My mom asked me to come over. “I may need you to do something,” she said. “Right now if you could.”

I shrugged into the phone and went over, a fifteen minute drive. Mom greeted me in the driveway with a warm hug. Then she gestured at the garage door. It was open and two men were inside. I recognized one of them as the man, Paul, who ran the gas station in town that my parents preferred. The other guy I’d never seen before. Both were wearing casual clothing, not grease monkey attire. “They’re interested in Dad’s stuff,” my mom said. “They may need you to...” She left off there, but gestured by moving her head to the side toward the garage. I took that as a signal to go to the men.

They glanced at me as I entered the garage. They had been conversing, and they seemed unsure whether to resume their conversation. “Anything I can do to help?” I asked. I thought they might be interested in Dad’s tools.

“Hard to say,” the man I didn’t know said. He looked at Paul, a look that seemed to be asking whether I could be trusted, whether Paul could vouch for me.

“I think we’ll be okay,” Paul said. We stared at each other. They waited me out. I went into the house.

“How did it go?” my mom asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know,” I added.

“You should take a shower,” Mom said.

“Really?”

“Yes, definitely.”

I didn’t think I needed a shower, but I was a dutiful son. Before entering the bathroom, I opened the linen closet, which was just next to the bathroom door. There were six shelves, all of them empty. That didn’t make sense.

I found Mom in the kitchen. I told her there weren’t any towels.

“No?” Her eyes met mine, flickered down, then back to my eyes. “Maybe there are some in the bathroom. Go now. Be a good boy.”

I went back to the bathroom and opened the door. The shower was running. A young woman was under the spray. I’d never seen anyone more beautiful. She smiled at me. The most beguiling smile I’d ever seen. “Don’t just stand there, come in,” she said. “I need you to do my back. And my front. And my everywhere.”

I went in. I did her back, her front, her everywhere.

Afterwards we shared the towel. And everything else.