Strips
Tall Tank Tales
Eddie
In a world where silence pervades, where the noisiest thing is sand blowing hard against the tent walls, and the sound of my own voice rocks the cliffs I pass by in my tank, I am not, and probably won’t ever be used to the deep quiet hanging around me like a shroud. Now the thought of music playing, there is little I can say, but wow. I was cruising in the tank early one morning, before the harsh sun made it insufferable to be about in heat. There I was, just me and the tank, when I heard something quite unfamiliar. It was steady, and seemed to be coming from someplace close. I steered the tank towards a rock face, and pulled out my binoculars. I spotted an opening about a mile down, popped her in gear again and off I went. The sounds got louder, but I did not recognize it. I shut her off, and walked towards the opening in the wall. I kept my 44 close by, not knowing what kind of crazy fucker might be inside. The temperature inside was incredible, cool and the air felt nearly damp on my skin.
He was sitting on the floor, the guitar laying across his lap, his fingers plucking the strings along to the MUSIC (holy shite) that was coming from a disc player. It was a band from back in the day, pre-comet, Pearl Jam. I remember the lead guy, Eddie something. My mom thought he pretty amazing. He looked up at me, and a slow grin spread across his face. I showed him my piece, and stood there. My mouth was surely agape, and my ears were in shock. Music, oh my fucking god!
"Been awhile, eh?" he said, laughing.
"What do you think, asshole?" I spat back. My guard was down, and I did not like that.
"Ease it back, babe. It is a beautiful thing to see the look on your face, I know you have not heard it for some time." He sat there, still, strumming on his guitar. His arms were covered in tattoos, the black ink crawling all the way up both arms. He had rings on every finger, most were covered in 2 or 3. The calluses on his fingers were thick and I could tell he played that axe constantly.
"Easing it back is not my style, pal. What’s your name?"
"Wow, my name, now there is something I don’t get asked very often. In fact, no one has asked me that for years. You, get the honor of hearing it, then. My name is William. You must have a name, too. How about it?"
He peered up at me, and I gave him a good once over. His hair was dark with streaks of grey through it, it was razor short, as was the norm out here. He had blue eyes, also a bit grey. He was fine, and my mind was already racing ahead, thinking about what I could do with him, and better yet, what he could do for me.
"I have a name, too, but I never use it. I just go by Tanky these days."
"Tanky? What kind of name is that?" he looked utterly confused.
"Get up and I will show you." I turned and walked out towards the tank. He seemed fairly amazed when he saw it, like he had never seen one up close.
"Whadaya think?" I had pulled out a cigarette and was enjoying myself immensely. He climbed up, and looked down at me.
"I think I know why your name is Tanky." and he jumped down, and trotted back inside the cool of his cave.
I followed him, and walked over to the disc player. I ran my fingers over the plastic that encased it, and stood mesmerized as the sound continued to pour out from the wall. I started to sing along with it, and I can tell you it was a pleasant change from hearing my own voice squawk against the walls of the tank. William had walked over, and was standing close to me. I ran my fingers over my .44, but figured he was pretty safe at this point. It was unlikely he was going to fuck with me, unless I wanted him to. He wandered into the back of the cave, and re-appeared with 2 cans of beer. These were practically cold, I guessed he kept them in a recess, and the metal felt cool against my skin. I pressed it to my face, and my neck. This was turning out to be one hell of a morning.
We sat on an old couch, face to face, and he was playing on his guitar again. I leaned back and drank down my beer, my senses overloading. I reached out and grabbed his knee, he looked up briefly, but kept playing, the music picking up in intensity. My hands were on his legs now, his fingers flying across the strings.
"Guitar or me, William?" I said, pulling off my t-shirt, and leaning over in front of him. He began to laugh as he set it down next to him, very gently. He reached up and pulled me down to him, his arms around my back, and he kissed me. I flinched a little, I did not get kissed too much these days. I stared into his grey eyes and kissed him back, and he slipped his hands down into my shorts, and slid them over my hips. I stood up and let them fall to the floor. He ripped his off, and was down to nothing in no time. My hands roamed over him, watching him grow larger before my eyes. He grabbed my ass and gently pushed down onto the couch, turning me over. I was wiggling now, and wetter than wet. He slipped himself inside me, and I felt the breath leave my body. I was on my hands and knees now, elbows digging into the well worn couch, and he was deep in me, I thought he was going to come quickly, but thankfully he did not. We rocked back and forth, the music from the disc player floating between my ears, his cock floating up inside me, both delicious in their newness. I let it all take me over, enraptured by it all.
"Tanky, sweetie....oh my...." he whispered into the air, and he came just then, filling me up, and there was no desert, no sand, no bad memories, no thirst, only him, inside me, and I came, too, and we collapsed onto the couch in a heap of arms and legs. We lay there for quite some time, wrapped around each other, and I was so happy. I don’t get much happiness these days, I felt like I had reached nirvana or some shite.
Later that night, when I put the tank in gear, and headed out into the evening air, I found myself singing, and the song was not gonna leave my head for a long time to come.
"Waitin’, watchin’ the clock, it’s four o’clock, it’s got to stop
Tell him, take no more, she practices her speech
As he opens the door, she rolls over...
Pretends to sleep as he looks her over
She lies and says she’s in love with him, can’t find a better man...
She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can’t find a better man...
Can’t find a better man
Ohh...
Talkin’ to herself, there’s no one else who needs to know...
She tells herself, oh...
Memories back when she was bold and strong
And waiting for the world to come along...
Swears she knew it, now she swears he’s gone
She lies and says she’s in love with him, can’t find a better man...
She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can’t find a better man...
She lies and says she still loves him, can’t find a better man...
She dreams in color, she dreams in red, can’t find a better man...
Can’t find a better man
Yeah...
She loved him, yeah...she don’t want to leave this way
She feeds him, yeah...that’s why she’ll be back again
Can’t find a better man
Can’t find a better...man..."