Smokey Roads

His hand was on her ass when they both slipped into my home in the wee hours of the morning. All the usual things happened; the lights went on in the bedroom, then the soft glow of the nightlights we have near the bed stands. I was tempted to arrive home but it wasn't time yet.

I sat there pissed off at her, at the world and if I was of a criminal intent I would of shot and killed the fucker but I know what jail is like even if it was just the local county lockup. I stayed sitting there until around 2AM the light came back on and a few minutes later her lover came out the front door, turned and gave her a kiss and fist pumped a roster walk back to his car with June cussing at him to be quiet.

Like I said if I was a murderer, Charlie would be rotting worm food now. Instead I started up the truck and with the lights off pulled back onto the road and headed back towards Waynesville. I repeated the efforts over the next two weeks with the same results and on the following week I decided it was time to end it.

They were home a little earlier this time and when the lights went on in the bedroom I crossed the road, stopped at his car and flattened all four tires and one of June's. I didn't need any extra money flowing out of the account than necessary.

By the time I walked to the back side of the house, the night lights were on and the bedroom window was up to let the cool air circulate in the house. The picture of her dropping her pert little mouth down on his obviously big cock came out perfectly. '69 was next and the picture was excellent.

I let myself in through the back door and with the video turned on my phone I slowly walked back towards the bedroom. He was pounding the hell out of her at this point and she was just grunting her appreciation for all his carnal efforts. I've seen enough porn but hearing the squishy sound of a fat cock fucking in and out of a very excited and tight pussy just adds a dimension that is difficult to explain in words. I captured it all on video.

I flicked the light on and the surprised look on both their faces was priceless.

"That looks like one hell of a shot at impossibility to me." I said to both of them.

It was awkward at best. Charlie was on his knees on the bed with his still engorged prick glistening with June's juices coating the entire shaft. The phone caught it all. He was stumbling trying to find something, anything to cover up. I pointed at his clothes. June was just in shock at being discovered and crying her eyes out.

I tapped the S&W in the belt clip at my side and told him to get the fuck out of here. He grabbed up his clothes and scampered past me running for what he thought was his life. I heard the door close behind him and turned to June just as he cried out.

"Jesus Christ, my car."

He discovered the flat tires. Whatever or wherever he went, he didn't come back inside the house.

"Josh, please, let me explain."

I know there is a book of explanations out there for every cunt or prick who finds themselves in this situation but when they get to the last page the glaring message is 'No Fucking Way!'

"June, shut the fuck up and listen to me. Tell me how long, I just want one number, tell me how many times you fucked that douchebag?"

"Josh, please, listen to me." She cried.

"One number; how many times has his fucking cock fucked your god damn pussy?"

"Just this one time, I swear." She cried again.

"Jesus, that's a fucking relief." I said as I left the bedroom and walked back to the kitchen to get a cold beer. The Land Shark went down smooth as I stood there and watched her wrapped up in her old pink robe. I polished that one and cracked open another before walking outside.

Peckerwood was nowhere to be seen and the moonshine reflected off the hood of his car sitting there with four flat tires. I chuckled to myself, proud of my manly stance. I had already cried it all out a couple weeks earlier. Now it was just a matter of keeping the pecker dry and taking care of business; one time, my ass.

I pulled my truck out of the field across the road and parked it behind the house before thinking of another option. I had a stiff hitch in my barn for pulling loads and I chained the bastard's car up to the hitch and set off on the five mile journey into Waynesville. About a mile and a half down the road I passed him with his car on all four flats run down to the rims behind me.

When I made it to Waynesville up near the Salvation Army store I dropped his car off in a parking lot and headed back home. June was at the kitchen table when I walked in.

"Joshua, can we talk about this, please."

I looked at her and just told her 'not tonight' and I grabbed the rest of the 6-pack and went out back to my shop. It's a man cave for mechanics and up in the loft I cobbled together a pretty decent retreat space. With 'Mars Hotel' playing in the background, I polished off the remaining beers and drifted off to sleep.

The next day I called in and let my boss know I had some issues to deal with on the home front and went into the house to deal with the whore.

"June, you need to move out and go stay with your sister. You are the one who fucked up."

Surprisingly she didn't argue. Maybe she thought telling me it was just a one- time thing helped her out. Her sister came over and helped load a lot of her things into both cars after the two of them changed the flat tire. Before they left, the sister, Ann, came out to the shop to have a talk with me.

I always liked her and didn't hold anything against her for being in-laws.

"Josh, are you going to take her back?"

"Did you know she was fucking around on me?"

Ann shook her head and wiped away a tear.

"You two have always been real good together. I hate to see this happening."

"Me too, sister, me too."

I gave her a hug and the two of them drove down the road.

I filed separation papers the next day and all hell broke loose. It started with June, then her parents, her friends, my parents, my siblings and on and on. Everybody felt we could work through the problems and everything would be all right. It was all a one- time mistake.

"June, tell everybody the truth or I'll send the video and the pictures from the earlier hook ups to everybody you fucking know."

I think she went into shock with the revelation that I knew about the earlier times. Nonetheless, she told them something because the excuses changed. Now, it was the 'young people make mistakes all the time' excuse and that we were young and could work it all out, maybe make a baby or two. It was all the time, constant. Finally I stopped answering the phone unless it was work related.

I told June to come get whatever else she wanted from the house when I was at work. I was filing to keep the house and buy out her share of it. There wouldn't be any alimony and everything we had we put into the house except for a bit of retirement we each got at work; pretty simple really.

It was so simple we were officially divorced six months later although the attempts and pleas to get back together never let up. June would corner me at a restaurant and grab a seat in a booth or bar I was sitting at. Her sister Ann would stop by two or three times a week just to talk and feed me. For a while I thought she was taking a run at it herself but she wasn't.

Finally, I figured I'd take a novel way to put a halt to it all. I called up Terry and asked her if she wanted to go to the dance hall over on Patton Friday night. She did and she ended up spending the whole weekend at my house and in my bed. I underestimated the woman. She completely wore me out and left with a smile pasted to my face for a solid week.

Of course one of the reasons I chose Terry aside from the fact I knew she was going to be a great fuck was because I also knew she couldn't keep her mouth shut to save her life. It was a sure bet she was keeping a stroke by stroke account of everything we did just for the benefit of scoring her brownie points with her clique at work which as far as I knew still included June. It worked better than I expected.

The following weekend came and on that Friday night I went solo to the dance hall. June apparently had moved over to day shifts because she was there with a few of the old clique and lo and behold there she was with Charlie.

I've never really understood how women think sometimes. I guess it's an occupational hazard of being a man. June, her sister, her parents and everybody else I could think of except a few interested women with other designs on their mind were crafting ways of convincing me to somehow take her back. Yet there she was with the old nemesis himself.

I took a seat at the bar and sipped a cold beer while watching the couples out on the floor. It wasn't long before June and Charlie glided out there and did a dirty number for somebody's benefit; I guessed it was for me. When they finished peckerwood sauntered back to the table and June walked over to the bar.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Josh."

"What way is that?"

"Us not together and being with other people."

"I'm in here solo." I said making a show of looking around.

June was getting a bit red in the throat. I learned early on in our marriage that was a sign she was about to blow so I cut her off. I leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"Listen real good, June. I don't care if that monkey fucks you six ways into next week and all the way to your tonsils. You've been fucking him for a long time and you might as well keep on squealing with him. I'm pretty sure you know I tapped your friend Terry real good all last weekend and to tell you the truth it was damn good and I might go back for a second helping."

She drew back and slapped me hard at that and then broke out in tears. Peckerwood rose up from the table and started for the bar but thought otherwise when I raised my hand to him.

"You see that prick you're with? He stopped in his tracks when I gave him the hand. The only thing he's interested in is your pink cunt. That's all he's ever been interested in and you gave him what belonged to me, over and over. You took what was special between us and brought that dirty scumbag into our bed, our lives.

"So, now, live with it. I've moved on."

With that I chugged down the rest of my beer and walked out of the place. She came running out after me crying but I just fired up my truck and left. I ended up over at Jack of the Wood sipping a Green Man Ale and watching the hippy chicks dancing dervish.

I found out later that June left with a girlfriend right after I did and according to those in the know she doesn't go out as much as she did. I didn't hook back up with Terry like I told June although I was tempted. She really was that good. Instead I poured myself back into the job.

June and Ann continued to approach me when they could although I think Ann was realizing that it was a lost cause. Her parents and mine were another matter. My folks kept inviting June over for BBQ even when I wasn't around. She was the daughter they never had and didn't want to let her go.

I guess we all changed up some aspects of our lives as a result of the divorce and the fallout from it. For me it was a get back to the woods mentality. Growing up in and around the Smokies and the National Forests gave me a sense of belonging, an identity of sorts. I wasn't a hillbilly, whatever that is nor was I really a redneck. I guess at heart I was a woodsman.

So I changed up my ride habits. I used to run down through Murphy or across I-40 when I travelled into Tennessee on my route. Instead of doing that I started taking the Old Cataloochee Turnpike or the Hooch Road through the mountains. It was a good bit longer but when the weather was pleasant it was a great ride and on occasion I could stop and drop a line in a stream on the way.

How I didn't see that neat white farmhouse over on the Tennessee side on all those earlier trips only God knows but one day I did.

----------------------------------------------------

I had just finished mowing the grass and put up the mower before cracking the top off a cold beer when the phone went off in my pocket.

"Joshua, hello, this is Sandra Dresser over in Cosby. You stopped by my place last week to fix your truck."

I remembered; hell, I couldn't keep her out of my mind over the past few days. There was just something about her that made me comfortable even though I had only met and talked with her for a few hours. I had been meaning to call her about that '57 Ford with some new information.

"Hello, Ms. Sandra. I never forget a gracious hostess. I had been meaning to call you in a day or two about that old Ford you have."

"Yes, that was what I was calling about actually, that and the others out there. You got me to thinking about them again and I've decided to do something about it. I thought maybe you'd like to stop in on your next pass through here and help me figure out what my next steps should be."

There were eleven old vehicles out on that patch, all of them in darn good condition body and frame wise from what I saw. Next steps were easy; assess them and sell them. She knew that already so the invite was personal.

"I'm heading by that way next Thursday but to tell you the truth I wouldn't mind a drive through the mountains tomorrow since it's supposed to be a pretty Sunday." I offered with a prayer and hope.

Thirty minutes later I was sitting in the barbershop chair over in Waynesville getting a trim and picked up a good cabernet on the way home. I'm mostly a beer drinker but I know a good red wine from a bad one.

Nine o'clock the next morning I was on my way to travel my familiar road on a beautiful day. When I came across Big Creek the fishermen were working both sides of the bridge and if I didn't have a date down the road I would have stopped longer. Just as I arrived at the site a kid was pulling in a nice 1 lb. trout he caught on what looked like a version of a mayfly. I took the leak I stopped for and headed back down the road.

When I pulled into Ms. Sandra's gravel drive she was out front talking with a man rather animatedly as her two dogs sat on their haunches watching every move. There was another man sitting in the other vehicle taking it all in as I parked my truck and started walking up the drive. The conversation between the two was getting a bit louder by the time I got within a few feet of them.

"Now, Bill told me I could have that '65 back there in exchange for some work I did for him a couple months ago, damn it." The man said to Sandra.

"Well, I don't know a thing about it and as far as I'm concerned Bill was done with everything out here over two years ago so if he owes you anything you will have to take it up with him, not me."

"Hold on just a damn minute -." He started to reply before I broke in.

"Morning Ms. Sandra. Is everything here OK?

She looked at me with a hint of apprehension on her face before replying.

"Everything is fine, Joshua. This gentleman was just leaving."

The man looked at me and I could see anger in his eyes but I just smiled and wished him a good day. We watched him climb back in his truck and out the drive and he headed back toward Cosby.

"So what was that all about?" I asked.

"I think my ex-husband is causing me some trouble. He can't come onto the property. Actually, he can't even drive down this road in front of the house because of a restraining order."

I chuckled to myself and said "That's convenient. Oh, before I forget, I brought a bottle of wine, a '12 St. Francis cabernet if you want to stick it in the fridge for a bit."

She smiled graciously and we walked back up onto the porch with the dogs in tow. After the wine was stowed away we settled onto the porch and we talked about the inventory of old cars by the barn. Along with the '57 Ford and the '65 Fairlane there was also a '67 Barracuda, a '69 Olds 442, and a '48 Caddy along with half a dozen other nondescript sedans. It was a nice nest egg if she got fair market for them.

"I know somebody who would pay pretty decent for that '57. In the shape it's in now I think you could get minimum 8K, maybe $10K if it's still solid." I told her.

"Tell them I'm interested." was her reply.

We chatted a while longer about the rest of the stock and I agreed to talk to a fellow over in Sevierville I know who has dickered a lot in these things. I thought he might be willing to ty to sell them on a commission to ensure a fair price. Once that was settled, I was treated to a culinary treat of fried chicken with all the fixings.

After everything was cleaned up and put away we took a walk through the pasture and into the mountain woods behind her place. It's beautiful country over here; a mix of farmland and mountains and as green as anyplace on God's earth. At some point we came to a break along a small gurgling brook and stopped to take things in.

"So Josh, what's your story? Married, single, in a relationship, divorced ... you know, where have you been and where are you going?"

Heck, I didn't know what to say really so I told her the truth, at least a sanitized version of it. I told her about catching June with the peckerwood and how that pretty much killed the marriage. She learned all about the angst of her and her sister, her parents, my parents and every friend we had all trying to push me back to her. I even told her about dating Terri just to piss June off and try to get her to see I was trying to move on. I did tell her I get out once in a while and date but nothing serious to speak of.

Sandra just kind of smiled all through it like she had gone through the same thing which to find out she had in a way.

"Josh, OK, I'll tell you mine now. I got married right out of high school. Biggest darn mistake I've ever made. If I thought then that life would be great for a few years and then turn to crap almost overnight I'd have bought a ticket on the first bus out of this hollow.

"As it was, we had a few good years before it all went south, pretty much like your experiences, I guess, although my 'peckerwood' was delusional." She broke out in laughter at that. "That's the funniest thing to call him, I guess, peckerwood.

"Bill Dresser, did you ever know him? He's from south of Hazelwood, up in Balsam not far from where you are." I shook my head 'no'.

"Well, it seems he took a shine as my Daddy used to say to a girl over in Cosby who just wasn't as interested as he thought she was. I guess she screwed him a couple of times not knowing he was married and when she found out I was his wife, she dropped him like a hot potato.

"Jesus, this is funny. She drove over here one day while Bill was at work and confessed the whole thing, profusely apologizing to me the whole time. We knew each other from our high school days but never ran in the same circles. Apparently, Bill wouldn't take no for an answer.

"The girl went to Texas to stay with her Daddy in no small part because of Bill's constant pestering. The peckerwood ... I love that term ... drove to Texas to chase after her. She called to tell me that and that's when I put all his things on the porch and called him to come and get them before it rained on them.

"Well, he came back two days later, broke into the house when I was gone, made a mess of things and put his crap back inside. When I got back home that night with Sampson and Delilah I kept him boxed into the corner with both dogs while I put all his crap back out on the lawn.

"My dogs know who mama is, dontcha, babies." She rubbed the fur and collar of both of them as they sat at her feet, again with tongues hanging out while watching me.

"The next day, Daddy and I went to the lawyer's office and got a restraining order against him and had him served at work a couple days later. The following week he was right back in Texas chasing after that poor girl. I still talk to her on occasion; a nice kid but she's smart enough to tell him where to get off. The last I knew he was living in some woman's trailer over in Sylva."