Goddess Ch. 13

Tom had driven Sydney for a solid fifty minutes, doing the speed limit the entire time. Tom's home was practically on the other end of the state, and he'd been largely quiet the whole drive, allowing for some Spanish rock music to act as white noise. Tom pulled over to a parking lot just behind the auto shop his father worked at, itself not far from his home. Before they got out, he reached into the glove box and pulled out the flask containing his drink. He started downing it's contents, practically inhaling the thing in one go. Thankfully, Tom had a ridiculous ability to hold his liquor, so the amount in the flask was just barely giving him a buzz. But it was enough to get through what the day had in store.

"You don't have to do this, Tom," said Sydney. "If it really makes you uncomfortable-"

"No, fuck that. You've put all that trust in me, it'd be wrong to not give you the same." he interjected.

The two got out of the car and stretched, then walked a little ways down the road to the shop. It was all blue on the outside, and relatively small. Enough room to operate on three cars at once, and a small area that was open to the general public in order to hand the workers the keys and pay for services. Just outside the shop was a flag pole, upon which a UAW flag flew just below an American one, and just below that, an IWW flag.

Before Tom opened the door to the shop, he turned to Sydney and said,

"Look, whatever happens, whatever bullshit you hear, just know I love you, OK?"

Sydney nodded, and they went into the entrance. The inside wasn't much. A door to the garage on the other end, separated by a long counter. Towards the end of the counter nearest to the entrance sat one worker near the register, reading a newspaper that covered their face.

Sydney turned to the worker.

"Hello. We're looking for Mr. Vernor?". No response.

"Excuse me? We're looking for Mr. Vernor." Still no response.

"COLIN, GET YOUR FUCKING HEADPHONES OFF AND STOP READING COMIC STRIPS AT THE REGISTER!" Tom shouted. The worker scrambled out of his seat, tossed the newspaper to the ground, threw off some headphones and stood at attention. He had ratty orange hair, freckles, and dull looking green eyes, and was dressed in a grass-colored jumpsuit.

"S-Sorry! Welcome to Quickfix valued cust- Oh. Oh, Tom. Eddie didn't say you were coming back this week."

"Yeah, the IWW flag's raised so there's no way that's true. How have you been?"

"Eh, y'know, same old same old. And we keep the flag up when you're gone. You're not the only dual card holder here, y'know. We got Rodrigo and Andy too."

"Yeah, but it's a UAW controlled shop, and we all know how well AFL affiliates get along with Wobs. Is my father around?"

"Eddie? Not yet. He's coming in late today. Pulled an all-nighter getting some work done. Some jackoff with money decided fucking up a perfectly good Mitsubishi would be fun, so he rebuilt an engine block in a single damn night. Can you believe it?"

"Yeah, that sounds like my father, unhealthy work ethic as usual."

"If you like, we could always use some help on the floor. There's a light load today, and your sister would probably appreciate seeing you again. And whoever this is."

"This is Sydney. She's my girlfriend. Brought her home with me to meet my father. Wait, Kathy's home? I thought she was still out of the state visiting my cousin Matty."

"Nah, she's back. Poor Matty though. Got himself an ass-whooping Vernor style. Dunno what he did, but you know your sister. Must've deserved it."

"Probably. I'm gonna get on the floor, say hi to everyone."

The pair made their way through to the garage. The workers there were mostly men, generally around their late thirties to early fifties, all of whom gave Tom a polite greeting, with the kind of warmth one usually reserved for family.

"Is that right?" called out a boisterous, feminine voice from the other end of the garage "My baby brother's come home?"

Sydney looked to the other end, seeing that the voice belonged to a woman, around her age, slightly taller than herself. She had short hair, colored in a shade of brown so dark it could be easily confused for black. Her eyes were covered by a pair of goggles, the shade of which matched both her hair and the dirt on her face from working in the garage. The rest of her body was relatively hard to make out shape-wise, given that the jumpsuit she was wearing was rather baggy. The woman ran toward the two, still boisterous and loud.

"Tommy! Welcome home baby bro!" she said, giving Tom a big hug. She turned to Sydney. "And you must be the mystery girlfriend Sydney! Ohhh, it's so nice to meet you, c'mere!". Sydney felt herself in a vice-grip of a hug.

"C-can't breathe..." she wheezed.

"Careful Kathy, my girlfriend's not a gym rat like me. She's not gonna last very long." Tom said. Kathy let Sydney go, and the latter gasped a bit.

"Sorry about that dear I didn't realize Tom was dating such a fragile girl! I always figured he'd date a bodybuilder or something."

"No it's alright I kinda needed a chiropractor appointment." Sydney said sarcastically. Kathy burst out laughing.

"It... it wasn't that funny" said Sydney. Kathy caught her breath and exhaled a bit, bringing herself back down to Earth.

"Tell ya what, it's about break time around here so let's go to the break room. I made some cupcakes, we can eat and talk until Dad comes back!".

The three proceeded to a small back room towards the other end of the garage. The walls were a spongey yellow, and accompanied an eggshell white counter and a sink on the right. On the left was a small brown fridge, and between these was a round table with several chairs.

Kathy opened up the fridge and brought out a small tray jammed full of chocolate cupcakes.

"Here, chow down. I wanna know more about the gal who won my baby brother's heart."

Sydney and Tom made themselves comfortable in the chairs.

"Alright, what do you wanna kn-"

Before Sydney could finish, Kathy burst out enthusiastically and frantically with questions.

"So how's life? What's your major? Do you like swing music? Ooh, ooh, do you like grape juice? I love grape juice! What kinda car do you drive? What's your minor? Do you smoke? Do you drink? Where are you from? How'd you and Tommy meet? Do you like trains? Biggie or Pac? Soda or pop? Nas or Hov? OTP? NOTP? Dubbed or subbed? How do you take your coffee? What's your favorite snack? Is your fave problematic? DVD or Blu-ray? Playstation or Xbox? Mac or PC? Wha-"

"KATHY!" Tom shouted.

"Sorry," said Kathy. "I get excited around new people, y'know?".

Sydney giggled nervously.

"Jeez, she's intense. I can't believe Tom was more nervous about his father than this woman." she thought.

Kathy took a deep breath and started talking more calmly (though her

voice remained quite loud),

"Sorry about all that. Let's start over. I'm Kathy, Tommy's big sister. Nice to meet you."

"Sydney, nice to meet you too."

"So tell me about yourself. How'd you and Tommy meet?"

"We met at a protest about a year ago. Started going out a little while after that."

"Awww, how nice! Tommy found himself a nice lil' lady to talk politics with!"

"Oh there's not much talking." Sydney muttered.

"What?" Kathy asked.

"What?" Sydney responded.

"Soooo... does your Dad own the place?" she asked, trying to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"Nope." said Tom, his mouth half-full of a cupcake but wanting to change the subject equally fast.

"Shop's the property of the union branch. We acquired it back in the day before the Taft-Hartley Act went through."

"Did what before the what?" Sydney asked.

"Long story short, government passed a law back in the day to stop reds like Tommy from taking over shops. Sadly for the guy who owned the place at the time we had reds in the union at that time, so we drove 'em out, bought the shop, and today it's owned by the union branch to get around the law," said Kathy, chowing down on a cupcake. "Not my way of doing things mind you, but it beats working for some asshole."

The three continued to chow down on the cupcakes for the next ten minutes until a bell went off.

"Welp, that's the work bell. You gonna wait for Dad to come to work, Tom?" asked Kathy.

"Probably," he said. "Knowing him, he should be here any-".

"NOW IS THAT MY BOY'S CAR OUT THERE?" came a huge voice from the other end of the garage.

"-minute."

Sydney held his hand. "It'll be OK." she said.

The three exited the break room, and suddenly Tom was ambushed with a tremendous hug.

"HAHA, TOM! IT'S BEEN AGES, KIDDO!" shouted Eddie.

"Hey Dad." said Tom with a dulled tone.

"Don'tcha "Hey Dad" me son, it's been ages! I've barely heard from ya!"

Eddie Vernor was a large man, about the same height as Tom, though much wider. The kind of shoulders and arms one typically imagines on a football player. He had thick, graying brown hair, an equally thick moustache, and light blue eyes that contrasted heavily from Tom's. What could be seen of his arms, visible from the rolled-up sleeves of his jumpsuit, were covered in hair and various light scars. This was a man who'd been in the labor force for quite some time. On his right arm was a tattoo that read "Maria" in cursive.

"So, this is yer girlfriend, huh son?" he asked, looking at Sydney with a big grin. His voice carried a similar warmth to Tom's, and had the volume that Kathy carried herself with in conversation.

"H-hello Mr. Vernor. I'm Sydney. Sydney Brednar." she said, somewhat nervous at the personal and physical immenseness of her boyfriend's father.

"Brednar? As in the Senator?"

"That'd be my Mom."

"Well I'll be damned. Tom, you're dating a politician's daughter? I'da never expected that of you, son!"

"Well, love finds a way Dad. Tell you what, I'll take Sydney up to the house, meet you and Kathy there after you get off."

"Sounds good, kiddo. Me n' Kathy'll just finish off these last few cars in the garage."

Tom and Sydney made their way out of the garage and back to Tom's car.

"Well, your father seems nice." said Sydney.

"Trust me, he always seems that way" Tom said bitterly "Why don't you drive? I'm still processing the Godfather I had when we got here. I'll give you directions, the house isn't very far from here."

Sydney drove Tom's car carefully through the roads (not entirely sure how well it held up given his rigid abuse of the gas pedal), until they arrived at a house just outside the city, located on a dirt road in a very small forest. The house itself was one-floor, having in width what it lacked in height, sporting an oaky brown color exterior with a dark green roof. The air in this part of the state was thick and humid, and all around the area was teaming with nature. Mainly, to Sydney's chagrin, flies, which she swatted off as they made their way inside.

The living room - in which sat two large couches and an old tube TV - and dining room - itself containing but a single faux-wooden table and a fridge - were essentially one and the same due to the small size of the house, separated (for lack of a better word) only by the two support beams. The floor was covered in a tan carpeting, and the walls were largely wooden, with a mounted deer head above a fireplace to the right.

Tom walked Sydney down a hall just to the right of the fireplace. Tom's room was small, and largely empty due to him living on campus. What was left was a single mattress, above which was a black flag with a red star. Next to the mattress was a dresser and a lamp. Tom laid down on his bed, and Sydney laid beside him, cuddling up to him.

"So what's so bad about your Dad, huh dear?" she asked. "You've been miserable ever since we got up here".

"To be honest babe, I don't wanna talk about him. He'll show his shittier side. It comes out after you're around him for long enough," said Tom, turning to face Sydney. "For now, I just wanna focus on something less stressful, like you...". He stroked her cheek. "...and your pretty face."

Sydney blushed. Tom had a way with clumsy flirting, even when there was some liquor running through him. She returned the favor, gently resting the back of her hand on his cheek. He kissed her forehead.

"You know, I don't think I've ever been happier in my life than being with you." he said, looking deep into her eyes.

Sydney kissed him softly, and said, "Me neither" gently across his lips.

The two laid in bed, kissing each other and playing with the other's hair, giggling whenever the other managed to give them a slight tickle. Tom leaned into Sydney's ear.

"You know... it's going to be at least another hour and a half before my family gets home. You want a quickie?".

Sydney giggled. "Tom... baby, you're drunk, I couldn't." Tom kissed her neck.

"I was buzzed about twenty-minutes ago and I sober up quickly."

Sydney's giggles turned to moans as Tom moved his lips up her neck, gently reaching her mouth.

"Tom..." she moaned as he broke the kiss. She grinned, then rose up and sat on top of him, resting her weight on his thighs. She started fussing with Tom's belt, anxious to get started. Tom worked his belt off himself, even more anxious than her. She undid his zipper and pulled his pants down, exposing his already aroused cock. She placed a finger over his mouth.

"Well, if it's a quickie you want, it's one you'll get. Now hush and relax."

She worked him gently in her hand, at a tauntingly slow pace at first, just enough to get him grip his bedsheets. She giggled just a bit and started to increase her speed just a bit, upping his pleasure. He bent his neck backwards and bit down on his lower lip to keep himself quiet. She laid down so that they were chest-to-chest, retaining her grip on his cock. They kissed, and she began to jerking him off even faster. His moans of pleasure were buried underneath the kiss, drowned in her tongue.

He gripped down on her ass, absolutely enthralled to her. She broke the kiss and softly spoke against his lips.

"Are you gonna cum? Are you gonna cum for your goddess?".

He was breathing heavily, barely holding himself together.

"You gonna cum, huh? You wanna cum for me?".

The rate of his breathing intensified, and Sydney continued to intensify the rate of her hand on his shaft. Finally, he couldn't take anymore, and he came, spilling his seed on her hand and his shirt.

He slowed his breathing a bit, and she kissed him delicately, laying by his side.

"Sydney, I... I was hoping to do more for you".

She stroked his cheek.

"Oh, baby... sometimes I just love the look you give me when I've got you in my grasp."

She licked his cock clean while it was still hard, then tugged at his shirt.

"Why don't you get changed? Don't wanna eat with your family with cum on you."

Tom got up and removed his shirt, careful not to let any of his leftover cum touch his skin. He tucked his cock back into his pants, fastened his belt back on, then went into his dresser and pulled out a red sweater.

"Well, it won't be the most comfy in the summer, but I'll manage," he said, throwing it on. "Good thing you kept me quiet, otherwise we might've woken up-".

A huge scream-like sound came from out back.

"-ah hell, spoke too soon."

Tom rushed out, and Sydney ran after him.

"What was that?" she asked, her skin crawling from the sound. The scream-like sound came again, louder this time. Tom ran out of the house and looked around.

"Where is-" he started. Then suddenly, a fox leaped out, tackling him to the ground. Sydney screamed out and covered her face in terror. Then, to her surprise, came not screams or shouts, but laughter.

She uncovered her face, and saw that Tom was playing with the fox.

"Aww! Who missed me? Did you miss me, Sergei?" Tom said, rubbing the fox's fur.

"Wh-what's going on?" Sydney asked in confusion. The fox licked Tom's face, then let out the scream-like sound from before. Tom laughed and got to his feet, brushing off his clothes.

"Sit. Sit!" he said. The fox obeyed. "Sydney, meet Sergei." Tom said, rubbing the fox's head. Sergei smiled widely. She nervously held her hand out.

"Don't worry, he won't bite." Tom said. Sergei sniffed Sydney's hand, then licked it a bit.

"Aww, he likes you!" said Tom. Sergei snuggled up to Sydney's leg, then jumped around for a bit, excited. "Aww, c'mon Sergei, let's go inside. We'll get you some food, OK?". The three headed back into the house, and Tom went to the half-hall of a kitchen next to the dining room, pulling down a cup of food and putting it in a small bowl. Sergei chowed down, and Tom gently petted his back.

"There you go, boy." he said. Tom poured himself and Sydney a glass of tea each, and the two sat at the dinner table.

"So, how does your family own a fox?" Sydney asked.

"My Mom adopted him. He was all alone in the woods after some poachers decided fox was in season." said Tom.

"You know come to think of it, I don't think you've mentioned your Mom since we got h-".

The sound of a car door slamming came from outside. Sergei quickly finished eating his food, then ran for the door. Kathy and Eddie made their way into the house.

"Kathy, I swear your driving's gonna get you a ticket one day," said Eddie. Sergei leaped up to greet him. "Hey, Sergei! How ya doin', boy?".

The two repaid Sergei in attention, and the fox ran off and curled up by the dinner table, snuggling up to Tom and Sydney. The other members of the Vernor family greeted the couple briefly before heading to their respective rooms to change out of their jumpsuits. Tom sighed, dreading the dinner that was to come. Sydney cupped his hand in hers and reassured him it would be alright.

Eddie and Kathy joined them soon after. With her face clean and her body out of the jumpsuit, Kathy almost looked like a different person. She was very lean, had pearlescent skin, and warm grey eyes. Eddie looked more or less the same, save for his mountain-like figure being more visible without the baggy jumpsuit from work on.

"Tom, I hate ta bother ya kiddo, but I got some good scotch in the kitchen that I've been saving. Why don't you go get it, we'll serve it to your girlfriend here? 'S in the cabinet right near the stove."

Tom went to the kitchen, fetching the scotch and the glasses.

Eddie pulled out a cigar. "Scuse me Sydney. D'ya mind if I smoke?" he asked.

"Oh. Um... not at all." Sydney answered, a tad nervous. Truthfully, she hated tobacco. Alan always smoked the cheapest, most disgusting stuff around, and it'd embittered her from it altogether. Still, she was here partially to support Tom, so a little smoke would be the least of her concerns in the long run. Eddie pulled out a huge stogie from his pocket, then proceeded to fuss with a lighter as Tom set the glasses and poured the scotch, leaving the bottle at the table. Finally, Kathy intervened and lit it for him.

"Ah. Thank you, Kathy." He took a big puff and blew the smoke about. It was an oaky, bittersweet smell, largely different from the crap that Alan smoked. It was to Sydney, however, no less unpleasant.

"Kathy, could you set the table? Food's already prepped, 's in the fridge."

Kathy went to the kitchen to fetch the plates and silverware. Eddie took a sip of the scotch.

"Aah. Fantastic. They say I shouldn't enjoy these things at my age, but I tell ya, if it's wrong, I don't wanna be right." Tom swished the scotch around in his glass and took a whiff of it.

"Real strong nose. Where'd you get this, Dad?" he asked.

"Ah, some boys in the union got it for me as a present. Thirty years a UAW member, can ya believe it? Where's the time go?".

Kathy finished setting up the table, putting out a large plate with pork roast on it and a bowl of mixed vegetables.