Chapter 38

I finished my second year and decided that I needed to get away, but because I thought it was important, I stayed to attend Shannon's graduation. She was doing so well in her own business that the job offers she was getting were just a few steps up in pay and she had to answer to the man. She and I sat down and came up with a business plan. She would offer cleaning and laundry services at universities and colleges. Her goal was two percent of the students for laundry and one-half percent for cleaning. She had to print up fliers and have the bulletin boards staked out so when the mommies first came in to drop off their babies, that they would be convinced that they couldn't survive without her services.

The university had 25,000 students. Two percent would be 500 kids at a rate of $10 every 2 weeks or $10,000 a month. She bought mesh bags for each client so their laundry never left their bag until they folded it and returned it to the bag. She contracted with the local hotels and after hours, used their industrial machines. In addition, she hired students at minimum wage plus a quarter to ensure that she could handle the additional clientele. Her margins were thirty percent profit or $3,000 a month, nine months a year or $27,000. The cleaning was targeted at 125 kids at $10 a week or $5,000 a month. Her profit was $2,000 for the nine months or $18,000 a year. That was $45,000 from the University of Florida alone. She visited Vanderbilt, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, North Carolina and Duke. It took a lot of work on her part but to support her extended environment, she ended up having to hire territory managers that cut back on her profit. However, in ten years, she was making almost $240,000 a year in take home pay. She took off two months every year and had all of the holidays off. With the income from her business, in four years she paid off the $100,000 loan that I had Grandpa co-sign. She eventually found a guy and married, has three kids and moved to the mountains of North Carolina.

I didn't want to sit in my apartment all summer or go home to hang out with Mom so I decided to hit the road and explore the country. I wanted to be free and have the wind in my hair, so I packed up my Harley and pointed the thing north. I made it to Atlanta and popped in to get a home-cooked meal from Grandma, and I told Grandpa about my plans. I had three months to cruise the country.

I wanted to see the Pacific Ocean and maybe go to Seattle and wherever else the roads took me. I had some cash and my credit card. I would see about getting a tent but I didn't have that much room on the Harley.

The contents on the trip were condoms, camera bag and film, two pairs of jeans three t-shirts, two pairs of boxers two pairs of briefs, four pairs of socks and running shoes, hiking boots, walking shorts, gym shorts, a heavy button down shirt, a light jacket and a rain suit. I rode, wearing a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and hiking boots. The rest came and went based on the weather.

I took off from Atlanta and cruised through Chattanooga on my way to Nashville, TN. I went to Vanderbilt University and then to the Parthenon down the road. It was a pretty place but the downtown area was kind of run down. I went to a music joint, and listened to bluegrass and country music. It wasn't the weekend so it wasn't too busy. I came in early for dinner and stayed for the music. I met some ladies that had come in after work for dinner. Between songs, I would ask them about the music and some of the instruments they were playing. They invited me to join them at their table and I bought them another round of drinks.

After another set and a couple more drinks, they invited me to go dancing at a country bar. I thought we were at one, but they said that this was listening music, not dancin' music. We went into a big barn-looking place, just outside of town. They taught me how to do the two-step. It's kind of like walking, but with a little swagger. After about ten minutes, I had the basics and after an hour, I could have given lessons. We must have walked a couple of miles as we danced around in a circle. I would dance with one and buy drinks for the other. Around 10:30, Shirley told me that they had to work in the morning. They were both secretaries at the main office of the electric company. I asked if either had a couch I could crash on since I was just a poor college kid trying to see the world. I hinted that I had spent my sleeping money on their drinks.

They looked at each other and I think they both wanted me to escort them home. Neither of them wanted to sound like a slut so Linda said, "If you need a place you can stay on my couch unless Shirley has room at her place." Shirley said, "I have a newer couch that you could stay on unless you would rather stay with Linda." This could take all night. I said, "I'm tired. Let's do this, heads Shirley has to put up with me, and tails Linda has to make me breakfast. Ok?" They both nodded.

I caught the quarter. It was heads. "It looks like Shirley is cooking breakfast."

"Can you follow me?" she asked.

I followed her to her house. I grabbed my bag and went inside. I sat down and lost the boots, socks and button down. I was down to my jeans and a white t-shirt. I took off the shirt and asked, "Would you mind if I took a quick shower? I want to rinse off the grime of a day on the road."

I thought the twenty-five year old woman was going to jump me right there. As she showed me to the bathroom, I asked if she wanted to wash my back. She played hard to get until she could finish getting her dress off. She beat me getting naked and we washed each other. She liked it hard, fast, and all night long. She was a moaner and we just fucked in the missionary position for about three hours until she had to go to sleep.

In the morning, we decided to skip breakfast and did a quickie instead. To make up for that, I stopped at a truck stop for breakfast where I ran into a couple of other bikers. They were looking at my Harley when I came out. We talked a bit and said they were going towards St Louis. That was kind the direction I was headed so I fell in with them and we rode together. We rolled into St Louis around four pm and I found a hotel that was reasonable. I took a shower and I decide that I wanted to see what was going on. I picked up a local paper and saw the Cardinals were in town for a night game against the Astros. If you show up to most sporting events alone, it isn't hard to fine a good seat. I was on the first base line about six rows up five seats in. The Cardinals had lost the game last night big, by a score of 5-12 but came back tonight and won, 5-3. I had a hot dog at the game, but after the game, I was still hungry so I found a pub near the stadium and had a good meal.

The next morning I decided to spend another day in town, so I worked out and ran. The pool at the hotel was too small, so to make up for it, I ran a few extra miles. I threw my clothes into the washing machine and then went down to the street for a quick breakfast. I came back, put the clothes in the dryer, and read the paper in my room. When I finished my laundry, I went over to see the famous St. Louis Gateway Arch. I didn't realize it was a National Park or that there was a museum in the base. I spent hours going through the museum, listening to talks and of course riding in the egg shaped elevator to the top of the arch.

I went on a tour of the Budweiser factory and wandered around downtown. I had bought two books at the Gateway Arch. One was about Lewis and Clark, the other was about the National Park system. I was going to leave town the next day and didn't want to sit in my room so I rode over to Washington University. I walked around, took some pictures and then found a bench to sit and read for a while. I saw a couple cute girls, but they were doing something besides looking for a cute, young stud like me. I had a steak dinner and went to bed early. I checked out after my morning routine (without the run and swim).

I checked the atlas in the morning and picked some back roads that ran parallel to I-70 on the way to Kansas City. I was between Jefferson City and Sedalia when I saw a farmer out in the field baling hay. I love to watch machinery and see how things work. I learned how to make beer yesterday and bale hay today. I pulled over. I was watching the tractor, scooping up the hay until a rectangular bale fell out the back. I was watching the baler, but then saw another tractor pulling a hay wagon. There was a younger lady driving the tractor and two women loading the bales onto the wagon. It took both of them to throw the bale onto the wagon and then after they had five or six up, they would climb up to move them into place. It seemed that the wagon could hold about 180 bales. I was watching these women struggle and I felt bad, so I walked out into the field and asked them if they needed any help.

The older lady introduced herself as Sandra Grimm and her daughter as Susan and pointed to the other girl driving the tractor as Rebecca. She said that they couldn't afford to pay much but would love to have me help them. I said, "Just tell me what to do."

Sandra said, "If you can walk beside the wagon and throw the bales up into the wagon, then Susan and I can move them into place on the wagon. It is hard work and you will get pretty dirty."

I took off my clean t-shirt, put it on my Harley, and then jogged back out into the field. The bales weighed around eighty pounds each. I won't say it was a walk in the park but I was enjoying the manual labor. We picked up speed and I loaded a full wagon and then unloaded the bales into the barn twice before we stopped for the day. I was dirty, sweaty and tired. We were up at the barn, and I started to say goodbye, when Sandra asked, "Can you stay for a couple days and help us finish? We had planned for two weeks to get this hay put up, but I think we could finish in two more days if you can stay and help. If we do that, we can get it all put up before the rains come in."

I said, "Sure, why not. Is there a hotel nearby so I can get a shower and a bed?"

"You would stay with us. We will feed you and give you a room in the house."

"Sounds like a plan. Do we need to do anything else to get ready for tomorrow?" I asked.

Sandra said, "Daddy will fuel up the tractors and look over the baler. You can get your motorcycle and bring it around to the house. I'll take a shower and start dinner."

When I pulled into the driveway, it was almost dusk. Rebecca was in the hen house collecting eggs and putting them up for the night. Susan was on the porch shucking five ears of corn. An older man, who I later found was Mr. Fisher, was checking on the tractors. I went over to introduce myself and ask if he needed any help.

He said, "My daughter said you were a big help today. We had a good crop this year and this will make sure the cows have plenty of food over the winter. Thank you for your help today and for staying to help. It is hard to get this done with just the girls and me but everyone else has their own crops to deal with. Go in and get a shower. You ended up with the dirtiest job and there will be a line behind you."

I grabbed my clothes and went into the house. Sandra was in the kitchen and told me that my room was the first on the left down the hall and the bathroom was the last on the right. I grabbed some clean boxers, a t-shirt and my other pair of jeans. I walked barefoot down the hall and found the door closed. I didn't hear anything on the other side so I wasn't sure if I should knock or just open it. I didn't have to do either as Susan opened the door. She had a towel wrapped around her and her dirty clothes in her arms. She was surprised to run into me. I stepped back to let her by, and a pair of pink panties fell out of her pile and landed at her feet.

Two thoughts passed through my mind. Should I make her stoop with just a towel on or should I be a gentleman and pick them up for her? I was a gentleman and picked them up. She thanked me and hurried away. I used the john and took a quick hot shower making sure to leave sufficient hot water for the others. After I dressed, I went to the kitchen to see if Sandra needed any help. I set the table and I saw Rebecca head for the shower. Sandra told me to have a seat and she poured me a glass of tea. I asked about the family and she told me that this was her father's farm (Mr. Fisher.) That she and her two baby girls were living here with her parents when they told her about the death of her husband in Viet Nam. Her mother passed away about five years ago. Her daughters were eighteen and fifteen. I said, 'You don't look old enough to have an eighteen year old daughter."

"I was her age when I got pregnant. I'm thirty-seven now. We raise cattle and corn mostly. We have hay fields to feed the cows." She said.

Rebecca came in and I saw Mr. Fisher head for the shower. The food smelled delicious. She had a roast in the crock-pot all day and had cooked some corn and biscuits since we had been home. There were some green beans in a bowl already on the table. We sat down and Mr. Fisher said grace, and then we ate. Everyone was so hungry that there was no talking for about five minutes. After the hunger pangs died down, they asked about me.

"I'm a student at the University of Florida. I'm seventeen and I'll be a junior next year. I grew up in Orlando and decided to take this summer and ride out to see the Pacific Ocean. I came north and west as I head toward Washington State. I then plan to go down the coast and then ride back across the southern states. The baling machine intrigued me so I stopped to watch, and then it looked like the ladies could use some help so I offered. I'm not on a time table and can always head back if I need to" I said.

Rebecca said, "How did you get into college so young?"

"I skipped some grades and tested out of some classes. I started when I was almost sixteen and now I'm almost eighteen."

Susan said, "You were a big help today. Mama and I need both of us to get those bales up onto the wagon. You just tossed 'em right where they needed to go. We were loading one about every five or six minutes. You were waiting on us most of the time but we were going about a minute a bale. I bet we get most of it done tomorrow and we will finish the next day with your help."

Rebecca said, "If you would have kept your eyes on your work and not on his body we could have gone even faster."

Susan said, "Rebecca, you shut your mouth."

Sandra said, "That is enough of that talk."

Mr. Fisher said, "Britt, I'm glad you are here but these girls will drive you crazy."

"Granddad!" came out of both of the girls in stereo.

After dinner, I offered to help clean up but they sent me out onto the porch with another glass of tea. Mr. Fisher came out to join me. He turned on the radio. We listened to his Cardinals playing against my Braves. The Cardinals had lost to the Braves the night before 2-1. Tonight the Braves were killing them, 12-1. To ensure that there were no hard feelings, I told Mr. Fisher that I had cheered for the Cardinals when I went to the game a couple days ago. He said to call him "Mel."

Mel and I were listening to the game and I was listening to him complain about the Cardinals. He said it was too painful to listen to them lose so he was going to bed. All of the girls came out after they finished inside. They asked if they could change the station to some country music instead. It was an older station and the music was more instrumentals. We talked about all of the things I learned today and what tomorrow would look like. We would be out of the house by seven. Sandra would fix breakfast. Rebecca would take care of the chickens. Susan would pack a lunch for us to eat in the field. After that, it would be a repeat of today.

Sandra stayed for a couple more songs as the evening began to cool off. I asked about laundry. I said, "I'll get my last pair of jeans pretty dirty tomorrow. Can I borrow your washing machine when we get back tomorrow night?"

"We will make sure you have clean clothes. Have a good night, Britt. You are a life saver." Sandra said as she made her way into the house to get ready for bed.

Rebecca said, "Susan and I like to dance at night. Since you are here, will you dance with us? I sometimes get tired of dancing with my sister."