The Village

Maverick’s Perspective

It was early Christmas morn and there I was, face to face with the house that built me. I sat at the end of the long gravel drive, tired, and my eyes red from eight hours of crying as I drove through the night to get home to Kentucky. I didn’t expect to be greeted with open arms but I had to try. I looked around the old farm as I sat in the Beetle with the heater running. The fields were empty, the silo was full, and the equipment was all parked near the huge barn. My crappy treehouse was still propped up in the old oak between the house and the barn, it looked like a good gust of wind could blow it outta there without much effort.

The old Beetle got me safely home but I couldn’t bring myself to drive the last couple hundred feet up to the house and knock on the door. Shit, why was I even there? They didn’t want me; my step momma made that clear when she kicked me out. No one had seen me yet; I could just turn around and go back to Harrington House and forget the whole thing. No! I drove all night to spend Christmas with my family, and that’s exactly what I was gonna do. I put the old car in gear and inched slowly towards the old farmhouse. I parked behind Daddy’s ole rusty Ford pick-up and just sat there a little longer tryin’ to get up the courage to knock on the door. I took a quick look at myself in the rearview mirror, fixed my hair, then took a deep breath, exhaled, and got out of the old car. I walked up to the door that I used to walk in and out of freely, took another deep breath then knocked, like a stranger. It took a minute or so, but Shirley eventually opened the door, still wiping her hands on a kitchen towel. When she realized it was me, a look of surprised disappointment came over her aging face. “What in the hail are y’all doin’ here, boy?” She asked in an angry whisper as she looked over her shoulder making sure no one else had seen me. “And on Christmas of all days” there was disgust in her tone.

“It’s Christmas and I just wanted to be with my family” I answered in a timid, cracklin’ voice.

“Well, you aint welcome here, boy, and I sure as hail don’t want you ‘round my young-uns fillin’ their heads with gay talk on Jesus’s birthday” she said still yelling in a whisper. “Now git off my porch before anyone sees you here” she added before slammin’ the door of the home where I grew up in my face.

‘HER porch’ I scoffed to myself as I walked back to the car, got in, and sat for a moment just looking at the house. I looked up and saw my sister Ronny in the attic window that used to be my room, she had turned 16 since I left. I waved back at her, tryin’ to smile… dang who ever thought smilin’ would be so dang hard? I started the car, swung it around and headed down the drive watching the house in my rearview mirror as it got further away. I had no clue where I was going. I was too tired to drive back to Wilmington, and too broke to stay at a hotel, not that there were any around anyway. There was a twenty four hour truck stop about ten miles away, I decided to go there to gas up, maybe get some breakfast and figure out my plan. If any place in that podunk county was open on Christmas Day, it would be the truck stop.

I pulled up to the pump and filled the tank of old green beetle. I looked at my phone and saw a group text from Colton invitin’ me and the other guys to his apartment for brunch. The texts were flyin’ back and forth and it looked like all the guys were goin’ to Colton’s. I didn’t answer. There was another text from Seth wishing me a Merry Christmas… I texted him back the same thing. No one had figure out I was gone yet. Good. Maybe I could sneak back before they noticed. When I was done filling the tank, I went inside to have breakfast, then I was gonna head back. I decided I could pull into a rest area and sleep if I got tired, I just wanted to get back to Harrington House where I felt safe and loved.

The diner at the truck stop was pretty empty, it was Christmas Day after all, everyone was probably home with their families celebrating. Everyone except me… the self-pity started again. Just then the waiter came over and said “Beanie? What the heck are y’all doin’ here?” Beanie. Nobody had called me that in forever. They used to call me that because I was so dang skinny, it was short for string bean. I looked up to see RayRay Hudson. RayRay was a friend of mine from high school. He was a cute little redheaded nerd with freckles and a smile that could make the meanest dog friendly. We weren’t best buds or nuthin’, but we used to hang out once in a while… I hadn’t seen him since graduation. Dayum, he had filled out nice!

“Rusty?” I said mustering a smile for his friendly face. We called him rusty cuz’ of his red hair (yeah, I know. We weren’t all that creative when it came to nicknames).

He laughed, “It’s just RayRay now.”

I responded with “I just go by Maverick” then we shook hands, he sat down at my booth and we caught each other up on life since high school. Turns out he came out after high school and his parents kicked him out too, now he wass going to community college and managing the truck stop. I shared my story and told him about how The Village helped me find a place to live, a job, and how I was training to manage the greenhouse. Then I told him I drove all night hoping to see my family and what happened with Shirley when I got to the door.

“Well, she always was a bitch” RayRay said with a grin, making me laugh. “I live alone above the old general store downtown, y’all can stay at my place tonight if ya’ want, get some rest then head back to North Carolina tomorrow.” I thanked him for the offer and accepted. He went to put my order in and wait on another customer that had come in. While he was busy, I saw my dad’s rusty old pick-up pull into the lot and park next to the beetle. ‘Shit!’ I thought to myself. Then I saw Ronny jump out. She saw me through the window and came into the diner, without a word she slid into the booth next to me, hugged me, and rested her head on my shoulder. Gotdammit, it felt so good. I’d missed her so much, I missed physical contact with anybody, and I missed my family so much. I started to choke up inside but stayed strong on the outside.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked my stepsister.

“I watched you leave the house, where the heck else ya’ gonna go genius?” she asked with a laugh. “The whole dang state is shut down for Christmas.” Her head was still resting on my shoulder. “I missed you so much, Beanie. Why didn’t you call me?” It was a fair question.

“I called my daddy a couple of times. He said he was happy to hear from me and was glad I was safe, but didn’t say anything else. I called the house phone a couple of times hoping to get you or one of the other kids, but your mom always answered so I hung up” I answered quietly as I continued to hug her. She smelled like home.

“I got a cell phone now” she said before pulling out of our hug and reaching into her pocket. “yYu got one?” She asked, and I pulled mine out in response. We exchanged phones then put our numbers into each other’s before handing them back. “You better call me. Don’t you EVER disappear on me again.” She looked at me and smiled. “Come back home with me. The others will be happy to see you, you’ll be my Christmas present to ‘em.”

I sighed, “your momma don’t want me there. She made that damn clear. I’m just gonna head back home” I said realizing that I just called The Village ‘home.’ RayRay showed up with my breakfast, Ronny grabbed a fork and helped herself to my plate of greasy sausage, bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. We caught up on life, and she shared goofy stories about my brother and sister, I missed them so much (she told me they all missed me too… that made me feel better and worse all at the same time). I hadn’t laughed so hard in months, it felt good to be home… well technically I was in a crappy diner about ten miles away from home, but I was with my sister. So, it felt like home. After we ate breakfast, she hugged me goodbye and promised to keep in touch before she went back home.

By then the guys at Harrington House had figured out I was missing and everybody was texting me. I sent a group text saying, ‘decided to go home for Christmas. Made it here safe and having fun with my family. Merry Christmas!’ It was BS, but I didn’t see a reason to F’ up everybody else’s Christmas. The guys all texted back hearts, likes, all that stuff. They were all happy for me (even though what I told them was BS).

“I gotta work until 2:00” RayRay said when he came back to the table. I never noticed how cute he was before with his red hair, green eyes, and freckles. He was slight in stature, but had filled out since high school and his body had nice definition. He was boyish turning into mannish with a smile that comforted my troubled soul. “I can give y’all the key to my place and you can hang out there.”

The diner was quiet, and honestly, I really liked talkin’ to RayRay in between customers. “If it’s okay with you I’ll just wait here” I said.

“Sure. I like havin’ y’all here” RayRay said with a big smile. It was quiet again so he hung with me on and off for the next hour, then we saw Daddy’s old pick-up pull up in front of the diner again. The driver’s side door opened and Ronny jumped out again. Then the passenger door opened and out jumped my 14 year old stepbrother JD, followed by my 12 year old stepbrother Macon, and my 10 year old sister Lucy. All of them! I stood when I saw ‘em all. They looked at me through the big diner window and Lucy waved wildly at me with a big ole’ smile on her face as she ran towards the door, opened it up and ran into my arms. Dear lord I hugged that lil girl so tight and sobbed tears of joy into her neck. My brothers came up and sandwiched the two of us in a hug, Ronny was the last to join the huddle of siblings. When I left Wilmington the night before I had visions of being huddled with my family in front of the Christmas tree opening gifts and just loving being together. Instead, it was me and my stepsiblings reunited in a group huddle in the middle of a diner inside a dirty 24/7 roadside truck stop. But gotdammit, it was perfect.

“I told daddy where we were goin’ and he distracted Momma while we snuck out the back door” Ronny said.

“But he wouldn’t come?” I asked. She just shook her head ‘no’ with an empathetic smile. I knew Daddy loved me, but his fear of losing Shirley and being alone seemed to outweigh his desire to see me. That thought made me sad, but I decided to let the fact that my step-sibs were willing to risk THEIR happy Christmas to give ME one. We spent the next hour together and I just listened to my siblings tell me about everything I’d missed. They were so animated as they told me everything they could think of. God, I had missed them so much. Sadly, they had to head back home before my stepmomma came lookin’ for ‘em. Ronny and I vowed to keep connected. I’d headed to Kentucky looking to connect with my family and I just did that.

When RayRay’s shift was over, I followed him back to his place. It was a cute little studio above the general store, just a big bedroom with a kitchenette and a private bathroom. It was nuthin’ fancy, but it was homey, he was makin’ it on his own, just like me (‘cept I had more help than he did thanks to The Village). “Thanks for lettin’ me stay here, RayRay” I said gratefully.

“I’m glad yer here. I spent Christmas eve with my sister and her family, but I wasn’t really lookin’ forward to bein’ alone tonight.” RayRay answered as he walked around the little apartment straightenin’ up. “I’m sorry you didn’t get to go home for Christmas, Beany.”

 “Yeah, it was a longshot anyway. But at least I got to see my brothers and sisters” I answered. Then I laughed a little in disbelief as I thought about my day. “I can’t believe Ronny snuck ‘em all away from Shirley to see me.”

“It’s clear they love ya’” RayRay said. He was right. Hell, they made me feel so loved when they showed up at the diner. As we were talking, my phone rang, it was Seth. I declined the call. He called again, I declined it a second time then he texted ‘Maverick, pick up the phone. NOW! I know you’re in Kentucky’ uh oh. Busted. He called a third time.

“I’m gonna take this in the hallway” I said to RayRay.

“Cool. I need to take a shower to get the stank of the diner off me anyway” he said as I walked out the door of the tiny apartment and sat on the stairs.

“um.. hello?” I answered weakly.

“ARE YOU SAFE?!” Seth yelled through the phone.

“Yeah. I’m safe” I answered quietly and could hear his sigh of relief through the phone.

 

“Thank god” he said with a tone of relief that immediately turned stern. “I’m not going lecture you about how frigging stupid it was to take off in the middle of the night alone without telling anybody, or how irresponsible it was to take the Beetle over state lines without permission, or how much you scared the hell out of all of us.” Seth yelled into the phone.

He paused from his non-lecture long enough for me to say, “I know. I know, I’m sorry Seth, I shouldn’t have left like that. I just got homesick.”

His tone changed and he was empathetic now, “I’m glad you’re safe. How is the visit home going? Are you okay?” I took a deep breath then told him everything… the truth. He mostly listened adding the occasional encouraging comment; it felt good to talk about it. I told him I was going to spend the night at a friend’s before making the long drive back. I had the next day off, BroMax Farm had shut down production the week between Christmas and New Year’s, but I had to go in a few times to tend to the greenhouse.

Seth was extremely supportive even though I just took off unannounced and took the car without permission. “I’m glad you’re safe, Maverick. I’m sorry things didn’t work out like you hoped, but it sounds like a lot of good came from your trip” Seth said in a fatherly tone. “But next time tell someone! Be safe, I’ll see you when we get back.” The thing about Seth is that he was less than a decade older than me, but he was more of a father figure to me than my own dad had been over the past year. We wished each other Merry Christmas then hung up. I took a deep breath and exhaled before I went back into RayRay’s tiny apartment.

RayRay was clean and fresh from the shower, The fresh smell of his soapy shower wafted through the tiny apartment. “Everything okay?” He asked sitting stretched out comfortably on the bed in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I couldn’t help but notice the definition of his body and the little red hairs on his freckled legs. Damn he was cute as hail.

“Yeah, it was The Village callin’ to wish me Merry Christmas” I lied.

The bed was the main piece of furniture in the place and he patted the spot next to him inviting me up. I kicked off my shoes and jumped up next to him. I told him about Seth and The Village in more depth than I had earlier. He listened to every word as we leaned up against the headboard. Then he shocked the livin’ hail outta me by kissin’ me on the lips. “I always had a crush on you, Beany” he whispered as he ended our kiss. I didn’t say anything, instead I leaned in and kissed him back.

Things got hot n’ heavy fast as we made out on the bed in the tiny apartment. I had ben so deprived of any kind of human contact for the longest time that his hands felt amazing on me. I wasn’t all that experienced. I messed around with a guy in high school, then when I first moved to North Carolina, my roommate and I used to have sex… but it had been like eight months since I did anything with anyone. Hell, a barely even wacked off anymore. Hail, when Seth hugged me the other day at the BroMax party, that was the first human touch I’d felt in months. Now, I was on the bed with RayRay, his arms were around me, his lips were touching mine, and his tongue was in my mouth. His lips were soft and his breath was fresh and minty… he tasted pretty dang good. While we were kissin’ his hands started movin’ explorin’ and touchin’ my skinny body. Finally, one hand ended up on my ass and the other on my hardening dick. I got up my courage and put my hand on his package, HOLY MOTHER OF PEARL! “Gotdamn yer huge” I whispered into his lips, getting a little laugh and smile from him.

“I aint ever had any complaints” he said with a cute grin then we kissed some more.

“Hey” I said shyly. “I aint had a shower in almost two days, I’m pretty ripe from my trip. Is it okay if I take a shower before… um… we keep goin’?”

“If ya’ gotta” he said with a grin. “But hurry up.” God he was cute. I reluctantly jumped off the bed, grabbed my backpack and left the room to take a shower. The warm water felt good on my tired body. Ya’ know, regular showers were one of the things I missed most when I was homeless… there’s somethin’ about feeling clean that made me feel better about life, I guess. I dunno. Anyway, as much as I wanted to savor the warm, relaxing shower, I had a hot ginger waiting in bed for me so I made it a quick one. I dried off then looked in my bag for somethin’ to wear… my trip was last minute and I didn’t pack so good. I pulled on a T-shirt and a pair of boxers, brushed my teeth, then went back to the other room. RayRay was right where I left him, he patted the bed inviting me in again. I jumped up with excitement and we picked up where we left off.

Our make out session progressed quickly and within minutes we were both buck nekkid. RayRay kissed his way down my body quickly and was face to face with my eager whippin’ stick. It was already spittin’ precum and rarin’ for attention. He grabbed it with a firm grip, then looked up at me and smiled this sexy smile as he took my neglected polecat in his warm mouth. FUCK! I shot my load before he got halfway down. It had been so long, I was so horny, and just the touch of another person had me on the edge.

RayRay kept me in his mouth as he did his dangedest to swallow the gusher of cum that was built up in my balls. He gulped and swallowed as his head bobbed on my tool. Gotdang it felt SO GOOD. I think that was the best feelin’ I ever had in my short life. He pulled off my cock, moved up and kissed me, then he spit my frickin’ cum into my mouth!!! What in THEE HAIL?! I aint ever had anyone do that before. My instinct was to gag, instead I followed his lead and we pushed it back and forth between us, swallowing a little at a time until it was gone. Then he pulled away from me and smiled.

“Shit! You came so fast!” He said with a cute laugh.

“I haven’t shot my load in at least a week” I told him. “And y’all are so hot” I added. “Don’t worry, I got more in me.” He smiled wide as I pulled him into a hug (oh god, another human’s body touching mine was do freaking amazing). I rolled us over so I was on top of him, then made my way down his body until it was my turn to be face to face with his monstrous flesh stick. Seriously, that thang was like nine or ten inches long and so wide that my thumb and forefinger couldn’t touch each other. The crowning glory was the orange pubic patch at the base of it. I dunno know they call ‘em redheads, it looked more orange to me… whatever the hail color it was, it was hot as HAIL! There was no way I was gonna be able to deepthroat him, but I sure as hail was gonna try. With our eyes locked, I took him in my warm mouth (it still tasted like my own cum). It was a struggle to get the head past my teeth, but I did it. Then I slowly forced another inch in, then another. That was my limit. Not matter how much I choked, sputtered, and gagged… that thang weren’t goin’ any deeper. My mouth slime was drippin’ out the sides of my determined mouth and down the big pole. I used my hand to stroke the part I couldn’t swallow. I locked my lips on the side of his shaft and moved my mouth from the tip to his nuts, then back up the other side., I did that over and over, then I took him in my mouth again. I got it maybe a centimeter further down than before, it was hopeless, but I was bound and determined to make him feel as good as he did me. I licked and sucked and stroked while my free hand massaged his balls, then I got bold and inserted a spit-slicked hinger in his hole without warning.

“Fuck yeah” Rusty moaned then instinctively pushed my head down on his cock… no luck, that dang thang weren’t goin’ no deeper. By then I had a great rhythm going up and down his pole. “Dayum, Beany. I’m gonna shoot” he said as he pushed down on my head and bucked his hips. A few seconds later his hot, creamy load of ginger flooded my mouth and gagged me as I swallowed. I swear some of that shit came outta my eye sockets! His bodied tensed, then relaxed in relief of his great release. I moved up and kissed him. For the second time in my life, and the second time that night, I swapped cum with another guy. Our lusty cum exchanged turned into a tender kiss, then I rolled off him and he spooned my skinny body. It felt perfect.

This wasn’t love, it was two lonely friends finding comfort in each other at Christmas. It was EXACTLY what I needed. It wasn’t even five o’clock yet, and there we were in bed and lovin’ it. Eventually Rusty turned on the TV and we sat on the bed talkin’ with the TV in the background. We were talking about goin’ to a Chinese place in the next town for dinner when my phone rang, it was Ronny. I was so happy to see her name on my phone.

“Hey, Ronny” I said excitedly.

It was silent for a moment on the other end, then a deep voice said, “Son, it’s your daddy.” I was stunned.

I looked over at RayRay with my eyes wide open, then responded, “Um… hi Daddy.” RayRay was all ears once he realized who it was.

“Are you still in town, son?” He asked in a quiet tone.

“Yeah, I’m getting’ ready to go to dinner with my friend RayRay.”

“You mean Rusty Hudson?” Daddy asked in a happy voice. He always liked Rusty.

“Yeah” I answered with a smile on my face.

“Well, would you boys consider joinin’ us for Christmas dinner?” my dad asked. Again, I was stunned.

“Hold on a sec” I said as I put him on mute and told RayRay what was goin’ on. He told me to go alone, then I begged him to come with me. I had given up on the idea of seeing him and Shirley, and I needed a friend by my side. He finally agreed. “That’d be nice, Daddy. What time?” I asked. We talked details, then RayRay and I cleaned up together in the tiny shower and we jumped in the Beetle and headed back to the old farmhouse for the second time that day.

When we got there Daddy greeted us at the door and welcomed us in. Other than the awkwardness between me and Shirley, we had a pleasant dinner with my family. My brothers and sisters showed me what they got for Christmas. Daddy brought a box of pictures of me, him, and my momma downstairs to give to me. There were also some mementos of my life in there. After our visit, my daddy walked us to the car. RayRay got inside while Daddy and I talked. “Listen, son. It’s been hard without you around here. I’m sorry about how things ended with us and would like for you to come back home.”

I was stunned by the offer. “What about Shirley?” I asked.

“She’ll come ‘round eventually.” He said in a sage tone.

It was an unexpected offer that gave me a sense of peace and a little vindication. I felt wanted again. But I was stronger now, and Wilmington was my home. I thought about it for a moment then said, “Thank you, Daddy. But I got a new life now… if it’s okay with you, I would like to see you and the family once in a while, like at holidays, and maybe talk on the phone?”

He nodded and said, “you’re always welcome here” then he hugged me. It had been a long time since my father hugged me. I hugged him back and held him tight, after our embrace I got in the Beetle and we drove off.

“You happy?” RayRay asked.

“Yup!” I answered. I spent the night with RayRay, before heading home to The Village the next morning. We made plans for him to come see me in Wilmington on New Year’s Eve.

I had gotten everything I wanted for Christmas and more than I could ever dream. I left Kentucky feelin’ something I hadn’t felt in a long time. Wanted.

To be continued…