We start A SUMMER IN THE FARM part II!

PROLOGUE

It´s been a year since Travers sent their son to Garrison´s farm for the summer, but Kyle hasn´t returned yet.

Kyle´s classy parents thought that still and routine together with rustic work, far from the thrill and rush of Detroit that his whirlwind son enjoyed so much, would be a hard corrective to fix his grades. However, like many times before, punishments triggered unpredictable events in Kyle, like a runaway wild horse that was impossible to rein in and know where he was galloping and when he would stop.

On this occasion, the outcome surprised even Travers´ son, who decided to stay there for a whole year, putting off college despite his parents' contempt and threats.

By Alfred and Bertha, the old caring couple running that family farm lost in the rural small town of Broxton, Kyle never felt prejudged by academic grades discrediting his lifeful and awakened nature.

Possibly, he felt by them that unconditional love he sometimes missed from his parents. But what was evident is that Kyle found out there the pleasure of giving himself up to grow bigger and bigger. Just stuffing himself with those brimming plates of homemade country food, Bertha and Alfred constantly put on his way. Then lift hard like an animal in his home gym. Just eating and lifting to grow bigger and stronger without paying the slightest attention to the definition in favor of mighty-sized muscles.

The aftermath: that once slender boy almost doubled his weight in a single year, and even pushed his last growth spurt with some extra inches to his already higher-than-average body. Kyle looked much more virile still in his late adolescence than every man in their full adulthood, which made such a change even more amazing, if possible.  It was an amazing change that his best friends, Mark and Jeremy, were about to witness in person, as they were visiting him at the farm for a couple of months, during Kyle´s second summer at Garrisons.

Mark was a boy, more or less the same age as Kyle. Fitness passionate ever since he was 14, his muscles grew with a rocky look as if they were sculpted in stone. Under his thick but perfectly outlined angular eyebrows, Mark´s slanted eyes were black and bright like two burning coal embers, which, together with his square jaw and prominent cheekbones, granted him the glare of a panther about to pounce. Such a fierce countenance seemed to warn of the ardent strength of his character; Mark was fiery in the expression of his impulses and convictions, and his haughty pride bordered on arrogance, and his unbreakable fortitude bordered on stubbornness.

Jeremy, by contrast, was humble and thoughtful; every word he spoke was carefully chosen, not to avoid the truth, but not to hurt anyone´s feelings; a middle point difficult to find, that, however, his prudence let him calibrate with natural ease. An uncommon skill that showed in the rare times he spoke, by his preference for blending in. In fact, his look and manners seemed to be made for that end, since his slim figure, somewhat shorter than average, and his soft and quiet movements gave the sensation that he could vanish at any moment into thin air like a weightless wisp of fog under the midday sun. Such small body proportions highlighted his bulbous green eyes of drowsy eyelids, which were limpid, translucent like a kelp bed seen through the calm, crystal clear waters of a pristine beach.

CHAPTER I

THE REENCOUNTER

Mark, with Jeremy as his co-pilot, drove through the Garrisons´ farm entrance. Kyle had already opened the fence some minutes earlier when Jeremy texted him: “Almost there”. As the sports car rattled, its signature sound echoed through the quiet surroundings until it got parked in the yard. Mark and Jeremy got off and cast their eyes around, searching for Kyle.

“Hey, guys, over here! What´s up?” A booming voice in the distance, manly but jovial in its modulations, made Mark and Jeremy turn their heads.

A combo of amazement and fun got drawn on them as Kyle approached with his 6’ 3’’ height and 300 pounds of blown-up muscles, swaying his broad shoulders at every one of his firm steps. Once Kyle got closer, his cocky smirk turned into a playful smile, aware of the additional comical effect that his farm clothing had on their ‘posh’ friend; straw hat, red bandana around his neck, work boots, unfastened overalls, and a tight white ribbed tank top. Gus, Garrison's dog, came with him.

Mark and Kyle raised their arms for a bro handshake with a strong slap, “My bougie bro turned into a big country boy! Haha” After the hug, still clasping hands, Mark added, “Looking way bigger than in your last pics, man!”

“Yeah, haha!” Kyle answered, almost roaring as he turned to Jeremy to greet him in the same brotherly way. He lifted up his tank to his neck, sucked in, and puffed out his chest; massive pecs pressing against his furry chin. Kyle, looked down at Jeremy and asked, “Do I look bigger, Jam?”, Kyle flashed Mark a knowing smile, still with his tank rolled up impossible to fall down by itself, and looked back at his tiny friend, ”chunky and plumped as hell, right, Jam?”, His pecs bouncing heavily like insisting on an answer.

Jeremy stayed quiet like a goat that goes rigid when impressed and about to topple over, unable to take his eyes off Kyle´s bobbing pecs. Finally, he nodded his head sheepishly and said, “Oh … yeah … indeed … I´m … I´m freaked out … looking much bigger in person!”

Kyle abruptly opened his arms, “A hug in tip-top shape, damn it, long time no see!!!” and he clenched his thick trunk arms around his friends with much more strength than he needed to lift them off the ground.

Mark and Jeremy felt squeezed as if two anacondas had coiled around them to smash their bones, “You, asshole, put me down!!” shouted Mark pushing in vain.

“Argh it hurts, please, stop!”, Jeremy begged, flapping his legs.

Suddenly, an insistent slapping on Kyle´s back was heard; Bertha came to the rescue, “Kyle, you´re such a brute, get your friends loose, you´re gonna hurt them!”

Kyle roared, “This is just a sweet hug of love, Auntie!”

Bertha took her hands to her waist, “So, it appears you don´t wanna try that rice pudding I made for today.” Her not-declared threat sounded as quietly unconcerned as a firm warning.

Immediately, Kyle gently put their friends down and his arms opened without any difficulty, like spring-loaded. Then he stepped back, put his hands behind his back, and looked at the elder woman, tilting his head with a smile of regret, just like a little kid when caught in some mischief, expecting to be spared any punishment.

Mark and Jeremy, still recomposing, looked at each other with a mixture of surprise and amusement; they laughed at the effective way that tender-looking granny controlled their always unruly friend.

Kyle immediately changed the subject, “This beauty is Bertha, my auntie,” He said, draping his arm over her,” Have you ever seen such a pretty woman? Just look at that baby face!” Then he quickly hugged her against his side to soften any complaint for his cheeky but nothing malicious joke.

Bertha just shook her head and said with a tone of lighthearted exasperation, “Kyle, stop, you´re so annoying! Haha, I´d like to know how you can stand him, kids!”

Alfred joined the group. After everyone was introduced, the old couple followed up with polite questions about the trip to their home and the quirks of living on a country farm. While the conversation went on, Kyle stayed involved as he wandered around the others, checking out a tree, testing a fence, and flashed knowing smiles at Mark every time Jeremy followed him around.

Kyle turned to Jeremy and said, “Still sticking by my side wherever I stand, huh?”

Jeremy, who had kept most of the time quiet, just nodded silently with a sheepish smile before the others. Kyle wrapped his arm around Jeremy´s narrow shoulders and chuckled, giving his friend a reassuring squeeze.

Alfred and Bertha politely smiled at the glimpse of how singular the friendship between Kyle and Jeremy might be.

Oink, oink!

They all suddenly turned their heads to a huge pig wandering out of its pen.

Kyle said, “That mother fucker must’ve slipped out through the part of the fence that’s almost broken”

Bertha snapped, “Kyle, Alfred, I told you already you had to repair that dammed fence!”

“No biggie, Auntie! We´re gonna fix it in a sec”, Kyle replied, “That four-legged Houdini isn´t going anywhere”.

Alfred added, “Kyle, my boy, I can do it myself. Just get the pig back in. Go enjoy the day with your friends.”

“No problem, Uncle! They don´t mind, and I can take care of it real quick!” Kyle assured, walking already toward the shed and gesturing for his friends to follow him.

“Yeah, it´s ok! We don´t mind!” Mark confirmed.

Alfred nodded at them and patted Kyle´s shoulder, “Such a good boy! But you´re always in such a hurry, don´t rush, Kyle, you can cut yourself.”

After a while, Kyle was down on one knee, giving the fence a few final hammer taps. “What’s for lunch, Auntie?”

“I’m making enchiladas,” Bertha said, turning to his friends. “You boys like enchiladas?”

Before Mark or Jeremy could answer, Kyle cut in, eyes lighting up. “Enchiladas! And are you putting on that—?”

“Yeah, sweetie,” Bertha smiled. “Made my homemade salsa, just how you like it.”

Suddenly, Kyle sprang to his feet, energized by the thought of food, and wrapped his arms around the big pig, grunting as he lifted it off the ground. “You’re lucky, buddy; Bertha’s enchiladas are almost ready. Otherwise, I´d have burgers for lunch today!”

The animal let out a squeal of protest, struggling in vain as Kyle´s hold remained tight. His wide-muscled arms bulged against the heavy body of the pig.

When Kyle dropped the animal back into its pen, Alfred turned to Mark and Jeremy, both still staring, open-mouthed in Kyle´s direction, “You´re friend has gotten as strong as a horse here, huh? Heh heh.”

Mark answered, “Yeah! Well, you know, I told Kyle to join my gym and start lifting with me last summer. But he couldn´t in the end. But hey, I gotta say working out here has really paid off!”

Bertha added with motherly pride, “Kyle´s turned into a strongman! The thing with the pig is nothing; one time, one of our bulls went wild, and Kyle grabbed him with his bare hands!”

After the couple of farmers narrated Kyle´s strength feat, Bertha headed back to the kitchen. Meanwhile, Alfred and Kyle showed Mark and Jeremy around the farm, including Kyle’s home gym. Later, the three friends made their way to a bench under the shade of an apple tree. Kyle plopped down, stretching his arms out over the backrest. Mark settled in next to him, and Jeremy took a seat on Kyle’s other side.

“What about this place, Jam?” Kyle asked, “Do you like it?”

Jeremy looked around, “So this is where you´ve been living for a whole year,” he said, delighting in the picturesque farm´s scenery. Then he added simply, “Nice place”.

Mark jumped in, “Yeah, but doesn’t seem like there’s much to do for fun, dude!”

Kyle nodded. “True, man. There’s only a couple of dive bars in the small towns nearby. We can hit up some billiards or foosball, grab a few drinks. The town’s about an hour away, with a bit more going on, but no live sports, no big malls, concerts, or clubs. Nothing like Detroit, Mark, haha.”

“Yeaaaah, man, whatever!” Mark replied, like they’d already gone over this before.  

Kyle pushed back, “No, man, you gotta admit it! Back in Detroit, you always said I hooked up ‘cause of my parents’ status, their fancy car, all that. Here? No girl even knows my bougie background, and I’m still hooking up. I showed you the pics and the chats, dude.”

Mark tried to stick to his point, “You’re still hooking up ’cause you’re buff now!”

“I've been hooking up ever since I got here!” Kyle answered, “But you do have a point, Mark.” Kyle raised his strong arm to make his bicep bulge out huge. “The bigger I got, the more I hooked up. No matter what chicks say, they do like muscles!”

At a sudden melody call from his pocket, Kyle stopped flexing to hand over his phone. “Speaking of which!” He turned on the speaker and put it on his thigh, “Hey, Beth. What´s up?”

“Kyle, I’ve been texting you and you still haven’t answered,” the girl said, her tone flat and annoyed. “Where’ve you been?”

Kyle nudged Mark with his elbow and winked. “Just been chillin’ at home. Now I’m with some friends,” he replied casually.

Mark leaned closer to the phone, grinning with Kyle, ready for some funny drama. Beth’s irritation was clear in her sharper voice. “Friends? What friends?”

Kyle kept imperturbable, “Friends from school”, without bothering to elaborate a longer answer.

Beth´s inquiries kept on coming, “So what were you doing that you were so busy to answer me?”

Kyle smirked, “I´ll only talk through my attorney”. His and his friends’ shoulders shook in muted laughter.

The girl kept insisting, “Kyle, time to cut the crap! I have the right to ask you. We´ve been dating for months!”.

Kyle just said with indifference, “Yeah … so what?”

“Doesn´t that mean anything to you? Then what are we?” She asked in a very assertive tone, revealing that her patience was reaching its end, ”What are we?”

Kyle answered, “Uh … ‘What are we? … Why are we here?’ … hmmm … hmmm … sorry, Lady, but I suck at philosophy”

Beth finally yelled, “I’m sick of you always clowning around every time I wanna have a serious talk with you! Enough! Fuck you, Kyle! I´m done with you!”

With a get-off beep in the background, the three friends’ laughter resounded loudly after being held back during the call. When the strongest guffaws went by, Kyle shrugged, “Well, she´s done with me … for the third time” and put his phone back in his pocket without the slightest sign of worry, as if nothing had happened.

Mark said between chuckles, “Bro, you do love pranking girls. You´ll never change!”

Kyle replayed, “That’s what drives them crazy, dude!” Then he tapped Jeremy´s shoulder, “Jam, that interrogation’s got me thirsty. I´m dying for a cold beer, man. Can you grab me one?”.

Jeremy just answered with a soft “Yeah” and a small nod.

Kyle added, “Bringing another one for Mark is no problem, and grab whatever you want.”

Jeremy replied, “I´m good with some water, actually,” and he turned around to walk to the house.

Kyle laughed, “You´re so easy, man! Haha”

Mark added, “Don´t overdo it, Jam. No hangovers, okay? Haha”

Jeremy glanced back to flash a mouth smile without stopping on his way to Garrison´s house.

Kyle tapped Mark´s leg with the back of his hand and said in a low voice, “How´s Jam been doing all this time?”

“Anything you don´t know, man”, Mark answered, “Since you left, Jam barely hung out with the crew; mostly with me.”

Kyle said, “I told you you gotta hit him up more, or else he just stays home with his stuff”.

“I did, man!” Mark explained, “But he isn´t really up if you´re not around. You know it, and we all know he has a crush on you.”

Kyle chuckled and shook his head. “Again with that shit? You’re freaking out, dude! Jam just finds it hard to open up to others, that’s all. And I’m the most outgoing guy in school, so he feels comfortable around me. Happens to me all the time. Take Bill, our grumpy school caretaker, for example. He hardly ever says hi to anyone, but when he sees me, he lights up and starts asking about me and my family.”

Mark raised his voice to reaffirm his point. “Come on, stop playing dumb! Then why did you give me that cheesy grin when you lifted your tank to show off your chest to Jam?” His tone was insistent, and his eyes stayed locked on Kyle.

“'Cause it´s a joke to me!” Kyle answered, matching his voice volume to Mark´s, “I don´t care, man. What I care about is that Jam is a damn good dude. He’s so funny when you get to know him, and his blunders have us in stitches, haha. And what I find coolest is that he´s such a chill guy that you can play any joke on him; he never gets angry. Not like you!” Kyle said, slapping the back of his hand on Mark´s knee, “So easy to piss off! Haha”

Mark rolled up his eyes with a grunting sigh, and persisted, “And before? When he was stuck to you, any place you move? Man, he looks up to you as if you were his daddy!”

At that moment, Jeremy was already coming back from Garrison´s home. Kyle whispered to Mark, “Don´t make a big deal out of it if he struggles among new people and avoids hanging out with big groups”. When Jeremy was close to them, Kyle said to Mark, pointing at the top of the tree, “And these apples are the ones my auntie uses for her apple pies; Mark, it´s to die for, man! … Jam, and the drinks?”

Jeremy came back empty-handed and with a worried face.

“Jam, what´s wrong?” Kyle asked with an insistent tone.

Jeremy finally spoke, “I think . . . I think Bertha is not doing very well. She´s talking alone.”

Kyle shot to his feet and dashed to the house, followed by his friends. They took a look from the kitchen door and heard some of Bertha´s conversation while peeling some vegetables, “You see, Martha. Those cows always seem to know when it´s milking time.”

 Kyle had to rest his back against the doorframe while laughing. When Bertha turned his head to the boys, her earphone became visible. Then she said, “One moment, Martha. What´s going on?”

Kyle answered, pointing with a thump to Jeremy, “What did I just tell you, Mark? Haha, Auntie, Jam thought that you were talking alone, losing your marbles by age; he didn´t expect a country pumpkin like you to be able to manage the latest technologies! Haha. Say hi to your cousin Martha for me, by the way!”

Jeremy nervously shook his head in silence before being able to utter a word, “I .. I didn´t mean that, Kyle!”

Kyle and Mark burst into laughter at their friend´s blunder and his embarrassment.

After saying bye to Martha, Bertha removed her ear-phone and said jokingly to Jeremy with an unconcerned air, ”Don´t worry, honey. I know your friend very well and I know he´s a troublemaker. And you, Kyle”, the woman said pointing at him with her peeler, “Jeremy is a very calm boy so don´t annoy him. He’s someone who brings peace.” Bertha rested his hand on his chest with an expression of satisfaction.

Kyle slapped Jeremy’s shoulder and said, “Nice way to say my friend is always spaced out”. Then, mimicking a gruff farmer's voice and rugged expression, he added, “Jam, damn it, don’t ever smarten up—you bring so much peace!”

Jeremy just innocently lip-smiled around Kyle´s and Mark´s laughter. Then Bertha said, shaking her head with lighthearted hopelessness, “Just a troublemaker. Jeremy, you´re a saint for putting up with him.

“He is!” Kyle said and walked over to the counter next to Bertha, “By the way, Untie, how is it going with those enchiladas?”

“They´re almost done, sweetie,” Bertha answered while wrapping the tortillas around the abundant filling, “Just like you like them; well-loaded and lots of my home-made sour cream.”

Kyle raced his hand under his tank top over his stomach, casually flashing the thick contours of his belly while groaning with hungry impatience, “Offf, I´m starving, Auntie!”

Bertha, without looking up from the tasks, asked, “Are you already hungry, sweetie? You had a big sandwich just two hours ago!” The woman smiled at Kyle´s haste with a fond expression, flattered by how his cooking spurred Kyle´s appetite.

“I am!” Kyle insisted without taking his eager eyes off the food

Bertha said, “I just have to fry the potatoes. If you´re so hungry, set the porch table meanwhile!”

The woman had not finished talking yet when Kyle was already picking up from here and there a tablecloth, plates, and more as Mark and Jeremy flicked their eyes to follow him in his rush, at the same time, he praised the food they were gonna try.

While Kyle was moving around the table with lightning speed, dropping utensils among continuous clunkings with quick precision, Alfred showed up, “Your friend is always like a tornado, isn´t he, haha?”

“Oh yeah,” Mark confirmed, “Kyle’s always running at full speed, like he’s got just one second to get things done.” 

Alfred pointed at Kyle with his thumb, “Well, now you´re gonna see your friend eat like a horse! You´re gonna find out why Kyle got so big, hehe”

Mark and Jeremy looked at Kyle to find his cocky gaze over his broad smile from the porch. His blue eyes sparkled with eagerness to blow away his friends

To be continued.