Richie Dinken Gets Educated (Musings of an Old Man)
Chapter 2

Copyright© 2013 by Levi Charon

Now, my Mama wasn't no dummy. A growin' boy has his needs n' I knew that she knew I was pleasurin' myself any time I could find a couple of private minutes. I mean, I tried to be careful and not make a mess but there would still be stains on my underwear and on the sheets. Back in those days, clothes weren't just tossed in a washin' machine. She'd scrub each piece one at a time on a scrub board in the washtub. At night, I'd take some toilet paper with me to bed and try to aim at it when I went off but when you're in that state, sometimes you miss. Anyhow, I always appreciated that she never called me on it. I guess she understood there ain't no fifteen year-old boy can resist playin' with hisself, not unless his hands are tied behind his back. Even then, I bet he'd find a way. I bring it up because after I met Mrs. Webster, I couldn't get her out of my mind and just thinking about her made me hard. I guess there was stiff, yellow stains all over my underwear and sheets.

I know it sounds stupid but I was jealous of Mr. Webster somethin' awful. I hadn't even met the man but I was havin' terrible thoughts like hopin' he might die in a accident and Mrs. Webster might call on me to give her some comfort and then fall in love with me. Imagination is really somethin', ain't it?

It was maybe three weeks later when she called in another grocery order. John was in the back room and I was dustin' the shelves when the phone rang.

"Etter's."

"Yes, this is Elizabeth Webster and I'd like to have some groceries delivered if I may."

I felt my insides go all fluttery. "Oh, uh, hi Mrs. Webster. This is Richie. Hang on just a minute while I get some paper and a pencil." I scrambled around searchin' for somethin' to write on without any luck and finally used the back of the order sheet John was workin' on.

"Go ahead, Mrs. Webster. I'm ready."

She read off a list that turned out to be a pretty big order. I figured it would fill up two boxes. When she was done, she asked, "I don't mean to be a bother but is there any chance I could get this sometime today? My husband's coming home this evening and I need the flour and sugar to bake him a cake."

Well, that put the damper on my enthusiasm for rushing right out to her farm with the order but I said I'd do my best and try to get it to her right after lunch. She thanked me and hung up.

About that time John come in and asked, "Was that an order?"

"Yeah, Mrs. Webster asked if we could get it out to her sometime today."

He chuckled at me and said, "Of course we can unless you up n' quit on me. Otherwise, go on ahead and take it out to her now."

I went in the back for a couple of boxes while John started rounding up her order.

When I drove up to the farmhouse an hour later, she was hanging out some laundry. She was wearing blue jeans and a shirt that was tied up in the front leaving her bare belly for all to see. She also had her hair tied up on the top of her head with a red bandana. My eyes were drawn right to her butt. I don't know what it is about that shape that makes me all wobbly but it does every time and hers was real nice to look at. She heard me coming and turned to smile and wave.

As she held the door open for me she said, "You didn't really have to rush right out. Anytime today would have been just fine."

The sound of her voice and the smell of the lavender soap made me decide to forgive her for bein' a married woman. "No problem, Mrs. Webster, I got my morning work done and anyhow, customers always come first."

I couldn't help but be a little nosy. "Um, has Mr. Webster been away workin'?"

She gave out a little sigh before she answered. "Yes, he's been rough-necking for the past few months. There's a new oil field down near Lawton and he went down there to hire on. They're bringing in a lot of new wells so he might be there for a while. When I talked to him on the phone he said he could only stay for a couple of days. Since the war, there are so many men still looking for work he doesn't want to risk his job by being away from it too long."

"Dang, that's too bad!" I didn't really feel that way but it felt like the right thing to say. "Ain't that gonna make things hard for ya, I mean havin' to take care of this place by yourself n' all?"

"Well it certainly is inconvenient. I can handle most things by myself but I'm basically a city girl from Pittsburgh. I don't really know much about farm chores. Like for instance, I've got a cow out there in the barn that I think is in pain but I can't figure out what's wrong with her. I don't suppose you know anything about cows, do you?"

"Well, I know some. I'll sure take a look at her for ya. At least I can probably tell if ya need to call in the vet from Watonga."

I near fainted when she grabbed my hand and squeezed it saying, "Oh, would you Richie? I'd be so grateful."

"Sure, let's go take a look."

The first thing I saw was that a quarter of her bag was too full and the teat was all swelled up. "Has she been milked today? She sure don't look like she's very comfortable."

"Yes. Well mostly. I didn't seem to be able to get much out of one teat and it seemed to hurt her when I pulled on it."

"OK, Mrs. Webster, that's your problem. That teat's blocked." I reached down and gently squeezed each one n' I could feel something in the swollen one.

"Have you got a wire coat hanger and a pair of pliers?"

"Uh, yes but what are you going to do with them? You're not going to hurt her are you?"

"It might be a little painful for a minute 'til I get it cleared but it's gonna be a lot worse for her if it don't get fixed."

"Well, all right then. Wait here and I'll get the hanger. The tools are in that box by the door."

When she got back with the hanger, I cut off about ten inches of it, doubled it over n' crimped it so it wouldn't cut or scratch her and asked Mrs. Webster to get me a piece of rope. I turned the cow around so her backside was against the stall and tied her legs to the rail so she couldn't kick me. I knew she wasn't going to like what I did.

When I was ready, I said, "Now you try n' hold her head so she don't come 'round on me."

Mrs. Webster's eyes got big and she asked, "Are you going to stick that wire into her?"

"Not very far. It's just that it's all swelled up and I'm gonna try to open it some before I strip it."

I patted her on the flank (the cow, not Mrs. Webster) and rubbed her bag a little before grabbing the teat and easing the wire about three inches into her 'til it run up against somethin'. I spun it around some as I pulled it out. A few drops of milk came with it.

"OK, I'm gonna try n' strip it and she ain't gonna like it much so hold on tight."

I pushed my hand up against the bag above where I thought she was blocked n' started squeezing down hard over n' over. She kept tryin' to kick me away and mooin' somethin' pitiful as I kept clampin' down on her sore teat until finally, somethin' popped out the end onto the floor. I grabbed the milk pail and kept milkin' that udder into it. After a bit, the cow settled down and let me finish the job as the pain started to let up.

I got up and handed the pail to Mrs. Webster. I untied the cow's legs and got her turned around in the stall. "She's probably OK for right now but she's gonna need you to massage her udder and keep strippin' her teats maybe three or four time a day. She might have mastitis. If it don't get better, you need to call the vet. Anyhow, you should get some balm from him n' rub some on her udder for a few days. At least we got the blockage out so she'll be a lot more comfortable."

Mrs. Webster put her arm through mine and grabbed the pail of milk as we headed back to the house. The feel of the side of her breast against my arm was pure heaven. "Seems to me we're both in your debt, Richie Dinken. How about a glass of lemonade before you go back to the store?"

"Thanks, Ma'am, I'd like that. Your cow looks like she puts out a lot of milk. What do you do with it all livin' here by yourself?"

"Oh, I give most of it to the woman next door. She send's her boy over every evening to collect what I haven't used. From the looks of him, I think they need a lot more than extra milk."

As we were drinkin' our lemonade at the kitchen table, Mrs. Webster asked, "Do you work full time at Mr. Etter's store, Richie?"

"Pretty much. I don't think he really needs me full time but he knows we need the money. Ol' John gets grouchy sometimes but he's really a nice ol' guy. Half the folks around owe him money that he knows he ain't never gonna see."

She laughed at me and said, "If I'm going to be your English teacher, we're going to start working on your grammar. But not during summer vacation."

Then she looked like she was thinkin' about somethin' for a bit and went on, "Well the reason I ask is that I could sure use some help around here for a few hours a week while Randall – that's my husband – while he's working the oil fields down south. It's pretty clear you know a lot more about this kind of work than I do. I could pay you, say forty cents an hour for your time. And I could pay for gas since some of the stuff you'd be doing would be driving me around to do shopping and errands. Sometimes I feel like a prisoner out here because I don't have a car and I don't know how to drive anyway. Do you think you might be interested in that, Richie?"

Well, I just couldn't believe my luck! "I sure am, Mrs. Webster. Of course, John has first dibs on my time but I think he'd go for it. I'd be proud to take you anywhere you need to go and I can teach you to drive. Can I call you from the store and let you know?"

"Why don't you do that?' She wrote down her number on a scrap a paper and handed it to me. "And tell John I'm not trying to steal away his help but I'd sure appreciate it if you could give me maybe a couple of days a week."

Well John thought it was a fine idea so I called Mrs. Webster and said I could come out the very next day. She reminded me that her husband was coming and asked me to hold off 'till the weekend.

The source of this story is Storiesonline

To read the complete story you need to be logged in:
Log In or
Register for a Free account (Why register?)

Get No-Registration Temporary Access*

* Allows you 3 stories to read in 24 hours.

Close
 

WARNING! ADULT CONTENT...

Storiesonline is for adult entertainment only. By accessing this site you declare that you are of legal age and that you agree with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.