This story contains some explicit scenes of erotic love between males. If you are under age, or live in an area where reading stories that include sex between males is illegal, or if you're not into this type of story, please leave. The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at NJMcMick@yahoo.com.
The story is set in the fictional city of Trenton, New Jersey. Yes, there is a real city by that name, but other than being a state capital on the Delaware River, it bears little resemblance to the city in this story. While a few of the places mentioned may exist in reality, all of the characters and events are fictitious.
Chapter 13
I was surprised on Sunday afternoon when Norman called to tell me I had an appointment with Isabel Rodriguez, his guidance counselor friend, Monday afternoon at three. I hadn't expected him to work that fast, but he'd called her at home. I was nervous about meeting her, but maybe my age wouldn't come up. Yeah, right.
I got up Monday, skipped my usual workout and went to the Social Security office right after breakfast at the diner. I'd put off doing a lot of things the last few months, some of it not my own fault, but I was determined to take charge of my life and take care of business now. I filled out the form for a new card and went to a young woman at the counter, explaining that I wanted to wait for the card. I handed her my birth certificate when she asked for ID. She looked it over and frowned.
"You really should have some kind of photo ID. This doesn't help me identify you very well."
I was pissed. The guy I'd seen the last time had been much more professional and helpful and he had assured me a birth certificate was enough.
"You know, even if they'd taken a picture of me the day I was born and stuck it on the certificate, it wouldn't help very much. I've changed just the teeniest bit since then." I couldn't keep the sarcasm out of my voice. She glared at me and turned to the older woman next to her, showing her my paperwork.
"That's all he needs, dear," the other woman said. "You're here to help people, not get in their way. Just do your job."
The girl was mad when she turned back to me, gave me back the certificate and told me to have a seat and wait. It took nearly two hours, more because of her attitude than anything else I was sure, but when I walked out the door I had my new card. I existed! I was a real person!
Norman picked me up at two-thirty. On the way to Ewing High School in a suburb just north of the city, I wondered how I was going to avoid coming out to him as a minor. It was a huge relief to me when he mentioned that he was planning on visiting his old friends in the history department while I had my meeting. He introduced me to Ms. Rodriguez, a stout, serious-looking woman with lots of gray running through her black hair, and left us alone. We sat and she folded her hands on her desk.
"So Norman tells me that you want to finish your high school education. I commend you for that. It's hard to get anywhere in this world without it."
"So I've noticed. How hard is this going to be? What's involved?"
"Well, you could just go back to school, although most kids who have been out for a while have trouble doing that. There's also night school and independent study, or a combination of the two. You could get your GED, a diploma equivalency, that way." She picked up a pen and slid a pad of paper over in front of her. "How far did you get in school and when did you leave?"
There it was. "Um, is what I tell you confidential?"
"Well, it's not confidential in the way that what you tell a lawyer, doctor or priest would be, but I try very hard to keep students' confidences. I only tell parents and teachers what is absolutely necessary."
"Okay." I took a deep breath. "I finished my sophomore year in June."
Her eyes narrowed. "So you're how old?"
"Seventeen." I looked down at the desk. "That's what I don't want you to tell Norman. I've told him and everyone else I'm nineteen."
"And you're living on your own?"
I told her about the rooming house and my job. She thought for a minute.
"We've got a problem here. We have to request your records from your old high school and get you enrolled in a program here. As a minor, you need the signature of a parent or legal guardian for both of those. Would you be able to get that?"
"There's only my step-father and I don't ever what to see him again." I explained about my living situation before I left home.
'He's your legal guardian?"
"I guess. He was in charge of me and always signed my report cards and other school papers."
"Well, we can't do anything without his signature. It's that, or wait until your eighteenth birthday."
Shit! How was I going to explain this to Norman? My mind was racing, scrambling for an idea. If only I'd had these school papers with me when I went to see Aunt Aggie. I could have had her sign them. Maybe that would have worked. Nobody would know she wasn't my legal guardian. Then I thought about Mom's letter to the lawyer. Maybe there was something in that I could use. Maybe this Ian O'Hanlon would be able to help me.
"Look, I've got an idea. Would it be okay if we filled out the paperwork and I took it with me? Maybe I can arrange something."
"You're not thinking about a little forgery, are you? Because I can assure you that wouldn't be a good idea."
"No, I wouldn't do that." Actually, I hadn't thought of that and now that she mentioned it, it seemed like a pretty easy way out. "I want to take them to our family lawyer and see what he says."
"Family lawyer? That sounds good to me. Let's get started."
She got out the forms and I filled in all of the personal information and she did the rest. She then put them in an envelope with her name and address on it.
"Here you go. Get them signed and send them right back to me. I'll take it from there. And don't drag your feet on this. Classes start in January and I'd like to get you into them."
I thanked her and she told me how to get to the history department to find Norman. On the way home he questioned the envelope I was carrying.
"I didn't have all the information she needed, so I've got to get it and send the stuff back to her." That was close enough to the truth and he bought it.
When the alarm went off Tuesday morning it was still dark. I'd decided to try to get to the law office in Philadelphia by the time they opened. It would probably be hard to get to see Mr. O'Hanlon without an appointment, but if I was there early he might squeeze me in. The ride on the SEPTA train reminded me of the day I met Marcus. I leaned back, closed my eyes and remembered looking him over, checking out every inch of his sexy body. By the time the train pulled in to Philly there was a smile on my face and a bulge in my jeans. I found the office building on JFK Blvd. without any trouble and went up to the 18th floor only to find that the office wasn't open yet. I sat on the floor in the hall and waited. A couple of people arrived in a few minutes and they unlocked the door. I followed them into the large reception area. There was no one at the desk yet so I sat down again, this time in a comfortable chair. There was a steady stream of people coming through the door and finally a young woman stopped at the desk, put her things down and started to get settled in. I gave her a minute and then approached the desk.
"Hi, I'd like to see Ian O'Hanlon as soon as he gets in."
"Mr. O'Hanlon? I don't think so."
"But it's really important. I know I don't have an appointment but I'll only take a few minutes. If he wants me to come back later I will, but if there's any way he can see me today I'll wait."
"There's no way you're going to see Mr. O'Hanlon. You'll have to make an appointment with someone else but I can assure you that it's not going to be today."
People kept arriving, most of them nodded and said hello to the receptionist. She seemed to be paying more attention to them than to me. Obviously, a kid like me didn't matter to her.
"Look, my great-aunt is Agatha Farrell. Mr. O'Hanlon is her lawyer. She gave me some papers to give him. I have to see him."
I was starting to get a little worked up but trying not to cause a scene. I had the feeling that it wouldn't take much for her to throw me out. A very dignified looking old man with thick gray hair had just come in the door and stopped next to me.
"Did you say you had something from Agatha Farrell for Ian O'Hanlon?"
"Yes, she was supposed to give some papers to him for my mother."
"Come with me," he said rather abruptly. He turned and headed down the hall. I had to hurry to keep up with him. I followed him into a huge corner office and sat down where he pointed while he hung up his coat and sat down at the big desk.
"My name is Timothy Boyle. Ian O'Hanlon and I were the founding partners in this firm. He passed away last year."
My heart sank. I was too late.
"I don't want to give you the impression that I'm familiar with all of our clients, far from it, and Agatha Farrell is not one of our major clients by any means, but Ian took special care of her. They were related by marriage. Her husband and Ian's wife were brother and sister and I know Ian was very fond of Agatha. Now how can I help you?"
I knew he was an important man and I didn't want to take up his time, so I started talking a mile a minute, telling him my family background, my recent past, my visit Friday with Aunt Aggie and the problem of needing a guardian's signature for school. I handed him the envelope with my mother's documents. He read through them and then looked something up on the computer next to his desk. He looked out the window for a minute, lost in thought, and then swiveled back to face me.
"This is an interesting situation. Most custody arrangements are included in wills, but your mother had a separate document drawn up. So while her subsequent marriage voided the will, the custody document remained valid. At the time your mother passed away, your great-aunt was still legally competent, even though she was living in the nursing home. If we had had this document at that time, she would have been named your guardian, and then when this firm became her conservator several months later, you would have become a ward of the firm. An interesting twist, since while your mother thought the custody document was invalid, that is the end result she was looking for."
"So you're my legal guardian?"
"Not necessarily. Nothing was ever filed with the court on this and I don't know what your stepfather did about it. The court at this point would be reluctant to give custody to someone who has a conservator herself, although we do have the letter from your mother expressing her desire that we be legally responsible for you. As I said, it's an interesting situation."
"So what do I do?" I didn't care how interesting it was, I wanted an answer.
"As I said, I'll have to see if your stepfather took any steps to become your legal guardian, but if he hasn't I'm going to act on the assumption that this custody document is the final word. We will file it with the court and see how it holds up. In the meantime, I'm going to assume you are a ward of this firm and act accordingly."
"And what does that mean? Can you sign these forms so I can get my GED?" I took out the envelope Ms. Rodriguez had given me.
"Yes, I'll sign them right now, but I want to know a lot more about your living situation. I don't like being responsible for a minor living on his own in another state."
I told him about the rooming house, my old job with Gert and my new one at Minho, even my friendship with Norman. For good measure I threw in the story of the beating Ralph had given me and how he'd taken what money of mine he'd found. I didn't want to end up back with him no matter what.
"It sounds like you're handing things pretty well, given the circumstances. But if I'm going to be responsible for you I want to keep close tabs on you. I'm going to introduce you to my administrative assistant, Nancy Blume. She'll be your contact person here. I want you to call her every week, say, every Tuesday morning, and report in. Tell her what you're doing, how you're doing, if you have any problems, if you need anything. She's a wonderful woman, but don't cross her. Miss a phone call and she'll have an APB out on you by noon."
He called Ms. Blume in, introduced us and explained the situation to her. She acted as though she became a surrogate parent for runaways every day. She led me out to her office and made copies of all of my papers, keeping the originals of the will and custody agreement and giving me back the rest. She took the school forms and promised to get them into the mail. I gave her my address and phone number and she gave me her card. I had to give her Norman's name and number as an emergency contact but made her promise that she would only call him if it really was an emergency. Since my number was a cell phone, she should be able to reach me anytime. I liked her at once. She seemed both motherly and friendly, but efficient as well.
On the train ride home I wasn't thinking about Marcus, I was thinking about how much better my life was getting. I had my Social Security card, I was going to be able to go back to school and I had a guardian who would help my life, not get in the way. Things were definitely looking up.
I was back to working my regular schedule, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Business was okay but still not great. Kate kept telling me to have patience. It had taken a couple of months for the weekend business to build and she was sure that once the holidays were over weeknights would be nearly as good. I'd noticed my tips inching up each week but hadn't paid close attention, since I had the unemployment money to supplement them. Actually, knowing I had that little nest egg had let me get a little careless with spending. I'd been eating more meals at the diner instead of fast food joints. But then I'd run into a problem the week before since I had only worked Tuesday and had to pay Lucille the rent before going to work on Friday. It had taken all of the unemployment money to pay her, but I wasn't worried because I knew I'd make good money Friday night. But then between the night out at Buddies, the dinner I'd treated Marcus to at Minho and the train fare to Philadelphia, I'd gone through all of that, too.
When I got home from work Thursday night I counted my money and found I had just enough for the rent with almost nothing left for food for the week. I thought about asking Norman for a small loan. He'd made it clear I could come to him if I needed help. The problem was, I was making almost enough to get by on, but there was no way I could pay back even a small loan. I knew he'd let it go and not expect to be paid back, but he was already doing so much for me. I couldn't take his money, too.
I thought about what Mr. Boyle had said; to let Nancy know if I needed anything. I wasn't sure what he meant by that, but I was pretty sure he didn't mean money. Just because the law firm was going to be my guardian didn't mean I'd get an allowance. The money had to come from somewhere and I didn't have an account with them they could draw on. Besides, what would it look like if I asked for help within days of meeting them? And thinking about the law firm and money gave me something new to worry about. I probably owed them a huge fee. I knew lawyers charged a lot for their work. They hadn't said anything, but Mr. Boyle had spent a lot of time with me and so had Nancy. How was I ever going to pay them?
That kind of debt was too much to think about. It wasn't pressing, anyway. I needed money for food, right now. I thought about the park. One blowjob and everything would be okay. Norman would have a fit if he knew, but he didn't have to know. It's not like I promised him I wouldn't do it. In fact, I'd said I would if I had to. So Friday evening I started down to the cruising area. Halfway there, I changed my mind. I was feeling guilty and I hadn't even done anything yet. I'd experienced a little guilt before when I was working the park, but this was different. I'd been desperate then. Now that things were going well for me and Norman had helped me so much, I felt like I shouldn't be doing that any more. I felt like I was taking the easy way out, the lazy way. I knew better, of course. I wasn't lazy, as standing at a sink scrubbing pots and pans 40 hours a week proved. Waiting tables was a little easier, but it was still hard work. I didn't mind working at all and would do anything to support myself. But I couldn't shake the feeling that tricking in the park for money was wrong. Mom hadn't been a churchgoer and due to her experience with her family didn't think much of people who expressed morally superior attitudes, but taking money for sex didn't make me feel good about myself. And on top of everything else, there was Marcus. I so wanted for him to be my boyfriend. He'd made it clear that at this early stage in our relationship we were each free to see others, but I really didn't want to make it with anyone but him, for money or pleasure. I made up my mind that I wouldn't do it for money again unless I absolutely had to.
I went back to the house and counted my money again. If I ate carefully from the dollar menu at McDonald's over the weekend I could make it. I'd be having dinner at Norman's on Monday and at Minho the rest of the week, so as long as I didn't mind being hungry during the day, I could do it.
When I called Nancy on Tuesday morning to check in, she had news that got me worried.
"We filed the custody papers and a hearing has been set for next Monday morning at ten. If you can't make it we can reschedule, but it would be better if you made every effort to be there."
"A hearing? I have to be there?"
"There is always a hearing for custody matters. In routine cases they only last five minutes, but this is anything but routine. We have to convince the judge that you are doing fine on your own with us keeping an eye on you and that this is better than the other options."
"What kind of other options are there?"
"Either return you to your stepfather, or make you a ward of the state and put you in foster care."
"I can't do either of them. I won't go along with that."
"You may have to, but I wouldn't worry about it just yet. Mr. Boyle is going to handle the hearing personally and he is very good."
Somehow, that didn't make me feel any better. I wasn't exactly a smashing success on my own, but it was my life and under my control. I didn't want to give it up and go back. I considered not going to the hearing. What could they do to me, anyway? I was in another state. Maybe I was out of the reach of the Pennsylvania courts. But Mr. Boyle was taking the time to try to help me, even though he was important and probably very busy. The least I could do was show up. I could always run away again if I didn't like the outcome.
Business continued to improve Tuesday and Wednesday. With tips like those every day, I would be back to making nearly what I was working full-time at Frank's. That wasn't great, but at least it would give me a little stability. But then on Thursday Mother Nature did me in. It had been raining all day, but in the afternoon the temperature dropped suddenly and it changed over to sleet and freezing rain. By the time I left for work the streets and sidewalks were covered with ice. It was treacherous out. I nearly fell twice on my short walk to the restaurant. The entire night I served dinner to one table, a couple of regulars from the neighborhood. They left me a generous tip, but it wasn't a night's pay. I knew I was screwed even before I got back to the room to add it to the rest of my week's earnings. I was ten dollars short for the rent. Now I was desperate.
Friday afternoon I went to Lucille and gave her what I had and promised to give her the rest the next day. She wasn't happy.
"Why are you doing this to me, honey? You know I can't make exceptions to my rules."
"It's not really an exception. It's not like I have nothing or I'm asking for a week's extension. I'm giving you over ninety percent of the money and I'll have the rest for you tomorrow. I promise."
"You're a good boy and a good tenant, but I can't be doing this. If word gets out everyone will want me to do it for them too. I've got 21 men living here. Do you know what a mess if would be if they all decide to pay whatever they wanted whenever they wanted?"
"Please. Just this once. It'll never happen again. And I won't say anything to anyone about it. Please." I felt like I was going to cry.
Lucille sighed and thought for a minute. "All right, dear, just this one time. But don't ever let it happen again." I felt like kissing her. In fact, I grabbed her hand and kissed it, thanking her over and over.
I tried to think of another way out all afternoon. The only people I knew well enough to ask for a loan were Norman, Kate and Dora, and they had already done so many favors or me. I felt like such a loser. With all they had done for me, I still couldn't make it. How pathetic was that? Besides, it wasn't just the ten bucks for Lucille. I needed food money for the weekend and train fare to Philly on Monday. I'd never be able to pay all of that back out of next week's pay. One blowjob in the park might not even be enough. I had no choice, so around seven o'clock I walked to the park.
It wasn't quite as cold as it had been the night before, but still I was shivering in my light jacket. I was going to have to get a heavier coat for winter, but I didn't even want to think about where I'd get the money for that. One thing at a time. The cruising area was dead. I felt bad enough about having to do this and I knew I wasn't going to be able to be picky about who I went with. Even so, when some gross old guy propositioned me an hour after I got there, I turned him down. I hung around a little longer, hands crammed in my jeans pockets, stamping my feet to keep warm, but there was no one around at all. Finally, I left the park, walked up to the diner and got a cup of coffee to go. I hated to spend one of the only two dollars I had, but I needed something to warm me up. I sipped the coffee as I walked back into the park, holding the cup in both hands to keep them warm. A couple of cars drove through, slowing down as they passed me, but neither one stopped. I guess I wasn't what they were looking for. It was nearly eleven o'clock and I was about to give up when a dark Lexus sedan pulled up and stopped by me. The window lowered and the driver, a good-looking man around forty, smiled.
"You look like you're freezing out there. Hop in."
"Um, I'm working."
"I assumed as much. Nobody's that horny that they'd stand out here in this weather for the fun of it. Come on."
I was relieved he didn't want to do it in the bushes. I was already half-frozen. I hopped in the passenger seat and started to thaw as soon as I felt the heat. He drove on down the road. There were a couple of wide spots further along where guys usually pulled over to do it but he kept right on going until we reached the highway.
"Whoa, where are we going?"
"I don't live very far away. Just relax and we'll be there in a few minutes."
"I don't go home with guys I don't know. Can't we just park somewhere?"
"Sorry, I haven't been into car sex since high school, and don't even mention the bushes. I'm Derek, by the way."
"I'm Coy, but I don't think I want to do this."
"Why not? We know each other now so that's not a problem. I promise I don't bite and I'm not into kinky stuff. You're safe with me."
He pulled over to the side of the road and stopped. He fumbled in his pocket and pulled out a business card. It said Derek Sloan, Political Consultant. "You see, I'm on the up and up. I' m just looking for a little hot sex and comfort, and you want to make a few bucks. It's a match made in heaven. Unless you'd rather go back and freeze in the park, that is."
"Will you give me a ride back here afterwards?"
"Of course. I'm a gentleman. I'll take you right to your door if you like." He gave me a dazzling smile. From his clothes and the car it was clear he was very well-off. That didn't mean he was safe, but it didn't hurt. There was something comforting and secure about him, though. Maybe it was just the total confidence he exuded.
"Okay, let's go." I sat back and enjoyed the warmth of the heater as he pulled back onto the highway. We headed north and passed under I-95 and kept going. I was starting to get nervous again when he slowed down nearly five minutes later and turned into a dirt driveway. It wound up though a wooded property to a large one-story house. All of the houses along here were set way back from the road and were far apart. He pressed a button and one of the garage doors opened. As he pulled in I saw a BMW Z4 convertible in the other side of the garage.
"That's my summer toy. Maybe I'll take you for a spin in it in the spring if you like."
In the spring? This was going to be just a blowjob. It wasn't going to last ten minutes, much less until spring.
The door from the garage led into a laundry room and I followed him into a beautiful modern kitchen with granite counters, stainless steel appliances and dark wood cabinets.
"I'm going to have a brandy, Coy. Would you like to join me?"
I'd had brandy once before at Norman's house and I remembered that it was strong and burned all the way down. I figured I could use something that would both relax me and warm me up, so I agreed.
He poured a large amount of the brown fluid into two round glasses and led the way into a very large living room. The room was incredible. It wasn't really very fancy or anything. In fact it seemed very masculine and very comfortable. But it looked like everything in it had cost a fortune. He noticed me looking around.
"I had a decorator, gay of course. Do you like it?"
"Yeah, it looks comfortable. I love the piano." He had a baby grand like Norman's at one end of the room. "Do you play?"
"No, it's for my daughter when she comes to visit." He sat at one end of a couch and I took a chair nearby. "So what's a nice boy like you doing in a business like this?" he smiled.
I felt a little embarrassed as I explained about my job and how I'd run into a little cash-flow problem. When I mentioned being a waiter his eyes lit up.
"So that's why you look familiar. You work at Minho, that Portuguese place on Mercer Street. That's one of my favorite restaurants."
I panicked a little when I realized he had connected me to my real life. I looked at him closer. He had wavy dark brown hair, great bone structure and a dazzling smile. He was probably about six feet tall and on the thin side, though he looked in great shape. I realized I had seen him at Minho the Friday I'd worked after Thanksgiving.
"You were there with a preppy looking kid a couple of weeks ago, weren't you?"
"Yeah, he's the asshole I was out with earlier tonight. He was nothing but a gold-digger looking for a sugar daddy, so I dumped him. I was feeling horny, so I swung through the park on the off chance someone interesting would be out. I got lucky."
"You dumped him because he was looking for money, but then you picked me up? That doesn't make sense."
"With him it was supposed to be a personal relationship. With you, it's pure business, right from the start. Both are good in their own way, but they're very different. Speaking of business, how much is this going to set me back?"
"I'm not sure what you mean."
"What are you into and how much do you charge?"
"Oh, well, mostly I just do oral, thirty dollars each way. I'll let you rim me if you want but that's forty."
He frowned. "No fucking?"
"Not for business. That's personal with me."
"Well, first, I think your prices are far too low. You're a little hottie and you could get so much more. Second, I wish you would consider fucking. You've got a hot little ass. Let me put it in restaurant terms for you. I'm not into a la carte. I always order the complete dinner."
"I'm not sure I understand."
"I mean, let's just go to bed and see what happens. I won't push you to do anything you don't want to do, but I'll try for everything I want. And one flat fee for the evening, no matter what we do."
I thought about it. If we went to bed, naked, we'd probably do a lot more than I usually did with customers, so it would have to be more money.
"How much? And whatever happens, it has to be safe."
"Don't worry about that. I insist on safe myself. And as far as the money goes, I've already told you I don't think you're charging enough, so I think you'll find I'm very generous."
I drained the last of the brandy from my glass and followed him down the hall to a large bedroom with a king sized bed. He pulled me into a kiss and I tensed up. Kissing was one of the things I'd never let a customer do. It was too intimate. I know, sucking and rimming are pretty intimate, too, but kissing is just so personal. Even so, he was good at it and after the initial shock I enjoyed it. He had me lay down on the bed while he took his clothes off. I was right. He was thin but muscular, sort of like me though a bit bigger. Once he joined me in bed and began kissing me, I relaxed and went with the flow. We ended up going far farther than I'd ever gone with a customer. We not only sucked each other and did a little rimming, but he finished it off with a marathon fuck. His dick was probably average size, maybe a little smaller than Marcus, but he knew what to do with it and it felt so good inside me.
I don't know if it was the brandy or the physical exertion of the sex, but I fell asleep as soon as we were done. I woke up once in the middle of the night, cuddled up against him, his arms wrapped around me. It felt so good to be sleeping with someone. In the morning, though, I woke up alone in the big bed. I saw the partially opened door to a bathroom across from the bed and got up and used the facilities. He'd left a new toothbrush, toothpaste and shampoo out for me. I took care of business and took a quick shower. I had just crawled back into bed when Derek walked into the room, wearing a long white terrycloth robe.
"Good morning. How did you sleep?"
"Great. This bed is really comfortable. So are you."
"Thanks. You were pretty nice to sleep with, too. How about some breakfast before I take you home?"
"Sure, I'm starving." I was but I also realized that the more I ate here the less food I'd have to buy later. He got out another robe just like the one he had on and gave it to me, then went back to the kitchen. He had everything under control there so I went into the living room and sat down at the piano. I played around a little, just bits and pieces of things I remembered from the last couple of times I'd practiced at Norman's. After a few minutes Derek called me into the kitchen.
He smiled as I sat down. "A hustler who plays Gershwin. Nice."
We chatted about current events and politics over a huge breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and home fries. Politics was his field and obviously he was much more up on it than I was. The only day I read the paper was Sunday and I didn't have a TV to watch, so I was pretty unaware of most of what was going on in the world. After we finished cleaning up, he took me in his arms and gave me a kiss.
"You are charming and adorable, Coy. I'm so glad I ran into you last night. You have restored my faith in men."
"That's an odd thing to say to a hustler."
"Well, it's true. You're a sweetheart. And I hate to end it all, but I have plans for the day so I have to get you back home." He went over to a drawer and came back with two hundred dollar bills in his hand.
"I know I took up a great deal of your time and we did things you didn't originally intend on. I hope this is enough."
"Enough? It's crazy. You can't pay me that much. All we did was have sex."
"Yes, we had sex, but you've been wonderful company as well and a delight to sleep with. I've patronized a number of so-called escorts in the past. Many of them charge $200 an hour and all they provide is impersonal sex. You were worth every penny of this to me. Thank you."
He seemed to know what he was doing and from what I'd seen of the house he could easily afford it, so I took the money. We got dressed and he drove me back to Trenton. I had him drop me off at the diner.
"I took the liberty of programming my number into your cell phone when I got up this morning, Coy. If you ever find yourself running short, I'd love to see you again. This was so much nicer than a blowjob in the bushes, wasn't it?"
"Yeah, it was, Derek, but like I said, this isn't what I do except in extreme circumstances."
"Well, keep me in mind and if your circumstances get extreme, give me a call." He leaned across the car and gave me a tender kiss.
I got out and walked into the city toward the rooming house, the two hundred dollars feeling wonderful in my pocket. I had enough for Lucille, food for the week and train fare to Philly. And plenty left over as a cushion against bad weather and bad business at the restaurant. I'd done a lot more than I'd intended, but I didn't feel bad about it. Derek was a good guy and I'd had fun with him. Yeah, it was still prostitution, but it wasn't sleazy. It was nice.