A Simple Life: Chapter 4 (Patreon)

Dragged inside unexpectedly, and with my pack throwing my balance off, I stumble through and right into Winona.  Still having control of me she shoves me back again to pin me against the door frame.  Once she was sure I was steady on my feet again her arm relaxes.  All of this she does with one arm and without even looking my way.  Her eyes wide and searching the darkness before her she lets go of my collar and smooths it out again with a few pats across my chest.  Beyond the slice of light coming in from the open door there was nothing in front of us but blackness and vague ghostly shapes within it.  The building was boarded up tight.

The building I pay no notice to as I gawk up at Winona still shaken by the power and brazenness she’d just shown.  Not only was she bigger than me but the way she’d just manhandled me and my pack with such ease let me know that she had a sort of tomboy strength that equaled or even surpassed my own!  I feel rightfully disrespected and offended by the rude treatment.  Who did she think she was mauling me like that!?  I’d had my damn fill of that shit growing up with two big brothers and an older sister, to say nothing of the bullies of my school years.  But mostly I feel…really…really…really…aroused???  Huh!?

Lit by just the door behind us her long straight hair shone like glossy black silk down her long graceful back.  From my perspective beside, below and behind the smooth tan skin and strong features of her face stood out in contrast between her onyx hair and the deep darkness beyond.  Facing the inky unknown before her there was no trepidation, only anticipation.  In that instant she looked so powerful and brave and I could easily imagine hers as the face hidden within the helm of Lady Ara.

“I-I should g-go.”  I mumble again.

“If you’re gonna go, go.”  She dismisses me with a wave.  “I’ll see ya around Sprout.”

“Um.”  I look to my right to the bright outdoors but my feet do not move.

“Great.”  She smiles when she sees that I was staying.  “I need a witness.”

“W-witness?”  I cheep in an embarrassing voice cracking high note.  “Ahem.  Witness?”

“Yeah.”  She says.  “A neutral party to see the state of the place when we took possession, ya know?  In case we have to go to court.”

“Court!?”

“This whole thing was a rush job.  To push the paperwork through Dad had to buy this place sight unseen.  I’m just hoping we didn’t get fucked too hard here.”

“Fucked?”

“Ya know.  Screwed.  Dicked.  Bent over without any lube.”  She quips.  “Without even giving us the courtesy of a safeword.”

“Safeword?”

“Already?”  She smirks.  “Why Avery, I barely know you.”  As I stand blushing she reaches over to the switches on the wall opposite the doorway from me.  “They said we ought to have power.”

There is a click followed by an electrical tick-tick-tick-a-tack-bzzzz of a bank of old fashioned fluorescent lights flickering to life.  Spreading out before us are the two dust covered automotive bays that made up the southern half of the building.  Except for a belly height half wall that separated the bays the whole area was one big space.  The concrete brick walls that I had leaned against so many times from the outside had the same drab white paint though far less sun faded on the inside.  Above us heavy steel beams ran across the ceiling.  The smooth surface of the polished concrete floor was only interrupted by an old steel vehicle lift smack in the center of the near bay.   The big metal bay doors that faced out toward the T-intersection and the town’s peninsula had their windows boarded from the outside and the glass was pristine on this side.  Around the outer walls were empty benches and shelves along with some basic equipment such as a lathe, battery charger, engine hoist and air compressor.  Along the central half wall was an jack stands, drain pans, and a host of other things.  Every last item looked…well used, to put it charitably, and at least a few decades old.  This whole place was a time capsule to a bygone era.  The calendar with the bikini babe on it from 2001 was just the cherry on top.

Whoever built this place originally had built it to last.  Except for the dust and age of the equipment the place looked like it closed yesterday.  There was no obvious leaks or cracks or anything that looked seriously amiss.  The 1950’s looking facade outside might be faded and cracking but someone had clearly taken care that the inside was maintained.  

“Oh my God.”  Winona whispers.  “I think I’m gonna nut.”

“What?”  I titter.

“Look at this place Sprout!”  She says, a contagious excitement shining through every word.  “This is even better than the pictures!  Wow!”  She hurries out into the first bay with her hands on her head in disbelief of what she was seeing.  “Ohhh.  Dad is gonna be so happy.  Holy shit.  Holy shit!  This is amazing.”  Even though this had nothing to do with me I was smiling.  With all of the secondhand giddiness that I was getting off of the buoyant Winona it was impossible not to.  “If even half this stuff works…”  Her words trail off as she is overwhelmed by the moment.

“I always wondered what it looked like on the inside.”  I mutter quietly, starting to feel more comfortable.

Her head snaps to look at the two doors on the north wall.  “Come on.”  She says with long, quick strides in that direction.  Setting down my backpack on the near work bench I follow along.  She goes through her keys and finds the right one to open the first door.  Inside we find a nearly empty storage room.  A stack of three mismatched tires the only thing inside besides the shelving.

After a brief perusal we move to the next door which I knew would lead out into the front desk area.  Racks and posters of different oil and parts companies line the near and back wall.  To our left were the big front windows and main door where the general public would come in and out of and to our right was the service counter.  At the far end was a washroom.  Behind the counter we find old order pads and receipt books and half a dozen ashtrays.  There was a phone jack, a spot for a computer, and a small strong box.  The latter Winona opens up to find empty.  Behind the counter was another door.

Winona stops and places her hand on the door with a smile.  “Here it is.  Home sweet home.”

“Home?”  I say with growing courage.  “You’re going to live here?”

“All mine.”  She sighs happily.  “My first place of my own.”  She looks tests the door to find it locked and starts going through the keys again.  “The suite isn’t big enough for all of us so Mom and Dad are renting in town.”  She turns the lock and pauses a moment to acknowledge this milestone in her life.  “This is it.”

The door swings open and Winona flicks on the light.  The bare suite was small, just a bachelor pad, with only a closet and a basic washroom leading off of it.  The main room would have to act as bedroom, living room and dining room combined.  In the northeast corner was a tiny kitchenette that consisted of a counter, two cupboards, sink, mini-fridge, toaster over, and hotplate.  Like in the garage bays most of this stuff looked like it might have been as old as Winona and I put together.  A single window, boarded of course, faced out the back to look over the pad where I had just fed the cats.  It wasn’t much.  Except for the industrial looking ceiling it could almost pass for a basic hotel room, one from the 70’s at least.  But Winona couldn’t have been happier.

“The bed will go here.  My book shelf here.”  She says as she rushes about the room.  “Johnny goes here.”  She slaps the brick wall.  “Computer here.”  She points to a spot near the ‘kitchen’.  She hurries to the fridge and cupboards to check them out.  “Ha!  It comes with a mug.”  She shows me a cup that had the logo of the old video store that used to serve our town.  “A coat of paint, maybe some drapes and a few feminine touches…”  She nods approvingly as she looks around.  “…this is okay.  This will do nicely.”  Spinning back toward me, her arms out wide, she asks.  “Whadya think Sprout?”

Lifted by Winona’s excitement at having a place of her own, something I had yet to experience myself, the space around me transforms before my eyes as I look at the dingy room again through new eyes.  Through the filter of my imagination I start to picture what it could become with a little care and attention.  I could see the natural light pouring in through the window, nice new curtains on either side of it.  I see the whole room brightened with a fresh coat of paint and a big area rug right in the middle.  I see posters, houseplants, a shelf of books, a spice rack over the counter and a kettle steaming on the hotplate.

“It’s wonderful!”  I smile and clap.  “A real palace.  Casa Winona.”

Her eyes widen.  “Yes.  Yes Sprout!  Casa Winona!  Ha ha ha!  I love it.”

I giggle happily.

She looks around her shaking her head, still not quite believing her good fortune.  “Dreams will come true here.  I can FEEL it.  Can’t you just feel it?”  She looks back to me.  “Hey, I know you have to get going but…if you’ve got a minute I sure could use a hand unloading the truck.”

With a big goofy grin I say.  “I have a minute.”

Chapter 5