Set after Ennis's divorce, before the breakup

Non profit, yada yada. Fanwork.

"Daddy, is somebody in there?"

"You got a woman in there, daddy?"

"…no"

"Then, you got a man in there then?"

"…."

Junior looked down, "….mama told me…..none of these clothes are a woman's."

…..ok, rewind…..

Jack Twist had come up from Texas, following his own divorce. He had taken L.D. up on the offer of a down payment for splitting it off with Lureen, and now, was determined to make it work with Ennis. With no place to go and a hefty chunk of change padding his pocket, he was willing to gamble Ennis wouldn't turn him down this time.

So here he was, on Ennis' doorstep, at 8:00am on a Sunday morning. He had driven all through the night to get here, that man was not going to turn him down now.

And little did he know, Mr. Ennis Del Mar had been missing him something fierce. That last night, getting drunk had brought back old memories for him, and savage new ones. He had nothing and he was nowhere but the dark depths of hell, he was a sexual deviant and a fuckup who had lost his family then his wife, and could barely make child support. That night was a particularly bad night and he had been debating about ending it all, but that night, like many nights, he remembered, all he had to do was fall asleep, and Jack would come to him in his dreams. It would all be worth living through another day, just to see Jack again in his dreams at night, and counting down the days to their next fishing trip as a reason to keep living on.

So he was very surprised when a knock came through his door at 8 in the morning. He grumbled, shifting out of bed, pulling a shirt on and some jeans. He hated Sundays. Fire and Brimstone crowd and the fact that he normally didn't need to work on Sundays….Work kept his mind off things.

He stumbled as the knock came again.

"Jeeze…"

He stumbled to the door and opened it, shielding his eyes from the harsh morning sun.

"Jack.. fuckin'… Twist?" His mind was still groggy from sleep. What the hell was he doing here? Was he still dreaming?

"Hi, Ennis," Jack smiled at him, big country boy smile.

Ennis leaned against the doorframe, brain trying to process, "Jack….? The fuck ar you doing here?"

"I broke up with my wife, came to see you." Jack slapped him on the shoulder.

The motion plus the sunlight was not agreeing with Ennis's hangover. Sunday mornings in general just weren't good. Jack was talking nonsense "…You drive all through the night? When'd you get here?"

"Just now, I came to see you. I wanted to see what you thought,"

"Hn….?" Ennis was still trying to process.

"I broke up with Lureen!"

Ennis wasn't sure he was getting any of this this early in the morning. He gestured Jack inside, shutting the door behind him, anything to get rid of that blasted sunlight.

Jack spun around one of the two rickety mismatched chairs in the kitchen and sat down backwards. Ennis stepped up to the stove, turning on a burner, warming up some stale coffee.

"So, since I broke up with my wife. You wanna come celebrate with me?" Jack was looking very pleased with himself.

"Nmh. That's nothing to celebrate about," Ennis kept his attention focused on the coffee, "What about yer kid?" He set down a cup in front of Jack, turning his back again to attempt to do something, maybe about the mountain of chipped dirty dishes sliding off the counter.

"He'll be okay, he's a big boy," Jack said breathlessly, sliding up behind him. ""I'd like us to do something nice now that I'm a free man," His hands wandering Ennis' chest, down to his jeans, and back up again.

Jack kissed him on the cheek, and sank slowly to his knees.

Hat left on the rack in the hallway, jacket soon removed, he held Ennis' hip, unzipping his pants, pulling them down his hips.

Big hands tangling in black locks.

"Oh…" Ennis groaned. This is what he lived for. Moments like this, over all too quick. The forbidden fruit he'd tasted.

"Do you have a shower?" Jack asked, palming Ennis through his jeans.

"Mmm… uh-hnh," Ennis shifted his pants down lower, and thought of what he had for a shower, a moldy yellowed box barely big enough for the standup shower, toilet, and sink that inhabited it. They wouldn't have enough room to undress in there, but they could fit in there. The thought of Jack pressed against him in such a small space; water streaming down, slick with soap…

"Then, what are we waiting for?" Jack stripped off his own shirts, pulling the button-up over his head and throwing the T-shirt to the floor, "that's a luxury we've never had,"

Ennis cracked a smile, "Then, let's get those boots off!" Crouching down next to the other man, kissing him hard, rocking him back grabbing Jack's feet by the heel one at a time pulling his boots off, letting them drop haphazardly.

"Mm…and yer jeans," Ennis pulled Jack's jeans down his hips, following his boots, and tossing them backwards somewhere to land next to a dirty pile of something.

Jack laughed, pulling Ennis down on top of him stripping him of his tanktop. "We should really go to the shower, or we're gonna end up doing it right here."

Ennis finished stripping himself of his jeans on the way to the bathroom.

It was a good time, banging Jack against the wall in that tiny bathroom full of steam. Threadbare towels willing to great them once the hot water ran out.

Ennis had just finished his climax, kissing Jack, nonverbally telling him how wonderful he was, when he heard knock at the door rattling the aluminum.

"Fuck…" Ennis shut off the water.

He grumbled, he could just say 'fuck it' and pretend he was asleep, but he heard the rap again… maybe the stock got out? That would be just his luck, on a day alone with Jack, something like that. He groaned, scratching his head. Stepping out of the shower, scrubbing himself dry with a towel.

'You stay here' was more than implied for Jack, Ennis' eyes told him he'd be back if he could.

Slipping out the bathroom door, Ennis found some clothes, buttoning up his jeans, pulling on a tanktop, wet hair dripping down his face.

The rapping on the door was louder this time.

Ennis looked through the blinds to see Alma's car in the driveway. "Shit," he swore, he hated when his ex-wife would come see him, it was fucking depressing.

"Daddy?" He heard a voice from outside.

"…Junior?" Ennis cracked open the door.

"Hi. Mama told me to come see you. There's an after-church picnic today, she wanted you to come. I brought you a basket of leftovers we made."

"You're drivin' now?"

"I got my license a month ago. May I come in?"

"Um…" Ennis shifted taking a step back, as she went in to place the basket on the table. She was pretty set on going in anyways…

He hoped she didn't notice the slightly more than usual mess of clothes lying around. He cringed when he saw Jack's pants had ended up across one of the chairs.

The thin walls of the trailer weren't good. Any major shift Jack made would be heard outside, not to mention the bathroom was tiny, and without his clothes he couldn't try shimmying out the window like a 14 year old caught with his pants down. It was starting to get cold, and the air was still damp. It had been fine with the water running and Ennis there, but he was starting to realize just how cold it was in the little trailer. He wasn't surprised if Ennis couldn't afford the heating bill. He had dried himself off and was shifting his weight from foot to foot; as much pacing as he could in the little box of the room.

He could tell that it was Alma Jr. outside by the way Ennis talked. He could hear somewhat what they were saying; Ennis' family worried about him, Alma Sr. wanted him to get out and find a girl at the church picnic, Junior offered to help clean up, ect.

Outside, carrying on the conversation Junior was becoming more and more aware of all the little things that were just not right; there were two different pairs of boots on the floor, when she knew her daddy could only afford one at a time; interesting places some of the clothes had wound up, when normally only sections of the floor were ankle deep in dirty clothes. The darkening bruise on her father's neck, that looked suspiciously like a love bite. His hesitation to invite her in. Her father was hiding something, and the creak of the bathroom door confirmed it.

Ennis could have murdered Jack for his impatience.

…..return to present…..

"Daddy, someone in there?"

"No," Ennis shifted at the table, fidgeting with his cup of coffee.

"It a woman in there, daddy?" Junior's eyes peered over her own cup.

"no….."

"You got a man in there then?"

Ennis felt a sinking feeling of dread.

Junior looked down, "….mama told me….."

Ennis wanted melt into the floor and dissapear. If it was anyone else he would have yelled at them and thrown them out, but this was Junior, his little girl. He couldn't shut her out like he did everyone else. He didn't want her to hate him anymore than she already must after figuring out what he was.

Junior slowly looked up at him, then looked away, "That one thanksgiving after you left, when mama was yelling about fire and brimstone and Jack Nasty this, Jack Nasty that. I found out. It had to be the same Jack you always went fishing with, the one that we saw once when drove up to see you after the divorce. I know and Jenny knows."

Oh, Ennis felt like sinking into his chair, letting the cold floor collapse up around him and pull him away. His daughter knew. His family pitied him.

"Daddy?"

"Uh?"

"You look like you're gonna be sick. Can I get you some water?"

Ennis didn't respond, playing with the handle of the coffee mug. He was far from fine,

" Is it a man in there?"

Thank Lord, she was still questioning! Ennis avoided her gaze.

Junior took his hand, trying to get him to look at her. "You can tell me daddy, I know,"

"You don't know nothing,"

Ennis could have strangled Jack at that moment for opening up the door. Jack's plan had been to open the door slow, slip out quietly, find clothes, and hide out of view until Junior left. Unfortunately for him, Junior had plain view of the bathroom door over Ennis's shoulder. When the creak of the door caught her attention, she had a plain view of Jack, towel wrapped around his waist, disappearing into the next room.

"Was that him?"

Ennis wasn't answering any more questions, he'd had enough. He wished the rapture would hit and drag him off to hell already.

From down the hall Jack could hear them. He figured it was time to save Ennis. Pulling on a pair of Ennis' jeans and pulling a shirt out of a drawer, he went out to see her. He realized afterwards, the poor decision in meeting Alma Jr. dressed in her father's clothes, but he had no other options at the moment if he wanted to appear presentable.

He hesitantly entered the room, "…Hi,"

He could see Junior eyeing him up and Ennis trying to hide his face and deny his existence.

She set her coffee down, "….you're Jack?"

"…yeah," He sat down on a crate next to the table. Ennis wished Jack's father, with all of Jack's horrible stories about him, had instilled in Jack a healthy fear of revealing himself. "I'm your dad's friend,"

Junior, after a moment of critically evaluating him, stated, "…I'm glad he has a friend,"

…..

Well, that went smoother than expected.