Antebellum Days and the Epistle of St. John (Excerpt)

Chapter 22

      The Christmas spirit filled the air at Live Oaks all week. Field slaves reveled in the joy of their leisurely days and praised God for the gift of shoes all year long. William worked especially hard to keep the stable clean and the horses well groomed, as he felt a special kinship with Master Canfield since their kitchen discussion, and he was highly motivated to deepen his approval with the master. His foot, however, began to ache more and more. Although he believed it was just due to the cold weather, he fretted that it would hinder his work.
      As the week culminated with New Year's Eve, William was thankful that the Canfields traditionally did not make a big deal of the holiday. Katherine ruled the roost on this matter. No parties; get to bed early, the New Year is just another day.
     Thomas, Jr., however, had plans to celebrate with some friends in town, and he had William prepare his mount to be ready at eight p.m. It was a cold night for Georgia, so Tom bundled up with gloves and a scarf as he trotted off the plantation, leaving William standing at the stable entrance, waving good bye.
     William was happy to spend the night alone, sitting by his faithful pot-belly stove. By the dim light of his oil lamp, he sat quietly reading the Old Testament. He loved to read about the Hebrew slaves being led to freedom by Moses, under the direction of God Himself. When, he thought, would a Moses come to lead the Negroes HERE out of slavery? His thoughts brought him back to the warm and safe feeling he had when his dear mammy would cradle him in her arms and talk about the love of God. William so wished to see her again and to be safe and warm in her arms once more.
      Comforted by the warmth of the pot belly stove, slowly, he drifted off to a deep and peaceful sleep.
     CLANG, BANG, RUMBLE…sounds from the stable startled William awake. It took him a few seconds to re-orientate himself to his immediate surrounding. Standing and limping to the stable, he saw Tom pulling his horse in a circle, trying to loosen his boot from its stirrup and dismount. Will quickly realized that Tom was drunk.
      "Willm," Tom slurred his words as Will appeared in the doorway. "Dear boy, Happy New Year. Welcome to the yar of our Lord, 1864, a brand new stinkin' year." With that he slumped over and Will was just able to catch him as he slid off the mount. Grabbing Will and cursing with the pain of the fall, Tom stood up and looked Will in the eye, saying only, "Jeese ,Will, I got to pee real bad. You got a pot in here?"
        Will steadied Tom and nodded. "In my room under the bed. Go ahead, I'll stable your mount." Tom ran into the room, found the porcelain pot, knelt down and relieved himself for some time, sighing with relief as he vacated. William appeared at the door, and watched Tom as he finished. Tom looked up at Will.
     "Hey, slave," he stammered. "You have to obey my orders." He grinned smugly. "Suck my peter…right now," he spouted, pointing to his penis.
     This was a new and ugly side of Tom that Will had not seen before. "Tom, you're drunk," he said indignantly.
     Tom stood and declared defiantly. "I know that. I also know you really WANT what I got between my legs. So suck my peter. I'm the master here and you have to do what I say."
     William was disappointed in his friend. "Our slave-master relationship has its limits, Tom. I'm not required to do immoral acts…"
     "You're required to do what I say, boy!" Tom suddenly became enraged at Will. "White masters get sex from their woman slaves. The Black bitches obey and give their masters what they want." He paused and looked William in the eye and said in a mocking tone, "You're living proof of that!"
     Feeling hurt and degraded, William lowered his head. Tears welled up in his eyes. On seeing Will's reaction, Tom felt immediately ashamed. He put his hands on Will's neck and pulled him closer. His tone softened, "Will, Will, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. You're right. I had too much to drink, I had no right to…" He stopped talking. Stared into Will's eyes and without thinking drew his head close to his and kissed Will passionately on his lips. Will melted into Tom's arms and kissed back with all the emotion that was pent up in him for months. Will's penis stiffened as he and Tom entwined. They fell back on the bed and began to undress each other. Exposing Tom's chest, Will kissed Tom's nipples and kept kissing down to his stomach. Unfastening his belt, he fulfilled his young master's earlier request…eagerly. Will's mind flashed back to that day way back when he was serviced in that way by Sammy at Massa Joe's plantation. This, however, was different. This he did out of love.
     Tom lay back to enjoy the feeling. His body vibrated with ecstasy. After a few minutes, he stopped Will, fearing a premature end to the tryst. He quickly pulled down Will's overalls and engulfed Will's throbbing penis in his mouth. Will knew immediately by this act that they were experiencing a mutual passion. It was not just Tom using Will as a sexual toy. With his oral satisfaction completed, Tom moved his head higher and kissed Will's stomach, chest and finally his face. They embraced and squirmed against each other until they simultaneously exploded with pleasure.
     After fifteen seconds of exquisite bliss and ten seconds of breath catching relief, both boys felt an extreme pang of shame and fear come over them.
     Tom spoke first. "You got something to clean up with, Will?"
     Will handed him his hand towel. Then Will used it to cleanse himself. Pulling up his pants, Tom looked at Will. "This never happened. You get that. It NEVER HAPPENED."
     Will agreed. "Oh, God, yes Tom, this never, ever happened."
     Tom hurried out of the room, ran through the stable and out the side door leading to the house. He either sobered up quickly or perhaps he was not quite as drunk as he led Will to believe at first.
     Will felt a severe and sudden wave of emotions, guilt, shame, fear and…nausea. In dire need, he opened the door of his room and vomited on the grass. He felt awful. He was ashamed; he was sad; he was appalled by his actions this night. Lying back in his bed, he tried to sleep. Sleep did not come. He relived the events of the night in his head. His penis stiffened again and he again had an orgasm.

To be continued...

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