Chapter Text
Lana gazed out of the kitchen window at the two young men currently working her garden, smiling as she watched them tend to her lawn.
“Such good boys” she smiled to herself.
She thought back to the day two weeks ago when she had answered the door to the two young men.
“Uhm.. Mrs Rutenbacher?” The taller of the two enquired. He had a cheeky smile and short, blond hair that shone in the summer sun.
“Miss Rutenbacher” She corrected him “You boys must be here about the back garden work?”
“Y-yeah!” The shorter man piped up. His hair was, in sharp contrast, long and dark reaching almost below his shoulders. Lana nodded with another beaming smile.
“Excellent! Then come on in!” She held the door open as the two boys filtered inside, closing it and guiding them into the kitchen. When they were both sat, she busied herself by grabbing two large glasses and filling them to the brim with lemonade, before sitting and sliding a glass to each boy.
As they drank, she explained the nature of the job.
“It's mostly easy work, but since George passed, it's all piled up and the maintenance is just too much to keep up with. I'll need you boys to weed and mow the lawn, keep the hedges trimmed and make sure that no rotten fruit remains on the lemon tree. You'll also be asked to keep my pool free of any leaves or dead bugs. Sound easy enough?”
Both boys nodded enthusiastically and she smiled.
“In that case, you can both start tomorrow and work every Monday and Friday evening.”
Since then, Sammy, the tall blond, and James, the shorter brunette, had worked tirelessly, twice a week. Lana loved watching them fool around outside of the window as she read or did her cleaning and chores. Today, the fragrant smell of brownies baking filled the kitchen as she cleaned the dishes she had used to bake them. Plating them up, she walked to the front door to offer the boys some.
However, opening the door, she was met with a pale and sweaty James about to pound on the door.
“M-miss Rutenbacher!! I-it’s Sammy! He collapsed!”
At these words, Lana hurriedly placed the cookies on a side table and rushed out to assess the situation. Luckily, Sammy had landed on the soft grass, falling backwards and away from the shovel he had been using to dig out a few dead plants. Seeing no immediate damage, Lana picked up the surprisingly light man and carried him into the house, laying him on the sofa. He was pale, but breathing steadily.
“James! What caused this?? Do you know??” She asked, panicked.
“I-uh.. he hasn't eaten in a while..” James avoided eye contact. Suddenly, Sammy stirred on the couch.
“Oh fuck.. my head” he whined, reaching up to gingerly touch his forehead.
“Sammy sweetheart, are you ok?”
“Ugh.. I'm fine. Just.. hungry. And my head hurts.” Lana chewed her lip nervously.
“Ok.. you need sugar.. James, hun, go grab some fruit juice from the fridge, bring Sammy a glass.” Lana nervously swept the short blond fringe away from the tall man's brow, finding no visible marks. Relieved she stood.
“Sammy, how long ago did you eat?” She demanded. He closed his eyes, brow furrowed.
“Uhm.. about.. 2 days ago??” He replied.
“2 days? Why haven't you eaten??” Lana asked, shocked. Sammy just looked away, fiddling with the blanket he was laid on.
“U-uhm.. neither of us know how to cook.. or.. have any food in” came a soft voice from behind her. Sammy shot the shorter man stood in the doorframe a venomous look, which James returned.
“We need to tell someone Sammy.” He turned to Lana, eyes watering a little
“Miss Rutenbacher… the real reason we took this job is.. well, neither of our parents really, uhm, give a shit.. most of our money goes towards food. Everything else we need to move away from here. We need to find a place we can live far away, from both our families, and f-find a new start.” James was openly crying now, and Lana could hear shaky breathing behind her.
“Boys..” she sighed softly. “I can understand why you didn't tell me any of this.” Lana felt terrible. She barely knew these boys, hell she wasn't even sure how old they were, but she knew she had to protect them from whatever horrible hand life had dealt them. Lana steadied her breathing before continuing.
“But something has to be done. How old are you both?”
“I'm nineteen” Sammy piped up from behind her. “James is almost the same age..”
“So you are of legal age to move out..” Lana considered her options.
“We can't do that.. we don't have money..” James sobbed quietly. Lana took a few steps forward, wrapping him in a Motherly hug, stroking his hair.
“You could stay here. I won't charge you board, and I'll help you both find a job.” She said firmly.
She sat backwards, onto the edge of the couch where Sammy's knees were. The bond gave her a soft, regretful smile.
“They would notice. Probably wouldn't be pretty”
“Fine… but I'm helping you get those jobs, and both of you are coming here every evening after work for a good meal. I refuse to let two boys go hungry.” Lana looked at both boys firmly, standing up and leaving the room to begin cooking.
A few hours later, both men were more full than they could ever remember being.
“Thank you Miss Rutenbacher” they both smiled gratefully at her.
“By now boys, you can call me Lana, surely?” she took both of their plates, beginning to stand.
“Wait.. let us? It's only fair.” James jumped up to his feet.
“How about we all do them?” She smiled, turning her back and walking to the sink, placing all of the dirty pots in there. As the three worked, they chatted about what the boys wanted to do with their future.
Sammy wanted to make props in films. He had idolised filmmakers like George Lucas and John Romero growing up and desperately wanted to create ‘tiny, nerdy things’ as he put it.
James on the other hand, had bounced between a few dreams as a child, before eventually landing on wanting to be a writer. He had uploaded stories online a few times and gotten generally good feedback, though he always believed there was a chance to improve and learn.
“You two could open your own movie studio” Lana laughed, watching as the boys gathered their coats and bid her goodbye, jogging into the cold summer night. As the door closed behind them Lana's face crumpled and she began to cry, her heart bleeding as she thought about how those two poor boys were treated. Pouring herself a glass of wine, she resolved to try her best to help the poor boys.
“Some people.. Urgh. Some people just don't deserve to have children.” She spat, her words heavy with vitriol.