Snareville II: Circles

by David Youngquist

  “Who, us?” Pepper asked innocently.

  “We wouldn’t talk about you behind your back,” Cindy said.

  “Yeah, we’d wait until you were around then talk right in front of you. I told you I’d talk to your mares.” Cat grinned. Her big, brown eyes flashed as she sauntered past me. “But I’ve got to go. Is it okay if Kevin crashes at my place tonight?” She scooped Tony Junior from the floor. “He wants to stay the night with the other horse kids.”

  We all nodded in agreement he could stay. I was glad to see the boy make friends. Cat gave my girls each a hug, joined in one last giggle as she glanced at me and headed out the door. I watched her go. The kids cheered when she told them Kevin could stay over. I grinned in spite of myself. Pepper slid an arm around my waist. Jennifer yawned from her sling. Cindy gave us both a kiss as she headed to the garden with a mixing bowl. Some of the beans were ready to be picked.

  I headed upstairs to clean up and change. I could only stand to be in uniform so long. Pep followed. She put Jenny down for a nap as I stepped into the shower. I had the water adjusted and stepped in, just before she joined me. This was a nice surprise. With all the kids around, I didn’t get to see her often in the daylight without clothes. She wrapped her arms around me, slid up against my chest as the water ran over both of us.

  “Me amore,” she whispered. I kissed the top of her head as the water ran through her raven hair. I noticed there were some strands of silver there now. Sometimes I forgot she was ten years older than me.

  “I love you too, Baby.”

  We lathered and started to wash one another. I took the first turn and chased the suds over her body with the washcloth. Her right arm would only lift level, the pink scars that ran through her dark brown skin reminded me of the first time I’d seen her strip in Walmart. She flinched when I tried to move the arm higher to wash underneath.

  “Sorry,” I murmured.

  “It’s okay. Not like I got any physical therapy to rehab it. Leary says it’s as good as it’ll get.”

  I ran the washcloth along her other arm. This one she lifted and planted on my neck to pull me in for a watery kiss. I wished she wasn’t still healing from being stabbed and Jenny being birthed. I felt my body respond as I stepped closer. She smiled and pulled away.

  “Wash,” she said.

  “How much longer?” I ran the cloth down her belly, gently over the fresh scar of the C-section, into her thick bush.

  “Soon,” she said, “but we have to talk about things.”

  I turned her around to wash her back. “Such as?”

  “Such as how many kids you’re going to have.”

  Yep. One foot in the trap. “What do you mean?”

  “Cori wants another baby too.”

  “Cori’s got six guys that’d oblige her.”

  “She don’t want six other guys. She wants you. She and Jennifer were close, ’specially after Tony was killed. You two have been friends since she got here. Cindy and I like her too and she comes over to let TJ play. She wants to have your baby.”

  “I don’t have room in the house for another wife.”

  Pepper grinned. “She’s got her own place, you know that. And I don’t know that she’d be a wife, so much as a paramour.”

  “You’re awful good with this. What does Cindy think?”

  “You better ask Cindy that, but I don’t think she minds. You come home to us. You’re our husband. We know Cat, we know where you are. It’s just practical, Danny.”

  “So you don’t mind farming me out to stud?”

  She smiled. “Hmmm, didn’t say that.” She planted another kiss on me. “Let’s just leave it at the three of us, okay? I think we’re all you need to be handling. She came to us. That don’t mean you get to go out and nail anything you want.”

  “What if I say no?”

  “That’s up to you. But I know you like Cat and I know you like dark girls. It’s your choice.”

  “I want to talk to Cindy first.”

  “That’s fine. You two talk. Keep in mind that I want a baby too when I heal up.” She took the washcloth from me.

  “You are making up for lost time.”

  “Danny, I’m thirty eight, almost thirty nine. I never had any kids before. You know I wanted them. This’s the last one and then you start using a condom with me. You and Cindy have a long time to make babies if you want. You and Cat too, but I don’t want to be forty and pregnant.”

  I pulled her to me. For a moment, there was nothing else. No world outside. The water ran over us and washed everything away. I couldn’t think of a life without her. Without our extended family. It was strange, but this new life was becoming the norm and I couldn’t think of going back to the way it was.

  Later that night, Cindy told me how she felt. We lay in bed, sheets stuck to us, entwined after love making. She was five months along and in that horny-as-hell stage women get to when they’re pregnant. She lay pressed against my side as she fiddled with my chest hair. Every now and then she’d give one a yank. This time, I laid a hand on hers before she got too far.

  We talked. She agreed with Pepper about Cori. Also about the fact that she was the only other one they would approve me looking at. We talked babies. She wanted a year’s break between, but wasn’t going to be too careful about it. She didn’t say how many she wanted, but she did want to help Dr. Leary out when she was able. She had been pre-med before Johnson got hold of her. We didn’t want that knowledge dying out.

  As we washed up, Pepper came upstairs, Jenny sound asleep with a full belly. Pep slipped her into the bassinet, came and washed off as well and helped change sheets on the bed before we crawled into it. Goodnight kisses all around and I fell asleep sandwiched between them.

  Next afternoon, I walked over to pick up Kevin. I figured I ought to claim him back before he became a total pest. It had been about a week. We weren’t sure who was going to take him full time, or where he was going to stay. For now, he was with us. When Ella married and moved to her own house with Billy, that would open a room, but I wasn’t in a hurry to chase her out.

  “Afternoon, Boss,” Cori called from her back yard as I walked in. Chickens filled several large wire pens on the block. She took over raising them after Tony was killed. Their flocks grew and now a lot of people in the Alliance had birds from these coops.

  “Afternoon, Cat.” I walked over to her. TJ toddled across the yard and grabbed me by the leg. “Boss!” he said.

  “Dan,” I said as I lifted him and placed him on my hip. “You call me Dan.”

  “Dan,” He mimicked. His big, brown eyes twinkled as he smiled at me. Then he saw something else that caught his attention and he wriggled to be put down. Soon as his feet hit the ground, he was off after a grasshopper.

  “That boy is always chasin’ something around,” Cat said. “Never know what he’s going to drag home next.”

  “It’s a boy thing,” I said as I watched him chase the hopper across the yard. “And his daddy was a deputy.”

  “Great. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the next one’ll be a girl.” Cat grinned.

  “Maybe, but I’ve already got three daughters.”

  She took a step toward me and took my hand. “You talked to your wives?”

  “I talked to my wives, yes.” We walked across the yard as we followed TJ.

  “You okay with this?”

  “What? Making a baby with a beautiful woman?”

  “Thank you.” She turned away a bit. “But a lot of things. Making a baby with a black woman. Having your wives get mad at you if you come over here too much, or me over there. If people are going to say something when they find out we’re together…”

  I turned her to me, looked into her eyes. “You’re a beautiful woman, Cat, I don’t care what color your skin is. Pepper and Cindy have told me they’re okay with it, as long as there’s no more than you. And people, well, even now people are going to talk. Let them. We’ve still got nearly five women to every guy around h
ere, so what does it matter?”

  She smiled a little, gave me a kiss. “I love you, Danny. I’ve loved you a long time. I’m not in love with you. Yet. But I reckon we can do the things we need.”

  I kissed her back. “Only a woman would separate out those love thoughts. I care about you too Cori, I don’t know if it’s love, but I want to enjoy making a baby with you.”

  She grinned as we slid our arms around each other’s waists. I kissed the top of her head as she sighed. “I imagine you came over here for your new kid, too, huh?”

  “Yeah, I figured he might be getting on your nerves by now.”

  “Naw. Kevin’s a good kid. He’s around here somewhere.”

  We found him in the converted garage mucking out the stall. Chloe stood beside him and pushed him with her nose every so often as he forked dirty bedding into a wheelbarrow. The kid looked up at me and smiled.

  “Be right with you, Dan,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure her stall was clean before I came home.”

  “That’s fine, finish up. I’ll be outside with Cori.” We stepped into the yard and stood under an ancient apple tree. We’d had enough rain this year, the tree had been white with blossoms. It now had little green marbles on it that promised to make for a good crop of apples. “Hope he works like this at the house.”

  Cori leaned into me as I leaned back against the tree. She felt good in my arms. She looked up into my eyes and I reached down to her. The kiss was warm, soft. A welcome any man would be lucky to get.

  “You’re a good man, Danny. I’m glad I’m your woman. One of them anyway.”

  “I’m glad you are too, Cori.”

  “It’s strange making things up as we go along like this.” She nuzzled down against my chest.

  “Uh huh.” I wrapped my arms around her. We stood like that for a few minutes. I heard the garage door creak open and we parted. I pointed Kevin to the house so he could gather up his things and head home.

  “You stayin’ the night?” Cat asked.

  “Soon. This week. Let’s play it by ear.”

  She reached up and tickled my ear with her fingertip. I laughed and pulled away.

  “Okay, by ear it is,” she said. “Maybe you can come fishin’ with me one night and we’ll work something out.”

  “Or in,” I said.

  She laughed as she nudged me with an elbow. Kevin came out of the house, backpack slung across his shoulder. He hugged Cat goodbye, and we left. On the way home he asked me about Cat. I knew he was fishing for an answer to what was going on between us. He was ten. He wasn’t stupid, but he might have remembered how things were before, so I explained the situation. At least as best I could. He had a few questions, which I tried to make clear. He asked if I loved Pepper and Cindy. I said I did. I loved them and my kids and my daughter Ella, even if we were a new kind of family. He asked if I loved Cat. I thought about it. I told him I cared a lot about her. That it might turn into love. That she was beautiful and we would make a baby. He thought about these things for a long time. Finally when we turned down our street, he shrugged.

  “Am I part of your family too?”

  I laid my hand on his shoulder and he didn’t pull away. “Looks like you are, whether you like it or not.”

  He turned and stared off down the street, the direction we had come from the first day we found him. “I like it,” he said, barely at a whisper.

  Chapter 36

  Henry stood outside the communal house he shared with Mart and the others. Around them, the Amish went about their business of the day. The men of the community said little to them. Johnson and Beno had already taken Elizabeth up on her offer. Elizabeth in turn, set the two men up with groups of girls who they would sleep with while they remained in the community. Johnson was three houses down with two of his five women, Beno was across the street with three. Many of the girls weren’t out of their teens. “They bleed, they breed,” as Johnson had crudely put it.

  Mart stepped outside onto the porch with him. “How’s the new ink?” she asked.

  Henry glanced down at the tribal Trinity piece on his forearm. The tattoo artist who ended up in town as she tried to escape the plague had taken up her art on the women of the community. She had become lost off the interstate and found the Amish here in the woods. Now, she gave each man a piece of work on his body and etched the matching image on the women he would bed.

  “The sting’s gone,” Henry said. “I imagine it’ll heal up fine.”

  “Don’t expect me to wear one,” Mart said. She took a step closer.

  “I wouldn’t ask you to,” Henry said as he pulled her close to him. “But I might ask you to wear a ring.”

  “Who says I’ll have you?” Mart asked. Her voice was soft, raw.

  “I know this isn’t something we ever considered. With these girls I mean. But it makes sense.”

  “You just want a piece of blond tail.” Mart’s grin looked more like a grimace.

  “No, that’s not it. It’s just the way things have gotten to be. These people have been needing outside blood for a couple of generations at least and the guys at home…”

  Mart laid a finger over his lips. “I know. I know how things have changed. I know life is different. I wish it wasn’t. I wish I was the only one to have your baby. But these women need you too. At least I know where you be.”

  “At least for the next week. Mart, I didn’t plan this.”

  “No one could, Baby. No one could.” She kissed him briefly, but glanced away. “Now, you go. You know where us girls are. Go make your babies. I see you in a week.” She pulled away.

  “Mart…”

  “Just go.” She turned and walked down the boardwalk along the street. She ducked into the small dry goods store half a block down.

  Henry squared his shoulders. He left the boardwalk and walked the opposite direction Mart had taken. The house he was to spend the next week in was a block to the west. Nice little place. Tidy. Like all the others behind the walls of this town. Not a blade of grass out of place, or a weed in the flowerbed. All white. No trim. Trim would be proud and no one wanted that. He was to meet Elizabeth and Mary there after the noon meal. That was a half hour past.

  He took a deep breath, straightened and stepped inside. It was as neat as the rest of town. What always struck him about these Amish homes was their cleanliness. The people lived without electricity or indoor plumbing, yet every home was neat as a pin. This particular home had been empty for a few years. It was a large family home at one time, but as the population dwindled, more places emptied. Still, it was maintained by the community. For the next week, it would be used again. Small things stood out to Hawk as he stood in the front room. The seams between the inlaid pieces of the oak floor had no dust between them. A cupboard full of dishes stood in the corner, one cup handle faced the opposite of the others. A simple brown throw rug lay in front of him, with two sets of women’s black work shoes on it. The edge was frayed at one end. He took off his boots and set them beside the girls.

  “Come to the back,” one of the girls shouted. He couldn’t tell which.

  He found his way to a back room. It must have been a summer kitchen. There was a stove in one corner. One wall was all windows. The white curtains were all drawn at the moment. A door led outside. Both girls stood inside, quietly talking.

  “We know our customs are different than the English,” Elizabeth said. She and Mary were wrapped in white terry robes that ran nearly to the floor. Henry could see their ankles and feet and that was about it. Black tattoos flowed down Elizabeth’s legs. “We do not bathe daily as you people do, but this is a different time. We will do as you do. We set this up for you too. If you like, we could help you wash up. We’ve had our turns.” She indicated a large black plastic bag with a showerhead on it. It hung from a nail in the wall over a large washtub.

  “Where’d you get this?” Henry asked.

  “We go to town to get supplies we need,” Mary said. “These were in the Wa
l-Mart. No one had taken them yet, so we brought several home with us. They work quite well. I don’t imagine they are the same as what you are used to, but they are far better than a wash tub and pitcher.”

  “You girls are amazing,” Henry said.

  “We are used to living simple lives,” Elizabeth said. She stepped to his side, began to unbutton his shirt. “What you people have forgotten, we do every day. If we have a few things for the better now, so be it. To hear the elders talk, you would think that we were the cause of this chaos by not wearing a shirt and using a few simple things like this shower, instead of the walking dead.” She pulled his shirt open and ran her fingers through the dark hair that sprouted across his chest.

  “Elizabeth…”

  “I know, Henry. This is not how life should be. But it is how life now is. Tell me, do these tattoos make us ugly to you?”

  Henry grinned in spite of himself. “What?”

  Mary pulled the shirt from his body gently as Elizabeth began to work on his jeans. “We have seen that Mart has a butterfly on her shoulder. And Jinks has several on her body. But none of your women have anything as extensive as our work.”

  Henry looked at Elizabeth. She was serious. He didn’t want to dismiss this as just a joke. “It doesn’t make you ugly. It’s amazing art. It’s beautiful.”

  “Thank you, Henry. We did this originally as we were bored. Then after we were attacked once, we thought it might scare the bad English away.” Elizabeth unzipped his pants and pushed them to the floor. Mary hooked her thumbs through the elastic of his boxers; pulled them down.

  He tried to talk, as Elizabeth kissed his chest softly. Nothing would come out. Henry cleared his throat, tried again. “I can see how it would scare people. But I’ve always appreciated good tribal work.”

  “I am glad it does not scare you,” Elizabeth said into his chest. “We were unsure.”

  Both girls dropped their robes. Henry reached out, began to trace the black etchings in Elizabeth’s skin. The lines followed the curves and lines of her body. Around her cheeks, down her neck, over her shoulders. It swirled in a tribal flare around her nipples, then continued its journey across her belly, over her bum and down her legs. The trinity that matched the one on his arm was etched near her pubis.