Chapter 102

Jason Rader was nervous. At varying times during the past few days he had thought this was a hugely bad idea. Other times he had been excited at the prospect of performing in adult films.

He was no stranger to pornography. His older brother had introduced him to the joys of magazines when he was 12 and the computer his family had purchased for his 14th birthday had added to his stash of pornography. He chose UCLA because he wanted to try it but when he got out to L.A., he changed his mind. He always believed there was a subset of performers who didn't act like animals in rut. Then he found there wasn't.

That all changed the day he found Ashley Malibu's scene on "Frisky First Timers." Ashley was one of his favorite stars. She reminded Jason of his first real girlfriend but she had so much more spirit than Kim Howard had. He had downloaded – illegally of course, what college kid pays for porn? – almost all of Ashley Malibu's scenes and this was her best by far. He saw a posting about her on PornLife about her signing a contract with Daystar. He didn't know what it meant but if it produced more videos like the two he found from her recently, he was all for it.

The PornLife posting had come just as the transmission came out of his truck. He needed money to pay for it but he wasn't sure he could deal with the portion of the business that required him to treat women like cattle. Still, it paid a lot better than washing cars at a dealership – the only real job Jason ever had. So he went to an open casting at "Naughty Newbies." There were only three other guys there but were all buff and gruff. They exuded arrogance and they insisted they should all go first. Jason simply stepped back and let them posture for the eight women who appeared for the casting call. He simply pulled out his biology book and read a chapter.

He was shocked when the woman running the show spoke to him for a minute or two and sent the other men home. She told them to come back in two weeks if they were still interested but she wouldn't need them until then. Then she sent all but one of the women home, too. The girl kept – because she looked more like a sweet girl than a hard-edged woman – was just as surprised as Jason. Judy Jackem couldn't have been nicer. She spent a half hour just talking to him, doing her best to assuage his fears. She seemed to understand his misgivings. Then she dropped a bombshell: she would be willing to call Ashley Malibu to see if she would work with him.

Of course that didn't work out but Jason wasn't disappointed when he was told he would be working with another of his personal favorites – Cassie Charms. Jason had spent hours on his computer researching starlets and he had his wish list. Cassie Charms was near the top but he knew she rarely did boy-girl scenes. He had learned the professional phrase was "boy-girl" and not "hardcore" as he'd always referred to it. He was more amazed when Judy had told him that Cassie and her friend, Derrick, wanted to meet with him beforehand. Judy was honest. If they didn't feel like he would do a good scene or if they got the impression he would treat Cassie (or any performer) roughly, he would lose the job.

The two people who walked up to the small restaurant where Judy was going to meet them didn't resemble porn stars. The man had on a pullover that hung loosely across his frame. The woman wore a sundress. Neither knew Jason so they almost walked past him.

"Uh, excuse me, Ms. Charms?" Jason said. His voice faltered slightly. The girl was even smaller than he had imagined. "I'm sorry. I'm Jason Rader. Judy called to say she was running a few minutes late and I should watch for you. Mr. Driller, it's nice to meet you."

Adam smiled at the man's nervousness. It reminded him of – well, him – a month earlier.

"You, too, Jason," he said. "Now, is Jason your stage name or your real name?"

"Real," Jason said. "Although I've been told a time or two it would be perfect for this line of work."

Leslie's lilting laughter filled the street.

"Wait until we introduce you to Trinity," she said. "She always said that if she goes into the business she was going to be known as Ann Jones. I'm Leslie, by the way. This is Adam. Now we're all on equal footing. It's nice to meet you, Jason."

"It's my pleasure," Jason said, shaking Leslie's extended hand. "I'm a big fan. I am really excited at the prospect of working with someone of your pedigree."

"I was glad when this opportunity fell to me," Leslie said. "Let's go in and sit down. Judy can find us. I'm excited to meet her, too."

Jason stopped for a moment.

"You don't know her?" he asked. "How did she set this up?"

Leslie gestured to Adam.

"She called a couple of people who work exclusively with him," Leslie said. "They happened to be doing a shoot with me. How much has Judy told you?"

"Only that this was sort of an audition so you could gauge my personality," Jason said.

"Well, I guess that's part of it," Leslie replied. She and Adam had decided she would conduct the initial portion of the discussion. "But it's bigger than that. Have you heard of Ashley Malibu and Sahara Rain?"

"Of course!" Jason said, a wide smile gracing his face. "Honestly, Ashley Malibu is my favorite performer, no offense meant. It's just, well, she sort of reminds me of an old girlfriend. I hope I might get to work with her someday."

"You won't," Leslie said sadly. "Well, unless this guy does something really stupid. She works only with him and she lives with him. So it is pretty unlikely you'll do anything more than share a scene with her. By that I mean you'll be doing your thing with your partner and she will be doing her thing with Adam. I hope that doesn't turn you away from this."

"It doesn't," Jason said. "I can understand why she wants to work with Adam. He does a good scene. At least I guess he does. I've come to realize that the male's job is sort of like a baseball umpire's. It is a good game when you forget the umpire is there."

"Exactly," Adam said. "In fact, I might just steal that from you. That is a great analogy."

"Thanks," Jason said. "I've been looking at stuff like this for years and I can't understand why there aren't more guys like that in the business."

"Which is why we're sitting here talking to you," Leslie said with a glance at Adam, who nodded slightly. "We want you to be the next Derrick Driller. I suspect in the coming months, you'll have several females who will be asking to work with you exclusively. I asked Adam to come here so you two can discuss what makes a good scene from the female's perspective. I've worked with Adam. He is really easy to deal with. He is responsive and he is responsible. We want to teach you to work a scene the way he does."

"Really?" Jason asked. "That would be great! Can I tell you guys something?"

Both of his tablemates nodded.

"I had a romanticized view of Los Angeles when I came out here," Jason said. "I'm from a bitty town in West Virginia. My dad worked at a doggone poultry farm his whole life. My mom is a nursing assistant. That means she wipes people's butts all day. That is what my life looked like. People from my town rarely go to college. They sure as hell – sorry, miss – they sure as heck don't go to L.A. to college. Oh, they might go to Charleston or Huntington or even Pittsburgh. But I wanted out of that life. My older brother quit school at 17 and now he works side by side with my dad. So I dreamed of coming out here and going to school and working in the porn business.

"But I couldn't do it. I've gone to open castings three or four times and I've always walked away before the interview. If I didn't need to fix the transmission in my truck, I would have walked away this time, too. The other guys who showed up were arrogant jerks. Honestly, none of them were built anywhere like Adam. But you would have thought they were God's gift by the way they behaved. They were asking the women if they liked to have their butts spanked or if they swallowed and stuff. You should have seen the looks on their faces when Judy sent them home."

Adam laughed aloud. He would have liked to have seen that.

"So you're interested in being a part of the next generation of adult performer?" Leslie asked. "I'm cool with working with you even if it is just a one-off. That means you do one scene and disappear until you need money again. But I think you've got the manners to do this the right way."

"My Ma made sure I had manners if nothing else," Jason joked. "But yeah, if we can do things the way I saw Ashley and Derrick do them, I think I could handle that part."

"Do you get jealous?" Adam asked.

"Sure, don't you?" Jason replied.

Adam nodded both in answer to Jason's question and at the fact the man had responded honestly.

"I want to be honest," Adam said. "You're going to connect with some people in this business that you'll like a lot. Right now, I live with three girlfriends and another young woman, Jenny Cinnamon or Karlie Chandler. Ashley, Sahara and Michelle only work with me. It wasn't my suggestion but I appreciate it. I have found that the first time you treat one of the female performers with respect and courtesy, they tend to gravitate to you. I guess I don't want to see you go into a funk if Cassie works with you tomorrow and then does a scene with someone else next week."

"It would depend on the guy," Jason said. "If he treated her like property, I'd be upset. I already like you guys. You've been honest with me. There isn't a lot of that in L.A. That's why I like Judy so much. She doesn't bullshit you. Sorry, again. I've got to watch that."

"We curse, too," Leslie said. "I'm not offended. And you're right. That is another part of what we're looking to change. We give honesty and we expect it in return. Adam, do you want to tell him a little about dealing with smaller girls?"

"I don't think I need to," Adam said. "His manners were beat into him by his Mama the same way mine were. The main thing to remember is that she is smaller than you everywhere. Let her call the shots and you'll be fine."

"Like I'd know what shots to call," Jason said. His laughter was pleasant. "I've seen what you've done in the past few weeks. You only have four scenes that I can find – and I felt like a homo looking for them. Again, no offense meant. I'm not a homophobe or anything. I just don't know many homosexuals."

"And you wouldn't want to watch them have sex," Adam said with a nod.

"Unless they were girls," Jason admitted.

"Of course," Adam answered as if it were understood.

Melody was glad to see the three people laughing. She thought the guy would fit in but she had dealt with so many assholes in the business that it wouldn't take much to come off as better.

"Hi, folks," she said when she approached. "Sorry I'm late. Cassie, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm sorry you couldn't bring more of your crew with you. Have you heard how the Peaches shoot is going?"

Adam shook his head but he was certain it was going well.

"I figure you'll have a full house tomorrow," Leslie joked. "Rebecca – Rita Looker – is in town tonight. She is doing a girl-girl for Daystar on Friday. She'll be there. I think Shelly is coming. I wouldn't be surprised if Trinity, Sean, Rachelle, Walt and Mary show up."

"Jesus," Adam said.

"Ashley, Sahara and Karlie will be there if the Peaches deal wraps up early," Melody joked. Adam wondered if she was kidding. The shoot was planned to start at 10 a.m. He shook his head.

"OK, well, I think Rebecca, Shelly and Adam will be there," Leslie said, letting Adam off the hook. "Although it seems as though Jason here wouldn't mind if Allie showed up. Allie is Ashley Malibu, Jason."

"Oh," Jason said. He kicked himself for getting nervous again.

"Sarah is Sahara Rain," Melody added. "My name is Melody. That is how most of the people I trust refer to me. I'd be happy for you to call me that, too."

Jason nodded his thanks.

"It really is a shame that the rest of the group couldn't be here," Melody repeated. "I've heard of Sean and Walt and Mary and Rachelle. I'm not sure who Erin is and I don't think I've met Trinity. What's her real name?"

"That is her real name," Leslie giggled.

"Poor kid," Melody said.

"Her sister is Britney," Adam added. "Trinity, Britney and Spenser – with an 's' – Duval. Their parents are really into pop culture."

"Ouch," Jason said. "Spenser? Like the TV detective?"

"Apparently," Adam said.

"I've read all of those books," Jason said. "They guy who wrote them died a few months back. I love detective stories and his were some of the best."

"What else do you like, Jason?" Leslie asked.

Jason shrugged.

"A lot of things, I guess," he said. "The only things I really hate are Brussels sprouts."

"How about mini golf?" Leslie tried.

"I've never tried it," Jason answered with another shrug. "I've played real golf once. I won't do it again unless it's at gunpoint. But I think mini golf might be cool."

"We should plan on a rousing game Sunday, Adam," Leslie said. "When is Erin going back home?"

"I'm not sure," Adam answered. "But it would give Jason a chance to meet some new people. Do you have friends you hang out with?"

"Not really," Jason said. "There are two people I hang out with but we're different. I'm a backwoods kind of guy. I like to hunt and fish, ride 4-wheelers. There aren't a lot of people around here who enjoy that sort of stuff."

"Well, you found two of them right here," Leslie said. "I'm from a little town in Tennessee. Adam is from a town so crappy Arkansas didn't even want it. It's in Missouri."

"Ha! Ha!" Adam said facetiously. "But I do enjoy fishing. I've never gotten into the hunting thing. I mean, we'd shoot wolves and stuff but I've never done sport hunting."

"But have you ever eaten a tofu burger?" Jason said with a smile.

"Hell no," Adam said. "I swear, I would cut off my leg and cook it first. I've never tried a turkey burger or a veggie burger, either. I want my fish cooked and, by God, potatoes are a vegetable in my world."

Melody couldn't help but laugh. In her 15 years in Los Angeles she had tried all the fads. She had been a vegetarian and even a vegan. She had always come back to a better-rounded diet.

"They have a cookout once a week," Leslie said. "Adam wants his steak cooked until there is no pink in the middle. He wants a form of potato with every meal. We went to a restaurant in Las Vegas last week. They served him this little tiny portion of chicken Marsala. I thought he was going to wrestle our dinners away from us."