Doggie Farm by John Reskin


Chapter 1


Toni Baline stared out of the open French windows of the second floor
guest bedroom and shielded her eyes with her hand to survey the green
blanket of sweet-smelling manicured grass and linear hedges. They were
flanking the cobblestone path leading from the breakfast patio to the
kidney-shaped swimming pool whose cement rim ribboned out into the
gently rolling hillocks beyond. The palatial house, situated in the
lush, green hills bordering the western edge of Jameston, Alabama,
caught the morning and noon sun, but had a cooler late afternoon and
evening, thanks to the willow trees surrounding the pillared three-story
home. From her outlook, Toni watched the slow, methodical movements of
the two young Black maids now clearing the afternoon's tea cups and
silver service from the patio table and replacing the soiled linen with
freshly starched checkered ones. In the far distance the unexpected
sound of puppy barks, echoing from the hills to the right, ruptured the
sticky, cloying Alabama afternoon, the sole imperfection of what
otherwise would have been a perfect movie set.

Seventeen year old Toni Baline could not rid herself of the feeling that
she was in a fantasy land, a dreamland of opulent make-believe. She
studied her boy friend who stood on the opposite side of the bed
watching as he removed his sweat stained shirt and trousers to reveal
his lanky frame, a tender emotion of deep affection filling her. They
were the luckiest people on earth, she reasoned incredulously as she
turned from the window to unzip and step out of her sun-dress. Here they
were, two unmarried seventeen year olds, living together under her
relatives' roof ... and nobody cared or ridiculed!

"Yeah, just about perfect, isn't it?" Jeff answered her unspoken
thoughts, the warm smile brightening his sharp-angled, boyish features
meant to reassure her that he was as ebullient over spending the summer
at Toni's aunt's and uncle's home as she was. "It doesn't even feel like
work when you have somebody bringing you mint juleps and iced tea every
hour." He laughed to himself. "Never thought I'd dig cleaning out dog
kennels."

"Or me doing housework. You know how Mama used to yell and scream,
calling me lazy when she'd ask me to lift a dust rag at home. But God!
It makes a difference when you're dusting nineteenth century mahogany
instead of twentieth century plywood ..."

"Now don't be so hard on your parents, Toni. They can't help it if
they're not as rich as Uncle Milt and Aunt Claudia. Remember," he
cautioned, waving his finger in the air, "It was your aunt's money and
land that Milt inherited. Bet he didn't have a dime until he met her."
His eyes locked on the honey-haired girl, sensing the deep foreboding
and moodiness brooding there. For all her fine qualities, Toni still
possessed that old Southern trait of lusting after the leisure in life.
"Come on, Baby," he assuaged, "Some day we'll have a spread like this.
Lots of land ... servants ... nothing for you to do but lie in the sun
and stay beautiful for me." He stood awkwardly running his hands through
his own long, chestnut hair, his shorts, one covering his nakedness.


End of Page 1. See dogfarm.txt for full story.