Author Note: I published this under 'Lustydays' a few years ago. Grammarly is better now at cleaning up my mistakes so I'm sending it again with some other changes.
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Ray:
It wasn't until I was an adult that I realized some things about my childhood were unusual.
For example, if you were to look at a picture of my mom in her twenties you would see a stunningly attractive woman. Gorgeous! She had a beautiful face and lovely shoulder-length dark red hair. She wasn't very tall but made up for it in curves. She had an hourglass figure and could have been a centerfold model.
But I didn't realize she was exceptionally good-looking when I was young. I didn't think about her looks. She was just my mom. I remembered warm hugs and smiles, bedtime stories, and a mischievous glint in her eyes. And a constant cigarette hanging out of her mouth.
And I remembered that our house was constantly full of people. I thought it was normal.
My mom was a hairdresser and worked from our mobile trailer. So there were always people there when she was working.
Mom had lots of friends so when she wasn't working, people were still visiting.
And mom liked to party so on weekends there were always lots of adults smoking and drinking and talking and laughing. I remember the air in our trailer being blue with smoke and some of it smelled weird!
Mom would shuffle my older sister Shelly and me off to bed around eight, but it was hard not to hear them. They got louder and louder as the night went on. The next morning, mom would get up late. Shelly and I knew from experience never to wake her up early.
Shelly was a social butterfly and she loved it when people were over. She loved to watch and listen to the adults but not me. I was more reserved and felt uncomfortable in large groups of people and went to my room to read, whereas I don't think Shelly ever cracked a book.
Unfortunately, mom went through guys like water, and Shelly and I had different dads. Mom had Shelly when she was twenty and me four years later. Neither of the men was around anymore. I wouldn't recognize my dad if he stood in front of me.
But I didn't feel hard done by because mom was very loving. And our neighbors were like an extended family. There were lots of kids to play with and Shelly was a great older sister. She was like a little mom to me.
I didn't dislike the trailer park because it was all I knew, but as I got older and met other kids at school, I realized other people lived differently. Other kid's parents had nice cars, but our car was old and worn out. Other kids went on vacations, but we never did. Other kids had money to buy lunches in the cafeteria, but I didn't. Other kids lived in houses. I lived in a trailer.
One good thing about my school was the library. I loved to go there and read newspapers and magazines and books and learned there was a big world outside the trailer park. And the more I learned, the more curious I became.
In grade twelve I decided to leave the trailer park after I graduated. I studied as hard as I could and got good marks.
Mom had a brother in New York City who visited once in a while. He was the studious one in my mom's family and took an interest in me when he realized I was like him. I dreamed of moving to New York after high school and living with my uncle until I got established. Amazingly enough, it happened. My uncle let me stay at his place and helped me get a job. I was thrilled when I got my first paycheck.
I took some college business courses, and my uncle was very helpful. He worked for an investment firm, and that's what I wanted to do. He was constantly telling me everything he knew, and I soaked it up like a sponge.
It took a while, but eventually, I got a job at an investment firm. My uncle was very proud of me and took me out, and we celebrated. I didn't feel good the next day!
I wasn't a social butterfly like Shelly, but I did start to notice women, and they noticed me. Apparently, my dad was good-looking, and I looked like him. I was tall with thick wavy golden hair, a handsome face (that's what they told me), and broad shoulders.
I was doing well at work and saved some money and started to date. There is lots to do in New York if you have money, and I gradually built up a clientele, and money flowed in.
I quite enjoyed going out with the ladies, if you know what I mean, and they seemed to enjoy being with me. Apparently, I filled them up nicely. Word spread and I had no trouble finding female companionship when I wanted it.
I went out dancing one night. It was my first time, and I was nervous, but I relaxed and had fun after a few drinks. After that, I enjoyed going out dancing which was another plus when the ladies decided who they wanted to see.
I always kept in touch with Shelly, who filled me in on life back home and sent me pictures. Shelly was a dead ringer for my mom when she was young and was a babe. Unfortunately, mom's drinking and smoking caught up with her, and she looked way older than I remembered.
Shelly didn't smoke and didn't drink much, which was good, but there seemed to be a new guy every time I called, which worried me. I didn't understand the constant turnover. She either had mom's bad luck with men or got bored quickly or was picky or something. I didn't know.
Then she got pregnant. Crap! At least she still lived with mom and had trained to be a hairdresser and had money.
Then mom got very sick, very quickly, and I came home. She had lung cancer, and it had spread through her body, and there was nothing they could do. She was dead a few weeks later.
I stayed a while to make sure Shelly was okay. Mom left the trailer to Shelly, and it was paid for and Shelly made enough money cutting hair to get by. I met Shelly's boyfriend, who knocked her up. I didn't like him but I didn't say anything to Shelly. She was stressed enough with mom dying and being pregnant.
Shelly assured me she was okay, so I returned to New York.
It was never the same, though. I couldn't stop worrying about Shelly being alone and pregnant. And honestly, there were things I didn't like about New York, like winter. I hated the cold and driving in snow and ice and having to bundle up. And it was so bloody expensive to live there. The weather had been nice when I went back home. Everything was green and alive, and then I was back in cold snowy weather. Yuck!
Then Shelly called, all upset. Her jackass boyfriend left, and she was on her own.
That was the last straw. I decided to move back home that night and called a real estate agent to find a place in the trailer park. One came up quickly and it was unbelievably cheap compared to New York.
I told the firm I was leaving and thanked my uncle for his support. I was okay for money because I'd done quite well, and some of my clients wanted to stay with me, which was no problem. I could do internet meetings and financial transactions just as easily in a trailer park as in New York.
I didn't tell Shelly because I wanted to surprise her. I moved my possessions into my trailer and then walked to her place and knocked on the door. She just about fell over when she saw me and started to cry when I told her I was home.
I gave her a big hug, inhaled the warm moist air, soaked in the sun and lush green surroundings, and smiled.
It was good to be home!
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I don't know what I would have done without Ray.
The plan was for mom to help me with the baby, but mom was gone. And then my useless boyfriend took off, and I was alone.
After seven months, my belly was big and I couldn't stand on my feet all day and had to stop cutting hair.
I had no money coming in, and mom's car was burning oil and would cost thousands to fix. I was getting desperate and thinking about calling Ray when he appeared out of the blue at my door and said he'd moved back. I was so happy to see him; I broke out crying.
He visited me every day to see how I was and paid my outstanding bills. Then he fixed my car. I had no idea how much it cost, and whenever I tried to bring it up, he smiled and refused to say.
Ray was like a mother hen. I think he was more worried about my pregnancy than I was. One night he showed up with a tube of vitamin E cream and said it was good to prevent stretch marks. I rubbed it in every night and didn't have a single stretch mark later, even though my stomach got huge. He even made me go to one of those childbirth sessions and pretended to be my partner.
Ray panicked and forgot the childbirth training when my water broke, and I had to tell him to get the car and take me to the hospital. I didn't want to have the baby by myself and was thrilled when he said he would be in the room with me.
