Authors: Stella White
I was pregnant.
I can’t say that I was sad in any way, just nervous. I couldn’t figure out what I would say to Mike when
I
told him I was having his baby. I wondered how he would react to me telling him.
I wanted so bad just to slink away again, maybe be a waitress in a highway diner somewhere so I wouldn’t have to deal with this.
In the end,
I had to tell him, but I couldn’t decide when would be the best time. I figured it would be a while before I’d even start showing,
anyway
. I could wait a while before telling him.
I also wondered a bit how things went with Mike and Mr. Grant this month. We had plans to harvest next
week,
so there was a good chance that he managed to eek away with another month cleared.
I thought it best not to bother him about another serious matter.
The week passed like a blur as my chores became routine. I spent a morning being quite sick, but I don’t think anyone thought much of it. I just used Larry’s eggs as an excuse and they all understood.
I couldn’t help but laugh when Larry heard us talking about his world famous cooking in such a way. He was quite down and kicked back a few shots of bourbon before we talked him back into the house.
As we started to harvest, things started looking bad. All the work that we put into saving the crops turned out to
be mostly wasted
. Our yield was
small
and was nowhere near enough to pay off the bills.
Mike knew it, Buck and Larry knew it, and even I could tell that this might just be the end
for
the small farm. I took an afternoon and even packed up my things just in case we were forced off.
Another two weeks passed, and Mr. Grant made a house call. He had a sad look plastered to his face.
“Mike, I know how long
ya’ll
have lived here. I knew your dad quite well before he passed on. But, I can’t keep it going like this.
This is
costing me more money than I want. I need to cut you off.”
“Mr. Grant, I appreciate all you done for me and mine. We appreciate your hard work. How long do you think we got?”
Mr. Grant held out a piece of paper. Ninety days.
I could feel the sting of defeat as he read it. Mr. Grant just said his goodbyes and went off on his way.
We must’ve drunk
every last drop of alcohol
on the grounds that
night, after the first few rounds of drinks, they didn’t even notice that I hadn’t touched a drop the entire
night
.
As the sun began to peek
over the horizon,
I felt it necessary to go for another ride. I knew I’d miss my horse, and I’d miss the small ranch house. And my pregnancy was at in its early stages
anyways
.
When I got
in the stables,
I happen to stumble over Mike, passed out from drinking all night. I crouched down over the top of him and tapped him on the cheek once or twice. He didn’t budge.
I hauled a water bucket in from outside and took the liberty of waking him up the hard way. I drenched him from top to
bottom,
and I can’t say I’ve ever seen a man jump up from the ground so fast in my entire life.
I laughed a
much-needed
laugh, and Mike did the same when he realized what was going on.
“Morning, Mike,” I said between chortles.
“Morning, Jessie,” he coughed.
I saddled up my horse while Mike wrung his clothes out.
“I see you’re going out for a ride again, mind some company?”
“If you can keep up, you can keep
me
company.”
He took it as a challenge and started saddling up his horse. I took off from the barn like a bullet. I think my horse was the fastest, and it had the lightest load. But, Mike kept pace behind me. I figured I wouldn’t try to outrun
him,
so I let him catch me from time to time just enough to let my horse relax a little, before lurching forward.
“Jessie, this way,” I barely heard from behind me.
When I
turned,
I could see Mike turning into a patch of trees
over
the side of a small hill. My curiosity got the better of
me,
and I followed him.
When I caught up
to
him,
I could see he was already off his horse and beginning to strip off his shirt. The area was
romantic
; it was a small pond, almost
completely
clear to the bottom and surrounding us was a bundle of trees that grew thick.
I was feeling peaceful.
“Mike, what is this place?”
Mike was starting to strip off his still-wet
jeans,
and I hopped
off
my horse.
“This is a pond that I found when I was twelve years old. I used to come out here sometimes when my chores were done and go for a swim. It’s fresh water, bubbles up from
underground,
so it’s
really clean
water. Thought you and I could have us one last swim, and maybe I could forget these past two months.”
I started stripping off my
clothes;
the water looked inviting.
“I have tried my best to forget a lot of bad things by running away from a lot of problems.”
“Oh yeah? You don’t look like someone that has that many problems,” he said while stripping off his boxers.
I paused for a second to get a good look at his naked butt running into the water. That was something I doubt I’d ever forget.
“Everyone’s got problems. I’m no different,” I said while pulling off my underwear.
“Well, at this point you know all of
mine
. Tell me one.”
I didn’t want to share, but he looked so cute in the water.
“My sister got married to a real creep, and she did it because my mother
pushed
her into it. I ran away because I think she was trying to do the same to me.”
I could tell that he barely heard a word that I said. His eyes were staring at my naked body and the attention was turning me on a little bit.
“You have a sister?” he asked.
“Just the one,” I replied, “I sometimes wonder what she’s gotten herself into in the city.”
I slipped into the water. It was cool at first, but as my skin warmed
up,
it became quite refreshing.
“Why don’t you call her, the phone works fine.”
“If I tell her where I am, they might come looking for me. I don’t want to
be found
right now,” I said, “I like it here with you boys. You feel like more of a family than the one I left.”
Mike smiled at me,
a wide
beaming smile, and then he splashed me in the face.
“What was that for?!” I shouted.
“Next time
don’t
splash a bucket of water on my face,” he said.
I was shocked at his sudden playfulness. I started splashing him back, and he did the same. He fought his way over and lifted me out of the water, tossing me back far enough that I splashed into the water.
“You jerk!” I screamed between laughs.
He swam over closer and wrapped his arms around me, leaning in close for a kiss, which I eagerly gave him.
I could already feel his erection poking me just below the
stomach,
and I could see where his mind was going.
He again lifted me out of the water, but
this time,
he lifted me onto his shoulders. My hot sex was
in
his face, and he began to lick and play with my clit.
I enjoyed the sensation, and even pulled his head in more, begging for him to keep going with my pants of pleasure.
He showed no sign of stopping, tenderly laying me against the shore and supporting me in the water while continuing his motions with his tongue.
I wanted him to keep going, but I also wanted him inside me as soon as possible. I bucked my hips up and down with the shocks of pleasure that shot up my backside.
He lowered me back into the
water,
and I wrapped my arms around his neck. I could feel him pull me down onto his throbbing erection.
He started working my hips up and down under the water, continuing to lower me more and more onto his manhood. I had to catch my breath more than once between moans.
I could feel him building up inside me, and as he started to release I felt the same flow out from me. Wracking me with delight and taking away what little worries I had.
He carried me out of the water and laid down next to me
on
the dirty ground. I didn’t mind at all that we were both muddy and disgusting.
“Mike ...” I started.
“Yeah?”
I wanted to tell him that I was pregnant, but I couldn’t get it out. I chickened out again and just made something up quick.
“The horses are staring at us,” I said.
He looked up and started laughing like nothing else mattered.
4.
We didn’t bother with chores that day. I think Buck and Larry knew how to cover for us. We just spent the rest of the day in a loving embrace that just never seemed to end. I think we both had too many things in our minds we wanted to forget.
Mike was trapped in his
own
head once we got back, though. I could tell that his worries were taking
over,
and he wasn’t able or ready to let them go.
There wasn’t much I was able to do, so I figured it best
just to get
some sleep. I stumbled my way up the stairs, tired from riding a horse of a man, but mostly satisfied and fell into bed.
Only to be woken up a few hours later to the loudest clanging I had ever heard in my entire life. It sounded like a jackhammer smashing into a herd of elephants.
I wasn’t the only person awake because of it. When I got into the hallway, barely dressed, I could make out the shapes of Larry and Buck in the darkness. I took a moment to throw on some clothes before rushing down the stairs and out to the yard.
I couldn’t
really
see much except for a light waving back and forth off in the distance. When the light finally got close enough, I could make out the shape of a man. It looked like it might have been Mike, and I found out a little later that it was, but he
was covered
head to toe.
“OIL!” he shouted, “I STRUCK OIL IN THE YARD!”
I looked puzzled for a moment.
Mike took his handkerchief from his
pocket
and used it to rub some of the black tar from his face.
“It’s the craziest thing I’ve seen in my life. I started up the old drill, didn’t think much of it. Then all the sudden after about half hour of drilling I feel the ground start rumbling and up from the ground it shot like a black geyser.”
I laughed.
“We’re sitting on a gold mine, boys. Black gold!” he shouted.
Mike stripped off his blackened clothing and started running around the house in his
boxers.
I had never seen someone running like a madman before.
Larry ran back inside the house and came out with four glasses and one large bottle of bourbon. I didn’t even know there was any liquor still in the house.
“Mike, get your
nekkid
ass over here so we can make a toast!”
Mike did as he
was told,
and we circled up, glasses in hand.
“To the luckiest
sumbitch
in the state.”
We clinked
glasses,
and they downed it to the last drop, I expertly dashed mine behind my shoulder while they weren’t looking. If they’d had a barrel of
bourbon,
they still would’ve finished that and had room for another.
I was a little weary about the discovery, still. I had seen what money does to a person, especially when it’s a sudden windfall.
The night
continued on
, unabated by the wind that howled, nor by the howling of wolves in the distance. I still felt the urge to fall back to
sleep
and did so.
When I finally managed to wake
up,
I felt terrible, but the house was already busy with newcomers. I was surprised, as it was hardly nine in the morning and there were already six cars on the lawn that I hadn’t recognized.