TEXAS LONGHORNS
By Waddie Greywolf

Chapter 10


Sidney and Mr. Wiggins pulled up out front of our house at nine on the dot.  We were pleasantly surprise when Sidney’s dad got out of the huge Humvee as well.  He and Mr. Wiggins were all dressed in Western clothes with boots and hats, and so was our little buddy.  Damned if he didn’t look sharp.  It was obvious his trainer knew how to dress like a cowboy and taught Sidney Junior the same.  Mr. Wainright is almost as an imposing man as Mr. Wiggins; however, Mr. Wiggins is about half a foot taller than Sidney’s dad. They make a fine looking pair of cowboys together.  They both are strongly masculine, ruggedly, good looking men.  Dwayne and I got to Sidney first.

“Damn, little buddy, you look almost good enough to eat!”  Dwayne laughed.

“He ain’t lying, Sid, you look hot!”  I hugged him next.

“Mr. Wainright!  Mr. Wiggins!  Pleasure to see you gentlemen again!” Dwayne was shaking their hands and I followed.  Damn, I wondered if Dwayne got hard shaking Mr. Wiggins hand.  I looked over an sure enough, my bubba was at full salute.  I couldn’t help but giggle.

“S’all right, Son,” smiled Mr. Wainright, “he has that effect on a lot of folks.  Damn, Sticker,” he laughed, “we can’t take you nowheres.”  Mr. Wiggins broke up at Mr. Wainright. After years of living closely with Sticker Wiggins, Sidney Wainright gave up trying to talk proper English around his own.  He found it much more comfortable to lapse into his native tongue: Texas speak.

“Gentlemen,— welcome!”  My dad exclaimed coming down the front steps.  He shook hands all around but stopped to look at Sidney.  He held him at arms length, looked him up and down, and turned to me. “Pack a bag, Case, I’m trading you to Mr. Wainright for this, here, cowboy!”  Everyone broke up laughing. Sidney was in love. He threw his arms around my old man and hugged him close. He had no immunities against my dad’s outrageous affections.  “Come in, gentlemen! C’mon in,—  sit,— visit a’ spell! Glad to have ya.’ We live in the same damn community, but I don’t git to see nearly enough of you two.”

“We feel the same, Vince.” Said Mr. Wainright as they followed dad into our house. “It’s always a pleasure when we do get together, though.”

Mr. Wiggins was lingering behind with us.  That was fine with Dwayne and me. We had school boy crushes on him big time, but we didn’t care and obviously Mr. Wiggins was enjoying our attentions.

“You men gonna’ win Division this year?”

“We hope so, Mr. Wiggins.  Me’n my brother, here, we figure we’re gonna’ be a pretty hard team to beat with him as quarterback and me receiver. Hope you’ll be there to cheer us on, Sir.” said Dwayne.

‘Or anything else you might like to do for us.’  I thought wickedly to myself. I swear, Sidney could read my thoughts, shot me a raised eyebrow and I couldn’t help but giggle like a school boy.  Sidney laughed at me.  Mr. Wiggins wasn’t a stupid man and picked up on our exchange.  He dropped one of his huge arms over my shoulder and pulled me close.

“And,— as for you, Mr. Longhorn,—” He said in a booming bass voice, “I been hear’n some good things about chu.’ Hear'd you been look’n out for our boy, here.  Laughed my cowboy butt off when Logan told me what you said to Gary Peacock.”

“Logan, Mr. Wiggins?”  I asked him.

“Yeah, that’s what I call him most of the time to keep him and his dad separate.  His third name is ‘Loganbotham.’ I jes’ dropped the ‘botham’ out of it.”

For some reason that struck me as funny and I laughed, so did Dwayne and Sidney.

We got to the kitchen, the two men sat down and dad got coffee for them.  He went to town early that morning and bought a variety of fresh donuts and sweet rolls,— enough for everyone.  Us boys grabbed a donut and a cup of coffee and headed up to my room to talk.  We wanted to let the men have time to themselves.

“Gees, Casey, this is a great old house. It’s huge.  How many bedrooms does it have?” Sidney asked.

“Let’s see, there’s four downstairs and six upstairs. It was built for a large family, no doubt. Dad and I use one of the bedrooms downstairs as an entertainment center.  He uses one for a ranch office.  I have my bedroom and use another room at the end of the hall to keep all my junk in. We don’t even use the other bedrooms.”

“We’re so glad you could come spend the day with us, little buddy.” Dwayne told him.

“You ain’t gonna’ get your nice clothes all messed up if we get to building, are you?”  I asked concerned.

“I brought some older, work clothes with me. I’ll get them out of Mr. Wiggins’ truck before they leave.  I didn’t have to do too much talking to get Mr. Wiggins to come in.  My dad insisted on coming.  I thought, at first, he was being his overprotective self and wanted to check out everything; but, that wasn’t it.  Come to find out, he has a deep fondness for your dad, Case, I never knew about. He came specifically to visit your dad.”

“Yeah, dad surprised the Hell out a’ me, too.  He said a few things that made me think they knew each other pretty well.”
 
* * * * * * *

“So, Vince, how’s the ranch coming along?” Sidney asked.

“Casey and I made better profits this year than the last three put together. If things keep going like they are we’re even gonna’ do better next year.”

“Damn glad to hear it!” allowed Mr. Wainright.

“Ya’ got a nice place, here, Vince. It feels down right homey, comfortable like a home should.”  Sticker told my dad.

“Thanks, Sticker, coming from you that’s quite a compliment.  You men been doing all right?”

“Oh, yeah,—”  Sticker took a deep breath, let out a sigh, leaned back in his chair, locked his hands behind his neck, stretch out his long legs and crossed his boots,  “I keep hoping ole Sid, here’s, gonna’ make an honest man out a’ me one a’ these day, but he’s still a bit shy to the bridle after almost twelve years together.”

Dad almost fell off his chair laughing at Sticker’s blatant honesty and terrible pun.  Mr. Wainright had a big smile and a smirk on his face.

“Shame on you, Sid, making a fine cowboy like Sticker live in sin!”  They shared another laugh.

“That’s just the problem.  I think Sticker would settle for living in sin. Ain’t none a’ Sticker’s fault,— it’s mine.  I just can’t seem to get over the stigma.”

“What stigma?  Two men love’n each other? Ain’t nobody’s business but chur’ own. Stigma’s be damned!  I know that’s easy for me to say, but it ain’t so easy for some folks.  My advice, Sid,— jump in the pool with ole Sticker, here,— the water’s jes’ gotta’ be fine.”

They all shared another laugh.

“Well, I jes’ might, one a’ these days.  I sure as Hell think about it a lot. We have a rule around the place we can walk around naked if we want to. It’s just us men most of the time when help ain’t there in the evenings. I wanted to expose Sidney to men being naked, not being ashamed of his own body or being shy around other men. Well, that’s all well and good, but I never counted on getting an erection ever’ damn time I see my hired hand, here, in the raw.”  Sidney threw back his head and laughed.  “So something’s gotta’ be going on with me. I told him to give me a little more time. I'm sure it won't be long before he breaks me to the halter.”   The three men laughed again.

“Well, I done told ‘em, I’ll stay a virgin until he decided.  Ain’t many men can claim to be a virgin to both sexes at thirty-eight years old, but I am.  Ain’t ashamed of it, though.  I’m told I’m a fairly decent look’n cowboy, but the opportunity jes’ ain’t never presented itself. I ain’t never gone out and beat no bushes none for it neither. However, me’n my right hand, here,— ” Sticker held up his right hand, “we’re awful damn close.  We be on a first name basis.”  Sticker roared with laughter.

“I ain’t much better, Sticker. If’n it weren’t for my boy taking pity on his old man now and then, I’d be in the same boat.”  Dad responded.

“You have a remarkable relationship with your boy, Vince, and I for one have no problem with it. I’ve learned a lot from you and seeing how you and Casey relate.  I think Casey’s one of the finest, most stable young men in our community. On top of all that, you taught him how to give of himself and how to love.  What greater treasure could any man ask from his father.”

“Amen to that, brother!”  Sticker strongly added.

“Thanks, gentlemen. I appreciate that. I know it comes from your heart.” Dad replied.

“Do you know what’s going on with the boys, Vince?  My boy ain’t been able to talk to me or Sticker in weeks without mentioning your boy and his brother. We were beginning to think Dwayne really might be Casey’s brother. We’s jes’ wondering if you know anything about what’s going on.”

“Yeah, I do, Sid,— not only do the boys think the world of your boy they’re including him in their lives more and more.  They had a dream several nights ago; separate dreams, same subject, about your boy.  He was a’ helping them with something they’re going through that’s really bad for ‘em right now, but they couldn’t tell in their dreams what it was Sidney was a’ helping them with.  They been planning to git together with Sid Junior for several days, now.  They wanna’ tell him about some things to see if he can figure out what they were dreaming about.”

Dad noticed Mr. Wainright slowly turned to the big handsome cowboy, raised an eyebrow and they both shook their heads.

“Something wrong, gentlemen?”

“Naw, Vince. Forgive us. Telling us about the boy’s dreams struck a chord with Sticker and me, s’all.   We believe in the power of dreams, and if the boys dreamed the same dream, the same night, about my boy, then there’s something they need from him. Believe me,— after what them boys done for him a couple of times, he can’t wait to help ‘em.  My God, that boy’s almost driven me and ole Sticker nuts.  He’s told us no less than,— what Sticker,—  how many times he told us about Casey taking Gary Peacock down a notch or two yesterday?”

“I lost count at an even dozen.”  Sticker laughed.

“Hell, nobody’s told me a thing about it, I still don’t know.”  Dad laughed.

Mr. Wainright went on to tell dad how he found Sticker to be his wrangler for Sidney Junior almost twelve years ago; how Sticker and Sidney communicated through their dreams and bonded before Sidney’s dad ever met Sticker.  Dad was wowed.  He knew these men well enough to know they wouldn’t be joking about something that serious.

“Can you tell us anymore, Vince? I’m not trying to be overprotective of my boy; although, my wrangler, here, is quick to tell me when I am.  I thank God for this man every day, though; however, I think Sticker and I agree we feel something heavy is going down.”

“Well, seeing as how they’re bringing your boy on board with all this, it would be irresponsible of me not to tell you what’s going on.  As a parent, I would certainly wanna’ know.  I have no doubt you two men will keep this to yourselves.  I’ve know’d you too long and know the kind of men you are. I would trust you men with my greatest treasure, and that would be my boy.”

“We feel that same about you, Vince. I told Sidney as long as he’s with you and your boys he can stay over here as long as he wants, but to let you know he needs to be home before his curfew of ten o’clock if he ain’t gonna’ stay the night.”

“No problem.  We’ll git ‘em there on time.”

Dad went on to describe what was going on in the Dunbar household.  The more he told the more upset he could see the big cowboy was getting until he had to stop for a minute for Sticker to get himself together.  Sidney Wainright couldn’t believe what he was hearing, but he listened to every word in a stoic manner.

“I never did like that pompous son of a bitch!”  Sticker barked wiping away a tear.

“Please,— go on, Vince. It hurts to hear it, but we need to get over the shock to help the boys.”

“You’re absolutely right, Sidney.”  Dad told him.

* * * * * *

After we gave Sidney a tour of the upstairs we went to my junk room were I keep my larger computer, games, trophies, 4-H ribbons I’ve won and stuff I’ve collected over the years. I had high school banners on the walls from competing high schools and a couple of college banners I liked. I had a student from Texas University I met on the internet send me a Texas Longhorn’s banner. I was really proud of it.  Dad and I moved several overstuffed chairs in the room that were old but serviceable.  I spread clean sheets over them and would wash them from time to time.  Sidney loved the room.  He thought it was a total reflection of who I was.  We sat down and began to talk.

“I’d give anything to know what them men’s talking about down there.” I said.

“Mr. Wiggins is pretty open with me. He’ll tell me most anything I ask him, but we have an understanding.  If I ever once betray his trust, I will never have it again, and he promised the same with me. I don’t ever wanna’ betray that big man’s trust. He means way too much to me.”

“All bullshit aside, the more I hear about him the more I think he’s probably a great person as well as being a sexual icon.”  I told Sidney.

“Oh, he is.  The funniest thing about him is, he knows he’s sexy and attractive to a lot of people, but he has no interest in that sort of thing.  He’s not asexual, he’s just never done anything before.”

“What?” Dwayne choked on his coffee he brought up with him.

“I’m not kidding.  He’s a virgin.  He’s never been with a woman or a man. He’s not shy about it.  He’ll tell you if you ask him. He doesn’t see anything to be ashamed of and he really doesn’t know what the big deal is all about.”

“How could a man as hot as him not ever be propositioned or had it laid at his feet?  God knows, I have to hold my brother back sometimes from making a complete fool of himself in front of the man.”  Dwayne motioned to me.  I laughed and pointed a finger at him.

“He just never had it offered and he never went out and looked for it. When he first started working for my dad he used to take days off and one night a week.  That lasted all of about three months and then he just stopped taking time off.  He said he’s rather be with me and my dad. Hell, my dad takes him and me with him almost everywhere he goes when I’m not in school.  During school Mr. Wiggins takes care of me 24/7.  He’s completely devoted to me and my dad.  If you wanna’ know the truth, I think he’s in love my dad, but I don’t know for sure.  I know my dad loves him, but I think my dad is terminally straight.  There again,  I’m not real sure of that either.  I know he looks at Mr. Wiggins sometimes when he doesn’t know I’m looking and I can tell there are nasty thoughts running through his mind; however, they’ve never shared a bed together that I know of, and I think I’d know.  Besides, knowing them, they’d never try to hide it from me anyway.  I’d be the first they’d come and tell.”

“I believe you.  You can look at me and tell what I’m thinking.”

“Well, Mr. Wiggins and I share being a virgin in common.”  Sidney had sort of a half smile on his face.

“At our age, there ain’t nothing wrong with that.  I guess I am too in one area.  My dad told me I couldn’t have anal sex until I was eighteen.  I trust him and I ain’t gonna’ do it ‘til then.”

“But I thought you and Dwayne,— ”

“Dad never said nothing about oral sex or jacking yore' buddy off.  Dad and I’ve been doing it since I was fourteen.”

“Your dad and you?  How great is that?! Your dad’s a hunk, Case!”  Sidney exclaimed.
 
“I told him the same damn thing, Sid. I couldn’t believe it when Casey told me.  Mr. Longhorn is also one of the finest men I’ve ever known.” Dwayne added.

“We can talk about all that stuff later.  I’ve been on pins and needles for the last two days wondering what the Hell you two had to tell me.  I’ve driven Mr. Wiggins and my dad nuts telling them about you two and how Casey took Gary Peacock down a notch.”

“Well, Sid,— what we have to tell you ain’t pretty and can’t go beyond us; however, I don’t think you’ll have to tell Mr. Wiggins or you dad what we’re gonna’ share with you, ‘cause I know my old man well enough to know he’s a responsible man.  He’ll figure if their boy is gonna’ be involved in this they have a right to know and he’s probably telling them about it right now.  I’d bet my lap top on it.”

“So what’s so secret?”

“Remember we told ju’ we’d tell you why my step-dad, the Colonel, gave your Uncle Frank and Curley the weekend off.” Dwayne started.

“Yeah, I wondered about it.”

“My step-dad kept me tied up in the barn all that weekend, repeatedly raped me and forced me to commit oral sex on him.  The worst part is, it wasn’t the first time.  He’s done it to me off and on over the last six months.”  Dwayne sadly hung his head. Poor Sidney’s face fell like a lead balloon.

“Oh, my God, Dwayne,  I’m so sorry.”

We told Sidney everything.  Sometimes we had to pause and take a break for Sidney to recover long enough to go on.  We had no idea it would affect him the way it did.  In a way, it was almost a reflection of how Sidney cared for us. We had no idea Sidney felt the way he did about us. It not only was a joy to Dwayne and I, it was a humbling experience.  After a couple of hours, we heard dad call up to us to come down, Mr. Wainright and Mr. Wiggins were leaving.  Sidney was barely recovered but when he saw his dad he ran to him and held him. He was strong though, and didn’t shed a tear.

“Be strong, Logan, for your buddies.” his dad told him, “They need your help right now.  We know what you’re capable of. We know what chu’ can do.  It’s time you started accepting some responsibilities for others as well as yourself.”  Sidney looked at his dad and smiled.

“You’re right, dad, I’m ready.  I can do this.  I’m not afraid. Casey and Dwayne are my buddies, they need me, I have to help them.”

Sidney went to Mr. Wiggins and offered his hand.

“Ah, to Hell with that!  Gimme’ a hug and a kiss, boy! I taught chu’ better’n ‘nat!”

Sidney chuckled and jumped into Mr. Wiggins’ arms.  Dwayne and I would’ve traded places with him in a minute.  Virgin or no, we still wanted to run jump in the big man’s arms.

We all said our goodbye and dad promised to have them over for dinner soon to keep them informed. Sidney got his small bag of work clothes and his lap top  out of the back of Mr. Wiggins’ Humvee.  After having another donut and talking to dad for a few minutes we returned to my junk room for a while.  

“You guys have shared something with me I was unprepared for.  I’m usually good at figuring things out.  I tried to imagine all sorts of things it might be, but I never expected this.  Dwayne, I don’t know what to say except I’m so sorry and to offer you my love.”

A couple of tears escaped Sidney’s eyes.  Dwayne went to him and took him in his arms, held him close and kissed him on his forehead.

“There, there, little brother, I’m all right, but I gratefully accept your love. I wouldn’t have made it this far if it hadn’t been for the love of three wonderful men, Casey, Mr. Longhorn and Mr. Winchester.  Now I have your love along with theirs.  Ya’ gotta’ know it really helps, Sid,— thanks.”

“Has anyone come up with a plan; any ideas you guys might have?”  Sidney asked as they sat back down.

“Not yet.  We’ve met with Mr. Winchester a couple of times but primarily he wanted to talk with Dwayne to explain to him what his step-dad is doing to him and for what reasons.  I think he’s also helped Dwayne see why he’s so confused and conflicted about the situation.”

“Yeah, he’s help me a lot, Sid.  At least I learned my attraction to my step-dad and what he’s doing to me ain’t because I’m a bad man or can’t control my sexual urges.”

“Of course it isn’t, Dwayne!  He’s a monster for God’s sake! The epitome of all that’s evil!” Sidney exclaimed.

I wasn’t real sure what ‘epitome’ meant, but I got the idea it wasn’t good. Sidney was adamant.  I think if Dwayne had any lingering doubts about his step-dad, Sidney slammed the barn door shut on that one.

“So tell me what you talked about.  Bring me up to speed, here.” Sidney was enthused to know more.  He was taking it all in and I could just imagine the digital synapse in his brain taking info in at an enormous rate, correlating, sorting, resorting, arranging and systematically filing important bits and pieces for later use.  Dwayne and I told him everything including our meeting with Mr. Winchester last night.  We told him about Mr. Winchester’s startling revelation about his conclusions why the Colonel was doing all this.  It was a big an ‘ah-ha’ moment for Sidney as it was for us.
    
“That’s incredible!” Sidney exclaimed, “Of course, it all makes sense!  He has bigger goals than getting back at his dad or Dwayne for that matter.  We can’t let him get away with that!  We won’t let him get away with that!  Look, guys, if Dwayne goes to his mom, all Hell will break loose and it might get messy.  Dwayne’s mom may or not believe him depending on how brainwashed she all ready is by the Colonel.  If she doesn’t react and kick his ass out immediately, that still leaves Dwayne vulnerable.  The son of a bitch will still be free to make life miserable for Dwayne.  I think Mr. Longhorn’s right.  He isn’t going to jeopardize his ultimate goal.  Besides, if Dwayne goes to his mom it becomes his word against his step-dad. He doesn’t have any tangible proof other than his accusation.

Even if he uses his whip on Dwayne, he can come up with some lame excuse to get out from under it.  He can claim Dwayne came home from a night at your house, Case, and showed him the lashes and bragged about them.  If he’s a true sociopath, which I have little doubt he is, he can think on his feet faster than any of us, including me, and make another person believe any garbage he wants them to.  No, going to Dwayne’s mom isn’t an option. It just has too many loopholes to his advantage.  We need to get him by his balls. We have to come up with a plan that’s neat, clean and can destroy him without Dwayne being more involved that simply being his victim.  We’ll have to have proof positive that will nail his Jar-head ass to the barn door.”

“That’s basically where Mr. Winchester left it last night.  He wanted us to consider actions and reaction.  In other words, if we do this or that, what will the consequences be.  That’s what you’re doing right now.  I don’t think Dwayne and I would’ve ever thought about those things you just brought up;  not because we ain’t smart enough but we’re too close emotionally to even reason rationally.”

“Exactly!  That’s why you need me.  All right, here’s what we know.  The next chance he gets he’s going to continue his little plan by raping Dwayne again.  It’s inevitable; we know it’s gonna’ happen.  It’s just logical to assume he’s steadfast in his plan and doesn’t think anyone’s the wiser right now.  Let’s let him think that.  It’s to our advantage. Let’s let the son of a bitch think he has everything under control, and everything is on track for realizing his ultimate goal.  Dwayne would it be too devastating for you to submit to another session with him?”

“No, not at all. Sidney you have to understand, for all he’s done to me against my will, I find myself enjoying it. Certainly, I don’t want him to have that power over me, but while I’m going through it, it’s wonderful.  I know that sounds really sick, but I’m being honest.”

“Of course it sounds sick.  It sounds sick to anyone who doesn’t know the circumstances and can’t understand the situation.  There’s a psychological condition where victims who are held prisoners and subjected to sexual or physical abuse fall in love with their captors.  It’s call “the Stockholm syndrome.”  It’s quite common, Dwayne.  It’s the mind’s way of making sense out of chaos of a situation a person just can’t comprehend.”

“Do I see a plan forming in that fertile little mind of yours, Sid?”

“You do, indeed, cowboy.”  Sidney smiled at me. “It’s basically simple.  We set him up.  We hide three video cameras in the barn in three separate positions.  I can control them from my lap top.  We burn a DVD of him forcing sex on Dwayne.  It’s neat, clean and we can decide what to do with the evidence later.”

“How you plan to do that?  Won’t you have to run cables all over the place. It would take days to set it up and test it.”

“Nonsense, where have you guys been?  I’ll do it all through RF, radio frequency, signals.  It will all be wireless. Do you have a video camera, Case?”

“Yeah, my dad gave me one for my birthday last year.”

“I’ve got two.  There you go. We have the cameras.  My lap top burns DVD’s. I can even rig it to where the cameras will zoom in and out of the shot from a command from my lap top. I can watch and monitor all three cameras on the same screen.   Simple, I do it all the time to spy on our household help.”

“How long would you need to set the cameras up in Dwayne’s barn.”

“Thirty minutes max.”

“Son of a bitch!  How long to test the system?” I asked Sidney.

“Once we get the cameras set up,  we can test everything.  Another thirty minutes, maybe less. The main part will be hiding the cameras. Testing is a piece of cake. There’s only one small hitch.  I have to be within three hundred yards of the barn to receive the information and record it to DVD.”

“What about the bunk house where your uncles stay?” Dwayne asked.
   
“Is it within three hundred yards?”

“Easy.” Replied Dwayne. “Son of a bitch, Case. I think we just discovered why we had our dreams about our little buddy, here.  Sounds like a plan to me.” Dwayne allowed.

“Yeah, it does sound good.”

“Okay, Dwayne.  If we do this you understand you have to play it up like he’s doing this totally against your will.  Of course his is; however, even though you may be enjoying it, you have to convince an audience who looks at the DVD you’re not enjoying it; it’s totally against your nature and convictions to be doing what he’s forcing you to do. You have to make it difficult for him to take you.  Then when he does, no matter what he does, you have to make it seem like he’s killing you and you aren’t enjoying it, understand?”

“Makes sense to me little buddy.  I just knew you’d come up with something.”

“Yeah, me, too, Sid. I knew you were gonna’ make a great brother.”

“Well,— what’s a brother for, guys?”

* * * * * * *

We didn’t realize we’d been talking so long. It was noon and I was hungry.  Dad went for donuts and Dwayne and I didn’t bother to fix breakfast.  I knew he was hungry, too.  We heard dad holler from the kitchen to come down for lunch.  After a group hug, we bounded down the stairs laughing and in great spirits.  Dad had everything laid out on the kitchen counter for do-it-your-self sandwiches; two different kinds of bread, sourdough and wheat, lettuce, sliced tomatoes, pickles, mustard and mayo.  He had a big bowl of potato chips, too.  There was a big pitcher of sweetened iced tea and some mason jars set out.  Dad and I didn’t mess with finery.  I noticed our use of appropriate crystal-ware impressed the shit out of Sidney.  He held his mason jar up to toast me and Dwayne with a big pleased smile on his face.  

“Thanks, Dad,— this is great.”  I hugged and kissed him on the cheek.

“Yeah, Mr. Longhorn. You should a’ hollered at us. We’d a’ come down and helped ya.’” Dwayne insisted.

“I had a feeling you men were in some kinda powerful pow-wow up there. I could jes’ feel the vibrations coming from upstairs.”

We laughed at him.

“This is really great, Mr. Longhorn, thanks.” Sidney said as he spread mayo on his sourdough bread.  “I love sourdough bread.”

“You men came down much too cheerful and happy not to have come up with something.  Less’n,— of course,— ya’ll been up there all this time play’n hide the little green snake.”

“Daaad,— !”  I said indignantly, “That’s jes’ plain awful.  Between you and my brother’s mouth, I’m a doomed man for sure!”  I laughed.  I thought Sidney was going to choke on his iced tea and Dwayne almost fell into his plate laughing. We finally calmed down. He made his sandwich, got himself a glass of tea and sat down with us.

“After that statement, I don’t know whether we should tell him or not. What da’ ya’ think, guys?”  They laughed again. This time dad laughed with them.

“Well, he was good enough to fix lunch for us.” Dwayne allowed.

“He gets my vote, Case.  Any man that can be that off the wall and up front at the same time deserves to know what the Hell we’re up to.”  We all laughed with Sidney.

“Why don’t you do the honors, little brother, since it was your idea.”

Sidney basically outline, for dad, everything we discussed and the idea he came up with.  Dad sat there eating all the while.  He nodded every now and then, but he never asked a question or commented until Sidney finished.  He sat there quietly for a few minutes afterwards as if he were running it over in his mind.

“Sounds like a damn good plan to me, Son.”  He spoke to Sidney.  Sidney just beamed from dad’s compliment. “You’ve convinced me,— now you have three other men to convince.  I don’t think Spencer Winchester’s gonna’ be  hard to convince, but you git’n involved with something like this what might have a potential of danger involved, your dad and Sticker ain’t gonna’ be so easily swayed.”

“You may be right, Mr. Longhorn, but all I can do is try.  Mr. Wiggins is all the time after my dad to let me have more freedom; to give me more of the reigns, as he puts it.  Besides, it’s important.  It’s important to me and my brothers.”     

Dad smiled and winked at me and Dwayne. We knew he picked up on Sidney’s use of the word ‘brothers.’  He was pleased. He didn’t have to say a word.

* * * * * * *

We helped dad put things away and clean up the kitchen. It didn’t take but a few minutes.

“What do you men want for dinner?  We gotta’ take the boys over to do chores at Dwayne’s house about four o’clock.   We can stop and get pizza on the way back or I can fix something here for us?”

“Dad cooks good, but I ain’t had pizza in a coon’s age.  I vote pizza.”

“That would be great, Mr. Longhorn.” Sidney said. “I ain’t had pizza in a long time either.  I love pizza.”

“Fine with me, Mr. Longhorn.” Dwayne agreed.

We went back upstairs to my room and Sidney decided to change into his work clothes.  He didn’t ask to be alone or go into another room.  He just stripped right there in front of Dwayne and I. When he removed his shirt his upper body was more than impressive. Sidney was perfect in his form, shape and development. He wasn’t massive like his trainer but he was big where it counted, to say nothing of the two, round mounds, he had for a butt.  Holy Aunt Jemima!  It looked like two bowling balls were implanted into his ass cheeks. They were breath taking.  Made my tongue hard, they did! Must have made quite an impression on my brother, too, he was drooling out the corner’s of his mouth like an idiot.

Mr. Wiggins must have trained Sidney good about being a cowboy.  When he dropped his Wranglers he wasn’t wearing any underwear.  Dwayne gasped when he caught sight of Sidney’s dick. I chuckled at Dwayne’s reaction and my own surprise.  Sidney was hung slightly smaller than a Shetland pony.  We’d never been in a gym class with him because we were heavy into sports which counted for our gym time.  We never had an opportunity to see Sidney naked before.  What a pleasant shock-a-roonie it was for Dwayne and I.

“Some’um wrong, guys?” Sidney asked with a smirk.  He knew damn well what Dwayne and I were chuckling about.  I laughed and could barely get out my next statement.

“We better go back downstairs and tell my old man it weren’t no little green snake what was chasing us around up here, brother!”  I laughed. Dwayne fell across my bed and rolled with laughter. Sidney had to sit on the bed, he couldn’t get his pants on from laughing.

“Now that was jes’ bad, Case.” Dwayne got on me.

“Yeah, I guess it was. Sorry, little,— uh,— make that big brother, Sid!” We all laughed again.

We went out to start building the bird cage.  Sidney was appalled we didn’t have any plans drawn up. We didn’t know how big to make the damn thing or what to build it out of. We were just going to start slapping boards together.  I was going to use a bunch of old two by fours we had laying around for scrap after an addition to our barn the previous year. We had a lot more two by threes, though.  Thankfully, Sidney took over.  He got a piece of paper and started sketching and labeling everything.  He asked about bracing and Dwayne and I just looked at each other in dismay.  We need bracing? Who knew?  What’s bracing?  Sidney smiled patiently and just shook his head. As we watched Sidney finish his sketch, Dwayne and I were beginning to see something of quality coming together.  By the time dad walked out to check on our progress and tell us it was time to go do Dwayne’s chores we had all the main structure built and only had the roof to go over the sheltered area.  Dad took one look at it and smiled. He knew we never would’ve built it that good by ourselves.  It was, indeed,  an impressive structure. He winked at Dwayne and I and just shook his head. Once again he didn’t have to say a word.

“C’mon men, it’s time to go do Dwayne’s chores.  You come, too, Son.” he put his arm around Sidney. “May as well meet the enemy.”

“I’ve met him a couple of times, Mr. Longhorn.  Once, here at your place at your Fourth of July barbecue.  I think he’s a good looking man.”

“Yeah, he is, Son, I agree.  Too bad that’s all that’s good about him.”  Dad commented.

In the truck, on the way over to the Dunbar ranch, dad review our position like a General briefing his troops.

“Dwayne, if I tell you to get into the truck, don’t hesitate,— just do it.  Casey, in the glove compartment there’s a three by five card with the personal telephone number of my buddy Leland Bard, our sheriff. Use your cell phone and give him a call, but only if I tell you to, understand, Son?’

“Yes, Sir, we understand, Mr. Longhorn.”  Dwayne spoke for both of us.

“All you have to do, Case, is tell the sheriff Vince Longhorn needs him out to the Dunbar ranch, muy pronto.  Sid, you stay near me.  You don’t know what to do to help the boys anyway and it will go quicker if they do it.  They’re use to doing it.  Don’t speak unless spoken directly to, Son.  Let me do all the talking.  Be pleasant and well met if I decide to introduce you to him.”

“Yes, Sir, Mr. Longhorn.  I understand.”  

We pulled onto the gravel road to the Dunbar ranch and Dwayne audibly gasp when he caught sight of the Colonel’s pickup truck parked along side the house.  Dad heard him, too.

“Easy, Son.  You ain’t alone no more! You’re with three good men who love you. Remember that.  We won’t let nothing happen to you.  Got that, Son?”

“Yes, Sir, Mr. Longhorn, and thanks, Sir.”

Dad pulled up and around and headed the Bronco back out to the road so he wouldn’t have to turn around.  Smart man, my dad. We no sooner got out of the Bronco than Brad Dunbar was coming out the front door of the house onto the porch with blood in his eye.  Dad motioned to Dwayne and I to go do his chores.  We heard dad hail the Colonel as he walked toward them.

“Howdy, Brad!  Good to see ya’ again!”  He stuck out his hand to force Brad Dunbar to shake hands with him.  The Colonel took his hand and shook it like he was only doing it because he had to and certainly not because he was glad to see my dad.

“Longhorn.”  Was his only acknowledgment.

“This young man, here’s, Sidney Wainright, Brad.  Sidney this is Mr. Dunbar.”

Sidney stuck out his hand and the Colonel took it. They shook hands.

“I believe the Colonel and I met last summer at your place, Mr. Longhorn. Good to meet chu’ again, Sir.” Sidney was pleasant but reserved.

“Huumph.”  Brad Dunbar commented on Sidney’s greeting.  Sidney told us later he hoped it didn’t cost him too much.  Sidney had his own wicked streak.

“I better get down there to make damn sure that boy get his chores done right.”

“My boy’s with Dwayne. I’m sure between them they’ll do a good job.” Dad retorted.  He saw the Colonel wasn’t going to be deterred.

“Well, I’m sick and tired of him doing a half-ass job on his chores. I’m gonna’ go down there anyway and make damn sure they do it right!”

“Probably a good idea, Brad.  We’ll come along.”  Sidney told us later he could tell the Colonel wasn’t expecting that from my dad.  He knew he couldn’t rant and rave with my dad around.  Brad stopped dead in his tracks.

“Ah, what the Hell, I’ll just have Dwayne do it over again later.  He won’t be going back with ya’, anyway. I’m keeping him here.  I’ve decided he can’t go back with ya,’ Longhorn.  He fucked up his chores real bad last night so I’m gonna’ have to punish him by keeping him home for the rest of the weekend.  He’ll learn one of these days I mean what I say. ”

“I’m real sorry to hear that, Brad, but you’re gonna’ have to take that up with Sadie when she comes home.  She personally asked me to take care of her boy until she gets back.  Dwayne’s going back with us whether you like it or not. Sorry to be that blunt with you, Brad,  but if your rude enough to push the situation I’m certainly rude enough to push back.”

“You’re way overstepping your boundaries here, Longhorn. Dwayne’s my Goddamn step-son. I tell him what to do and when to do it, not you!  He’ll do what the fuck I tell him to do.”

“Let me remind you, Brad, you have no legal say where that boy goes or what he does.  You’re not his legal guardian.  His mother is and she’s entrusted him to my care until she returns, whenever that might be.  Until then, I will tell Dwayne where he may go and what he may do;— not you!”

“You’re really pushing your luck, Longhorn!”  The Colonel barked at dad getting right in his face.  Sidney said he never saw a man more calm and collected than my dad in the face of such wrath as the Colonel was projecting towards him.

“No, I’m not, Brad.  I’m just here to bring the boys by to do Dwayne’s chores. After that, we’re out a’ here.  You’re the one who’s pushing his luck, Brad. I don’t think you really wanna’ take this any further.  If you escalate this, I guaran-damn-tee ya,’ yore’ in for big trouble.”

“Yeah, Longhorn,— from you and what army?”

“No army, Dunbar, I ain’t planning on going to war with you. This is a civil matter. I’ll just call my buddy, Leland Bard, the sheriff of our county and let him come out here and settle it. I don’t think you’d fare very well with Lee.  He hates tight-ass military types.  If you think you got the cahonnes, try me!”

“Harrumph.”  The Colonel barked out in frustration.

By that time Dwayne and I had all his chores done and were heading back toward the Bronco.  As we came up to them the Colonel barked at Dwayne.

“You fucked up you chores, big time, last night, boy! I ain't let’n you go back with ‘em!  I’m keeping you home the rest of the weekend to punish you until you learn to do what the Hell I tell you to and do it right!”

“Get in the Bronco, Dwayne!”  My old man barked.  Dwayne moved to get in the Bronco. I quickly moved to get into the other side.

“Ju’ hear me, boy?!  I said you can’t go back with’em.  I meant it, boy!  Get chur’ ass out a’  that truck right now!  That’s an order!”

Dwayne and I were all ready in the back seat of dad’s truck.  Dad motioned for Sidney to get in opposite him.  Sidney moved quickly for the door, opened it and got in.  Dad took his good time getting to the driver’s side.

“You haven’t heard the last of  this, Longhorn, you think you’ve won, but you haven’t.  I’ll sue you for every Goddamn thing you’ve got! I’ll own your fuck’n ranch!”

My dad stopped, turned, looked at the Colonel and grinned a wicked grin.

“I don’t think so, Dunbar,— for that you have to have two nickels to rub together, and I don’t think Sadie will give ‘em to you.” Dad opened the door and got in. He turned the key to the ignition, the engine cranked over, and he spun out spraying Colonel Jar-head with rocks and gravel.  My old man had a mean streak to him once in a while.  At that moment, I thanked God he did.


End Chapter 10 ~ Texas Longhorns
Copyright 2005 ~ Waddie Greywolf
All rights reserved ~
Mail to: waddiebear@yahoo.com