Prolific: Farm Life Multiplied

She was old!

She ... had been THAT old?

I stood there for a moment, listening to the trees move, insects whirr, birds chirping... Nature. Nature was kind of cool. We didn't have that in the city. Silence surrounded us, just James and Agnes and me, under a tree.

I was there to do something.

My mind flashed to Lebowski, and the horror show of scattering ashes in the wind. There was much breeze there, so I was probably okay... "We" were probably okay, I corrected myself.

Digging into the dirt with my fingers enough to pull back a big clod of grass and moss, I opened the bag and scattered her ashes in that little hole, some, then over the whole area where her body would have been, and then under the tree behind them.

The ashes had some pebbles in them. It kind of surprised me, no one had ever mentioned that before.

The last of the box was a fine dust, so I shook it towards the nearby stream so her ashes could run towards a sea, somewhere, presuming that's where it went.

It seemed like the right thing to do.

At some point, I told myself, I'd need to get back out to her grave site with some black rust-paint and fix that fence, and get a stonemason or whatever to add her end-date to her side of the grave marker.

But, for right then? I should say something.

What was I supposed to say?

Gathering my best 'sure I can do this' spirit, I started with a prayer thanking (not knowing her religion) a generic God and apologized to her spirit if this wasn't in keeping with her tradition, exactly. I added that it was in keeping with mine, even though I hadn't gone to church all that much.

(I'd gone to church fairly regularly after I started college, over to the Newman Center. That was the Catholic sort of mini-church on campus. It was supposed to be a good way to meet girls, and it mostly had been, though as friends and not as dates, unfortunately.)

I added some more prayers on behalf of myself, asking for guidance with the house and farm, since I didn't know anything about what I was doing and I'd need that help, tout suite.

My prayers were done, so I crossed myself like we did at mass and called that a good service.

I even said as I left, meaning it, "I hope you are with your loved ones, Agnes."

Walking back, right near the red barn, I found a blackened metal barrel with remnants of burned trash, which prompted a moment of, "Oh, that's what you do with trash on a farm!"

Deciding I had to put the box somewhere, I put it at the bottom almost carefully, like that mattered given I'd be burning it, and thought about moving the barrel closer to the house to save trips, given how often I'd be filling it up.

Smoke would be bad though, and probably that was why it was this far away.

I walked on, but then I got caught up in another moment of, wait, I have an entire farm?

I have to empty trash... from the entire farm? MY entire farm?!??

Egads.

The moment that caused made me wonder what was on this farm, in the buildings I was walking near, since I kind of ... owned them now? I was freaked out by this, obviously, and I think anyone would be.

I was already past the barn and near the shop, so I turned and headed over there.

I had to start somewhere.

The garage door opened easily (no opener) and inside was an ancient looking Ford with a badge "Galaxie 500" on the back.

Mr. Tamberlin had told me the keys were in the cars, Agnes did it that way, so I went over and got in, then (feeling VERY weird) I turned the key and started it.

"Whrrr-Vrooooom!" It started right up, but I shut it off immediately, kind of afraid, then realized I was being silly for being afraid. Of what? What was I supposed to do? Was I allowed to play with this? I kind of was, but... was I? I owned it, but ...it didn't quite feel that way What was I supposed to do with this? With anything?

Well, for one, I could go and get my stuff from my sublet.

Obviously, without a driver's license, that wasn't going to work.

What the hell.

I needed a license, sure, but short term? I needed a ride!

== Chapter: Help Arrives ==

I had a few friends, but my closest one, maybe, was Alan. He lived too far away though, so... maybe his girlfriend? She'd worked at a downtown clothing store - and maybe she was there over the summer?

I called around. No go.

What the hell was I supposed to do?

I sat at the kitchen table and pondered.

The Newman Center (Catholic outreach center) had been right near Murphy. They had study rooms, volleyball, game nights, whatever, and I'd gone there more and more as I got closer in age to the other students.

At first, really, I went just hoping to meet some girls. First time I went, a guy I knew from physics had invited me, but he turned out to be a real dick and I think because I was with him, the girls marked me as 'avoid!' and I was doomed.

Still, the priest guy there was pretty fun to chat with, and he was big on saying, anytime there was a problem you couldn't solve, give him a call. I usually had LOTS of problems I couldn't solve, but this one seemed like something he could help with.

I looked up the number and rang the center; the receptionist answered.

She referenced a priest being unavailable, and asked if she could help.

After I'd rambled on about my situation, she repeated it back to me as, "You have a new apartment, access to a car, but no driver's license. You need moving help. Got it. Hold on, I'm gonna ask someone. What's your number?"

I told her and she said she'd call me back soon.

When she called back a half-hour later, she told me to write something down. I did, though I remembered almost everything anyway, I had (and have) a pretty good memory.

She gave me a phone number and said, "Call and ask for Ann. I just talked with her. She said, 'If you're really in need, and if you can spare a few bucks, I'd be willing to help.' Now, Kevin, just in case you don't know, yes, you should do what you can, a few dollars at least, that'd be the right thing. Or, get her lunch, something like that."

Mentally converting the word 'dollars' to 'a check for dollars', I was quick to reply, "Oh, I have both dollars and food. Agnes left lots of food here, we're set that way. Leftovers, farm food. Good stuff."

The lady laughed and said good, and hung up.

I called Ann, and she took the directions to the farmhouse like she was writing and not paying attention. On mentioning that I had plenty of food, she asked if she could bring a friend, and I said sure.

Someone coming over meant I had to get ready. I hadn't shaved in a few days (I'd mostly been hanging out in the library room reading or just cleaning cobwebs), so I grabbed a quick shower. The shaving idea didn't work because Agnes hadn't left a razor or shaving cream behind.

Cleaned up, I just had to wait, so I went to the shed to see if there were any other vehicles besides the car, like maybe a pickup or something.

There was an 'or something'!

Instead of a pickup, the shed had bigger things, including a huge farm truck, tall off the ground and super-old, with wood sides and a big back bed. The keys were in it, so I tried starting it up. No action. Nothing. No sound, no reaction at all.

Confusion.

I looked around and saw a battery charger on the nearby shelves, so I popped the hood to try that. Voila! Someone had unhooked the red wire from the battery terminal!

I thought, hey, sabotage, but then realized it was either a slow-acting short in the system, or simple theft protection. Putting it back, I heard the inside chime start ding-ing about the door being open.

Bingo!

Tightening the battery wire with a strangely convenient wrench (same shelf as the charger), I got the shed door opened the rest of the way and tried starting it up. It coughed and sputtered, but didn't catch.

Some time later, I heard a honking in the driveway, so I walked outside to see someone off by the house standing and leaning in to honk. Someone else was on the other side of the car, too.

I shouted and jogged over.

Ann and Yee shut their doors and walked towards me, too.

Both girls were thin and way out of my league from an attractiveness standpoint, even dressed in summer shorts and tenting t-shirts. I had no idea how old Ann would be, since it had been a phone call and for all I knew the church secretary might have sent over someone a lot older.

On the plus side, they were both holding work gloves.

Ann was my age or slightly older (it was hard to tell), with thin, wavy dirty-blonde hair, a bright face, and eyes that I had to look away from because they were a little overpowering. That happened to me sometimes, looking at a girl, it was too powerful to hold their gaze because they were just too much of a connection there.

Yee, I didn't have any idea how old she was, maybe high school and maybe in her 20's (turned out, 20, same age as Ann). Her complexion was perfect, with shoulder-length black hair, asian features, and despite being thin her shoulders were slightly broader than normal. Well, I thought, at least she can lift my boxes.

As I got up to them, I could see their eyes were taking me in, and I wondered if I was presentable. I hadn't had a haircut in a while and my shorts were kind of ragged, but then again this was summer and a farm, so I probably was okay on that front.

Holding out my hand and being both self-conscious and somewhat silly, I said, "Hey... I'm Kevin, but my friends call me... Kevin."

They both found that funny and we shook hands as they introduced themselves and echoed that their friends called them Ann and Yee.

To say I was turned on just looking at either one of them would be both inaccurate and an understatement. Looking at someone that pretty, it wasn't about sexy, it was like looking at a really sweet painting or sculpture, like, Look At What God Made. Being 'turned on' would imply I thought it was 'just' sexy. They were, but it was beyond that.

I had to keep focused.

I said, "Uh, okay. So, I have a sublet... apartment, in town? It expires in about 2 weeks, so I'm moving, uh... here. I can use the cars here, but... I don't have a drivers' license."

Ann spoke up, I got the feeling that Yee was more shy. "Mrs. Gibson at the church said that. You have a car? We can use mine, but I don't have a lot of gas money..."

"Oh, not a problem, we have a car here, it's old but big, a couple of trips in that, or ... I just tried to start a giant truck in the shed, but it didn't catch. It'd be simpler to move with that, maybe? A single load?"

They considered and wanted to see it.

Walking over there, I asked if it was harder to drive a truck than a car, but that led to a question about why I didn't have a driver's license.

I answered truthfully, that I didn't really know either, except I'd lived so close to campus I'd never really needed a car, until, then, I'd had to move, and ... then I was on the farm.

We got to the garage and I pointed and shrugged.

Ann said, "Wow! Big Truck!"

They walked around it, and as they did, I hung back, watching their butts as they walked away from me. The shorts they were wearing weren't overly revealing, but at the same time, my imagination filled in ALL the blanks. Thems-some-fine-asses! Both had rounded cheeks that flexed when they walked, coming out as undulating hemispheres that my mind just melted in.

I wanted to kiss them, All Over.

Really, I didn't know them. I'd seen some real trashy chicks leave the bar below where I grew up, and I knew that a great body didn't mean a great character. But, still, they were HERE, to help, to be charitable as well as for a transaction of money or food, for their time.

I had to keep it together! I couldn't watch the hip-sway OMG FINE sweetness and react to it, so I looked away, turning my back for a minute to pretend to see something back behind us.

My insides were melting. These bodies? These Bodies! I sighed, forced my breathing to go back to normal, and tried to think about them as sisters or something, oddities of human form that wandered nearby.

Shaking my head, I turned around and said, "I tried starting it, but I might've done it... wrong."

I mentally cringed at not saying 'incorrectly'. I liked speaking properly but sometimes I got caught in a moment.

Ann had been looking under the hood, but she went around and climbed in. Only a few seconds later (and by doing something to the dash), she turned the key and it sputtered and caught, roaring to life with no troubles.

It was loud in the shed.

I hadn't looked at the tractor next to the truck, or the other stuff in the back yet, but I wondered what else she could drive, or, maybe, then, I could learn to drive?

Motioning for us to get out of the way, she let go of a hand-brake and pulled the hulking behemoth forward and drove out into the driveway. We walked behind, Yee and I smiling at the idea that we'd only have to make one trip.

Ann got out, leaving it running, and asked, "Want to go now? Or, you want us to look at where we're going to move stuff into?"

Her eyes went to the house - or, really, houses, and I realized it was a reasonable question.

I shook it off and said, "No worries. Might as well just go. With this truck it's definitely a single load, I don't have that much stuff."

We all climbed in. I got in the middle since Yee seemed to want to be on the outside, but that meant that I had two sets of beautiful legs rubbing against mine. Off we went, bumping down the lane with a hard suspension that probably was built to handle huge weights in the back.

Getting to my sublet didn't take much time by truck, the highway speeds helping out, plus technically it wasn't that many miles.

My upstairs bedroom had normal random stuff, plus a bunch of boxes in the basement. Most of that was books, but I'd also bought some garage-sale kitchen stuff in anticipation of having my own place. I wouldn't need it now, but I moved it anyway to help out my friend by not leaving my crap behind for him to clean out.

Yee, Ann, and I ferried my stuff out quickly, and Ann got into the truck bed to move stuff so Yee and I could go faster. The trouble was, I had to actively not stare at Ann when I walked up since her butt was above eye level and her legs were muscular... and soft looking... and I just ... wow, I had to Look Elsewhere. My brain was already melting.

Walking behind Yee carrying things, I had to avoid looking at her butt and legs, too.

I didn't want to seem like a creep, and they were totally doing me a favor.

The boxes in the basement were heavy (textbooks!), but Yee picked them up without blinking and I knew I was outclassed.

Yee not caring about the weight made me wonder what she'd done in life to be that strong.

I'd seen the lacrosse team running around campus, and crew team on rowing machines in front of the union (recruiting). Everyone had history. I didn't know - but I wanted to?

It was something to puzzle about intellectually and avoid staring at their oh-my-good-lord legs.

Looking down on the drive back, I was in the center, sandwiched, and two hardbody girls were on either side of me. Their LEGS. THEIR FUCKING AMAZING LEGS!!!! I stifled a whimper and tried to keep my eyes on the road.

The trouble was, the truck bounced over bumps with a hard ka-chunk and out of the corner of my eyes I watched their boobs bounce on their chests.

Purposefully, I could take slow breaths and try to not show any emotions.

My pants started showed my emotions, and that wasn't good, so I glanced under the seat and found a seed-grain hat that I put on, then took off and held in my lap over my Growing Interest.

Mentally, I whimpered.

It wasn't just the sights.

I could smell a nice fragrance from Yee's hair, I thought. They were both smiling, like it was an easier job than they thought it'd be, which it really was.

Once we got back to the farmhouse, we brought the first things into the library room where there was plenty of floor space. I figured I'd get it sorted later.

Ann and Yee were looking around with wide eyes. They might have been more impressed than me because I'd already been cleaning cobwebs and windows, and tiny sections already looked halfway decent.

With the truck's boxes emptied to the Library (lots of floor space), Ann put the truck back in the shed, and I washed up to make us lunch. Yee seemed anxious to take over that task, so I let her, leaning against the counter and watching.

The dishwasher didn't work, the stove was prehistoric, and there was no microwave. But, soon enough we had warm sandwiches and leftovers.

Ann came back in and asked, "You live here alone?"

I laughed, "Yeah. It's freakin' huge. I just got this job a couple of days ago, and I'm a little freaked out, too. I have to clean up the place and make it livable again."

"You... rent it?"

I had to decide if I was going to lie or not. I'd said, 'job' to keep it ambiguous, but this was a moment of truth. I didn't want to seem like I was rich, because I had no idea if I was or not, and certainly my bank account didn't say I was rich.

"I ... inherited it." I wasn't sure what to say, and I think that lack of certainty might have appeared like sadness. It was sadness, also, for sure, but mostly I didn't know what to say.

Ann's eyes went soft and she said, "Ohhhh, sorry to hear that! Were you close?"

I half-chuckled but felt tears in my eyes and I had to not show that.

Really, the thing overriding my sadness was the base humor of how not-close Anges and I were. Considering, I said thin-lipped, "Well, not that close, not really at all, but... it was very sudden, and I had just decided I liked her."

They nodded and we sat down to eat.

They obviously wanted more details, so I continued. "Getting this place? HUGE surprise. Obviously - I didn't even get my stuff here yet, but... I'm not objecting? I don't know what I'm going to do, I don't have much of a job, I'm taking full-time classes, and this... will need a lot of fixup money, I think."

Ann's face got this contemplative look on it. She asked, "You... seem to have a lot of bedrooms."

"Yeah?"

"You could rent those out to students, and you'd have... an income."

She had a point.

My job for the summer had been working for a chem professor cleaning glassware and helping out, but he was on vacation. I'd been super-worried about expenses. I was mostly on scholarship, but I did have some student loans for housing and books.

Looking at Yee and back at Ann, I remembered my fellow students at Murphy, some of whom (not all!) were serious jerks. I asked, "I don't know about that - I've met some real jerks. What if I got real creeps for roommates? Could I even kick them out?"

Yee spoke, for maybe the third time that whole morning. She said, "You want, house cook?"

I laughed and said, "I don't know if I could pay for groceries for me, let alone pay a cook."

She continued, "No. I cook. I stay here. I buy own food, for me. You buy, food you. No pay. I cook, all food. Trade, same-same. Cook for room."

While I was thinking, Ann said, "I... might be interested, too. I could pay, though. I'm paying $500 a month for a tiny room now, I could pay you instead, and... I'd have more room. This is farther away, but...It's WAY nicer here."

I laughed at the suddenness of it, and said, "Ha!! Would... Yee, would you cook for Ann, too? Ann and me?"

Yee, very serious, looked me in the eye and said, "I cook and clean. I will trade. You can see. All people eat. Same work, make food, 2 people, 3 people, 10 people, same, ah... 'effort'." It came out as 'eff-oLt'. She was Korean, but, still. Sometimes her accent was thick, but I could really tell she was trying.

I thought about it more seriously. "I know I can use the help. Don't you have a job already?"

Yee said, "I am waitress. Pay sucks."