BEGINNINGS - THE TAIL OF MRS. DOROTHY HUDUSCKER
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The ringing in my ears had cleared just enough for me to hear "And if ever catch you near my wife again you sonofabitch, I swear I'll kill you!" Through the flashing stars in my vision, I saw the back of a pair of muscular legs, thatched with graying hair, in workout shorts as they stalked away from me, climbed into a Mercedes and sped away.
I sat there, my back against my car door in the fitness center parking lot, probing my teeth with my tongue through the blood in my mouth and slowly moving my jaw to see if it was broken. Nope. At least he hadn't punched me in the nose.
I dragged myself up, ignoring the stares from people in the parking lot, and got into the driver's seat of my new Tesla. It struck me as a little funny that the guy who had cold-cocked me into my car door had in part unwittingly paid for same car. I started the car and said to myself "Shit, I'm going to have to change fitness centers again."
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Hi, my name's Matt. A pretty average name for a guy who is just slightly above average in almost all respects: height, weight (okay, a little below average here), fitness, looks, intelligence. The only exceptions are my level of empathy, the size of my cock, my sexual endurance and boundless curiosity. Put it all together and it makes me pretty good at what I do. I'd like to call myself a gigolo but that would be, as my Aunt Lenora would say, putting on airs. Nope, I'm engaged in one of the world's oldest jobs and part of the original gig economy. I'm a male prostitute. And I'm damn good at my job.
5 years ago, I was a 22-year-old moderately promising collegiate baseball player with a long shot of going pro. But, due to a rather unfortunate misunderstanding with the athletic director's wife, I lost my scholarship. And by misunderstanding, I mean he caught me in a motel room balls deep into his wife. I'm pretty sure a teammate ratted us out, but I never found out who.
I still had dreams of a baseball career, but I needed to make some money first. So I made my foray into the gig economy. Fortunately, a wealthy alumnus with a love for baseball had "gifted me" with a pretty nice car my freshman year so I drove and delivered for several well-known services. And boy did I hustle. That first year I drove around the clock at times and was willing to take almost any call as long as it didn't look too sketchy. And it was thanks to my hustle that I picked up a call at 1 am for a ride from one Phoenix's luxury hotel to another one cross town. That's when I met Mrs. Hudsucker, and she changed my life.
"Hi, Matt?" Mrs. Dorothy Hudsucker was somewhere in her mid-40s,, well dressed and elegantly good looking in the way only lots of money can achieve. She was standing in front of the large, covered entryway to the hotel with her designer luggage and standing a few feet away when I rolled down my window.
"Yup." I glanced at the cracked screen of the iPhone mounted on the dashboard of my Acura. "Are you Dorothy?"
She nodded and came closer. "Listen, can I change my destination?"
She looked like she might tip pretty well, so I said. "Uh, you'll have to cancel this ride and order another one. I'm happy to wait."
She breathed in a sigh of relief and began quickly thumbing the screen of her gold cased phone, her long glossy nails flashing in the light from the lobby.
The ride came up on my screen. Phoenix to Tucson?? Jesus, that was at least a $200 fare! But it would take me the rest of the night by the time I got there and back and I would miss a lot of other fares in the process.
"Ma'am, that's an awfully long ...."
She reached into the clutch dangling from her wrist, opened her wallet and pulled out two crisp 100 dollar bills. "Will this tip help? And I'll pay to fill your tank as well."
I started to open my door, giving her a chance to back up. "Let me get your luggage ma'am."
I set Pandora to a soft jazz station, because that felt like what she might like, and got on Interstate 10 East towards Tucson. Okay, it's actually going south from there, don't ask me to explain it. She didn't talk for about the first twenty minutes. I glanced back at her in my rearview every once in a while, one of the rare highway lights would light her briefly. Not bad, I thought. Her hair was in an elaborate looking updo above a high forehead. Her eyes were wide set below a pair of finely sculpted eyebrows. Elegant nose, wide soft looking mouth. I couldn't make out her figure much, but from what I had seen of her getting her luggage into the car and her seated in the back she looked extremely fit.
"It is Matt, right?"
"That's right Ma'am."
"Sorry, a lot on my mind. Tell me Matt, do you have a steady girl?"
Not your typical opening, but sometimes drivers could almost be like bartenders or hairdressers. People would share the most remarkable personal details of their lives or ask extraordinarily personal questions of drivers. And drivers have been known to do the same. The stories I could tell.
"No Ma'am."
"Really? But you're so young and good looking."
Interesting, I thought.
"Thank you Ma'am. Very kind of you to say."
She laughed. "And so formal and polite. Quite unusual for someone your age."
"Just raised by an old-fashioned mother Ma'am."
"Well, it seems she did a wonderful job. She and your father must be very proud."
"I hope so Ma'am." I didn't mention that my father had left when I was young and my mother had recently passed.
In the far distant south, I could see the flash of lightning against dark, low clouds. Monsoon.
"Am I driving you home Ma'am?"
"Yes, why?"
"Looks like Tucson might be getting a pretty decent storm."
She leaned forward a little, peering through my front windshield. I got a whiff of her exotic perfume, spicy and dark. And her tailored top pulled open a bit exposing the upper curves of her breasts. They weren't large, but looked firm and high, although she might have been wearing a pushup.
She sat back and muttered "Perfect."
"Ma'am?"