Glory Hole Accident

She was silent, thinking about how long she had wanted to be with him, how long she had dreamed and wished. Now it was here, staring her in the face. The answer would have been the same if she was asked yesterday or ten years ago. "Yes, it's always been yes."

"Well, then I guess there's only one thing to do then, you and me." It was quiet again with the muffled sounds of the cicadas from outside. He took a deep breath and said, "I guess were just not going to give a fuck."

8

"Dude I'm telling you, it was amazing. I mean, it's something I've never told anyone before but god I've had the biggest crush on my mom since I was a kid and saw her walking through the house naked for the first time after she forgot a towel. Do you have any idea how long I've been dreaming and fantasizing about my own mom and then Bamm! My fantasies come true, and honestly Jerry, I have you to thank for this brother. I don't think any of this would have happened if it weren't for you," Chucky said with an excited grin that seemed to grow bigger and bigger. he lounged back on the futon and folded his hands behind his head. The shed was cooler today than it had been, thanks mostly from last nights rain and the new box fan they hooked up to a car battery.

Jerry sat across in the car seat, putting a towel down over the still slightly damp spots where the three of them had been entwined the day before and where Chucky and his mom had no doubt continued there torrid encounter. "Don't thank me, if you hadn't talked me into going to the glory hole in the first place we never would have known about any of this. So I probably should be thanking you," he chuckled, popping open another warm beer.

Chucky did the same and took a big swig, drinking the hot bitter liquid down like it was a sweet nectar. He gave a loud, rude belch and then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Yeah, I guess when you look at it that way then maybe you should be thanking me," he said and then laughed obnoxiously.

"Well thank you then brother," Jerry chuckled, raising his can before taking a drink.

"Your very welcome my dearest friend. So what had you so excited earlier when you called, you said you had something important to tell me." Chucky put the beer back to his lips and began to take another drink.

"I fucked Terry last night," Jerry said flatly.

Beer sprayed from Chucky's mouth like a geyser. "What the fuck! Are you fucking serious?"

"Yep."

"How, how did that happen? I mean, I thought you didn't even like her, you know."

"I've kind of always had a crush on Terry, I just never told anybody. Come to find out, she's always felt the same." Jerry said taking another drink of his warm beer, the fan blowing through his tasseled dark hair.

"So, she's had a crush on herself too," Chucky said confused and scratching his head like he was looking for an answer to a mind boggling riddle.

Jerry couldn't help but laugh at his best friends simple way of thinking. "No dude, I mean she has a crush on me," he said shaking his head.

Chucky took a deep breath while still scratching his head and squinting his eye's. "Well shit brother. How did all this come about?"

"When I got home last night the house was pitch black and I thought everyone was gone, well except maybe me-maw and paw-paw. Anyway, I dried off and wrapped up in a towel and grabbed a couple beers before heading to my room. When I got there she was waiting, in the dark, on my bed."

"Woe dude, sounds kind of stalkerish." He laughed.

Jerry rolled his eye's and looked at Chucky, "You gonna let me finish or are you going to keep acting like an ass?"

"Oh sorry, acting like an ass is kind of my thing. But for you I'll give a valid effort."

"Okay, anyway, she laid it all out. Told me about how she has always loved me from afar and wanted me for just as long as I've wanted her and it just kind of happened. After that we fell asleep, that is until the folks got home."

"Wow Jerry. I, I just don't know what to say. This is kind of crazy. We are talking about the same Terry right, the one we're always giving shit too."

"the very one," Jerry said taking one last big gulp and then giving a big belch before crushing the can under his foot and throwing it in the box.

"Just so I got this clear, your cousin Terry, the one that always has her tits out?"

Jerry pursed his lips to the side, peering at Chucky from the corners of his irritated eyes. "Yep, the same titties that if she'd give you half a chance, you'd be all over in a heart beat."

Chucky pointed at Jerry, "That is not true."

They looked at each other for a few moments till Chucky gave in, "Okay, so maybe it is true, but not anymore. Not since I have mom and especially not since she's my best friends girl," he laughed tipping his can to his friend before downing the rest of it and sending the left over wad of aluminum to join the others in the box. Chucky wiped his hand across his mouth and looked back to Jerry, "Or is she your girl? How exactly is this going to work out. I mean me and mom are one thing, My family isn't what you might consider normal. But your kin is a little more, oh whats the word I'm looking for?"

"Conventional, Orthodox, Traditional." Jerry said waving his hand and rattling off words.

"Yeah, one of those." Chucky said nodding.

Jerry shook his head again, "I don't know, I'm still trying to figure out if I should tell them or try to keep it a secret or if we should just run away together."

"What, run away!" Chucky yelled, gasping and springing to his feet. "No, you can't run away, not without me and I definitely can't run away so that is off the table,"

"Well I don't know what to do then Chucky, I don't want to be that guy that lives a double life because he's afraid of what others will say, and that's not fair to Terry. We should be able to go out together and hold hands if we want to, kiss if we want to, do those little things that make her feel like she has some one who thinks she's special," Jerry sat back in the chair and buried his forehead in the palm of his hand.

Chucky walked over and pulled a crate over to sit on. He reached over and put a hand on his best friends shoulder and squeezed, "Look brother, I don't know much, and I know I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box, but I do know that when you told me about mom. When you told me the truth, my whole life changed for the better. Not just for me but also for mom. Maybe you should just tell them the truth Jerry, see where the cards lay. You might be surprised."

Jerry looked up at Chucky, with wet, frightened eyes, "But what if shit goes south brother, what do I do then? I don't want what I'm afraid will happen to happen. What do I do then?"

Chucky smiled and then sighed, shrugging his shoulders,"Well bro, then I guess we'll be packing up and running away won't we."

Jerry gave a halfhearted grin, shaking his head, "You know Chucky, most the time you just make me laugh, but some times, every now and then you surprise the hell out of me."

"Yeah," he said laughing. "Me too."

9

"are you sure? I don't know about this Jerry," Terry said, stuffing clothes for her kids in a big duffle bag along with anything else she could think of that they might need if they had to run."

Jerry dropped his back pack and a trash bag full of clothes on the floor next to the door, "I don't know what else to do, I mean we have to tell them. We'll never be free to love each other till we do, this is just in case you know. Were just preparing for the worst case scenario."

Jerry went to her and took her by the shoulder, turning her to him. He rubbed her arms and gently kissed her lips and then embraced her. "I don't know what else to do baby," He whispered in her ear, "one way or another there eventually going to find out. I prefer to just get this done and over with, let the cards lay where they fall."

"where will we stay if this doesn't work Jerry. What if we do have to leave, where will we go?" she sobbed, holding him tight, feeling his heart beat thumping along with her own panicky drum.

"Well, I already talked this out with Chucky and he said his mom will have no problem letting us stay there for a awhile until we get up on our feet. His dad may be able to get me a job working with horses like he has after a little while. He doesn't want to push it just yet because he just got back to working, but it's a start." Jerry took Terry softly by her chin and peppered her mouth with little kisses before looking into her eyes. Such brilliant, shiny blue eyes, trustful eyes. "Were going to be okay, one way or another, I promise."

After finishing packing and rounding everything together Jerry's mom called out "supper time, come and get it."

Jerry and Terry stood around the corner of the kitchen entry way, grasping each others hands and taking a few last deep breaths to calm there nerves before they both stepped forward hand and hand. Jerry's mom was just sitting down at the table and his step dad was shoveling out a heaping spoon full of piping hot mashed potatoes, topped with a melting tab of butter and dotted with pepper. "Well don't just stand there you two, you better get in here before these animals eat it all," Jerry's mom said giggling dishing out some krout and polish sausage, noticing the two of them standing in the doorway quietly.

Terry's hand grasped Jerry's so tight that her fingers turned white and an ache shot up his wrist. He didn't say anything though, he just took a deep breath and lead with, "We need to talk, all of us. Now, and you may not like what we have to say."

Suddenly the kitchen went eerily quiet and all eye's were on them. Jerry's mother and father. Terry's children, Jerry's little cousins, all of them sat there with a blank look waiting for what Jerry knew he had to say. With out a second thought Jerry took a deep breath, looked into Terry's eyes and said, "Were in love, have been forever. We know it's not usual for a relationship like this to happen but it is," he looked back at the table, timidly scanning there reaction, waiting for life to get turned upside down on top of him and Terry.

The black-cat kookoo clock on the wall gave a eye roll and a tail swing with every slow passing second, ticking off like a echoing time bomb. "Is that it, I'm pretty hungry." his step dad said pulling back the tab on his beer giving a loud snap.

"Yeah, I guess so," Jerry said unconvinced that this was the end of there reactions. Maybe they didn't understand what he was saying. "Look, I mean were in love. As in we love each other in a way that most cousins don't."

"Does any one really love the way there supposed too," his mother said slicing a piece of sausage and taking a bite.

"Yeah, besides," Jerry's step dad said taking a swig of his beer. "It's not like we didn't know this was going to happen. Hell, honestly were actually surprised we haven't walked in on you two rolling around in the sheets yet." he laughed.

Jerry and Terry stood there with a look of complete and udder shock.

"Yeah, like we don't notice how you two always pick and flirt with each other. You've been googoo eyed for one another since you were kids, it was bound to happen." Jerry's mom said taking another bite. "Now are you going to sit and eat or go put your things up."

"How did you," Terry gasped.

"Please," Mamma Jay chuckled. "Young love is always the same, ambitious and impatient. And besides, I noticed you carrying a trash bag full of things and I knew it wasn't the garbage since you haven't taken it out all week." everybody burst into laughter, including Jerry and Terry. "Now hurry up kids, It's getting cold."

They sat down and smiled, making there plates and enjoying the family that they had almost lost if things worked differently. But the cards had landed and Jerry smiled as he realized he was lucky enough to be holding a full house.

10

Things settled in after that. At first it was a little weird, not just for Terry and Jerry, but for Jerry's parents as well. The kids had very little problem adapting though and that was the most important aspect of there relationship. They didn't give a shit if anyone else excepted them but Terry's children were going to have to live with there decision every day.

It became clear after the first week or so, the lot of them trying to get along in the house together was going to be tough, especially with the lack of room. So Jerry's step dad decided to add a second story to the big four car garage and make them an efficiency apartment. It took a few months of Jerry and his step dad dedicating every free moment to it. Even Chucky lent a hand when ever he could, but after a little blood sweat and lots of saw dust, they had a place that Jerry and Terry could call there own.

There were also a lot of scraps left over from the roofing and boards, which gave Jerry and Chucky a chance to update the shed. That lead to an almost complete overhaul of the structure, including floors and roof. They didn't wind up running any electricity to it like they had planned, but Jerry's step dad found an old generator that he never used anymore and gave it to the boys. It was big enough to run a small house for awhile on a full tank of fuel so it wasn't nothing to hook a mini-fridge and a window air-conditioner up to it during the summer or a good heater during the winter.

There was only one other person that knew the whereabouts of there hidden get away and that was of course Mamma Kay. But she wasn't telling anybody, in fact she had a habit of going out there every so often to spend some quality time with the boys and give the place a good dusting. When Chucky's mom found out about Jerry and his relationship with Terry she was a bit upset, realizing that there fun would end. Of course that didn't mean her and Chucky's time was over. It wasn't any big deal to walk into the shed and find her on her knees servicing Chucky, or vice verse.

Yep, life seemed to finally fall into place for Jerry and Chucky. The two of them graduated and then Chucky went to work with his dad, eventually deciding to earn a belt buckle of his own and started to ride the rodeo circuit. When he sat down and talked it over with his family his father couldn't be more proud but insisted they had to go with him while he traveled so that his son wouldn't fall into the same troubles he did. Chucky's mom would support him no matter what. But when he told Jerry, things didn't turn out as warm and fuzzy.

"What do you mean your leaving Chucky?" Jerry said, his muscles in his jaw tensing as he clenched his teeth. "I thought we were going to have a couple kids and raise them together, so that they could be as close as me and you. We were going to grow old and eventually give up this old place to them, don't you remember that?"

Chucky stared at the new floor they had installed together. His mind spun like a top trying to figure out what to say to make this go better. "And it still is brother, but there's just a few things that I need to do before that, You know, like have a kid, maybe even win one of these by my own accord," he said grabbing onto his belt buckle.

"Right, hows that gonna work?" Jerry said, his words like poisonous spit from the mouth of a viper. "That's just what you need to do is wind up like your dad."

"Look Jerry, that's why mom and dad's going with me. He doesn't want me to run into the same situations he did or fall in with the wrong people like he did. He's going to be there to pull me back if I ever get lost you know. And besides, we'll be back through all the time between events and on the holidays. This is something I got to do, something I could be good at. I don't want to shovel horse shit all my life Jerry, I want to have something that my kid can be proud of one day," he said, looking up at Jerry for the first time.

Jerry looked at Chucky, noticed the wet glare of his eyes and realized how hard this is for him. He could feel it too, the pain, It was a knot in the pit of his stomach, trying to find it's way out but was stuck at a gate in his throat. He couldn't imagine life without his best friend standing beside him, without his brother being there. "And whats your mom think of you finding a baby mama? What's she going to say when you bring this girl to the tour bus for dinner?" He said and drained the rest of a cold beer, crushing it in his fist and throwing it in the recycle bin. Another addition brought in after Mamma Kay started hanging out in the shed.

Chucky did the same and took a deep breath. "Well for starters, it'll probably be a hotel room and even though we don't like to talk about it much, mom knows that someday I'm going to have to find someone if I'm ever going to have kids. She can't have babies no more, and if she could I'm not sure I'd want to father a brother or sister that's also my son or daughter. Like my kids won't have enough problems with just being my kids, they don't need to deal with that kind of shit too. I mean you have Terry. You can have the whole marriage and new baby thing if you want, - well in some states anyway. But you get what I'm saying right?"

Jerry sat there in silence for a minute and looked around the place remembering the first time he gathered the courage and walked in through a very creepy, very old door. Even though it had been redone he could still smell the scent of earth and wilderness and good times. He laughed as his eye's found the old crate of magazines and the old cooler that had been there from the beginning. And then back to Chucky who wouldn't be there anymore. His knot grew and a tear broke the surface, "How am I supposed to come back here knowing that you won't be?" he said, wiping his eye's.

"Brother, I'm always here man. This is where you go when you need me, don't you get that. When I'm gone, I'll be thinking about you and here everyday because this is home brother. Not because it's where I'm from or where I grew up, But because your here. That will never change. And some times when you come out here to check on the old place or use it because you need to get away from Terry's bitching and the kid's bickering you may walk in and be surprised, I may be here passed out with my hand in my pants and drool on my mouth," Chucky and Jerry laughed and the whole room echoed as he tried drying his eye's.

They continued the rest of the day, finishing off the beer in the cooler and talking about future plans. They discussed where Chucky would be heading off too and when he would leave, which didn't matter to either of them because they both knew this was the last time they would be together, here in this place that was as sacred to them as a church is to a bishop.

At first, they would meet up when Chucky was in town, and Jerry kept up on the shed. He fixed leaks and gave it a new coat of paint from time to time but eventually life got in the way and so did the things that came with life. Family, Love, and Loss.

In fact it was years since anyone had laid eye's on the old rickety shack till one day a little boy was running through the woods, just had to get away. His home was full of people, most of them strangers and all of them talking like they knew there was a better place. No one knew there was a better place, they just hoped that they did. Suddenly The little boy came across a weathered and faded red shed, the door ajar. It took him several minutes before getting up the courage, but he did and pushed the door open slowly, creeping inside. The place was well lit but smelled like an old dusty and stuffy attic.

"What are you doing here," came a little voice from the corner where a little girl with brown hair and big blue eyes sat. "This is my daddy's, you aren't supposed to be here," she said, holding something behind her back and giving him a hateful look.

The little boy looked at the girl for a moment, standing there in her yellow sun dress with scraped up knees and dirty cheeks. He sniffled wiping tears out of his blurry eye's, "Maw-maw's gone, I couldn't stay there anymore. I just, I had to get away."