And Yesterday Is Gone Read Online Free

it to the table.
    The goose bumps on the back of my neck threatened to explode; my stomach tied in knots.
    Ollie laughed as Carlos walked out—quiet as death, his feet never seemed to touch the floor.
    Lupe continued to clear the table as Juan and I almost ran out of the cabin and down the path.
    â€œDoesn’t that maniac know what shit he’s stirring up?” I asked Juan.
    He didn’t answer.
    Ma would have said Ollie was messing with the hind leg of a mule, but I would have said it wasn’t a mule—it was a king cobra.
    Mealtime was always a miserable experience. Ollie never let up on Carlos except to throw a few words at me.

CHAPTER 3
    M y chores with the sheep had expanded to include digging postholes for a fifty-foot fence. It was backbreaking work—the ground obviously had never known a shovel. Plus I had to dig out the stumps that were in the way. By mealtime I was almost too exhausted to eat and food was hard to keep down. More than once I lost it along the path back to the bunkhouse.
    After a couple days, I took a break to clean the sheep shed. Two more lambs had been born during the night and I was putting down clean straw, then pacifying the new mothers.
    I looked up to see Lupe watching me as she leaned against the door with an egg basket hung over her arm.
    What is she doing here? The henhouse is at the other end of the barn.
    But I instinctively knew before she took my hand. I followed her as though hypnotized, stumbling along, my penis trying to undo my zipper—or so it seemed.
    She stopped when we got past the wired bales where the loose hay was piled high. She set the egg basket aside, sat down, pulled the dress over her head, gave it a toss and lay back. Her thick brown body, her legs splayed out, those dark-tipped breasts—I could hardly breathe.
    The thin sheen of sweat made her almost glow and the scent of her smothered the smell of the fragrant hay. Her voice sounded slurred and guttural as she said, “Come and get it, pretty boy.”
    I fell to my knees and tried to unbuckle my belt with ten fingers on each hand.
    â€œLet me,” she said.
    As if in a dream, I felt the pants slide off and she moved against me, kissed a part of me that had never before known such affection. The agony was so great I groaned and uncontrollably erupted. Later—much later—I thought I had probably put most volcanoes to shame.
    I wanted to die I was so humiliated. I turned away, but she pulled me back; her mouth and hands were everywhere—places I never knew existed.
    Shockwaves drowned me as I lay suspended so close to Heaven I could hear the angels sing. Then exquisite agony as the entire universe exploded.
    I lay almost unconscious, and still that insatiable member stood erect before I could hardly breathe—as if it was apologizing for its first premature performance.
    She laughed as she whispered, “Another time, guapo, must go.”
    But I held her fast and in the struggle somehow her legs held me captive again. Then a rustle in the hay and she was gone.
    I crawled around in the hay that wasn’t stacked so neatly now, looking for my pants, wondering if I had the strength to pull them on. My boots—where are my boots?
    The guys got Sunday afternoon off, but the sheep didn’t observe Sunday so I took the herd to pasture and did a quick cleanup of the lambing pen. Then I could sneak a couple of hours for myself.
    Juan joined me as I drove the sheep out. When they were secure, we found a sheltered place in the brush and relaxed.
    Juan produced a baggie with the green stuff, then proceeded to teach me how to roll a joint. I was fascinated to see how expertly those long, graceful fingers could produce so neat a cigarette.
    He took the first deep drag and held it for what seemed forever, exhaled, and handed it over.
    â€œBueno, bueno.” He nodded.
    I tried to follow his example, but thought my time had come as I coughed, choked and my eyes