Ten years! Ten years in that piece of shit prison and now I was free. Ten years for two little joints! I had dodged the queers for ten years. I had avoided being killed for ten years. Ten years is a life sentence for some. For me, it was eternity. But I had served my over inflated sentence and now I was on the road out of state. If I never saw California again, it would be too soon. I thought back over the really rough spots during my imprisonment.
Four days after the cell door swung shut, a big queer named Albert tried to ass fuck me in the shower. I knocked him out cold. Two days later he cornered me in my cell. He had a home made knife. I took it away from him and killed him with it. The prisoners knew who had done it and why but nobody else did. After that the queers left me alone.
A couple of really tough guys beat the shit out of me for no apparent reason. I 'accidentally' knocked one silly during a baseball game. He never recovered enough to tell the guards who did it. I arranged to have the other guy castrated. Six weeks after the castration, I saw him in the prison yard. "You nutted me you asshole!" he screamed as he attacked me with a shiv. The guards shot him.
Word got around that if they were going to fuck with me, they better kill me. I'm not particularly tough but I am determined. I had vowed to kill the judge who handed me the overzealous sentence, but he died of a heart attack two years after my incarceration.
I was twenty eight years old. Ten years of my young life had been stolen from me. I hitch hiked to Iowa. I wanted to get off the beaten track so I settled in Ft. Dodge. I got a job as a farm hand almost immediately. I rented a small house outside of town and bought a used car. My boss, Clint Jeffers, liked me because I would do anything he asked. I told him about my background. He just said, "Huh, you've had a rough start. Buck them bales!" So I bucked them bales.
Two years down the line, I had saved a good portion of my wages. I was now used to farm life and I really liked it. I liked getting up early and working hard all day. The only thing missing from my life was female company. I didn't have a girlfriend because I didn't want to screw up the good thing I had going.
One morning early Mr. Jeffers called me into his house. It was a huge place. I didn't know how many bedrooms it had, but there had to be a bunch.
I knocked on the door at five AM. He opened it. "Good morning Mr. Jeffers."
"Good morning Dick. What are you doing this weekend?"
"Anything you tell me to do," I answered.
"Don't you ever have fun, go out, have a girlfriend?"
"Well sir I go fishing sometimes. I watch football on TV. Aside from that, I don't do anything but work."
"Don't you ever go into town and have a beer?"
"I don't drink, sir, and I don't smoke."
"Well Dick I've got a little problem. I want you to help me with it. You don't have to do it because this is more like a favor than work."
"What is it you want me to do sir?"
"I've got a twenty year old daughter who isn't married yet. I don't think she's ever been out with the same man twice and damned few even once. She always winds up running home and crying. If you would like to, you can take her out this weekend."
"Actually sir I've been avoiding romantic entanglements due to my checkered past. I might frighten her. I wouldn't harm her or be rough with her but she might be scared."
"I've already talked to her and she seems anxious to have a date. I'd really appreciate it if you would take her out somewhere. I'll give you some date money so you won't go broke."
"I don't need any money sir. I've saved a lot since you hired me and I never spend it on anything."
"So, will you do it?"
"Yes Sir I'll give it a try but don't blame me if she runs back here screaming."
"Good, good. Is Saturday good for you?"
"Yes sir, that'll be fine."
I had never seen the girl. I didn't know her name. I knew there had to be a reason she had never dated but damned if I could figure out what it was.
Saturday afternoon about six thirty, I arrived at the big house. I knocked and the door opened. Mr. Jeffers greeted me with a smile.
"Come on in Dick. Can I get you something to drink while Emma gets ready?"
"Iced tea would be fine sir."
"Betty, get Dick some iced tea," he yelled.
A small, pretty woman appeared with a glass of tea. "This here's my wife, Betty."
"Pleased to meet you maam," I said, accepting the tea.
"Emma will be down in a few minutes Dick," Betty remarked and went back to her kitchen.
Twenty minutes later, Emma appeared at the living room door. She was small and pretty, like her mother. She walked with a pronounced limp.
"This here's my daughter, Emma. Emma, this here's Dick Simon," her father said, smiling at us.
"I hope you don't mind taking me out. I haven't been out in a long time." Her voice was like silken raindrops falling on cotton balls. I could barely hear her.
"It's my pleasure maam. I want to take you out. We're gonna have dinner in town and then I'll take you to the movies, if that's all right with you."
"I would like that very much Dick. Goodbye daddy, good bye mama."
I escorted her to my old car and held the door for her. It had been a long time since I had been around a woman so I was kind of unsure how to act. I was no virgin, but twelve years is a long time.
On the way into town she said, "I know daddy put you up to this. You don't really have to take me out in public if you don't want to."
"Why would I not want to? Do you breathe fire or have insanity spells or something?"
"No," she giggled, "you saw how I walk. I have a bad limp. Won't you be embarrassed?"
"Are you kidding? A little limp doesn't mean a thing. Nobody's perfect, least of all me. So I guess if you can adjust to me, then I can adjust to you. Your adjustment will be a lot tougher than mine."
She slid over next to me on the car seat and laid her head on my shoulder. "I think I'm gonna like you," she whispered.
We had a great time. I even kissed her in the movies. We got home about midnight. On the front porch, I took her into my arms and kissed her one of those serious kisses. "Will you go out with me again?"
"Yes, yes," she answered with puppy-like enthusiasm. "Nobody has ever asked me on a second date." She threw her arms around my neck and gave me a full strength kiss. I saw Mr. Jeffers watching through the living room window. He was smiling.
I bade her goodnight and went back to my little house. I was sporting a major hardon. I got myself off and went to sleep. That night I dreamed of pretty little farm girls. Emma was the star.
I dated her every Saturday for the next three weeks. Things changed after the fourth date.
I was back at the farm at seven AM. It was Sunday and I had my weekend chores to do. Mr. Jeffers showed up about eleven o'clock. "Come on up to the house for lunch. Betty's frying some chicken."
"Yes sir."
I washed up at the outside faucet and knocked on the door. To my surprise, Emma greeted me.
"Hi Dick, come on in sit down and have some tea."
I hugged her and kissed her forehead. She giggled because mama was watching. "Hi Mrs. Jeffers," I waved.
She smiled and waved and returned to the kitchen. Emma brought my tea. "I've got to go help mama. Make yourself comfortable."
Mr. Jeffers walked into the room and sat down in the big easy chair. "Did you have a good time last night, son?"
"Yes sir. Your daughter is a real nice lady. She's a good kisser too," I winked at him. He had watched us kissing goodnight for the last four weeks.
"Yeah, I saw you teaching her all about it last night. She hasn't been this happy since before the accident. If you want to keep seeing her, it's okay with Betty and me."
"I was gonna ask you about that. I do want to keep dating her. I think she's just the best."
"Aren't you the least bit curious about her limp?"
"No sir. I've seen lots of people with various physical problems. Her physical problem isn't that severe. I think she just needs some self confidence. Did you tell her about my prison record?"
"Yeah. She doesn't care. Neither do I. Neither does Betty. All of us have a skeleton or two tucked away in our closets. Yours ain't that bad."
"I feel like I'm getting a new family."
"Maybe you are, son, maybe you are."
Mrs. Jeffers turned out to be a six star class cook. Lunch was the best I had had in years. My weekend chores were done.
"Thank you so much for the delicious meal, Mrs. Jeffers. I'll just be going now."
"Wait a minute!" cried Emma. "Do you want to go horse back riding? We'll take the horses and go down by the creek. I'll pack some snacks!" She disappeared into the kitchen.
"She's not letting you get away that easy son," laughed Mr. Jeffers. "All I'll tell you is this, just don't hurt her. She's had it kind of rough. Like you."
We tied the basket down to my horse and set off toward the creek. We rode for an hour or so and then the little stream of water came into view. We flushed a big flock of pheasants from under the trees. I got the basket down while Emma spread out a couple of blankets.
I sat beside her on the blankets. "Do you like me?' she asked.
"Oh, hell yes," I replied. "I like you a lot."
"Why?" she asked.
"Well, you're shy and smart and pretty and fun to be with."
"Did daddy tell you how I got injured?"
"No, he offered, but it didn't seem particularly important to me. You've got it. I can see it. I don't care."
She put her arms around my neck. Tears were streaming from her eyes. "It made a big difference to the other boys. Half of them wouldn't even talk to me. The other half just wanted to see how far they could get before I stopped them. I can't believe that you don't care about it. It has always seemed like a big deal to me."
"Listen Emma, honey, I want you to be happy. I couldn't care less about your injury. I care that you were hurt. I care that you are still hurting in some ways. I'll fix what I can and ignore the rest. If you feel you have to tell me how it happened, I'll listen, but it still won't make any difference to me."
Her tear streaked face was inches from mine. I leaned in and licked her tears away. My lips found hers and we soul kissed our way through the next few minutes. I loved the way her tongue felt as it caressed mine. My arms encircled her body and I dragged her against me. I could feel her heart beating a thousand miles an hour.
"Do you want to?" she asked.
"Honey, there is nothing I want more, but I want you to be absolutely sure before we do it. This is only our second date. Let's just feel each other out first."
"Good idea," she answered as her hands slid up under my shirt. Her fingers tweaked my nipples. "Well, come on. Feel me!"
"I said 'out' not 'up'! I exclaimed.
"I don't pay much attention to semantics," she replied with a big smile.
I pulled her shirt off over her head and unsnapped her bra. Her tender young breasts fell free into the Iowa afternoon air. I was hypnotized by them.
