Small Farm, Big Farm Boy growing pains 2 by U. M. Lassiter

Author:U. M. Lassiter [Lassiter, U. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
Amazon: B00B4QKKY0
Publisher: Devine Destinies
Published: 2013-01-14T11:00:00+00:00

Chapter Five

I got cleaned up, put on a fresh pair of overalls and spent the rest of the afternoon helping Farley fix the broken door. Ryan went back to his work in the lab, largely avoiding me. I guess I wasn’t sending out the most positive vibes. I think Farley picked up on that, too, because he was all business. Not one Big Ox remark.

By suppertime, I was in a better mood. The prospect of a good meal has that effect on me. Nonetheless, I wasn’t very talkative. Everyone else made small talk and pointedly avoided any mention of the day’s fiasco.

I couldn’t help thinking about how Sammy and Frank expected me to be The Terminator or something. It’s funny how people’s attitudes change when you’re suddenly so physically imposing. It’s like all at once, they expect you to be in charge or something. They act like you’re smarter, more decisive, more dominant. Short people must be treated so unfairly.

To be honest, I am a lot more self-confident, but I think that’s because I’m not walking around in the fog of autism I once was, rather than the fact I’m ginormous. At least for the most part.

I was so pissed with Sammy, and with Frank, for that matter. Why did Sammy have to be so thoughtless and shallow? Frank would be better off without him. Of course, Frank wasn’t much better. That was a pretty childish stunt he pulled, running off like that. Ferdinand could have killed him. I read in the paper once that scientists determined that the part of your brain responsible for judgment isn’t really fully formed until about age twenty-five. I’m sure parents everywhere said “Well, duh…”

It was my turn to do the dishes, but everyone rose up to insist that I didn’t have to. I was a seven-hundred-pound object of pity. Just what I needed.

I went out and sat on my favorite stump to watch the stars come out. It was a beautiful evening. There was no moon, and every so often I saw a shooting star. The air was still and whatever those bugs in the trees were called were making a constant din. Crickets? Cicadas? Locusts? I wasn’t sure, but as the wide prairie sky opened up and the dazzling Milky Way appeared, I suddenly felt calm and peaceful. Occasionally a slight breeze tickled my face and bare shoulders.

“Whew! You smell like meadow muffin,” came a familiar voice from behind me. A pair of arms reached around my neck and Ryan placed his hands on my chest. Beautiful, delicate hands. Hands trying to solve the problems of the world. The hands I loved.

He kissed me tenderly on the neck and nuzzled my ear. I started to feel all my cares just fall away.

“Come on,” he said. “Let’s go for a walk.”

I stood and Ryan took my hand. We started walking out past the lab, out past the barn, far out to the back pasture.

“I’m sorry your friends’ visit didn’t go well,” he said as we walked.

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