Home Is Wherever You Are

by Rose von Barnsley

  I had been using Addy’s truck this whole time, but I was thinking of getting my own. It only seemed right, but I was nervous about taking on any sort of payments. I didn’t have the best employment history, and even if I couldn’t get fired, I could get sick or hurt, and that would leave me hurting for money again. I decided to try and save up for it.

  Addy, on the other hand, was going stir crazy. She only had experience waitressing, and there was just the one little diner in town. She didn’t like the girls who worked there as it was, so she didn’t even apply. I pushed her again to apply for grants to go to school, but she just shook her head. “I don’t know what I want to be. Nothing has ever really interested me,” she said with a shrug.

  “You like kids, why not be a teacher?” I asked.

  She frowned. “I don’t want to deal with the parents.”

  “What about orphans? They don’t have parents.”

  She looked at me confused, and I shrugged, not really knowing what I had suggested, either. “How am I supposed to deal with orphans?”

  “I don’t know. I was just throwing it out there to see if you got any ideas off of it.”

  She laughed and kissed my lips softly. “You’re such a goof.”

  I hadn’t realized how much I had missed her deep brown eyes, until I finally got to see them again. Needless to say, I found myself kissing her a lot. I was thankful we were out from under Daniel’s roof and could get back to where we had been with each other.

  We still hadn’t moved forward past third base. I probably could buy condoms, but the one time I had mentioned it to Addy, she seemed nervous about the idea. She told me some girl she knew named Lisa had gotten pregnant using a condom, and neither of us had the money for a baby right now. Still, it didn’t keep me from wanting her. Thankfully, I had never gone all the way with a girl, so I didn’t know what I was missing. I think if I did, I would have cracked long ago.

  She pulled my pants down and smirked at my boxer shorts. They were covered in turtles, and the waistband said “Born Hard.”

  “See, you always snicker at me, and the one time you put them on and I laughed at you, I got hit!”

  She rolled her eyes. “Quit being a baby, or I won’t play.”

  I groaned. “No, baby, I’m sorry, please,” I begged, because nothing felt better than her hot little hands on me.

  She gave me a coy smile and wiggled her finger at me, telling me to come back to bed. I couldn’t get enough of her, and I was looking forward to reciprocating.

  Afterwards, we lay spent, cuddling in bed, and I realized I wanted to marry her. I looked down at her and kissed the top of her head. “If I asked you to marry me, would you say yes?” I whispered.

  She snuggled against me and was quiet. I thought she might have fallen asleep. Then her soft answer rang loud in my panicked ears. “Of course I would, honey, I love you.”

  I squeezed her tighter in my arms, wishing I could keep her there always. “I love you, too.”

  She let out a sigh of contentment, and I thought, life couldn’t get much more perfect than this.

  Chapter 19 – Good Pussy

  Small town life was nice, but it was very different. It seemed everyone knew who I was, while I was still learning everyone’s name. I didn’t think it fair that they only had to remember one new name, and I had to remember hundreds. I was sure to look like an inconsiderate jerk. Thankfully, my girl had grown up in this town and knew most of the people, so she could help me out. Of course, there were a few people I didn’t want to know.

  I was in the grocery story with my girl, when an annoying squeal made me check the cart’s wheels. “Oh, Addy! I heard you moved back.”

  The girl I knew as Jennifer came sauntering up. I remembered our last encounter and quickly moved behind Addy for protection from her witch cooties.

  Addy just nodded her head yes and then looked at the ground. I didn’t like this. I pulled her back against me and nuzzled my face into her neck. “Hey, beautiful, do you want to get out of here?” I whispered.

  She turned her face to look at me, and I quickly captured her lips with mine. I had one hand in her hair and the other on her stomach.

  “Oh, my god! Is she pregnant?” Jennifer yelled loudly. “I can totally see your big belly.”

  I knew that was bull crap. Addy was thin as a rail. I pulled my girl tighter against me. “No, she isn’t pregnant yet. That’s something we’ll be working on once we’re married.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Jennifer sassed.

  I massaged my girl’s tummy. “If you think there’s a baby in here, you must be carrying twins in your butt, because that’s definitely big enough for it.”

  Jennifer gasped, and Addy hid her face in my neck, but I could feel the smile on her lips. That’s my girl. Don’t let the witch get to you, I thought to myself. Jennifer opened her mouth and closed it several times, before she stormed off.

  I heard snickering behind us and turned to see another woman standing there. I hadn’t met this one yet. “More like quadruplets,” she said, and I instantly liked her. “Hey, Addy.”

  My girl looked up timidly and gave a half-hearted smile to the woman before us.

  “So, this must be the famous Matthew who can fix anything,” she said and reached her hand out to me, but I didn’t want to let go of Addy. Something seemed wrong, and I didn’t know what it was. I looked down at my girl, looking for signs, but she was locked up tight. The woman dropped her hand, not seeming to be offended. “I’m Amy Chambers.”

  When she said her name, Addy peeked up at her.

  “Yeah, I know, right? Took the jerk long enough. We’ve been married for a year,” she said, talking to Addy. “He’s about as handy as a rock. No wait, you can pound things with a rock. What’s unhandy?” she asked Addy, like she would answer.

  My girl just frowned.

  “Anyway, we’re looking to buy this little one-bedroom on Second Avenue. Do you mind looking it over for us?” she asked me.

  “Um, sure,” I said, completely unsure. I didn’t know what was going on with my girl.

  “It was good seeing you again, Addy. I’ll see you around,” Amy said and left us alone in the aisle.

  “Addy, are you okay? She didn’t seem mean.”

  She frowned harder. “I want to go home, please,” she begged. I was starting to regret my move to Woodville.

  Two days later, I was standing with some guy named Isaiah. I was walking through the little house and pointed out a few things to him. Nothing big, just minor fixes. “Did you go to school with Addy?” I asked.

  He suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Sort of, I guess.”

  “What kind of answer is that?” I asked.

  “We were both in Amy’s tutoring class together, but she was further behind than me. I was only there for a month. Amy’s a great teacher like that, you know.”

  I didn’t want to let on that I didn’t know Addy had needed tutoring. It was not a big deal, lots of people needed it. She was lucky to have actually gotten it, though.

  “Addy wasn’t really in any of our classes. She had different teachers,” he said, and it confused me. What was the big deal that their schedules didn’t drop them in the same class? He was acting like it was something major. “She seems to be doing well for herself now, though. I mean she just bought ole Doc Smith’s house, so she must be doing okay.”

  “Yeah, nice little place, she made a good profit on turning around her last house and was able to buy it outright.”

  “Holy cow, really?” he said shocked.

  I smiled proudly. I liked bragging about my girl. “Yeah, really.”

  He eyed the little one-bedroom home. “Do you think...?”

  I cut him off. “There’s no market here. She was smart to go to Houston for her first buy.”

  “Yeah, she may not be book smart, but she’s a freaking genius when it comes to street smarts,” Isaiah said, walking to his car and leaving me confused.

  I decided to
find my girl and ask what the heck he had been talking about. I knew Addy was street smart. She had taken down Jeremy, me and the guy messing with her A/C. She probably would have taken Jeremy down again if it hadn’t been for the other guy who had been there. I wondered if Daniel had paid him a visit as well. I would have to ask.

  I hadn’t been home long, when I got another call. It was Joe Riley, a neighbor of ours. His cat was stuck in a tree, and he wondered if I would give him a hand. I grabbed my ladder and walked next door.

  “That dang pussy is stuck in the pecan tree out back again. My wife is all in a tizzy over the stupid thing. I’d ship that blasted cat to the pound, but it keeps my wife’s feet warm. I swear her circulation is shot, because her feet feel like she’s standing on a couple of ice blocks, and I sure as heck don’t want them anywhere near me,” Joe ranted, as he led me to the tree in question.

  Mrs. Riley was at the bottom of the tree, crying up a storm, holding a can of tuna fish. She didn’t look to be having any luck.

  “Oh, Matthew! Please, you have to save my Muffin,” she begged, and I just nodded, putting my ladder as close as I could to the cat. I would have to get onto the branch and reach to the left, but I was pretty sure I could reach the overfed feline. I just hoped I had the upper body strength to get the fat thing down the ladder.

  “Here, kitty, kitty,” I called, and the ungrateful thing hissed at me. I guess he hadn’t gotten the memo that I was here to save his chunky butt. “Come on, Muffin, be a good kitty.”

  “Try pussy, Matthew, we always call him pussy,” Joe called, when he saw Muffin hissing at me.

  “Here, pussy, pussy. Come on, Muffin, be a good kitty and come to me,” I said, sliding a little closer. The cat backed up and swatted at me. His paw hit some nuts that bounced off the branch, clocking me in the face. I lost my balance for a second, but steadied myself again.

  I was surprised when Mrs. Riley started shouting, “Muffin, you stop whacking those nuts, you naughty pussy!”

  If it hadn’t been for the fact that I was in a tree with a crazed cat, I would have been laughing my butt off, but right now, I was too busy trying not to break my neck.

  “Here, pussy, pussy,” I called again, trying to keep a straight face and not fall. I should have thought ahead, because when I was finally within reach, I grabbed the cat.

  Oh good, I was thinking, I had saved the kitty. Well, someone hadn’t told the cat I was saving him, and he freaked out. Turned out Muffin had a wicked set of claws that he had just sharpened climbing up this dang tree. When I pulled him to my chest, he used them to climb over my shoulder and was currently hanging from my back, shredding my shirt, not to mention my flesh.

  Of course, as this all happened, I lost my balance and fell. But not far, no, I was still on the same branch I had been standing on. I was dangling upside down, hanging by my leg. My jeans had snagged on the branch and were currently slipping off of me. Joe was freaking out and quickly moved the ladder closer to where I was swinging, his nut-whacking pussy still hanging on my back. I got to the ladder, but my jeans were stuck good. I ended up having to take them off, so I could get my feet under me. Last thing I wanted was to be falling on my head. As soon as we got within reach, Mrs. Riley was prying her demon cat off my back and running into the house.

  Joe stood back and looked down at my underwear. “I didn’t know they made shorts for catching cats. I don’t think they work, though,” he said, looking up at my dangling pants. “Thanks, Son,” he said and left me standing there in my underwear.

  I looked down and smiled. They were the tiger boxers that said “Pouncing Pussy” on them. I couldn’t help but feel they had failed me, because I was pretty sure the pussy had pounced me this time.

  Chapter 20 – Bright

  I would admit I was moaning, when I came walking in with my back torn up. Addy looked at me in shock. “Oh, my goodness, Matthew, what happened to you?”

  I looked down at my pant-less self and saw my shirt was shredded pretty badly as well. I gave her a sad pout. “The cat won.”

  “Don’t tell me that was Muffin? He’s so nice.”

  I started laughing. “That pussy had it out for me. I don’t think he was stuck in the tree. I think he was trying to get away from Mrs. Riley!” I teased.

  She rolled her eyes at me. “Let me see your back.”

  I carefully pulled my shirt off, hissing as I removed what was left of it. I started getting worried, when Addy gasped and started making little pained noises. “Oh, baby, your back.”

  She touched it, and I flinched like a wimp.

  “Come with me,” she said, dragging me upstairs. Our room, the “nursery” and our master bathroom were up there. I wasn’t sure what she wanted to do, but I was sure I wouldn’t be up to any playtime, unless she wanted to be a naughty nurse.

  “Your back looks horrible, Matthew. Some of these are really deep, you’ve got to get in the shower,” she said, pushing me into the bathroom gently. Well, that sucked. I’d had my heart set on naughty nurse.

  I reached in and turned on the water. When I turned around to toss my boxers on the counter, Addy was standing there, beautifully naked, bending over and looking in the cabinet under the sink. I found myself grabbing her hips and pulling her back against me.

  She looked over her shoulder at me and furrowed her brow. “Scratches first, Matthew, we can’t have them getting infected.”

  I would have liked to say that I took it like a man. In fact, I would. If you walked past my house during the cleaning of the scratches, the girly squeals coming from the upstairs window were from bad plumbing. Yeah, that sounded good, bad plumbing.

  After she got in the shower with me, things went downhill fast. I had thought it would be hot and sexy, but she put soap and heaven only knew what on me, and that stung like mad all over my back. The hard-on I had been sporting shriveled and threatened never to return. I didn’t think I would ever be able to get off in the shower again!

  Addy left me to dry off and came back, handing me what she thought was the least offensive of my underwear. They had elephants all over them and said “Check out my trunk” on them. Personally, I liked the bear ones that said “Honey Licker.”

  I had thought my torture was over, until she had me lay down, and then she literally put salt in my wounds. She had some clean damp cloths she had dipped in Epsom salt and then strapped them to my back. She said it would draw out any infection I might have gotten from the cat, but I was thinking she was getting me back for something. I just didn’t know what it was yet.

  She finally gave me some painkillers and told me to get some rest. I was thinking she should have given me the painkillers before she had attacked me, but whatever. She wasn’t hurting me now. That was the last time I saved Muffin the nut-whacking pussy.

  “I brought you a sandwich,” Addy came back with a plate. “Are you feeling alright?”

  “Yeah, that salt still stings and is grainy on my back, though.”

  She frowned. “I know, but really, when you mess with a cat, you have to watch for infections.”

  I let out a huff, not feeling like fighting.

  “I saw Isaiah today,” I mentioned, wondering what her reaction would be.

  She just looked away from me, hiding her face. “Are they buying the house?”

  “Yeah, it looks good. They’re good to go.” She just nodded. “He was impressed when I told him you bought this house outright. He said you had lots of street smarts.”

  She shrugged, and I let out a frustrated sigh.

  “So, are you ever going to tell me what’s going on here, Addy? Whatever it is, it’ll come out sooner or later, and I don’t want to feel like a chump, because I don’t know my girlfriend.”

  She got up and moved to the door, like she was going to leave.

  “Hey, come on, you know all my secrets. I was homeless, Addy, and you loved me anyway. Why don’t you think I’ll love you just as much if you to tell me what’s going on?”

 
She sniffled and shook her head, before she ran out the door. I sighed, lying back and groaning. When that dang grainy salt ground into my back again, it sucked!

  I heard the front door close, but I did not hear the truck start up. She must have been going to her dad’s house. He was within walking distance. I banged my head on the headboard in frustration, wishing I could figure out this mess without hurting my girl. I didn’t understand why she was so upset. I couldn’t imagine anything she could have said that would change my feelings for her. Really, nothing would change how I felt about her.

  I heard the front door open and footsteps coming up the stairs. They were too heavy to be Addy’s, so I sat up a little straighter and pulled the blanket up my lap. There was a light rapping, and I wondered what the heck was going on. “Come in,” I called.

  I was surprised to see Daniel there with a look of concern. I sat up, startled. “Is Addy alright?” I asked, putting a foot down on the floor, ready to throw some clothes on.

  “Just settle down, boy, she’s fine. She’s just...” He let out a sigh and rubbed his face. “I told her you wouldn’t care. I told her you loved her, that her past wouldn’t make a difference. She doesn’t want you to know, because she doesn’t want you to think she’s stupid.”

  I looked at him confused. “Why would I think that?”

  “Addy didn’t have the best experience when she was in school here. Her self-esteem took a major hit, while she tried to make up for lost time. The kids were cruel, called her all sorts of names, making my little girl feel worthless.”

  I growled, getting mad.

  “Don’t worry, Son, most of them have grown up and moved on. There are only a few left who still live in town. This ain’t no booming metropolis you know.”