A Simple Life: Chapter 29 (Patreon)

I crawl up into the passenger side of Winona’s truck, which had definitely seen the inside of a car wash recently, to find the interior cleaned, polished, and vacuumed since the last time I saw it during the move.  The gun rack was still in the back window, minus the weaponry thank goodness.  Guns always made me nervous.  Winona gets in and shoots me a smile before getting the truck’s engine running.  Despite it’s age the vehicle purred like a kitten, which made sense given her profession.  She pushes the shift stick into gear and soon we are on our way.

“I, uh, I like your truck.”  I say as a way to break the ice.

“She’s okay.”  Winona says.  “Starting to show her age though.”  As she shifts into second she pats this stick shift.  “This was the last year they made manual.  I don’t think I’d have kept her so long otherwise.”

“You prefer manual?”

“It’s what I learned on.”  She shifts.  “This very truck is what I learned on actually.  I feel like I have more control with a stick.  Although lately I’ve been looking hard at that new V-8 Raptor.  It’s a sexy beast.  They’re not giving them away though.”

“Yeah.”  I say, without a clue what a Raptor was.  “I-I’m saving up for a new bike myself.”

“You like motorbikes, huh?”  She says.  “With all the rain on Ehkolie you don’t see many riders.”

“Yeah.”  I say.  “I’m used to it.  Hey, how was Portland?”

“Fun!  I got to see my brother.  He and I always have a good time, even it is just shopping and running around.”

“Oh?  He lives in Oregon?”

“Yeah, Russell fell in love with the Northwest while we were here.”  She says.  “He moved back within a couple months of us leaving.  He’s taking a journalism degree now.”

“Russell?”

“Yeah.”

“His name is Russell Crow?”

She points at me.  “Don’t you even start with that Sprout.  Don’t even start.”  I giggle which sets her to laughing too.  “I like you Sprout but I will kick your ass if you bad mouth my baby bro.”

“What?”  I titter.  “It’s a good name.  A strong name.  Like a…gladiator or something.”

“You little shit.”

“A master and commander!”

“You are asking for it boy.”

Her words were tough but the involuntary chuckles between them spurred me on.  “I-I-I bet he has a beautiful mind.  He he he!”

“If you were anybody else I swear…”

“Ha ha ha ha ha!”  It wasn’t even that funny, but the way Winona was trying to be serious while unable to contain her own laughter was cracking me up.

“Stop!”  She gives a playful slap to my leg.  “Are you trying to get a whoopin?  Because I’ll do it.  I’ll bend you over across my lap right here and spank that little white ass for all to see.”

“PFFFF!”  I cover my face with both hands, blushing furiously as my giggles turn into full blown belly laughs.  “Ha ha ha ha!”

With a big happy grin she says more firmly.  “Behave.”

“Yes’m.”  I sit up and eventually manage to compose myself.  “I was just jokin.”

“I know.”  She laughs and shakes her head.  As Winona drives on, her attention split between the road and me, she looks me up and down.  “That vest is so hot on you.  You look so damn fine tonight Avery.”

“You think so?”  I run my hands down the cobalt blue garment.  “I was worried it was too plain.”

“Uh uh.  So cute.”  She says.  “You lookin like that is gonna make it hard to keep my secret, if you catch my meaning.”

“Keep your…secret?”  Her only answer is a little glance to her groin.  I blush again.  “Oh!  He he he.  Um, th-thank you.  Y-You look really really good too.”

“Only two reallys?  I’ll have to work on that.”  She winks.

She makes the turn toward The Meadow and soon finds a spot in the lot.  “I heard about this place.  I can’t believe we have to park out here.  So we can drive across town to get here and then have to hoof it the last few hundred yards?”

“You’ve never been in the Tits before?”

“I mean, I’ve been under, over, around, and between Kayla’s tits plenty of times.  But never IN.  Ha!”

“Pffft.”  Yet more giggling from me.  “I mean The Meadow, silly.”

“Nah.”

“They want it to be clean and quiet and green.  A community of the future.”

“It’s just another gated community to keep the riff-raff out, this one all dressed up in good intentions.”  She shrugs.  “But I guess their heart is in the right place.”

“Yeah.”  I say.  “I find it kinda weird too.  Like they’re trying so hard to make it look natural that it looks fake, ya know?  Like a zombie town.  I’ve shot here before but the photos turn out…I dunno, cold.  Like some too perfect dystopia.”  I hop out of the truck and walk around to meet Winona.  “There’s some cool parts about it though.  Just wait until you meet Babe.”

“Babe?”

“You’ll see.  Come on.”  We walk toward the gate past a familiar yellow Miata.

“Riley’s here.”

“Oh yeah.  They’re still close.”

“I liked Riley.  She’s cool.  Loud, but cool.”

“Yeah.”  I say, knowing all too well that the exuberant Riley never learned the concept of ‘inside voice’.  “I keep forgetting that you know Kayla and her circle.”

“You were the only one I never met properly.”  She says.  “After our first meeting Kayla made sure of that.”

“I was…being silly.”

“You’re allowed to be silly.”  She grins.

“You want a scooter?”  I wave toward the bank of electric bikes.  “They’re free to use inside the walls.”

“You mind walking?”  She asks.  “It’s a lovely evening.”

“Not at all.”  I smile.  In fact, I could think of nothing else I’d rather do than enjoy a stroll with her.

We pass through the gates and into the artificial nature of The Meadow.  As we stroll unhurriedly along the wide, smooth path Winona’s eyes scan left and right over the green rolling landscape, neatly manicured gardens, the group tossing a Frisbee around in the distance, and the little double dome houses.  As for myself, I could barely keep my eyes off of her.  She was so beautiful.  Soooo beautiful!  The evening light made her tawny skin positively radiant.  The heels of her boots gave her an extra inch or so on me as well, which was so damn sexy.  Before Winona I never really had a thing for taller women but the more I hung around her the more I was coming to adore the height difference.  It was more than just physical too.  How many girls had I seen barely even give me a glance just because I was small?  Too many to count.  But Winona saw past that, or perhaps she was attracted to it, either way it made me feel big on the inside.

“What is it?”  She asks, interrupting my idolizing gaze.  “Do I have something on my face?”  She begins to feel around her lips.

“Oh!”  I look away, embarrassed by being caught staring.  “S-Sorry.”

She laughs that easy laugh of hers.  “So what’s the movie?”

“Um, I don’t actually know.”  I say.  “We’ll probably choose on the spot if I know Kayla.  Probably a comedy.”

“Probably.”  She says.  “Gonna be weird seeing her again.”

“Yeah, I guess it would be.”  I say as a dawning feeling of dread washes over me.  Winona cuts straight to that apprehension with her very next statement.

“It was cool with her that I was coming?”

“Uh, yeah.  I mean, I think so.”

“You think so?”

“I…said I might ask you out sometime, but…I never actually mentioned that you were coming.  Here.  Tonight.  Specifically.”

“What?”  She stops.  “You didn’t tell her?”

“I-I kinda…forgot.”

“Oh man.”

“She w-won’t mind…i-if I have a date.”  I hasten to assure her.  “It’ll be c-cool.”

“Avery, I’m not just any date.”  She says.  “You didn’t run it by her at least?  She doesn’t even know that I’m coming?”

“She won’t mind, um, I-I d-d-don’t think.”  I stammer.  “I just as-assumed…I didn’t even…I was d-distracted with…other stuff.”

“Okay.”  She takes a deep breath.  “Alright then.  Well, too late to warn her now.”

“I’m s-sorry.”

“What’s done is done.  It’s as much my fault as yours.  I’ve been meaning to touch base with her.  I guess now is as good a time as any.”  It was subtle but catch her hands gripping nervously at her sides.  “This ought to be…interesting.”

“D-Don’t be scared.”  I say, wanting more than anything to ease her nerves.

“Scared?”  She looks at me as if I were crazy.

“Kayla won’t cause a scene or anything.  Sh-She’s not like that.”  I take a half step closer to her, wanting to hug her or hold her hand or do anything that might make her feel better but not daring to.  “A-And I-I’ll be right there if you n-need someone.”

“Me?  Scared?  Pfff.  You don’t me that well Sprout.”

“W-We could g-go do something else.  I c-could cancel…”

“Avery.  I’m not scared.  I just thought it would be awkward for her.”  She adjusts her hat and stares straight ahead with narrow steely eyes.  “I’m not scared of anything.”

“Oh.  Uh.  Yeah.”  I bow my head in guilt at causing this situation.  “Of course.”

She gives me a look out of the corner of her eye.  “Okay.  Maybe I’m a little scared.  Just like a teeny-tiny little bit.  Like barely at all.”  She takes a breath.  “All the more reason to get it out of the way now.”  The back of her hand brushes against mine.  “And you’ll be there, if I need a friendly face, right?”

“Right!”

“Right.”  She nods.  Letting out a laugh she says.  “I’m making more of this than Kayla ever would.  I was only ever another notch on the bedpost for her.”

“Winona!  Don’t say that.”

“It’s true though.”  She says with another fortifying breath then looks over at me and smiles.  “Tonight isn’t about her.”

I smile back. “No.  It isn’t.”

“You really do look great tonight Avery.”

“You too Winona.”

Her hazel eyes dance with a lively spirit of adventure.  “Let’s go have some fun.”

Chapter 30