Maxi - The Cookout

"Are you awake".

"Yes", Maxi replied as she held April tighter. She knew what was coming next.

"I've got to go. Don't get up. I'll call you later today", April said as she quickly touched her lips to Maxi's and left the arms and bed of the person who had given her the best night of her life. The only light came from the window. She could hear a bird whistle. It wouldn't be long before daybreak.

A week later, at a cookout, Maxi was sitting at a table playing spades. Someone said something funny and the group, players and watchers, laughed loudly. Suddenly there was quiet. Maxi knew someone was standing behind her.

"I want to talk to you" April said softly but there was tension in her voice. She had seen one of the male players motion in her direction and then there was laughing. Maxi stood and someone said something she didn't hear clearly and someone snickered. When she turned to say hello to April she was smacked across the face. People were saying oh and wow.

"What" was all Maxi uttered before she was hit again. She saw angry fire in those usually nice eyes that blazed into hers. She grabbed the hand that was in motion for another hit.

"Let me go. You're no better than them" April said with a sweeping motion toward the men. "You couldn't wait to brag about bedding me could you?" April asked between clinched teeth. Maxi let her go but hurt was in her eyes as she stepped away from the woman. Maxi slightly shook her head but did not speak. "Did you and Tony compare notes? Maybe you want me to tell you two which was the better lay?"

"I didn't tell them anything. You just did" Maxi told her before sitting back down. When was she going to learn that she needed to leave women alone who was so secretive about part of their life. And what was she thinking having sex with someone who was a friend of one of her cousins? Too many times she had gotten involved with a woman who sexed her so passionately but didn't want anyone to know. But if she didn't deal with women who those women then she wouldn't date much, not that she did anyway.

"Man, I never got that much fire out of her when I had her naked. So that's it, she's a dyke" said Tony, Maxi's spade opponent sitting to her right. Maxi ignored him as she moved her tongue against the inside cheek that had been slapped.

Damn, she would be glad when more women came out because she was feeling more and more like she was just an amusement ride that opened at sundown and closed just before sunrise. She might as well accept that while a woman could have feelings for her beyond the lust, for some their relationship had to be kept secret. Relationship? A few hours romp wasn't much of a relationship. Because she had been crushing on April for quite a while, she had not thought it through but just accepted the invitation because she knew she would regret it if she had let the opportunity past. If she had known April had dated Tony, maybe she would ....

"Sloppy seconds" Tony laughed loudly as he smacked cards on the table and collected a book. "I could never get her to go down on me, but I'd bet she did with you. That's how you dykes do it right? Tongues, fingers and fake dicks. Oww!" Tony exclaimed when he was kicked under the table and told to shut up by his card partner who was also his current girlfriend.

"What?" Maxi asked when her cousin Jumpshot tapped the table. She had tossed out a wrong card.

"No no, she don't get to replay. If she reneges, you lose" Tony grinned.

"Come on man, that's not fair, you know Maxi has other things on her mind right now."

"Yeah, Tony. Let her take it back" said Lois, his partner.

"What, you got a thang for her too?" Tony grinned but it faded when Maxi gave Lois a wink. Maxi made it very obvious. She wasn't about to trade words with Tony but she knew that simple action would get to him quicker than anything she could say to him verbally.

"Damn, we gonna need to put locks on our women. Maxi wants all the pussy" Tony said counting books.

"Control your tongue Tony and stop being so loud. You don't have to respect me but you will respect those children" Maxi said sternly motioning with her head toward a group of kids playing a short distance away. They had not heard what the slightly intoxicated man had said because of the music that was playing.

"They don't know what we're talking about" Tony belched then drank more beer.

"Well tell that to the mothers who are eyeing you".

"They're probably looking at you. Miss Stud. Half of them ain't got no man so they're probably dykes too" belched Tony.

"You're such a jerk. Why do you hang out with this jerk?"

"He's just had too much to drink. He don't mean nothing" said Lois.

Maxi couldn't be bothered to roll her eyes at Tony but turned her head to keep from looking at him at all. Off to the side she saw April nodding her head as her older sister was talking to her. She looked away when she saw the sister pointing angrily in her direction. She could imagine what April's sister was telling her because she knew she did not like her. Maxi tossed in her cards since she had reneged which gave the other team the points they need to win. No one else wanted to play so she didn't get up. She shuffled the deck several times and began a new game.

To the right of the card table there was another table where three guys were playing dominoes. Other people were either sitting, eating, talking or fixing plates. Maxi usually felt on the outside of things because she didn't have children and never had a woman with her when she attended a family summer cookout. Several card tables and picnic tables were in use. Several teens had their own area.

"Uh oh. Heads up cuz. April is coming this way again" Jumpshot warned with a whisper. April opened the brown folding chair she carried and sat down next to Maxi. She didn't say anything.

"I'm hungry baby, how about fixing me a plate" Tony said to Lois who gave him a dirty look.

April didn't speak, but sat close to Maxi. Many eyes were watching her wondering what was going to happen next. Tony kept grumbling about food so Lois finally went to get him something to eat because she didn't want him making a scene stumbling around. He had drank too many beers and maybe some food in him would help. April also left the table and returned when Lois did. They both had two paper plates that held a variety of food. Lois sat the plate she carried in front of Tony. April sat her plate down and popped the tops on two can sodas that had been brought by one of the kids.

"I wouldn't eat that man. She might have put dirt on it or spit on it" Tony said biting into his chicken.

"I'm sorry for over reacting and hitting you" April apologized moving the plate and a soda directly in front of Maxi who still would not look at her. Her sister had taken her to the side to ask about the slapping incident, wanting to know if the whispers were true that she had slept with Maxi. When April nodded yes and was basically scolded and told to stay away from Maxi, April was more interested in watching Maxi who seemed unaffected by what had recently happened between them. As she watched Maxi from a distance and scanned the other people, she vaguely noticed that she and Maxi were the main focus even though the others tried not to stare as their heads turned in her direction.

She thought back to several other cookouts that she had attended when Maxi was also there. Then as now, she had watched the tall woman and wondered what Maxi was thinking and what an average day was like for her. Maxi never brought anyone with her to the family cookouts and wondered why since everyone knew she was gay. Perhaps she didn't want to flaunt her sexuality around her family. Maybe she had been told not to bring anyone. Would Maxi not bring a woman to a family cookout if she had been told not to? She doubted that Maxi would be here if she had been told such a thing. On two separate occassions she had heard some gossip about Maxi but nothing too mean. Well, nothing that wasn't usually said about other people's personal business. Usually, she didn't pay attention to gossip but when it was about Maxi she was interested. For many years she had had a crush on Maxi but not being out, even barely to herself, she just ached in her chest when Maxi's eyes looked into hers briefly in greeting.

"My car is still not running. Can you give me a ride home?" April asked taking a bite of burger and hoping she didn't sound like an idiot. She was trying to be calm and act like it was the most average thing to sit beside Maxi as though she was her date. Many times she had wished she had been Maxi's girlfriend. Now she was hoping she hadn't ruined the chance to be more than a one night stand for the woman who sat there as if she didn't exist.

"Man, she slapped the taste out of your mouth and now she wants to kiss and make up. Hey, if I was you, I'd let her kiss anything she wanted to kiss. And lick. Man, if ..."

"Shut up Tony" Lois said looking like she wanted to slap him. Actually, Tony and April's "date" was dinner and a handjob that April instantly regretted. He did get her blouse off but she couldn't go through with the rest. It had been almost two years since that had happened and Maxi had sort of been the reason. A few nights before, April had dreamed about Maxi, so when Tony asked her for a date, she accepted. If she had known at the time that she had a chance of making that dream a reality, she never would have even had dinner with Tony.

"Do you want me to bring you something else? There's a banana pudding that your cousin Nellie made" April told the silent woman who wouldn't even glance at her. When Maxi stood, April asked her where she was going. Maxi returned to the table with 2 small styrofoam cups filled with pudding. She placed one in front of April who took a breath of relief.

Tony kept making silly comments that they continued to ignore. Maxi left the table again but that time she went to talk to some of her relatives. They played a few more hands of cards then Maxi was ready to leave. Several people had already left, some taking plates with them. Maxi hugged a couple of her relatives and said she would see them later. Both family members gave her looks but knew better than say anything about what had happened earlier. One of them did not like April much but didn't say anything. She just told Maxi to call her later.

"Are you awake?" April asked when she heard the birds whistling.

"Yes", Maxi replied as she held April tighter.

"What's for breakfast?" April asked snuggling into Maxi's neck.
Maxi - The Cookout by Saltyc)2010