After several requests, I have penned another story of the lucky trucker. You don't need to read the first one first, but if you like this one, you will probably like the original, too.
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I'm a cross country trucker and I want to share a very special experience with you.
I've been driving for more than 22 years and recently "celebrated" my 53rd birthday. I admit I look kind of dumpy these days, and have gained some weight. When I was younger, I was considered pretty good looking. I played football and was a middleweight boxer in great shape. Back then, girls were never a problem. I was a genuine stud with more one-night stands than I could count until I got engaged and then married at age 28. I settled down with a great gal and was 100% faithful to her for more than 10 years. We had two great kids, who are now grown and moved out. After so many years of marriage and many long separations over the road, things got a bit stale My wife knew about but didn't object much to my out-of-town dalliances with strippers, lap dancers, and an occasional prostitute after I started driving long haul and was away from home so often. As long as I used a rubber, she didn't care much. Our sex life had become pretty infrequent anyway. But eventually, the boredom and long separations got to both of us and we separated last year. The divorce will be final in a few more weeks.
I work for a trucking company based in Carson City NV and drive my rig weekly between homebase and our east coast satellite warehouse in Trenton NJ. It takes almost all week to make the one-way trip. I drive Mon thru Fri and spend one weekend in NJ, drive back, and get a weekend back home in Nevada. Then I do it all over again. Technically I live in Carson City but my Kenworth condo, I-80, and the motels along it are my real home. It's an independent, solitary life and I still like it, but it does get real lonely much of the time. And now that I'm about to be single again, there's not even the two weekends of sex a month I used to be able to count on over the years. The strip clubs and lap dancers are still there if I am in the mood, but it gets old and REAL expensive, so my laptop, wireless internet, and some favorite porn sites have become my best companions.
A month ago, I finished up a cross country trip and dropped the trailer at the Trenton warehouse late on Friday afternoon. I was at my usual Motel 7 "home-away-from-home" by 5pm. I checked in as usual, but was surprised to find a new girl behind the desk. Not really new, actually. I recognized her as the same girl who had been the maid the last 15 or 20 times I had stayed there. Her name badge said "Brenda."
"Aren't you the gal who used to clean the rooms?" I asked as she ran my credit card. I almost always get room 106. I kind of have a standing reservation every other weekend.
She smiled and confirmed. "I still do housekeeping, but I can't make enough money as a maid. And my husband says I need to make more money, so now I do double shifts. I work days in housekeeping and cover the swing shift here at the desk from 4 to 10."
"That must be tough," I started to say, but was interrupted by the loud ringing of the girl's cell phone. The lobby was deserted except for me, so she looked at the screen and said she had to take it.
I waited patiently and tried not to listen in, but whoever was calling was extremely angry and I could hear the yelling even from several feet away. Eventually, from her side of the conversation, which consisted mostly of a string of humble apologies, I figured out that it was her husband. He was really lighting into her, and she gradually got more and more upset. He was calling her dirty names and refused to accept her many apologies. Tears welled up in her eyes and she couldn't get a word in edge-wise. She made a "wait a second gesture" at me and turned away while she continued to get chewed out. Finally she was able to break in and say she had to serve a customer. That time I could hear the screaming and name-calling clearly -- how dare she interrupt him! There was a sheepish "I really have to go..." then a sudden click. He hung up on her, and soon she was apologizing to me instead of him.
"It's okay.," I said supportively.
"I'm really sorry about that, but let me finish checking you in." She reached for a tissue and dabbed her eyes and blew her nose.
I had to say something. "I couldn't help overhearing. Was that your husband?"
She nodded. "He gets so mad over the smallest things. He has a bad temper."
"What was he so upset about?"
"Nothing... it was really nothing. Nothing to ME, but to him..."
"What?"
"I left some dishes on the kitchen counter when I left this morning. It was just a couple dishes but he hates it when the kitchen isn't perfect..."
"All of that over a couple of dirty dishes?" I asked incredulously.
She made a wry face and shrugged. "That's how he is."
I showed interest, and it didn't take much prodding to get her to vent her emotions. The flood gates opened and she told me all about him and the cruel way he treated her. I tried to be a good listener, but found myself focusing on her tear-stained face and her lean little body. I figured she couldn't be much over 25 and, though not a knock-out, she was quite attractive in a girl-next-door kind of way.
"Hope you don't mind my saying so, ma'am, but he sounds like a real jerk."
"I am thinking of leaving him but I don't dare. He'd kill me. And that's not an exaggeration. He really WOULD kill me. He would never let me leave him. He'd rather see me dead than out of his control."
"Have you called the cops on him?"
"Yeah but that only makes him madder. Last time I did that, he acted polite and waited until he cops left and then he beat and raped me so bad I couldn't go to work for three days. He's got a nasty temper, and it's worse when he drinks."
"He hits you?"
"Sure. Lotsa times, but what can I do? His brother is a cop, and even if I went to a shelter, he'd find me. So I stay. He always apologizes afterward, when he sobers up or calms down, and I always forgive him.
For the next 20 minutes, Brenda told me story after story about how her husband controlled her every action. He's a security guard now, after being fired from the police department for "using excess force" (a code name for police brutality). He sounded like quite a character. I know the type -- a bully - and I hate guys like that, especially when they pick on such a sweet young thing like Brenda. A wedding ring doesn't give anyone the right to beat up on a little, defenseless young woman like her.
After a break to check-in another customer, I asked her more questions and she poured her heart out to me until finally, she realized she had talked nonstop for over an hour.
"I should really let you get to your room. Sorry for talking your ear off." Her eyes were still moist and it was obvious she was frightened and upset. I wished I could have gone around the counter and hugged her.
"Not a problem, ma'am. I'm gonna get a shower and some dinner across the street. Okay if I stop back later and... check on you - see how you're doing?
"You don't have to do that."
"I don't mind."
"Well," she said. "I like talking with you, but if my husband saw me talking to you when he comes to pick me up at 10, it wouldn't be good. I'll be okay, thanks anyway."
"I'll see you later," I promised and kept the promise. I walked back to the office right around 10 pm and was shocked to see a man slapping a woman around next to a black Dodge Ram pickup. He was really waling on her pretty good, and when I saw it was Brenda, I ran over, yelling at him to leave her alone.
When I got close, he turned his anger on me.
"Get the fuck outa here old man. She's MY wife and I can yell at her if I want to. Mind your own fuckin' business."
"You can yell at her, but you can't hit her like that. Cut it out or I'll call the cops," I said pulling my cell phone from my pocket.
"Go ahead. Call them. My BROTHER will be right over, just in time to watch me kick your ass. Now get the fuck out of here." Then he turned back to his wife and backhanded her across the cheek and began cursing and yelling at her again.
I took a step forward and he once again threatened me. "I SAID, get the FUCK OUTA HERE old man!" He lunged at me to shove me away.
I'm an ex-Marine and that was a big mistake on his part. I grabbed his wrist and had him flat on the ground in a microsecond. He rolled away from me, scrambled to his feet, cursing and threatening. I kept cool and told him to calm down, but the calmer I was, the wilder he got. He got up, grabbed his wife's wrist and literally threw her toward the open passenger--side door. He flung her so hard, she hit her head on the doorframe and she looked stunned.
Instinctively, I intervened and got between him and her. When he cursed and threw a punch at me, I went into full military defense mode. I am not as young and agile as I was when I was his age, but I was still good enough to take the little prick. One hard jab to the jaw, a quick uppercut, and a hard punch to the solar plexus and he collapsed like a dynamited building. I waited for him to get up. He didn't for the longest time, but eventually clambered to his feet, cursing and swearing, and continuing to threaten me.
"I think you should get in your truck and drive away now," I said calmly but firmly.
"Not without my wife," he protested, trying to reach past me at the trembling, terrified young woman.
I grabbed his arm and twisted it until I had him in a tight hold. "I don't think so. You better leave now before I call the cops and have you arrested for assault. Unlike her, I WILL file charges."
He twisted out of my grip and started walking away to the driver's side of his truck, threatening me all the way. Other people had witnessed it and were standing back, watching.
The he scowled at his wife. "I'll get you later, bitch."
"No you won't," I said, not really knowing how I would back that up. But I had made my point and I let him save face by calling me dirty names. I didn't care what he said as long as he kept walking away. He roared the engine and flipped me the bird as he raced off with spinning wheels.
I turned to Brenda and she was horrified and shaking like a leaf.