Brothers Redux

This is my effort to complete Ahazura's flash story 'Brothers.' The original is prefaced with an open invitation to finish it. I reached out and he gave me permission. It would be to your benefit to read the original story first for context. It's a brief but rousing tale. I have tried to remain faithful to the original script to the extent of my capabilities. Please forgive any deviance on my part, as that has been known to happen on occasion. I hope you enjoy this tale. So without further ado, onward, through the fog.

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As I lay looking at the ceiling, I considered a way forward. Tessa sure felt nice cuddled beside me, but my problem with that was how could I trust the little darlin'? I had never even considered the possibility of her being unfaithful until recently. I did now.

I eased out from under my wife and went to the kitchen to start coffee. As the odor filled the cabin's interior space, Tessa stirred. She rose and sat down at the table, staring at her hands. I poured two mugs full and sat across from her. Her eyes searched my face for a clue.

"What the fuck?" I said.

Tears began to flow. She reached out for me, but I remained still.

"Jay, I love you! You have to know that!" she cried.

"Do I?" I said. "I don't feel like I really know too much of anything at the moment. Especially a big part of you."

"Please," she implored. "I was weak. I was stupid."

"What were you thinking?" I asked.

"I wasn't. Not really," she said. "It started with flirting, in fun. I got carried away."

"This really hurts you know. I thought I meant more to you. That WE meant more," I said.

Tears began to flow again. "You do," she said. "We do. I lost my grip for a while. I'm so sorry."

"I'd like to believe that. I really would. Truth is, right now I don't trust you at all," I said.

"Please don't cast me out," she said. "I'll do anything."

She reached for me again and this time I reached back. She heaved a mighty sob and came around the table and climbed on my lap with a whimper. I held her tightly as she continued to cry.

Tessa slowly calmed and I leaned forward to kiss her face. Her cheeks were salty with tears. Her hands roamed my chest and abs and gradually moved to my lap. She gently massaged my member, and with a mind all it's own, it stiffened.

Once I was fully aroused, I stood and pulled down my shorts and sat back down, my cock at full mast. Tessa pulled her panties aside and straddled my lap, slowly rocking her hips and rubbing my cockhead slowly along her labia. She moaned lightly and worked me inside her.

Once I was fully ensconced, she wrapped her arms around my neck and hung on for dear life. She was deliciously hot and slippery; buttery smooth. She remained completely still but after a moment she began constricting and releasing her vaginal muscles in an erratic unpredictable rhythm. Anticipating the next squeeze was exquisite and each one brought me closer to orgasm. Tessa hugged tighter and crooned breathlessly in my ear.

"Oooooooh,my God!" she breathed, and began bucking and grinding feverishly.

My dick recoiled like a howitzer and I struggled to stay conscious and upright. Rope after rope of my semen flooded her heavenly gate and she began to quiver and groan.

My head began to clear after a while and I looked at her face. Her eyes were closed but she positively glowed, her face a picture of serenity.

Truth be told, I really loved this shorty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We breakfasted on scrambled eggs and toast with strawberry jam.

Tessa asked, "What are your plans today?"

I said, "I need to inspect the cabin to see how it wintered. To catch the little things before they become big things."

After we finished, I stood and walked outside. Tessa followed. I went to the shed to fetch a ladder so I could take a look at the roof. As I prepared to set the ladder against the eave I spotted a burrow at the base of the wall, likely there since last fall.

"I don't like the looks of that," I said. "I'm not sharing my cabin with any critters. They'll have to go."

I finished inspecting and found things in fairly good condition. Minor wear and tear. Gutters needed cleaning. I finished that task, started the 'hoe and filled in the ruts in the drive. We packed up to go.

I popped the hood on Tessa's car and looked for obvious signs of damage.

"What are you doing?" Tessa asked.

"Your car was making weird noises on your way in," I said. "I hope it's not fucked up. I'll follow you out."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back home, I pulled Amazon up on Tessa's laptop looking for pest control hardware. I found a trap called 'the Skunkruncher.' It looked lethal.

Tessa, looking over my shoulder, took one look at it and said, "Please don't kill it, whatever it is. Please?"

I considered more options and ordered a live trap.

"Thank you." Tessa said. Then her countenance changed. "Is there any hope for us, do you think?" she asked.

"I would like to think there is," I said. "I just don't know how."

I thought for a moment and said, "Tell me who he is."

Panic shot across her face.

"I can see you don't want to. Why not?" I asked.

"I'm afraid," she replied.

"Of what?" I wanted to know.

"Of you hurting him and getting in trouble," she said. "Or him hurting you. I couldn't live with that. Please, just let it go."

I said, "I don't want to do that. I won't hurt him. I promise. If you want me to trust you again, trust me back. Show me that you put my needs before all others. It was in your vows, remember? You said you would do anything. It would be a pretty good start."

She was cornered. Time to ride or die. She chewed her lip for a moment and said, "Ben Pierce."

I researched Private Investigators and when I found one I liked, I went to see him and asked for basic information. Residence, habits and so forth. A week later, I got a call, so I went to see him again.

"Ben Pierce," the PI said. "Lives at Hillcrest Way in Oakdale. Drives a 2023 GMC 1 ton Dually. Likes to hang out at a bar called the Jug on Wilkinson Dr."

He gave me photos of Ben and his truck, along with it's tag numbers.

I paid the man and went to leave.

The investigator said, "If you don't mind, can you tell me what is your interest in him?"

"He owes me something." was all I would allow.

Now what to do with the info?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few days later I was back at the cabin with my handy dandy live trap. I baited it with some apple slices and added some Skittles for color. I set it by the burrow. I would wait overnight and see what I could capture.

The next morning I got up and had coffee and pastry. Then I went to check the trap. Lo and behold it contained a black kitty with two white racing stripes. It was calmly munching on Skittles.

As I was pondering my next move, I got an idea. I covered the mesh trap with a small blanket and put it in the bed of my truck. I backfilled the burrow and called my brother Butch.

"What's shakin', bacon?" he answered.

"I could use a hand for a bit," I said. "You around?"

"I've just been screwing the pooch," he said.

"You home? Stay there. See you soon," says I.

Butch was wrenching on his Fat Boy Harley in his garage when I pulled into his driveway. "Hey Bub," he said. "What's going on?"

"Come see what I caught living under the cabin," I said.

We walked around to the bed of my truck. Butch saw the blanket covered trap, looked at me for a second, then reached for the blanket.

"Careful," I said, "Don't scare him. Or piss him off."

Butch lifted the corner or the blanket, took one look at my captive and gingerly lowered it again.

"Meet Skittles," I said.

"What are you going to do with him?" he asked.

"He has an appointment with destiny," I said. "In fact, he's late."

Butch looked at me quizzically. "What are you talking about?" he asked.

"Let's find Benny Buttfuck and his fancy truck," I said.

We gave Skittles a small bowl of water and more Skittles for luck.

Then we went hunting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I called Tessa. "Jay, where are you?" she asked.

"I've been up at the cabin," I said. "I caught a skunk."

"Good Lord," she said. "Did it spray you?"

"Not yet," I said.

"Please be careful," she said, "Skunk wee doesn't wash off." "I'll fix dinner If you tell me when you'll be home," she added.

"It's going to be a while yet. There's a couple loose ends. Butch is going to help me so hopefully it will be sooner than later. I'll call again in awhile," I said. We disconnected.

We drove by Ben's house. No luck.

"It's Saturday," Butch said, "I'don't think he will be working."

"Let's try his favorite bar," I suggested. "The Jug."

Butch was humming and whistling the old Lynyrd Skynyrd tune 'Gimme Three Steps' when we pulled into their parking lot and sure enough, there sat a shiny GMC gleaming in the sun. The tags matched.

"Holy Frijoles!" Butch declared, "He's got some bucks tied up in that rig!"

"The bigger they are..." was all I said.

We parked across the lot, carefully picked up Skittles and walked to Ben's passenger side door. With the cage under one arm, I tried the latch while Butch watched for spectators. Locked.

"Fuck," I said.

"That's no hill for a climber," Butch said and pulled a mysterious looking plastic block out, placed it under the latch and pushed a button. It unlocked.

"A product of my misspent youth," Butch smiled.

He opened the door. No alarm sounded.

"OK Skittles. Showtime," I said.

Butch snatched the blanket, I lifted the trapdoor, gave the cage a quick shake and Skittles let out a low growl, and started stamping his feet. I tossed Skittles on the front seat and stood clear. Butch threw the blanket on top of him and quickly shut the door.

"Why didn't he spray?" Butch asked.

"I read that a skunk won't spray in a confined area. They don't like their smell any more than we do. Or else we're two lucky ducks," I spouted.

We ditched the trap and walked into the bar. There were about a dozen patrons in various stages of drunkenness. I recognized Ben from one of the PI's photos. Butch took a stool next to Ben and I went to the restroom. When I returned I sat on Ben's other side and ordered a beer. Ben paid us little attention, he already had a snootful.

We drank in relative silence for a while, talking about nothing in particular.

Butch spoke first, "How many miles are on that Powerstroke of yours now Jay? It's gotta be getting up there." he said.

"150,000," I said. "Give or take."

"Just getting warmed up for a Duramax," Ben mumbled.

"Is that your GMC out in the lot?" Butch asked. "Nice wheels. I bet you get your share of penoche, riding up high like that. You can see everything. Right?"

Ben ignored the remark. "It is," Ben smirked. "My baby. 6.6L 475 HP. It's got heated and cooled leather seats. Walnut inlaid dash and door panels, 7 different exterior camera angles. I power chipped the processor. The hits just keep on coming."

"Nice," Butch said. "And your exhaust pipe is just the right height to blow a thick black plume in some slob's side window. Icing on the cake. Looks are great. Performance is another matter. How is it for torque?" he asked.

"Almost 1000 ft/lbs," Ben said, looking a little confused at the direction the conversation was taking.

Things took a turn. "I doubt that petunia could pull a sick whore off the toilet," Butch scoffed.

The smirk was gone. Ben looked like someone just probed his butt-hole with a broomstick.

Butch added fuel to the fire, "My brother's Powerstroke works all day, every day."

"Don't let your mouth write checks that Blue can't cash," I said.

"Tell you what," Butch continued, "Let's chain them up bumper to bumper and see who drags who across the parking lot. Winner takes $500."

The bar erupted in cheers and everyone emptied out into the parking lot, bartenders included.

Butch and I hustled and jumped in my truck. I fired it up and revved the engine near redline a few times. Limp Bizkit's 'Break Stuff' cranked through the speakers of my stereo. I looked out the side window and wiggled my eyebrows like Groucho Marx and smiled.

Ben unlocked his door and opened it, only to receive a full blast to the face, point blank. Ben started coughing and gagging and finally barfed. Skittles jumped out of the truck and squeezed off another round, this time filling the truck's interior. He ambled off like he hadn't a care in the world.

Butch jumped out of my truck and exclaimed, "You keep a guard skunk? Ballsy!"

He jumped back in and we peeled out. Butch stared out the windshield and grinned ear to ear. His face was a deep dark red.

Butch said, "That truck is fuuuucked up. So is Benny."

I said, "I don't think Febreze is going to help. Not this time."

"What happened to Skittles?" Butch asked.

"He split, I said, "His work here was finished."

"God bless old Skittles," Butch said, "He was a real piss-cutter. If you ask Ben, I'll bet he'll say he didn't really taste like a rainbow."

"He's a hero in my book," I said. "Fare thee well, my malodorous friend, may nothing but green grass and high tides come your way."

Finally Butch turned to me and said, "By the way, skunks in timeout because of close quarters? That would be bullshit."

I shrugged and said, "Live and learn. That's my motto. And thanks for your help. It would never have happened without you, brother.

That was fun. What's next?"

Butch said, "I'm thinking badgers. Or bobcats."

I called Tessa and said, "I can be home in an hour. Want to spend some time at the cabin with me and Blake? Pack enough for a couple days. See you soon."

After Labor Day, Butch and I were prepping the cabin for another long winter. As I walked around the back of the cabin, I noticed signs of recent activity at Skittles' old burrow. I stood and looked at it for a long moment, then grabbed a shovel from the toolshed and began digging at the base of the shed wall.

Butch walked up and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Building a guest room," I said. "Would you go see if there are any Skittles left in the pantry?"

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Thanks to Ahazura for letting me tag along. It was fun. Sorry, the mysterious unlock box is classified. So don't ask.

If things are wearing on you, you might want to check out Limp Bizkit's 'Break Stuff' on YouTube/music.

Disclaimer: No lifeguard on duty. Party at you own peril.