The Red Tin Can - The Sequel

Charlie continued his wry smile while my wife spoke. He finally spoke up.

"I doubt that anyone will be talking about the red tin can," he began confidently. "You see the day after the last guy's visit, I went into town and after a bit of searching, found the little turd who calls himself a salesman. To my surprise, he was a little weed of a man with a round beer belly and I have to say, Mother, your choice was in poor taste. Anyway, I took him to one side and explained to him in very plain and direct language, that if ANYONE spoke about the red tin can and its meaning in this town, he would disappear into a hole in our cattle yard so deep that it would take a team of excavators to dig him out. The weak little bastard pissed himself and gave me his solemn promise that he would never speak of it again. That left the three younger guys, who as it turned out, were all cousins of the little sales guy, two of whom are married with little kids. I found the trio at the local bar and invited them outside."

I was enthralled with this latest revelation. Who would have thought that my well educated, mild mannered son would ever resort to such behavior to protect his parents from disgrace?

"The three of them acted tough to begin with, but when I explained that one of them could have left our place with an ass full of buckshot if I had not deliberately fired over his head, they realized that I was deadly serious. I made them the same offer as I made to their cousin and I'm a bit ashamed to admit that I might have threatened harm to their wives as well - not that I would ever have done anything like that. After all that I returned home as though nothing had happened. Mother greeted me at the door and it would probably be better if she told you what happened from there."

I puzzled over his statement. Could there be more?

Dawn at least had the decency to look embarrassed.

"I was as horny as hell. Charlie walked in the door and immediately came after me. He said that if I put out for every man in the district then I should not deny him the same. It was crazy logic and I don't think for a moment that either of us believed it was right, but I was so horny that I just couldn't think straight and we came straight up to our room and made frantic love, over and over again until by morning, I could barely walk. Are you sure you want to hear this?"

Hell, I did not want to hear any of it. The belief I had in my wife, my son and my marriage had been shredded in the space of a few minutes. I was angry. I was angry with both of them. Trying to rationalize their behavior, I had to admit that had I not chosen to travel so much, leaving my beloved wife to her own devices for weeks at a time, this situation would never have arisen. Was I really in a position to pass judgment on them?

The silence in the room was deafening. It was Charlie who finally spoke up again.

"Dad I should be ashamed of taking advantage of my own mother. You know that we've always had a very special bond. Initially I worried that a physical relationship would impact on the way I felt for you. You are my hero, Dad. I worship the ground you walk on. You are a wonderful father, you've given me opportunities that you could never have had as a young man and have trusted my judgment in the way we run our stud. You know what though Dad? I'm not ashamed. I love you both with every fibre of my being. When you're home, I make no claims on Mother. I hear you in your room and know you are making love (you're both pretty loud sometimes in case you didn't know) without a twinge of jealousy and I make love to Mother whenever you're not around. She is a wonderfully considerate lover to me and obviously, by your expression right now, you had no idea about our relationship."

My original anger evaporated, replaced by incredulity. I cast my mind back to those occasions when I had seen them together in an intimate embrace. I had been making love to this woman only hours earlier and she was clinging to my son in the kitchen at breakfast time, both of them sparsely dressed. How could I have not sensed that there was something more than your typical mother and son relationship?

"I should be really angry with both of you," I began haltingly. "Hell I should probably throw you both out right now! But what will that solve? I love you both. In your own way, you both love me too, so throwing you out is an option that benefits no one. It worries me Charlie, that your fixation on your mother might prevent you from developing a loving relationship with a girl your own age. You've shown me that you socialize when I'm home, so I've always assumed that you would do so when I'm away."

"Dad, when you're away, I have made it my mission to keep Mother satisfied. She has these strong needs, as I'm sure you know, which can drive her nuts when you're not around. That's what led her to the crazy red tin can arrangement in the first place and I love her far too much to allow a repetition of that farce."

I realized that Charlie's reactions were not a betrayal of me, but a loving act to preserve what we had. Misguided perhaps, but honourable in intent.

I squared my shoulders and stood up straight. I wanted to assert some sort of control over our situation without becoming a tyrant.

"We have a bit of a mess here and I'm unsure what to do about it. We all love each other. The relationship between the three of us has to change now that it's out in the open. I wish I could be angry with you both. I guess I'm disappointed that you did not trust me enough to level with me but I understand that it would be very difficult for either of you to come out and simply say 'Dad, I've been fucking my mother, or Walt, I've been fucking our son' and I'm not even sure that I could have handled it if you had taken that approach. I'm going to make a wild suggestion. You both realise that I will continue to travel. To stop doing so simply because of today's revelations would slowly erode our stud business for no real purpose. So when I'm away I expect you Charlie, to continue to look after you mother in the same way as you have over the past few months. Is that acceptable to both of you?"

Dawn nearly fainted. Just when she feared the worst and was expecting the axe to fall, she was filled with joy. "Oh Walt," she gushed, rushing to throw her arms around my neck. "I love you so much. I'm so sorry I behaved so badly. You had every reason to be angry and cut Charlie and me out of your life forever, but I never expected this from you. How can I ever thank you?"

Charlie drifted over to join us in a group hug. I had a truly evil thought.

"Let's have a ceremonial celebration for the Red Tin Can," I suggested with a laugh.

"What are you talking about, Walt?"

"I'm going to place the tin can on the ground about one hundred metres away. Charlie, go and get the little .22 rifle out of the cabinet and bring it here."

By the time I had laid the tin can on its side, with its base facing us like a small, round target, Charlie arrived with the rifle and a pack of bullets.

"OK you two - here are the rules. Charlie and I have one shot each at the can. Closest to the centre gets to take Dawn to our bedroom for the night. The other sleeps in Charlie's room."

"You're crazy Dad! Mother will never agree to that - will you Mother?"

Dawn smiled serenely at our son. "Sure I will Charlie. I can't lose either way, can I?"

"Charlie you've got the rifle. You shoot first."

I watched as Charlie thumbed a few rounds into the small magazine and clipped in into the underbelly of the rifle. His hands were a bit shaky, I thought. I also knew that Charlie was a hell of a marksman. At the local rifle range, where we had meetings once per month, he was regularly in the top three, but the stakes today were a lot higher so I wondered how he would handle it. He looked to me with a quizzical expression, shrugged his shoulders and dropped to one knee to steady himself.

His shot hit the tin about an inch in from the rim. Not bad, but well off centre. I knew I could better him this time as I took the rifle from him and chambered another round. Milking this for all the drama I could muster, I lined up the centre of the can, then swiveled the rifle a few inches to the left and squeezed the trigger, sending a spray of earth into the air as my shot completely missed the target.

"Damn!" I cursed, laughing inwardly. "Looks as though I'm sleeping on my own tonight but Dawn, you had better be feeling frisky tomorrow morning!"

I suspect Charlie knew what I had done. He walked over to me and wrapping me into a tight hug, said with a smile: "Thanks Dad. See you in the morning."

I watched with a goofy grin as my son walked my wife into our bedroom.

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Westcam