Chapter 18: Ann

Casino staff meetings were always boring and today’s was not an exception. The General Manager called the meeting to order, gave a brief overview of last week’s activities, and then turned the meeting over to the staff. Each department manager related what had happened last week, what was planned for the current week, and ended with a presentation of long-term goals.

The meeting was then turned over to the AGM’s (Assistant General Managers). Each AGM was in charge of one of the casino shifts. Graveyard (Midnight to 8am) gave their report, followed by Day shift (8am – 4pm) and Swing shift (4pm – Midnight).

The GM closed the staff meeting.

Usually, I could feign some sort of attentiveness during those two hours of boring, tedious information dumps. But not today. All that was on my mind today was my half naked wife leading a neighbor lady to her bedroom at 10pm last night.

I met Ann, my future wife, when we were teaching in the same Junior High School. I taught Mathematics and she taught Physical Education. We immediately developed a friendship.

Ann is a beautiful woman. At 5’4”, she had a muscular body, 34C tits, 28” waist, and 32” butt. The first time I saw her she was wearing a pair of white shorts, tightly hugging her firm thighs, and a white t-shirt with the word ‘Coach’ stenciled across the breast. Her hair was a golden brown, straight and mid-back in length. She always wore her hair in a ponytail.

It didn’t take long before we started casual dating. Nothing fancy or expensive. Ann was a second-year teacher making $4,200 a year and I was a first year teacher making $4,000 per year. We had rent to pay, along with utilities, food, gas and student loans. Our dates consisted of dinner at small cafes, going to drive-ins to watch a movie, or simply taking walks in the park.

As the school year came to a close, Ann asked me what I was going to do over the summer months. I told her that I was going to work as a cowboy on a ranch outside of Pagosa Springs. I asked her what she was going to do and she replied that she was going to spend the summer with her parents in Iowa. We agreed to keep in touch by mail. She gave me her address in Iowa and I told her I would send her my address in my first letter.

It was a week before I sent my first letter to Ann. I gave her the mailing address for the ranch and a brief description about the ranch. I told her that I was living in a bunkhouse with nine other men and that we started each morning at 5am with chores. My chore was feeding the cattle we had in corrals at the main ranch and removing manure.

Breakfast from 6:30am to 7am. From 7am till noon I was assigned to work with the visiting veterinarian treating sick cattle. With a herd of 5,000 cattle, we always had a hundred or more “sickies” to doctor every day. Most of the sick cattle were being treated for hoof rot or belly rot from eating sweet clover. The injured cattle were treated for cuts suffered from rubbing against a tree or a barb wire fence. We treated very few cattle for wounds received from fighting off predators. The reason for that is simple. If a pack of wolves or a pride of mountain lions attacked a herd, the victims were usually dead within a matter of minutes.

Lunch was at noon, and afternoon work started no later than 1pm. I was assigned to a team of four men and two dogs for Herd Patrol. The cattle were subdivided into six smaller herds of approximately 850 cattle each.

Our job was to move one of the smaller herds each day to another pasture to avoid overgrazing. We would cull out any sick or injured cattle to be brought back to the main ranch at the end of the day. I had a secondary responsibility during these moves. I patrolled the perimeters of the herd looking for predators in the area. If I saw sign of predators I would report it to the foreman when we got back to the main ranch. I carried a 30/30, lever action, long rifle in a saddle scabbard in case I actually saw a predator. I would either kill the predator or scare it away.

Dinner was at 6pm followed by work in the hay fields until dusk.

We were in bed by 10pm each night for seven hours of rest before starting another 17-hour day. It was the same schedule Monday thru Saturday.

Sunday, after chores, we had the day off. Some of the men went to town to attend church services while others went to town just to get away from the ranch for a while. I joined the second group.

One Sunday the movie house was playing “Tora! Tora! Tora!” I went with a group of about twenty other cowboys. We paid 75 cents each for admittance and an additional 25 cents for a large popcorn and drink. We all took seats at the back of the theater. A few minutes later, a group of Job Corps kids arrived. These were all inner-city kids from Chicago. As they walked down the aisle to take seats in the middle section, we heard one of them shout, “It smells like cow shit in here.” One of the cowboys shouted back, “Better to smell like shit than being shit.” The Sheriff’s Department broke up the ensuing fight before anyone was seriously injured. We were taken outside and treated for assorted cuts and bruises, fined $20 each to repair the damage inside the theater, and told to leave town.

Thus ended my trips to town. I stayed at the ranch, rested and wrote long letters to Ann telling her how much I missed being with her.

Three weeks before my summer job ended and four weeks before the teaching year started, I received a letter from Ann.

“I am so excited,” she wrote. “I found a new place to live for the new school year. It is a two bedroom, one bathroom house. It has a big living room, a dining room, kitchen and an attached two car garage. The house is furnished and utilities are included in the rent. The rent is only $20 more than the rent I was paying for the apartment. And the best part is that it is right across the street from our school. I can walk to work. Since the house has two bedrooms, I am thinking about asking another single teacher at our school to be my roommate and share the expenses. Edward, would you consider being my roommate? Let me know as soon as you can.” Ann ended the letter by telling me how much she missed me and was anxious to see me again.

I reread the letter several times. I was having a hard time trying to figure out why Ann would ask me to be her roommate.

My big head kept telling me that we were good friends and that she trusted me. It also warned me that good friends didn’t mean that we would be good roommates.

My little head said, “You dumb fuck. You haven’t had sex with a woman for over a year. Don’t you remember Pam and Jenny from college? You fucked the mother and daughter every weekend for three years. And how about the Nam? All those cute little Asian girls with their bare pussies, ready to fuck any American man for nothing more than a Hershey bar or a pack of cigarettes. Ann wants you as a roommate, not as a husband. She wants your hard cock in her wet pussy anytime she gets horny. Have fun; hot, sexy fun with her. You can always leave if it doesn’t work out.”

My little head won out.

I was anxious to give Ann my answer. I half walked half ran to the foreman’s house. He was sitting on the porch with a glass of iced tea in his hand.

“Sir, can I please use your phone to make a long-distance call? I will reimburse you for the cost.”

“Is this an emergency Edward?” he asked.

“Yes Sir, it is. It’s about the letter you gave me this morning. Ann has asked me if I would like to be her roommate when I return home and I need to give her my answer.”

“Go right ahead. I don’t want anyone to think that I came between a man and his dick and a woman and her wet pussy.” He chuckled.

The phone was just inside his door. I called the Iowa phone number and Ann picked up on the first ring. “YES! Yes, I want to be your roommate,” I said in a voice loud enough for my foreman to hear.

Ann replied, “You have just made me a very happy woman. I know there is a big difference in being friends and being roommates. As a friend, you always see me at my best. As a roommate, you will see all of my bad habits. I hope I won’t disappoint you.”

“Ann, you could never disappoint me and I would bet that you don’t have any bad habits.”

“I have many bad habits that other people have not seen. In the safety of my home, I dress extremely casual. What little I wear is clean but not something I would ever wear in public. At home I don’t do my hair, I don’t wear make-up, and I am always barefoot.”

“Those are not bad habits,” I said. “That’s called being comfortable. I have to get off the phone now, the foreman is getting antsy. He doesn’t like the phone tied up. I will see you in three weeks.”

“I can’t hardly wait to see you again,” she said. “Oh! I have the spare key to your storage unit. I will get some friends to help move your stuff over here. Give me a call when you get to Pueblo so I will know when to expect you.”

“Right. You might be entertaining another man and want to know when you will have to kick him out before I arrive.”

“Don’t even think that, Edward. You are the only man who will be alone with me. I won’t ever be alone with any hims. Now, hers might be another matter.”

Ending the call, I said, “I love you, Ann.”

In a very quiet, shy voice, she answered, “I love you too.”

Hearing the dial tone, I hung up the phone, thanked the foreman, and returned to the bunkhouse.

The next three weeks almost flew by. During that time we started selling off the herd of cattle that we had devoted most of our time to. The last cutting of hay was stored in the hay barns.

It was Saturday morning, the last workday for the summer help. Ten men were sitting at one table eating breakfast. Stories flew back and forth about things that had happened this summer. As breakfast was coming to an end, the resident cowboys told the rest of us that the summer would not have been as successful as it was without our help. Of course we replied that we would not have been much help without their guidance and tutelage. It was then that the ranch foreman entered the room followed by the owner of the ranch.

The foreman called out the names of the four men who were full time cowboys and told them to get their asses back to work. All four of them were smiling, gave the foreman a salute, and left the building. Turning to the rest of us, he said, “I want to thank you men for all your work this summer. ‘The general’ and I want to tell you that you have been the best summer crew this ranch has ever had and we hope you will all return next summer. Just let me know by next April so that I can start putting together the roster for the summer.” Pulling six envelopes from back pocket, he said, “This is your last paycheck for the summer. You will also see a second bonus check for your work above and beyond what we expected from you.”

As the foreman was passing out the envelopes, ‘the general’ rose to speak. He also thanked us and agreed with the foreman that he would like to see all of us return next summer. “What you weren’t told when you signed on to work here is that it is my practice to share profits with everyone employed by this ranch if we have a successful year.” Holding six more envelopes in his hand, ‘the general’ said, “And we have had a very successful year. In the envelopes, you find your share of those profits.”

After giving each of us an envelope and shaking our hands, ‘the general’ returned to stand by the foreman. “The foreman and I are extremely happy that none of you has suffered a serious injury this summer and we are not going to chance having you injured on your last day. So, you have 30 minutes to pack your gear and GET THE FUCK OFF MY RANCH.”

We all stood there in shock as our two bosses left the room. After recovering, we turned as one and ran to the bunkhouse to pack up our gear. Twenty minutes later, six vehicles caravanned down 4-Mile Road. When we got to the highway, I turned left while the others turned right. I drove up and over Wolf Creek Pass and headed toward Walsenburg where I would catch I-25 north to Colorado Springs.

I was on the outskirts of Pueblo when I remembered my last conversation with Ann. She wanted me to call her when I hit Pueblo so that she would know when to expect me. I had teased her that what she really wanted to know was how long she had to kick a gentleman caller out of the house before my arrival. That is when she said that I would be the only man who will be alone with her. She would never be alone with any hims but hers might be another matter.

‘Nope,’ I thought. ‘Not going to call her. I am going to surprise her.’

For the next hour and a half of my drive, I replayed our phone conversation in my mind.

What did she mean that she would never be alone with any hims? Would she play with other men if I was there?

What did she mean about hers? Was Ann a lesbian or was she bi-sexual?

Then, there was the comment about bad habits. What did she mean when she said she dressed extremely casual when she was in the safety of her own home? I had a fairly good idea what casual is but what is extremely casual?

And what about her comment that ‘what little I wear is clean.’ Ann was fastidious about cleanliness. She would even shower and change uniforms between gym classes. And what did she mean about ‘what little I wear?’ What did she mean about not being able to wear in public the clothes she wears when at home? Both comments suggested that what she wore at home and how little she wore would not be considered morally decent in public.

I was only minutes away from Ann when my big head started telling me that maybe I shouldn’t be her roommate. ‘You don’t know her well enough to make that kind of commitment.’

As I pulled into the driveway of the house I was about to share with Ann, my little head said, ‘There you go, being a dumb fuck again. How bad could it be to live with a beautiful, scantily dressed, young woman?’

My little head won out again.

I grabbed my duffle bag from the car and walked to the front door. It was open, and I looked inside.

Ann was standing in front of what looked to be the kitchen sink, with her

back towards the front door. She was wearing a small black bra, black G-string panties, and she was barefoot. ‘Well,’ I thought, ‘that answers my question about extremely casual, what little she wears, and why she could not wear her at home clothes in public.’

I quietly opened the screen door and stepped inside. I lowered my duffle bag to the floor and called out “HI, HONEY, I’M HOME.”

Ann must have jumped a foot off the ground as she spun around to see who was at the door. When she realized it was me, she dropped her dish towel and ran towards me. Throwing her arms around me, hugging her body to mine, her head buried against my shoulder, she said, “I have missed you so much. Don’t ever leave me alone again.”

Lifting her chin so that I could see her face, I told her, “I will never leave you again.” As I lowered my head to give her a kiss, she pulled away and said, “Let me show you our new house.”

The living room was nicely furnished with an L shaped sectional, coffee table, two easy chairs with side tables, a gas fireplace, and a large cabinet T.V. The floor was a ceramic tile. I liked everything about the room except the flooring.

Next, she showed me what used to be the dining room. She’d moved the dining room furniture to the kitchen so this room was now a home office. Ann told me that the school district had upgraded the administrative offices in all the schools and were selling the old office furniture to teachers for a really good price. She had bought two desks, two chairs, and four filing cabinets for a total of $17. This room also had a ceramic tile floor. I told her that I was proud of her ingenuity and thriftiness and loved the idea of a home office.

This room also had two external doors, one of them to the backyard, one opening to the two-car garage. The first thing I saw were boxes of my tools. Ann must have cleaned out everything in my storage locker when she moved my stuff over here. On the back wall was a washing machine, a dryer, and the largest hot water tank I had ever seen. Next to the tank, seven sets of pipes were attached to a water-proofed wall. What I didn’t see was a heating unit for the house. I turned to Ann and said, “What in hell is this?”

“Don’t you just love it? It is one of the reasons I rented this house.”

“I might love it if I knew what it was,” I said. “And where is the heating unit for the house?”

Still barefoot, wearing only her tiny bra that exposed half of her boobs and the G-String panties exposing her entire naked ass, Ann entered the garage and hugged me. “We don’t need a heater.” She pointed to the first set of pipes and said, “These pipes provide hot and cold water to the bathroom and kitchen. The rest of the pipes provide heat to each room in the house. The pipes run hot water under the floor and heat the ceramic tiles and the walls to keep the inside air temperature at an even 70 degrees. It is called radiant heat.”

“I have never heard of anything like this before, but I do like the idea.”

Hand in hand, Ann and I returned to our tour of the house. The backdoor opened up to a large deck, perfect for cooking out and entertaining. The kitchen had a refrigerator, gas range, and plenty of cabinets. The west side of the house contained the two bedrooms and the bathroom.

The bathroom was a long but quite narrow room and otherwise pretty much like any bathroom. It would be adequate for our needs but felt crowded because of its narrow width.

Ann led the way out of the bathroom and opened another door. “This is your bedroom,” she said. I entered the room and was immediately impressed by its size. I estimated that it was at least 20’ x 20’ and featured a large window. I could see our school across the street. On the wall opposite from the window was a closet with several sections of bi-fold doors. I opened two of the doors to find all of my outer clothes hanging neatly from a metal rod that ran the length of the closet.