A Simple Life: Chapter 134 (Patreon)

As Winona eats her snack and I pet the kitten we gaze into each other’s eyes and talk about whatever came to mind.

We talk about the boat trip with Grandpa that we were hoping to do this Saturday, Winona seeming genuinely excited about it. I discover that outside of a couple fishing trips on small lakes in her youth and the ferry out to Ehkolie that she’d barely been on the water before. She had never slept on a ship before or cruised a coastline or anything. For a little sea dog like me I couldn’t imagine my life without the ocean. She was also eager to hear about some of the places we could go to hike or camp that were difficult to reach any other way. The vast majority of her time on the island had been spent in Haven Point and now the garage, the rest of the land was a mystery to her. I was only too happy to be her guide in exploring it.

The topic then turns to her life back on the reservation and how she was going to miss the plains despite the challenges of living there. She confessed that she found the looming mountains claustrophobic and the water that surrounded the island constraining compared to the vast open spaces that she was used to. She told me that back home the summers were too hot, the winters too cold, the spring too mucky, and the autumn too short and yet still she felt a connection to the land and people that went deep.

Setting the plate to the side she turns me around and has me lay back onto body so that my head rested on her chest just below her chin. Wrapping her legs over mine and her arms around my chest she holds me close. As I pet Brutus who now lay on my chest she teases at my hair and we continue our conversation.

Lightly stroking her hand that rested on my belly I ask softly. “D-Do you plan to g-go back someday?”

“Nah.” She says, still playing with my hair. “I thought about staying behind but…nah. We’re putting down roots here. Closer to Russell. Better opportunities. A better future. I’ll always love the Rez but this is our home now.”

Patting her hand I tell her. “You’ll learn to love it.”

With a kiss to my head she whispers. “I’m learning quick.”

I smile and snuggle back into her. “Just wait until you s-see the sunset out at sea. And I c-can show you places that are so beautiful here it’ll take your breath away.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.” I say. “You’ll come to love Ehkolie as much m-me. You’ll see.”

“I can’t wait.” She says. “You know, Dad was actually asking about your nature walks and stuff.”

“Oh?”

“He thought you might know some places to find deer and grouse.”

“Oh yeah! Easy.” I say. “Just driving around you can…” I pause. “Why deer and grouse?”

“Hunting of course.” She chuckles. “You have not had a burger until you’ve tasted Dad’s venison…”

“Amos k-k-kills deer?” I bristle. “He shoots them!”

“He hunts them.”

“I…I thought he w-was an animal lover.”

“He is. He’s a big ol suck with animals.” She ruffles the kitten’s orange head. “You’ve seen him with mighty Brutus here.”

“But he hunts?”

“Well, yeah. Most Lakota men do. At least in our family. It’s important to them.”

“Yet he loves animals?”

“You love birds and you eat chicken, don’t ya?”

“True. It just…seems different is all.”

“I mean, what did ya think the guns were about?”

“I…I forgot about them.” I say, despite having seen the empty gun rack in Winona’s truck lots of times to remind me. “Are th-they here?”

She leans in to try to look at my face. I look up at her to see her peering down a bit confused. “Of course. He kept the handguns in town and I keep the long guns out here. In case of bears or whatever.”

“Th-There’s no bears on Ehkolie anymore!”

“Avery. Calm down.”

“Sorry.” I sigh. “I…don’t like g-guns. When D-Dad moved away he took his gun with him. We didn’t have any around after th-that. I l-liked it better that way.”

“They’re in a safe in the storeroom.” She says. “You won’t even have to see them.”

“Okay.”

“I can teach you how to use them if you want. They’re not as scary as all that once you’re comfortable with them.” She says. “I could take you to the range or we could just head out back and…”

“Um…I-I d-don’t think I’d like that.” I say.

“Ya sure? It’s pretty fun.”

“I l-like to do my shooting with c-cameras, not guns.”

“Fair enough.” She hugs me. “Everything cool, Sprout?”

“Cool.” I answer.

She pats my chest then gives it a brisk rub. “Russell never liked’em either.”

“Smart guy.”

“Ha!”

Brutus eventually wanders off but we stay snug right where we were. Even though I had to hang my legs over the arm of the loveseat there was nowhere more comfy than in Winona’s embrace.

“This is nice.”

“Mmm.” She hums as she returns to lightly stroking my hair as I lightly caress her opposite forearm.

“Winona?”

“Mmm?”

“D-Did you mean what you said? About the shopping trip?”

“What do you think?”

“I th-think you did.” I whisper. “Winona?”

She lets out a soft laugh. “Go ahead.”

“Do you…th-think…”

Her arm and legs tighten around me. “It’s okay, Avery.”

“What d-do you think…K-Kayla and B-Briar would say…if they knew w-we were shopping for me?”

“Well.” She ponders a moment. “Kayla would be cool. More than cool. I mean, you probably know her even better than I do. What do you think?”

“I think she’d be c-cool.” I say, nerves of a reveal that was only hypothetical at this point already rising. “She m-might laugh though.”

“Not in a mean way.”

“Yeah.”

“And Briar, well, I just don’t know her well enough.” She says. “She seems sweet enough. So sweet that she's stealing handholds from my man!”

“I w-won’t do it again.”

“I never said that, Sprout.” She kisses my head again. “You guys do your thing. Not my business.”

“Mmm.” I sigh happily. “I think Briar would be…c-cool.”

“I think so too.” She says. “You thinking about showing them baby girl?”

“I’m thinking about it.” I confess.

“Riley?”

“Mmm.” I shake my head no. It was nothing against Riley, but in my gut I didn’t trust her like I did the others.

“Yeah. Good plan.” She says. “Riley’s fun but she’s not the most discreet person.”

“And, um, I h-had an idea how to d-do it safely first.”

“Oh? I’m listening.”

“M-Maybe…we could, um, show up t-to the n-next game in costume?” I say. “It w-would give me an excuse to b-be Althea.”

“That…is an AWESOME idea! Ha ha ha!” She laughs. “Oh man. That would be rad!”

“Th-Think the others would like it?”

“Kayla getting to dress like a hot, slutty demon dude? She’d love that!”

“He he he!” I giggle. “I n-never thought about that. She would!”

“Her halloween parties are always the best. Oh yeah, we’d make her a gamer for life if we did that. She is gonna go nuts with her costume. You watch.”

“Briar m-might be tough. How’s she g-gonna be Scourge?”

“With imagination anything is possible.” She says excitedly, the idea gaining a momentum of it’s own. “She’s a gamer. She’ll get it. Cain’ll be the challenge.”

“Oh? N-Not one for costumes?”

“No clue.” She says. “But it’s not his costume I’m worried about.”

“Hoppy Bunbun!”

“Ha ha ha! Exactly. I can see Riley already. Jumping around with her tits flopping out! HA HA HA! She’d do it too!” Beneath me her tight belly was bouncing me up and down. “Brayden on the couch with his mouth hanging open. Cain scowling at him for gawking at his girlfriend. HA HA HA!”

“He he he!”

“I was going to try to get something together Friday night.” She says. “Let’s do this!”

“Okay!”

Chapter 135