PIGS DELIGHT

"Are you going to sit there licking your wounds like a beat down dog or are you going to do something productive?" Maa inquired. This wasn't the first time Jed had come home worse for wear after a night of gambling. Jed had went to Charlevoix with a couple buddies to gamble n drink. They would stay at a local hotel usually and come back the next day. Maa didn't really approve of his card playing for money but she couldn't argue with the help of his winnings offered, after all things were hard with it being just Maa working. Paa had been a hog farmer until he died of a heart attack in the hog pen last year. It was a terrible sight to be hold. Those hogs devoured Paa's body in minutes. The feeding frenzy alerted Maa to come out from the house. By the time she made it to the pen only Paa's head and femurs were left and she couldn't stop them from finishing the job. Paul was a terrible man so his income from selling hogs to the lumber company's was missed but not the man himself. Maa would comment " that man was the Devil with a German accent". She sold the farm to Todd Grable who owned the next farm over. Maa took the money and moved the family into town.  More eyes to help watch you all in town, she said. With three kids in tow she bought a small restaurant with a small cottage behind it. Maa P's Fixin's was a small diner that fed the boys from the mill lunch and dinner. In the mornings she was contracted to make breakfast for the logging crews. Maa liked cooking but secretly loved catching the eyes of the strong buck saw boys. After years of being ignored she was soaking up the attention. Her firm demeanor protected a soft interior that begged for love. Even after three children she maintain a proportional figure. Most women of similar circumstance possessed more robust frames and had no need to worry about such things. But she was a middle-age widow, 32 and not ready to conform to being an old maid just yet. If not to catch a man's eye she would at least need to stay young to keep up with her three kids, Jed 19, Laz 13 and Beth 11. Laz and Beth were still in school in the town while Jared had stopped going at 16. Jed wasn't a wild child but more of a free spirit, roaming the land and going on adventures in the northern Michigan wilderness. Laz was a profoundly deep thinking Individual with a love of reading. Beth loved reading too but had a passion for animal care and welfare. Somehow, someway, this lot was well balanced and seemingly hardy all things considered. Guess they were just as happy to be rid of that evil man that called himself their father. Even though things were more civil without him, her loins ached with longing. Many mornings in the cabin she would awaken to start the day and have to add a log or two to the stove. Her erect nipples served as quasi-proof of the temperature in the cabin. Rubbing her breasts to warm her skin she would be reminded of how long it actually had been since your body was attended to and even longer for her mind. But these thoughts were quickly suppressed as morning routine determined the pace and timeline; stoke stove, make bed, wash up, do hair, get dressed, front door. The fall leaves made crispy by the light frost, crackled underfoot as she walked to the logging camp mess tent. No man or beast was sneaking up quietly with this noisy blanket covering the land. Rape and animal attacks were always a possibility around here. She kept a small knife at the ready in her front dress pocket. Maa always put rape in the same category mentally as animal attacks. By the time she got to the mess tent, the Indian woman who helped her was bringing in logs for the cooking stove. She had been nicknamed "Two" by everyone in camp. Everyone had a different but similar reason for calling her Two. Some said " because that woman could out work two men" or "I once saw her carry 2 50 pound flour sacks by herself."  Two was in fact the hardest working person anyone had ever seen. She had so much energy the camp boss had locked up the coffee because he said " ain't no way she gonna work that fast and hard without strong coffee and I know that Ingine can't afford it." It was a man's world and to make it a woman had to navigate around confrontational statements like those. Ultimately, there is no secret to her drive other than it was just her way, plain and simple. Some people got to roam to find that thing that drives them while others just can't sit still and rest proper if they don't put in a hard days work, Two was the latter. Skin color in social opinions be DAMNED!, Everyone could learn from Two and the world was a little better because of her.