“For your information, I'm looking for cut worms. Stan said he thought some of these trees were infected, I'm trying to find the nest.”
I hear him sawing, watch the leaves shake as branches wiggle back and forth.
“Since when do you do that? That Stan’s job.”
“Yeah, well, he headed over towards the Geller house this morning. I think he wants to check up on Vanessa or whatever.”
Hank just grunts. I can't see his face through the leaves. But he doesn't start whistling again, so I know he is thinking about it.
“She's really something, huh?” I call out.
No answer.
“She got those big titties like you like," I yell out, pushing aside some branches, trying to peer up into the top of the trees. I don't see any cut worms out here at all. But then again, I don't exactly know what I'm supposed to be looking for.
“Right? Hank? She's pretty hot.”
He hops down from the stool, leaning over to pick up the fallen branches and chuck them into the back of the cart. He glowers at me as he repositions the stool under the next tree, his saw in his opposite hand.
“Come on… I know you liked her. Why won't you admit it?”
“She's a college girl, Tim,” he finally mutters, his voice so low I can barely hear it. “She got a whole lot of life ahead her.”
“She sure seemed to enjoy herself,” I counter.
“Looks can be deceiving,” he snarls.
I know there's nothing I can say at this moment to convince him to chill out. I know exactly where his head is at: Mandy.
She was head cheerleader when me and Tom were in high school. She was a rare beauty with jet black hair and big, almond shaped eyes. Sturdy and strong. When we brought her home, she said she loved us all.
We got used to it, having her around. She practically moved in with us, organizing the house, acting like a proper wife. She kept us all happy and satisfied and she could cook too.
Mandy helped us understand that we had to take turns, rather than just falling on her like a football team every night. She was game for the multiple partners, but she explained that sometimes her tender bits needed a little recovery time.
And she also showed us that we didn’t have to compete for her affection. There were no winners. We all won, with Mandy.
I don't know what happened. I guess she just got bored after a while. When fall came around, Mandy decided she was ready to go to college. She said she thought we knew. She said we should definitely should have known a woman wouldn't just give up everything to hang out on a farm like it was some kind of secret cult or something. That one hurt.
I guess the isolation got to her. Maybe the work. Maybe having five giant dicks wagging in her face every day. That's got to be a lot.
I imagine it takes a special kind of woman.
But Hank took it super hard. He took a while to come around to Mandy. He was suspicious at first. And he was suspicious that Stan said that this was all a good idea. He thought we all should find our own women.
But as Charlie pointed out, if we did that, we'd end up with a bunch of small slices of land chopped up again. Like the Geller house, it would feel separate. Eventually we would shave off so many pieces we would never be together again.
The solution was all Stan’s idea. One woman would keep us all together.
Hank came around after spending more time with her. He said falling for her was like falling down a flight of stairs. When she left, he looked like he’d broken something. We hated seeing him like that. There hasn’t been anyone since then, and it’s been a really long time.
“Well, I like her tits, I can tell you that,” I continue, pretending like he’s listening. “They taste like honey. You should try it.”
Hank jumps down, glaring at me and hooking his thumbs in his belt loops.
“You can do what you like. I'm fine. I like being a monk. If she's game… whatever. I won’t stand in your way. But maybe one time was it. Maybe she won't even come back.”
“Well maybe she will!”