Simply Red

Max’s Perspective

 “HEY! We’re here” Gina yelled from the front door.

“it’s about damn time!” BA yelled back. “Now get the hell in here and lemme see how that rock looks on your finger!” BA was so excited about Dylan and Gina’s engagement, she LOVED Gina.  The first time BA met her, she told me ‘you need to snag that one for Dylan.’ It wasn’t all that hard to push them together, the two of them hit it off instantly and are such a great match. Gina came dancing into the room with her left hand in front of her for BA to see. After BA gushed over the ring for a while, the three of us got to work.

 Brody was telling Daddy and Dylan about our plans to convert the old barn and build a smaller one for Jimmy. Brody led the other two out back to share his ideas for the conversion and left us to get pickling. I was leading the charge this time; I knew what I was doing and was excited. I had all my spices ready and premeasured; I had the vegetables all sorted out and had started sterilizing the jars. BA was next to Gina helping her prep things and teaching her what to do step-by-step just like she did for me a year ago. “Now, honey” BA said to Gina in her cigarette-cured voice “The first thing we pickle is…” then she yelled over to me “Max?”

And I responded loudly “ourselves!”

 “Yep” BA laughed as she pulled a jar of moonshine out of her giant purse.

 “It’s only 10AM” Gina said.

 “Oh hell, it’s already like noon tomorrow in Tokyo. Those folks are probably already nursin’ their hangovers… we got some catchin’ up to do” BA said pouring a little shine into three glasses. “This shit’ll put hair on your chest, sweetie” she told Gina as she handed her one of the glasses.

 She took the glass, sipped it, and yelled “Woo! That shit is strong!!!!”

 “Welcome to the family darlin’” BA said with a chuckle. The three of us sipped moonshine and pickled everything in sight. The guys came in from the barn after about an hour to check on us.

 “So, Maxwell” Daddy said. “Do ya’ really think you can sell enough candles to turn it into a business?”

 “Ya’ know… I do. We got The Resort contract, I sell a lot at the Farmer’s market, now we have this sales rep interested in hawking them” I said. “I started a business plan and I’m adding up the dollars, it makes sense.”

“Well, Brody showed us what yer thinkin’ about the old barn, I think it’ a smart investment. It’ll work out good for your candle makin’ and Brody’s office. And if things change later, it’ll make a nice little guest house.” Daddy said.

“Daddy suggested lookin’ into a prefab barn for Jimmy” Brody chimed in. “We don’t need anything too big, and it’ll save us some time and money.” I kept working as we talked about options.

 “Let’s cookout tonight” BA said. “We can invite Bubba and that girl he’s been seein’ and get his input too.” Brody didn’t want to bug him, but BA called and invited him anyway, telling him what we’d been discussing. He agreed to come by with Sarah. Daddy, Brody, and Dylan did a grocery run and we kept on pickling. BA was a little tipsy and started getting emotional on us. “I am so happy my boys found you two” she said as she screwed the tops onto the Kerr jars. “I’m only the step momma but I love ‘em like they’re my own. I was afraid Brody would end up alone, and Dylan…” she paused and looked over at Gina, “I’m sorry hun, but I was afraid he’d knock up some big haired idiot and be miserable for the rest of his life.” She had Gina and I both laughing. “But then you two came along. Red, I liked you from day one. You know what I liked most about you?” She asked.

 “My great looks and charming personality?” I replied getting a snicker from Gina.

 “The smile you put on my boy’s face… He was glowin’ the first time he brought you to my house, and gull-darn-it, he’s been glowin’ ever since.” She said, “and Gina? Well, the first time I met you I told Red here he better snag you for Dylan. I knew y’all were the one for him.” BA was a little buzzed, but 100% sincere with her words. She loved us both because we made her boys happy, and we loved her because… well, because what the hell’s not to love? A genuine, sincere person who raised and loved the men we love most.

 We kept working and pickled so fucking much that day while the guys hung out and grilled. Bubba and Sarah showed up several hours later for dinner. Sara hung out with Gina and the family while Bubba walked around the barn and the property with me and Brody listening to our plans, throwing out more ideas, and taking notes. He totally got what we were trying to do. He said he pull some preliminary numbers together, and then added, “if y’all are willing to put the money into it, this is totally doable.” After that we all ate dinner together at the patio table on the deck and we moved some of Grammaw’s old lawn chairs from the basement up to accommodate everyone. It was an impromptu party. We had a great time, but by 9:30 everyone had said goodnight and headed home and it was just me and Brody. Brody cleaned up the yard and the house, and I kept pickling. He fed the animals, locked up the house, kissed me goodnight at about 10:30, and went up to bed alone. I kept going, and going, and going. I finally shut it down about 4AM and joined Brody upstairs. I smelled like vinegar and sweat from a hard day’s work pickling.  

 Brody woke me up as he was leaving for the office, it was almost 8AM. “I already fed Zoey and Jimmy, and let jimmy out into the pasture” He said. Just then we heard a car coming up the driveway, Brody looked out the window “Ricky’s here already, I’ll let him in the barn so you can take a shower. There’s coffee in the pot” Brody said as he kissed me goodbye.

 I moved fast as I ran into the bathroom and jumped in the shower; I was gross! I hadn’t showered on Sunday and then spent the day in front of the hot stove pickling. I wreaked, but I didn’t have time for a leisurely shower, Ricky was waiting for me. I finished up in less than ten minutes, threw on some old clothes, grabbed a cup of coffee, and went out to the barn to find Ricky hard at work lining up Jars for our first wax pouring of the day. He had the speaker blasting and was singing and shaking his little butt as he worked. He’d only been working for me a few days, but he knew exactly what to do. He was a smart kid who didn’t need a lot of supervision and I greatly appreciated him. “Hey Ricky” I said cheerfully, “You’re here early.”

 “Yup” he said. “We got a lotta candles to make before school starts in two weeks. I wanted to get an early start.” Who would have thought this was the same kid that graffitied our barn a few weeks ago?

 “I really appreciate your help, Ricky” I said as I started melting the wax. “Gina’s probably gonna be a little late this morning, and I got another teacher from school coming to help for the next couple of days.”

 “Cool” is all he said, then went back to working and dancing.

 I went over to the speaker and turned it down a little bit, then moved in beside him and started helping him line up containers and asked, “Hey, can I ask you something?” He didn’t make contact and just nodded; he knew what was coming. “So, did Billy Ray and T-Dog give you that black eye because you’re working for me?”

 His voice was quiet when he answered, “kinda.” Then he took a deep breath “Billy Ray started to bag on you when we saw him at the farmer’s market and used some names I don’t wanna repeat. I said you were a nice guy, told him to shut the… um… bleep up, and walked away.”

 “That was pretty bold. Thanks for defending me” I replied. “So how did you get the black eye then.

 He took another deep breath before he continued, “Well, when I got to my car, the word... um ‘fag’ into the side of it. I knew Billy Ray did it and I got pissed off. I went down to the pier where him and T-dog hang out to kick his ass.”

I felt bad that the kid was taking shit for helping me out “looks like he kicked your ass instead, huh?”

 Ricky smirked a little and laughed out a scoff “he looks worse.”

 We both got quiet for a minute, then I broke the silence. “Hey Ricky, I’m sorry you’re taking shit for helping me out” I said. “I really appreciate you.” Then I decided to go for broke and put it out there. “Ricky, you know if you’re gay you can tell us.”

 He scoffed a little “I’m not gay, Max. I just don’t think there’s anything wrong with it, and it aint right to be mean to someone just because they’re different.” He gave me a weak smile, I nodded in response and we were silent again as we continued to work. Almost five minutes went by before he said, “Max, I’m sorry I brought those guys here that night to mess up your barn… I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.” I gave him a smile and nodded. “I want you to know, that I didn’t spray paint those words on the barn and I tried to talk Billy Ray out of it… T-dog did too… he aint a bad guy. It was all Billy Ray, but it was my fault they came out here in the first place. I am so sorry.” When he said the words, he was looking me straight in the eyes; he regretted what he’d done and was being sincere.

 It might have been inappropriate, but I couldn’t help but hug him. “We’re cool” I said. “You’re a good guy, Ricky.”

 He whispered “thanks, Max. You and Brody are good guys too. And thanks for giving me a job that I love.” That made me smile, I mean c’mon. Our relationship got off to the shittiest of starts but look where we were just a few weeks later. “Show me what he did to your car” I said changing the mood.

 He said, “There aint much left to see” as we walked out to the driveway to look at the old, red Chevy. “Me and my dad sanded it down and primed it. The two doors on the driver’s side of the red car were flat gray with primer.

 “So, what did your dad say about it?” I asked.

 “What he always says… “you need to get a better class of friends.” He hates those guys.” He said with a half laugh, half scoff.

 As we were talking Gina drove up in her little Toyota, she was hungover and looked like hell. I on the other hand was doing alright, I learned to pace myself when it comes to moonshine and BA.

 “G’morning, boys” Gina grumbled with her sunglasses on, her hair in a ponytail, and a vente black coffee in her hand as she exited the little car.

 “Good morning, Gina!!” I sang loudly and cheerfully purposefully aggravating her hangover, “did you enjoy your first pickling day?”

 “Dear lord that woman can drink” she mumbled as she referred to her future mother in-law. I filled Ricky in on our Sunday as we headed towards to barn and he just chuckled. The two of us started talking loudly just to annoy her, and once we were in the barn, he cranked up the tunes again. “Jesus! Turn that down!” Gina grunted in her hungover state making Ricky chuckle again.

 I was checking on the wax when Mrs. J came in and greeted us all. “Good morning, I’m ready to work” she said. “And I brought muffins.” She was busy when Ricky stopped by the farmer’s market and I didn’t have a chance to introduce the two of them. She walked towards him and said “Ricky! I didn’t know you were working for Max.” It turns out she had taught him years ago, “How do you know Max?”

 I hadn’t told her about the graffiti incident because we didn’t want to make a big deal of it, so I chimed in before he could answer her “We met him when he was delivering pizza one night. He’s a great worker.” Before I could walk over to her, Ricky had already started showing her what to do. Honestly, the kid had made several tweaks to the process and had us working like a well-oiled machine. I was lucky to have him. The three of us spent the next two days hard at work and had enough candles for the first several rollouts ready to ship. After everyone left each night, I’d spend my time working on the business plan. On Wednesday Ricky came at 7AM so he could get a bunch of containers set up for the others and then concentrate on packing up what we had already finished. Scotty was elated when I called him to let him know we were weeks ahead of schedule. We were really pulling this off! I couldn’t believe it.

 UPS showed up in the afternoon to pick-up our first official shipment for The Resort. We had three locations poured, packed and ready to sell. Ricky and I were helping the UPS guy load his truck when Brody drove up, it was only about 3:00. “Hey y’all!” he said cheerfully. “Need some help?”

 “What are you doing home so early?” I asked.

 He shot me a smile and said, “they decided to ‘release me early.’” He used air quotes as he said the words.

 “Why?” I asked.

 “Egos” was his answer. The owner of the agency was still pissed that Brody quit and was making his life a living hell. They got into an argument over one of the projects Brody was working on, then he accused Brody of trying to poach accounts to take with him, gave him a check for the remainder of his two weeks, told him it was his last day, then escorted him to the door for affect. Brody just laughed it off, apparently the owner had forgotten that the reason Brody was leaving was that he didn’t like the accounts he was working on in the first place. Brody wasn’t surprised or even fazed by it, it’s not uncommon in the agency world, especially if you’re leaving to go to the competition. But in this case, Kevin’s agency wasn’t competition, Brody’s boss just felt slighted and let his ego get in the way. “Jim already called me twice to say he was trying to get them to take me back. I told him not to bother, then thanked him for all he had done for me. I feel bad for the guy, he’s gonna have to pick up my slack.” Jim was the Creative Director and Brody’s immediate boss. The two of them got along well and Brody respected him… the owner of the agency on the other hand was a narcissistic douchebag. “So, I got me an extra week of vacation.” He said with a smile as he grabbed a box of candles and handed it to the UPS guy. We finished loading up, and the big brown truck made its way down the gravel drive. Ricky went back to work and Mrs. J and Gina started to pour more wax.

 “You okay?” I asked.

 He flashed a mischievous grin and said “I’m fucking fine as frog’s hair. Hey, I got an extra week off and am done with that place. I feel bad for leaving Jim in a lurch though.”

 “That sounds like it falls under ‘not your problem’.” I said.

 He just gave me a “yep, but I feel bad because I like the guy and he was good to me” in response then went into the house to change while the rest of us continued to work.

 We finished up a couple of hours later and I pulled out a bottle of wine. Ricky left to go to the pizza place for his delivery job and the three of us stood around one of the big tables and talked. Gina let it slip to Mrs. J that our barn had been tagged. She was pissed that we didn’t tell her, “Out here, we all stick together, Max.” Mrs. J said when she heard the news, then went on to tell us about the three boys. She had taught them all and knew them well. She was convinced Ricky and T-dog (ugh) were good kids and probably had nothing to do with it, but Billy Ray was a bully. He lived with his dad who was (and I quote Mrs. J) “a drunk sonofabitch.” She felt that deep down Billy Ray wasn’t a bad kid, he was just constantly acting out to get his father’s attention. The problem was that his father liked it when he attacked others and after a while, the school just gave up trying to talk to the guy, and Billy Ray kind of slipped through the cracks. It was sad, but the system could only do so much with a kid whose parent doesn’t care.

 After that depressing conversation, I changed the subject and told them about our plans to build Jimmy a smaller barn and convert the old one. “So, how long before you quit teaching?” Mrs. J asked out of the blue without warning.

 To be frank, I hadn’t really thought about that yet. I mean, yeah… it crossed my mind while I was working on the business plan, but that was way down the road. I had signed on for another year of teaching and was more focused on figuring how to do both than I was about leaving the school… hell I LOVED teaching. “Honestly, I haven’t given it much thought. I’ll figure out how doable it is to handle both this year. I really don’t want to quit. I love my job.” Mrs. J just smiled, she had seen a million young teachers come and go and assumed I’d be the next. We talked a little while longer and then everyone went home for the day.

 I went inside and found Brody whistling as he made dinner. ‘What the actual fuck?’ I thought to myself, ‘He never cooked!’ “This is new” I said as I came up behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist and kissing him on the neck.

 “Well, you’re workin’ hard and I got free time. All yer gettin’ is spaghetti and sauce from a jar.” He said as he worked.

 “Sounds good to me” I answered. I cleaned up while he finished dinner, then we sat at the table and ate while we talked about our days. “So, what’s up for tomorrow?” I asked.

 “I’m just gonna putter around the property and clean up my office… other than that no plans” Brody said in a relaxed tone, relieved to be done with that place. “If you need help in the barn just let me know.”

“You know me, I never turn down help” I said before adding “but we got it covered, just enjoy your time off.” Brody was the kind of guy that was always thinking and creating, he rarely just shut down and took time for himself; he deserved a break.

 While we were talking about what he wanted to get done in the yard, his phone rang; it was Bubba. The two cousins talked for a bit before they hung up. “Hey” Brody said to me once he was off the phone. “Bubba’s got rough numbers and they’re in line with what we were thinking.” He filled me in on the details and said Bubba was emailing a quote. He called his buddy at the lumberyard to talk about buying a pre-fab barn, the guy says he’s got one in stock that someone backed out of a few months ago.  He’s tired of storing it and since he kept the guy’s deposit, he’ll give us a good deal just to get it off his lot.”

 “What’s it look like?” I asked.

 Brody sat back down and filled me in on what he knew while he finished his dinner. “He says it’s nice and would fit in perfect; he’s texting me a link to the model. He says he can clear out and grade the space this weekend and pour the cement and started raisin’ the barn next week.”

 “Damn, that’s fast” I replied as I finished dinner and started clearing the dishes. While I did that Bubba Sent Brody the link to the barn. It was perfect. A cute little model that fit in with the character of the house and old barn. It was big enough to house another goat and maybe some chickens. It was getting late and it was dark out, but we decided to head to the yard and take a look at the area we were thinking about for the new barn. Zoey came out with us, but took off and went into the old barn to hang with his best bud Jimmy while we looked around with our flashlights in hand, paced off the area, and talked about which direction we wanted the Barn to face, adding extra insulation, etc.

 As Brody was sharing his vision with me, I just looked at him. Goddammit he was adorable. It was dark as hell back there, but there were a million stars in the sky, and the moonlight caught him just perfectly. He leaned against a tree as he pointed and plotted. His perfect bubble butt rested up against the old oak, his right leg was bent at the knee and the bottom of his shoe was planted firmly on its trunk. I made my way over to him and planted a big wet kiss on his lips while he was mid-sentence.

“Maxwell, what in THEE hell are ya’ll doin’” he said in fake protest while his devilish grin betrayed him.

 “Kissing the cutest fucking little redneck I have ever seen in my life” I responded as I rubbed his manhood through his jeans and kissed his grinning face. He moaned into my mouth and moved his hands to my ass cheeks pulling me closer… the protest was officially over. As we kissed… well, it was more like necking, I guess… I fumbled with his belt and button-fly. I started to pull is jeans down when he pushed me away.

 “Maxwell, we’re in the middle of the yard!” he said as he started to button his fly back up.

 “Yeah, and our closest neighbor is almost half a mile away” I said before I pushed my lips back against his and yanked on his jeans pulling them clear down to his cute little knees. Before he could say a word, I dropped to my knees and grabbed his soft cock, shoving it in my warm mouth. He threw his head back against the tree and let out a moan as he pushed my head down.

 “Fuck, Maxwell. That feels so damn good. I looked up him as I continued to suck his rapidly growing member. I massaged his balls with one hand as the other worked in sync with my hot mouth to stimulate his shaft. After a few minutes the tenseness left his body and he started to relax and enjoy the pleasure I was giving him. I know my husband like the back of my hand and he was ready to give me his load when I pulled off him. I spun him around and pushed him forward, he instinctively braced himself against the old tree. Without hesitation I dove into that sweet, round ass tongue first. “Gotdammit, Maxwell” he moaned as he pushed his ass back as he reached behind him and pushed my face into his crack.

 FUCK! His musky smell, his salty taste, the feel of the soft skin and curvature of his round cheeks in my hands all came together to fuel my lust. I couldn’t get enough and dove in deep, smashing my nose tight against his crack. I smacked both cheeks, the slap echoed in the darkness, shattering the silence of our country haven. Brody screamed in passion as I ate out his tight little hole. “Fuck me, Maxwell” He grunted. Brody was usually the top, but every once in a while he gave in to his lust and begged me to fuck him. I NEVER said no and I wasn’t about to start. I fumbled with the zipper on my shorts and out sprang my throbbing rocket ready for action. I spit in my hand and used my saliva to lube myself up. I lined my cockhead up with his hole and pushed. Brody yelped as I breached his sphincter, put a hand on my abs signaling me to stop and wait… after a short pause he begged me for more. I slowly gave him every inch. Once I was balls deep, I just held myself there waiting for him to adjust. “Seriously,” Brody said, “Fuck me hard, baby.”  I. did. Not. Disappoint. I rammed my husband and I rammed him hard, putting every bit of my energy into my thrusts. Within minutes I was shooting my wad deep into his tight ass as I filled the air with grunts and groans worthy of the wildest of animals.

 Fully spent, I leaned down and collapsed on his back. He let me catch my breath and then pushed me off him. “You aint done yet” he said as he spun around, reaching up and grabbing me by the hair. He grabbed me by the fucking hair! He had NEVER done that before and I freaking loved it. He pushed me to my knees and commanded, “Suck my cock, Max” Yes… commanded. My sweet, meek little redneck was a man possessed. I devoured his tool and took him deep down my throat and that little bastard face-fucked me. He grabbed my head and thrust his hips back and forth gagging me. My face was flush and my eyes filled with tears as he abused my throat and I fucking loved it. This forceful version of Brody was just the escape I needed. I wasn’t thinking about candles, gardens, barn raising, business plans, or anything else but getting my throat fucked. After just a few minutes he warned me that he was about to cum, spurring me to grab his ass cheeks and pulled him in deeper as my tongue spiraled around his shaft. With a deep, guttural moan he forcefully shot his seed down my gullet and I eagerly accepted every last drop.

 Brody helped me off my knees and we both pulled our pants back up. I don’t think I had ever appreciated the privacy of our little kingdom as much as I did at that moment. It was a wonderful night in the country.

  

To be continued…