The Farm At Maple Hollow - 34. Chapter 34

Sitting on the porch with Ethan, I could hear them coming up the road a fair bit off. I had been after Sam and Pietro to repair or replace the rotten muffler on my old station wagon. It was gifted to me so many years ago and was my very first means of locomotion that only required the use of a key to get it going. That is if you don’t forget Old Betsy, the old 1939 Farmall tractor I had adopted when I found myself first up working and living on the farm.

As our plans for both farms came to fruition, we were luckier than most of our fellow farmers. We were marketing locally; our produce was being found in the local supermarket once the Jeanettes moved away from town. The parent chain of the supermarket wanted nothing to do with the store or the business, while profitable, it wasn’t enough. We were lucky I supposed, to be in the right place and time. While we simply did not want the headaches of running a grocery store/supermarket, it was worth taking a chance on.

We along with a couple of like-minded business folks along with a generous assist from the local bank, were able to invest and purchase the buildings and the parking lot. From that, saw the supermarket become a full-fledged co-operative business. We convinced the pharmacy to leave the decrepit building they had been in for the past thirty plus years. It was a firetrap and borderline condemnable.

Reaching out to our neighboring farms, we were soon able to provide on a year-round basis quality meats, fruits, and vegetables. What we couldn’t provide was assiduously negotiated for. Working with Uncle Earnest at the bank, we applied for government issued grants and loans. As such, we were able to keep our costs down and competitive with the larger supermarket chains closer to the city of Worcester, saving our fellow townsfolk and neighbors a forty-mile plus round trip

We kept our farm stand, the berry picking, pumpkins, and the fruit orchards. We would on occasion sell select sides of beef, pork, and chicken. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, we sold fully dressed turkeys, hams, and beef for roasting. Our Christmas trees sold out every year and we always donated a fair portion of our trees to local community groups for fundraising. During ‘tree’ season, we’d turn over two to three days a week to these folks. We assisted where we could and generally stood by making sure no one got hurt cutting out their tree!

A sharp elbow to my side interrupted my ruminations as I watched my old station wagon finally come down the driveway in a moderate cloud of dust. With a bit more braking than necessary, Sam brought the car to a halt. Looking over the car, it was readily apparent that if another bag, box, or suitcase were added to what was already stuffed inside the car, a shoehorn would have been needed. It was clear to see that Pietro was home for the summer, his freshman year of college finally over.

I had to wonder if they had stopped by his parents on the way up to the farm. When I saw Mary extricate herself from the passenger side of the back seat, I heard Ethan start to chuckle. Not only was Pietro home, but Mary was home from her boarding school as well. She was laden down with what appeared to be a few bags of groceries and a large pot of what I could only assume was spaghetti sauce. Obviously putting paid to the question of just how many stops Sam made as he did the rounds of picking up his passengers. The spaghetti sauce Pietro’s mother made simply is incomparable. Whenever we visited Pietro’s house, invariably there would be a pot simmering on the stove, sausages, onions, and peppers simmering on another burner, waiting to be added to the sauce. I quickly learned, that in that house, it wasn’t spaghetti sauce but gravy!

My breath hitched for a second as I stood to greet the three musketeers. While we saw Sam every day, it had been since Christmas since we had seen either Mary or Pietro. It was a disconcerting realization that the three of them were no longer young teenagers, but now, nearly full-fledged young adults.

Pietro had been seriously scouted his sophomore, junior, and senior years of high school. Several colleges wanted his arm for their baseball teams. As a lefty, he went undefeated his last three years and what he threw was electric, an ERA for his last two years of 1.75. No slouch at the plate as well, his batting average was a stratospheric 456%. We sat many nights reviewing the various offers with his parents the pros and cons of each offer. While the scholarship was for baseball, we needed to make sure whatever school was decided on, would continue to offer the full ride in case of injury. After much deliberation, he decided to accept the offer from Vanderbilt.

Mary along with Sam would be graduating from their respective high schools in a couple of weeks. She had been accepted to Tufts Veterinary School of Medicine specializing in equine management and Tuft’s farm school of veterinary medicine. Mary had intestinal fortitude in spades, she had to in dealing with both Sam and Pietro. She was as resilient as one could be. It wasn’t long after the contempt’s with Bobby Jeanettes and the subsequent trials, putting Bobby, Toad, and Flubber away for lengthy prison sentences, that her parents were seriously injured in a horrific small airplane crash.

Both she and her sister Pam, were devastated. Both parents needed extended therapy in their recovery, such as it was. Neither would be able to fully care for themselves and would need to reside in a long-term rehabilitation facility. Pam and Sally were well on their way to becoming serious, well respected archeologists. They were a committed couple and kept a small apartment for when they were not at one dig site or another. As a result, Mary found herself living at Maple Hollow when not at boarding school, much to the delight of Marge and Earl.

It wasn’t that Sam went looking for it, but trouble always seemed to find Sam. Fortunately it was always, well for the most part, minor scrapes. While not as tall as Pietro and just barely the same size as Mary, Sam was a fireplug. Broad shouldered, he was a football lineman in miniature. For lack of better words, Sam was a tank. He had a streak of common decency a mile wide and just as deep. Smart as a tack, concepts and critical thinking came easily to Sam. What was still unknown was who would be valedictorian in his graduating class, he was in the running with two other students. The results of their final exams would tell the story.

Funny thing was, as Sam entered his freshman year, there were grave concerns about him and his academics. Up and to the end of his eighth-grade year, he was a marginal student. I think the trigger for his turn-around was a discussion he had with his grandfather and Ethan. Both were Medal of Honor recipients, serving with distinction and honor in the United States Army. His goal had been to enlist in the Army once he was done with high school. I don’t think either Earl or Ethan pulled any punches as to what Sam could expect in the way of a career if continued down the same mediocre path he was currently on.

Well, that conversation lit the proverbial fire under his ass. Like me, so many years prior, the library became his second home. Many a night I would go down to pick him up as it closed. Just as many nights saw us sitting at the kitchen table reviewing homework and study notes. If you had told me or his other ‘assistant tutors’, that he would carry a 3.9998 GPA going into his senior finals, I would have called you a damned fool.

Regardless of who the valedictorian would be, West Point was calling. Earl and Ethan had reached out to our congressional delegation requesting a nomination in his favor. Both carried a certain gravitas, when two recipients of the nation’s highest honor for bravery above and beyond come calling, doors open. Sam’s nomination was signed by every member of our congressional delegation. While I had my own doubts and fears of Sam committing at least nine years of his life to Uncle Sam’s army, all of us were incredibly proud of his achievements!

There was some commotion as the three musketeers unloaded the station wagon and brought their gear up to their rooms. Marge and Earl came out to join us out on the porch to observe the coming and goings. Retirement suited them as they were able to relax and take pride in the way we were growing the farm and operations. It had taken time, money, and effort but Maple Hollow had been fully updated and now was the equal of Riverside, and a showplace in its own right. They were off to Tuscany in a couple of weeks for the better part of a month and a half. It would be their third trip over and you could see the years of worry and struggle fading away from both of them.

They were doting grandparents to an ever-increasing brood. Adding to the Mix were Luke and Trind’s passel of carpet crawlers. They had not wasted any time building their family, two girls and a boy graced them to the delight of Marge, more girls to spoil. Soon to be adding to the mix would be brother Axel and wife Margret’s first child, expected on or about the first week of September. Bobby and Eddy were still going strong, both were off to UMass Amherst. They were following the bluegrass circuit as time and funds would allow this summer. Oddly, both had decided to pursue teaching as a career.

While it was bittersweet in a way, the next few weeks would be the last time we’d all be home or there abouts.

~~~

Supper was a lively and raucous affair with much back and forth going on between all of us. Tentative plans were being discussed as to activities over the next few weeks. The three musketeers had a yearly command performance to rehearse for. The 4^th of July weekend was coming up quickly. The city, horse drawn wagon needed a thorough overhaul and cleaning. Gear and tack had to be gone over.

Maria had another foal after Peanut was born, the night Bobby Jeanettes went haywire. Marcus Healthcare Systems, specializing in children’s healthcare and cancer treatments came calling. One of their executives had seen the second annual show and were completely enamored with the horses. They had seen the possibilities and the effects something like that could have for kids in recovery. They were a large cancer treatment center down south and wanted to grow a similar operation, and be able to entertain the recovering children on a more frequent basis. I suppose it was serendipity in a manner of speaking. While we were unable to travel to them, our herd was growing. After much discussion, we agreed somewhat painfully, to part with Rufus, Levi, and Frodo and the city wagon. It only made sense, having nine Belgians was a bit much and it was time to share the wealth so to speak.

Rosco’s sire Peanut was every bit his father’s son. Early on the vets told us he would most likely would be every bit as big, if not bigger than his father. Grace, his sister, was not so far behind. The three musketeers would have their work cut out and we were glad to see they would be busy over the next several weeks.

~~~

With so many people living up or visiting the farm, there were inevitably conflicts on who would use the cabin out on Ant Island. We needed to better control then when’s and how long for’s. To that point we instituted a slate calendar and a basic set of rules that would determine days and nights to ensure fairness. Not sure who it was, either Pietro or Mary had reached out to Sam some time ago, he had reserved the cabin for the weekend for the three of them. I think Marge was pleased it was only mid-week. It would give her time to spend with Mary and Earl was looking forward to spending time with the boys before they disappeared for the weekend.

I went out with Ethan after supper to give my old station wagon a once over. It was obvious that a muffler was needed. I had called down to the auto parts store earlier in the week and the necessary parts and pieces delivered. It would be a project for the morning and I was going to rope the three musketeers into learning the fundamentals of car repair and upkeep. Tonight, I had other plans, I had signed Ethan and myself up for the cabin. I needed some time with my man. With Sam, Mary, and Pietro catching up with Marge and Earl, they would otherwise be occupied for the evening. I had left a note on the fridge letting them know there was car repair in the morning and we would be starting early. Grabbing the cooler, I had filled earlier with the essentials and we skedaddled down to the dock.

~~~

It is said that time waits for no one, and in our case, it was a truism that applied to us. While no longer the wide-eyed innocents we once thought we were, now we found ourselves fully entrenched, with both feet planted firmly, into the adult world. Had we not hired Luke Swenson, I am not sure how we ever would have managed to graduate from the agricultural college. Being commuting students, our time or ability to spend the time needed on the farms was limited and precious. Luke and Earl got along like a house afire, Earl was always around to offer suggestions and help, but wisely stood back and mentored Luke and his crew.

One thing Ethan and I insisted on, was that both Luke, and the folks that worked for him, and by extension us, were paid fairly and qualified for profit sharing. The crew of laborers were thus incentivized, and the results of their efforts proved us to be spot-on with our style of management.

While being actual farmers so to speak at school, it did engender some resentments from a few fellow students and a couple of professors. In some instances, our practical, real world, experience would run contrary to their curriculum. I think the largest area of disagreement we had, our senior year, was on the way we paid the folks who worked for us. Their view was that farm labor is and always was transient, as such, pay scales needed to reflect that. What effectively ended the ‘discussion’, was opening our books and employment records for our finals project.

For our senior year final project, Ethan focused on Maple Grove and I took Riverside. In one respect we were lucky, both Earl and Mr. Janssen kept meticulous records. Contrasting the last five years of economics, profits, losses, and upgrades of both farms, we then ‘opened’ our books. We had four years of expenses, upgrades to nearly every facet of operations, from outstanding loans to improvements to the barns and mechanical equipment, to developing new markets for our expanding line of products. With a fully renovated dairy operation at Maple Hollow and the expansion of the cattle, hog, and fowl processes at Riverside, we were successfully able to recoup the costs of our upgrades. Allowing us to introduce new products such as cheese, honey and select, custom cut meats and such. Topping off all of this was the creation of the Co-Operative supermarket and pharmacy. While we weren’t valedictorians, we weren’t far from the top of our class and we had our degrees, at the end of the day, that is what counted!

~~~

Our night out at the cabin was just what was needed. Some alone time just for the two of us. Lord knows, we would be getting scant chances over the next several weeks as the cabin tended to be booked up for nearly every night till the kids were back in school, including the extended family. I fully intended to make the most of this night as I carefully removed Ethan’s clothes. As far as I was concerned, I needed my man naked and damn the torpedoes, it was full steam ahead to some serious lovemaking.

It was obvious we were no longer twinks, hard work and years had seen our bodies fully mature, and in my eyes, my lover was even more desirable. There was a solidness to Ethan, a heft, a certain gravatas. To be sure, there were still the myriad of scars that crisscrossed his body, each on with its own tale to tell of surviving the hells of that south-eastern jungle. There were a few strands of off-color hair at his temples, I wasn’t sure if they would be gray or white as time would go on. Funny thing was the color of his beard if he forgot to shave that day. I could see hints of several colors, from reds to browns coming in along with the inevitable whites and grays.

It was as if Ethan had finally filed out to the size of his frame. Nothing please me more than to be wrapped up, ever so securely in his arms. It was all the payment I needed, I would tell myself repeatedly, I’d live a thousand lifetime and more, if necessary, just to know the comfort of being held by him. I’d get intoxicated, dizzy with lust simply by inhaling his unique sent. It lit a fire deep within my soul and I was addicted to it.

A gentle nudge woke me from my silent reverie as I was being led to the bedroom, stepping over the discarded items of clothing that were strewn about the floor around us. We danced the dance of love that night, more than once as our love consumed us.

~~~

The summer flew by us in the blink of an eye. The 4^th of July show was better than ever and already we were being asked to confirm for the following year. Work out at the archeological sites had pretty much wrapped up, the focus now was ensuring the preservation of what was found. The articles, and yes…there were a few, in National Geographic caused quite the stir and sensation. There was a general clamoring to reveal the location and to allow unfettered access which we shut down completely.

The carvings that were found were, for the lack of better words, fragile. It wouldn’t take much to deface or alter forever what we had. We did allow, under the strictest conditions for legitimate scholarly research, archeological teams to come in once a year. To our everlasting gratitude, both the state and federal governments understood what we had found and gave us their backing. To be sure, we had our share of nay-sayers and we let the experts deal with them. A few were brought out, including our most strident pessimists. For the most part, once out at the sites, confronted with the overwhelming proof, tended to convert their former positions.

August was soon upon us and the focus was the necessary preparations for a return to college, two of us going for the first time. Sam, Pietro, and Mary would be gone by the third week of the month. Bobby and Eddy would be finishing up their final year come the first week of September, they both elected to take a gap year after graduating high school. They would be living in an apartment not far from school once again, and would spend the rest of what was left of the summer chasing the bluegrass circuit.

A couple of days before Sam was to leave for West Point, we had quite a surprise, two of them in fact, the second coming just after our college bound students had departed for their respective hall of higher education. The three musketeers asked to sit with us after supper. The three of them were tense, fidgety and for the lack of better words a tad flighty. I suggested we go sit out on the porch; some fresh air would be nice. It had been raining a spell, the cold front the night before, had worked its wonders. The humidity had broken and it was a clear, crisp late summer’s evening.

I must admit, I can be dense sometimes, lost in whatever project I was working on, not seeing the forest for the trees. As we sat in our rocking chairs, the three of them took a seat on the porch swing seat across from us holding hands. I was wondering what the fuss was when Ethan asked if the rings, they were wearing had anything to do with what they wanted to tell us.

It was a shock as I listened to them stumble over each other trying to explain what they needed to tell us. I never saw it coming, didn’t have the faintest idea and for a moment, blindsided and perplexed. When push finally came to shove and I could focus on what was being said, I was stunned.

The three of them had decided to be exclusive, they had grown to love each other. Full well knowing they had a few years of college to surmount; they were committed to each other and would do what they thought it would take to remain so. As it sank in, the three of them were anxiously awaiting our response, grabbing Ethan’s hand as I stood, we gathered them in a hug, giving them, reminding them of our unconditional love and support. They have quite a story to tell and they will be sharing with us shortly.

~~~

As August drew to a close, I think all of us remaining up at the farm were undergoing a bit of withdrawal as our students were safely ensconced at their respective institutions of higher learning. It was kind of like the calm after the storm. There was much work ahead of us with the impending fall season approaching.

It was a week or so after the three musketeers had left for college when the second of our surprises arrived. And arrived is the correct choice of word to describe what happened. The Tompkins family, is by virtue of the number of sons and cousins quite large. They run the gamut encompassing the wide variety of human nature. One of Ethan’s nephews never truly made it out of the 1960’s. Spent several years wandering and looking for the next chance to freeload and get wasted. Somewhere along the line, a young woman around his age or thereabouts joined the never-ending adventure.

We would get periodic random updates from other family members. The most we ever really knew; was about three years ago they had a son named Agustin Tompkins. It was one late summer’s evening we were once again sitting on the porch when we heard a badly running car start down the driveway. How little did we know at that moment just how our lives, along with Gustin’s changed that day.

~~~~~

The following is an excerpt of an interview with Ethan and Arik about Gustin’s early years following his appearance in a nationwide musical contest.

“You need to understand, when my cousin showed up with his wife and little Gustin in tow, they had nowhere else to go, at that moment, they were out of options and funds. The car they were driving was not road worthy at best, and barely serviceable. Bald tires, leaking all sorts of fluids and looked to be at least three and a half tires inside the junkyard! Loud didn’t begin to describe the sound. The muffler was hanging so low it was scraping the driveway. When I looked under the car, I was stunned to see it was hanging from the driveshaft with coat hanger wire! There was a piece of an old coffee can that had been cut and flattened, then screwed to the body of the muffler itself to cover some rotten holes”

Taking a second to calm himself down, Ethan took a sip from his bottle of water holding up his other hand. “While that in its self was disturbing, one of the rear windows was missing, just gone, in place of the window was a piece of cardboard held in place with duct tape. When I had a moment to look under the hood, one of the heater hoses had been cut in half, what appeared to be an old piece of copper pipe was inserted in both cut ends to act as a splice, the ends secured with small radiator hose clamps. Giving the steering wheel a tug, there was at least a quarter of a turn before the wheels would respond”!

Cutting in Arik spoke up, “The inside of the car was a pigsty, barely enough room for three people to sit in. It looked more like the inside of a dumpster than a station wagon. There was no rhyme or reason to the disorder! The worst part was just how unconcerned of the car’s condition and how proud he was of the shoddy repairs he had done”!

Taking a deep breath and shaking his head as if releasing disturbing memories, Arik continued, “That wasn’t the worst of it, Gustin and his parents stunk! They smelled as if that hadn’t bathed in weeks. Their clothes were filthy, more rags than anything else, Gustin was wearing nothing but a soiled tee shirt and a grody diaper that needed changing hours if not days ago, Jesus H Christ…he was three years old and still wearing a diaper!! Neither parent had taken a moment to at least clean his runny nose or wipe the dried snot off his face”!

“I went with Ethan to take the three of them into the house, to send his cousin and wife to clean up, there were extra clothes hanging in the various bedroom closets, something would be found they both could wear. I grabbed my camera and raced back outside with Gustin in hand. I took as many pictures of both Gustin and the condition of the car, making sure to document all of the micky mouse repairs and the overall disorder”.

“Once back in the kitchen I stripped Gustin and set him in the kitchen sink and gave him what had to be his first bath in weeks. It was going to take time for the open sores and rashes to heal and clear up! It was while I was bathing Gustin it was decided he would not be accompanying his parents when they left the farm.

~~~

Well, there you have it folks, while this isn’t an ending of sorts, we may leave Ethan and Arik for a bit as other members of the extended family have many of their own, interesting stories to tell.