Hayin' Time

Toby and Mr. Johnson finished up in the late afternoon, and told Rebecca and me to finish our part and then head to the house. About an hour later, we did, and I drove my tractor along behind her.

***

We cut and crimped half of another field and spent the afternoon on other tasks on Tuesday. On Wednesday, we started what Mr. Johnson called the longest day.

It all began at about 7 AM when I learned to rake the hay into windrows for baling. Unlike the first two days, Rebecca and I started off together on different parts of the field with Mr. Johnson, giving me my instructions while I fretted, watching Rebecca whip along like she'd been doing it for years (I later learned that she actually had). It didn't take long for me to get the hang of it and I was moving along as fast as I could to catch up with the work she'd done. On seeing what I was doing, I think she opened the throttle on her tractor, and we were both zipping along.

With two of us raking the hay into the long rows, Mr. Johnson came along behind us with the baler, and soon the landscape was dotted with rectangular hay bales. Toby, having finished with the morning chores, showed up around 9 with his tractor and a second baler and started baling, too. Rebecca took off around noon and returned a little later pulling two wagons and a hay elevator, which could lift the hay off the ground and deposit it onto the wagon.

Around 1 PM, Mrs. Johnson showed up in the truck with lunch, Rachel sitting in the front seat, four young men in the truck bed, and another wagon being towed by the truck. I was just about finished raking and there were a huge number of bales on the ground, with well over half of the field yet to be baled. That's when I realized what Mr. Johnson was talking about regarding the day. We had to get all those bales into a barn; I was glad to see we had help.

Rebecca drove the tractor pulling the wagon with the elevator and me stacking the bales, while Rachel, an accomplished tractor driver despite her youth, drove the other with Toby stacking on that wagon. Josh, a former classmate of Rebecca's, was loading on the side opposite of the elevator on my wagon, and the other three, rising high school seniors, were loading for Toby.

"Say, Eric, are you and Becky a thing?" asked Josh.

I glanced over at him as I stacked another bale. "A thing?"

"You know, dating?"

I shook my head. "Not even close," I replied.

He nodded and smiled, and I didn't give it another thought. I was too busy trying to make sure I was stacking just like Toby had instructed. Josh would frequently throw a bale on the wagon and then run forward to walk by the tractor for a moment before picking up the next bale and repeating the cycle. At about 50 pounds per bale, I was starting to tire and started wondering where he was getting all of the energy.

The other wagon headed to the barn to unload, and we dropped our wagon and started loading the last wagon shortly thereafter. I caught Rebecca looking back at me once; she didn't look very happy, but considering how tired I was, I figured she was probably in a similar state. I gave her a weak smile and stacked another bale.

Toby's team got back just as we finished loading, so we swapped their empty for our loaded wagon. With the wagons holding over 150 bales each, we were starting to make some serious headway when Mr. Johnson quit baling. He unhooked his baler, covered it with a tarp, and headed back to the equipment shed for the last wagon.

By the time the day was done, we'd hauled almost 1,000 bales of hay and put well over 600 bales in the barns. The last two wagons were parked in the shed, to be unloaded the next morning. After being paid, our helpers took off with promises of being back bright and early the next morning.

I walked over toward Rebecca, but she glared at me, said something I couldn't quite hear but which didn't look too nice based on my rudimentary lip reading, and took off toward the house. I turned to see Toby shaking his head.

"I know it was a long day," I said, "but what's up with her?"

"You really don't know, do you?"

"What?"

"Rebecca an' Josh used to date. She likes him in a way but knows he can be a real asshole at times before he hits a real sweet stretch. She said he's been askin' her out off an' on all afternoon because some jackass gave him permission."

"That's crazy," I replied. "Which one of them thought they had the right to do that? I'll give him a piece of my mind in the morning."

Toby frowned at me. "Eric, it was you. You told him you two weren't dating."

"But...but...." I didn't know what to say as Toby shook his head at me and walked off.

***

Morning came all too quickly. I was surprised when Rachel and little Randy joined us for our morning pow-wow. Mr. Johnson gave out the assignments, including having Rachel turn the windrows with the hay rake to help them dry out so he could bale the rest.

"Start at 9 AM, Rachel, and do a half turn like I showed you. That way, the top dries first, and then the bottom gets a chance. Toby and I will start baling as soon as we unload the two wagons in the shed."

At the barn, Mr. Johnson said that he and Toby would take the loft to stack the hay, while Rebecca and I would load the hay on the hay elevator, the inclined conveyor belt that lifted bales into the barn.

"Dad, can Toby work down here with me?" she asked, looking at me with a frown.

"Eric, do you have any objections to that?"

"No, sir," I replied, wondering if she was still upset with me about telling the truth. "Just tell me where you want me."

We climbed up and the motor on the elevator started a moment later.

"How's it going, Eric?"

"I'm tired, sir, but I'll get by."

He smiled as he picked up the first bale coming off the end of the lift. "Well, I wanted to tell you that you did an outstanding job yesterday. Thanks for sticking with us this week and for all of the hard work."

"You're welcome, sir. It was a long day, but we got through it."

"Today will be another one and so will tomorrow, but we should be able to put up well over 3,000 bales by late Friday or at early Saturday afternoon. That's the way it will be for most of the summer if you decide to stay with us. You're doing a great job, so I'm hoping you will." He glanced through the open barn window at the cloudless sky outside. "Yeah, there's lots of work when the sun shines, and different work when it doesn't."

"What happens if the weather forecast is wrong and it rains?" I asked.

"Depends on whether the crop's still standing or if it's hay on the ground, but that's the life of a farmer, son. Pray for rain when you need it and pray it holds off when you don't."

I nodded politely, grabbing another bale and carrying it back the few yards to stack it. As tired as I was feeling and with the foul looks Rebecca was giving me every time our eyes met, I let my mind drift to Carla Pittini and how I really wanted to be home with her.

***

With the wagons unloaded and Toby baling, Mr. Johnson assigned the crews when the local guys showed up. Rebecca was driving my wagon again with the elevator handling the left side and Josh, the biggest and strongest of the local crew, on the other side while I stacked the bales on the wagon.

I tried to speak with Josh, but he basically ignored me, choosing instead to shoot forward to talk with Rebecca for a moment before grabbing a bale and throwing it up on the wagon. There were several times when he did this harder than seemed necessary, as if he was throwing it at me rather than up to me.

Taking bales from the machine on one side and him on the other, I had to constantly be on alert but I also kept an eye on his "discussion" with Rebecca. The day before, she'd seemed to be a bit upset, but thanks to Toby's admonishment, I was embarrassed that only then did I see the truth. Rebecca was looking carefully ahead, rarely glancing at Josh despite his frequent flirting. She had to look back frequently to make sure that all was well on the wagon and that I wasn't getting overwhelmed; I don't know how long it had been going on but in one of those glances, I saw water in her eyes and tear tracks down her cheeks.

"Rebecca, hold up," I called as I shifted a couple of bales to make it look like I needed time. She immediately brought the rig to a stop and glanced back, frowning at the mess she now saw that hadn't been there just moments earlier.

Josh, of course, tried to take advantage of the temporary lull to go visit with her some more, but I called him back to me.

"What is it, Eric? City kid having a hard time keeping up? Need help?"

"No, Josh. I don't know what you said to her, but if you're going to make Rebecca cry, you need to leave her alone."

His cocksure grin turned to a hard frown. In a low voice he said, "Fuck off, asshole! That's between Becky and me. Say anything else about it and I'll shove your head up your skinny ass." He shot me a bird before storming off toward Rebecca on the tractor. He said something I couldn't hear to her, she seemed to give an angry reply, and neither of them looked very happy.

When I gave the word that I'd caught up, she put the tractor back in gear and took off abruptly, causing me to stumble and almost lose a bale off the side. "Sorry!" she yelled, but didn't look back.

We finished that wagon as Mrs. Johnson arrived with lunch. I started to walk over to talk with Rebecca, but Josh got there first, and, to my great surprise, said, "I'm really sorry, Becky. Can we start over?"

She looked at him for a second, glanced at me, and then turned back to him with a nod. They sat down together and started to eat.

While I had no designs on Rebecca, I felt bad. Josh was a bully and seemed mean. I'd heard of a couple of high school classmates who had boyfriends like that. The guy would apologize and the girl would welcome him back with open arms only for the guy to be back to the same behavior again before too long. There were always tears and, sometimes, bruises. I hoped Rebecca wouldn't end up like that.

Putting her out of my mind, I thought about Carla Pittini, wondering if she was back home and if she'd agree to go out with me if I were to return home. With lunch eaten, I leaned back against the tire, closed my eyes, and thought of how nice it would be to hold her and have her hands roaming over me.

A kick to my shin awoke me. "Hey, shithead, wake up. Time to get back to work." Josh gave me an evil grin and I changed my assessment.

Josh was a bully, he was mean, and I really didn't like farm life.

***

By early Saturday afternoon when Mr. Johnson finally smiled and declared success for our long week of work, I was sick of it all.

I was exhausted and sunburned, my hands and feet hurt from a number of blisters, and I was disliking farming more and more with each passing day. Worst of all, Josh kept bragging to me about his upcoming date with Rebecca that night, as if I cared beyond hoping that she wasn't making a mistake. In truth, all I could only think of was Carla all those miles away, though I must admit to smiling at Mr. Johnson's comment. It meant Josh would be leaving and I wouldn't have to see him again until at least the following Wednesday when, if the weather held, we'd be starting the hauling cycle all over again.

If I was still there, I thought. After cleaning up and taking a little nap in the relative cool of my room, I went up to the house to ask if I could use the phone. I was supposed to get a ten minute call each week, but this would be extra since it wasn't to my mom.

"Sure, Eric, and don't worry about the charge," said Mrs. Johnson when I told her I'd pay for the call. "Ralph said you've been a godsend this week, so we'll take care of it." She smiled and walked out of the kitchen, leaving me alone with the phone.

I dialed the number slowly, making sure I had it right, and then listened as it rang, three, four, five times. Someone picked up mid-ring on the sixth and said, "Hello. Pittini residence."

"Ah, hi. This is Eric Crenshaw. May I speak with Carla?"

"Oh, hi, Eric. This is Lisa Pittini. I thought your mom told me you were out of town. Let me grab Carla for you."

I heard a muffled shout despite her palm probably being cupped over the microphone on the handset. Almost a minute passed before I heard the click of another phone being picked up and a shouted, "Mom, I've got it."

"Hello, this is Carla."

"Hi, Carla. This is Eric Crenshaw. How are you?"

"Eric! This is a surprise. What's up?"

"Carla, I've been working out of town for the past couple of weeks but will be coming home soon. I was wondering, ah, would you like to get together and go out with me?"

The silence on the line should have told me something was up; Carla wasn't exactly known as the contemplative type. There was a little click making me wonder if she'd hung up, but then she spoke, asking simply, "Eric, why?"

It wasn't the response I'd hoped, but I'd thought about it all enough that a response was at the ready.

"Carla, we had a really nice time together at your party last year—I'm sorry, I don't mean that, well, you know, though it was great, too; I mean us being together and talking. We've know each other for a long time and I think—"

"Eric, please, stop. I like you as a friend and, yes, the party was fun—a lot of fun, actually—but I don't like you in a, well, you know, romantic way."

I felt crushed. All of my dreams of how it might be suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke. "But what about—"

Carla broke in again. "It was the end of summer, Eric. The girls and I had the party so we could drink and relax one more time before heading back to school. We invited guys we could get drunk and make out with, and maybe even have a good fuck, but guys we'd never have to worry about seeing or talking to again. That's what they all did, but...Eric, you and I have known each other for a long time, friends even. After getting together, I realized we still were, and I didn't want to use you or hurt you like that. I figured we'd have a good time, not go too far, and you'd understand, but I didn't realize you'd liked me for so long. It got worse when you started writing to me during the school year, so I tried to be polite but not encouraging."

"Then you don't feel anything, anything at all, for me?"

"You're a friend, Eric, and I enjoyed our playing around but I don't feel anything for you in the romantic sense. I have a boyfriend now, too, so..."

A boyfriend, the ultimate protection against other guys who are nice. I was shaking my head as I replied, "I'm sorry, Carla. I really thought there might be something between us. I won't bother you again. Take care."

Hurting and disappointed, I hung up the phone without waiting for her response and then sat there for a long while mentally kicking myself. How could I have been so stupid? I'd built up the idea of the possibility of a relationship with Carla, a friend, on the unusual events of a strange party with a group of horny sorority girls.

The door opened and Rebecca, wearing a flowery sundress, came rushing in. She was about to open the refrigerator door when she saw me.

"Oh! I'm sorry, Eric. I didn't know you were still in here."

I shook my head. "It's okay. Just leaving."

"Are you...okay?"

I forced a smile. "Great," I said. "Just...tired. So, are you going out with Josh?"

She smiled. "We talked on the phone for a long while last night; he was really nice and he asked me out. Oh, I know he can be a pain at times and that you two aren't friends, but he's a pretty good guy most of the time."

I practically bit my tongue to keep from telling her my true thought, but only said, "Hope you have a good evening." I walked out, just catching a smile and a hint of her perfume.

***

With all of my hopes having been crushed, I didn't sleep well that night and my dreams when sleep finally came were of the nightmare variety. I finally got up to watch TV, but found three channels were off the air until dawn and I never could get the antenna right to even pick up the ABC station, if it was broadcasting at all. I finally fell asleep while reading a book; when I woke up shortly before noon on Sunday, the book was on the floor and the light was still on.

Toby didn't appear to be around and the Johnson family had gone to church, so I made a sandwich, saddled Blaze, and headed out for a ride. It wasn't too long before I ended up at the swimming hole, sitting on the bank with my feet dangling down into the water where I could kick the water with great abandon to try to relieve some of my frustration. I hated my job, my life, and, to some extent, Carla Pittini.

I didn't hear her approach so it startled me so badly that I almost fell into the water when Rebecca asked, "Mind if I join you?"

"How the hell do you do that?" I asked, my heart still racing from the surprise.

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on a guy like that."

She laughed. "That must be about the only thing I'm good at with guys."

"Your date with Josh didn't go well?"

Wearing a one-piece swimsuit, she threw a towel on the ground and sat down next to me, kicking her feet in the water similar to how I'd been doing. "Eric, it was okay, but Josh is an ass. He was like that when we dated after high school so I broke up with him. He was nicer the other day and for most of our date, but it always gets back to the same thing. I decided to give him another chance, but I guess an ass is sort of like a tiger: he doesn't change his habits like a tiger doesn't change his stripes."

"Sorry you had to find that out the hard way. What happened?" I asked, hoping she was okay, but she shook her head.

"Mmmm...I don't want to talk about it, okay?"

I nodded, understanding, and together we sat kicking the water.

When she spoke again, she surprised me. "I need to apologize. I picked up the phone in my room to make a call and heard you talking to your girlfriend last night. I listened for a few seconds and heard you ask her out before I kicked myself hard enough to hang up the phone. I'm sorry. Does that mean you're leaving us?"

It hurt to think that she'd eavesdropped on us, but I recalled the click on the line and realized it was probably Rebecca instead of Carla picking up as I'd originally thought. It also meant that Rebecca didn't know what Carla had told me and she wouldn't make fun of me (not that I thought she'd really do that anyway) or feel sorry for me unless I told her. I sighed and decided to keep my cover.

"She's busy at the moment so we're going to wait until the end of the summer and maybe get together then."

"Good. I was hoping you'd stick around to give me someone to talk to other than Josh. All he wants to do is have sex."

The thought of Josh and Rebecca doing it all the time in combination with Carla's crushing of my hopes and prospects made me feel queasy, so I slid into the water and swam around for a few minutes while Rebecca sat in the sun on the bank. Not wanting to learn any more of her relationship with Josh, I went up the incline on the opposite bank and called out to her, "I think I'm heading in. I'll see you later."

"See you at dinner," she called as I turned away. I wasn't sure but I thought there might have been a hint of disappointment on her face.

I threw a towel over Blaze's saddle and headed back to the bunkhouse, passing Rachel and her little brother riding together on Lady toward the swimming hole on the way. I felt sorry for them, in a way, being so far out in the country with nothing to do. With my heart already being low, it sank the last little bit possible when I realized I was in basically the same situation for the rest of the summer.

***

Week followed week as the summer passed. I learned new things about the farm and its operation, and with all the manual labor, I was getting stronger each week, too. The haying process was repeated weekly, though we sometimes lost a day or so due to rain and had to work late into the day or even evening on Saturday; I almost preferred the latter since that meant Rebecca wouldn't be going out with Josh.