Chapter 1
The trouble with women was they acted unpredictably, Gerard J. Evans snorted into the wind, leaning against the safety railing of the pier.
He had reason for that grumble.
Yesterday Gerard had been shafting his girlfriend Peggy on the dining table when his mum walked in with her friend Mrs Walsh.
There was hell to play.
Peggy, was terribly embarrassed and swore at Gerard and said he'd claimed his fucking mother wouldn't be home for at least another hour.
His mom slapped Peggy, yelling at her not to badmouth her and slapped her again and said that was for leading her upright son into act of indecency.
Peggy kicked his mom and yelled she never wanted to see him again, ever.
Pushing Mrs Walsh aside, she yelled, "Out of the way you old cow," leaving her dumped lover thinking perhaps Peggy was not the right girlfriend for him.
Gerard's mom then slapped him and gave him one hour to vacate the house and she yelled, "You low life creature; I never want to ever see you again."
Gerard packed a bag and was gone inside ten minutes. On the way out, he apologized to Mrs Walsh for embarrassing her.
The old cow really surprised him.
"Oh no, it was quite all right. First, I never realized you could do it on a table and second, I've never seen such a thick dick in all my living days."
Gerard left home shaking his head. He relocated to Mrs Brown's Rooming House.
Walking along Marine Parade a week later, Gerard came across a woman, hands on hips, starting at her car and cursing: "You stupid bitch getting a puncture just like that."
Like what?
Gerard didn't understand the meaning of that but the women's curse was quite understandable although he hadn't known a woman who looked like a lady could use a phrase like 'stupid bitch'. He had the impression women loved their cars.
"Ma'am, may I be of assistance?"
She said apprehensively, "You could but first I must decide can I trust you with my car. I love my car."
Well that appeared straightforward. She now professed her love for her car and so the puncture apparently had merely produced a lover's rebuke.
"Yes ma'am, you can trust me with your car."
"Oh, very well. Please change the wheel and be careful not to damage the paint."
Gerard grinned.
Yep, no guy could predict how a woman would react and that was scarcely surprising because it probably never occurred to women to react predictably.
The trunk was empty and so it was a breeze pulling out the spare wheel and complete the change with tools that were tidily in the correct place, probably never used before.
"Oh, you good boy. Are you sure that wheel won't fall off?"
"Guaranteed ma'am."
"Oh, you're such an expert. Now how may I reward you?"
She reached into her handbag. Gerard thought a two-buck tip would be a disgrace.
"I'm hungry ma'am."
She reflected on that and asked why call her ma'am and Gerard said he didn't know her name and anyway he'd been brought up to be polite to ladies.
"I'm Katie White. I'm taking you home to give you a real meal. Jump in... no you drive."
"I assure you that wheel won't come off Katie."
The woman who appeared to be in her forties smiled and said he was on to her.
"My husband is away at present attending a seminar on modern trends in internal plumbing."
"Oh, is your husband a surgeon?"
"No, he's chief health inspector at City Hall. I revealed that wondering how safe I'd be alone in my house with just you."
"Well how safe would you wish to be?"
"You're filling my head with naughty ideas," she said slyly.
Gerard didn't have to consider that and suggested they go to a restaurant.
"No, let's proceed as we so carelessly discussed. I'm thinking of plying you with alcohol while thinking should I allow you to have your way with me."
"How safe will I be?"
"As safe as you wish to be," she cackled.
Gerard told Katie his name and said he'd been temporarily kicked out of home.
"Why?"
He hedged.
"Um I bet you were being naughty?"
He grinned and asked has she been talking to his mother.
She laughed and gave him her street address.
"I bet your parents caught you having sex on their bed?"
"Wrong."
"What then?"
"You won't want to know."
"Oh, but I do."
"Mom caught me doing it on the dining table that she'd set for dinner before going out."
"Ooh, you naughty boy. You were masturbating."
"Jesus no. I was with my girlfriend, now my ex girlfriend.
Katie said that was unfortunate.
Gerard sniffed thinking it really was unfortunate.
Katie said, "You poor unfortunate" and ruffled the 24-year-old's hair.
He brushed her hand away and she laughed sexily and said he needed a good woman to tame him. She had one in mind.
"Tell me about yourself," he said, sulkily.
"Well I'm forty-two and own the Kate Wright Dance Studio. I suppose you'll want to know my statistics?"
"Twenty-four, thirty-six, forty-eight."
She whacked his ear and he howled with pain and pulled the car out of a swerve.
"Don't be rude," she scolded. "That was awful of you to say that. I'm proud of my body."
"Yeah well I would be too if I were female with a body like yours. Your look real cute and unbelievably good for a woman of your age, err your relatively youthful age."
"Thank you. How long is your penis?"
The car served and was hastily straightened.
"What?"
She didn't answer so he mumbled that was for her to find out.
They proceeded quietly until she said to turn right at the next street and turn into the driveway of the third house on the right.
He did that and he hit the remote-control device and the door opened and they drove into the garage. He closed the door.
"You drive beautifully," she said. "Will you have sex with me?"
"Yes."
"You might wish to kiss me," she said.
He kissed her and soon her breath rate had increased and he palmed a little puppy and she made no effort to pull his hand away. He ran that hand down over her tummy and she said, "Leave that till we get inside. Come on."
Katie was a great fuck but insisted on keeping her clothes on, her explanation being she didn't feel it was adultery if she wasn't nude. She took further gloss off the deed by wanting to lie on her back. And she didn't move much. But she squeezed his dick at the right time and Gerard dumped into the end of the condom.
They both slipped off to sleep and Katie shook him awake later and whispered he should go. Gerard obeyed, receiving no kiss and not even a thank you because Katie was almost sleep.
As he walked off he realized she'd not fed him as promised and wondered which of them had gotten more out of that encounter. It didn't take long to work that out and confirm just how manipulative women could be. It was only 8:45 so he went to a restaurant and attacked a steak.
Gerard, a bicycle mechanic, told his employer next morning he wanted to leave the job and Philip asked him to leave at the following week to give him time to locate a replacement. Gerard thought Philip would be lucky to attract a good replacement in such short time but next day Philip said he could leave as soon as he wished because the new guy was ready to start. That was rather a blow to Gerard's belief that he was virtually irreplaceable, and yet replaced so soon!
"The world's fucking against me," Gerard said pathetically as he went back to the rooming house that evening and paid up, arranging to leave next morning.
Being jobless and feeling abandoned, he could have felt depressed. However, the former teenage local road racing champion cyclist possessed and optimistic streak and thought life could only get better.
Years ago, he'd hoped to develop into a world-class competitive cyclist but plunging off the road and down a 50-foot drop during a downhill dash had left him with a fractured skull and a broken hip that pushed him into voluntary retirement as a cyclist, based on his surgeon's advice. He felt better when thinking that had been a far more traumatic setback than his present fall from grace.
Gerard hit the road next day to commence a fresh start. He thumbed two rides during the first three hours and then nothing. Fucking nothing. His feet were killing him when near dusk a little old lady stopped and said to jump in.
"I live less than a mile away but will host you. You look pooped and in need of sustenance and a bed."
Maggie was quite a character.
She'd been a schoolteacher all her life prior to retirement eight years ago and had been married twice. She was lonely and loved talking and it was after midnight before Gerard could escape to bed.
When on the road next morning he was whistling, his confidence being returned by the kindness of Maggie and her simple philosophy she'd shared with him, "Don't let the bastards get you down, ever."
He waited at the truck stop and eventually a middle-aged driver looked him over carefully and said, "If you're heading west get in."
Gerard had been intending to go north but decided west was an acceptable alternative.
He traveled almost two days with Mike, a married guy with three kids, who worked one week on, one week off, and claimed his wife loved the stability of his job as a truck driver, knowing for certain when he'd be home. That made Gerard think he should simplify his thinking about his own life. He'd always been hoping that something better would turn up and had never really been satisfied with his situation.
Mike said, "You should think of staying around in this little city for a while. It's my hometown and I can say you'd have to look far to find a better place to live."
Pointing, Mike said, "Over there is Ma Jenkins' rooming house and in the morning take a look on Hay Street at Harris's Ranch Supplies Depot. Mrs Harris is always looking for a good man, heh-heh-heh."
Mike refused to take any money but asked for a handshake. "You're a good guy Gerard. Good luck. If you stay I'll see you around."
Mrs Harris was far from being beautiful and her two daughters helping her run the depot were even less attractive. The three guys who did what they were told looked pretty hopeless and yet the business appeared popular. Gerard had to wait forty minutes before Mrs Harris could see him.
"Have you worked in a ranch supplies depot before?"
