Ennis was up early on Saturday morning. He made sure he was up before his parents then headed outside after getting dressed to get some chores down before he would head into town to help Jack with preparing the class for next week. He breathed in the fresh air as he walked outside, enjoying the slight drizzle from the rain clouds up above. It had rained harder during the night, turning the ground muddy, but the storm was now blowing away and didn't threaten anything worse than what had already happened. None of the crops were damaged from the rain and they were almost ripe for picking. Sometime next week, after the crops were gathered, his dad would go into town and sell them at the local supermarket. Ennis may or may not go with him, depending on what happened with school next week.
He thought about taking Starbright out for a quick ride, but decided against it. He brushed the horses, refilled the hay, and checked to make sure their water was clean. Once he was finished there, he sat on the fence to watch the sunrise. The arrival of the sun chased away what remained of the rain clouds. He hopped off the fence then headed inside for breakfast, getting a good whiff of bacon as he walked in. His mom didn't seem surprised that he was up and about so early. She had probably heard him get up.
"Mind givin' your father a ride into town?" she asked without turning away from the stove where she was frying bacon and eggs. Ennis moved over to the sink to wash his hands, which had accumulated a good amount of filth after cleaning up around the barn. "He's gotta head to the bank to pay some bills and do a few other errands around town."
"I don't mind," Ennis said, drying his hands. "How do I give him a ride back if I'm still busy at the school?"
"He might catch a ride with Mr. Beers," she replied. She finished with cooking, making him a plate and setting it on the table. She fixed up two more plates for herself and his dad then washed the pans she had used. "But if you're done by then..."
"If Mr. Twist doesn't need me for long, then I'll give dad a ride home as well," Ennis promised as he sat down at the table. He said a quick grace then ate his food, finishing up by the time his dad walked in, dressed for a casual day in town.
"Get your chores done this mornin'?" his dad asked as he sat down at the table after greeting his wife with a peck on her cheek. She brought him a cup of coffee before she sat down herself to eat.
"Yes, sir," Ennis said with a nod. He took his empty plate to the sink and washed it.
"Good," his dad said. "When's your teacher want ya over yonder?"
"About nine."
His dad checked the time. It was just a little after seven. "If you're early, maybe he'll let ya go early," he said. Ennis wasn't going to argue with him, but he didn't even know if Jack would even be at the school before nine. "We'll leave as soon as I'm done eatin'."
"Yes, sir," Ennis said. Then left the kitchen and headed for his room.
He washed his face and changed his shirt then grabbed his backpack just in case as he headed back downstairs. His dad was ready to leave by the time Ennis came downstairs. They left together and jumped in the truck and drove off.
The drive was silent for a few minutes, then his dad spoke up: "You tryin' to avoid Alma, son?" Ennis wasn't surprised to hear the question, but had never wanted to address it with either of his parents. He didn't have a choice now. He just hoped his dad didn't demand too many details. Ennis already felt awkward enough with telling Jack everything that had happened.
"Not tryin' to on purpose," Ennis replied, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove.
"Bullshit," his dad said. He never would have used that kind of language around his wife. "I know your mother's been tryin' to set y'all up. It might be somethin' ya need. Won't be too long before you two are adults. Findin' a good wife ain't easy these days. You'd be lucky to have her."
Ennis didn't like the thought of marriage. He wasn't ready for that kind of commitment. Especially since he wasn't even ready for the responsibility that came with having a girlfriend. And Alma just plain scared him. "What if I ain't ready to get married?" he asked.
"Ya still got a couple years," his dad said. "Alma's only sixteen, after all. You'd have to wait til she was eighteen."
"What if I'm still not ready by then?"
"You will be."
Ennis fell silent, not wanting to discuss it any further. If only his parents saw Alma the way he did, then he wouldn't have to worry about getting married to her in a couple of years. Of course, if they knew Alma the way Ennis did, they might demand they get married now. Only a husband was allowed to touch his wife the way Ennis had touched Alma. Even though, touching her that way was the last thing Ennis had wanted. He pushed the memory away before he became too tempted to tell his dad everything right then and there.
"I invited Alma to supper tonight," his dad said. "Since you ain't goin' horseback ridin' with her this afternoon, the least you could do is make it up to her later tonight."
"You didn't have to do that."
"Yeah, I did."
"Why can't you just let me handle things my own way, in my own time?" Ennis didn't know where this sudden bravery came from, but as soon as the question was out of his mouth, he regretted it and wished he could take it back.
"Nothin'll ever get done if we do that," his dad said. He would usually scold Ennis for having an attitude, but his dad seemed like he was in a better mood today, so he hadn't detected any attitude in Ennis's question. "You need a woman in your life. Especially now that you're takin' classes on the birds and the bees."
"What d'you mean?"
"Once your mind is exposed to shit like that, hormones start goin' crazy," his dad said. "I know by experience. I might not have taken classes like you're doin', but I was exposed to similar things when I was your age. Don't tell your mother, but she wasn't the first lady I shared a bed with. It's common for boys your age to have some experience before marriage."
"But momma says -"
"Your momma's been goin' to church too long," his dad said. "And things are just different for boys that she just can't understand. I'm not sayin' you have to have a roll in the hay with Alma, but if ya ever get an urge, remember she's there. And once you've established dominance, she can't say anything to fuck up your reputation. Y'all can still say your both virgins the day you get married."
Ennis was glad when they finally pulled into town. It meant the conversation was over. He dropped his dad off at the bank then hurried over to the school. He parked the truck, noticing a few other cars in the parking lot. The school janitor, the principal, and Jack's fancy Ford truck with Texas plates. Ennis was less than an hour early, but hopefully that wouldn't matter as long as Jack was already here.
Ennis got out of the truck, slipping the keys into his pocket as he slung his backpack over his shoulder and headed inside the school. He nodded a greeting at the janitor before he made his way to Jack's class. The door was open, but he still knocked.
Jack looked up from what he was doing at the desk then looked at the time after noticing Ennis. "You're early," he said. "That eager to get started today, huh?" He smiled then waved Ennis inside. "Close that door behind ya."
Ennis walked in, closing the door behind him as he was told. He dropped his backpack onto one of the desks. "I brought my dad into town for some errands," he said. "He wanted to get started on that early. Is it okay that I'm early?"
"It's fine, don't worry about it," Jack assured him. "I've already got started on gradin' some papers anyhow." He separated a stack for Ennis. "I'm gradin' for the math class down the hall. Mrs. Totters had a birthday party for her granddaughter to get to today, so I offered to take this load off of her."
"Mighty kind o' ya to do that," Ennis said, taking the stack from Jack before sitting down at one of the desks. "I was wonderin' what we'd be gradin' since this class don't count toward our final grade."
Jack gave a small chuckle. "That might change in a couple weeks," he said. "The principal's thinkin' 'bout cuttin' out one of the other classes, which would mean I'd hafta start givin' out tests that'll affect your final grade."
"If that happens, then people can't start droppin' outta this class."
Jack nodded. "It'll be the first time I'd have to do something like that," he said. "But it's outta my hands. I'd rather it not affect your final grade 'cause I'm pretty sure some parents wouldn't want to see 'Sex Ed' on their child's report card."
"Especially 'round here."
"Yeah, I've already gotten quite a few complaints from parents," Jack said. "Some kids were caught havin' dirty magazines. I told them I didn't give those out, but they don't seem to believe me. I've already lost quite a few students and I haven't even been here an entire week yet."
"Well, if it turns out that students can't graduate without takin' your class, you might get those students back," Ennis said. "Though, parents might try and shut ya down if that happens."
"I've fought back against those types of parents before," Jack said. "I've only ever lost once and that was against my own folks." He went on before Ennis could think of any questions to ask. "Me and my parents haven't seen eye to eye ever since I got into high school. As soon as I graduated, I was outta there. It's hard livin' under a roof with people who think you're goin' to Hell just by the opinions ya have."
"What kinda opinions did ya have?"
"That love is love, no matter who it's between," Jack said, looking up from grading papers to look at Ennis. "Ya can't judge a person by their beliefs. If two people of the same gender are happier together, what's the harm in that?" That kind of talk was considered blasphemy around town. Jack was obviously not worried about it being heard since Ennis wouldn't tell anyone. If it was behind closed doors, people could talk about whatever they wanted. Spoken publicly was when you worried about it.
"There's harm in it around here," Ennis said then found himself telling Jack about the two ranchers that had gotten run out of town for being homosexuals. "If ya start teachin' that that's okay, then you can be sure your class'll be shut down before too long."
"You think treatin' people like that's okay?" Jack asked, studying Ennis closely. "I know you were probably raised that way, but you're entitled to your own opinion here. To be your own man. Does two men together bother you?"
Ennis thought carefully about Jack's question. He wasn't sure if it bothered him or not after being raised to believe that two men or two women together was the worst sin in the world. That even being friendly toward those kinds of people could send you to Hell. The pastor at church preached heavily against them from time to time, whenever some news about the homosexuals came out. "As long as they keep it between themselves," he replied after a few minutes of silence.
"And what about a man and woman showing affection toward each other in public?" Jack asked. "Is it okay for them to do that, but not two men? Two women?"
"Personally, I'd feel uncomfortable either way," Ennis said, though the only time he had been exposed to any type of "affection" was when he had been alone with Alma the other evening. His parents didn't even publicly make a show of their affection for each other even in the privacy of their own home.
"You haven't had that much experience with that sorta stuff, huh?" Jack asked, but needed no answer if he had read Ennis's paper from the other day. "I'm glad you're takin' this class, Ennis. I can teach ya a lot."
"And I'm interested in learnin'." Ennis's response seemed to please Jack. "My momma's been against it since you came into town, though."
"And your dad?"
"He says I need it," Ennis said. "He says it's normal for a boy my age to get into this sort of thing. Sex and all." He shifted in his seat a bit, uncomfortable only by the memory of the talk his dad had given him this morning on the drive over. "He pretty much told me this mornin' that as long as it's kept private, I can have sex with Alma before marriage."
"As long as it's kept private," Jack echoed. "Implyin' that Alma wouldn't say anything?"
"It wouldn't be her place to if I established my dominance."
"And your dad thinks that's okay?"
"In a way, I still respect Alma," Ennis said. "I wouldn't want to put her through anything like that. If I was even interested in doin' anything like that, I'd do the gentleman thing and wait til after marriage. But it doesn't seem like she wants to wait."
"You can tell her no."
Ennis looked down at the papers on the desk in front of him, saying nothing. He heard Jack get up and when he looked up, Jack was pulling a seat close to the desk Ennis was sitting at. When Jack sat down, he was right beside Ennis, but facing him.
"If you stand up for yourself, you wouldn't have to worry about bein' pulled into something you don't want," Jack said. "That's part of what I wanna teach. Standin' up for what you believe in is hard, yeah, but sometimes it's worth it, in the end. You might lose support from people you care about, but sometimes that's the price ya gotta pay to be the person you wanna be."
"What if I don't wanna pay that price?" Ennis asked. He hardly ever stood up for anything. He was the kind of guy that stayed quiet and went along with whatever anybody did. He was just facing problems with that now because it was part of growing up and becoming an adult.
"Then you're stuck."
Ennis looked away from Jack, wanting the subject to end. Jack obviously got the picture. Jack had given him a lot to think about. Things he didn't necessarily have to deal with right away. He still had another year to go before he graduated and became a full adult. Time did fly by, but he had plenty of time to decide what he wanted to do once he graduated.
Jack went back to his desk and they went about grading papers in silence for the next hour or so. When they were finished, Jack filed away the papers to be taken to Mrs. Totters class on Monday.
"What would be something you'd like to learn about in class next week?" Jack asked, once more sitting on the seat next to Ennis. "I know you don't know much, but there might still be something you'd like to know."
"What about just the right way to handle the opposite sex?" Ennis asked. He was pretty much just asking for pointers to deal with Alma, but it might come in handy with other students.
"I can get something together for that," Jack said with a nod. "I also wanna focus on dealing with desires if someone has never been in a relationship. Like first dates, first kiss..." He trailed off, noticing Ennis's uncomfortable yet subtle squirm in his seat. "You've never been kissed?"
"That surprise you?"
Jack smiled. "Not really, just goin' by the papers you've handed in," he said. "You're not interested in what a kiss feels like?"
"Why would I be?" Ennis asked, growing a bit more uncomfortable by the way Jack leaned in toward him. But curiosity kept Ennis from moving away from him.
"Because you were interested when Alma mentioned that she touched herself," Jack said. "Or was that not actually the reason you hid away in your bathroom to masturbate for the first time?" Ennis almost regretted writing that down for him to read. "I can show you what it's like. Only if ya want to."
Jack was leaning in close now. If Ennis turned, he would have rubbed up against him. "H-How would you show me?" he asked.
Jack didn't say anything, he just leaned in and pressed his lips lightly against Ennis's before pulling away. "It's okay to be nervous," he said, his voice quiet. "But no one has to know. It'll be just between us."
Ennis hesitated a moment. "All right," he said then Jack kissed him again.