Chapter 8
Saturdays were quiet at the Triple S. A few of the ranch hands patrolled the land, keeping an eye on the cattle, but most of the cowboys stayed back at the main house. If the weather was nice, they congregated outside the barn, where an old barrel served as a table for a game of checkers, or a couple guys huddled together on the ground, flipping out cards for pennies in the dirt. Saturdays Tommy usually liked to go off by himself, if he could get a chance to sneak away. There were plenty of lonesome spots around the ranch where a man might pleasure himself unseen. He was young, he reasoned, and unable to seek relief in the crowded bunkhouse he shared with the other ranch hands. Working with Hal only fueled his libido.
The day after he met Lyle, Tommy figured he would hang aroun
