“Each pregnancy was hard on her. She miscarried more times than she birthed, and by the time the third one rolled around, ole Doc Finney told her she shouldn’t conceive anymore. No more babies meant no more sex. I was in my prime, not even thirty years old. My cock was hard day and night. Sex wasn’t something I was willing to go without.”
“And I didn’t. As I said, humans ain’t perfect, and I wasn’t either. I had my first affair with a widow-woman in a neighboring county. Man, did that woman have a set of tits! It lasted about six months before she up and married a farmer from Idaho.”
“My second affair…” Again, he paused, considering whether he wanted to talk about it. “I know this will shock you, but the woman I bedded was a young beauty who’d just moved to our county. She was one of them mail-order brides. She was from Poland and didn’t speak much English, but who needs to talk when you are fucking, and let me tell you that bitch could fuck.”
At first, I didn’t think he would tell me who it was, but he finally said, “Aw heck, I guess that wife of yours never told you about her. It was Cyndi’s grandma, Irena. She hated that husband of hers and fucked every man in the county. I’m not sure Irena knew who her daughter’s father was. It surely wasn’t the man she was married to. It came as a big shock to a lot of the men in this county when Irena announced she was with child. A couple of men, like red-headed Arnie Slocum and Boomer Johnson, the black smithy, were very nervous for nine long months. Even Mayor Joe sweated some bullets. Chuck, Irena’s husband, was as ugly as the day was long with jet black hair and shit brown eyes, and from what Irena told everyone, that cock of his didn’t do much shootin at all, if you know what I mean. Irena had dark brown hair and brown eyes. Cyndi’s mom was blonde-haired and blue-eyed. The only thing Cyndi’s bitch of a mother got from her supposed father was her corrosive personality, and that didn’t necessarily have to do with genetics. To this day, we still don’t know who the real father was.”
He stopped to let what was said sink in.
“I only poked her a few times and never shot my load in that pussy of hers. I wasn’t no stupid man. She might have been a good lay, but I knew before I even fucked her she was trouble, and I didn’t want no part of that. Everyone knew about her wild ways, and I didn’t want to dishonor Sarah by her finding out.”
After Irena, I stayed on my own for a long time. I know this will come as a shock to you…” He looked at me and then at Owen. “Or maybe it won’t. But I started having relations with Hank.”
The room spun around for a brief second. I couldn’t believe what he’d just admitted to.
“Hank was ten years younger than me. He told me after he came to work here that he was one of those homosexual men. It didn’t matter to me one lick who he preferred to sleep with as long as he put in a good day’s work. But even more than that, and I don’t know why, it intrigued me. I’d never met that kind of man before. As Hank and I got to know each other and I was comfortable asking him questions, he told me the things he enjoyed. As you can imagine, he wasn’t getting much, especially during harvest season. He told me whenever he got a day off, he’d head over to Great Falls and, as he put it, ‘cruise’ the areas where those types of men hung out. They would just get in his car, or he’d take them to his hotel room, and he’d suck them or drop his drawers and let them fuck him. I didn’t understand it then, but he told me he was a bottom.”
“One day, before I leased all that land to young Joshua, Hank and I headed out to do a fence-mending run. We was going to spend a couple of nights in that small cabin up by Dugger’s ridge while we worked the northern fences. We tethered the horses, and Hank was going to start a fire. I know you know the cabin. It had no running water. If you gotta piss, you pissed off the porch. If you need to take a crap, you head out into the woods. It was that simple. So I stepped out on the porch to take a piss. Hank stood in the doorway and watched me. He licked his lips. It had been so long since I felt anyone touch me. He was willing, and I was horny. The first time my cock slipped into his tight little ass, I knew we was meant to be.” Sid let out a little laugh. “The next morning, I woke up to Hank sucking my dick. He told me he loved to suck cock, and if I’d let him, he’d give me a blow job every day. Boys, let me tell you. My relationship with Hank lasted fifty years, and every day that I was able to get this baby up, he sure as fuck sucked it. Sarah passed when Mary was sixteen. When Mary left home after high school, Hank moved into the house. We pushed the two beds together and never spent a night away from each other until the day he died.”
“I cried for weeks after he passed on, and not only because my cock wasn’t being sucked no more. Hell, I was past the age of getting it up. Hank and me was real. We loved and respected each other more than most couples I knew.” Sid’s eyes clouded as he remembered his long-time lover. “I never regretted one day we was together and will go to my death knowing that I was one of the lucky ones in this world. I shared love with someone.”
“Now you two are wondering, why is this senile old man telling you his story? I’m doing it for two reasons. One is just that, I’m old. My time left on earth ain’t gonna be much longer. For once, I want to tell someone how much I cared for Hank and how proud I was of our love. I want us to have a legacy.” He lifted a picture of Hank and him together on the small table beside him and handed it to me. “You keep this picture of us to remember us. To know that two men can love and respect each other and make a go of it.”
“The other reason is that I’ve known Austin all my life. Today is the first time since he was sixteen that I’ve seen him happy. I see how you look at that beautiful man sitting next to you. The way you two work together, move together. It reminded me of Hank and me. I seen the little glances between the two of you. I even caught that little lingering kiss you two shared when you was washin up. It brought tears to my eyes thinking about Hank and how much I miss him.” Sid stopped, and tears clouded his eyes again. “I might be an old coot, but I can see what you two have is real.”
I looked over to Owen and smiled. Owen moved closer to me and took my hand in his.
“Thank you, Mr. Turner,” Owen said.
“You call me Sid. If you care for my boy the way I think you do, then you are A-OK in my books and will be treated like family.”
“I care deeply for Austin and look forward to being a part of your family.”
“You listen to me, Austin. I know you might not want to hear this, but it’s time I tell you about that woman of yours. I don’t like no gossip. You know me well enough to know that, but I’ve held my tongue long enough. Are you ready to hear me out, son?”
“I think I know already, Sid.”
“What you think you know and what is are two things, my boy. What I need to say ain’t gonna be pretty. You will need to lean on that man of yours. You are gonna need his strength.” Owen put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. Sid took a deep breath, looked at me with all the love he had, and began.