Chapter Forty
It felt so good to get back to the quiet of the country. I made two vodka tonics and went out onto the deck where Frank was reading. At first I sat next to him almost primly. Then I turned and swung my legs over the arm of the two-seated wooden lawn chair Frank had made and rested my head in his lap. The new chair was comfortable but Frank's lap was much better.
“We need a winter drink,” I said. “Something that will go with the cooler weather.”
“Russians drink vodka all winter long,” Frank answered, paying me minimal attention. He was reading a book he had just bought on the economics of construction in the nineteenth century.
“What about we try a sazerac?” That got his attention.
“Is that a drink, a dog, or some new sex position?” He took his eyes off the book and looked down at me.
“It's brown whiskey, bitters, and something else, some kind of liqueur, usually.”
He bent down and kissed me. “Shut up,” he said and turned back to his book.
I shifted my position, took a sip of the vodka, and settled my head back into the warmth of his lap. “Your dick makes a nice pillow,” I told him. In reply he rested his free hand on my chest and kept reading. I held his hand.
“Sarah Felsen had an abortion,” I told him. That got his full attention and I told him the story as I knew it. “I guess that ends the marriage question.” I figured Frank would like that part.
“I'm so glad I've never had to be involved in a decision like that,” Frank said. He kissed me again and took a long pull on his drink. He stared at the barn thinking.
“Quit looking at the barn. You'll get tired thinking about the work you want to put into it.” He pulled me up into a better position and kissed me seriously. I unbuttoned his top button and broke the spell.
“Refo, we can't. People can see us from the road.” Well, maybe; the road was a couple hundred yards away.
“There's nobody on the road. There almost never is.” I started on the next button down. “I want to have sex outside.” He didn't say anything. “Because you look good in the sun,” I told him. “Naked, your white butt shining, sunlight shining in your hair, your eyes looking at me, all warm and sexy ...”
“Not here. Come on,” he said, shuffling me out of his way. He stood. “Come on,” he repeated.
“Where are we going?”
“To put on an inspiring exhibition.” It wasn't immediately clear what he meant as we walked around the barn and up the gentle slope of the land; but he held my hand as we walked and I always liked that. Toward the top of the slope he pulled me close and kissed me again. Everything about him was soft and gentle, except his cock. That was hard. “Ok, here's what we do.”
“The apple trees!” It was something to do with the apple trees, the four young saplings planted in a diamond shape.
“Bend forward with me,” he said when we got close to the first tree. “Now breath on it. They like CO2. We'll get them used to our CO2.” He repeated the little ceremony at each tree. The in the center of the diamond, he pulled me to the ground. “Now we show them what love is.”
The reality of fucking in the wild wasn't as romantic as I had hoped. The vegetation was dry and stubbly, itchy on my ass. In the exposed location the wind was cooler than seemed possible given the warmth of the sun. I could have used a sip of the vodka tonic. The perfect thing about it was Frank. His hands and his mouth were all over me, arousing and teasing. Just as I was about to scream ”Fuck me,” his cock entered me. I screamed “I love you,” instead.
“I love you, too, Reef.” He watched me as he pumped slowly, filling me, emptying me, filling me again. “I will always love you.” He made me cry and then he made me cum. I pulled him close and wanted to hold on forever. It was unpredictably the most amazingly perfect moment of my life. Frank brushed the tears off my face and I was dazzled by the setting sun. It was briefly disorienting and otherworldly; even though I was lying flat on the ground, I felt dizzy. The earth moved the way a ship does. Then something bit me on the ass, some kind of insect.
“OOOW!”
Frank laughed and helped me up. “Calamine lotion,” he said. “I've got some back at the barn.”
“Oow … It's not funny. Whatever that was took a hunk out of me.”
“A chigger probably. Let's see.” I turned my ass to him. “I can't even see a mark,” he said, brushing me off.
“Well, it feels like a bullet hole to me,” I said as we dressed. “I hope the trees liked the show.”
Frank glanced around and said, “I'm sure they did.”
“You know, there's not a shred of scientific evidence to support that idea.”
“Scientists aren't farmers,” he said. “The trees know.” He glanced at me and I could tell he was absolutely serious. “At some level, they know.” He took my hand again as we walked back to the barn. As we got closer I noticed a truck. Someone was waiting for us. Closer yet, we saw Jody unloading odd pieces of wood from his truck and stacking them in the barn.
“ 'S up?” Frank called out.
“Some old hickory I thought you'd like. The Hairston brothers rescued it from an old outbuilding at the Armistead place.”
“Thanks. How much?”
“I paid 'em $500 for the lot. Give it to you for $650.”
“You got a deal,” Frank said, looking closely at the wood.
“Yeah, well, Donnie Hairston always gives me a deal. Him and I have a history,” Jody answered. Frank looked up with surprise. “Come on, you knew that; and … I think he'd like to add a chapter to it,” Jody speculated as he brought the last of the planks from his truck.
“He's got six kids and two wives!” Frank exclaimed.
“Yeah ...well?” Jody winked. “Besides, he never married Luella.”
“Small towns,” I noted with amazement. “You guys get up to more stuff than anybody in the city.”
“Jody does,” Frank said.
“And I always thought small town people were close minded and conservative and ...”
“As long as you don't throw stuff in peoples' faces, they don't mind much,” Jody commented. “Like, we don't have a gay marriage law; but even if we did, it's not something you'd do.”
The three of us watched as a car came up the drive at fairly high speed, throwing up a trailing dust storm. Charlie skidded to a halt and got out of the car. He effected a tragic look.
“At last you're back!” Charlie groaned as he approached. “Fortunately I found myself a drink while you two were up fucking on that hill.”
“You're not supposed to watch,” I admonished him.
“I was watching the sunset. You two happened to be in the way and Frank's butt is highly reflective.” Charlie sounded as if he had had more than one drink. He paused. “My heart is broken.” He cast his eyes down and then snuck a peek to see the results of his declaration.
“Your heart is broken,” Frank echoed without judgment.
Charlie looked up. “Yes, to the extent that I have a heart.”
“Mike,” Frank stated with a grin.
“Of course, Mike. Who else?”
“You and Mike are … were ...?” Jody left the question open.
“Finished. It's over. He chewed me up and spat me out. I just picked up the last of my stuff from his house. He and Butch were … not thrilled to see me. All I was to him was an anatomy lesson.”
“Lesson? It was more like a full semester. And you loved it.” My comment annoyed Charlie.
“It was more than that. For me at least. I shouldn't have made such a big deal out of Mike's pornography career.”
“Pornography career?” Jody asked with growing fascination.
Charlie didn't answer the question but continued with a monologue he had obviously prepared. It emphasized Mike's inexperience and Charlie's oh-so-reasonable but rigid demands. “I told him if he went to that studio, it was over. And he complained that if I would only fuck him, maybe he wouldn't need to look elsewhere.”
“You had a shot at Mike and you missed it? Man, I'd have been all over that prime beef six ways from Sunday.” Jody was flabbergasted by the wasted opportunity.
“He wasn't ready,” Charlie explained but Jody just shook his head in disbelief. “And now ...” Charlie continued with dramatic flourishes in the direction of the sunset.
“And now, it's time for a drink. Everybody want vodka tonics?” I asked.
“Doesn't anybody care about my tragedy? It's just another day at the beach for you?”
“I care. This is fascinating ...” Jody put an arm around Charlie's shoulder.
As I got out the ice and glasses, Frank opened a bottle of tonic water. “Want to bet on how long it takes Jody to lure Charlie to ...”
We were interrupted by a smiling Charlie sticking his head in the kitchen. “Skip the drinks, Refo. Jody wants to show me his favorite place along the river he's thinking about buying. We've got to hurry before the sun goes down.”
as JUB portrays it.
