Betty stood, looking at the steam rising from the engine. The truck was from the '80's and was filled with everything she had left in life. She didn't know what to do. She didn't have money to fix the truck, didn't have money for a hotel, didn't know how she was going to survive.
She looked over at the park, where Lila and Shawna were playing on the swings. They were enjoying their time in the sun, comfortable in the knowledge that their mother would take care of them. Even having to sleep in the truck last night at a rest stop had seemed like an adventure to the 9- and 7-year-old girls. Betty covered her mouth with her hand to stop the sobs from breaking out.
A new Lexus pulled up in front of her car and a tall man got out. As he approached her, Betty eyed him suspiciously, feeling vulnerable. This handsome man approached her with a confidence which the desperate woman found intimidating.
"You okay, ma'am?" The man moved past Betty to look at the overheated engine. "Car problems?"
Betty nodded her head. "It just overheated. I pulled over when it began to steam." A sob escaped her mouth.
The man looked at her with concern. "Don't worry. Let's take a look." He carefully stuck his hand into the hot engine compartment and grasped the fan, gently moving it back and forth. "Yeah, just what I expected. Your water pump is broken. It needs to be replaced."
Betty dropped down and sat on the curb. She held her head in her hands and asked, "Is that expensive? I don't have very much money." She turned and looked over at her girls in dismay.
The man followed her gaze and asked, "Are those your kids?" When Betty confirmed his assumption, he suggested, "Look, my house is just down the block. I can fix your car -- it'll take me maybe an hour or two, depending on how soon I can get the parts. They may be available at the auto parts store -- this was a pretty popular engine -- but I may have to try a wrecking yard for a used part if I can't find one. Meanwhile, you and your kids can stay at my house."
Fear and suspicion leapt to the forefront of Betty's mind. She was about to refuse the man's offer when the police cruiser pulled up. The window rolled down and the officer hailed the man. "Scott, everything okay?"
"Yeah, Ron, just a little car problem. I think I can get it fixed." The officer offered to help, but the man, Scott, said he could handle it. The officer wished him luck and continued down the block.
The policeman's familiarity with the man and his obvious belief that the man was above board reassured Betty, but she still shook her head. "No, I can't leave this truck. Look, I think you're okay, but everything I have left in the world is in this truck..."
Scott nodded. "It's okay. Let's do this. Come to my house and I'll get my neighbor, Mrs. McNulty to watch your girls while we, you and I, get the parts and fix the car. Meanwhile, the girls can have lunch and watch TV."
Scott had a beautiful house and his neighbor, Mrs. McNulty (call me Gladys, dear) was happy to babysit. When Scott offered to pay her for her time, she waved away the offer. "With all the things you do for me, do you think I'd charge you to watch these two angels." She looked at Betty. "This is really a good man. He's always ready to help, even before you know you need help."
Gladys smiled at the girls. "Now, do you girls like grilled cheese?"
Scott loaded his tools into the trunk of the Lexus, and was able to buy the water pump, gaskets, and antifreeze from the local representatives of Manny, Moe, and Jack. In less than 90 minutes, he had the truck repaired and running. While she had watched him repair the car, Scott managed to get Betty to relate her sad story.
She had been happily married to an insurance salesman, had a nice home ("Not as nice as yours, but it was my dream, complete with that white picket fence"), and was comfortably in the middle class. Then her husband had been the cause of a multiple car crash, where two innocent people had died, as well as her husband and the woman who had been performing fellatio on him just prior to the crash.
Suddenly, she had lost her income provider, her "loving" husband, and her way of life. Their savings, the equity in their home and most of their possessions had been taken by legal fees and settlements with the families of those killed or injured by her husband. She had been left with two children and the few possessions that fit into the camper on the pickup truck. She didn't really have a plan, other than going to a cousin in the next state. She didn't have the cousin's phone number, couldn't remember her married name, but had hoped her money would sustain her until she could find her. She didn't have any other relatives and her husband's family seemed to blame her for his death. Apparently, they felt that had she been a better wife he wouldn't have strayed. Betty couldn't take it. She had just packed up and fled.
Now, telling Scott her story, she realized how stupid it was. She wasn't even near the city where she thought her cousin still lived and she was already out of money. As Scott started the repaired engine with a whoop of triumph, Betty collapsed onto the curb and sobbed.
Scott sat next to her and cautiously put his arm around her, hugging her to his chest as she wept.
"Look, right now you can stay with me." As Betty began to shake her head, Scott continued. "I have two guest rooms, one with a double bed the girls can share and the other has a fold out couch you can use. It's probably not the most comfortable, but it's better than making those girls sleep in your camper.
"Tomorrow, we can sort out a job for you and once you're on your feet, you can find your own place."
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After leaving Liam's office, Jean drove west for two days. The second night, after checking into a hotel, she'd gone to the nearest bar, dressed in a short dress with the top two buttons undone. She was ready for the experiences which had already cost her the life she had once cherished.
It was only six o'clock and the bar was almost empty. The bartender put her drink in front of her. "I haven't seen you here before. You new here?"
Jean shook her head. "No, just passing through. Getting divorced and feeling frisky."
The bartender smiled and looked appreciatively at Jean's exposed cleavage. "Where are you headed?"
"Don't know, don't care. Just going." Jean sipped her drink. "I supposed I'll have to find a job soon, but meanwhile, I intend to party."
"What do you do? What type of work are you looking for?" The bartender refilled Jean's glass. "It's on me."
"I don't know. I was an English major in college, worked a little retail while I was in school, but have just been a housewife since I got married. I really don't have any experience." Jean thought, there's that word again. I really need to get some experience.
"I need a waitress. What would you think of that? It pays okay and the tips are good, and there's a room in back you can use until you find a place." The bartender, Jake, was getting a good look down her shirt. She leaned forward to accommodate him.
"That could work." A half hour later, Jean had a mouthful of Jake's cum to swallow and free drinks the rest of the night.
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Betty had studied psychology in college, getting her BA before becoming pregnant with Lila. Scott introduced Betty to a therapist he knew, and the result was Betty being hired as his receptionist. Her knowledge of the terms and diagnoses was something the therapist thought would be helpful.
Betty was over the moon at having a job. Her life was on the mend, she felt.
"How do you know Dr. Mitchell?" she asked Scott.
"He helped me through some issues. He's a good man." Scott replied.
"Did he help you with your wife? With marriage counseling?" Betty was very curious about Scott. She couldn't imagine why a woman would divorce him.
"Mitch? No, Mitch helped me with some anger issues." He paused, took a deep breath, and began to tell Betty the story of his marriage and divorce. How his wife had wanted "experiences", asking for an open marriage. He told how he had reacted, how he had gone out of his way to tell people that his wife was a whore, how her mother had had a stroke and how much he had hurt his wife.
"I'm ashamed of what I did. I don't care what Jean did or didn't do. I was wrong to hurt her like that. I was hurt and lashed out." He looked at Betty with tears in his eyes. "I never thought I was that kind of guy. But I was hurt.
"When we went to counseling with an incompetent asshole named Liam, Jean had tried to describe the problems that had led her to ask for the open marriage. She claimed she couldn't orgasm, or when she did, she became too sensitive and it hurt. Some friend convinced her that if she could just achieve three orgasms everything would be fine."
"What?" Betty was confused. "It hurt to orgasm so she had to have three? What the hell?"
"Yeah, that's what I thought too, but her friend Monica convinced her that she could teach her how to have sex without the pain. Turned out that Monica was a procurer for a pimp. She'd get women involved with her and her friend Bucky and blackmail them. Jean had had sex with Monica, but claimed she didn't enjoy it and never had sex with Bucky or any other man.
"I loved her, and was willing to try to reconcile, but in the end she thought that it was all my fault that her mother had had a stroke, that our friends ostracized her, and our church kicked her out of teaching Sunday school. She stopped the counseling and insisted on the divorce. Then she left town."