Red Earth

[Toon]

November 2001

I grew up in a smallish town in the middle of Oklahoma. The name doesn't matter because they're all pretty much the same. My dad was a contractor and my mom was a housewife and took care of me and my little brother. We went to church but only because everybody else did. They didn't force religion on us and were actually pretty liberal compared to our neighbors. I know for a fact they both supported Al Gore for President even though our state went red on election night. When it was my time to go to college, I picked a university in a Northern state where I knew there'd be more open-minded people. I loved it there and was doing well. No major yet, but I was thinking about trying for a degree in biology.

The only bad part about my new location was that I had to drive home a few times a year for holidays. Mom was big on the big two: Thanksgiving and Christmas. When you drive through Nebraska and Kansas in a cold season, you pretty much know what a "Nuclear Winter" will look like. Everything is empty and dead. No life. I only had the company of other holiday travelers on the highway to remind me the world hadn't ended just yet. I brought along the cheeriest CD's I owned. B-52's and a Book of Love were my favorites. I'd memorized every word to every song, but it sure beat country & western, Christian music or talk radio where a bunch of old guys argued about when we should nuke the Middle East. 9/11 had happened only a few months ago and the belligerent patriotism really blossomed in this part of the country. Myself -- I was entirely sure it was a trick to get us into yet another war. I let endless repeats of "Love Shack" get me in a better mood. 

The scenery got much worse when I crossed the Kansas/Oklahoma border. Northern Oklahoma is spectacularly ugly. The dirt is red for reasons I learned about once but had already forgot. It was all corroded and rusted like some wrecked pickup in a scrap yard. At least they took care of the highways here. The state government was hopelessly conservative and corrupt but at least they could patch a pothole within minutes of it appearing. Up ahead I saw a guy standing on the shoulder of the road. Hitchhiker. I'd watched enough horror movies to know that you should never, ever pick up a person hitchhiking. Those stupid kids in "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" would still be alive if they hadn't stopped to give that one crazy guy a ride. As I got closer, I noticed that he looked mostly harmless. He was young, large-framed, bearded and appeared to be from the Mideast. In fact, he looked like one of the original hijackers they kept showing on CNN. No wonder he hadn't gotten a ride yet. As I passed him, I noticed he was wearing nothing but a denim jacket which was not enough to fight the cold of an approaching November night. I should have picked him up. He could freeze to death before any of the good Christians around here gave him a ride. Or he could get beaten up or maybe shot. This was gun country after all. I took the next exit and circled back around to get him. The fact that he was handsome had nothing to with it. Really.

He lumbered up to my car with his backpack and a big smile. I let him in the passenger side.

"Thanks! It's getting cold out there".

"Where are you headed?"

"San Antonio. How far you going?"

"Just a few hundred miles South, but that'll get you a little closer, I guess."

"Perfect. My name is Joe. My family is from Cuba and I need to go live with them after my adventures out West".

"Nice to meet you, Joe. I'm Brice. What kind of adventures did you have?"

"Mostly the bad kind. I went there to make it as screenwriter but everybody in L.A. already has a screenplay to sell. I was homeless for awhile and got into drugs and hustling. I burnt myself out and called Mama and begged to come home. Bad times".

I turned up the heat because he was shivering. Only problem with that was that it enhanced his body odor in the car interior. He knew this.

"I need a shower so badly".

An idea came to me from out of nowhere.

"Well, let's get a motel room somewhere. I'm getting tired of driving anyway. I've been on the road for almost nine hours".

"You sure? I don't want to keep you from your plans".

"I'm sure. I could fall asleep at any time and kill us both in a crash".

"That would be so great. You're a nice guy, Brice".

There was a billboard for a Super 8 motel coming up at the next exit.  Bakersville. Ugh. I think I'd been here once. Let's just say it didn't make much of an impression. The parking lot was a little crowded. I'd forgotten a holiday was coming. Would there be any rooms available. There was one left, but it only had one bed. You take what you can get, I guess. Joe and Walked in and he was so happy with the warmth of the room that he didn't even notice there was only one bed. He lamented that he didn't have any clean clothes to change into. I'd brought way too many extra clothes with me and offered him the basics. 

"They'll probably be small on you, but it's the best I can offer".

"Thanks. Are you from heaven or something?"

"Not even close. My mom can wash your dirty stuff when we get there tomorrow".

He was showering for a long time. I needed to call home.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Dad".

"What's wrong? Are you OK??"

"I'm fine. I just got so sleepy that I decided to pull into a motel and sleep here for the night".

"Smart boy. I'l tell your mother".

"I'm bringing a friend if that's alright".

"A young lady?"

"No. Just a friend who had no place to go for Thanksgiving".

"Well, that'll be just fine. Your mother has made way too much food for us anyway".

"See you tomorrow, Dad".

The shower finally shut off, but he didn't emerge for a good ten minutes. He stepped out wearing my clothes which were comically small on him. 

He looked really good anyway.

"Everything's a little tight, but I just couldn't get my big, stupid feet into the tube socks you gave me. Here", he said as he tossed them in my direction. 

"Hungry?"

"Oh God Yes!!!"

"Well there's no cafe here and I doubt there's a restaurant open anywhere in this town. Let me go get you some stuff from the vending machine".

"Seriously? I would appreciate that so much. I'll find something on TV while you do that".

I had so many dollar bills and quarters from paying tolls on the highways. I got him three chewy granola bars, a bag of popcorn, some chips, a Snickers bar and two Cokes. 

When I got back to the room, he was on the bed in just the undersized underwear I'd lent him. He was moderately hairy and that huge bulge in the tight underwear was very noticeable. I presented the loot I'd just purchased and he devoured everything quickly. Poor guy probably hadn't eaten for a long time. 

"That shower felt so good", he said while chewing, "I almost didn't want to get out. So I'm going to meet your family tomorrow? I wish I had something nicer to wear. Or at least a better pair of shoes. You didn't happen to bring any size 15 loafers with you, did you?"

"No. Sorry. You won't be judged. My family is cool".

I opened my Coke and took a sip.

"Not so fast there, Brice. I got something to help that taste better. He reached into his backpack and produced a fifth of Captain Morgan's rum. I'd never had rum before.

"Thanks, Where'd you get this?"

"Last guy who gave me a ride was wasted and just gave it to me for no reason. Nice dude. This was in a town right outside of Wichita".

"So I ad it to the Coke?"

"Yeah. Drink a little and then keep adding it as the can gets less full".

I did just that....and so did he. The TV was showing "Ordinary People" which was a movie I'd seen several times and loved. I was explaining the subtle performances to him when I noticed he was wearing cologne. ! Did he seriously have cologne in his pack? "You smell good -- is that cologne?"

"Just a little. I like to not smell like the road sometimes".

It was getting to me. I was in bed with a hot man with a probably big penis who smelled sexy. I stripped down to just my underwear and lied down next to him. His big feet blocked the right half of the screen, but I had memorized the movie already. I realized my soda can was empty already. So I just took swallows from the bottle. I was feeling magical. Tired, but magical. He took the bottle and kept it.

"Can I tell you something, Brice?"

"Sure. If you let me have one more sip from the bottle".

He gave it to me. That last swallow was the end for me. No more.

"I want to make love to you right now. What do you think of that?"

"I guess I was hoping you would want that. I want that. But I have no idea what I'm doing when it comes to that".

"I'm not done talking, Brice. I have no condoms with me, but I do have a disease that could go into you if we had sex. Tell me what we should do."

I was sleepy and buzzed, but I knew what he was talking about. "Let's do this, Joe".

"Call me Jose. That's my given name. And slide down to the bottom of the bed. And relax".

I shimmied down until my bare butt was right there in the open. 

"There was lotion in the bathroom and I'm going to put some around your hole. And on my hard dick. Just lie still for a second. His huge fingers worked my asshole good with the slimy fluid. He stopped and I assumed he was coating his big Cuban dick as well. And then came the time. He put that head right into my ass. It wasn't so bad, but then it got painful as he moved in farther. I gasped but didn't yell. He kept going in. Deeper. It felt like I was breaking apart down there, but I didn't try to stop it. He was ruining me for good, and I was happy to let him.  "Jose".

"It's coming. No turning back for anybody now".

He slammed into me rapidly and then stood still. He was cumming. I wish I could say I felt his dirty cum pulsate in my guts, but I didn't. He let out a long breath. 

"Get comfortable, Brice. It's almost midnight and you need rest. And, thank you."

I was a little sore. But so tired. The TV was still on, but Jose muted it. I drifted off immediately. He said some words, but I didn't really hear them. Sleep.

The next time I was aware of the world was almost 9 am in the morning. Jose had walked in with an arm of folded laundry. "I sweet-talked a maid into washing all our clothes. She even sprayed some super disinfectant into my shoes. We can hit the road whenever you're ready. 

We spent Thanksgiving at my house and ate and ate. Jose told part of his story, and my dad gave him bus money to San Antonio. I hadn't wanted that. I wanted him to come back with me and be my husband. But that's not what we happened. He promised to come visit me sometime soon, but I was still sad. 

I drove back home two days later. The red earth looked worse than it ever had. 

 

 

 

[Detchiller]

More!