NaNoWriMo: Day 8

Stella was at this time in another part of the state thinking not of her studies and not  of gators, but of Buckley. Their time apart had not erased him from her memory one bit and as her senior year of college came to a close she was no closer to getting over him than she was the day she broke his heart.

Sitting in a study room in the University of West Florida library, she looked out the window over the canon green and sighed. She didn’t give a damn about the pedagogical theory she was studying and if she was being honest, she thought her whole major was Mickey Mouse bullshit. Education she had come to find was a joke. The system was broken and flawed. The final straw had been when she had been forced to endure a module on “how to treat impoverished students and their families with dignity.” As though that were something that needed to be taught in a college. As though that were not something that were basic human decency. Stella was disgusted. She wanted nothing more than to be done with the whole field, but unfortunately she had figured this out too late in the game to pick a new major. Her plan at the moment was to go back home, start teaching, hope for the best, and figure out a new plan from there.

She wondered if Buckley were still around. She’d heard from some of her friends that he’d stayed in the area to help his mama. She had hoped that he would have gotten out of that little town and made something of himself, but what could she make of hearsay from her friends? They were never fond of him anyway. What did they know? Now that she thought about it, they weren’t exactly friends, were they. They were people she knew. Buckley was her friend. And she broke his heart.

For what?

She didn’t have much time to go down the painful road of her breakup with Buckley though, for just as she started to relive those painful memories there was a knock at the door and in popped the head of her friend, Paige.
            “Hey, girl! Are you up for a coffee break?”

“Sure.” Stella said. “I’ve been in this room for hours poring over this pedagogy stuff.”

“Oh, what fun. I think you deserve a break. Come on. I’ll buy. What are you having?”

            “A medium latte, I think.”

            As the two girls walked down to the café on the ground floor of the library, they ran into their friend Lottie.

            “Hey, did y’all hear about the gator that’s been raisin’ hell in Putnam County?”

            Paige and Stella looked at one another then said in unison, “No.”

            “Well, there’s been one. Apparently, they’ve already killed it, but I was thinking of going down there over spring break and interviewing some of the people involved. Y’all wanna go with?”

            “Where are we gonna stay?” Paige asked.

            “With my mama, of course.” Lottie replied. “I’m from there, you know. It’ll be fun. A trip to the old stompin’ grounds.”

            Stella smiled. It would be better than going home and hoping to run into Buckley again. “Sure. You can count me in.”

            “Me too,” said Paige.

           

            When Buckley finished his catfish dinner, he paid his bill, got back into his boat, and went back to Herlin Hall. When he arrived he had a sense that something was wrong. Rhodes and Leland were still out with Jerry at the hospital and the property was still and quiet, but Buckley had the uncanny sense that he was being watched. He certainly did not care for being on the first floor, so he went up to the guest room where he’d slept earlier and tried to put himself at ease.  Failing that, he found a book on the bookshelf and tried to read. Well after dark Rhodes finally arrived back to Herlin Hall alone. Leland had decided to remain at the hospital with his brother for the night.

            Buckley decided to come down and have a word with Rhodes – to be polite. When he descended the stairs, he saw the master of the house was on the couch with a woman. He turned to ascend the stairs once again, but the woman saw him and rose to greet him.

            “So you must be Buckley!” she cried, extending a hand as she ran to greet him.

            Buckley stood rigid, not quite knowing how to respond to this blonde woman.

            “Yes, ma’am. Yes, I am.”

            “Rhodes here has told me all about how you’ve dispatched that nasty old gator. I am just amazed at your prowess, especially as young as you are. However do you do it?”

            “Practice?”

            “You are a riot, Buckley! Won’t you come and have a drink with us?” and before he could refuse, she had grabbed his hand and led him into the bar in the Florida room and was pouring him a drink.

            “Um, thank you, ma’am.”

            “Oh, would you stop with that “ma’am” stuff? I’m too young for that!”

            “Yes ma’am.”

            “Leave the boy alone,” Rhodes interceded, “he’s got manners. That’s a rarity nowadays. So, what are your plans now, Buckley? Going back down south or are you going to hang out up her for a spell?”

            This was the first time he’d given the matter any real thought. “I don’t know, sir.”

            “Well, would you like a job?”

            Buckley nearly spit out his drink. “Excuse me?”

            “Well Leland and I were talking and I think it might be good to have someone like you on the payroll to take care of any animal related issues that might arise in the future.”

            “You think there will be more?

            “The gators do tend to get into the drainage ditches. This is just the first time one’s gotten into my house.”

            “I see.”
            “I was thinking you could help to relocate the gators on the farm. Make sure they aren’t harmed. I figured you’d like that.”

            “I would.”

            “So you’ll come work for me?”

            “There’s one problem.
            “Your mama?”

            “Yes.”

            “Bring her on.”

            “I don’t think she’d come.”

            “Well, you ain’t gotta make a decision today. Think about it. Let me when you decide. Meanwhile, stay here a spell. Get to know the area.”

            “Thank you for the offer.”

            “Thank you for killing that gator.”

            Selena smiled at Buckley after this exchange. “So, Buckley, what do you think you might like about Putnam County so far?”

            “I think your river is very beautiful. But then again, I have always had a fondness for the water.”

            Selena would never admit it to anyone, but she had rather enjoyed spending the evening with the young half breed from down south. He was everything Rhodes was not and although she loved Rhodes having someone so completely unlike him around was delightfully refreshing. Buckley was quiet and reserved and shy whereas Rhodes was always trying to prove himself to someone. Buckley’s actions spoke far louder than his words. Of course there was no sexual attraction there. She was far too old for the boy – and they were just not at all compatible.

            But there was this electricity that he brought out in her. She couldn’t wait for him to go to bed so that she could release it all on Rhodes. He wouldn’t know what had hit him.

            Only, when the time came, it wasn’t nearly what she thought it would be. It was not what she’d expected. She began to wonder if it was Buckley she had been attracted to after all and if her lust had been misplaced. The sex had been a disappointment. As she lay in bed with Rhodes she began to think about Buckley’s massive frame and he petite one moving together in unison and she started to feel her body tingling with desire. She could feel his hands reaching between her legs and touching the wetness that was beginning to gather there and she began to breathe faster and faster. Yes. She could deny it no longer. She wanted Buckley and that was a very bad thing. A very dangerous game, indeed.

            The next day when she woke up, she had forgotten the lust she had felt the night before. She rolled over and kissed Rhodes on the shoulder. He leaned into her kiss and said “Mornin’ baby.” There was nothing out of the ordinary about the morning at all. There were no thoughts of Buckley. There were no thoughts of anything other that this moment.
            Then she went into the kitchen to get their coffee and saw Buckley, all 6’6”, of him, with his long black hair down to his waist, in nothing but boxer shorts standing at the stove frying an egg.

            “Oh, my. I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize you were still here.” He said.

            She wanted to be as embarrassed as he clearly was but her baser instincts took over and she couldn’t do anything other than smile and enjoy her good fortune.

            “It’s alright, Buckley. You don’t worry about me. I’m just going to go make us some coffee.”

            Buckley looked sheepish. “If you don’t mind watching my egg, I think I’d feel better if I put a pair of pants on.”

Selena smiled at him. “Whatever makes you happy, darling.”
He handed her his spatula and very quickly walked to the stairs.

Selena was amused, but disappointed. The view had been superb. She kept an eye on his egg while starting the coffee, all the while wondering what Rhodes would have thought if he’d come down with her. Rhodes . . .

Buckley was beyond mortified. As he ran up the stairs in his underwear, he thought how stupid he had been to go out of his room dressed that way. He’d gotten too comfortable around there too quickly. But he hadn’t expected Selena to be there this morning. She was a new addition to the equation. He hadn’t even known she had existed until last night. Rhodes hadn’t even mentioned her. Funny, since she was the one taking care of his mama.
            He got up to his room and put on his pants and a t-shirt before heading back down stairs while praying that she wouldn’t mention this little infraction to Rhodes. While he wasn’t sure that he was going to take the job he was offered, he’d still like for it to be on the table. He just had to figure out what he was going to do with his mama. Maybe he’d just have to leave her down south to fend for herself. That didn’t seem fair though. Why did he have to be an only child?

He had begun to wonder if there would be a way to entice her to move up here? If she could bring all of her treasures?  Maybe he could even figure out a way to set things up for her to have a store or something? He would check things out in town and see. He wondered if Rhodes would loan him a truck to do so. The boat wouldn’t be much use in this case.

            When he got back down stairs Rhodes and Selena were having coffee together in the kitchen and his egg was on a plate with a piece of toast.

            “Thank you,” he said to Selena.

            “Don’t mention it.” She replied.

            Rhodes looked up from his newspaper. “So, what’s on you’re agenda today, Buckley.”

            “Well, sir, I was thinking about your offer from last night and I was wondering if I might borrow a truck so I can check out the town?”

            “I don’t see why not. I’ll get Leland to bring one down here for you. Anything you’re really itchin’ to see?”

            “I was thinking about going to a few real estate offices. Looking at some properties. That sort of thing. I gotta see what I can find to entice mama, you know?”

            “Yeah, I hear you. Well, I wish you luck Hope you find what you’re looking for.”

            “Thank you sir. I wish I knew what I was looking for.”

            Buckley was grateful to Rhodes for his kindness, the problem was that he had no idea what it was he was looking for, but he knew he would know it when he found it. It might be a store, it might be a house, it might be both, but whatever it turned out to be, it would have “mama” written all over it. He knew this for a fact. This was the only thing he could be absolutely sure of.