Fourteen #2
Kicking the bowl closer to me, I dump the coffee inside it, and his gaze follows each of my movements.
Emptying the inner pocket of my jacket, I toss the biscuits into the feeder.
When he still doesn’t move after I step away, I take out the voice changer, planning to attach it the way we used to with our costumes when we were kids.
Neither my friends or I had a lot of money growing up, and we found ways to make do with what we had.
I don’t have much money as a young adult either. Only what I saved up from summer jobs. This new job will change that. I won’t be rich or anything, but I’ll make a decent living. I’m not a person who needs a whole lot, though, and soon Blake will be happy with what he gets too.
“Go ahead and eat up, piglet,” I say, startling him.
Must have been caught in his own head. I get it.
It was a better place for me to be at times, but I need to become his better place.
His escape. His choice. I hate being so damn impatient.
I wouldn’t be if I didn’t feel like I was starting from scratch for the second fucking time. But am I?
My mind is definitely not in the better place right now. Still so fucking torn between wanting to believe his responses were real to not fucking trusting any of it.
He looks at the food and back up at me, hesitant to move.
“Go on,” I urge. “We don’t have all day. Well, I don’t. I have other shit to do, but I also need to get you cleaned up before I do. I can’t do that until you’re done eating. You don’t want to waste my time, do you?”
He shakes his head, biting on his lower lip. Yesterday he couldn’t shut up and today he’s quiet. Too quiet. Lowering his head, he keeps his eyes on me and begins to reach for a biscuit, yanking back his hand when I kick at his arm.
“Do I have to remind you how pigs eat?”
His head waves from side to side, his lips parting as he moves forward again. Digging his nails into the hay, his lips inch closer to the food and he nibbles gently. The second bite is bigger, and seconds later he’s devouring everything in the feeder, not leaving more than a few crumbs behind.
“Good. But never in my life have I seen an animal eat so quietly before.”
His eyes widen and he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, making snorting sounds. He throws in some grunts and licks at the feeder.
I hold back my laughter. “Way to oversell it. I’ll leave you to drink your coffee while I empty your bucket.”
After lowering the bucket, I walk down the ladder and turn on some heat lamps.
The space heater went off on its own earlier, but it’s not as cold in here as I expected it to be.
I empty the bucket. Only pee. No number twos yet.
Is he holding back from me? Embarrassment perhaps? Another thing of his I get to have.
My lips stretch from ear to ear and I picture his heated face, my cock stirring.
Fuck. Using the hose, I rinse the bucket and wash it well with some Dawn soap before walking into the house.
Cars drive along the highway over on the other side, but there are no cars on our road.
They can’t see inside the barn from there anyway.
Even though I’m not expecting any visitors at this time of day, leaving the barn open while I collect soap and a washcloth makes me uneasy.
I grab all I need and rush back to the barn, closing the doors only partially behind me.
Rustling comes from the hay loft, followed by some slurping.
With everything shoved in the bucket, I tie it to the rope and lift it up before going up myself.
Blake licks his lips, sitting on the blanket.
His shirt is drenched on the front and his jeans are a little worn on the knees.
“Been moving a lot up here?” I say into the voice changer.
No response. He looks from side to side and then crawls my way. “Oink oink.”
I pat him on the head, smiling. “You’re being so good today. This isn’t some little trick of yours, is it?”
He blinks his eyes at me, rolling his lips inward.
“Okay. How about this. One oink for no and two oinks for yes.”
“Oink oink.”
“I guess it works for “okay” as well,” I say, stepping toward him.
“Now, I want you to be still for me so I can get those dirty clothes off. Not only are they starting to smell, but also pigs don’t wear clothes.
None I’ve ever owned at least. I think it’s warm enough up here now for you to go without them. ”
Swallowing hard, he chews on his bottom lip and scratches at his knee.
“Don’t worry. You don’t have anything I haven’t seen before.” Rolling up my sleeves, I kneel on the ground, and he flinches when I reach for his shirt. I try again and he shoves me away.
Huffing, I rest my arms on my knees. “And here I thought we were finally on the same page. What happened, piglet?”
His eyes turn down as he refuses to look at me, his breaths picking up.
“Either I get these clothes off you or you get left in your own filth for a whole week. Which is it?”
He backs away, keeping his eyes on the ground, and crosses his arms.
“How about I at least brush those teeth for you, huh?” I wave the tooth brush in the air and he says, “Oink.” Only once.
He’s being defiant while also following my orders.
I guess if he was perfect, then I wouldn’t be able to correct him.
Oh, I’d hate not being able to do that. But this is unexpected.
Blake Mitchell wants to stay dirty and smelling just like a pig?
“Suit yourself, then.” I lower the bucket to the ground and climb down the ladder.
His head peeks over the edge, but he crawls back when I lift the bucket back up. It’s empty. I carry the shampoo, soap, and washcloth back to the house once the doors are locked again.
I tend to the farm, cleaning out stalls and watering the sheep.
They’re hair sheep, so I don’t have to do much with them aside from moving them around the pasture and keeping them hydrated.
Occasionally they get dewormed and we get bottle babies.
No babies until summer this year. No one wants sheep lambing during winter. Too much of a damn headache.
I look up from the water buckets when a car pulls up. Jimmy jumps out when he’s close enough to where I am, waving his hat in the air. “There he is! My favorite cop farmer.”
I bark out a laugh, flipping him the bird. I take off my gloves, shoving them in my back pocket. “I’m not a cop yet,” I say back, hopping over the fence and hitting the “on” switch on the fuse box.
“You will be soon, though. I mean, you’re basically part of the team once you start at the academy, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am, but I’m still not a cop yet. Gotta earn that title still.”
“And you will.” His gaze wanders toward the house. “Got any food? Leftovers from last night’s dinner by chance?”
Rolling my eyes, I swing an arm around him, guiding him forward. I want him as far from the barn as possible in case my little piglet hears his car or voice and gets any bright ideas. “I knew you came here for more than just a quick visit.”
“Hey, it’s you I come here for, and I stay for the food.” He rubs his stomach and we both laugh.
“I guess as long as the reason starts with me.” I send a light punch to his shoulder as our steps halt in front of the door to the house. Opening the door, I stand back as he goes in first, and I follow behind him. He makes himself comfortable at the table while I warm up leftovers from last night.
“So, once you start your new job tomorrow, does this mean you’ll have less time for us?”