Chapter 1

When I was in college in Valdosta, Georgia, I worked at the mall in a shoe store. I hated the job because it was minimum wage and I never had any money.

One day a black man came in and was asking about some shoes. He was well dressed and looked to be around fifty. While showing him a pair of shoes he asked me if he could talk to me. I said sure not knowing where there was going. He asked if I had a girlfriend, which I did. He then asked me if I had ever fooled around with a guy. I nervously laughed and said no I hadn’t. He laughed and said that he bet guys I hit on me before. And I told him yes guys have approached me before but I am straight. He asked me if I was uncomfortable talking about this and I lied and said no. He said he knew I was not attracted to him but would I consider meeting him after I got off work. I asked him for what. He stated he wanted to continue our talk. I repeated that I was straight. He then said what if he gave me fifty dollars. I paused ... and asked if he was serious. He handed me fifty dollars. I said that I hadn’t decided yet. He said it was okay if I decided not to, that I could keep the money. He told me to meet him at the food court in the mall in front of the Chinese Restuarant. He said if I didn’t show, it would be no problem. He thanked me for talking to him and left.

I had a couple of hours to go before my shift ended. At the time, I wasn’t thinking what his end goal was, but only that he gave me fifty dollars just to talk to him. I thought he was weird and creepy but he was nice and seem to be a likable man. So my shift ended and I walked toward the food court thinking he probably wouldn’t be there. To my surprise he was there seated at a table. I started to turn and leave without him seeing me but I felt bad if I just left taking his money. He told me he was glad I came. He asked me how old I was. I told him I was twenty. He asked if my job paid well. I laughed and said no, that I’m always broke. He asked me if I’d like to earn a lot of money in a short period of time. I asked him how. He said he didn’t want to seem pushy, and that he knew I was straight, but if I’d spend about an hour with him he’d give me a thousand dollars. I was quiet, I didn’t know what to even say. I finally said a thousand dollars is a lot of money, but I didn’t think I could have sex with a man. He handed me an envelope and said there’s a thousand dollars and my address in there, you can just keep it and not show up and there will be no ill will or contact from me ever again ... or can can come and nothing will happen that you don’t want to happen, I promise. He then left.

I went and got in my car and opened the envelope. There were ten one hundred dollar bills and a card with his address. I could not believe it, a thousand dollars! But what should I do, I knew what he wanted and that repulsed me, but he was nice and he gave me a thousand dollars. My impulse was to just go home and forget him, but as I drove I remembered how nice he was and he said nothing would happen that I didn’t want to happen. So I talked myself into going to see him.

The address he gave me was an apartment. Eventually I walked to the door and knocked. When I entered his apartment there wasn’t much furniture, two chairs and a small table. I asked if he lived there. He explained no, that he owned the apartment complex and that he used this apartment as an office. I said oh that’s why your rich. He laughed and said he was wealthy that he owned many properties. He could tell I was nervous, and I was, he told me to sit and asked if I wanted some rum and coke. He said no one will know. So he handed me the rum and coke and reminded me that nothing will happen that I’m not okay with. He said if I wanted to leave right now, there would be no problem. I said okay and took a sip of my drink. The drink was good and it quickly calmed me. We talked a while about diffent things like sports, my plans for my future, hobbies, etc. He really made me feel relaxed, and the drink took away my nervousness.