Summer jobs are hard to come by, so last year when my friend Mike told me he’d scored a sweet gig landscaping for a widow and that there was plenty of work for me, too, I jumped at the chance to earn some extra cash.

I didn’t have a car, so Mike gave me a lift on the back of his Harley. The widow’s house was huge, and the landscaping looked picture-perfect. Mike slowed the bike down to a crawl, taking a long, wide path that led around to the back of the house. As he parked next to a small shed in the shade, I vaguely wondered how many hours he’d spent keeping the lawn so neatly manicured.

There was a huge pool with a deck in the yard, and a woman sunbathing in a bikini. Mike led me over to her, saying, “Ray, this is Tracy — Tracy, this is my buddy Ray.”

Tracy... Read More