Harvest What You Sow

Chapter 6

Shortly after the prom my father asked if I spoken to Mr. Jasper or Mr. Bailey about returning to the farm. I said that I had which prompted me to call Randy to see if he had spoken to his grandparents. When I reached him he said, “Sam, I’m going to the farm in about two weeks when my mother can get a day off to drive me there.”

“For me school’s out in three weeks. I can drive to Rolla and pick you up. I bought a used 1965 Chevy pickup so there’s plenty of room for our stuff.” He agreed and said he would talk to his mother and let me know. I told him I would call Mr. Bailey and reconfirm that he still wanted us. I told Jerry earlier in the fall that I had accepted his offer. After I spoke to Randy I called the Jaspers. I found out from Mrs. Jasper that Ray definitely wanted us since he had hurt his back somehow. She said, “He needs your youthful strength and energy.” When I reached Jerry he seemed happy to hear from me and asked when Randy and I were coming.

He said, “I suggest you guys stay here. Your bedroom at the Jaspers’ is pretty hot in the summer.” I agreed but didn’t want to disappoint Mrs. Jasper that her grandson was not staying with her. When I talked to Randy I told him about Jerry’s offer. He agreed it would be more comfortable at Jerry’s. He didn’t think his grandmother would mind as long as we ate most of our meals with them.

In late May I said ‘Goodbye’ to my parents and my sisters. Not only was I leaving but Susan and Sarah were going to a student exchange in Norway for the summer. Mom and dad were going to have an empty house for two months.

I drove to Rolla to pick up Randy who I hadn’t seen since last summer. He came out and I couldn’t believe how much he had changed. He was three inches taller than I was. He had lost his pudgy, little boy fat and put on twenty pounds. As usual his serious facial expression was the same but he was pleasant. He was not smiley. We hugged in a brotherly way even though I hoped we would doing more than that soon. We drove the two hours listening to country western music. As I learned last summer Randy was not a person who said much. I wondered how our summer was going to go since Joel wasn’t with us and Randy wasn’t very talkative. We stopped at the Jasper’s to say ‘Hello’ before going to Jerry’s. He wasn’t home but I knew where he kept the key outside. I was immediately aware that the pool hadn’t been cleaned. I commented, “I see one of our first projects – the pool” Randy didn’t speak but nodded. I said, “When I talked to Jerry he said we could have any bedroom we wanted or sleep downstairs in the bedroom with the spa. You want to see what that looks like.”

I turned on the lights in the basement and the sling and cross we saw last summer was not visible. The room was outfitted with a large new Magnavox television, two sofas and a bar. Across the room was a windowless bedroom with a large bed, dresser and desk and chair. I didn’t remember the bathroom which had a large shower enclosure with multiple shower heads. I smiled at Randy, “Wonder what happens in here?” Across the room was a door which I didn’t remember. When I opened it I saw the stairs which obviously led to the pool deck. The arrangement suggested that the basement room probably served as the tornado shelter.

We heard footsteps upstairs. Jerry yelled down, “You boys down there?”

“We’ll be right up.” We met Jerry in the kitchen. “I understand we’re going for dinner at the Jaspers’.” He spoke to Randy, “Too bad about your grandfather.”

Randy looked puzzled, “What do you mean?”

“You didn’t know about the back problems he’s been having. You boys are going to be busy this summer looking after my place and the Jaspers’.” He then said, “Have you decided whether you’re staying upstairs or down?”

“We think we’ll stay downstairs so we don’t disturb you.”

“You won’t disturb me but I do have friends over from time to time.”

“That’s what I mean.”

Jerry smiled, “I want you handsome guys to be my guests in my bed from time to time.” He paused and got serious, “The reason we are having dinner with the Jaspers is to plan the projects Ray and I need you to focus on. Those are in addition to the chores you will have every day. Let’s get on our way over to their house.” We got into Jerry’s car and he drove out his long driveway to turn right twice to get onto the Jasper’s long driveway. We would usually go across the field which would make the trip much shorter.

Grandmother served a delicious dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, asparagus from her garden before she served strawberry rhubarb crunch for dessert. We sat around the table as Ray and Jerry discussed the projects. They agreed that we would keep the feeder calves together which would make it easier to feed them. We decided to keep the two riding horses at Jerry’s so we could ride back and forth to the Jaspers’ even though Jerry bought a two seat ATC since I was here. We learned that the alfalfa and the oats had been planted on both farms. In total there was forty acres to be harvested, bailed and stacked but that would be later in the summer. Jerry wanted to replace the barbed wire around the paddock with a real wooden fence. That would mean using Ray’s auger on the back of his tractor to dig the holes. Jerry told us he wanted the paddock enlarged.

Ray had his list which included painting the house. That would require renting the ladders and scaffold. Grandmother protested and said he should hire a house painting firm. He said, “How about painting the outbuildings and I’ll get someone to paint both the house and the barn.” Grandmother informed us that Grandpa was going in the hospital for back surgery and wouldn’t be of much help to us. Jerry and Ray made it clear that the projects were in addition to our chores and keeping both lawns mowed and trimmed.

It was ten when we got back to Jerry’s. As we drove back he told us he was leaving in a few days for an overseas trip with his boss and a delegation from the legislature. He said he expected to be gone about three weeks. “I’m sorry I haven’t gotten the pool cleaned up. I suggest we do that tomorrow. I have set up a bank account for each of you at the State Bank of Poplar Bluff. I will deposit you pay automatically every two weeks. In addition, in the desk in the downstairs bedroom is an envelope with expense money. I think there is enough until I get back.”

There was no suggestion of sex with Jerry which surprised me. Randy and I were tired and went to bed after our first shower together in the big shower. I commented to Randy that another part of his body had grown since I last saw him naked. He shook his dick at me. “And it works well,” he said smiling as we got in bed.

I woke to the smell of coffee brewing. I put on underpants to partially hide my morning wood and went upstairs to find Jerry naked and hard sitting at the kitchen table. Without a flinch he said, “Want some coffee? Milk is in the refrig. Don’t have sugar just sweetener.”

“Black coffee is fine. I’ll get it. We’ll start on the pool first, correct.”

“I’ll go feed the horses and then we’ll work on getting the pool open. I’ll start the pumps and filters and you guys scrub the sides and clean the skimmers.”

Randy walked in dressed in khaki shorts and a white tee shirt and looked at us. “Looks like I’m the only one ready to work.”

Jerry had a serious look as he said, “I know what I’m going to tell you guys won’t excite you but I need you to help me out. You see my only sister has a thirteen year old boy. She is a single mom.” She wants him away from his friends in St. Louis so she asked if he could stay with me. She knows I have this trip so I sort of agreed that you would look after him.”

“Will he work with us or do we just babysit him?” Randy said.

“No, I want him to work. Last time I saw him he was shy but cute. I’m driving to St. Louis to pick him up tomorrow. That means tonight is the only time you guys can have your way with me. What do you say?”

“Sure. I know what you like and Randy will learn.” Randy had a puzzled look on his face.

“Good, I’ll grill the steaks I bought and bake potatoes. After cleaning the pool you get to play with me.” Randy didn’t flinch as Jerry paused to take a sip of his coffee, “I suggest dressing in old clothes since the pool is really dirty.” I went downstairs to get into my old red running shorts and cutoff tee shirt. When I got upstairs Randy had stripped off his shirt and Jerry had some badly stained shorts on and no shirt. We went outside and got busy scrubbing as Jerry got the filter going. He then took a long handled skimmer and removed the easy to reach debris before he attached the vacuum to clean the bottom. We stopped for lunch for self-made sandwiches and lemonade. We finished about three. When we finished Jerry turned the heater on but the pool was too cold for swimming even though the air temperature was hot.

Randy said, “Do you think the river is warm enough for swimming?”

“Probably, why don’t you guys saddle the horses and I’ll take the ATC. The water may be too high for safe swimming but we’ll see. Once we got to the river we tied the horses in the shade before joining Jerry. He gingerly stepped down the steep bank but slipped and fell butt first in the shallow water. Both Randy and I made it down the slope without incident. The water was cool and moving quickly but it felt refreshing after our day of scrubbing. There was splashing around and pushing shoving.

Since none of us thought to bring towels we sat on a blanket to dry off before putting our clothes back on. Jerry couldn’t control his erection but as usual he was cool about it. He seemed relaxed as he gazed at the river.

When we got back Jerry handed each of us a beer and proceeded to light the charcoal in the grill. He said he was going to put three potatoes in his new Amana microwave oven which he said would bake the potatoes in five minutes. I didn’t believe him. After we finished our beer we went downstairs to shower off the river water. Jerry followed us and the three of us washed each other thoroughly. Jerry said, “Dinner can wait. I’m pulling the covers down on your bed. Get in beside me.” We did as he asked and fell asleep. None of us seemed in a hurry to get up. But the hour was getting late and we still hadn’t eaten dinner. We dressed only in tee shirts for dinner. Jerry was right that the potatoes baked in a shorter time than cooking the medium rare steaks.

The next morning when I woke up I found Jerry had driven off. I dressed in my old shorts and tennis shoes and went to the barn to feed the horses, check the water trough and let them out into the small pasture next to the barn. When I got back to the house Randy had fixed fried eggs, bacon and buttered toast. We ate and drank coffee and decided to go to Ray’s to understand what we needed to do for the cattle and attach the auger to the tractor with Ray’s supervision. Grandmother fed us a big lunch. I drove the tractor back and Randy rode on the ATC. With two big meals in us we really only snacked at dinner. We didn’t know when Jerry would be back so we went downstairs to see what was on TV. Jerry’s TV only received two working channels - CBS from Cape Girardeau and NBC from Springfield. We watched Bonanza first and then watched Gunsmoke before we got too sleepy.

The next morning we didn’t hear any movement upstairs so we assumed Jerry and the boy hadn’t arrived. It was Saturday so we decided to do only the chores and mow the two lawns. We did Mrs. Jasper’s first which took two hours including the trimming. After lunch we went back to Jerry’s. It was hot so we decided to swim whatever the temperature of the water. With only shorts and tee shirt on we toed off our shoes, pulled off our socks and dropped our pants. We got two rubber floats for floating around. We were tired and I must have dozed off. I heard voices, looked up to see Jerry and a cute young teenager standing by the pool.

I heard, “Uncle they don’t have swimming suits on.”

“Clark, in this pool you can wear your swimming suit or you don’t have to.”

By this time Randy and I were standing in the water waiting for introductions. Jerry said, “Sam and Randy, this is Clark. These are the two guys who you will be living with while I’m away.” I could see the apprehension in Clark’s eyes as he turned to go into the house. Jerry said, “Guys, what’s for dinner?”

“Since we didn’t know when you would be returning we thawed out a chicken to barbeque on the grill. There’s enough for four as long as I cook some potatoes and a vegetable.”

“Stay in the water I will go change into a swimming suit because I don’t think Clark is ready to see his uncle nude. I need to relate to you some things his mother told me about him.” He left us standing for about five minutes. He returned in the ugliest swimming suit I had ever seen. “Sorry, I know I look pathetic.” He jumped in the cool water. “Whoa, it feels so good. I asked Clark if he wanted to swim and he waved a comic book my direction.

“Anyway what I wanted to tell you I was told in confidence by his mother, my sister. She said Clark is shy and keeps to himself. She said she has never had any talks about puberty or body changes with Clark. She knew he had some classes on the human body at school. She told me she thinks Clark is gay and that is why she wanted him away from his friends. I certainly didn’t tell her my situation. When I’m gone try to get him to open up.”

I said, “By the way, when are you leaving and how long will you be gone?

“I leave for Jefferson City day after tomorrow. I will be gone two weeks for sure and maybe into the third week. We’ll be back before the July 4^th holiday. Ray’s surgery’s next week? You boys probably will be doing most of the cooking. I’m sure May will stay in Poplar Bluff with Ray.”

“We’ll be fine. Randy is a good cook.”

Randy offered, “I think I will engage Clark in the kitchen. He may like cooking with me.” We got out of the pool and I wrapped a towel around my middle. Jerry slipped off his suit and secured a towel as well. We were sitting on the deck having a beer when Clark appeared. I suspected he waited until we were covered to join us. He asked if there was Coca Cola and Randy said there was. He asked if there was anything to snack on. Randy got up and tightened his towel and led Clark into the kitchen.

Jerry asked, “Does your truck have a trailer hitch? Tomorrow I want to take Ray’s trailer to the lumber yard in Farmington and get fence posts and lumber for the fence. I don’t know how far you’ll get done while I’m gone. You’ll need Sakrete to set the posts.”

“My truck has a hitch with a two inch ball. I imagine we can get the Sakrete and half the posts we need.” Jerry added, “We can ask if the lumber yard if they’ll deliver the rest. If it’s a big enough order I’m sure they’ll deliver.”

“Good idea. Wonder what’s taking Randy and Clark so long?” They both looked toward the door as Clark carried a tray of three beers, one Coke and a basket of potato chips. He carefully set the tray on the table between us. “Clark sit down a minute.”

“I can’t. I’m helping Randy get dinner started. I’m starving.”

“Is Randy coming out for his beer?”

“He went to get dressed. He’ll be here in a minute.”

“Sit down and wait with us.” He didn’t say a word and sat on the edge of the lawn chair. He looked nervous but if was clear he was looking at our towel covered middles. He slowly picked up his Coke as Randy came out in shorts and a tee shirt. Jerry told them about our upcoming trip to Farmington to pick up supplies.

Jerry said, “Let’s take the car and the pickup. Clark and Randy can grocery shop at the Kroeger’s.”

Randy looked at Clark and said, “Our little store doesn’t have all the ingredients for the dishes you and I need for the dishes we will cook.”

“Sounds like a plan. We’ll stop at the burger and shake place at the corner of Highway 67 and Columbia Street. We will pass it on our way to the lumber yard and Kroger’s. That means we have to leave shortly after 9:30.” Everyone agreed? There was head shaking and Randy got up and Clark followed him into the house. “Looks like Randy has a sidekick.”

We took Jerry’s big cooler which we intended to fill with ice so we could keep the food cool for the trip back to the farm. While Randy and Clark were shopping we loaded twelve bags of the Sakrete into the bed of the pickup. We put ten fence posts in the trailer but had the other ten posts, more Sakrete sent with the load of lumber, nails and paint to be delivered by the lumberyard. We stopped at the Kroger’s so Jerry could drive the car back with the boys and the groceries.

Once we were home Jerry left us to pack for his trip. Randy and Clark were busy in the kitchen putting away groceries and making homemade chili. That left me to off load the Sakrete into the barn and unhitch the trailer. With that done I stepped the outline of the paddock fence which we would start after chores tomorrow. When I returned to the house the smell of the chili bubbling on the stove caused me to realize how hungry I was. As Randy stirred the chili Clark was busy cutting celery sticks and carrots. We ate as soon as Jerry was finished packing. After dinner we watched Rawhide. Jerry told us he was leaving at eight immediately after breakfast. His plan was to drive to Jeff City and take a van to the St. Louis Lambert Airport with the other people traveling on the overseas trip.

As soon as he drove off the plan was for Randy to drive the tractor with the auger to the spots marked for posts. If he encountered rocks he would simply move on. Clark and I would mix the Sakrete with water and set the posts. It was hot work but we were able to set and stabilize six posts by 12:30. We would have to hand dig two holes where Randy had encountered large stones that had to be pried out. We decided to do that when it got cooler.

For lunch we ate baloney sandwiches and chips plus sweet iced tea. Randy and I had decided that we would swim in the pool before going back to work. We didn’t know if Clark could go inside, join us in his swim suit or not. We weren’t going to pressure him. When I suggested a swim I could see the apprehension on Clark’s face. I said, “Randy and I swim naked and you can too if you want to. If you don’t go get into your swim suit.”

He left us and returned in his little boy bathing suit. He carefully checked the water before he lowered himself down the ladder. He came over to where we were standing and said, “I’ve never been naked outside or in a swimming pool. I think it’s weird.”

“Randy and I like the freedom on not having our dicks squeezed inside a tight bathing suit. Out here in the country no one cares or sees us anyway.”

“Randy does your grandfather swim naked?”

“My cousin Joel told me he swims naked either here or in the river.”

Sam said,“I can tell you from my experience he does swim naked.” Randy grabbed Clark and tossed him in the air. He hit the water with a slap. He came up sputtering and began splashing water toward Randy and me. Randy lunged at him and missed. Clark started thrashing toward the edge of the pool and jumped out. Randy was right behind him with his dick at full attention. Randy’s situation was not lost on Clark who starred right at Randy’s stiff member.

“You’ve got a hard-on. Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“Why should I be embarrassed? Men get hard-ons sometimes for no reason. Don’t you.”

“Yes, but I try to hide mine. I’ve seen some guys in showers after my gym class with hard-ons. They laugh it off. I couldn’t do that.”

“Everyone is different. Clark, let’s get dressed, feed the horses and then go check on the cattle at Ray’s. Sam there isn’t room for you on the ATC.” They disappeared into the house for about ten minutes before heading toward the barn to feed the horses. Afterward they shot across the field on the ATC to check on the yearlings.

When Randy and Clark returned they found me downstairs in my underwear watching Route 66. Randy told me he thought he’d head a coyote so they moved the thirty heifers to a pinned area closer to the house. Clark stood behind the sofa but didn’t stay too long before going upstairs to his bedroom. He had worked hard and there was still plenty to do.

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