"I am not a hooker!" I screamed at my roommate Julia.
Julia and I had just begun our junior year of college. We had shared a dorm room since we were freshmen. Julia, a willowy black-haired beauty with incredibly long legs and small but firm breasts made rather unique by huge nipples, often slept in my bed. Or I slept in hers. Neither one of us had found a frat rat yet who could spell cunnilingus, let alone do it very well.
"Sarah, you just showed me four one hundred dollar bills and said you got them for doing some dude," Julia replied snidely.
"It was an accident! The guy thought I was a hooker, and one thing just led to another."
"Maybe it was that 'I LOVE DICK' T-shirt you are wearing. Not only are the words sexually suggestive, but the shirt is too tight and you're not wearing a bra."
It was a Steelers novelty T-shirt, black with gold lettering. Under the "I LOVE DICK" in big black letters was the word "LeBeau" in much smaller letters. Dick Lebeau is the Pittsburgh Steelers Defensive Coordinator.
"Well, the damn shirt shrunk!" I snapped, not able to think of much else to say.
"Just where did this hookup happen?" Julia asked, frowning disapprovingly at me.
"You know that big truck stop on I-79 at the exit where we get off when we are going to the Glenview Mall? The battery on my cell phone went dead, so I stopped to use one of those outside pay phones at the truck stop."
"That truck stop is notorious for being a hooker hangout. I read it in the paper a couple months ago."
"Like I knew."
Now Julia had a strange look on her face. "So tell me exactly what happened—every little detail—and don't leave anything out."
I did.
* * *
The man in the silver Mercedes had pulled up to me as I stood at the phone, having just hung up. His window was down. He was quite distinguished-looking in a tweed sports jacket, blue shirt with a button-down collar, and a darker solid blue tie that had some sort of emblem on it. I guessed his age to be mid-thirties.
"Miss, could you help me?" he asked. "I have a problem."
"Hey, I'll try. What do you need?"
He smiled. Perfect teeth. I liked his smile. He removed his sunglasses. Not that he needed them at the moment. It looked like it was about to rain. I liked his eyes, too. I thought he seemed okay, so I smiled back.
"How much?" he inquired.
"How much for what?" I asked, confused. "How much to use the phone?"
He stared at my chest. "No young lady, how much for you to prove to me that you love dick?"
"Huh?"
"Your shirt." He laughed.
"Oh yeah, I get a lot of comments on it." Then I laughed. "I have some other funny ones too. Actually, they are downright raunchy."
"So you must be a Steelers fan. Me too. Do you like to gamble? Would you like to make a little wager?"
"On the first game of the season against the Titans? Sure, I'll take the Steelers, and you can have the points. The Steelers are gonna kick some butt in that one!"
We chatted about the Steelers for several minutes. He seemed very friendly and nice. I didn't really suspect anything unusual, and he didn't make me feel wary at all.
"My name is James," he offered. "What's yours?"
"Sarah."
Suddenly he stretched his arm out the window. The Rolex looked very expensive. In his hand was a crisp new one hundred dollar bill. "Please take it, Sarah, so you have some money to bet with."
I'm sure I looked somewhat perplexed, but my hand did reach out and take the money. "So what's the bet you want to make, James?"
Just then it started to rain quite hard.
"Why don't you get in, Sarah? You don't want to get soaked. I'd like to talk to you some more."
I did get in. I'm not sure exactly why, but I did. He pulled his car over to where some tractors and semi-trailers were parked. Nobody was in any of the trucks that I could see.
"So what's the bet?" I asked again.
"Hey, I just picked up some wine coolers at the state store." He reached over into the backseat and fetched the four-pack. "Tea Breeze, and cold. Do you want one?"
"Oh, I really like those! But I'm not legal—only twenty. If that doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me."
James chuckled. "It would bother me a lot more if you were under eighteen." He handed me one of the coolers and took one for himself.
We drank them and talked some more about the Steelers. Both of us were very excited about the upcoming season and the possibility of returning to Super Bowl glory. He opened the glove compartment and pulled out his Game Boy Advance.
"Oh, so this is what you want to play and bet on?" I inquired.
"Maybe. I have Madden, but you need more cash to bet with, 'eh? The more money you have, the more money you can win."
"Makes sense to me," I purred. All this talk of green was starting to go my head, especially since I had exactly $23.42 in my bank account and only some change in my purse.
James pulled out the wallet in his jacket pocket and extracted another one hundred dollar bill. He handed it to me, but when I went to take it, he didn't let go. "I can't help but notice you are not wearing a bra, Sarah, and it is obvious you are quite well-endowed. Ever do wet T-shirt contests?"
"Oh sure, but not in this black T-shirt. White is preferable because you can see through it better. Hey, if I'm going to enter the contest, I want to win, ya know?"
"Yes, and I be you've won your share. How about spring break? Did you ever flash?"
I took another wine cooler, and felt a strange desire to be a little bolder with this guy. After taking a couple of sips, I said matter-of-factly, "Let's see, half the guys on spring break at Panama City two years ago probably have a pic of my boobs. And last year on spring break in Mazatlan . . ."
"You can have this hundred dollar bill if you take off your shirt."
I'm sure I looked a bit apprehensive at first, but I started to do it. When I had lifted my shirt from the bottom with one hand until he could see almost to my nipples and then stopped, he let go of the C-note. I put it in the front pocket of my denim cut-offs with the other one. Then I took the shirt all the way off.