A Better Idea
Chapter Nine
Well, at least Ennis' truck is still here, thought Jack as he pulled into the yard at his daddy's place, I cannot imagine what Lureen said to set him off but I know it was somethin' awful, That was obvious, state he was in when he answered that phone.
Briskly, Jack walked towards the barn while scanning the nearby fields to see if he could find Ennis. He didn't see him anywhere so he started calling, "Ennis, Ennis! Where are you?" He caught sight of a movement down along the creek and turned to join his friend. As he moved toward Ennis, Jack felt he was walking into a minefield where a bomb was set to blow up in his face.
I shoulda drove the truck over here to b'gin with, groused Ennis to himself. He was clearing brush along the creek, and sawing it up in lengths short enough to fit in the bed of a pickup. He didn't want to burn it here; it was too close to the trees. When he got a truckload done, he'd go fetch the truck and haul it all over to the burn pile Jack showed him last night.
Jack sees that Ennis has already cut a big stack of brush, so he's goin' at it with a vengeance, he thought. That doesn't seem like a good thing. Turning on his heel, Jack went back the way he had come, and got his pickup. He drove out to help Ennis load up the wood.
At the creek Jack got out and the two of them, without saying a single word, began filling the truck bed with the limbs and brush that Ennis had cut since talking to Jack on the phone. The truck loaded, Jack handed Ennis a cool bottle of water, and indicated a stump for Ennis to sit down on.
Jack sat opposite him, took a drink of his water and looked searchingly into his Cowboy's face. "What in the hell happened, Ennis?" implored Jack, "What did Lureen say to you?"
Ennis: "Said she was your wife."
Jack: "What? 'Course she's my wife, Cowboy, what do you mean?"
Looking at the ground, Ennis explained, "Jack I never expected her to be a real person."
"oh god, what are you talkin' about Ennis? You've known about Lureen bein' my wife since Bobby was a baby, when you 'n me found each other again. All these years we've been together, we talked about our families. I don't get it; I wasn't keepin' nothin' from you." Jack was beside himself trying to understand this line of conversation or Ennis' reasoning.
"Well, Jack, it never hit me till today when I heard her on the phone, heard a real woman's voice, that she was, uh, I don't know how to say this. That she could be hurt, that what I was doin' to her was so bad. To Bobby too, it never crossed my goddamn mind that I am stealin' their husband and daddy right away from them. Sneaky like. It feels like shit, Jack." Ennis stopped talking and just sat in his misery.
Jack: "oh."
Jack wanted to hold Ennis, to somehow make it all better. But he didn't know how to make it better. Still, every muscle in his body, every ounce of blood in his veins was yearning toward Ennis as positive yearns toward negative on a magnet. Slowly Jack got up and walked over to Ennis and sat down on the ground facing him. He took hold of one of his hands and interlaced his own fingers with Ennis' the way they were this morning at the breakfast table.
Jack: "Ennis, you see these two hands together here? This is the way they should be, this is the way they were meant to be since we met on Brokeback.
You n' me, boy. Us. We were together before Alma, we were together before Lureen, and if we had the guts, or the smarts we would've kept it this way from the beginning. Ennis, we didn't know no better then."
Ennis: "Are you saying we know better now, Jack? Cause I don't know that we do. It's all so screwed up." Ennis sat thinking, and then continued, " I know that I'm only me, when I'm with you. I know that waking up with you by my side every day of my life is the only thing that makes sense to me. But I don't feel that it's alright for us to hurt other people anymore, Jack."
"You're right, Ennis. You n' me are going to have to figure out what to do about that. C'mere." Jack put his arms around Ennis and pulled him down on the ground. He wrapped himself around him in a curl, spooned. Comforted.
Minutes passed, each was aware of the other's breathing, of their hearts beating, and they were glad to have the other to hang on to. The birds chirped, the sun moved and still they lay on the ground together.
Stirring, Ennis said, "Jack?"
Jack: "Yeah, Cowboy?"
Ennis: "This is real nice, 'cept for the wood chips stickin' in the side a my face."
Sitting up, Jack smiled, helped Ennis sit up and then brushed leaves and twigs off his face, and off his own face. Ennis smiled back.
"I know nothin' is solved, that this ain't over" said Jack, "but I promise you, we will work through this. I will make it right with Lureen; give her her freedom or whatever it takes. I'll see what she wants to do. Nothin' rash, we'll have to see. Okay, Ennis?"
Ennis sat silently, saying nothing, but looking into Jack's face, meeting his gaze.
"Okay, Ennis?" repeated Jack.
Ennis sighed, took Jack's hand in his own and said "Okay. Let's work on this."
They stood up and brushed themselves off before getting into the truck. Saying nothing, they drove over to the burn pile and stacked all the newly cut brush on top. Before Jack started the engine, Ennis asked "What did Lureen call about today? Is somethin' wrong at the house?"
Quickly Jack re-capped his earlier conversation with Lureen, and closed with the dilemma that he was supposed to solve by tomorrow night at 9.
Ennis: "Seems like you only got one choice, Jack, you gotta bring him up here to stay with you for the next few weeks till you go back home. Only thing, you'll have to talk it over with your mother, 'cause she might not think that a house full a people would be good for your dad when she brings him home."
Jack: "You came to the same thought as me, only you done it a lot quicker."
Ennis: "How do we get him up here from Texas?"
Jack's heart sang with joy when he heard that "we" come out a Ennis' mouth.
"I will check with Uncle Walter about which airport is the best to fly him into. Probably Casper, I'd guess. He can ride back with me when daddy's back on his feet. Well, dunno, his school might start 'fore that happens. The details can be hashed out later."
Ennis: "When's his school out down there? If he comes in on a Friday night, I can pick him up for you at the airport, that way you won't have to leave your folks on their own. If you want me to, o' course, and it ain't too awkward for ya." A pause hung on the air. "Jack?"
"What Cowboy?" Jack was wearing a big smile because Ennis had practically said he was planning on coming back up to Lightning Flat again.
"I'm sorry, Jack, guess I was jumpin' the gun a bit there. I assumed you'd want me back here again at times, that's why I offered to pick up Bobby on my way up here. But I can see that will be uh, strange for you. You probably won't want me hangin' around here when Bobby comes, that'd be real awkward."
Jack pointed his finger at Ennis, "Shut the hell up, will you? I don't want to have to say this more'n once, Del Mar. I Fuckin' Want You Here! I want you to be wherever I am, or I need to be where you're at. Got it? Whenever you can, as often as you can, okay?"
Ennis grinned, "Yessir, Mr. Jack Fuckin' Twist, sir!"
Jack: "Seriously, Ennis, right now it's me that is needed by my folks, so this is where I need to be, and I hope you'll be with me as much as you possibly can. The next time, it might be you who has to do something, be somewhere, and I'd hope that you would want me there, for support, for whatever you need.
Jack took a deep breath, "Okay, here's a general rule, got a pencil? No, I'm just kiddin' about the pencil, Ennis.
Rule number 1. Always not sometimes Always assume I want you with me, wherever I am. Got it? Okay.
Rule number 2. Re-read rule number 1.
Jack turned toward Ennis, drew his face close for a kiss, and put their foreheads together. Jack had his hand cupped at the back of Ennis' head and just held on to him. They looked at each other, and appreciated the love they saw reflected there.
"Hey", said Ennis, "let's walk a bit, okay?" "Sounds fine with me", said Jack. So, arms around each other's waists, thumbs hooked into belt loops, they walked across the pasture, away from the house. The pickup was left beside the burn pile, keys in the floorboard.
"Is your mother up at the house wonderin' what's become of us?" asked Ennis.
Jack remembered, "Oh no, I didn't get a chance to tell you, she went to supper with Uncle Walter and Aunt Iris over at the Blue Angus. They'll bring her home after. If you're hungry, Ennis, we could go join them."
Ennis: "Nah, if it's all the same to you, I'd just like to spend tonight with you, Jack."
Jack: "Very good, young man, sounds like you been readin' up on Rule #1."
Ennis: "Yes, sir, I have. It's a good rule." And with that said, Ennis stopped walking, took Jack in his arms and kissed him like he wanted him body and soul, wanted him for all time. "Hmm, what'll it be, Mr. Twist? The pasture, the hay mow, or our very own bed upstairs?"
"Can't I choose all three?" Jack asked, only half joking.
Taking advantage of having the house to themselves, Jack and Ennis took a shower together and initiated the Twist's bathroom. Shampoo and soap suds flying everywhere, they had a slippery, sexy good time. Ennis remembered to mention to Jack that he needed his hair cut when they both had time.
Upstairs in the cool bedroom, the window curtains blowing gently in the breeze, they anticipated a rare treat of making love in an actual bed. However, the bed felt kind a confining after all those years in the bedroll in the tents, so they threw all the blankets on the floor and got down here they could stretch out fully. They decided that was a big improvement.
They cooled down, smoked a cigarette, and snuggled for awhile; Jack remembered something, and told Ennis, "be right back, cowboy".
Still naked, Jack returned, carrying a kitchen chair, a glass of water, a comb and a pair of scissors. Slung over his shoulder were the damp towels they used to wipe up the bathroom after their shower.
Ennis looked up from the pillow, kinda drowsy, "What're you doin' ?"
"Lookin' for a haircut, ain'tcha? C'mere." Jack got it all set up, one towel on the floor under the chair, the other towel around Ennis' shoulders, and went to work trimming the blond locks. Jack brushed by Ennis at each turn, first wetting and cutting the front of his hair, then trimming the back, combing to be sure it was even, standing closer than was absolutely necessary for a professional job.
"Hmm, I bet you could go into business and make a fortune, Jack." Ennis said.
Jack: "That so? Doin' what?"
Ennis: "Naked haircuts, $20 an hour!" Jack laughed slyly.
It was a real haircut, but an erotic dance at the same time, and whenever a body part rubbed or brushed past another body part, one or both of them would gasp with pleasure. They enjoyed pretending they didn't know what they were doing to each other, but their bodies betrayed their secrets,
their erections undeniable. And delightful.
Later, catching his breath, Jack said, "this reminds me of the first time you cut my hair on Brokeback, Ennis. I thought I'd die wanting you so much and you acting all innocent and unaware."
Ennis remembered too, and laughed so hard the tears were running down his face. "god, Jack I thought your hair would never grow back right again!" He remembered that he started the haircut with innocent intentions, till the intimacy of the act worked on him so much he couldn't stand it any longer. Took them the whole night to get Jack's hair evened up. After the first frantic snips, they had gotten too distracted. Oh My! Well it's funny now, twenty years later.
How strange, thought Ennis. Twenty years loving one man, this is the longest relationship of my entire life.
"Jack," began Ennis, "do you realize that sometime this summer is our 20th anniversary?"
"Yeah, I sure do, Ennis. I been thinkin' Id get you a set a beaded napkin rings." snickered Jack.
Ennis jumped on Jack and started punching him wherever he could land a punch and they both grabbed and held on, cherishing this rare and unexpected bonus of time spent together to love and to play.
By the time they realized they were hungry, and were getting dressed to go raid the refrigerator, they heard Uncle Walter's car coming into the yard. Perfect timing they thought, hopping down the stairs two by two.
"Pssst!" said Jack, "Ennis you check what we got to eat in the frig, I'll make sure the bathroom's presentable!"