Chapter 60 

For those who had attended Maggie's housewarming party the night before, Sunday was a day of rest and recuperation. Later in the afternoon, Michael received a call from the social worker at the hospital in San Antonio.

"Mr. Walker, the boy is ready to leave," she said curtly. "Are you coming up to get him, or should the agency take charge of his disposition?"

"No, no. I'll be up in the morning to get him."

Michael went into the kitchen where Tony had laid out a light supper for those living in the house. "I'll be driving up to San Antonio tomorrow to pick up Jumper."

"Dad, are you sure you want to do this?" said Jeff. "You just don't need some indigent, useless kid hanging around here all day. It just doesn't make any sense to me."

"We've already talked about that, Jeff," said Michael. "I'm not going to abandon him."

Jeff said, "Abandon him? You never had him in the first place. He's not your responsibility!"

Michael got up from the table and said, "I'm not going to discuss it with you anymore, Jeff. You'll be going back to school soon, and you won't have to bothered with it. Tony, when you get a minute, would you fix up the room next to yours, and make sure there's clean sheets and all that?"

Michael went into his office and sat at his desk. He sat for a long time, staring out the window. He knew as well as Jeff did that this could very likely be a big mistake. But he had the chance to do something to rescue this boy and try to give him a better life. Since he had this chance, he believed it would be wrong not to act on it.

After breakfast on Monday, Michael set out for San Antonio. When he arrived at Jumper's room, Michael found him sitting in a chair staring at some cartoons on TV.

"Hi," said Jumper. "I was wondering if you were gonna come back and git me outta this fuckin' hole."

"Are you ready to go?" said Michael, as cheerfully as he could.

Just then the little woman from the agency walked into the room. "Well, Mr. Walker, I guess he's ready. We sent his clothes, such as they are down through the hospital laundry. As you can see, some of the stains are still on his t-shirt. As for the holes up around the seam on his shoulder, well, we didn't feel obligated to do anything about those." Then turning to Jumper, she said sarcastically, "Goodbye, Jumper. I hope you have a good life. And you, Mr. Walker, all I can say is good luck! To put it nicely, he's a handful. I don't envy you a bit."

After getting in the car, Michael said, "Well, Jumper, I'm sure you're glad to be out of there."

"Yeah. Where we goin?"

"As I told you before, I'm taking you down to our ranch to live. You'll make some good friends down there. And there are plenty of things to do. And maybe you can learn how to ride horses."

"Fuck the horses!" said Jumper with a wave of his hand.

"Well, that'll be kind of hard to do," said Michael with a laugh.

"Hey, man, yer fuckin' me over!" said Jumper, putting his hands over his ears. "I don't want none of that shit. I jist wanted to git outta that creepy place with them dumb women running in and fussin' over me all the time."

"Well, Jumper, you're out of there, now. You're headed for a new life!"

"I don't want a new life. Hey, stop here and let me out. I'm not goin' down to a fuckin' dude ranch to play games. I gotta git out and make some money."

Michael kept driving, "Jumper, for one thing, it isn't a dude ranch, and we don't play games. We work down on that ranch, and that's how you can make your money. There are lots of jobs we can teach you to do."

"Aw, shit, man! Wha-d'ya mean, lots of jobs. I already know how to make my money. Jist let me out right here!"

Michael knew that talking to Jumper was doing nothing but getting him riled up. Neither of them spoke for the rest of the drive. When Michael pulled into the yard behind the house, Jake came up to the car to take a look at Jumper. Michael said, "Jake, this is Jumper. Jumper, this is our foreman, Jake."

Jumper sat with his arms folded and said nothing. Michael said, "Jake, Jumper's had a rough time. I'm going to take him into the house and get him some lunch and then get him settled in his new room.

As they walked into the kitchen, Tony looked up from the pot he was stirring and said, "Hi. I'm Tony, the kitchen slave around here. You must be Jumper. Glad to have you with us. How about a sandwich or something?"

Jumper just shook his head, no, and kept his head down, looking at the floor. Michael winked at Tony and took Jumper down the hall to his room. "Jumper, this is going to be your room. It's a lot nicer than that hospital room, isn't it? And it sure beats sleeping out in back of the 7-Eleven near the dumpster! You can just be alone here for awhile if you'd like. And you've got your own bathroom right in there."

Jumper sat on the edge of the bed and said nothing. As Michael began to leave, he said, "When you're ready for something to eat, just go on in and tell Tony."

Jumper sat for a long time staring at the floor. Then he lay down and stared at the ceiling, watching the ceiling fan slowly revolve. He looked over at the window and watched the tree branches outside blowing slightly in the wind. He had never seen Venetian blinds before, nor had he been in a room with such heavy draperies on the windows. He looked over at the opposite wall, where hung a number of Walker family photographs. He got up and went over to look at them. He looked at them a long time, and thought the old men with long beards and old fashioned cowboy hats in the sepia-toned photographs looked strange. And the women in their long black dresses looked funny. Lying back on the bed again, he ran his hand lightly over the satin-like quilted spread beneath him and traced the fancy stitching with his finger. He had never in his life ever been on a bed that was so soft and comfortable. Directly opposite the bed, over a chest of drawers, hung a large portrait of an old man with a short-cropped white beard, and wearing a tan cowboy hat and tan jacket with fringe on it. In one hand was a long barreled rifle, and in the other a dead Quail. The man was smiling and it seemed to Jumper that he was looking right at him.

Everything was so strange. He felt like a stranger in a world where he didn't belong. When he lived with his mother and father, he had slept on a canvas cot in a bare room with no other furniture. His father had always told him he wasn't worth a pound of shit, and had all he deserved. He knew he didn't deserve anything as fancy as this room. As he lay on his back, he covered his eyes and began to cry.

Jumper had fallen asleep and awoke quite late in the afternoon. He got up, went into the bathroom to pee and then walked to the kitchen, where Tony was busy preparing the supper for the ranch hands.

"Hey, you got somethin' to eat?" Jumper said, as he collapsed in a chair.

Tony said, "If you'll help me carry some of these pots out to the cart so we can roll them over to the dining hall, you can eat there with the guys. We've got a lot of good food."

Jumper just looked the other way and said, "Fuck that shit!"

Tony took the pots out himself and rolled the cart over to the dining room. After setting up the line, he saw Jumper standing at the door looking in. Going over to him, Tony said, "Come on in, Jumper. Get yourself a tray and take all the food you want. And there's a seat right over there between those two cowpokes."

Jumper was so hungry, and the sight of all that food was so tempting, that he came in and piled his tray high. He took the seat between the two ranch hands at one of the long tables.

The man on his left turned and said, "Hey, young fella, yer new here, ain't ya? What's yer name?"

"Jumper."

"That's a funny name. My name's Sam, and this here dude on yer right is Clyde." Both Sam and Clyde shook hands with Jumper and continued eating.

After five minutes went by, Jumper said, "If ya give me five bucks, I'll let ya fuck me."

"Huh?" said Sam, hardly believing what he had just heard.

"If ya give me five bucks . . . ."

"Hey, wait a minute!" said Sam as he lay down his fork and turned to Jumper. "If I pay ya five bucks, you'll let me fuck ya. Are you kiddin'?"

"No, I wouldn't shit ya, mister."

Clyde turned to Jumper and said, "Listen, kid. There ain't no law here tellin' us we can't fuck anybody we want to. But we sure as shit ain't never gonna pay fer it! That's fer sure!"

When the three of them had finished up their meals, Sam and Clyde got up and left, leaving Jumper there to think about the fact that he wasn't going to be able to make any money if he stayed on the ranch. After leaving the dining hall, Jumper walked over to the horse barn and sat down on the ground, leaning against the outside wall. The sun had not set yet, and Enrique and Noah came out of the house with their basketball, headed for the practice hoop that Jake had installed on the other side of the horse barn.

When they saw Jumper sitting against the wall, Noah shouted, "Hey, Jumper, come on and shoot some baskets with us!"

When Jumper didn't look up or speak, Noah said, "Here, catch!" and threw the ball to Jumper. Jumper held his hands up over his face as the ball hit his head and fell to the ground. Jumper got up and kicked the ball away, shouting, "Fuck you! Git away from me!" He ran into the house and into his room and threw himself on the bed.

After supper, Michael called Jake into his office. "I think the worst thing to do now is to have Jumper sitting around idle. Jake, I'd like you see if you can get him started tomorrow on helping you out on a few things. I don't delude myself about him. It's not going to be easy. He's got a real attitude problem. But I want you to promise me, Jake, that you won't lose your temper with him. But I realize he's going to be difficult."

"Oh, Michael," said Jake. "You know me. I'm as gentle as a lamb. When the fuck have I ever lost my temper?"

"Jake, you're going to make me laugh in a minute. But seriously, take it slow with him, will you?"

"I'll do my fuckin' best!"

The next morning Jake came into the kitchen to have breakfast with Jumper and the rest of the household. Jake did his best to put a good face on the work that needed to be done on a ranch. "Jumper, my boy," said Jake in the gentlest way he knew how, "There's a little job I'd like to have ya do fer me this morning. I'll take ya over and show ya how to do it. All it is is jist shovelin' out the horse shit outta the horse stalls in the horse barn."

Michael covered his face with his hand and sighed. This was not what he had in mind as a way to break Jumper in gently to the work routine. Jumper shot a derogatory sneer at Jake. Jake raised his hand as though he was going to wollup Jumper upside the head, but withdrew it when he caught a glimpse of Michael shaking his head and looking at him menacingly.

"Then after that little job is done," continued Jake, "me and you is just gonna have some fun. There's lots of fun things to do here." Michael smiled with his approval.

In the horse barn, Jake pointed to the horse stalls. "See them horse apples in there? All ya have to do is shovel 'em up with this here shovel and toss 'em in that fuckin' wheelbarrow and dump 'em out there on that shit pile. Look out the door. See that pile over there by that tree? That ain't gonna be too much work. I gotta go see to some business, and I'll be back to see how yer doin'."

After Jake departed, Jumper threw the shovel as hard as he could against the wall and sat down. Very soon, Clyde, the cowpoke he had met at supper the night before, came strolling in. "Hey, Jumper. I been thinkin' 'bout what ya said last night. Ya really like to fuck?"

"Yeah. I'll let ya fuck me if ya give me five bucks."

"That little asshole of yers is a bargain basement, ain't it?" said Clyde with a laugh. "Lemme have a look."

Jumper went over to a railing and dropped his shorts. As he leaned over the railing, Clyde said, "You gota cute little ass there. How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen."

"I never fucked a little boy-pussy before. Take yer hands and spread them little cheeks of yers fer me."

As Jumper held his cheeks apart, revealing a hairless crack and a very red asshole, Clyde dropped his pants and moved in on him. Taking a firm hold of Jumpers hips, he wet his hard penis with saliva and plunged it into the waiting hole. "Man! That's tight!" said Clyde. "It's like when I used to fuck an old goat in the ass on my daddy's ranch. Love a tight hole!"

Clyde pounded little Jumper's ass with the force of a jack-hammer. It took only a couple of minutes before Clyde let out a yell and Jumper could feel the rush of hot sperm into his rectum.

As Clyde pulled out, he said, "Shit! That was good! I could fuck that hot little hole of yers all day!"

Jumper turned around and held out his hand. How 'bout my money now. I want my five bucks."

Just then, Jake walked in the door as Clyde was pulling up his pants and Jumper was standing there with his shorts still down around his ankles.

"Git outta here, you son-of-a-bitch," Jake shouted at Clyde. As Clyde ran out of the barn, Jake turned to Jumper and said, "What the fuck do ya think yer doin'?"

As Jumper rushed passed him shouting at Clyde to give him his money, Jake caught his arm and swung at him, catching Jumper on the side of the head, knocking him down. Jumper put his hand to his head and shouted, "What the fuck did ya do that fer?"

"Git up, ya little bastard!" shouted Jake. "Ya haven't done a lick o' work yet! Now git busy shovelin' them horse apples!"

"Fuck you, you fuckin' old fart," shouted Jumper as he ran around Jake and out the door, yelling for his money.

Jake realized that he had promised Michael he wouldn't lose his temper. But that little bastard, he thought, deserved to get the shit knocked out of him.

Walking outside, Jake saw that Jumper was nowhere in sight. Walking up to the house, he went into the kitchen. Tony said, "Jumper just ran through here and into his room and slammed the door."

"Christ!" shouted Jake. "I don't know what the fuck to do with him! Where's Michael?"

"He's in his office, Jake."

When Jake walked into Michael's office, he threw himself in a chair and said, "Michael, I used to break horses when I was a young cowboy, and I was good at it. But this little fucker is the worst I ever seed. He's a bad mother! He ain't done a fuckin' thing I asked him to, and I found him fuckin' one of the men. There's a time and place for fuckin', but it ain't when ya got work to do."

"Okay, Jake, calm down," said Michael. "Where is he now?"

"Tony says he's in his fuckin' room."

"Let's just leave him be for awhile. We can try again later, maybe tomorrow."

"There's one other thing," said Jake. "I know I promised, but I lost my fuckin' temper and wumped him upside the head once and knocked him down. Sorry 'bout that."

Later that afternoon, Michael knocked on Jumper's door, but hearing no answer, opened it and walked in. There he found Jumper stretched out on his bed asleep, and lying next to him was the picture of Ol' Ben he had taken off the wall. Standing next to him and looking down, Michael thought his face looked positively angelic. There must be some sweetness inside of him somewhere, he thought. Why should such a beautiful looking human being be so wasted? His soft, slender body, his thin arms and legs . . . such a vulnerable child . . . all belied the anger and distrust that was inside of him.

Jumper moved his head and opened his eyes. As he looked up, Michael noticed for the first time how blue Jumper's eyes were and the golden color of his hair. He wanted to reach down and brush Jumper's hair back from his forehead and out of his eyes, but thought that touching the boy in a loving way might not be what Jumper would want.

"Jumper," Michael said softly, "It's supper time and we'd like to have you join us this time."

Jumper said, "I ain't hungry. Anyway, I wanna go eat with your workers like I did last night." Jumper was intent on finding Clyde and demanding his money.

"Okay, Jumper, whatever you want to do. I see you were looking at Ol' Ben's picture. He was my father, by the way. He ran this ranch before I took over. He was a tough old fart, he was. Was there a reason why you were looking at his picture?"

"Yeah, I think he was a guy I ran into up in Floresville once. He offered me five bucks. He's the one that told me about the truck stop outside of town there where I could make lots of money."

Michael didn't know what to say. He knew his father was a scum bag in many ways. But Jumper couldn't have been more than ten or eleven then. That was probably around the time that he was taking Enrique into his bed. Without commenting on that, Michael said, "Okay, Jumper, I think the dining hall will open in about a half hour. Have a good meal."

After Jumper filled up his tray with food, he found a vacant seat at one of the tables. He sat between Luke and Tim, the new ranch hand who had been a party to Jake's little trick he played on Robert the stalker.

Luke said, "Hey, you're new here, aren't you? And your name is Jumper, isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"My name's Luke."

Tim turned and introduced himself also. He said, "What's a kid your age doing here? You related to Walker?"

"No, I'm jist stayin' here fer a while. I need to make some money. If you give me five bucks, I'll let you fuck me."

"Ah! You like to fuck, do you?" said Luke. "Is that how you earn your money? Who's fucked you since you've been here? Has Michael Walker fucked you?"

"No, but a guy called Clyde did. But he ain't paid me, though. I wish I could find him."

"So you take it up the ass, eh, kid?" said Tim as he placed his hand on Jumper's bare leg.

"Fer five bucks!" said Jumper.

Jake sat at the next table and kept his eye on Jumper. He knew that Luke liked to fuck guys' asses, and it looked to him that they were talking about that.

Later that evening, Michael was sitting in the kitchen with Tony and Clayton drinking coffee. Jake came in and said, "It's startin' to rain a little. Everything's so fuckin' dry, we sure need it. Michael, I need to talk to ya about ordering some more barbed wire. All that fuckin' wire up on the north end fences is rustin' away. By the way, where's the kid?"

Tony said, "Jumper? The last I saw him, he was going into his room and shut the door. I haven't seen him since. I suppose he's still there."

"Well, somethin's gotta be done about that little fucker," said Jake.

Michael said, "Well, I'm going to leave him where he is for tonight. I guess I'm going to have to have a long talk with him in the morning.

Tony got up and opened a bottle of beer for Jake. They sat and talked for another hour or so. Then Jake said, "Well, the rain's gittin harder. I'd better git back to my room. Shit! It's ten o'clock a-ready! And I don't want to git this new fuckin' hat I bought wet.

As they stepped out onto the verandah, they heard a commotion over by the bunkhouse. Suddenly, they saw Jumper being pushed out of Luke's door. Jumper was stark naked and was screaming, "I want my money! You promised me my money!"

Luke hollered back, "Get outta here, you little fuck-head!" Luke slammed the door.

The rain was coming down harder now, and Jumper's wet skin glistened in the yard lights. He was holding his arms around himself and sobbing, "I want my money! You bastards! You promised me!" Running back to the door, he pounded on it and screamed for them to open it. Stepping back off the step, he fell onto the wet, muddy ground. Getting up and, with his side covered with mud, he began running in circles, crying out and choking on his own tears.

Michael shouted, "Jumper, come on in the house where it's dry!"

Jumper again fell to his knees on the slippery mud and shouted, "No! I hate all of you!"

"I'll git 'im," shouted Jake, as he threw his hat on the floor near the door and ran out toward Jumper.

Jumper shouted and choked out the words, "Stay away from me! I hate you!" Jumper started running toward the gravel road that led out of the ranch. Jake set out on foot after him, but soon turned around and headed for the garage. He shouted, "He's too far ahead of me! I'll get the jeep. Driving on down the road, Jake spotted Jumper a good ways ahead of him in the headlights. He fell several times, but got up and kept running. Pulling the jeep up a little ahead of Jumper, Jake jumped out and went after him. When he caught him, Jumper fought wildly to get away, screaming and sobbing incoherently. Jake was able to hold Jumper's arms behind his back and lifted him up, holding him tightly. Bringing him back to the jeep, Jake sat in the passenger seat, holding Jumper tightly against him so he wouldn't get away.

"Now calm down, you little . . . . I'm not gonna let ya go! Ya might as well stop strugglin'!"

As Jake pressed Jumper's head against his chest, he realized that the boy was no longer struggling. Jumper was cold and Jake could feel his body shaking and shivering, as well as lurching with every one of Jumper's sobs. They were both soaked from the rain that continued to come down harder. Jake reached around and took a rubberized tarpaulin from the floor behind the seat and covered Jumper in the best way he could to keep the rain off of him.

"Are ya okay?" asked Jake.

Jumper nodded.

"That's a stupid thing you done. Runnin' off like this in the fuckin' rain with no clothes on. I know it ain't easy fer ya down here, but ya can't solve nothin' that way."

Jake released his tight grip on Jumper and could feel the boy's body relaxing against his own. In fact, as he held his arm around Jumper's back, he could feel the boy pushing in closer to his own body. As he tightened his arm a bit and moved his hand up and down Jumper's back, Jake said, "Are ya okay? Do ya like that? Do ya like to be held like this?"

Jumper stopped his sobbing enough to say, "Yes." Jumper was experiencing something he had never known before. He never knew what it was like to be held and to be hugged. He was beginning to feel warm, and he thought to himself that he never wanted to be let go. No man had ever come close to him, except to fuck him. The picture that would flash in his mind when he thought about his father was of a cruel, angry face. His father had never touched him, other than fucking him and hitting him. The thought that a man would take him gently in his arms and hug him tightly never occurred to him. But here he was in the arms of a man who was kind and protecting.

Jake suddenly realized that Jumper was experiencing something he had never known before. Running his hand gently over Jumper's blond hair, he said, "You ain't never been hugged before by nobody, have ya?"

"No," Jumper said as he tried to reach his arms around Jake's waist.

"Oh, my God," said Jake. "You poor boy. We're gonna go back now, and I promise ya, ya can have all the hugs ya want now. No boy should never be without all the hugs he wants. Them hugs is what tells ya everything's gonna be okay. A man can't git nowhere without hugs."

Jumper began to cry again softly. He tightened his arms slightly around Jake. Jake lifted him up and put him down on the seat, still curled up, but with his feet on the floor. Jake arranged the tarpaulin so that he was completely sheltered from the rain. Then he went around and got in the driver's seat and drove back to the yard behind the house. Michael and Jeff were still standing there. As Jake lifted Jumper up, he shouted to them that he was going to keep Jumper in his room for the night, and he would explain why later.

Jake carried Jumper in his arms to his room. Michael and Jeff stood completely bewildered. Michael said, "Well, Jeff, leave it to Jake. Never known anybody like him."

Most of the mud on Jumper's body had washed off in the rain, and holding him in one arm, Jake threw back the covers on his bed with the other. He grabbed a large towel off the chair and wrapped it around the boy. Laying him on the bed, Jake looked down at him and shook his head. He thought that no young boy should ever have to have a life like Jumper has had. Sitting on the side of the bed, Jake brushed Jumpers blond hair back out of his eyes.

Jumper looked up at Jake with the sweetest expression he thought he'd ever seen. "Jumper, ya need to git some sleep. We'll talk about what ya wanna do in the morning. I promise ya. If ya still wanna leave here, ya can. But I ain't gonna stand fer ya runnin' off like ya did tonight. If ya decide yer gonna go back to them fuckin' truckers, and if ya really wanna do that, I'll drive ya up there myself. That's a promise. Now you jist try to git some sleep. I'm gonna step outta here fer a minute, but I'll be right back. Now don't you try goin' nowhere, or I'll come git ya agin. You hear!"

Jumper nodded. Jake walked down to Luke's room and, finding the door locked, put his shoulder to it and broke it open. Stepping inside, he found Luke and Tim sitting and talking. Both were naked. Jake walked up to Luke and swung his arm against Luke's head, knocking him flat onto the bed. Luke said, "What the fuck!"

"I'm here to collect the fuckin' money you owe Jumper. Now hand it over!"

Luke said, "I'm not gonna pay money to that fuckin' little asshole!"

Jake raised his arm again and said, "I says hand it over now! That's five bucks from each of ya."

Luke and Tim both went into their wallets and handed over the five dollars each. As Jake grabbed the money, he said, "Yous a couple of fuckin' slime balls, that's what ya are. If I hear of ya layin' a hand on that boy agin, I'll kill ya both!" Picking up Jumper's clothes that were lying on the floor, Jake walked out the door. He shouted back, "And git this fuckin' lock fixed in the mornin'!"

Jake went back to his room and found Jumper where he had left him. "Are ya asleep yet, Jumper?"

"No."

Jake got out of his clothes and walked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth. Then he turned off the light and climbed into bed next to Jumper. "Now remember, we's gonna talk in the morning. But first we gotta git some sleep. Are ya warm enough?"

"I'm still cold," murmured Jumper.

Jake rolled over on his side and faced Jumper. "Would ya like me to hug ya agin and git ya warm?"

Jumper smiled and nodded. Jake slipped his arm under Jumper's back and put his other arm over his chest. Jumper turned his head and nestled it into the crook of Jake's neck. They lay there for a long time, neither going to sleep. After awhile, tears began to come to Jumper's eyes again, and he said softly, "I'm sorry."

Soon Jake and Jumper were both sound asleep in each other's arms.

To be continued...