Date: Tue, 20 May 2008 20:29:39 -0500
From: fireflywatcher <fireflywatcher@gmail.com>
Subject): Desolation, chapters two and three

The usual disclaimers apply: if you are under eighteen or sexual content is
illegal where you live, read no further.

All rights to this original fiction story are retained by the author
(myself) unless I give written permission to reproduce or publish it. Please
donate to nifty.

I thank you all for reading this story. I'd appreciate and comments or
suggestions.
fireflywatcher@gmail.com
I'd like to thank Miguel Sanchez and Clark for their help editing and
improving this story.

DESOLATION

CHAPTER TWO

By fireflywatcher-  Phil Ford


Dusty little towns on roads that lead to farms and
ranches and not much else are everywhere; if you live
in a town without a bank or a grocery store or any
major businesses, you know you live at the end of the
road.  For Dan, just cashing his paycheck meant an
hour's drive or paying a fee at the convenience store.
If it was cashed in town, there wasn't much to buy
and even paying bills meant buying money orders to
pay them.  You had to go somewhere whether you
liked it or not, even to buy a damn beer.  It was
Friday, the almost universal payday.  Dan's boss had
decided years before to have him work an extra hour
every other day and take off at noon on Friday.  All
the other employees were Mexican illegals, who got
paid in cash and worked Friday afternoon.  Dan
spoke Spanish like he was born Mexican.  His boss
only spoke English.  There was no communication
between them except through Dan.  His boss
expected him to do whatever was needed, and only to
tell him it was taken care of when the task was
completed.  If Dan couldn't do what he wanted, it
was impossible.  A lot of times Dan didn't have the
money or the gas to get to the bank.  Tim always rode
along to bank and grocery shop, if you could call it
that.  If Dan was broke, he wrote a hot check at the
Gas'n'Go, hoping it would be covered by the time
the check hit the bank.  He had to wait for Tim to
show up before going into town.  Tim always went
with him.  The exceptions were just that, exceptions.
He showered and shaved again even though he'd
done it at 5 AM, Dan was dirty at noon.  He ate the
last of Wednesday's stew and kicked back until Tim
showed up.
A little after three in the afternoon, Tim showed up.
Dan was, as the cowboys say, cleaned up real good.
He had his white pearl snap shirt and wrangler jeans
on, with his silverbelly hat and boots shined so you
could see your face on the toes.  Tim was filthy from
work.  Not that bad really, with his red hair and ear-
to-ear grin he was just rough, bad boy cute.
It was a little after three thirty, plenty of time to get to
town without any hurry.  The neighbor kid Brian
banged on the door just then.  "Do you need your
yard mowed this week, Dan?  I need to make some
spending money for the movies tomorrow night"
"Hell yeah, Brian; you know my mower is broke.  I
can't afford a new one yet."  Dan would still be doing
it himself, but he loaned it out and it came home
busted after a friend ran it with no oil.  Dan had even
provided the gas and a quart of oil.
"OK, I'll do it in the morning."  Brian was about 18
with short blonde hair and a cowlick right in front on
the left side.  He was growing into his looks, which
would probably end up a bit on the exceptional side.
He was an honest kid, who always did what he said
he would do.  "Got a beer for me on the sly, Dan?"
Dan just nodded and got one for each of them.  Brian
got comfortable on the couch.  Tim had his hand
ready to take it before Dan even got back.  "You only
get one, and our agreement stands, Brian.  Anybody
finds out I gave a beer to a kid and I will get locked
up."  The kid knew payday was the only day to ask
for work.  A poor man can't see tomorrow.  If money
is in his hand, he'll loosen the grip on it.  They
exchanged news and told their plans for the weekend,
and then the cans were emptied.  Dan announced it
was time to head to town.  Everyone headed to the
door.  Dan locked it behind him, but all the windows
were left open.  It was just West Texas security.
Someone crawling in your window would result in a
call to the sheriff.  Dan wouldn't be back for over an
hour, but a general sense of honesty prevailed.  A
poor man didn't have much of value anyway.
There was no gas station between there and town,
only the beer store on the county line.  Dan and Tim
stopped at the Gas'n'Go before getting on the road,
pumping just enough gas in the tank for the trip into
town.
Riding on a bus headed to the same town was Laura.
At five foot two, with long brown hair, she wasn't an
exceptional beauty.  With a high waist, a heart-
shaped butt, and reasonably large breasts, she was
definitely desirable.  Laura's inner beauty was a bit
tarnished.  Life here wasn't her first choice.  Drugs,
asshole boyfriends who beat her up, and life in Dallas
had put her on her family's tough love list.  Her aunt
was her last hope.  "Don't you be sleeping around
here, girl, this town doesn't forget," her aunt had told
her over the phone before she left Dallas.  The bus
ticket was all she could scrape up.  It didn't even stop
here.  Her aunt had to drive where Dan and Tim were
headed just to bring her home.  Two suitcases she
could barely carry held everything she owned.  The
aunt's friend owned the Gas'n'Go.  Laura's arrival
was at the right time, when help was needed at the
store.
Her cousin left a '66 Nova in the barn when he went
to Vietnam.  His return in a body bag, destined for
the cemetery left it sitting where he parked it.  Old
Charlie, the local shade tree mechanic, had the car
running in a week.  Aunt Patti got new tires, battery,
tags, and insurance.  Laura's life took a giant leap,
except for her social life.  It wasn't that it hadn't been
good before.  Circumstances had taken everything
away as fast as she could accumulate them.
Dan paid for the gas and went back to the truck.  Tim
got a can of Copenhagen with borrowed money from
Dan.  "I'll give it back when we get our checks
cashed," Tim assured him.  He never chipped in on
the gas to town though.  Dan needed to go anyway.
Tim was just along for the ride.  As the flat land with
the scattered fields of the southern plains passed by
them as they made their way into town.  It was still
the green of spring as they passed.  The beer store
was passed by.  It would still be there on the return
trip.  The rock station in Midland/Odessa played on
the radio.  Heat lightening flashed around them.  It
wouldn't rain today, just tease them.  Finally they
reached town.  A quick trip to the bank, then the
grocery store and they headed home.  Wal-Mart
wasn't on the schedule today.  Money was tight.  Dan
and Tim both bought beer at the grocery store.
Liquor was at the beer store on the return trip.  Tim
got a bottle of Jack Black.  Dan was content with
beer.  The Copenhagen money wasn't repaid.  It was
a normal week.
West of town, Martin Culler sat with his back against
the big wheel of the tractor beside the barn.  It was
late afternoon and his day working on the Esterhazy
place was over for now.  Martin had a small house
just a few hundred yards from where he sat, provided
him as part of his pay and had lived on the ranch now
for nearly twenty years, but couldn't find the energy
to make the walk to his home.  It was only himself,
Maria and Bob who lived and worked there now.
Martin had been alone all these years, nothing but a
ranch hand and never really getting close to the
family.  His job for many years had been to get the
daily work done and with whatever time he had left
to teach Bob how to run the place.  Even the teaching
he had done was done stoically, never a smile or a
frown, just doing matter-of-factly what had to be
done.  Martin really cared about young Bob, but the
cowboy life made it inappropriate to let on about how
he felt.
One by one Martin had taught Bob everything he
knew.  Even Martin's house was built with adobe
bricks he helped Bob make and mortared into place
by both their hands.  From a large ranch with many
head of cattle and lots of cultivated fields, the used
portion of the land had shrunk to serve a small
breeding herd and only fields necessary to sustain
them.
On one occasion, after all the help had been let go
and only Martin and the boy remained, help was
needed to work the cattle.  They were all pinned up in
the corral.  The company plane landed with a full
load of men, all in new jeans and shiny boots and
wearing new felt hats even though it was summer and
straw hats better suited the season.  The help Mr.
Esterhazy brought was no help at all.  They stood
around the fence, afraid of getting shit on their boots
or dirtying up their new duds, laughing at Martin and
Bob as they worked the cattle by themselves.  Even
that was made more difficult because the cattle shied
away from the side of the corral where the men stood
and bolted back to rejoin the herd.  For Martin and
Bob, it turned a hard day harder and kept them busy
into a second day's work, where they would have
finished in one day if just left alone.  The plane flew
them all home and no help was ever brought again.
Martin gradually organized things where all the tasks
could be done by one man alone after that.  Bob had
gone through a bad time with the men laughing at
him and Martin couldn't bear the thought of it ever
happening to him again.
The ranch didn't need to make money anymore.
Martin felt like he was excess baggage, just hanging
around waiting to die, and at seventy two that
wouldn't be much longer.  He only wished he had
found love once in his life.  Martin leaned further
back and closed his eyes.  The next morning Bob
found him still leaned back in the same spot.  His job
was done.
CHAPTER THREE
The sound of the mower starting roused Dan from his
sleep.  Did Brian really need to start mowing at seven
in the morning?  After getting home, Tim had left to
play pool at a friend's house.  Dan had fallen asleep
on the couch, woken up at three and gone to bed.  At
seven, he was up and sitting on the porch drinking
coffee.  The house was aligned east–west, with the
front porch on the west side of the house.  In the
morning shade, the breeze brought chill bumps to his
legs.  In an hour his shorts and t-shirt would be
oppressive as the heat built.  His shirt would be gone.
The strong taste of the black coffee filled his senses.
It would help clear the weeks dust from his throat.
All the muscle aches persisted.  His lower back
throbbed from lifting heavy loads all week.  Next
week would be better.  Dan's body would settle into
the pattern of lifting and bending again.  Only his
thoughts would not adjust.  Fear raced through his
mind.  Having never slept with a woman, the thought
brought out all the demons.  'Can I really find a
woman interested in me?' Dan thought.  At thirty four
it wasn't likely to happen, not here anyway.  His
doubts about being able to perform were calmed by
the fact Tim would always be there with him.  If he
never had a relationship with a woman, all he had to
do was look at the only lover he had ever had.
Coffee helped clear his mind.  The smell of the
honeysuckle carried him away and he eased back
listening to the rhythmic sound of the mower.  The
mower stopped its whine and he heard the squeaking
of the wheels coming closer.
"I'm all done with the backyard."  Brian came to the
porch and sat on the chair beside Dan.  Brian's t-shirt
was already slung over his shoulder with just gym
shorts and tennis shoes to cover what they could.
West Texas heats up fast and the backyard was in full
morning sun.  Brian slid back in the chair with his
butt on the edge of the seat.  It swallowed him.  His
long legs reached out wide and his back bent into the
curve of the seat.  Dan was sure Brian could sleep in
that position quite happily.  "How about some steak
and eggs, what you always call a breakfast beer,
Dan?", Brian asked, since he always pushed the
limits.  He knew Dan all his eighteen years.  After
two or three cups of coffee on a weekend morning,
Dan would be having a beer.  Living across the street
meant no secrets for a kid.  An adult wouldn't be so
informed.  Youth means sneaking out at night and
satisfying your curiosity.  Dan didn't know it, but
there was very little Brian didn't know about his life.
Peaks through the windows had revealed enough.  At
eighteen sexual concepts are developing.  There is no
right or wrong, just desire.  At least he'd never
discussed what he knew.  It was a private secret for
Brian alone.
"All right, kid, go get us both one, but pour yours in a
cup."  Brian came back fast and resumed his
comfortable position.  His beer was poured in one of
those big cups that say soup on the side of the cup.
Dan's body was firm and tight.  His tan was head to
toe except for what was covered by his shorts.  After
Brian's late night visits to Dan's window, curiosity
had its effect.  There was a slightly growing bulge in
Brian's gym shorts.  Of course Dan noticed.  The boy
was all arms and legs and barely covered by his
shorts.  They rode tight.  Brian needed to go up a
size; he had grown too fast to stay in his clothes.
"I'll leave you two more in the fridge.  Here's your
spending money.  Lock my door when you're done.  I
have an appointment with that big bass over at the
lake."  Brian nodded in agreement.  Brian hadn't
noticed his own bulge growing inside his shorts.  It
was a signal for Dan to leave.  Brian could do as he
pleased with friends his own age, but not with an
adult.  Dan gathered his tackle and cooler placing
them into the bed of the truck as was normal.  He
always forgot something.  He walked around the
house thinking of what he might need.  Nothing came
to mind.  As he came out the door, the mower started
again with Brian beginning the front yard.  "Don't
mow down those damn flowers on the side, Brian."
Brian nodded, but Dan was sure he hadn't heard a
word, just noise and moving lips.  What the hell, if
the grasshoppers don't eat them they'll grow back
anyway.
The truck hesitated and took three times to start.  He
knew something needed to be replaced, but not today.
He drove to Tim's all the way across town, a whole
ten blocks.  Tim didn't need to mow.  He didn't have
any grass.  Bare dirt with a few wilted crepe myrtles
was his whole front yard.  You could sweep it.  Even
weeds need water to grow.  His backyard was
completely barren except for one giant cottonwood
tree older than the town.  Under its shade Tim had a
picnic table and a space to barbeque.  There was a
gas grill and a brick-lined pit for the traditional-style
long, slow cooking a whole goat required.  Dan
walked around to the bedroom window, not stopping
at the front door.  The window was open.  Inside laid
Tim buck naked on top of the covers, ass up.  He
always slept on his belly even though Dan constantly
reminded him it was bad for his back.  Dan banged
two or three times on the window frame.  Tim didn't
stir.  Finally Dan yelled, "Hey, Tim wake your lazy
ass up."
Slowly Tim rolled over showing a piss hard-on and
said the front door was open and "What the hell time
is it anyway?"  Tim pulled on some cutoffs and was
recycling last night's beer as Dan came in.  "What's
up man?" he yelled above the sound coming from the
splashing noise as the stream found its way into the
water.  He buttoned all the buttons and staggered to
the front of the house.  Dan was pouring water into
the coffee maker as he came in.  A beer was beside
Dan on the cabinet.  "Fuck the coffee, give me a
damn beer," said Tim as he saw what was happening.
Dan never had time to flip the switch.  "It's ready to
go when you want some," but Dan knew that
wouldn't be until about six Monday morning before
Tim went to work.  The fridge was empty except for
a jar of mustard.  He kept telling Tim mustard was
fine in the cabinet.  "You don't need to clean this
thing much, do you Tim."  He went to his cooler in
the pickup bed and got Tim a beer.
Tim was rubbing both eyes with his fists as Dan
returned.  He yawned a couple of times and reached
for the can Dan had set in front of him.  With two
deep swigs he crumpled the can in his hand.  "If you
drink all night, why do you wake up thirsty and
needing to piss?" Dan asked.  Tim shook his head
like he usually did to get the cobwebs out of his
brain, as he called it.  It was just a weird habit.
About all it did was get some blood circulating and
relieve the stiffness in his neck from sleeping on his
belly.  Tim's neck popped several times loud enough
for Dan to hear the crack of the bones.
"Are you just checking to see who's in my bed this
time?  I'm alone as usual.  Want to give me a good
morning blowjob?"  He had his hand on Dan's
shoulder and a wicked grin on his face.  Tim had
grown up with Dan and couldn't remember not
knowing him.  He moved his hand down and petted
the fur on Dan's chest, making little circles with his
fingers on the firm pecs.  He loved Dan right down to
his soul, but the reality remained that they were both
men.  Sometimes Tim knew he took Dan for granted
and felt the guilt.  Redheaded freckled kids get
picked on, but Dan usually went home with the
bloody nose for coming to Tim's rescue.  Though
they were both about the same size, in many ways
Dan was still Tim's protector.
Dan scooted out a chair and sat down, breaking their
contact.  "Naw, Tim.  I'd be happy to buy you a goat
if it would help your sex life.  I just came to get you
to go fishing with me."  They always fished together,
but never together.  Dan would be in one place and
Tim in eyeshot, but some distance away.
"If a man's butt wasn't so damn ugly to see when I
wake up, I'd have you in my bed every night.  I'll
take a goat anyway and barbeque it."  Tim was
waking up now.  His sense of humor was his best
feature.  His red hair was flying in every direction
and his grin was irresistible.
Dan broke out with a belly laugh about the goat.
"Anything you can't fuck, you'll eat, huh?"  Tim was
likely to do both.
Tim rose, walked over and sat straddling Dan on his
lap.  He reached his arm around Dan's neck and
pulled him close.  Then he whispered in his ear
softly, "You know I love you, brother, let's go
fishing."  Dan's laughter was over the top.  Any
Saturday that began with this much humor was going
to be fun.
Bob didn't begin his morning with any humor.  He
headed out to the barn as usual to check on the
livestock.  Snow was on his heels until Bob passed
through the big doors and then was nowhere in sight.
Then came the barking, then came the tears, but Bob
cried silently as he made the necessary phone calls
and ended with a call to Maria.  There was no one
else to call.  Martin had never had a phone put in or
used the ranch phone either.

to be continued