wearing a short knew length dress and red shirt, even though it was a Saturday morning she still had her make up on, the first thing Jack noticed was her red lips, it seemed like she was having a date today.

“Hey Gabby, good morning.” Jack stopped, Riley also turned around and looked at her.

“I haven’t seen you for a few days, what’s going on?” Gabby seemed pretty excited today.

Jack was not ready for small talk, he went to bed last night and if it was not the lawn mowing sound from his neighbor, he would still have been sleeping, that seemed like the only way for him to forget what happened yesterday. Now his head was not clear yet, it took him a while to figure out how to answer Gabby’s question.

“Nothing much, pretty normal. It’s a nice day today, huh?” He thought Gabby should have figured out he was in the mood for the conversation.

“Oh yeah, how beautiful, can you imagine the summer came earlier this year, I am so happy about it, it’s about time.” Gabby sounded extremely excited.

’What a weird lady’, thought Jack. Gabby didn’t live next door to him nor they were close, Gabby’s late husband passed away a few years ago from a terrible accident, Jack just heard about them but never met her until at a neighbor’s party, she dressed just like today even though it was at winter, Jack remembered that he was thinking she must be a beautiful lady when she was young, she was still pretty at her age, and she seemed to be very aware of it. They didn’t talk much during the party and she was reserved most of the time, Jack himself was not very outgoing and he could still tell she kept the distance from everyone on purpose.

To his surprise, a few days after the party, Jack got a text message from her, he didn’t know how she got his number, in her text message, she asked if Jack could come to her house to help her fix the skylight in her living room. Jack was watching TV with his wife when he got the message.

“Do you remember Gabby from the party a few days ago at Lant’s? “Asked Jack.

“No, which one, I don’t recall anyone named Gabby.” His wife Liz answered while still looking at her phone.

“The old Chinese lady, her husband died last year.” Jack answered shortly.

“Oh, I didn’t know her name, and don’t be mean, she didn’t look old at all.”

“Well, she is much older than us, at least in her sixties. Come on, she is retired, how old do you think she is; she is close to my mom’s age.” Jack sounded a little bit impatient.

“So, what’s up with her?” Obviously, Liz was not too enthusiastic about the topic.

“She just texted me and asked me to fix her skylight.”

“Aww, she lives by herself, I feel bad for her. You should go.” Liz was still playing on her phone.

“Don’t you think it’s weird? Why did she ask me? How did she get my number?” Jack was a little bit annoyed by her not even looking at him.

“I don’t think so, she needs a young guy to help her, who knows, she probably tried to reach out more guys and they were not available, and she must have gotten your number from the Lants.”

Jack couldn’t understand how his wife could provide so much of her thoughts while still focusing on her phone, he was always impressed on how she can multitask all the time.

“Well, I guess I have to go help her then.” Said Jack.

“Just be a good neighbor.” Jack didn’t know if she said that as sarcasm or meant it. They have moved to the neighborhood for over five years and Liz barely talked to anyone, it was always him who connected with other neighbors, he didn’t know why she suddenly got so warm.

When Jack arrived at Gabby’s house, it was an afternoon on a Saturday a year ago, but that day was abnormally hot. Jack remembered it clearly because he remembered he was wearing shorts and a tank top when he went to her house.

He also clearly remembered what Gabby wore that day, it was a thin long pink dress, it was so thin that Jack felt embarrassed just looking at her. She didn’t look like she was in her sixties at all, her curve just proved how attractive she was when she was young, she had makeup on just like when Jack saw her at the party.

“Thank you for coming Jack, so sorry to bother you.” She opened the door with a big smile on her face, she reached out her hand to shake his hand, Jack was surprised to feel that her skin was so smooth like a young lady’s.

“Do you want to drink some iced tea? Home made.” Gabby didn’t sound like she was in a rush, she then added “What a hot day!”

“Thank you, I think I am fine. Yeah, it is abnormally hot.” Jack answered politely.

It was not as difficult as Jack thought, he just needed to climb to the skylight and click the blinds back to a slot, it only took him about five minutes to fix it.

“All done, next time when you pull the blinds, just need to be a little bit gentle”.

“Wow, that was fast, thank you so much.” Gabby looked surprised, she then put her hand on Jack’s arm and said, “I promise I will be gentle.” Then she started laughing.

Jack felt a little bit awkward, but she looked so innocent like she didn’t think there was anything unusual, he just laughed with her, he thought it might be a culture thing since she was originally from China.

“How long have you been in America?” asked Jack, as he walked to the door.

“Oh, long enough, probably longer than you have been in the world.” Said Gabby, she then added, “I came here when I graduated from college, so more than forty years ago.”

“Damn, it is longer than I have lived, I am still five years away from being forty.” Jack paused for a little bit and then added, “but you didn’t look like that old at all.”

“Young man, I am your mom’s age. Your mom should be proud for raising such a sweet son.” Gabby smiled at him while standing there, she put her hand on one of Jack’s arms gently.

Jack felt a little bit awkward and his face blushed, then he rushed to the door without saying a word.

“What’s the matter Jack?” Gabby tried to grab his arm before he stepped out of the door.

“Nothing, I just remember I told Liz I have to be back soon to help her on something.” Jack answered, but he stopped by the door.

“Oh, is Liz your wife? Why don’t you ask her to come over, I am sure it’s nothing urgent. I cooked some traditional Chinese food in the oven, let me treat you for dinner. This is the least I can do to show my appreciation.” Gabby sounded very sincere when she said it.

Jack’s favorite food was Chinese food, though he had never had authentic Chinese food, he tried to convince his wife to learn to cook Chinese food, but she never succeeded.

“I am afraid she wouldn’t be available.” Jack answered hesitantly, though he didn’t move further, Gabby’s hand felt very warm on his arm.

“Oh, it doesn’t hurt to ask her. I will go check the oven, why don’t you come and sit, text her or call her. Tell her it’s authentic Chinese food.” Gabby patted his back before she turned around and walked to the kitchen.

Jack didn’t feel he could leave now, so he walked to the living room and sat on the couch. As soon as he sat down, Gabby came by with a glass of iced tea and put it in front of him, she didn’t say anything but smiled at him and then walked away.