“Austin, that woman of yours is pure evil. She has you twisted so much, you can’t see it, and the few of us that know have kept it from you long enough, too long as far as I’m concerned. She’s a carbon copy of her whore grandmother. She fucks any man that looks her way. At first, she was careful. But the more men she fucked, the more they bragged and the more gossip she made. Now, do you want me to go on and tell you everything?”
At first, I didn’t know how to answer him. I was caught off guard. Owen squeezed my hand, letting me know that he was there for me no matter what. I nodded my head for him to continue.
“Okay, I’m gonna say it all at once, everything that whore has done to you, so get ready.” He leaned forward, squeezed my knee, took a deep breath, and started. “For a while, we thought she was gonna settle and just fuck that feller Steve over at the hydroponics farm; they have been shagging each other since the day she hired him four years ago. But no, she fucks other men too. Sometimes, even with Steve watchin her. She offers any young man when they turn eighteen their first adult fuck. All they have to do is go to the hydroponics plant, show her their ID, that they are legal, and she spreads her legs. She spends hours with them youngins, teaching them how to lick her pussy and then how to fuck it. Steve likes to watch her ride those young studs. She’s a kinky bitch too. Sometimes she lets them studs fuck her ass. You go over to the hydroponic farm and look in the room marked STORAGE. Steve keeps it locked most of the time. But inside is a bed with a red rubber sheet. That’s where she fucks her men.”
“Now, boy, I ain’t saying this to hurt you. I tell you because I love you. We, the few of us who know what she’s been doin’, decided to keep it to ourselves. We figured one day she’d up and leave you or cross you so badly you’d kick her out, and we’d be here to help you through your bad times.”
Owen was holding me as hard as he could, but it didn’t help; this was my worst nightmare.
“Now, what I got to tell you next is gonna hurt you, and I’m sorry about that, but you need to know the truth once and for all. For years, I’ve listened to your frustration of how you hadn’t been able to get pregnant. I’ll tell you why it’s not happened and it ain’t you. She tells you she went to Great Falls, got tested, and was fine. Well, that was an out-and-out lie. She did go to Great Falls. She got her one of those female docs there. That’s where she gets them birth control pills. The bitch bragged to Steve how smart she was, pulling the wool over your eyes. He told Bud, my part-timer. Bud lost his virginity to her. She normally only fucks them boys once, but Bud’s got a nice thick piece of meat between his legs, so she’s kept him around because he goes both ways and takes care of Steve too. He moved into Steve’s place a few months back, keeps his bed nice and warm, and his ass full of cream. Steve and Cyndi are cut from the same cloth. They’ll either fuck or get fucked by anyone with a cock. And that’s all I’m gonna say about that bitch. But there is one last thing I need to do…”
Sid stood and made his way over to an old roll-top desk packed with papers. From one of the cubby holes, he pulled an envelope out.
“You are a good man, Austin. You’ve been more of a son to me than my flesh and blood. You are a farmer who never wanted anything more than to take care of his land, but more than that, you respect the land. I want you to know that I got me one of those fancy lawyers in Great Falls. He came out here and did me up with one of them legal papers, a Last Will and Testament. When I go, I’m leaving everything to you. It ain’t much, but the land is paid for. The lease with Joshua will pay the taxes and put a little sugar money in your pocket. Keep it or sell it, it don’t matter to me. If you sell it, you will only sell it to a good man who will work the land honestly.” He handed me the envelope. He had tears in his eyes. “I love you, son, that’s why I’m telling you, you got to rid yourself of that woman.”
He pulled me into his arms and held me to him. His frail body was shaking. We were all overcome with emotion and let the silence speak for us.
I remember hugging Sid before we left, walking out, and feeling the cold. Minus ten-degree weather will do that to you, but it was more than that. The chill I felt went beyond the cold. Owen got me into the truck and started the slow drive home. He had me sit close to him. I was shaking badly. He didn’t say a word. Once again, he was letting me process everything. My mind kept playing everything that Sid told me and the video we watched this morning. Cyndi confessing she feared I cheated throughout our marriage was a testimony to what she’d done. How could I have been so blind?
When we were within a half-mile of the farm, I said, “I need to go to the hydroponics plant.”
“We can go tomorrow in the light of day.” He had his hand on my leg.
“No. We have to go now. Steve will have plowed the road. He would have checked on things after the snow.”
“Okay, we’ll go. But will you be okay if you find what Sid said is there?”
“Owen, regardless of what we discover, I don’t think I’ll ever be okay again,” I said, staring straight ahead.
I gave him truncated directions to the plant, and somehow, we made it there. I was right. Steve had plowed. The thirty thousand square foot windowless two-story concrete structure stuck out like a sore thumb in the middle of farm country. Other than a stray light over the front entrance, the place was dark against the black background of night. I tapped in the security code that also unlocked the door; it clicked open, and we walked in. The entrance was only lit by a glowing exit sign, but I knew my way around and quickly found the light switch. Overhead, fluorescent lights hummed on.
There were three doors in front of us.
“That’s Steve’s office. The middle door leads to the clean room, and beyond that is the hydroponics area.” We walked over to the door marked STORAGE and tried the handle. It was locked, just as Sid said it would be. I wasn’t going to be deterred. The door wasn’t a high-security, high-quality door. All it took was one kick, and I was in. I didn’t care one bit about breaking the door.
I found the light switch and clicked it on.
Motherfuckingshitpissfuckinghell!
I prayed the room would have brooms, mops, and more cleaning supplies. But no, staring right at me was a twin-size bed covered in a red rubber sheet. On a small table next to the bed were condoms, lubricants, and an array of sex toys. Numb, I walked out of the room and stood in the middle of the entryway. My world was crashing around me.
“FUCCCCCKKKKKK!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I wanted to punch my fist through the wall. I even started to do it, but Owen grabbed me and held me back.
“Scream, rant and rave. Let it out. But don’t hurt yourself over what that bitch did. This has nothing to do with you. You already told me it’s always been about her. Everything has been about her.”