Quaranteens

im the trash man

The rain thundered against the roof for the fourth day in a row, I hadn't seen the sky in days and I was having sun withdrawals.

"Mom," I groaned, laying upside down on the couch and letting my head hang off.

"God, what do you want now?"

"I'm bored. Give me something to do."

"Drive the car out of the garage and wash it."

"...Give me something else to do," I swung my feet around and felt the blood rush out of my head as I sat up.

"Go pray or something," she finished wiping down the counters and threw the wipe in the trash.

"You are just useless, aren't you," I said, rhetorically. Standing up, my feet had pins and needles from fresh circulation as I moved to stare out of the patio sliding door.

Trees waived in the wind and bent under the harsh rain splattering against everything. The foggy outline of the fence could be seen now, shades darker than it usually was.

"I'll give you ten dollars if you take the trash out right now." I looked over at her like she was crazy.

"It's practically a hurricane outside, you want me to die?"

"...fifteen dollars."

"Twenty and it's a deal." She looked over at the pile of four garbage bags waiting for the rain to stop.

"Fine."

I pulled my hood over my head and tightened it around my face, slipping on my tennis shoes that had been discarded by the door. Twenty dollars is twenty dollars, after all.