Gabby and Wes: 1 - Down on the Farm

 

Excitement…tinged with apprehension - that’s what Gabby was feeling as she drove down the unfamiliar country roads.  She was visiting her cousin Wes on his country farm for the weekend.  She’d never been on a farm before.  But he’d been asking her repeatedly to come out and visit and, as she hadn’t seen Wes in forever and missed him, she finally gave in.  She would have preferred he visit her in the city, but she was always up for something new and different.

Driving down the country roads, she noticed they were few and far between.  She also noticed with dismay that some of them weren’t marked.  Her eyes went back to the directions she held in her hand.  She was looking for Road N.  She drove a little further until she came up to a “T” in the road.  Slowing down, she was irritated to find the side road unmarked.  ‘Dammit,’ she thought to herself.  That was probably the one she wanted.  It would be just her luck that she would need the unnamed road.   Comparing her directions to the meter reading on her dash, she noticed that she had already driven more miles than she should have - she should have reached Road N by now.  ‘Stupid map’ she muttered as she reached for her cell.  After what seemed an inordinate amount of time, her cousin finally answered.

“I think I’m lost in the boonies,” she told Wes. 

Wes chuckled.  He could just picture his cousin, looking completely fabulous yet completely out of place on some lone country road.  He imagined her gabbing on her cell, looking through her over-sized sunglasses.  Hell, she was probably even driving in stilettos.  ‘That’s Gabby’ he thought fondly. 

“Good to hear your voice sweetie,” he replied.

“Yeah, well, it’ll be great to see you.  Now tell me how the hell to find Road N.”

“Where are you now?” he asked.

“Shit I don’t know.  Some boring-ass road,” Gabby replied as she looked around for any type of landmark. 

“Did you pass the three white silos yet?  You need to turn there,” Wes told her.

“How the hell am I supposed to know that?   The map doesn’t say anything about silos,” complained Gabby in frustration.  “I just see an old orange barn coming up on the left.”

“You’ve gone too far,” Wes advised her.  “You need to turn around and go back about five miles.”

“Oh, fuck,” said Gabby as she hit the brakes and spun her car around. 

“Just look for the silos, and then turn right,” Wes instructed her.

“Yeah, yeah.  I’ll see you in a few,” said Gabby as she hung up.

Trying not to get too frustrated and relieved she was at least now going in the right direction, Gabby tried to relax.  Finding her turn, she soon found herself nearing Wes’ farm.  Breathing deeply, she rolled down her windows in the sunshine.  Instantly, she crinkled her nose.  ‘Mistake’ she thought as she rolled her windows back up. 

A few minutes later, she was pulling up in front of Wes’ house.  He bounded off the porch to greet her and, as Gabby stepped out of her car, immediately had her in a bear hug.

“Gabby!  It’s been too long,” he said excitedly.  Letting go of her, he swept his arm in a wide arc and asked “so, what do you think?”

“It smells like freakin’ Africa out here.”

Laughing, Wes replied “Like you’ve been to Africa.  Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it.”

Gabby rolled her eyes.  “I doubt it.”

“You will.  Come on, let’s get your stuff inside.”  Gabby popped the trunk to her rental car.  Wes chuckled as he looked inside.  Turning to Gabby, he said “two leopard-print bags and a zebra bag?  It looks like you have ‘freakin’ Africa’ in your trunk.”

“Oh, shut up,” retorted Gabby good-humoredly as she started handing bags to her cousin.  “Just show me where my room is.”  Grinning widely, Wes obliged.

After unpacking and taking a mini powernap, Gabby came down from her room and found Wes in the kitchen, rifling through a box.  “What are you doing?” she asked.

Wes looked up from the box.  “Oh, my dad brought this box over when he came out to visit last week.  He knew you were coming and thought there might be stuff in here you’d want.”

Curious, Gabby walked over to the table and peered into the box.  Inside it, she easily recognized several items from their youth. 

“Hey,” she began, “this looks like stuff from your old room - from back when you lived in Los Ameros.” 

“It is,” replied Wes.  “Mom found this box in the back of my closet.  Hey, remember these?”  He pulled out two plastic helmets, with wires and plastic sunglasses taped to them.

“Oh my God.  Our old spy gear,” Gabby gasped.  “Do you remember all the spying we used to do?”

“Yeah, and all the trouble we got into as a result?” he replied.  They both laughed as they recalled the mischief they got into as kids.

Wes dug around a little more in the box.  “Hey, wasn’t this your record?” he asked as he pulled out an old ABBA vinyl record album.

“Um, definitively not,” replied Gabby.

“Oh, yes it is.  Don’t you remember?  You used to play this all the time and danced in front of the mirror when you thought no one was looking.”

“Seriously, I didn’t,” denied Gabby as she took a turn shuffling through the box.

“You did too.  You were a closet ABBA lover,” he goaded.  He knew damn well it wasn’t her album, but that didn’t stop him from teasing her.

“Oh, bite me,” she retorted.

In mock outrage, Wes grabbed the box and turned away.

“Well, if that’s the way you’re going to be, then you can’t see what else is in the box.”

“Fine,” replied Gabby with a shrug.  “It’s all your crap anyway.”  She jumped up on the table and surveyed the kitchen.  “So, what do you have to eat in this place?”

“You’re favorite - salmon,” replied Wes as he sat the box down and walked over to the refrigerator.  "How about some wine while you're waiting?"  Pulling out a bottle of wine, he poured for himself and his cousin.  The rest of the evening passed quickly as they cooked, drank, ate and reminisced. 

The following morning saw Wes up early as usual and Gabby - well, she was never really a morning person.  But by 11:00 a.m. she was up and ready to start her day.  Sort of.  Groggy and in need of some serious caffeine, Gabby went outside looking for her cousin.  She found him near the barn.

“I’m going to Starbucks.  Do you want anything?” she asked.

“Um, sweetie, I live in the country, remember? There isn’t a Starbucks within a thirty mile radius of here.”

Gabby stared at Wes incredulously.  “Dude, that’s seriously jacked up.”

He looked at her bemusedly.  She shrugged.  “I’m just sayin’.”

“You’re weird.  Who says that?” he asked.

“You’re weird.  Who doesn’t?”

“Poser.”

“Loser.”

And with that, Gabby turned on her stilettoed heel and gingerly started to walk away in the soft dirt.  Wes shook his head at his cousin.  “Effen city girl,” he muttered affectionately.

“I heard that,” she tossed over her shoulder.

“What?” replied Wes innocently.

Gabby turned back toward Wes, hands on her hips.  “You haven’t changed one bit,” she observed.

“Nope, and you love me for it,” Wes replied.  To which Gabby simply sighed loudly.  Realizing she wasn’t going to get her usual morning latte, she continued.  “Fine.  I’ll make my own coffee.  You do have cream, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s in the barn,” replied Wes with a glint in his eye.

Gabby arched one brow quizzically at her cousin.

“Well, the cows do need to be milked.  Do you want to try?”

“You can't be serious," said Gabby.  

 

"How seriously do you want cream for your coffee?" asked Wes.  He picked up a metal pail by the barn door and held it out to Gabby.  Shaking it, he teased "The cows aren't going to milk themselves.  And you haven't learned how to drink your coffee black yet."

 

“Bite me,” she retorted.

“So, is that a no?” he asked.

“That’s a hell no.”

Wes just couldn’t help himself.  He loved giving his cousin shit.  

Gabby was decidedly less amused.  Shaking her head at her irrepressible cousin, she headed indoors.  Roughly thirty minutes later, Wes joined her.  He found her curled up on the couch, coffee cup in one hand and examining a small white tile that she held in her other hand.  Coming closer and realizing what she held, he excitedly grabbed it from her.

“Where did you find this?” he asked.

“It was stuck behind the cushions,” Gabby replied, wondering why her cousin was so excited.  “What the fuck is it?” she asked.

“It’s a mah-jongg tile.” 

Gabby looked blankly at Wes.  “Yeah, like I said…what the fuck is it?”

“You know, you should clean up your mouth.  I think the city’s corrupting you.”

“No, you’ve just lost your edge,” Gabby countered.

Wes rolled his eyes.  He handed the tile back to Gabby.  She studied the dragon picture on the face of it more intently as he explained the game to her.  Then he finished excitedly, “I’m so glad you found it.  I pulled the set out the other day to play and saw that I was missing a piece.  I was really bummed.  Turned the whole house apart but couldn’t find it anywhere.”

Handing the tile back to him, she stated “you’re lame.”

 “You're lame.”

“Your face is lame.”

“You know, as much as I love standing around bantering with you, I do have other things that I need to get done.”

“Really?  What else is there to do around here besides milk cows?” Gabby asked teasingly.

“Somehow, I don’t think you’ll be much interested in anything that goes on here,” Wes began.  But I do have to go into town for a few things.  Wanna come?”

“Oh, like I’m going to pass up a chance to go shopping,” replied Gabby.

“Well, don’t get too excited,” cautioned Wes.  “We don’t have fancy malls here - just a couple strip centers.”

“Oh,” Gabby replied, just a tad disappointed.  Her tone didn’t escape Wes.

“You know, if you’re interested, there’s also a county fair going on right now,” he offered.

“A fair?” Gabby’s interested perked up a little.  “I haven’t been to a fair since I was a kid.”

“Since?  You’re still a kid, Gabby.  I don’t think you’ll ever grow up,” said Wes affectionately.

In response, Gabby crinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out at her cousin.

Wes laughed.  “See what I mean?  Come on, I’ll win you a ridiculously oversized stuffed animal.  I still have a pretty good arm, you know.”

Excited, Gabby jumped up from the couch.  “I guess living in the country does have its perks,” she said as they headed out the door.

 

© 2007 Dahlia Ramone

 

This was written for Loaded for Blog:

This week’s topic is a story, subject being: "Down On The Farm"

(include a mah-jongg tile and an ABBA record)