A New Beginning Pt. 08

The day started off rather well. It was dark when I got out of bed and kissed Elsie lightly. Her swollen belly looking ready to pop open at any moment. I rested my hand on her and felt the baby rolling. It was as if he, or she I reckon, couldn't wait to climb out and get started.

I dressed quietly and left, heading down to the camp. There were a few stragglers from the juke joint standing around a fire drinking coffee, trying to sober up enough to make a day on the rigs. It was gonna be rough on them. Heat in East Texas can suck the soul right out of you.

I stepped over to the mess tent and the cook brought me a heaping plate of scrambled eggs, grits, porkchops and biscuits and gravy. I ate thinking about how much the camp had grown. The number of men had more than doubled to accommodate the number of rigs in the field. We were pumping oil at a record pace now. I felt a pang of guilt for not having planted in the Spring, but I had just been too busy. I would have the beef cattle in the pasture rounded up and brought in to work over.

I was sopping my plate when JT came in. He came over and sat down as the cook brought him a steaming cup of coffee. He looked up at me,

"Mornin'. Got that truck for that gal coming today."

I nodded, "Ok, I'll have her bring you the money this evening."

"Hey, you still want to go to Galveston?"

"Yeah, I'd like to, I'm just not sure we can. Elsie's looks ready to pop anytime now, but she still has a ways to go yet. Hell, if it wasn't for mama, she'd have a hard time of it. Mama's been taking care of the youngest baby up to now. I been thinking of hiring a woman to live with us to take care of the young'uns."

"Good idea. Plenty of decent women around need a place to go."

I thought about the young'uns. Tommy and Sophie had taken to me. The baby hasn't been around me much. Mama's always carrying him off to the store lately. I needed to spend more time with the little feller.

"JT, I'm not selling out, but I won't be around much. I'm starting that cooperative. I have a half share in everything as it is. I need to borrow a few hands to bring my beef cattle in. The calves will need worked."

"How many head you got?"

"Well, I don't rightly know for certain. Maybe fifty, sixty head. Not many."

"Ok, I know just the boys. Come on, we'll go get them right now. You got horses?"

"Yep. Maybe a dozen head. Mares and one stallion. Plus whatever colts they have."

"Any of them saddle broke?"

"The stud is I know, not sure about the mares. I helped Hank break him when he was two. He's six now. Ain't been rode in years."

"Well, they'll have to tune 'em up I reckon. Hey, we need to talk about that pipeline affair. Now, I know that ol' boy rubbed you the wrong way, but, we need to get it done. We're pumping more oil than we can deal with now."

I considered that a moment. JT was right. That slick headed son of a bitch just managed to piss me off good and proper. But I've been around enough in my short years on this ol' Earth to know business is business and there just ain't no room for petty pride in it.

"OK, I'm ready to do whatever needs doing to get it done."

"Good. I'll have them send somebody else up here to work it out."

I nodded.

"Well, I need to get busy. I'll talk to Mrs Hudson and have her come see you."

We parted ways and I went back up to the house. Mama was making coffee and Molly was sitting at the table holding the baby. He'd grown leaps and bounds lately. I sat down and mama brought me a cup of coffee. I watched her moving around. I'd never get tired of seeing her parts wiggle around under her gown.

I looked over to Molly,

"JT has your truck coming today. He's down to the camp. You can hook up with him and pay him there."

"When will it be here?"

"I'm not sure, sometime today, though."

I got up and went to the safe and got her money and brought it to her.

"How much?"

"Oh, call it an even six hundred, I reckon."

She nodded and counted out the bills then slid the rest back over to me. I put it back in the safe and came back in.

"You said he was over at the camp?"

I nodded. She stood and started to leave, but turned back.

"Jacob, do you want me to leave? I mean, I know I could never be your woman, but, I've enjoyed the time I've spent here."

I considered that briefly before replying.

"Molly, if you want to stay on and help out around here, you're welcome to as far as I'm concerned. You just need to talk it over with Elsie."

She nodded at that and left.

I thought about my next moves. My land was paid off. I thought about that a minute. Here I was, 18 years old and already the biggest land owner around. With a partnership in a booming oil venture. A half interest in all the crops grown on my land. A forty percent stake in all the cattle and hogs. A booming juke joint and brothel. I was about to start up a co-op to handle all the grains, produce and livestock produced around here. What more could a man want?

I got up and walked out on the porch and sat down, staring off across the yard, past the barn to the camp. Thoughts of pa and my brother and sister sat hard in my mind.

Besides mama, they were all I had left for blood kin. I know my brother went to the Army back in the war. My sister? Hell, who knows. I recalled her fondly. She always held me as a baby, despite pa criticizing her, saying she was spoiling me. I hoped they were OK out there.

I saw Molly rounding the barn, heading back. She was flanked by four men. Two on each side of her. They reached the porch and she smiled at me and went inside.

One of the men spoke up.

"JT says for us to round up your cattle. Where you want 'em? Also, we need horses."

"Well, the horses are out in the pasture past the camp. You can use the mules to round them up."

I pointed down toward the barn.

"Those pens there should hold them all. On the other side are working pens for cattle. A sorting pen and one for the calves. There's saddles and tac in the barn. I think there's ropes, too. Hank was a hand at braiding rawhide."

They nodded and headed off to the barn to check everything out. I heard trucks coming in and I looked around. One, a new Ford, came to the house. The driver got out and headed over to me, a canvas satchel in hand. He hand me the key and the satchel.

"Mr. Morgan says to give these to you."

"Thankyou, sir." I responded.

He nodded and walk off to the camp. I looked in the satchel. It was full of greenbacks. Another oil payment. I looked to the door,

"Molly!"

She came out and I handed her the keys and nodded to the truck.

She smiled and bent over, kissing me, then ran off to see her new vehicle.

I figured it was time to make a move. I head into town and landed on the property I'd targeted for the co-operative. I walked it out, considering my needs. I sat on an old pine stump and drew a picture in my head.

There I'd have the main office. Over there will be the silos. Yonder, next to the railroad tracks, will be the holding pens for cattle and hogs. Out back, over there, I'll build a feedlot of sorts.

I considered my other needs a bit. I'd need an icehouse. A butcher shop. A smokehouse. I figure over there will work.

Well, no time like the present.

I got up and went to the store. Going in, the bell tinkled, announcing my arrival. Maggie, mama were sitting at the table. Mrs Richards was behind the counter doing some dusting. The warm glow of the coal oil lanterns flooded the interior of the old place, seeming to bring alive all the memories collected within its aging woodwork.

I headed to the table and the women got up to hug and kiss me. Their natural scent and feel of their soft bodies brought my young pecker to life. I looked over to the baby. He was standing and walking on his own now. I went to him and looked into his innocent little face and thought about his papa. Sorry as he was. I made a promise to that little boy and myself ight then.

I'd work however hard that need be to give him every opportunity to make good in this cruel old world.

I turned back to the business at hand. I needed to get my pecker limped up to focus on work, and two of the finest women I knew were sitting at the table yonder. I headed over with pussy in mind. I think they both knew exactly what I was thinking because they both got up and headed to the store room.

I went in behind them and heard Callie say,

"Save some of that for me!"

I threw her a quick smile and a wink as I went in and shut the door.

I quickly undressed and sat watching the women strip off their dresses. My pecker started its upward journey as their mature bodies slowly came into view. I could only stare in wonder at whatever turn of fortune that had befell me to put me where I was right now.

Nude, the two women approached, their movents causing their heavy, mature breasts to sway. The middle age fat on their thighs and belly jiggling slightly. Their eyes filled with lust, sparkling with mischievous desire. Their womanly scent pervading the air causing me to break out in a sweat of heat. I could feel my heart pounding, sending the blood coursing through my pecker, causing it to jerk and throb.

The women turned to the table and bent over. Mam'a rear end full and broad, her cheeks jiggling as she shuffled her feet into position to give me access to her pussy. Maggie's hind rnd was heart shaped and rounded. When she bent over, her pussy was in a natural position to receive her man. Her light blonde pubic hair rimming her pussy glistening with wetness. I chose her to start with.

I walked up behind her and positioned myself at her entrance and began pushing in. I forgot how tight she was.

She started pushing back onto me until I was fully buried inside her. The silky heat of her body enveloped me as I started thrusting into her. I felt her pussy clamp up tight and let loose a wet flow that started squirting out around my girth. I drove into her and held still while she rode out her orgasm.

After I felt her relax, I pulled out and stepped over to mama and slid easily into her depths.She started squeezing her pussy up on me, sort of milking me. She'd never done this before and it ended my hope for a bit of enjoyment inside my mother's body. My pecker simply exploded and my pent up sperm flooded her pussy until it ran out, streaming down her thighs.

After my balls were spent, I pulled out and got dressed.

I looked at them a moment,

"Y'all get dressed, we need to talk business."

I went to the shelf and got a can of sliced peaches and sat down. Picking up the can opener and spoon sitting on the table, I cut the can open and savored the sweet fruit. The juice was running down the corners of my mouth, but I didn't care. These things were as close to Heaven in a can as you're likely to get.

I got up and went behind the counter and located a tin of Copenhagen snuff. I remembered dipping it with Hank and got a taste for it. I sat back down and put a dip in my lip then looked around for Callie.

Mama and Maggie came out and sat down. The bell jingled and I saw Callie coming in with the baby. She put him down in the little play pen and sat at the table with us.

"Well, ladies, I'm making a change." I looked over at Maggie, "I need you to send off for whoever has grain silos and I need barbwire fencing. Next, I need an icehouse to hang meat in. I'll need meat curing fixin's. Butcher tables, curing barrels, salt and whatnot. Can you do that for me?

I picked up the peach can and spit in it. Maggie thought a bit, then replied.

"Sure, i'll send a letter to a man I know up in Dallas. He sells farming equipment and such. I'm sure he'll know right where to go for that."

"Good. I'll need a couple of wells dug. So, add in some pumps and curbs."

"I've got the pumps already. They're over there by the back wall."

I nodded, satisfied. I got up, "Be right back."

I went to the truck and got her satchel out and took it back in. I sat it down on the table in front of her.

"My God, boy, what am I going to do with this? I'm out of room in the safe as it is."

"Hell, Maggie, I don't know. I'm about full up at the house, too. You get everybody paid off for me?"

"Yes, the last on, the Patterson's, came in day before yesterday. All of them were wanting a meeting about the produce they planted. It won't be long until harvest time, you know."

"Yep, that's why I'm fretting on getting set up so quick. No time to waste. Things are changing fast around here. I've got a bad feeling about it. One thing I've learned about folks is that money brings trouble and there's lots of money hereabouts. I'm tempted to sell out and take us out of here."

Mama stared at me. Her eyes wide and filled with concern.

"Honey, what's on your mind?"

"Them oil folks. They've been snoopin' around looking for an easy way in. I just don't know what to do."

"Well, what's keeping us here? Who say's we have to stay around. Sell out and we can go someplace else. You said you was intrested in Galveston."

"I do want to go there and see that ocean sea. But I ain't so sure about living there."

I sat still a moment, thinking.

"When I went to Dallas, I seen lots of cattle and pastures. I was thinking the other night about that. Why couldn't I buy some land up there somewhere and start one of the ranches. I mean, I don't know much about that, but I reckon I'm a pretty quick study. I've got enough money to buy a lot of land and stock it with breeder cattle and start developing a herd. I'm sure I can come up with a decent crew of men."

"Well, honey, you decide, and I'm with you, whatever you choose. I don't know about these other women, though."

She looked a Maggie and Callie in turn. They both shrugged.

Callie spoke first.

"Jake, I suppose I'm with you, if you'll have me around."

Maggie was next.

"Same goes for me. What about the cooperative.?"

"Oh, I'll set that up. Folks around here need one. Whatever else comes of it, folks still gotta eat around here."

"Who would run it if you wasn't here?"

"I reckon folks can take turns. Hold an election of sorts and pick a few folks to manage it."

"I like that idea. How about we have another meeting and run it by everybody?"

"I'll set it up." Maggie said, her eyes filled with thoughts of possibilities.

I got up and went outside and sat on the bench and stared off into the woods. I felt it was coming time for a change. My thoughts strayed back to the man they sent. As inexperienced in the world as I am, I did understand the effect money had on people.

I heard the door open and turned to see mama coming out. She sat next to me and looked at me a long moment before speaking.

"Son, what's troubling you?"

"It ain't nothing, mama, don't worry yourself about it."

"Jacob Flannery, a mother knows her child. I can tell you're frettin' over something. You need to talk to me about it."

"It's this whole mess.The oil business and all. I'm starting to think this was a bad idea to bring it here. Money aside, this thing is growing fast and the wrong sorts of people are getting involved. I guess that's just the way of it. People get a taste of money and it just keeps growing from there."

"Even with you?"

I considered that a spell. I shook my head.

"No. I understand the ways of greed and want no part of it."

I looked over at her.

"Mama, in that safe at the house, I have more money than I can spend. How much more do we need? I'm figuring now it's time to move on. Sell out. There really ain't nothing here for us. All our kin live off somewhere else. This change taking place ain't gonna set no good to raise kids in. I figure I'll talk to J.T. about it, see it all to him and move us all down to that Galveston. I figure that ocean oughta be a good place to raise a family."

"Well, honey, whatever you decide, I'll go along. But, you're right, there's nothing really holding us here. The world is changing and not much in the way of good, I'm afraid."

She put her hand on mine and squeezed gently. The touch was reassuring some how. I leaned over a kissed her, then got up.

I stared off into the distance. Listening to the birds and bugs lazily going about their business in the late summer heat. A passle of barefoot young'uns ran across the road with a big cur dog trotting behind them. I heard their mother call after them telling them to be back in time for supper. I shook my head to clear it and walked to my truck.

I headed back out to the place. When I got there, the Scruggins brothers were there waiting. They had their wagon loaded down with barrels of 'shine and beer. Elsie came out and they stood and handed her the jars that they had been drinking from.

They thanked her and stepped down to meet me.

"Jake" the oldest nodded.

I shook their hands in turn.

He nodded back to the house.

"I gave your missus the proceeds. We were headed back out."

"Thanks. How's everything going? Any problems?"

"No, none to speak of. There has been a couple of men hanging around. Strangers. They don't seem to be working but always got money for whiskey and women. I figure one of them big outfits got them sizing up the going on's around. They stick to themselves for the most part, but always single out a hand and buy him drinks and talk with him.I been wanting to run them off, but they spend money, so I wanted to talk to you about it first."

I nodded."Just watch them. As long as they don't cause problems. If they make a move or disappear, let me know right off. Just watch your backs around them. I imagine they ain't no soft bellied type."

He smiled, "No, I don't reckon they are. But, you know us, push comes to shove, we might could soften them bellies up a might."

We shook hands and they headed off.

I walked in and found the young'uns eating sandwiches at the table. They were surrounded by the hound pups. The gyp ran up and sniffed me over real good, then laid down.

Elsie gave me a peck on the cheek and sat a glass of tea in front of me. Then she sat across from me, looking at me with obvious questions in her eyes.

I took a long drink from my tea, savoring the sweet, astringent flavor.

"I think it's time we sell out and move. This town is about to change. I don't want our young'uns brought up around it."

"Ok, so where you have in mind?"

"I was figuring on maybe Galveston."

She just nodded and stared off out the window. I stayed quiet, letting her think.

She refocused on me.

"I hear they have electric lights there."

"I don't know," I replied, my mind quickly wrapping around that, "that'd be a good thing, right?"

She nodded and smiled.

"Yes it would. I've never had that before."

That statement sent me off into thinking about the way of things. The way I grew up, a man got up, pulled on his boots, and went to work. We had little time to fret over triviality.

I started off young. Not really by choice exactly. It was more in line with something bred into me. I just instinctively felt the way things were.

I was jerked out of my thoughts by Elsie asking a question.

"Are you listening to me?"

Unsure of what to say, I just kinda nodded.

"I said, when are you planning on doing this?"

"Soon."

"How soon?"

That got a chuckle out of me.

"As soon as I can wrap this business up. I've got to talk to JT and then figure out what to do about the other place."

"Ok, so, I need to get busy. Wait, what about Callie? This is her home, too, ain't it?"

"She's going with us I reckon. Her and mama."

She nodded.

"Ok, I'll get busy then."

I shook my head.

"No, I don't want you stressing out over this. I'll hire the Scruggins girls to come help you."

"Ok, I 'll admit, I kinda like the idea of having some help around."

I scooted my chair back and got up. Stepping around, I bent over and kissed her forehead.