Hell, I was sweating. The steering wheel was almost unbearable to the touch; the cab of my truck was like an overheated sauna. Even though the single lane highway had a few gentle curves I was definitely feeling that mind numbing ache you get watching the grey tarmac edged with worn yellow line snaking past you. Scrub bordered the roadside, occasionally broken by a hesitant treeline. A green sign loomed up ahead. "Welcome to Alabama, The Beautiful." it proudly announced. I began to look for a truckstop.
There was a sense of unreality seeping into my mind. Three months ago I was in my home country driving up and down the M1 motorway in England in the cold and wet, now I was sitting high up in a Kenworth rig. In the heat and glaring sunshine. And feeling more than a tad bored! I had listened in to the CB with interest and amusement, but now that had gone quiet. And even the sexual fantasies that had occupied my mind were fading, although the vibes through the seat had kept my erection moderately active!
As I rounded a curve in the road I could see ahead of me what looked like a gap in the shoulder where I could pull in and rest. As I slowed and parked up I noticed a track leading from the shoulder through a gap in the bushes to where a cluster of tin roofs showed over the leafy tops. Perhaps I could get some refreshment there. The air line hissed as I engaged the parking brake, and taking the keys I climbed stiffly out from the cab.
By the time I reached a sort of clearing I was feeling a bit cooler as a breeze from the trees wafted round me. I could smell cooking ahead, and my mouth watered. I walked into the clearing and looked around. There was a huddle of rough concrete, one storey buildings scattered any old way around the open space, A few black kids were tossing an old basketball up into a rusty hoop fastened to the wall of one of the shacks. They stopped playing, one by one, as they realised a total stranger had walked in on them. A WHITE stranger!
The sudden silence alerted the occupants of the shacks there was something happening. Here and there a face appeared at the glassless windows, and from some of the doors people came out and stared at me. They were all black, and I realised I was an Englishmen in Alabama! I began to feel a bit scared at the way they looked at me. Not overly hostile, but sure not friendly either. Just as though a film of gauze had appeared between us. I looked around to see if I could run back to my truck.
"What you want?"
(There's no way I can write their speech as spoken, so I will just put it standard English. You can add the accent yourself!)
The voice, not loud, but with a husky, velvety tone, came from a woman, probably in her fifties, who had appeared from the biggest shack. I looked at her, trying to keep my voice and stance calm.
"Just looking for something to drink, maybe," I answered.
She just looked at me for what seemed like an age, probably less than half a minute in truth.
"You're in luck," the woman said, "sit down on that chair an' I'll get a drink for you. It'll cost you."
"Thanks," was all I could think to say right then.
She disappeared back into her shack, and returned a minute later with a bottle of Coke. I put the bottle to my lips and steadily drank it down. Hell, that felt better! Handing the empty bottle back, I put my hand into my jeans pocket for the few dollars I kept there.
"No money, man, no money," she said, "just a little job you can do."
For some reason, the surrounding folk found this immensely funny.
"Sure," I answered, but a twinge of worry returned at their laughter. I hardly noticed that some of the men were now standing around in a way that blocked my route back to the truck.
The woman turned to a boy next to her.
"Go tell Velma we've one here wants to try to settle a little debt."
The boy ran into the house and came back with a woman. I couldn't help staring a bit. Black, like all the others, she was about 30 years old, six foot tall, wearing a T-shirt and shorts that looked like they had originally been bought small, and shrunk in the wash... Her largish, slightly saggy tits and big nipples had moulded themselves to the cotton material, and the crotch of the shorts accentuated the lips of her fanny and the crack between. Even sideways on I could see she had a high round ass, sticking well out. Her feet were bare, her hair tied round her head in coiled dreadlocks.