Twisted (3 page)

“Jeff, Mike! I’m so happy to see you. That was perfect timing. Mr. Sears wanted to meet you. That was why I asked you to stop by.” She came over and gave each one of us a hug.

The gentleman who had recognized us was from Seattle. He was interested in sometime having some students from an art class he taught meet me and Mike to learn about Western art. I gave him a card and asked him to call anytime. Mr. Sears took the brand new Lucky Jeff Ranch card I gave him and headed out.

“Shall we go over to Rick’s and have some coffee? I’m sure you boys would like some pie, too, after skiing all the way from the ranch.”

“I don’t think either me or Jeff is gonna say no to that.” Mike smiled at her. She smiled back and got her coat on. We walked over to Rick’s bakery. It was only a block or so away, but everything in Winslett is within a couple of blocks. Rick is another hippie type with tie dye, Birkenstocks and wool socks, and a ponytail. He came here and opened a bakery and coffee shop. He was also a member of Mary Grace’s coven; both were practicing Wiccans. We walked into the bakery and got a table.

“Jeff, Mike, Mary Grace, hello, do you all want coffee?” Mike and I nodded and Mary Grace asked for chamomile tea. I looked over at the display window.

“Rick, what type of pies do you have today?”

“Pumpkin, mincemeat, apple, peach, and coconut cream, I think I’ve got a couple of slices of chocolate pie left too.”

“Mary Grace, what would you like?” She giggled and asked for the chocolate. I settled on peach and Mike wanted the pumpkin.

After we got our coffee and pie, Mary Grace looked from me to Mike.

“I guess that we can just socialize now.” I smiled at Mary Grace. “It’s not every day we get to socialize with pretty young ladies, is it Mike?”

“It sure ain’t,” he added with a grin. Mary Grace giggled again.

We started talking about the artists’ co-op and our exhibits. Mary Grace was hoping Mike would come up with a few more belts. Just then the bell at the door sounded, and we were greeted by a draft of very cold air, and in walked Sandy and Smitty. Sandy is one of my best and oldest friends. Her father is the sheriff, and she and I went to school together. She was my date for the senior prom. She’s really pretty, with shoulder-length, auburn hair and sparkling green eyes. Smitty was one of our newer hands. He is a nice, secure, and open guy. He has no problem with Mike and me being gay. He looks like a young Sam Elliott, with sandy blond hair. He was very obviously smitten with Sandy, and it looked like the attraction worked both ways. Sandy usually didn’t wear makeup, but today she had a little bit on. I noticed also that she had been dressing much nicer since Smitty came into the picture.

“Jeff, Mike!” Sandy headed toward us and gave each of us a hug as well as one to Mary Grace. Smitty clapped us on the back and tipped his hat to Mary Grace. Sandy turned to him and said, very loudly, “Well, since they’re here, you can ask them now.”

Smitty looked a little uncomfortable and hemmed and hawed after sitting down. He made some small talk after ordering coffee and pie for himself and Sandy. I could see Sandy was getting more impatient with him to ask us whatever it was he wanted to ask. Finally she just spoke up.

“I bet you’re wondering what Smitty wants to ask you.”

“I can’t say it didn’t cross my mind,” I responded.

“Go ahead, Smitty, tell them.”

He sighed. “This is a bit difficult. My brother is coming tomorrow and wants to stay with me. He got in with a bad crowd at school and ended up taking drugs. The drug habit got the best of him, and he ended up dropping out and selling himself on the streets to get enough for his next bit of drugs. I remember mentioning to you before that he’s gay. My parents finally had him committed to a drug rehabilitation program. He’s clean now, and has gotten his GED, but he’s really kind of lost. The only other gay folks he really knows are the hustlers he met on the street and the guys that picked them up. I was kinda hoping….” He continued to hem and haw.

Sandy finally spoke up. “We were hoping that you could maybe hire him to work at the ranch, now that you’ll be having dudes. We both thought the two of you would be a real good influence on him, you know, good role models.” She had an earnest look on her face as she looked from me to Mike.

Smitty sighed again and spoke up. “Before you even think about it, I want you to know there are some other issues. He’s nineteen and has that chip-on-the-shoulder, I-know-everything attitude. Also, he was repeatedly molested by a teacher in his school. The teacher is male, and Jason is trying to deal with his sexuality, feeling guilty about the experience with the teacher as well as having enjoyed it, but not being mature enough to handle it. I’m just so worried about him. He’s a good kid, really, but he’s had some bad breaks and made some very bad choices.” He stared at us expectantly.

Mike and I looked at one another. “Smitty, I don’t know the first thing about working with young folks who got all messed up. I’m not sure even how we would handle him.”

“Jeffy, just a minute. I feel bad for the kid. I know what it’s like to be a confused kid who feels he doesn’t have a friend in the world. Please think about it, for me.” Mike had a pleading look in his eyes. I took his hand and turned to Smitty.

“Just what would you want us to do?”

“I was thinking of his working at the ranch and staying in the bunkhouse. He could clean the rooms and the bathrooms and even the house.”

“Does he know anythin’ about cowboyin’?”

Smitty hesitated a minute before answering. “No. He can muck out horse stalls. I do feel the two of you and our friends would be a very good influence on him.”

“Have you talked to him about this?” Mike was really interested in helping this kid.

“I have, Mike. I also showed him the articles about the two of you. He’s excited about the possibility.”

I took a bite of pie and a drink of coffee to give myself some time to think. Smitty had become a good friend, and I really wanted to help him. Mike seemed to think it was a good idea, but I was worried that it might interfere with the dudes.

“Smitty, what if we do try and for some reason it doesn’t work out?”

“Then I’ll be very thankful you tried. I know you want to make the dude ranch part of your business a big success, and need to run a tight ship. You need to treat Jason just like any other employee.”

“I reckon it won’t hurt to try.” Mike reached under the table and squeezed my knee when I said that.

We spent the next hour or so talking about his pay, his staying in the bunkhouse from time to time, and the other logistics. Smitty was picking up Jason at the airport this evening, so we could all meet each other tomorrow. Mary Grace had been quiet through the whole conversation, but on the ride back to the ranch, she let us know she thought what we were going to do was great. I was just hoping we weren’t biting off more than we could chew.

T
HE
next day dawned cold and windy with flurries off and on. Since we were having visitors today, Mike and I wouldn’t have time to ski, so we just did a workout at home. By the time Smitty and Jason arrived, we had lunch ready. I’d made a pot of vegetable soup, and we had good bread from Rick’s bakery. Right on time, Smitty and his brother walked toward the house. Jason was about five foot eight or so, very slender, and he had a wispy patch of hair on his chin. He looked like a skinny and grumpy version of Smitty. He was scowling. Mike and I both were wearing jeans and flannel shirts. I noticed that Jason had a T-shirt with a heavy-metal-band logo on it through his unzipped jacket, and he was wearing sneakers. Not the best outfit for the current weather. He also had piercings in his ears, eyebrows, septum, and one through his lower lip. “Howdy, Smitty.”

I extended my hand to Jason. “You must be Jason, I’m Jeff.” He took my hand and shook it limply.

“Zero.”

I had no idea why Jason said that. “Pardon me?”

“It’s my street name, Zero. It’s what I go by.”

“Not here, ya don’t. When we got guests, you’ll go by Jason.” He scowled at me. I kept staring at him until he looked away.

“Hey.” Mike stepped forward, hand outstretched, and got the same limp shake. “I’m Mike, pleased to meet you.”

“Hey.”

“Mike and I made some lunch, just some simple soup, but it’s hot, and there’s a lot of it.” Mary Grace is a vegetarian and was supposed to stop by later, so I’d made it with lentils and beans rather than a meat base. It was kind of like minestrone.

“Does the soup have meat?”

“No, Jason, I made it veggie for Mary Grace, a vegetarian friend of ours.” He looked away from me quickly again.

“Good. I only eat vegetarian food.”

“Normally we don’t eat vegetarian, but you’ll be fixin’ a lot of your own food in the bunkhouse, so you can make whatever you want. José, our foreman, usually has a pot of beans goin’.”

“You ever cowboyed before, Jason?” Mike was smiling at him.

“Nope.”

“Well there isn’t too much cowboyin’ to do now anyway. I reckon Smitty told you about cleanin’ rooms and stuff.”

“Yeah.”

I had to chuckle. Mike was gettin’ treated the same way he used to treat people when we first met, getting one word answers and sullen responses. I had to give him credit, he kept trying.

“How do you like Winslett, Jason?”

“It looks boring.”

I laughed at that one, and he looked at me. “I thought the same thing when I was your age.”

“Really?”

“Yep, I always liked ridin’ and cowboyin’, and I like the outdoors stuff here, but it seemed on Friday and Saturday nights there was never anythin’ to do.”

“At least you like all that outdoors stuff. I don’t.”

“Each to his own, right, Jeff?” Mike smiled at Jason.

“That’s right.”

We sat down to eat. Jason had three bowls of soup. It was obvious to see that Smitty cared about him. I think Jason liked him quite a bit also, but he seemed to be at that age that anyone older was embarrassing. After lunch I took him around the house, showing him what his job would be. I let him know he was free to use our workout stuff and the hot tub. That got more of a response from him than I’d gotten so far.

“You and Mike are a couple?”

“That we are. Does that bother you?”

“No.” I reckoned that was the end of the conversation. Mike then took him out to the bunkhouse to introduce him to José and Jeanette and show him the room he could use when he stayed here. That gave me a bit of a chance to speak with Smitty.

“I’m sure it’ll be okay, Smitty. I’d reckon he’s just a bit slow to warm up.”

“I hope so, Jeff. He doesn’t seem to realize how lucky he is to be here and not in some youth home or jail.”

“Before I forget, does he have winter clothes? Those sneakers just ain’t gonna do it if we have somethin’ for him to do outside.”

“I’ll see. If not, he can wear some of my stuff until we can get him some.”

By that time, Mike and Jason were back. I told him to get settled today and tomorrow. He could start work the day after tomorrow. He’d clean the house and make sure the rooms were all ready for the dudes. We didn’t have any guests for over a week, but I wanted to see how he’d work out and be ready real early. Smitty and Jason headed to the bunkhouse.

Several hours later, Mike and I were at the kitchen table eating dinner. I’d made swiss steak, mashed potatoes, and had nuked some frozen green beans. We each had a beer.

“Mike, buddy, what do you think about the proposal for the students to come here?”

“I liked it, Jeffy. I reckon that since they aren’t real big on the outdoor stuff, we could use them in the shoulder seasons, say March or April, and October and early November.”

“That’s a great idea. Hopefully, we’ll hear back from him.”

“Jeffy, can I ask you a favor?”

“Sure, bud, what’s up?”

“I got a GED prep study guide at the bookstore in town, and I signed up for an online class in GED prep. I want to have my GED by the end of January. If I need help with my homework, will you help me?” I had to chuckle at this. Mike had never finished high school, due to being kicked out. After we got together, he decided he was going to get his GED and then take some classes at Wenatchee Community College. I was proud as hell of him. It also took a lot of courage to ask for help like that.

“Of course, buddy, anytime. You know I’ll always be there for ya.”

“I really appreciate it, Jeffy.” He was really fidgety and seemed wound kinda tight.

“Is everythin’ okay? You’re actin’ almost like you’re nervous.”

“Remember, tomorrow I’m goin’ for an HIV test in Wenatchee.”

We have a monogamous relationship. I had just been tested before gettin’ together with Mike, and he was the only one I’d been with since. We’d always played safe. He had never been tested.

“I reckon you don’t have much to worry about if all you did before comin’ out was just lettin’ guys go down on you.”

“I know, Jeffy, but I keep gettin’ all these horrible thoughts and gettin’ worried and imaginin’ I’m sick.”

“It’s natural to be nervous. Everythin’ will be fine.”

“What if I am positive?”

“Then we’ll deal with it. We talked about this before, remember?”

“You’re pretty incredible, Jeffy.”

“You’re just realizin’ that now?”

“Cocky bastard.”

“That’s right, buddy, but I’m your cocky bastard.”

Chapter Two

M
IKE
had been gone a couple of hours. I expected him back in the early afternoon. He was having his HIV test today, and then was going to get some stuff for us at the mall in Wenatchee. I had asked him to get a couple of swimsuits for us, since with guests in the house, we’d have to wear something in the hot tub. I had asked if he wanted me to come with him, but he said no, the test was something he wanted to do himself. I was pretty convinced he was negative, from what he’d told me of his sex life before we met. He was really nervous and imagining all sorts of ailments, but I figured he had nothing to worry about. I always assumed anyone who I played with was HIV positive, so I always played safely. If Mike was negative, then we could throw the condoms out.