The Long Trip part 10

I had been driving for some time in Kansas on I 70, heading west. It was the most uninteresting landscape so far. Occasional pockets of civilization with oil dikes and grain towers in between. I  stopped at a rest stop in Manhattan Kansas  (far different from the New York version) I peed, then thought to walk around and stretch my legs, I saw a young man in his twenties tall, black hair and definitely a native, he had a grim sullen look, and a black crow tattoo on his upper left arm. I sat down next to him, and he went to get up, "I'm sorry" I said "I didn't mean to disturb you!" I added with a smile. He looked down, and his hard look turned soft, I could tell he was examining me starting at my pouty red lips and spiraling down to my ample breasts where his eyes locked, then he smiled back, and sat down again. 

"I'm Aaron" he said, sticking his big hand out for me to shake. I put mine in his and it looked like a dolls hand in comparison. My mind raced as I began to inspect his crotch, where obviously, there was alot going on. I smiled and stared into his dark brown piercing eyes "I'm Retta" I  asked where he was headed, his answer was odd. "Not sure." He said looking down. I piped up with, "I'm going to Portland Oregon,  I have a new job starting there as a Therapist." He nodded and smiled. He had a stoic aura to him, as if he knew the future. "Anyplace to eat around here?" I asked, he pointed down the highway to the next exit, and said there was a few places at the next one. I  asked if he wanted to follow me there and grab a bite. He put his head down again, and said "I'm not driving." Thats when I  noticed two canvas book bags beside him, one was jammed with clothes, and the other with papers and books. "You can ride with me? ! " I said with a smile, "uh, okay." He said. We walked to my rental truck and got in. He put his big bags in front of his legs, and I  suggested that he put them behind the seat so he would have more leg room. He did that and stretched out, "Thanks" he said smiling,  then he pulled some loose bills out of his pocket and began counting. "Oh no, my invitation, I'm buying!" I insisted.  His smile widened and he responded "It's okay I can pay." I refused and we pulled back onto the interstate.  As we got off the next exit, there was a diner filled with cops and state troopers. He cringed when he saw all their cars. "Don't  like cops?" I said, half joking. "No I don't." He said. "They're not looking for you are they? " I asked. "Oh no, I  did my time," he said with a sigh. I wondered what he meant,  but determined he'd gone to jail for something and had no affinity for law enforcement.  I pulled into the gas station next door, and he got out, insisting on pumping my gas. I went in to pay while he pumped. Inside were some pictures of flatbread looking tacos and I asked about them. The indigenous owner explained that they were "Indian Tacos" I looked to see the savouring treats and asked for three of them. His wife appeared from behind a back room and smiled then began assembling them. I grabbed a few iced teas as the owner told me how his wife made everything from scratch even the bannock, the flat bread the tacos were made in. She placed each in a big Styrofoam container and put them in a bag. I thanked them, paid, and walked out with the unexpected lunch.

Aaron had finished pumping the gas and smiled as I approached.  He leaned over and opened my door and then took the bags from me. "Ever have Indian Tacos?" I asked. His eyes lit up. His smile was uncontainable. "Oh Hell Yes!" He said smelling the bag. "Go on!" I said,as he pulled the container out, and I pulled over to a shady spot under a tree in the corner of the lot. "Oh man! I haven't had these in 6 years!" He smiled and smelled the open container, his eyes closed as he savoured the smells. He handed one to me, as I  handed him a tea. We giggled and dug in. I had never heard of an indian taco, but it soon became a favorite of mine.

When he finished it I nodded at the last container, "Thats for you too!" He smiled and a tear welled up in his eye. He then began to tell me his story.

Aaron had come back from two tours in Iraq, as a medic. He explained that his grandfather was a healer from the Arapaho tribe. He saw lots of death and devastation in those two years, and upon returning found a dissolution of society.  He tried to work at different jobs, but wanted to be a paramedic. There were no opening where he lived in Wichita.  After floundering for several months,  his depression worsened and he turned to smoking lots of pot. He worked as a day labourer, raking garbage at the city dump. He  felt like his life was wasted. One night he explained,  he had gone out with a friend to get some weed, and they got pulled over. His friend,  who'd had many altercations with authorities and was driving on a suspended license,  pulled out a gun and shot at the cops, then sped away with Aaron in the car. They met a row of cops and stop sticks not far away, and all the cops opened fire, killing his friend. He too was shot in the shoulder. 

Since his now deceased friend had shot a cop, when Aaron recovered, and went to court, he got six years in Leavenworth. He spent four years, and just got out. He'd hitchhiked to that Manhattan rest stop and hoped to get a ride to his sisters house in Sharon Springs near the Colorado border. I took his hand in both of mine, and assured him that I  would take him there, it was on my way. He began to cry and hugged me tightly, his heaving accompanied with a sense of relief.  I was so glad we had run into each other, he opened up,  and told me more about his life and the disparities between the white and indigenous world. I was oblivious to much of the native Americans plight at that point, and got  an eye opening view of racism in this country.

We drove and talked until it started to get dark. He yawned and I saw exit 299, there was another restaurant and motels along the highway. I pulled into an econolodge and Aaron pulled his money out again, and began to count. I put my hand on his and said "I got this." He began to insist on paying, and I said "Nope, Reparations! " He laughed and relented. We went inside to check in, and the night clerk asked for one or two beds, I said one, and he said two simultaneously. He looked at me and grinned. "One" I said. The clerk chuckled and handed me the key. We drove around to the back, where a pristine lake and park presented an awesome view outside our door. Aaron carried my bags in and brought his few ragged canvas bags. We got inside and he said "I dont have any toothpaste." I  noticed a store a few doors down and asked if he wanted to walk down with me and get some. He smiled and offered to go alone and let me rest, but I said that I wanted to go and get a few things myself. 

We walked out into the warm balmy air and down to the store. It was a general store with anything you could think of. We walked up and down each row, he grabbed his toothpaste and a new toothbrush. I got a few travel sized toiletries, then we rounded the next row with all sorts of camping equipment. He was enthralled,  and picked up an olive drab rucksack. "Nice! So many pockets. I took it and threw it in the cart."Hey," he said "Im on a limited budget." I smiled and stopped him from putting it back. "Please, Aaron, you served our country, and have been treated so poorly,  I want to give something back, let me get you what you need!" He welled up again and said "I can pay you back?" "No need, get whatever you want!" I demanded. I  picked up a set of camouflage pants and heavy shirt, and held them up to his body. "What size?" I said, he looked at the tag and said, "That fits." We smiled and continued down the row. All total we got two sets of clothes a fold up tent, a big backpack,  a carryall shoulder bag toiletries,  and a beautiful hunting knife. Aaron was like a kid at Christmas when we approached the register.

"And some rolling papers." I said to the clerk. I paid and we walked out arm in arm. He was so happy that someone had showed some compassion to him, and it made my heart melt. We walked past a Steakhouse,  and he stared at the sign. "Wanna eat here?" I asked. " I haven't had a good steak in at least five years." He said. That settled it, I  corralled him towards the front door. We went in and were told it might be a 45 minute wait, so we walked the short distance back to the motel to drop off our purchases. I closed the door and walked over to my bag, and pulled out my weed jar. I clicked on the TV and began to roll a few joints. He smiled from ear to ear. "You have got to be the coolest person I have ever met!" He said as he sat down next to me in the bed. 

I lit the joint and passed it to him, we laughed and chatted, and got stoned. He told me how incredible it was to get out of prison,  walk for a day, then have Indian tacos, get some nice camping equipment, and smoke a joint in one day, so many things he had dreamed of, but was deprived of for five years. I took the last toke and put the roach in the ashtray. "That's not all." I said, as I  reached over and started rubbing his crotch, I had never felt a man get so hard, so quickly. His big cock just kept growing. I unzipped his pants and immediately put him in my mouth, he came within two minutes. It was the shortest lasting blowjob in history.  He apologized and explained that it had been a long time, and he was awfully excited. I understood completely,and we decided to go eat then come back and try again. We walked hand in hand to the Steakhouse and got a table. I was totally enamored of my new handsome friend. We each got a nice steak dinner, and a few drinks. I had never seen a more happy and animated man. We shared stories of our lives and had a remarkable evening.

As the crowd thinned out we decided to leave. We walked back to our room and his attention turned to the large pond and park setting behind  the motel.he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the water. We walked down the secluded tree lined path and found a picnic table near the water. He sat on top, and I strategically sat between his legs on the bench. I began rubbing again and he stood up above me and took his pants off. I started stroking his big dick and sucking him off, this time he leaned back and enjoyed it. About fifteen minutes into gagging on his cock, I tasted his precum. I pulled away for a second intending to swallow his jizz, when he creamed me in the face with an unnatural amount of cum. It was like a hose that had been turned on full blast. I  was covered in semen. We both laughed at the ungodly amount of cum. He took his shirt off and began to wipe my face. I felt the globs of his love juice plop on my shirt, then decided fuck it, and took my top off, then my shorts. There we were both completely naked, when he took me by the hand, and led me to the water, I walked into the pond and splashed water on my face to clear off some of the discharge. We shivered and walked in up to my neck, and hugged, and then swam around, still holding hands, totally free in natures embrace. 

After skinny dipping,  we returned to our room. And smoked another joint, made Love,  then fell asleep wrapped up in each other.

The next day we headed back out on the highway, west, towards his sisters house in Sharon Springs. We talked for the next two hundred miles about everything. I was slowly falling in love with this guy. When we reached his destination, I asked him if he would consider coming to Portland with me. He put his head down and explained that he still had two years of probation, and couldn't leave the state. My heart broke at the news.

I dropped him off to a tearful reunion with his sibling, who offered me to stay the night. I didn't want to prolong my agony of losing such a blessed sacred soul. So I declined. We sat in the rental for two hours and talked about our hooking up in the future. Then we got high again and cried. We exchanged contact information and I pulled out to continue my sojourn, intent on reuniting with this amazing person.

We kept in touch for the next year, then he told me he was going back to the army, being deployed to Afghanistan. Seven months later, after not hearing from him, his sister sent me an email, telling me that my sweet Aaron had been killed by an IED. 

I am thankful that I got the time to connect with such a kind and loving person, who I would never see again. But from time to time, I feel his spirit, and his freedom,  and I go skinny dipping.