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JUDGING 8 -- ACER'S Stories
By Phil Ford
Acer paced the kitchen sipping coffee from a large cup. He'd arrived late the night before and Blue was still sleeping. At five, no one else was up and around yet. He'd only gotten up to take a piss and wandered toward the kitchen instead of returning to bed. The door to the spare bedroom David had taken was open then and as he passed by unnoticed, David continued to rut with some unknown partner. The bedmate looked like a boy, not a man, and that got Acer riled up. Acer may have passed by the door unnoticed but the gurgle of the coffee maker would announce his presence. When it finished, he filled a cup for Blue. Passing the door again, it was closed.
Blue sat up, leaning back against the headboard and accepted the cup with a smile. Acer kneaded his shoulder as Blue took the first sips. "Did you sleep enough?" Acer asked.
"I took a hint from you and slept a lot while you drove. I'm good to go, just a little stinky," Blue replied. "I really liked seeing your home place and meeting everyone, but this is home now and I'm glad we're back."
Acer put on his best poker face and stifled the urge to say something about David and his guest. When Blue drained his cup, Acer drug him into the shower. He massaged in the soap all over Blue's body and shampooed his hair. The he took the shower wand and rinsed him down, applying conditioner last. Blue returned the favor and with a conditioner coated hand, he grasped Acer's hard pole and started a stroke. "Put some of that on you dick and stick it in while you're at it," Acer requested. "Man, that's a nice way to start the day," Acer told Blue when they'd both released a load.
"Nothing better," Blue replied. "I hope we can do this every morning someday." They each pulled on jeans and boots, and made their way to the kitchen for more coffee. Billy and Alfredo were there waiting and drinking coffee.
"Morning boss men," Billy greeted then.
"Me estranjarsen mucho, (I missed you too much)," Alfredo added.
Acer plunged a hand into his jeans and adjusted himself. "Who is the colt in there with David?" Acer asked.
"Blue's cousin's kid," Billy answered. "He got shuffled over here to keep the water running smoothly. He made up some story about Blue coming home last night so he could stay over. He's a good kid and he's legal if that's worrying you."
Acer didn't hide who he was. He didn't advertise it either. He figured there was a line everyone drew that separated their public life from their private one. He'd had discrete discussions with his boss and there was no problem there, but sponsors would be a different story. Neighbors were something completely different to consider and whether Blue's family would be accepting was something they'd never discussed. Blue was rubbing his ear and his forehead was wrinkled up.
"Which cousin's kid?" Blue queried.
"Paulie," Billy answered. "Wednesday David made a jug of Margaritas to drink while he cultivated. He offered a glass to Paulie and the kid rode in the tractor cab all afternoon with him. You know David. He bats those eyes and licks his lips and somebody falls on their knees and starts pulling his zipper down."
"I've got my own fields leased and onion season is done," Paulie said, sticking his head around the corner into the kitchen. "I didn't sit around all my life thinking, 'I want to be a queer when I grow up,' either. Some things just happen. Then you deal with it. And as for being a kid, none of you are much older than me," he snorted back.
"I'm sorry, Paulie," Acer apologized, extending his hand and saying, "Acer."
Paulie refused to shake. "I know who you are," Paulie told him. "I just figured you'd appreciate me keeping your pumps and systems running since none of you know how to do it. I guess I was wrong."
Acer offered him some coffee but he waved it off, got a glass and took a bottle from a paper bag on the counter. He added some ice to the glass and poured it full of the amber colored liquor. Then he sat to one side of Blue, staring him down. Paulie belted down the glass full and refilled it before the ice had time to think about melting.
"All I can do is say I'm sorry and I appreciate your help, Paulie," Blue told him. He reached over and brushed his hand across Paulie's chin with Paulie pushing his hand away. "You have to admit you look kind of young. You don't even shave do you?"
"Probably as often as you do," Paulie answered, running his had across Blue's cheek. He tilted the second glass and refilled it.
"No, but Blue's got the hairiest little butt you ever saw," Acer remarked. Paulie sputtered into the glass when Acer said that. At least his mood was lightening up.
"Well, I might not have any hair on my ass, but I'm old enough to suck a dick or take one up the ass if I choose to and it's nobody's business but mine," Paulie replied.
"We were talking about David anyway, not you Paulie," Billy responded. "We don't care one bit what you choose to do or not."
"Damn, ain't you even going to feed me? I'm not sure drinking like this is a good idea on an empty stomach," Paulie questioned.
"You name it, you got it, cuz," Blue responded, getting up quickly.
"Eggs over easy on toast and a glass of milk," Paulie replied. That only took a few minutes to cook and Blue even added two toaster hash browns to the plate. Paulie inhaled it and downed the last of a second glass of milk. He moved like he was getting up but went down forehead to the table and passed out cold.
"We'd better leave him there for now," Billy suggested. "If he pukes laying on his back, he'll drowned in it. Then we'll be in a world of shit." After a while, they propped him up on his side with pillows against the fireplace hearth, supporting his chest in front, and as padding under him, where he could be seen from the kitchen table. "We aught to run David off to Lubbock to his brother-in-law," Billy stated.
"My uncles sent him over here because they didn't want to keep our irrigation going," Blue told them. "If we run David off, Paulie might not help out any more."
"I thought you guys would have learned how to keep them running by now," Acer responded. "We don't have the money for a lot of repair bills."
"We've learned a lot," Billy boasted. "Paulie showed us what to check while the pumps are shut down and the repairs that are commonly needed. Me and Alfredo ain't no slackers."
It was Saturday. They weren't intending to work. David breezed through saying he had hay cut, wind rowed, and turned, ready to bale. He was gone. "I can see why Melissa divorced him, other than his fucking around on her," Acer observed. "He runs off instead of facing his trouble like it will go away. When I've done that over little shit, it's blown up in my face."
"She knew he was going to fuck around back in high school," Billy commented. "It was who he was fucking around with that was the problem, and I don't mean other guys. Her brother being the one was what she couldn't handle."
"Yeah well, it would be easier on me if Paulie wasn't messing around with a guy living in my house and working for me," Blue added. "There are things family doesn't talk about. My uncle or my cousin might show up with a gun and blood in his eyes."
"I don't think that will happen," Acer told them. "Paulie ain't going to go bragging he turned queer and found the man of his dreams. David will be gone after the cotton is stripped and sooner if Paulie don't pitch a fit."
By the end of the day, David was packed and driving to Lubbock with a generous check in his pocket to cover three weeks wages, and with Paulie's blessing.
Acer and Blue had spent the day looking through the fields and checking the cattle. Acer was to go in to his office on Monday and fly out Tuesday for points north and east. His employers were a group of associations that worked together, headquartered there in Amarillo. The same associations grouped together or with different associations covered events around the country. AQHA was there in Amarillo, but while they were the biggest Quarter Horse association, they were not the only one. They were the association Acer judged for at horse competitions. Each association had to certify a judge to work their events and Acer had been certified by most of them over the past eleven years since he started high school.
Rodeo associations worked the same way but divided along the lines of prize money given to winners with the PRCA at the top and several smaller groups down to the smallest prizes given out. Some of it had to do with age. A small rodeo that had been held annually for nearly a hundred years might belong to the PRCA even if it gave out smaller prizes. One with big coffers that was forty years young wouldn't have the same standing. They all worked together out of necessity.
Acer knew he wouldn't see Blue or any of his friends again until the State Fair in Dallas at the beginning of September. He was in the arena scoring marks in a preliminary round of the hog judging when he spotted Blue in the crowd. When that round concluded and he turned in his scores, he made his way through the throng to join Blue. They shook hands and patted each other on the back. Similar greeting were exchanged with The Amarillo men, those from home, and Curtis with his buds from Paris. Then Blue drew him to the side.
"Man, I feel really stupid," Blue confessed. "The county agent came out and took a sample of the cotton and some soil to test. I asked him what he thought we'd make and from there on everything he said was gibberish to me. The bottom line was about three to three and a half bales to the acre. He said the break even price was fifty-two cents a pound and the fiber length figured in to the price we'd get. He said fifty-four cents was the best we could expect. He said we used the wrong type of irrigation. We should have used drip or at least ditch and furrow. He thought the excess we'd spent using sprinklers had eaten up the profit. I'm pretty good at math but this don't make any sense at all."
"Don't sweat it bubba," Acer insisted. "They figure in all the costs from equipment depreciation and land costs to interest on loans. You name it and they count it. Most farmers operate using loans to finance their operation. We paid cash. We just have to make it to first frost so we can strip it. Three and a half bales per acre will be a big payday."
"That's a load off my mind," Blue replied. "I don't even know how much you've spent. He had me worried you wouldn't get all of that back."
"I'd have to borrow the money, but if you're that worried, we could spray it and start stripping a week later. We wouldn't have to wait on a frost or take a chance a storm would ruin the crop that way," Acer suggested.
The agent had made the same suggestion to Blue. The cotton would only produce a small amount more from where it was at now. Acer got on his cell phone and made a few calls. Then he had Billy call his dad to get the stripping started the next week. They would probably have the first loads to hit the gin.
"Hey guys, ya'll go run around the fair for a while," Acer suggested. "Meet me by the big tree in front of the poultry building for lunch, unless you want to come look at a bunch of chickens. That's what I'm judging next." Blue stayed at his side as they walked over from the hog barn. "I got us rooms at an old hotel off Cedar Springs and Oak Lawn," Acer told him. "They weren't exactly booked up with the gay cowboy crowd. We can walk to a lot of bars and restaurants from there and some clubs let the younger guys in, too. They get stamped so they can't drink."
"Oh hell yeah, that sounds like fun. I get to show off my dancing skills you taught me, finally," Blue responded.
"I'm sorry I missed your big two one. We'll go someplace special I like to celebrate your birthday," Acer promised. "I know this Italian place that has the best of everything and the waiters and waitresses sing. It'll be a hoot."
"It was just four days ago," Blue reminded him. "You sent enough balloons to cover the ceiling at the house and Billy got a cake. Thanks, babe."
Blue watched all through the chicken judging. They had lunch on the fair grounds and Acer was finished for the day around five. The little caravan wound it's way north to the hotel and got checked in. "There was a drive by shooting last night," the desk clerk warned. "He'll survive, but you'd be safer if you stay on the bust streets that are well lit. This hasn't happened for a couple of years, but be careful."
With four to a room, Paulie was the odd man out and had to stay with Acer and Blue. Tommy and Bobby were showing their steers for the last time and putting them in the sale hoping for a good price. Everyone else was there for a good time and most would be leaving for home after a couple of days. Acer would stay for two weeks, the second one without Blue. The cotton crop was calling. College was tolerant of Tommy and Bobby's need to attend the show but they had to arrange care for their steers and be back in class on days they weren't needed. Steer judging and the sale was the last livestock event and the biggest payout.
When Acer had been alone for several days the boys came back from Stephenville. Neither one got champion or grand champion but they got enough to finance a college education from this one show and sale. Added to their past winnings, they could buy their own ranches. They drove Acer to the airport before heading back to college. He wouldn't be back in Amarillo for another month.
"Blue, I'm about to board the flight home," Acer told him. He was calling on his cell phone. "Pick me up in about four hours. I love you."
As they rode together to the house, Blue told him the news on their cotton crop. "I know it ain't much, but from what you've invested, we'll make about sixty thousand in profit. That covers the gas for the pasture pumps, pay for Billy and Alfredo, and the feed bill, too."
"Oh man, that's great. You did good Blue," Acer replied. "It was good luck, though. If we'd started earlier and bought crop insurance, we'd be in the hole. We still have the steers to sell in December and enough to pay off the bank, plus some for your mother."
"I told Paulie we'd pay him a chunk, too. The fields are ready to plant onions and he says they make better money," Blue explained. "We meet at the bank tomorrow to sign the check and get it deposited."
"I've got news, too," Acer told Blue. "My job is changing and I'll just be working with sponsors from now on. I'll only be gone a few days a month."
"Did you have to take a pay cut?" Blue asked.
"No, I got a raise," Acer answered.
When they walked into the house, Billy, Alfredo, and Paulie were waiting and watching TV. "I've been staying here since the night with David," Paulie explained. "I'm tired of living at home. I could move into one of the laborers houses or Blue's house if it's a problem, but I like the company here."
"It's fine with me," Acer replied. "How are your leases doing?"
"I'm planted except for a twenty acre plot I'm going to try potatoes on this year," Paulie replied. "I put in a hundred acres of white garlic, twenty acres of purple garlic, and twenty acres of leeks this year, too. The rest is the sweet ten fifteen onions."
"You think we should do onions here, don't you?" Acer asked.
"Yeah, I do, it's sort of the family business and with Blue you're family now," Paulie replied. "You could look around. People grow damn near everything around here. Dad gave me lease money for a section when I was fourteen, loaned me equipment and what it took to make a crop. The next year I leased ten sections with a purchase option. Two years ago, I bought my own equipment and next May when the crop is in, I'll buy the land and still have enough in the bank to start all over again if something happens."
"I picked up pizzas on the way to get Acer," Blue interrupted. "They may have cooled down some but they should be fine. I got four kinds." It was hand reaching over hand filling paper plates like mad for a few minutes until peace reigned as they returned to the couches in the living room.
"Will you adopt me?" Acer asked Paulie, between bites.
"What?" Paulie responded, nearly choking.
"We didn't make much money from the cotton and you seem to have every thing figured out. Just tell us what to do and we'll do it daddy," Acer answered.
Paulie had a smile on his face as he replied, "I can think of a few things to start with when we finish this pizza, but the truth is there isn't anything to figure out. Onions are a good crop that makes money. The price of fertilizer, diesel, gas for the pumps, herbicide, and seed is all up. Labor has to go up, too or our help can't keep working. The price of onions is up, too, for now so nothing should change. Next year when we harvest it may be a different story. That's why I have money set aside."
One pizza and nearly half of a second one were gone. Paulie scooted in between Acer and Blue, wrapping an arm around each of them. "So what comes with being daddy to you guys? Do I get any fringe benefits?"
"We get real scared when it storms," Blue joked. "We might have to crawl in bed with you then."
"Yeah, me and Alfredo get scared when it storms, too," Billy added. "You're going to need a real big bed."
"I had in mind getting some help on my place. You are a bunch of cuddly fellows, though," Paulie answered. "I have a buddy I'd rather share my bed with. I haven't seen much of him since I met David. I haven't seen much of anyone except you guys and family since then. I don't know how to tell my friends I'm queer or even if I should tell them. I just miss them and this buddy more than all the rest put together."
"We'll be glad to help out on your place whenever you need us," Blue replied. "You might invite your buddy over here and play that by ear, though. We can be on our best behavior. There's no telling how things might work out there."
"I'm the same guy who's been his friend since we were kids," Paulie responded. "If me being gay changes that, I can't help it. I'm hoping he'd like to be more than friends and get the feeling he might."
"It's still early and we have plenty of pizza left and beer in the fridge," Acer told him. "Call him and get him over here. Give us a nod and we'll make ourselves scarce for you two to visit."
Paulie stepped outside to call his friend. "He'll be here in a bit," Paulie announced when he came back inside. "Now don't go judging the guy on appearances. He's my friend and that should say enough. He's had a hard time for a while and been living on his own for the last year."
The sound of a busted muffler preceded the arrival of the worn out pickup. "This is Carl," Paulie announced, naming each man in the house in turn. Carl shook their hands and did his best to smile.
"Pizza beats hell out of the ramen noodles I was going to have, Paulie," Carl told him, taking a beer from Paulie's hand. "I'd just gotten out of the shower when you called." Carl was straight as a board and so thin the loops drew together in two places at the back of his jeans. You could see the toes of his sock at the tip of one tennis shoe and his flannel shirt had several holes in it. He had a one inch scar coming from his hairline and the crook of his nose and a broken front tooth said he was no stranger to a fight. At nearly the same height as Blue, he weighed less than half as much. Carl was not handsome, pretty, or cute, by any stretch of the imagination. "I ain't seen you since we graduated. I guess this is where you've been." Carl wrapped his long arms around Paulie and gave him a long hug.
"Get yourself a plate," Paulie instructed. "We finished eating right before I called you. It's the first time your phone was working since May."
"It got cut off and you know they don't let us use the phone at the store," Carl answered as he pulled off several pieces of the pizza. "Hell, I can't get the truck tagged and inspected. It won't pass, so I only drive at night and then only if I have to. I walk to work." Hunger and thirst consumed Carl at that point and before he was done he'd washed down a whole pizza with four more beers. "Man that was great!" Carl exclaimed when he was finally full. "I haven't eaten that good in a while. The Mexicans at work started calling me 'pestoso' because I eat beans so much."
Carl settled into a recliner across a small table from Paulie. The two Mexicans were at a love seat at the opposite end of the room, one sitting on the floor leaned back between the legs of the other. The two big guys were on the couch, one lying down with his head resting in the other's lap. A movie was coming on and Carl focused on the screen. The intimacy between the men didn't seem odd at all. It seemed like the way he and Paulie had always been when together, like high school boys. Maybe it seemed that way because of the beer. He'd never drunk much beer before.
The movie was short. Sometime before it finished, Blue had passed around bowls of banana pudding and more beers. When a second movie was beginning, Paulie nudged Carl and he realized he'd fallen asleep leaning back in the recliner. He jerked to his feet and made excuses that he had to get home. No one tried to stop him because he only lived two miles down the dirt road from where he was. He climbed into the old pickup and turned the key. After the gears ground together five separate times with no result, he stepped back out and slammed the door shut. "Damn truck won't start," Carl told Paulie entering the house again.
"I can take you to work in the morning," Paulie offered.
"I'm off for the next two days," Carl Replied. "I can fix the truck in the morning, but I can't see shit tonight."
Paulie led him back to his room and spread the covers back. "You can crash if you want to," Paulie told him. "I'll come to bed a little later."
"Thanks Paulie," Carl replied. "I'm beat from work today."
When Paulie went back to go to bed, Carl was jabbering in his sleep. "I can't do it any more. I don't want to go home," he was repeating. Paulie crawled under the covers and stretched an arm across Carl's chest. The jabbering stopped and a few minutes later Carl was snoring softly.
(continued)