Loading...I was driving down to Knoxville Tennessee to help my best friend move back up to Michigan. I had a six pack cooler filled with five bottles of Aquafina water and crushed ice sitting on the floorboard on the passenger side. The sixth was wedged between my legs. I was driving a rented Lincoln Town Car straight down I-75 and was screaming through Kentucky when I noticed the upcoming road sign. It was announcing an exit for a road two miles ahead.
What struck me about the exit was the name of the road. “Rank River Road”, announced the green sign hanging over the highway. My mind started turning. Why in the world would anyone name a road “Rank River”? I was pretty sure that there was probably a small river that ran somewhere near this road that had an odor that could only be described as ‘Rank ‘. Probably due to some sort of sulfur or maybe of decaying foliage.
What I didn’t get was, why would you name a road “Rank River”, especially if it has an exit off of a major highway? I mean, if it was a little back road in the country, I could see that. And if that was the case, probably only the locals would know it as “Rank River”. Certainly no outsiders would have any idea that these old timers call ‘County Road Number 43’ (or whatever), Rank River Road when no one was around to hear their secret shame.
By this time I have the exit in my sight. I seriously debated if I should steer the big Town Car off to the right and see for myself just what “Rank River Road” was all about. As I debated the issue, the lettering on the sign got more and more legible. Just as I decided to pull the steering wheel a smidge to the right, I noticed that I was passing right under that sign. “Well SHIT”! I thought. I made a snap decision. I was going to turn around at the next exit and head back to Rank River Road. I also decided it was probably just as well that I get off at the next exit because the gas gauge was damn near on empty.
I pulled up on the next exit and eased the big Lincoln off the highway. When I got to the top of the exit I looked for the nearest gas station. I looked down the hill and there at the bottom was a little independent place. As I pulled up to the pump, I noticed two men standing near the front door. And as far as I could tell, there were probably a total of 14 teeth between them.
Stepping out of the Lincoln I suddenly realized I had no idea where the cap to the gas tank was. I started around the car for the second time when I heard a voice drift across the parking lot, “Hey buddy! Do you need some help”? I jerked my head up and was horrified to see that one of the two Bubbas was heading my way.
He was coming toward me from up wind and I smelled him before he got within ten feet of me, he smelled like gasoline and oil. The closer he got I could see he was squinting his eyes at me.
I am used to this confused look from strangers. I have to admit that I am pretty butch and look the part. I’m quite comfortable with myself when I’m in my own element and around my own friends. I can handle most any situation when I’m in my own surroundings. Actually, I can usually handle myself anywhere but, I gotta tell you, these boys turned my blood cold.
I decided that this being a time of crisis I would do my best “girl” imitation. I batted my eyes and put on my ‘oh I’m so grateful you came to my rescue you big burning hunk of a man flesh’ face. “I can’t find the darn gas cap, got any ideas”? I said with a girlish giggle.
A look of total confusion crossed his face. Suddenly his eyes lit up. I could see him making the connection that I was biologically female. His face softened around the edges and for just one half of a second, I could see what he would have looked like if his mother and father weren’t really brother and sister. I watched him as he inspected the Lincoln. He found the gas cap hidden behind the license plate.
“Just gotta know where to look ma’am,” he said rather chivalrously. “Can I fill’er up for you”?
“Why sure” I said with a smile. “I can’t believe you all still pump gas for the customers.”
“Well, we don’t all the time, just for special customers.” He said and then let go of a stream of chewing tobacco spit that landed about three feet from my new white running shoes.
The way he said “special customers” echoed through my mind and I almost laughed out loud. “My God ‘I thought, “he just made a pass at me.” That’s when it occurred to me that he was trying to ‘mark’ me with the tobacco spit. Just like a dog marks his territory. I was just grateful that he used tobacco spit instead of peeing on me. By then I had the inside of my cheek firmly between my teeth and was biting down hard. I knew if I let up on the pressure at all, I was going to be laughing hysterically in a matter of a few seconds.
He removed the nozzle from the gas tank and replaced it in the gas pump. “That’ll be 54 dollars and 75 cents, how would’ja like to pay fer that”? he asked as he stuck out his hand.
“Oh, I have a credit card so I guess I’ll have to go inside huh”? I asked.
“I could go inside for ya and take care of all of this” he said with his hand still extended.
“No, that’s ok” I said. “I have to go in anyway to use the ‘little girls’ room”.
His face started to flush and his jaw began to go slack his eyes glazed over. I turned on my heel and left him standing there as another car pulled into the parking lot. I watched as an old man got out of his car and waited for ‘my man’ to go over to his car to begin pumping gas.
I stepped inside of the gas station and the first thing I noticed was that ‘Bubba number two’ was standing behind the counter whispering through clenched teeth to one of the sweetest looking women I have ever seen. It was obvious to me that I had walked into the middle of an argument and from the looks of things it was far from being over. I stepped up to the counter to pay for the gas; he glanced at me and then stormed out of the building.
As I handed this Goddess my credit card I reached for a pack of gum and a Twix candy bar. I had to get a grip on myself. I knew I was about to start babbling, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I had to get my heart and hormones under control before I spoke to her. If I didn’t, I was going to make a complete and total fool of myself. She’d figure out my crush in about 10 seconds and I’d end up getting my ass kicked by either Bubba one or two probably both! They don’t like my kind here in bum fucked Kentucky!
She asked me if I wanted to add them to the gas purchase and I looked up into her eyes. I had every intention of answering her. I mean, it was there in my mind. ‘Yes please’ was exactly what I was going to say but my tongue locked up on me. All I could manage was what sounded like a grunt. Luckily, she took that as a yes and pointed to the Lincoln and said, “That’s your car? Gosh that’s pretty; someday I want to have a car that’s that nice.” She said wistfully as she ran the credit card and turned to ask me what the plate number was.
She had the bluest eyes I have ever seen in my life. They were the color of the sky in the autumn. Bright blue. Sky blue. And when I looked at them, I couldn’t help but to look in to them. I almost fell in. Her hair set off her eyes. It was long and shiny. She was a brunette and it was full of golden hi-lights. I’m no beauty expert but even I could see that the color was natural. It looked so shiny and so soft, I felt myself getting ready to reach up and touch it. Don’t ask me how but I was able to stop myself.
She was about 5’6 and as I allowed my eyes to travel down her body, I saw that her breasts were pushing at the material that her blouse was made of. Her belly was swollen with about eight months worth of baby. She had a look of amusement on her beautiful face. Not the kind of amusement where she was making fun of me. It was the kind that she knew what she was doing to me and she was not upset by it. It was like she and I shared a secret joke. Her eyes were sparkling.
She asked me again what the plate number was. Hell, I had no idea what the number was. “I don’t know, it’s a rental” I managed to say with out sounding too stupid. “That’s OK, it’s not a big deal” she said softly. She stepped around the counter to the door and yelled out to my ‘boyfriend’, “Hey Lonnie? Will you check the plate number on the Lincoln for me please”?
I gotta tell you, I was impressed with good old Lonnie. He called the plate numbers right back to her and damned if he didn’t know ALL the letters and numbers! I almost made a comment about that but thought better of it. “Lonnie is my brother,” she said almost sounding shy; “he’s got a heart that’s made of gold”.
“Thank you God for keeping my big mouth shut!” I thought.
“Who is the other guy”? I asked, never once considering that it was absolutely none of my business who he was.
“Oh, that’s Jerry Lee, he’s my boyfriend well, he was my boyfriend” she whispered. “He’s the baby’s father.”
“Oh, I’m sorry” I said with just enough sympathy in my voice to make it sound like I really was sympathetic. In reality, my heart started beating faster and I felt like singing.
“No, don’t be. It’s OK really.” She said. “It’s really better this way, I don’t love him. I don’t think I ever did love him.” She looked at me with those eyes. It didn’t occur to me that she was telling me something that was absolutely none of my business! She looked right into my eyes. I felt my knees go weak. I wanted to touch her so badly but I had enough sense to keep my hands by my side.
“Um, do you have a restroom I could use?” I managed to squeak out.
“Why sure we do, right back there by the postcard rack”, she said pointing to the back end of the store.
Just then, the old man from outside toddled into the store. She waved to him and called, “Hey Uncle JT! How ya doin’?”
“I’ll be right back honey, gotta use the outhouse.” He pointed to the UNISEX bathroom. The only bathroom in the place.
Kayla laughed and then turned back to me. Her eyes were sparkling. “That’s my uncle. Sorry he beat ya!”
“Oh well, story of my life. Day late and a dollar short”. I said philosophically.
“So, can I buy you a soda?” she asked me.
“How did you know my throat was dry?” I croaked.
She just laughed at me. She had a great laugh. Musical almost. “Oh, here’s your credit card Dana.” she said reaching out with it in her hand. I reached for it at the same time and her hand touched mine. She didn’t snatch her hand back. I felt electricity cross from her hand to mine. “My name’s Kayla.” she purred.
I was amazed! “How did you know my name?” I asked dumbfounded.
Kayla started giggling; “Your name is on your credit card silly”! Now it was my turn to go slack jawed.
I stood there looking about as intelligent as the village idiot. I felt a bubble of laughter in the pit of my stomach. I began to chuckle and then laugh and then before I knew it, I was guffawing. I had tears running down my cheeks. So did Kayla.
My eyes were drawn to hers. It was the color. God, I have never in my life seen eyes that beautiful. That exciting. Suddenly I knew that if given the opportunity, I could fall in love with her.
My mind did a quick run through our lives together. Kayla, the baby and me. Would we have to let Jerry Lee into our lives? Of course, he was the “sperm donor” so he probably would want to involve himself some how. I guess that’s only fair. Well, he could have the kid for 2 weeks every summer and every other Christmas.
WHOA! Just a minute there dude! I have known this woman for all of 5 minutes and here I am planning to buy a house for her. Dear God! That must be where the old joke comes from: what does a lesbian drive on the second date? A U-HAUL.
Just then, two doors opened at the same time. One of them would change my life forever. The other? Well, it was just one of those things.
CHAPTER 2
The door from the outside swung open just as the bathroom door in the back of the store did. I was standing next to the outside door and was almost knocked on my ass by Jerry Lee. He pushed the door open harder than he needed to. I managed to sidestep the big aluminum and glass beast that wanted to black my eye and remove a couple of my incisors.
“YIKES! You almost got me!” I squeaked.
“Jesus Christ Jerry Lee! You almost hit her in the face with the door!”
I looked in amazement at Kayla. Her bright blue eyes were now the color of smoke. She was looking at Jerry Lee with such venom, I was almost afraid for him. I could see he was afraid for himself. He looked over at me. It was like he was seeing me standing there for the first time.
“Sorry” he mumbled.
“No biggie” I said. I headed for the back of the store toward the bathroom. I could see that Kayla wanted some quality alone time with Jerry Lee.
As I approached the bathroom, it occurred to me that I hadn’t seen the old guy come back out but, the door was open. What the hell? I could feel the hair on the back of my neck begin to rise. Damn! I was getting creeped out. I rounded the post card rack and had a clear view into the restroom.
I could see the old guy lying on the floor. I picked up my pace and as I hit the door, I realized two things. First, he was wedged in between the sink and toilet with his pants around his ankles. And second, the smell coming from the bathroom was nauseating.
The smell was almost like something physical. It was like a green mist was drifting out of the small room. It had a life of its own. It punched me with the force of a heavy weight boxer. I instinctively threw myself backwards. Directly into the postcard rack that hit the floor sounding like a bomb going off. Postcards with sentiments of “Wish you were here!” were fluttering to the ground looking like weird, rectangular snowflakes.
I felt myself going down on top of the rack but was somehow was able to stop myself before I went all the way to the floor. By the time I was able to get myself righted, Kayla was half way to me, her eyes back to blue and full of concern.
“Dana? Are you alright?”
“Kayla, you need to call 911.” I said.
Kayla thought I was the one who was hurt. She ran to me, preparing to examine my body for blood or bone. She pulled up short when she got about 3 feet from me.
“Dana? What’s that smell?” Kayla asked with a wrinkled nose.
“It’s your uncle Kayla.” I said, pointing toward that bathroom.
That’s when Kayla noticed the old guy on the bathroom floor.
“Oh my gosh!” Kayla exclaimed. “Jerry Lee! Call 911 quick! Uncle JT is on the floor! I think he’s had a heart attack!”
Kayla took a step toward the bathroom and then stopped.
“Geeze Dana, I can’t go in there!” Kayla turned toward me with tears in her eyes.
I wanted to ask her if it was because of the smell or if it was because his pants were around his ankles. I decided I should probably just leave it alone.
“Don’t worry Kayla; I’ll go check on him.”
Now, one thing you should know about me is I have never in my life been the “hero” type. Not that I haven’t thought about it but the opportunity had never arose. Until this day. I was about to be Kayla’s hero and to be quite honest; I was all right with the idea.
I entered the bathroom as bravely as I could. I was scared to death that I was gonna pass out from the smell. I tried mouth breathing but damned if I didn’t taste it! Now ya just gotta wonder which is the lesser of two evils, smelling it or tasting it.
As soon as I got a clear look at Kayla’s uncle, I was almost able to forget the odor. His face was gray and the skin around his nose and mouth was a bluish-purple. It was pretty obvious that he wasn’t breathing and if I didn’t do something soon, he probably wouldn’t be breathing any time soon either.
As I bent down towards Uncle JT, I flushed the toilet on the way past. I decided it would probably be easier to “work” on him if I didn’t have to squeeze in between the toilet and the sink. I glanced up and saw Jerry Lee standing in the doorway.
“Is JT gonna be ok?” Jerry Lee asked with hope in his voice.
I noticed Kayla was standing behind him and Lonnie was behind her. Kayla was on a cordless phone talking quietly to someone and I could see that she was crying. I had an overwhelming desire to jump up and run to her. I wanted to take her in my arms and hold her until she quit crying.
“Jerry Lee, do me a favor will ya? Come here and help me move him out from the toilet.”
Jerry Lee seemed relieved at having something to do. He moved into action. He may not have had much up stairs but the man was as strong as a bull elephant! He was also very gentle at least he was with JT. He picked him up as gently as he would probably be picking up his newborn child in a couple months.
“Just lay him down right here” I said to him as I pointed to the floor.
He laid him down and I got on my knees beside him and assessed the situation the best I could. All I could remember about CPR was ABC. I couldn’t remember what the ‘B’ or the ‘C’ stood for. I knew that the ‘A’ was for Airway. I instinctively tilted his head so that his chin was pointing at the ceiling. Just as I bent down to pinch off his nostrils and breathe the breath of life into him, I heard the sirens coming in the distance.
I blew in his mouth and in the back of my mind was thinking that it felt so different when I blew into “Resuscitation-Annie”. I watched JT’s chest rise with my breath. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember how many breaths I was supposed to blow. Luckily, I heard the front door slam open.
A voice called out “Did someone call the Rescue Squad”?
“Back here”! I heard Kayla’s voice.
I decided that I could give him one more breath and it probably wouldn’t hurt him one bit. His chest rose again and this time when I lifted my lips from his, I heard a gurgle in his chest. Just as the paramedics stepped into the bathroom, JT took a breath on his own. It wasn’t much of a breath. He struggled to draw it down into his lungs. But, it was a breath! I felt as though I had just hit the lottery!
The paramedics politely nudged me out of the way and I was more than happy to let them take my place. I escaped the confines of the bathroom and worked my way past Jerry Lee, Lonnie and Kayla. Lonnie had one arm around Kayla and the other around Jerry Lee. Kayla had her hand on Jerry Lee’s fore arm. All of a sudden I felt like a fifth wheel. I decided it was time to get back on the highway.
I began to move toward the door. I was being as quiet as I could when through the front door burst a woman who was about as big around as she was tall. She was crying and yelling, “Where’s my baby? Where’s my JT?” She was coming at me like a lineman for the Detroit Lions. I side stepped her in the nick of time. I don’t think she even saw me.
She ran right into Jerry Lee’s arms. “Jerry Lee, where is he? Is he alive? Is he alright?”
Kayla reached over and touched the woman’s arm. “Aunt Elsie, Uncle JT is right there on the bathroom floor. I think he’s gonna be OK. I heard the paramedics say he was breathin’.”
Elsie swung Jerry Lee out of the way so that she could get a good view of the goings on in the bathroom. She pulled a wad of tissue out of her enormous bosoms and began to dab at her eyes and cheeks. She lifted it to her nose and let loose with a honk that would have stopped traffic.
The younger of the two paramedics came out of the bathroom and tried to dance his way past Elsie. She was not easy to get by in the tight space and on top of that, she was trying to get him to answer questions. The paramedic in the bathroom hollered,
“Damn it Elsie! Let him go out to the truck to get the stretcher. We gotta get JT to the hospital.”
Elsie let loose of the younger guy and drew a bead on the one that was working on JT in the bathroom.
“Buster Tanner, don’t you take that tone with me!” Elsie scolded him.
Buster had gone back to working on JT and didn’t seem to hear one word that Elsie had said to him. He was speaking into a microphone that was attached to his shirt.
“Yes central. Patient’s BP is 106/60, Heart Rate 124 and thready. Patient is breathin’ on his own right now but was in Respiratory Arrest when we arrived on the scene. A by-stander was performing CPR on the patient.”
Kayla started looking around and her bright blue eyes met mine. She smiled at me. My knees went weak and someone set a flock of butterflies loose in the pit of my stomach. She squeezed past Elsie and began to walk toward me.
Suddenly, all the commotion in the room faded into black. It was like all I could see, hear, smell and feel was this gorgeous woman who was making her way toward me. And then she was standing in front of me. She reached up and touched my cheek. And then ran her fingertips down my neck, down my side and then she wrapped her arms around me. I put my arms around her and had to stop myself from trying to pull her into me. All the way into me, making her join with me.
“Thank you Dana” she whispered in my ear. An electric shock went down my body. It managed to hit every nerve I had. I thought I was going to pass out and I think if she wasn’t holding me, I would have hit the floor with a thud.
She let go of me just as they wheeled the stretcher bearing JT past us. I don’t even remember them bringing the stretcher in past us! She followed the stretcher and everyone else followed her. As I watched the entourage following the paramedics out, I had one thought, ‘Oh man, I’ve got it bad! I better get out of here now or I will never leave’.
All of the sudden, I remembered why I had headed to the bathroom in the first place. And it was finally void of old men, young men and bad smells. I went in and shut and locked the door. I dropped my pants and lowered myself to the seat. The relief I felt was immense and it wasn’t just from the fact that my bladder was finally being emptied. I needed to sit down and be alone for five minutes to collect my thoughts.
I am usually pretty level headed. I normally don’t just ‘fall in love’ randomly no matter what color eyes a woman may have. And a pregnant woman at that! MAN! What the HELL am I trying to set myself up for? How could this happen?
And let’s face it; she will never leave this place. She’ll never leave Jerry Lee. He is the baby’s father after all. He will probably never let her go anyway.
There was a tap on the door. “Just a minute” I called out.
“Oh good Dana, I was afraid you’d left.” Kayla said on the other side of the door.
I started to reach over and unlock the door but decided I should pull my pants up first. I grabbed them up from around my ankles and zipped and snapped them up. I washed my hands and checked my look. I flipped the lock, afraid that she would be there but almost terrified that she wouldn’t be. I pulled the door open and there she stood. Her eyes and smile were overwhelming. I reached out and pulled her inside with me and re-locked the door.
CHAPTER 3
She watched me flip the lock and then she looked up into my eyes. I reached out and touched her hair (I didn’t try to stop myself this time). She didn’t move. She shut her eyes and a small sigh escaped her beautiful lips. She opened her eyes again and took my hand that was stroking her hair. Her hand guided mine down to her waist. She leaned into my body with hers. Her arms circled my body. She looked up at me and whispered, “Dana?” Her eyes were shining with desire.
I gently pushed her up against the wall and started to bring my lips slowly down to hers. I let my nose linger in her hair. It smelled how it looked, beautiful. When our lips met, it felt like being in the middle of a firecracker as it exploded. I felt my knees turn to Jell-O and the flock of butterflies in the pit of my stomach returned in full force and brought friends.
I felt the tip of her tongue push against my lips, requesting permission to enter my mouth. I was more than willing to let her tongue travel wherever it wanted to explore. Her tongue began to dance a slow and exotic dance inside my mouth.
My arms tightened around her. I wanted to pull her body into mine. The baby inside of her gave me a pretty good kick in the gut and scared the hell out of me. I jumped back and for the third time that day, almost ended up on my ass on the floor. Kayla burst out laughing at the look on my face. I started laughing because Kayla’s laugh is so contagious.
Our merriment was cut short by a loud banging on the door. This time both of us jumped. “Kayla, you in there”? Jerry Lee asked a bit too sternly.
“Yes Jerry Lee, I’m in here and I would like to ask you to please go away”. Kayla’s answer shot back to him even more sternly.
“Kayla, are you alone in there?” I heard confusion in his voice. Then again, it could have been fear.
“Jerry Lee, as soon as anything in my life becomes any of your business, I will be sure to let you know”. Her eyes were flashing. I sent up a silent prayer that Kayla never look at me like that.
We heard him shuffle away from the door. Kayla turned back to me and as I watched, I saw the fire in her eyes turn from anger back to hunger. She took my hands in hers and placed them around her.
“Now,” she whispered “where were we”? I showed her exactly where we were.
This time, I not only kissed her but I let my hands wander over her body. My fingertips and palms were incredibly sensitive. No matter where I touched her, I felt it in all my nerve endings. Especially the nerve endings in one certain place in my body. I felt the heat rise, not only in the small bathroom but also inside of my clothing. My underwear was getting soaked from my excitement.
Kayla was moaning softly as my tongue grazed her neck. Her fingernails were digging into the flesh on my back. I reached up to unbutton a couple of buttons on her blouse and couldn’t get them to fit through the buttonholes. Kayla moved my fumbling hands and pulled her blouse off over her head. She stood there in her black, lacy bra and looked into my eyes.
“Will you please undo me?” she asked breathlessly.
My hands were shaking as I reached around her and unhooked her bra. Her breasts popped free and she reached up and cupped them in her hands. Her nipples had darkened due to the upcoming birth of her baby. I slid my hands under hers and began to softly massage her nipples with the palms of my hands.
“Oh my God” she said with no more breath than she had when she asked me to undo her. Her gorgeous eyes were closed half way. I bent down and took one of her nipples between my lips. I very gently began to circle it with my tongue. She entwined her fingers in my hair pulling my mouth closer to her full breast. I began to run my tongue back and forth across her hard nipple. I felt her nipple grow bigger and harder between my lips.
“Baby, do it harder” she begged. “Oh God, please do it harder.”
My tongue began to treat her nipple like it was her clit. I applied more pressure and began to pick up speed. I took the other nipple between my thumb and forefinger and began to roll it back and forth. She was beginning to moan louder and pulled harder on my hair.
“Jesus Dana,” she rasped. “You’re gonna make me cum”.
Now, I had heard of women who were able to have orgasms from nipple stimulation. I had never had the pleasure of meeting one, let alone be the reason for this incredible phenomenon.
Her body began to shake. She began to breathe harder. I gotta tell you, I was pretty nervous that she was gonna get loud. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when a woman gets LOUD! Having a beautiful woman call to God and me in the same breath turns me on like nothing else. But, this just didn’t seem to be the appropriate place for her to be calling either name out loud.
I jumped up and grabbed the nipple I had been using my tongue on with my other thumb and forefinger and began to mimic what I was doing with the first one. I covered her mouth with mine and drove my tongue in. I pushed my knee between her legs and she began to grind her crotch against it. I felt the energy of her orgasm building to a fevered pitch.
She finally let it go. She began to cum. Her body began to spasm. I think if I hadn’t been holding her, she would have collapsed to the floor. She buried her mouth into my shoulder. She was moaning but luckily it was muffled.
She began to relax her grip on me. Her breathing began to even out. She let her body melt into mine. I could feel her heart (that was pounding wildly just thirty seconds ago) begin to slow to a more manageable pace. She finally pulled her teeth out of my shoulder. She looked up at me. Those eyes, those blue, blue eyes were now the color of deep midnight blue.
A slow smile began to spread across her lips. Her tongue slipped out from between her lips and she licked her top lip. She sighed a deep sigh and said,
“Ya know, its times like this I wish I would have never quit smokin’.”
I laughed and said, “Baby, you were smokin’. And you sure had ME smokin’ about a minute ago”!
She reached for her bra and put it back on. I handed her the blouse that had ended up on the floor and she began to button it up. She stopped in ‘mid button’ and looked into my eyes and said, “Dana, this is gonna sound so crazy but, I think I’m fallin’ in love with you. I don’t know how this could be happenin’. I’ve never been with a woman before and to tell you the truth, never really thought much about it. I don’t understand what is going on with me but I think I need you in my life. I want you to help me raise this baby. ”
I stood there doing my village idiot imitation again. My mind was spinning like a washing machine on spin dry. Not 20 minutes ago I was planning a life with this woman and her child. Now, she was saying the same thing to me. She wanted me in her life! This was too good to be true!
I took her in my arms and held her close. “Kayla, what are we gonna do babe?”
Kayla looked at me and flashed me a huge smile. “Well, I don’t know what we are supposed to do but I know what I’d like to do.” Her eyes sparkled with humor. I looked into those eyes and felt myself falling in. “What would you like to do?” “Well, I’d like to take you back to my place, make supper for you, take a shower with you and then let you make love to me.” Then she added, “And then, I’d like to make love to you until the sun comes up.”
Suddenly, I couldn’t breathe. My throat completely dried out. My heart was beating so fast and so hard I could hear it pounding in my head. “Well, I have a better idea” I said. “Why don’t I take you out to dinner first and then go back to your place.” “OK then, it’s a deal.” Kayla said laughing as she reached out to shake my hand.
I reached behind her to unlock the door and just as I did, the door flew open and hit Kayla in the back of the head and shoulder. She flew into me. I caught her as she started to go down. I looked up just in time to see a fist the size of a regulation football coming toward my face. I jerked my head back and the fist that had my name written all over it grazed my forehead beside my right eye.
How I managed to stay upright was beyond me. How I managed to hold on to Kayla and shield her from harm was nothing short of a miracle. I looked at the wrist, the arm the shoulder and finally the face of who was hooked on to that fist. It was Jerry Lee. And he was not happy.
Kayla whirled around and saw Jerry Lee. “JERRY LEE!” she screamed. “YOU SON OF A BITCH! I SWEAR TO CHRIST IF YOU HURT THE BABY, I WILL KILL YOU!”
Jerry Lee looked at her first with anger and then with fear. He said “Kayla, I gotta ask you somethin’. Are you queer now?”
Kayla stepped back and looked up at him, “What the hell are you talkin’ about?”
Suddenly it was like his balls grew a size or two. “You heard me Kayla, are you a queer now? I was standing outside the door and I heard what you two were up to.”
“Jerry Lee, I don’t know what I am but I’ll tell you what I DO know, I know that I am about sick to death of you. I want you out of my face right now.” She said as she began to rub the back of her head.
“Did he hurt you Kayla?” I asked as I reached up to wipe the sweat off of my forehead.
Kayla looked at me and said, “Oh my GOD Dana! Are you alright?”
I turned and looked into the mirror and the world began to spin. I had blood running out of a cut that was right above my eye. Well, running isn’t exactly the right word it was more like gushing.
I gotta tell ya, I don’t do well with blood. Especially when it’s my blood. Especially when there is a lot of it. Especially when it’s gushing. I seriously considered puking or at the very least, passing out.
Kayla must have noticed that I was as white as a sheet. She reached out to steady me. She turned me around and steered me towards the toilet. “Sit down sweetie.” She said so softly and gently that I almost started crying. I have never had anyone talk so sweetly to me. Well, not since my mom anyway.
She grabbed the paper towel roll that was hanging on the wall and gave the end a big yank. She tore off what looked like about fifteen or twenty and ran them under water. She squeezed them out and handed me the wad.
“Press that to the cut baby.” She said lovingly.
Kayla turned on her heal and looked up at Jerry Lee. “Jerry Lee, you need to leave right now. I am about to call Jordie and DJ to have your ass KICKED.”
Jerry Lee blinked and stepped back. Then it was like someone turned on a light inside of him. “Well you just go ahead and call them Kayla. What are you gonna tell them? That I smacked your girlfriend?” He said the word “girlfriend” with a twisted sneer on his face and in his voice.
Kayla’s eyes narrowed. “Jerry Lee, that is exactly what I’m gonna tell them. I’m gonna tell them that my “girlfriend” who just so happened to save their fathers life this very afternoon was punched in the face by you.”
Jerry Lees face glazed over. It was obvious that he was tossing this around in his head. He seemed to have forgotten that these two fellas were probably going to be ok with me even if I had two heads. “Kayla, I’m telling you one thing. I won’t let you raise my son with a woman who wants to be a man.”
“Your son? Who the hell told you that this baby is yours?” Kayla hissed.
“I know that he’s my baby Kayla, you and I were doin’ it back then. I figured it out. You can’t fool me.”
Kayla began to laugh but, it wasn’t her usual laugh that was like a song. It was an evil almost bitter laugh. There was no warmth in it what so ever. I almost felt sorry for old Jerry Lee.
“Jesus Jerry Lee! I was doin’ it with more than you back then! There was someone else. I was doin’ it with Johnny too.”
Now it was Jerry Lee’s turn to lose all the color in his face. He looked like someone sucker punched him. “Johnny?” His voice came out in a whisper. “Kayla? You did it with JOHNNY? Why did you do it with him? ”
Kayla’s voice softened. “Jerry Lee, I was in love with Johnny. I loved him since the third grade. I thought you knew. I thought everybody knew.” She turned and looked at me with tears in her eyes.
She turned back to him, “I knew you thought that you were the baby’s father Jerry Lee. And, since Johnny died I was gonna let you believe that you were so my baby could have a father. And with you and Johnny being brothers and all, I thought I could pull it off. I’m sorry. I was wrong to do that”.
Jerry Lee looked like a man who had lost everything important to him. He looked thoroughly beaten. He turned and walked out of the bathroom without saying a word. He pulled the door shut behind him. I saw tears in his eyes. And I gotta tell ya, I can’t say as I blamed him.
I turned and looked at Kayla. She was crying softly. I wanted to take her in my arms to comfort her but; the blood was still oozing from my eyebrow. The paper towels were soaked in blood. My eye was beginning to swell shut.
“Kayla, I thought you told me that Jerry Lee was the baby’s father.” I said.
“I know baby and I’m sorry for lying to you too but, I just couldn’t tell you about Johnny right then. I knew I was gonna have to tell you eventually but, not right then.” She said as she began to wet more paper towel for me.
“You knew you were going to have to tell me about Johnny?” I was curious. “How did you know that?”
“Dana, I knew that because as soon as I saw you standing there at the counter, I knew that I was going to end up loving you. I just had NO idea it would be so damned soon!” Kayla began to laugh threw her tears.
“God Kayla, I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you too.” I said passionately. “I’ve never, ever had this happen to me but, it almost feels like I’ve known you for my whole life.”
“I know baby, that’s how I feel too.” She bent down to kiss me. “Dana, I think we better get someone to look at your eye. I think you are gonna need stitches.”
She put her hand out to me and I took it and let her help me stand. The world spun when I got upright but, settled down pretty quickly. We walked out of the bathroom together and found Lonnie running the cash register.
“I was wonderin’ what happened to y’all.” He said. “Oh my gosh! What happened to your eye?”
“Walked into the door.” I lied.
“Lonnie, I’m gonna take her up to the hospital. I think she’s gonna need stitches. Can you close up?” Kayla asked.
“Yep. Go ahead. Oh yeah, Aunt Elsie called. Uncle JT had a heart attack but, looks like he’s gonna be OK. She says that she wants to do something special for your friend there.” He said pointing at me with his chin. “You’re a hero you know.” He added shyly.
“No I’m not.” I said, hoping there was just the right amount of humility in my voice. “Anyone would have done it.”
Kayla looked at me with those eyes and smiled, “Yeah, you’re a hero. You’re my hero. And that’s just one of the reasons I love you.” And then she kissed me on the lips, right in front of her brother.
I looked up at Lonnie to see what his reaction was to this. He was looking at the cash register but he had a small smile on his face. He looked up at me and for the first time I noticed that his eyes were blue too but, instead of being the bright, sky blue of his sisters, his eyes were the color of a robin’s egg. They were absolutely beautiful.
Kayla took my hand and led me out of the gas station. I gave her the Lincoln’s keys and I slid into the passenger’s side. She started the big car and put it into gear and drove me to the hospital. We were admitted into the Emergency Room and the doctor saw me pretty quickly.
The doctor told me I would need stitches and said that I was lucky. She just happened to be a plastic surgeon. We were there for about three hours and I walked out with 17 stitches and a prescription for a mild painkiller and an antibiotic. And instructions for Kayla to wake me up every couple hours to make sure I was still alive (I guess).
We went back to her place and I called my friend Jess and explained the delay in my getting to Knoxville. I told him the short version. Then we took the shower that we were dying to take but, instead of making love all night long, I wrapped her in my arms and we slept. She never woke me up so if I died, we never knew it.
CHAPTER 4
I woke up just as the sun came up. I felt as though I had been run over by a truck. A big truck. I got up and went into the bathroom. I took one of my painkillers and one of the antibiotics. I brushed my teeth and took a good long look at the injury on my face. It was pretty gross, ‘Prolly have a cool scar’ I thought. My eye was swollen shut and I had a shiner that took up half of my face.
I decided to take a quick shower to loosen up my aching body. I had just soaped up when I heard the shower curtain move and when I turned around I saw Kayla stepping in to the shower with me. Her beauty took my breath away. The baby in her belly made her even more beautiful. She smiled shyly at me and said, “Do ya mind babe?”
“Hell no I don’t mind!” I said and took her into my arms. I kissed her long and hard. While I was kissing her it occurred to me that the only orgasm either of us had experienced was the one Kayla had yesterday in the bathroom. And that was all due to nipple stimulation. I wonder what would happen if I did her ‘right”. I decided to let both of us finish our showers and when we were done, I was going to show her what this “butch-femme” thing was all about.
I left the bathroom before her. She wanted to dry her hair at least half way. I went into her bedroom to prepare myself. I rummaged around in my suitcase and found what I was looking for at the bottom. I stepped into the harness and then put on a pair of jockey shorts. I pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms. I was ready. I made sure that everything was on the way it was supposed to be.
She came into the bedroom wearing a sexy little red silky robe and was running her fingers through her hair. Again I found myself struggling to draw a full breath of air. It was almost like I was forgetting to breathe. “Kayla, come here. There’s something I want to show you.” I had a hard time making my voice loud.
Kayla walked over to me looking interested in what I had to show her. “Whatcha doin’ babe?” she asked sweetly.
I took her hands in mine and said, “I’m gonna show you something that I hope you like.”
I put my arms around her and bent down to find her lips with mine. She leaned into me and pulled me close to her. She looked up into my eyes and stunned me with the bright color of blue that peered out from under her thick eyelashes. Her eyes looked dreamy and she had a smile on her lips. I bent down and scooped her up into my arms. Her arms automatically went around my neck and I carried her over to the bed.
I gently laid her down and lay down beside her. I began to kiss her slowly. I ran my fingers down her body. I started at her neck and followed the valleys of her throat and then her two full breasts. Down farther to the tie of her robe. I began to untie it and then slipped my hand under the robe. As soon as my fingers touched the skin on her belly, we moaned at the same time. We both smiled and then got back to business.
I let my hands explore her body. As I did, I continued to kiss her soft lips. She had her arms around my neck and was playing with my hair. My hand was massaging her belly and I slowly let it drop lower. The tips of my fingers on her skin felt like fire. Finally I reached the jackpot.
Her pubic hair was straight and very soft. There wasn’t much of it just a patch covering her pubic area. I got to the top of the slit and let my finger play just outside of the hot, wet interior. She was moaning a little louder and tried to lift her hips to force my finger inside. I pulled back and whispered “What’s the matter babe? Do you want something?”
She looked at me with those eyes and whispered “Dana, I need you to make love to me. Please baby, I need to feel you inside of me.”
I got up on my hands and knees and I straddled her. I began to kiss her again but this time, slowly down her body. Her lips, chin, throat, chest, breasts, nipples, (extra time on the nipples), belly, down, down, to her sweet pussy.
My tongue reached the top of the slit and then I ran it down one side of the slit and came up the other side. Kayla had her fingers entwined in my hair and tried to pull my face into her pussy. I ran my tongue up the slit with out entering it. Then, without warning I pushed it into her pussy and the tip of it hit the top of her clit. Her hips bucked off of the bed and the noise that came from her was almost satanic.
I began to work her clit with my tongue. It was so slippery from her excitement that I had a hard time getting a good grip. My tongue slipped off of her hard clit and plunged into her hot, wet vagina. I begin to fuck her with my tongue. She loved this and began to squirm and call to God. I stopped what I was doing and came up from between her legs. I rose up and as Kayla watched, pulled down my pj’s, then the jockey shorts. Her blue eyes widened and then a slow smile crossed her mouth as she registered what she was seeing.
My strap on dick was huge and hard and wanted to be buried inside of this woman. I positioned myself over her and guided it to the opening of her vagina. I touch the head of my dick to her soaking wet opening. Her breath was coming in spurts. Her eyes were dilated and she begged, “Baby, please fuck me. Oh my God, I can’t wait anymore, fuck me hard baby.”
Now, I am an old school type butch and when my woman begs me to fuck her now and to make it hard that is exactly what she is going to get. With one quick movement I buried my bone inside of her. Slowly I began to fuck her. She had her nails buried in my ass and tried to pull me into her, all the way into her. I felt her orgasm coming and I feel mine building. I begin to pound my cock in her pussy. I slammed my dick in and then pulled it almost all the way out and then slammed it in again.
“Oh my God baby! I’m gonna cum! Sweet Jesus! I’m gonna…NOW!” Kayla’s body began to spasm. I ‘felt’ her vagina tightening around my dick and that’s all it took. I ‘felt’ my dick shoot cum up into her belly. I pumped my dick until I ’emptied’ myself into her quivering pussy.
I flopped my body off of her. Both of us were covered with sweat and our chests were heaving. I turned toward her and wrapped my arms around her. I kissed her and she said to me, “Dana that was incredible. I have never in my life cum like that. I could actually feel you cumin’ inside of me. ”
“I know baby, I felt it too. Jesus, I’ve heard other butches talk about that but, this is the first time I actually felt it.” I raised my one working eyebrow at her, “I wonder what I would feel if you gave me a blow job?”
Her blue eyes twinkled as she said, “Well, let’s just find out.” And she flipped over on top of me. She kissed me deeply and pushed her tongue in my mouth. Our tongues began to dance a passionate dance. She started grinding on my dick and I felt my heart begin to pick up it’s pace again.
Just then the baby gave me a huge head butt. Kayla stopped and reached down to rub her baby’s butt. “Stop it Jon. Mama’s playin’!” She said lightly. She looked so calm and serene. Her eyes were closed and she was rubbing her belly. She began to hum a lullaby under her breath. Her robe was still on but had fallen all the way open exposing her belly and her breasts.
I reached up and began to rub her belly too. Her eyes flew open like she had forgotten where she was and what she had been doing. A beautiful smile crossed her lips “He’s not used to his Mama being this happy.” Her eyes filled with tears but the smile never left her mouth. “Dana, I was serious when I said I need you in my life. I know you don’t know me very well but I hope you believe me when I tell you that I have never fallen this quickly for anyone. The only person I have ever been in love with was Johnny. I loved him since I was a kid.”
“Since the third grade.” I said, surprising myself that I had said it out loud.
Kayla smiled, “Yep, since the third grade.” And a tear spilled over and down her cheek.
Kayla got off of me and settled in beside me in the bed. I put my arm around her and pulled her tight to me. “What happened to him?” I asked her.
She was silent for so long that I thought she hadn’t heard me. I was just about to ask her again when she answered me so quietly, at first I thought there was someone talking outside on the sidewalk.
“We had to keep our relationship quiet because his daddy hated my daddy. They had been best friends since they were little boys and they were both goin’ to go into the Army right after high school. The night before they were going go enlist, Daddy told Johnny’s daddy that he wasn’t going into the Army. He told him that he was goin’ to go to college. He had gotten accepted at Ohio State in Medical school. Johnny’s daddy never talked to mine again.” Kayla pulled the covers up over us and snuggled in closer to me. “My daddy met my mama while he was in college. She was a nurse at the hospital where he did his residency. They got married right after daddy finished his first year of residency. Mama got pregnant with Lonnie with in a year and I was born four years later.
“Anyway, Johnny and I went steady since junior high. But we never told anyone in his family. Not even Jerry Lee. Johnny and Jerry Lee were never real close. They had different mothers. Johnny’s mama died when Johnny was born. His daddy got remarried when Johnny was a year old. Jerry Lee was born less than a year later. Jerry Lee’s mama played favorites and she favored Jerry Lee over Johnny. But even though Jerry Lee was treated better, he was always jealous of Johnny. He would tell lies to get Johnny in trouble and his mama believed him. ”
We dated all through high school. Johnny never did go to college he didn’t really liked school. He got a real good job working at the Budweiser plant. We lived together and were pretty happy. I was almost done with school when I got the call that my Grammy had died. Her and my Poppy owned the gas station for as long as I can remember. Poppy died about 10 years before her and Grammy ran the station all by herself all that time. She died one night in her sleep. I came down here for the funeral and never went back up to school. I decided to try to run the station. About four months later Johnny came down to be with me.”
Then fifteen months ago, we broke up for six months. I got mad at him for not standing up to his daddy and tellin’ him the truth about us. I told him that if he couldn’t be honest with his daddy, then he didn’t need to waste his time with me anymore. I had told my daddy about us and he was kinda happy, said he hoped that this would bring him and Johnny’s daddy back together as friends.” She brushed her hair out of her eyes, which were rapidly filling back up with tears.
“During the time we broke up, I went up to visit my parents for a week and ended up sleepin’ with Johnny’s brother Jerry Lee a couple of times. I only did it because I hoped that Johnny would find out and this would make him see that he needed to tell his father about us because we belonged together. Well he did find out and he was so mad at me! He came here late one night and we had a huge fight. We were up half the night yellin’ and screamin’ at each other. He called me a whore and I called him a sissy boy. Anyhow, by the time the sun came up, we were both too tired to fight anymore and we ended up in bed. That was when we made the baby.” Kayla had a sad smile on her face.
“Two days later, Johnny was on his way up to his daddy’s house to tell him that we were gonna get married and he was hit by a drunk driver. They said he was killed instantly. I heard it from Jordie you know, Uncle JT’s son? He came to my place to tell me because he knew about Johnny and me. He was so sweet. He asked if I wanted him to sleep on the couch that night. I didn’t. I wanted to be alone. I couldn’t believe that he was gone. I still can’t believe it. Johnny was a good man. He would have liked you,” Kayla stopped and looked into my eyes. “Then again, he probably would have hated you because I have a feeling I would have left him for you. If you would have had me.” She added shyly.
“If I would have had you?” I asked. “Oh baby, I would have you any time, any day.”
Kayla smiled and then she kissed me. It was a long, slow kiss. “Two months to the day, Johnny’s daddy dropped dead at work. They said it was a massive heart attack but, I think it was a broken heart. He’ll never get to know his grandson either.” Kayla looked so sad, I wanted to hold her and make all the bad memories go away. “Well, that’s pretty much what happened. Kinda the short version. But I’ll tell ya what, I plan on tellin’ you everything there is to know about me.”
Just then the phone rang. I glanced at my watch and saw it was already 10:30. “Jesus! Look what time it is!” I said as I jumped up. Kayla grabbed the bedside phone. It was Lonnie and by the sounds of things he was at the gas station. “Oh Lonnie, I’m glad you called.” Kayla said into the phone. “I was just gettin’ ready to call you, I’m goin’ out of town for about a week and I need you to watch the station for me. Yes, I’m goin’ away with her. That’s none of your business Lonnie, can you or can’t you? OK. Thank you. I’ll see you in a few days, yes, we will. Bye.”
She looked up at me as she hung the phone up and said, “Do you mind that I invited myself along?”
“Absolutely not. I can’t think of anyway to make this trip more pleasant.” I said honestly.
She got up and began to get dressed. She looked at me her eyes were full of sparkles, “Um, can ya leave that thing on when ya get dressed?” she asked as she pointed at my dick.
“Why Miss Kayla, I believe I can.” Like I said, I’m an old school butch. I zipped up my Levi’s shorts and looked down. There was a big bulge in the front of my pants. It made me feel pretty good.
I picked up my cell phone and called my friend Jess. “Yo Motherfucker!” I hollered in the receiver when he picked up the other line.
“Who you calling a motherfucker you piece of shit?” Jess hollered back at me with a smile in his voice.
“Hey dude, we’re on our way.” I said into my cell.
“We?” He asked.
“Ya know what I told ya about meeting Kayla yesterday? Well, she’s coming with me. She needs to get away.” I knew it sounded lame.
“Well all righty then!” He said with out pushing for details. That’s what I loved about Jess, He was the originator of ‘go with the flow’.
I hung up and when I turned around Kayla was standing there looking at me with a smile on her face and her eyes were shining.
“I still can’t believe how lucky I was to meet you baby.” She whispered.
I went over and took her in my arms. I hugged her and then I kissed her. I grabbed her ass and pulled her close to me. She felt so right in my arms. I wanted to have her melt inside me. I wanted to be able to keep her safe and warm forever. I kissed the top of her head and told her we better be hitting the road.
She bent to pick up her suitcase and I grabbed it out of her hand. “Here let me take that babe.” I said with all the chivalry in the world.
I jerked on the handle meaning to pick up the bag and was stopped dead by the weight. “Sweet Jesus Kayla! What the heck do you have packed in here?” I asked laughing.
“Baby, it’s everything I need to keep myself beautiful for you.” She said swatting me on the ass.
I kissed her again, took her hand and led her out the door.
CHAPTER 5
We went outside and got in the Lincoln. It was one of those perfect June days. The sky was the same blue as Kayla’s eyes. There wasn’t a cloud to be seen. The temperature was 72 degrees with low humidity. I started up the car and put it in drive. We rolled the windows down and let the morning air blow through. Kayla turned the radio on and tuned it in to the country station.
The hot married country couple were singing to each other about making love. Kayla reached over and took my hand. I looked over at her and she began singing along with the song. Kayla sang amazingly well. I was shocked at how well.
We drove in silence for awhile. Kayla directed me back to the highway and when we passed her gas station I remembered the whole reason I met her was because of missing the “Rank River Road.” exit. “Have you ever heard of ‘Rank River Road.’?” I asked her.
“I sure have,” she said, “it’s about 2 miles back. Why?”
I told her the story how I ended up in her gas station. Of course I left out the part of how I thought Lonnie was a Neanderthal. Kayla was quiet for a few moments and then she said “Well, that proves it; I was supposed to meet you. I felt it the first time I looked up and saw those green eyes of yours.”
I was shocked that Kayla even noticed what color my eyes were since hers were so beautiful. “Do you think so babe?”
“Yeah baby, I think so”.
With that Kayla closed her eyes and settled back in to the ‘fine Corinthian leather’. I hit the highway and soon we were heading for the Kentucky/Tennessee border. My mind started to wander.
I was happy, and I was confused. Is that possible? Can a person have more than one feeling at once? Especially two like happiness and confusion. Jesus, this was probably the best thing that had ever happened in my life. I could hardly believe that I had been lucky enough to meet Kayla.
I’d always wanted to have kids. Thought I’d make a pretty good “step-monster”. I wanted to set up house with this woman and her baby. I was willing to do what ever it took to get her into my life and to keep her there. I was pretty sure that would mean that I would have to change my whole life, as I knew it. I wondered if she would be willing to move to Michigan or if I’d have to move here. Well, either way, I felt in my gut that I would be deliriously happy.
I imagined her and me living in my house together, raising her baby to be our baby. I imagined us getting married and growing old together. I let the dream roll on; I pictured us with a house full of kids. In my mind’s eye, I saw what a perfect mother Kayla would be.
I glanced over at Kayla and was startled to see that she was looking at me. She had a huge smile on her face and her eyes were full of sparkles. I felt a full fledge “blush” creep up my neck and to my cheeks.
“You’re so cute when you blush!” She said. I felt the heat kick up another notch. She laughed at me and I began to laugh.
“So Dana, you haven’t really told me anything about yourself baby, I want to know everything.” Her voice was so genuinely sweet that I wanted to tell her all of my secrets.
“Well, there is really not that much to tell babe. Lemme think.” I screwed up my face in theatrical concentration. Kayla burst out laughing and so did I. Her laugh was like music.
“I mean it Dana, I want to know.” Her eyes were peering into my eyes almost looking into me, into my soul.
I opened my mouth to start to talk. I wasn’t sure where I was going to begin. All of the sudden I was very afraid. What if I told her and she didn’t like what she heard? What if she heard my story and then she didn’t like me? My mouth went dry and my knee began to bounce uncontrollably. It was a good thing I had that big car on cruise control or, we’d both have ended up with whiplash!
“Well damn, I don’t know where to start. Seriously, let me think.” And with that I began to search my brain for something that would let her know that I was worthy of her and the baby.
The spotlight of time swept my memory. It went back and forth over my life searching for a good place to land. I needed a good jumping off spot, and I’d be damned if I could find the right one.
“I was born in 1965 to an un-wed teenaged mother. Her parents wanted nothing to do with me and talked her into giving me up. I was adopted right from the hospital. My parents had been trying to adopt a baby for six years and it turned out that they were able to get their hands on me because, my bio-mother is my adoptive mother’s second cousin.” I stopped to try to figure which avenue to take this part of my story down.
I decided that the best place to head was right down the middle.
“My life growing up was the best! I can’t imagine having a better childhood. I was so happy and so loved. There was never a doubt in my mind about how much my parents loved me. I knew that they would do anything in the world for me. Not that I was spoiled because, I wasn’t. But, that they would make sure that I never felt any different than any other kid just because I was adopted.” I felt my chest and throat tighten up; I hated this part of my life’s story. I sent up a silent prayer that I wouldn’t start crying.
“It was like that for the first fourteen years. When I was twelve I fell in love with my first girlfriend. She was so cute. She had long blonde hair and brown eyes. Her name was Tina Marie Tansy. I had a slumber party for my twelfth birthday. There were six of us and we played all the stupid little birthday party games. We ate way too much junk food and tried to stay up all night. Everyone but Tina and I passed out. I wanted so badly to kiss her but, I knew better.”
I smiled at the warm feeling this particular part of the memory gave me.
“She asked me if I wanted to play spin the bottle. She laid her soda bottle on the floor and spun it, and just as it was getting ready to go past me, she reached out and stopped it. She got up on her hands and knees and crawled over to me. She kissed me on the mouth. I thought I had died and gone to heaven.” I looked over at Kayla; she had a sweet smile on her face.
“Tina and I kissed a lot that night. I even got to ‘second base’. It was wild. I put my hand under her nightie and tried to find her little titties, and damned if I could find’em.” I laughed.
“Well anyway to make a long story short, Tina and I were in love. Tina made me promise to not tell anyone. But I did tell someone. I told my parents. They were so great! My dad said he wasn’t surprised that I loved Tina because she was so beautiful. My moms told me that no matter who I loved that her and dad would always love me. She said that they just wanted me to be happy.”
“Tina and I were together for the next two years. She was so sweet to me! And her and my parents were crazy about each other!” I looked at Kayla and her beautiful blue eyes were looking into me.
“On my fourteenth birthday, my parents took me and Tina to Cedar Point, the huge amusement park in Sandusky? We had such a great day! We spent the night in the hotel there and the next day went to the water-park. We left about 3 o’clock in the afternoon to head back home. Right about the time we got to the Michigan line we ran into a huge traffic back up so my dad got off at the first exit he found.” I felt myself tearing up.
“When we got off of the highway, my dad pulled off to the side of the road to look at the map to try to figure out where we were and how to get back to the highway farther up the road. I don’t think any of us saw it coming. A gravel truck came out of no where. He said he had taken his eyes off of the road for just a second because he dropped his cigarette. He hit our car. Dad and Tina died instantly. My mom died three days later, she was in a coma and never came out of it.”
By now I was crying. Tears were flowing out of my ‘good’ eye. I wished we had never started this conversation. “I came out of the accident with a broken wrist and a black eye. I had been knocked out for about three minutes. I heard people trying to get into the car. The driver’s side had been crushed and that’s why Dad and Tina died so quickly. She was sitting behind him. I was behind my mom.”
I was now crying so hard that I was having a difficult time seeing the road. An exit loomed in the distance and I drew a bead on it. Kayla reached over and had taken my hand in hers and was kissing the back of it. She had tears running down her cheeks. I wanted to bury my face in her lap and cry all the tears I had held back for the last 20 something years.
We left the highway and I drove to the top of the exit. There was a fast food place to the right and I pulled into the parking lot. I put the Lincoln in park and buried my face in my hands and sobbed. Kayla scooted over to me and wrapped her arms around me the best she could. She murmured that everything was gonna be ok. She held me until I cried myself out.
“Want me to drive awhile baby?” She whispered.
“Yeah, if you don’t mind. I’d kinda like to take another pain pill.” My face and my head were pounding with pain. I was totally embarrassed by my behavior. I couldn’t look Kayla in the eye. I popped the trunk and got out of the car. I went around to the back and got into my overnight bag, found my pain pills and dry swallowed two of them.
When I got back to the front of the car, Kayla was already behind the wheel. I leaned in and asked if she wanted to get something to eat. She said she’d rather wait about an hour because we’d be almost out of Kentucky and she knew a great little restaurant that served the worlds best breakfast and wanted to know if I could wait.
“Worlds BEST?” I asked, trying to lighten my mood a bit. “Oh Ms. Kayla, I think you’ve got that wrong. The world’s BEST breakfast is made in my kitchen. Did I tell you I’m a great cook?”
Kayla looked at me very seriously. Her eyes were the color of an aquamarine. “Dana, I don’t want you to ever feel bad about your feelin’s. I want you to tell me everything there is to know about you baby. I don’t want you to ever hold back anything from me. Do you hear me?”
“Yes. I want to tell you everything there is to know too.” I was starting to feel a little better. Then again, it could have been the pain pills.
Kayla put the car in gear and we left. We got on the highway and the next thing I knew, Kayla was calling my name and telling me we were at the restaurant. It felt like I was coming up from a pool of muddy water. It took me a few seconds to get my bearings. I looked over at Kayla and she was looking at me with a look of concern.
“Baby, are you ok?” She asked me.
“I’m fine. I fell asleep.” I mumbled. “I took two pain pills, musta knocked me out huh?”
We got out of the car and headed inside. I was so hungry I felt like I could eat the ass end out of a raw skunk. I ordered a large coffee; a fresh squeezed orange juice and the breakfast buffet. Kayla ordered the same and surprised me by out eating me by a plate and a half.
We had sat across from each other in a corner booth. I couldn’t stop looking at her. She was the most beautiful woman I have ever laid my eyes on. I wanted to reach across the table and touch her face to make sure she was real. It almost felt like, she was so beautiful and so perfect that she couldn’t possibly be real. Like she was an angel.
Suddenly I got scared. What if she is an angel and is only here for a short time? What if she was going to be taken from me like Tina and my parents? What if I lost her? Oh my God! I couldn’t possibly live through that again! In my mind’s eye, I saw Kayla’s cold, lifeless body laying on a table in a hospital and me standing over her. I felt as though my heart was going to slam out of my chest and my breath was being strangled out of me.
“Dana! Baby what’s wrong? Is your eye hurtin’?” Kayla’s voice snapped me back into reality and I was sitting across from her in the corner booth again. I could feel tears forming in my eyes while they tried to re-focus on her. I shook my head and found her eyes. I focused on them. I pulled myself together as quickly as I could. “Dana? I want you to tell me what’s wrong. You’re scarin’ me”. Kayla’s voice was full of concern. I thought about lying to her. I thought about saying “Nothing is wrong baby” but I just couldn’t.
“Kayla, I just had a horrible picture in my mind of being alone without you. I know it’s only been one day but, I already know that I couldn’t live without you!” I felt my eyes filling up with tears again. “Oh sweetie!” she whispered. “I am not gonna to leave you! I swear to God I’m not!”
I looked into her eyes and it was obvious that she had misunderstood my emotional outburst. She thought I meant that she would break up with me. I was glad that this was the way she took it.
“Promise”? I asked with a smile. “I promise baby”! She said with conviction.
I paid the bill and as we headed for the car Kayla put her arm around my waist. The touch of this woman did things to me that I didn’t know was possible. She set me on fire. I have never felt this way with anyone, ever.
As we approached the Town Car I noticed that coming across the parking lot was a couple “Jim Bob’s”. They looked Kayla up and down and then glanced at me, did a double take, and then looked back at Kayla. They started to laugh and just then the wind caught the odor of alcohol that was wafting off of them and directed it up my nose. “Oh SHIT! ” I thought to myself. “This has got “ugly” written all over it”.
As we got closer to them the guy on the right yelled “Hey buddy what happened? She catch you cheatin’ and whup your ass for ya?”
I looked at Kayla and as I tried to figure out how I was gonna pull this off. Kayla sweetly replied “Why no sir! I have never had to whup him for cheatin’, I have had to whup him for stayin’ out too late, playin’ cards and drinkin’ with his buddies though.”
The two Jethro’s began to guffaw. It sounded like they were bleating out “HEE-HAW”! One of them raised his huge ‘paw’ for a “high five” as they passed us. I gave it to him and then put my arm around my woman and pulled her close to me and kissed her on the cheek. And with that we were safely past those two. I never had to say one word. I never had to get my ass kicked by these two. I breathed a sigh of relief.