JUDGING 14

[Phil]

JUDGING 14

The local home health care provider usually employed women whose main
duty was light housework, meals, transportation, and assistance of any
type needed by their elderly clientele. For employees lasting a week,
the job would likely last a lifetime; that of their charge.

Cotton and Logan were large men and needed help getting around the
house and their every need taken care of, but on a short term basis.
Licensed nurses would come by several times a week for their medical
needs and they’d have trips to the doctor and later to physical
therapy. Any strong body capable of lifting a two hundred pound plus
man met the job qualifications.

Acer walked in when the door wasn’t answered. Logan was stretched out
asleep on the couch and a local boy, Warren, was sitting in a chair
listening to his IPOD and playing a video game. A tornado could have
struck the house and Warren wouldn’t have noticed until flying debris
hit him in the face.

The house was old. Two doors set side by side opened onto the front
porch. The left side proceeded from the living room through double
divided lights pocket doors into the dining room and separating it
from the kitchen was a butler’s pantry. A hallway at least eight foot
wide made the cut past the stairs down the center and bedrooms lined
the right hand side. A large bathroom sat at the end of the hall and
the door stood wide open.

Acer heard a splash and saw what he took to be one of Cotton’s legs
wrapped in a black plastic trash bag, draped over the edge of the old
claw foot tub. From where he stood the rest of the tub was out of his
sight. Music came blaring from the bedroom next to the bat. It was Bob
Seger singing ‘Old Tim Rock and Roll’ and a boy slid into the Bathroom
in sock feet, tightie whities, and an unbuttoned white cotton shirt,
shaking his ass in a Tom Cruise imitation. The boy’s name was Buddy,
Warren’s partner in taking care of Cotton and Logan.

Tom Cruise had the moves but Buddy had him every other way. Halfway
through the song Buddy shed his shirt. The muscles rippled as he
danced. His ass was pure perfection. Next the socks went flying. Then
he twirled the jockeys with a finger and flung them into the corner.
The music ended with the song in time for Acer to hear as each of
Buddy’s feet made a splash into the water.

Acer moved closer to the bathroom. He watched as Buddy speared himself
on Cotton’s monster and heard both of them moan in pleasure. Acer’s
eyes caught Cotton’s and Cotton gave him a glance that told him to
stay quiet. He watched as they cursed and praised each other in their
joining until Acer was kneading his own tool through the fabric of his
jeans. When they collapsed together Acer turned and slipped back out
the front door.

Driving back to the house, Acer couldn’t get the vision of Cotton’s
dick as Buddy drove downward forcing it within his depths. There had
been only one possible position to accommodate the act with the
restrictive movement allowed by the casts and the confining space in
the tub. The buttons on Acer’s fly strained to pop open. His dick had
snaked above his belt and a puddle of honey was filling his navel,
leaving a spot on his shirt.

The dogs rushed out to meet him when he shut the truck door. Blue’s
handiwork was evidenced by the two dog doors, one onto the porch and
another into the house, and the addition of a feed bin that held
enough to last both dogs a week. The dogs greeted him on their backs
and with a scratch given each they lavished him with tongue kisses.
That eased the stiffness in his jeans by means of distraction.

Blue was gone in the RV with Carl and Paulie. They were to meet at a
campground on Lake Buchannan near Marble Falls in a few days. Acer’s
route was circular. He had stops in small towns forty to sixty miles
apart and a few at breeding ranches in between. Feed mills, western
stores, insurance agencies, and all types of businesses bought ads in
programs or sponsored events. Some large companies fell on the route
and in a few days he could see more contacts than he needed to visit
in a month.

Acer had planned on spending some time with Cotton and Logan before
heading out but the scene he glimpsed of Cotton and Buddy in the bath
cut that short. He filled a small cooler with cokes, made some
sandwiches for his lunch, and filled a larger cooler with beer that
would ride in the bed under the pop-up cover. Acer already had a
reservation at a small motel that was six separate cabins on Possum
Kingdom Lake for the night. By six, every business he could visit
would be closed.

By the luck of the draw Acer had seen two sponsors during the lunch
hour when he’d expected to miss them and have to wait or be dragged
along to eat where they ate lunch. At three thirty he’d seen everyone
on his route for the day and was thirty minutes away from the motel.
His stomach was growling and he was ready for a beer when he spotted a
road side pull off with three picnic tables. Acer pulled past an older
Bronco and turned in to the curb. He didn’t see the occupant but
noticed a welded ladder that allowed access over the fence. Needing to
piss, he climbed the ladder and walked behind the bushes on that side.
Then he released the stream that had been building for the last couple
of hours.

“You could put out a hell of a fire with a hose like that and all that
pressure,” a voice commented from off to the side. A wiry looking
cowboy was leaned against a mesquite tree. He had a half-pint bottle
in one hand and the hand rested on his knee in front of him.

Acer had been fighting to keep his dick from getting hard all day. He
knew looking at the cowboy that just his consent would have the guy
bobbing in front of him. Instead he put that thought away. “It came
with the package,” Acer answered him. “What the hell are you doing
over here in the bushes?”

“Having a drink out of the sight of any state troopers that happen
by,” the cowboy replied. “It’s a small farm to market road and they
don’t come this way often but I don’t need the grief. I got fired
today. They called it ‘laid off’ but it’s all the same. I knew it was
coming and saved my pay. I need to do some thinking now to decide
where to go and a little whiskey will help with that.”

“A bed and a shower with some food in your belly beats hell out of
drinking under a bush. If you follow me I’ve got a room near the lake
and you’re welcome to the extra bed if you like,” Acer offered. At the
truck Acer handed him a beer after asking if he was OK to drive. They
stopped at a convenience store where Acer signaled him to pull in at
the pumps and swiped his card to fill both tanks. Acer went inside and
returned with two boxed pizzas and they moved on toward the motel.
There Acer read a note on the office door without getting out. It
said, ‘Mr. Caldwell, See the man in number six’. There were only six
cabins so he drove to the last one in the row.

A big guy with a full beard and dark curly hair he was toweling dry
answered the door wearing a pair of gym shorts. “Hey,” The man greeted
him. “The lady who runs the place told me you’d be coming but I
thought it would be a little later. I just got out of the shower.” He
handed Acer a key without asking his name. “I’ve been pretty lonely
out here by myself,” the man told him. “If you two will drink a beer
with me, I’d appreciate the company. She put you next door.”

The cowboy pulled his Bronco into the slot while Acer slid his large
cooler full of beer out of the bed. He handed the cowboy the pizzas
and parked his truck, too, saying he would be in after he turned on
the air in the cabin so it would be cool later. With the lake directly
across the road the breeze was much cooler here than it had been back
along the roadside but it was still hot.

Acer learned at the stop for pizza that the cowboy was Wade. Carrying
in the cooler with his smaller one on top, plus the uneaten sandwiches
and a bottle, he found out the big guy was Beau. Conversation was
limited until only one slice remained of the pizzas. Looking at it
sitting untouched for several minutes, Acer thought, ‘Fuck it, it will
taste better hot than cold later on,’ so he scooped it up and wolfed
it down. The sandwiches were cold and fat enough to satisfy any
appetite remaining.

“You got any glasses?” Acer asked Beau. Beau set out three plastic
glasses seeing the bottle in Acer’s hand. Acer scooped a cup full of
ice for himself from the cooler, filled his glass, and added a tiny
splash of coke to it. “Help yourselves,” Acer offered.

“I’ve got to run next door and shower,” Wade told us. “I know I smell
like a horse but couldn’t go back for a shower after I got my check. I
had to get out of there.” He pulled a pair of shorts from his back
pocket and started toward the door.

“No need to go next door,” Beau answered. “I have plenty of towels and
everything you’ll need. You haven’t even taken in your things yet.”

Wade agreed and reversed direction, heading to the bathroom instead of
toward the door. The sound of the water splashing started within
seconds. Beau filled a glass and lifted it to his lips. “Not bad, I
haven’t had liquor much since I’ve lived here. I’m from Alabama, down
near Montgomery. I came here two years back, got this job right off
the bat, and haven’t roamed around much since. The company pays for
the room by the month and I get a per diem for food, a company truck,
and mine is parked around back. I don’t drive it much. It’s a sweet
deal except I haven’t made any friends. A guy was working with me,
staying in the room they gave you, up until two weeks ago. He lived in
Dallas and got tired of being away from his girlfriend and buds. They
ain’t in no hurry to replace him, or so it seems.”

The water stopped and a minute or two later Wade exited the bathroom
with a cloud of steam in his wake. He placed his clothes on the
dresser, his boots in front on the floor, and his hat on top of the
pile. Like Beau, Wade’s shorts were old gym shorts. He took the chair
opposite Acer and filled a glass. Beau sat on the bed as he had since
they entered.

“Wade got laid off today,” Acer told Beau. That set up an exchange
between Beau and Wade. When Wade refilled his glass, he moved to sit
beside Beau on the bed. Acer made use of the time and the whiskey to
clear his mind of the names and faces he’d dealt with that day. He’d
start the next day with a blank slate and his memory refreshed by
details kept on his laptop before he reached each destination. Acer
noticed that someone on Beau’s cell phone was added to the
conversation. Wade rose and retrieved a bank card and a paper from a
pocket inside the leg of one of his boots and returned to the phone
conversation. ‘It’s a new twist on the old trick of keeping your money
in your sock,’ Acer thought.

Wade went about the task of filling out an application on Beau’s
laptop after bringing in some papers from his Bronco and Beau sat
talking with Acer. Wade was hired. It was a done deal unless some
hitch came up in checking Wade’s job history. They’d share the one
room and split the expense of the second motel room adding that to
their per diem. The employer was a gas company and they were doing
weekly checks on equipment in a route. As it had been with Beau, every
facet of the job was learned as they did the work.

The room had a half-assed kitchenette to it. The wall opposite the
bathroom had a mini-fridge and a two burner stovetop, a microwave and
a coffee maker, a small sink, and some cabinet space for essentials.
With the job business out of the way they drifted through topics as
they sipped the whiskey. Acer was never asked about his work or what
he did. He just listened.

Acer didn’t remember how many drinks he had. He thought he’d dozed off
rather than passed out the night before. He remembered a discussion of
a baseball farm team nearby and talk of the old dance hall in Mingus.
Whatever the case he was naked under the sheets and Wade was curled up
with Beau in the other bed. He had never made it to his room.

Acer made use of the coffee maker and hurried through a shower. With
no crunchy spots down below, Acer was sure he hadn’t had any fun he
failed to remember. He was dressed after bringing in fresh clothes
before either Wade or Beau stirred. Acer carried out his coolers and
worn clothes. Then he called Blue who he found tending a pole at the
water’s edge. They swapped their stories of the previous day’s
adventures and Acer ended by saying he’d call if he couldn’t join him
that evening.

The cool of the morning was lifting. Acer carried his laptop inside
when he went for more coffee. Wade sat fresh from the shower in one
chair and Beau was taking one. They’d both showered the night before.
“Man I can’t believe I found a job already,” Wade told him. “If I
hadn’t run into you, it wouldn’t have happened.”

“Some jobs you get because of what you know,” Acer replied. “Some jobs
you get because of who you know. Most jobs you get because you’re in
the right place at the right time. I didn’t have anything to do with
you getting the job. It just came your way.”

“Beau said that’s how he got the job so I guess you’re right,” Wade
answered. It was about seven in the morning. Beau came out dressed and
joined them drinking coffee. Acer went through his stops for the day
to familiarize himself with who he’d see and the route he should take.
They’d met by chance and when the time came they parted with
handshakes and exchanges of phone numbers knowing they’d likely never
meet again.

This day went faster for Acer. Towns and businesses were spaced
closer together and he spent more time talking to sponsors than
driving. Before sunset he pulled in next to the RV. He saw Paulie and
Carl off in one direction and Blue in the other. He walked down the
shore and came up behind Blue. “What you catching, mister,” Acer said
in his best little boy voice.

Without turning to look Blue replied, “Fish aren’t biting much. I
hooked a couple of cowboys and had to toss them to the cats. I just
hooked another one if I can reel him in. He looks pretty good. I think
he’s a keeper.” Blue turned and grabbed Acer around the neck. Then he
kissed him long and deep.