The Black Train

“Did I give you permission to touch my ass, girlie? Hmm?” He squeezed harder, and the fat man shook his head.

“I ought’a drag your fat girlie ass right out in the street with your little pants down like ya are, so’s every one out there can see your little pansy pecker! And then piss on ya to boot!” Now he squeezed so hard, tears formed in the fat man’s eyes, and—

Jesus, what a sick pup, Jiff thought.

Before the great mound of belly, the client’s genitals hardened and he moaned.

How grim. It just reminded Jiff of the situation’s strange psychology. I tell the guy I’m gonna piss on him and he gets hard? Jiff had been a male prostitute for a long time but even he had never seen a client this bad off. It wasn’t the actual sex, nor even the pain and bondage—it was the sheer humiliation that the fat man was paying for. It didn’t matter that this was fast money— the gig was getting old.

Get it over with, he thought, disgusted.

He put the rubber ball in the fat man’s mouth and got to work.

A few minutes later, Jiff was finally done, his client ravaged. He removed the rubber ball. Finally…

“Help me! I love you so much!” came the desperate plea.

By now Jiff felt sorry for him. Poor fat bastard’s up’n fell in love with me. “That’s a good girl,” he praised. “And now, for bein’ so good, you know what I’m gonna do?”

Hopeful eyes glimmered up.

Jiff lowered his face and bit one of the nipples.

The fat man shrieked in glee.

Jiff climbed off the bed, nude. He knew that the fat man’s eyes were on his body when he strode to the bathroom. Behind him, he pretended not to hear the forlorn whisper: “I love you so much…”

Jiff washed up at the sink. He felt skewed. He’d originally viewed this gig as easy money—thirty bucks for ten minutes?—but now it was getting too kinky even for him. The debasement? At least his other tricks in town were simple action. It was his body that got him the business. He appraised himself in the mirror, flexed his abs, shot a few bicep poses. Some of the guys down at the Spike would lay twenty on him just to flex while they jerked off. Now I’ve got this tub’a lard with all his hangups. Oh, well, he supposed it beat cutting yards.

He pumped his pecs once in the reflection. Yeah. I still got it.

Behind him, his client’s voice drifted, “You’re beautiful…”

Jiff frowned.

When he came back out, the fat man was sitting up in bed, his shorts still at his ankles. “I’d be a mess without you.”

You ARE a mess! Look at yourself! You look like 300 pounds of vanilla pudding folded over in bed! Jiff ignored the remark.

He looked around the spacious room. A stone bust of some guy named Caesar stood on a pedestal by one wall, and another one of some guy named Alexander the Great stood next to the window. Jiff guessed these guys were relatives of Liberace, maybe helped get him started in Vegas. There was also a chess table made of checkerboarded marble and pieces that looked made of silver and gold. Lucky bastard… Jiff knew that his client’s money came from an inheritance—he was the last of the line. Ain’t no way that fat pansy’s ever gonna have a kid to inherit what’s left. Jiff knew he could steal a chess piece or two, but that wasn’t his style. He was just a hayseed male hooker, not a thief.

An old, fancy armoire stood opened, revealing cans of nuts and boxes of chocolates. “Hey, can I have some’a this?”

“All that I own…is yours.”

I guess that means yes. Jiff knew he had to get the gears shifted fast now, otherwise the man’d just get all depressed and mushy. He opened a box of Trufflettes. “Wow, these are good.”

“Take the whole box, I’ll get you more. I order them special from France.”

Jiff shook his head. The antique cupboard was full of such stuff. The poor bastard. Aside from me comin’ over here and treatin’ him like dog shit, all he’s got to look forward to is food. “But, you know, you ought’a cut down on this stuff. It’s bad for your heart’n all.”

A grateful sob. “You care about me!”

Christ. Jiff knew that the sight of his naked body was just riling the old man up. He began to dress.

“I’m nothing,” his client croaked. “I’ve got nothing.”

“Aw, don’t start talkin’ like that now. Shee-it, you got quite a bit from what I can see. Nice car, nice place, money.”

“Don’t you understand? None of that means anything, not without love. I’ve got no true happiness at all…”

“Stop feelin’ sorry for yourself!” Jiff snapped. I gotta get out’a here! “Come on, now, none of that. Look, I got work to do, so where’s my money?”

A trembling hand pointed to an inlaid dresser. Jiff picked up the check and folded it in his pocket.

“At least, tell me…Tell me you like me! Please!”

“A’course I like ya—”

“Then love me, too!”

“We been over it’n over it. This ain’t like that, and never will be. This is just fun and games. We’re friends, that’s it. You help me out, I help you out. We play a game. What’s wrong with that? What’s wrong with bein’ friends?”

Teary eyes looked up. “Do you ever…think about me? I mean…when we’re together?”

Jiff was getting sick of this. Man, when I’m with you, all I think about is Christian Bale in his Batman suit, you pathetic fat slob…But Jiff just couldn’t be that much of a prick. The man was too harmless to be disgusted by. “A’course I think about you sometimes,” he lied.

The client clasped his hands. “Thank you!”

Jiff needed to split. He needed to be around some real men. “Now you give me a call next time you want me to come by.” And then he headed for the stairs.

Halfway down, he heard the plea: “Marry me! It’ll be our secret! You can have as many lovers as you want! I’ll give you everything! Just…marry me!”

Jiff hit the back door fast. III

Collier woke at just past noon, a seam of sunlight from the curtains laying a bar across his eyes. What a slug, he thought. He felt sick from some inner confusion, then in bits and pieces everything resurfaced: the atrocious nightmare, Lottie, the hole in the wall…and the voices he thought he’d heard.

He frowned it all away and quickly showered, only now noticing a numb erection. What a night. The stair hall bloomed in the sun, flagging a distant headache that was no doubt the by-product of drinking too much. Just as he began to take the stairs down, he heard children laughing, and an excited voice like a little girl’s exclaim: “Here, boy! Come get the ball! Here, boy!”

Like a kid calling a dog, he thought. He walked back up and looked but no one was there.

Mrs. Butler was dusting the banister down below. She looked up at him, as Collier was forced to look down, where his eyes targeted her cleavage. Today the stacked old woman wore a smart frilled blouse and blue skirt. Collier felt a covert thrill, now that he’d seen her naked in the peephole.

“Good morning, Mrs. Butler—er, I should say good afternoon.”

Her withered face beamed. “Ya missed breakfast but I’d be happy to fix ya up somethin’ for lunch.”

“Oh, no thanks. I’m going to walk into town. I’ll pick something up there later.”