(by Edward Zeusgany, copyright 2001, all rights reserved)

During Ted’s last two years of graduate study, he made a good salary. For the first of these years, he was employed as a research assistant, 40 hours per week, on a large grant that his major advisor had obtained from the National Endowment for the Humanities. Then he was promoted to a research associate position. Ted graduated with his Ph.D. in January of 1968, but his employment continued to the end of the academic year.

When he was offered an assistant professorship at Smith College, he decided to celebrate by buying a new Corvette convertible, red with a black top. He conserved by getting no optional equipment, except for a radio. Ted really enjoyed that car. He liked looking at it, sitting in it, driving it.

One Sunday evening in the fall, after having spent the weekend visiting his parents in Marblehead; he got into his MG, looking forward to the drive back to his new apartment in Northampton. When he got to Concord, he decided to stop for coffee at the Howard Johnson’s restaurant that is on the right, just before the rotary. He was feeling very sexy; influenced by the car, but also by his clothes. He was wearing a dark orange turtle neck sweater that his mother had knitted for him and tight black pants. Ted thought that these clothes showed him off well.

Ted sat at the counter, drinking his coffee, thinking his thoughts, when he began to sense that the man to his right was looking at him. He had not turned his head to see, but he had a very strong feeling about it. He didn’t think this would be a good time to meet someone, because he had to get home, get to bed and be ready to meet his 8 a.m. freshman composition class. So he concentrated on his coffee; and did nothing, as far as he knew, to encourage the fellow to initiate contact.

The young professor decided that he should use the toilet before he resumed his trip. He left his jacket on the back of the seat, so that the waitress would not take away the coffee that he had not quite finished. When he got to the men’s room, he went into a stall, even though he was going to urinate. He had a feeling that the man, who had been sitting to his right, might come into the bathroom. Ted was trying to avoid an encounter.

Someone did come into the toilet right after him. This person took the adjoining stall on his left. The guy moved his right foot close to the partition between the two commodes, and started tapping his foot in a rapid fashion. He was wearing a plain tow, dark brown shoe. Ted thought that this might be intended as an invitation. He had never learned tea room etiquette, so he did not know for certain.

It was only years later that the meaning of the signal was confirmed. If Ted was interested he was supposed to go into the stall of the man who tapped his foot. It did not matter that Ted did not understand, he would not have accepted in any case. He was not willing to engage in such public conduct.

Without stopping to wash his hands, Ted returned to his coffee cup. The seat next to him was empty, as he had expected. When the man returned, Ted stole a quick look. The fellow was tall, about six feet, much taller that he preferred. He had a moderate build, dark brown, wavy hair, and a dark complexion. He was wearing a brown suit, with a pastel yellow tie. The not unattractive man was just short of being rugged, just short of being distinguished. An insurance salesman, came to Ted’s mind as a guess of occupation.

Ted finished his coffee and left. He drove, at his usual five miles an hour over the speed limit, along route two. He had negotiated the rotary, proceeded several miles and passed the route 111 exit, when he noticed a large dark car behind him. The driver started flashing his lights. That car then pulled up beside him and the driver made a motion with his arm. The car pulled ahead of Ted’s, its signal lights indicating a right hand turn. It pulled into the breakdown lane and slowed. Ted passed it.

A few minutes later, the car was in back of him again. The pattern was repeated, except this time the car turned into a rest area. Ted decided that the fellow had gone to enough trouble that he ought to find out what the man had in mind. Ted pulled into the rest area behind the two year old Cadillac. He parked twenty feet away and in back of the guy’s car.

The fellow flashed his break lights half a dozen times. Ted flashed his headlights about the same number. The lights of the Cadillac flashed again. Apparently the man was insistent that Ted go to his car. Ted waited, debating whether or not he would do that. The brake lights blinked for the third time. Ted shut off the engine, walked to the man’s car and opened the door.

“Get in,” the guy proposed. Ted entered the car, seating himself near the passenger’s door. The man patted the seat much closer to himself, and said, “Move over here.”

“No thanks,” Ted answered. “I’m not interested in being groped here, any more than in a public restroom.

“All right, there’s a motel back down the road about a mile,” The man started to move the car forward.

“Hold on,” Ted said, “I’m not leaving my car here.”

“It’ll be safe.”

“I’m not leaving it here,” Ted repeated with emphasis.

“How do I know that you’ll follow me to the motel?”

“Because I said so.”

*****

“OK. The nearest turn is a few miles up ahead. Don’t lose me there. We have to go up a ramp to the right, turn left to go over the bridge, and then a right onto the ramp back down to route two in the other direction.” Carl stuck his hand out. “My name’s Carl, what’s yours?”

“Ted,” the boy said, taking Carl’s hand in his.

The boy returned to his convertible and started it. When the kid’s headlights came on, Carl moved his Cadillac forward and the Corvette followed. Carl drove slowly, about 50 miles an hour, all the way to the turn and not much faster than that on the way back to where the motel was located.

The motel was a large place on the right, well before the Concord rotary. The parking lot was huge. Carl parked at about the center of the long line of doors, at the row that would be used for a second string of cars. He got out of his vehicle, and went over to the driver’s window of the kid’s car. He carried with him his run kit, a small toiletries bag. He told the boy to wait there, until he got a key.

“When you see me enter a room, then come ahead.”

About ten minutes later, Carl walked back along the row of units, passed the boy waiting in his convertible, and stopped at a door a short distance from where their cars were parked. The boy locked the Corvette and went to join Carl. The man was sitting on the edge of the bed and had taken off his suit coat. Ted locked the door and removed his own jacket, the one with the leather arms and his undergraduate college letter on the breast.

Carl smiled. “Now will you come over here and let me have a look at you?” Carl already like the look of the youth, whom he took to be about twenty. The kid was very short, had straight, medium brown hair and brown eyes. The boy’s build was sturdy. For his height he had broad shoulders and a large chest. Good definition showed even through the bulky sweater. His waist was narrow, but his legs had plenty of muscle on them. Best of all, Ted’s butt was shapely and appeared to be very firm.

Ted went over to where Carl was sitting. Carl spread his legs and, placing his hands on the boy’s waist, guided him between then and then to sit on his left knee. Carl put his hands on the kid’s ribs, kneading the flesh.

“You have a nice build,” he observed, in a manner that did not suggest that a response was expected. “Why don’t you take your sweater off, for me.”

Carl would have preferred just to tell the kid to strip, but he figured that this time he would have to flatter the youth and cajole him to remove his clothing, piece by piece. It was important to Carl that Ted undress himself, to make himself naked for Carl. If he managed to get the youth to see him on a regular basis, he would gradually train the kid to do what he wanted.

Ted peeled off the sweater and dropped it on the end of the bed. Carl stroked the kid’s arms and made much of them. It took time and patience, but item by item, the pile of clothing at the foot of the bed grew. Carl bestowed hugs and kisses, and got his way. But he was also determined to get the nude youth to undress him. He intended to teach Ted to follow instructions.

“Why don’t you take off my tie, now?” he suggested.

Ted did as he was asked. He thought of it only as a little game. Carl would have preferred to be standing and have the kid start with his shoes. To see the naked boy kneeling at his feet, doing what he was told. Instead, after he was stripped to the waist, he raised his foot. Carl did not want to go too far too fast and take the chance of spoiling everything.

When he was also bare, Carl told the youth to move the discarded clothing to a chair. Carl stripped the bed of its covers and pillows. He would have liked to send the kid to the toilet to take an enema, but he didn’t have the equipment.

“Do you need to go to the bathroom?” he asked.

“No,” was the reply. Carl let it drop. He went to the little case that he had brought with him and took out a tube of K-Y.

“Hold out your hand,” he said. Ted complied and Carl put some of the lubrication on the kid’s fingers. Anther time, beside having the boy grease his own anus, he would also have him lubricate the tool that would enter him. This time, he did it himself.

Ted got up on the bed and lay down on his stomach, spreading his legs as wide as he could. Carl said, “Get on your back.”

“It’s harder that way,” Ted cautioned.

“Well, I like to see that it’s a boy I’m fucking. The other way, you could be a woman.” To himself he thought: I want to see his nuts and dick, and my cock going into him.

“OK,” Ted acquiesced. “Are you married?”

“Yes.”

Carl lifted the kid’s legs and positioned himself for the entry. He noticed that Ted did not seem to have any trouble taking him. Of course, Carl was good at it, and always careful. Inflicting pain was a turn off for him.

Carl came quickly and pulled out. A disadvantage of this position was that you could not comfortably rest on top of your partner. Carl drew Ted up and began fondling his body. He moved Ten into various positions, while stroking the kid’s cock intermittently. Ted had the impression that Carl was doing this for his own benefit, rather than Ted’s.

In a few minutes, Carl was aroused again. He fucked the kid a second time. He told Ted to fondle himself as he screwed him. He said that he wanted to see the sperm come out of him. This was true enough, but he also preferred not to have to masturbate the youth himself.

*****

Ted’s orgasm was different from anything he had experienced before. The feeling was centered more inside his body than in his penis. It was less intense, but lasted longer. The cum oozed out rather than spurting. His genitals felt much like the way his arm or leg would, if the circulation was cut off for a time. But once those feelings had passed, the man’s cock inside him felt less pleasurable than usual.

Luckily, the fellow’s climax occurred shortly thereafter. Carl went immediately into the shower, then Ted showered. When he came out of the bathroom, the man was already dressed. While Ted got into his clothes, the guy asked him for his phone number and said that he would like to see Ted again. Ted gave the man this information, but made no commitment for a future meeting.

“Who gave you the car?” the fellow asked.

“No one.”

“Come on. A kid your age with a car like that?”

“I bought it myself.”

“OK, have it your own way. Do you live with someone, then?”

“No, I live alone.”

“So you have a job.” the man reasoned.

“Yes,” Ted replied in a flat tone of voice.

“But you don’t want to talk about it.”

“That’s right,” Ted acknowledged.

“Well, maybe you’ll tell me another time,” Carl suggested, giving himself a face saving way out.

“Maybe,” Ted replied.

Carl got up from the chair where had been sitting. “I’ve got to be in the office in the morning, so I’ll be on my way. You can stay here the night, if you want. Check out time is 11 o’clock.”

“No, I’ve got to get going myself.”

*****

Ted did not want to tell Carl that he was a professor of English at Smith College, because something he had been told by a colleague, who was also gay. There had been a faculty member at Smith, who had passed away a few years ago. Among his effects there was a diary. The fellow had detailed his own relationships and those of his gay friends, most of whom were professors at one of the five colleges in the area. Initials had been used rather than actual names, but many of these were easily decoded by way of descriptions and the events recorded. All of those so identified were summoned to meet with their respective college presidents and told to resign. This they all did.

The only reason that his colleague had not been forced to leave was that his initials had appeared infrequently and no one was sure to whom they belonged. In any case, these institutions had demonstrated their attitude toward people whose homosexual orientation became known in those pre-Stonewall times. Ted was not prepared to take any unnecessary chances, giving potentially damaging information to a person, about whose character he had some doubts.

The young man saw Carl several times, but he felt that the fellow was gradually expecting more from him, and giving ever less in return. Although the sex had been interesting for a while, the novelty had worn off. The next time that Carl called, Ted told him that he did not wish to see him. Carl persisted, saying that he had something important to tell Ted. Ted replied that he could relate what he had to say over the phone.

Carl had a proposition for him. He wanted Ted to move to the Concord area. He said that he had a job for Ted as a teller trainee at the bank where Carl was vice-president. It would be better for Ted to have a real job, the fellow insisted, where, if he worked hard, there would be a chance for a good career. Ted could get his own apartment, and Carl would pay half the rent to help him out. Carl also promised Ted that he would buy a sports car that Ted could use.

The fellow was surprised when Ted gave a quick negative response to his proposal. What was he getting now, Carl wanted to know, that was so much better than his offer, and who was providing it? Ted told Carl that, contrary to his belief, he was not a kept boy, that he had a good job, a nice apartment, and that he had paid cash for the Corvette. When Ted began to tell Carl why he did not want to see him again, the guy hung up.

Ted had several relationships with men who were or had been married. Why this was the case, he had not the slightest idea. He never set out looking for this, nor did he feel that it gave him, or them, any special status. Perhaps it was just chance, or perhaps bisexuals were attracted to him in some way that he did not understand.

Carl finally found a boy to be his mistress, but the kid grew up and Carl got rid of him. He started to advertise in the personals sections of the gay bar newspapers. Every once in a while he would get lucky, but most of these relationships ended within a few weeks or months. He would go to the apartment and the kid and all his belongings would be gone. Once, Carl’s property and the car were gone as well.

When “Carl” for the second time passed my (Ted’s) MG in his Lincoln, signaled a right hand turn and pulled into a rest area along route two, I put my foot to the floor. When you do that in an MG convertible going 60 it jumps forward to 90 in a very few seconds. After a mile, I eased the speed back to 65. The man in the other car did not catch me again, and I supposed that he had given up. I thought it unlikely that he would engage in a high speed chase.

I had decided that I did not want to meet someone in that way. At the restaurant, he could have asked me for a match, he could have asked what time it was, or if I knew the latest weather forecast. There are plenty of opening lines that give a person a chance to talk, to obtain some feeling for the other person, a way to express interest, or a way to say no, without giving offense. Sometimes I have been attracted to people after getting to know them, when they did not arouse my interest with their looks. Conversely, some, who seem to possess beauty, once I have spoken with them for a few minutes, lose all appeal for me.

That the man did not try conversation, was a further negative. What sort of person, I wondered, would prefer to go after someone in their car and flash their lights, or follow them into the men’s room and tap their foot, rather than attempt to speak to the person they would like to meet.

The possibility of the man being an undercover police detective, occurred to me. I did not think that they usually went to quite so much trouble, but that would explain the observed behavior. If the management of the restaurant had made complaints to the police of homosexual activity in their toilet, then attempts at entrapment might well be, in their minds, the appropriate countermeasure. That or the fellow was just a crude sort of guy.