Of Being and Becoming
The story of a young man's journey into the world of high-class escorts.
Mark had escaped the intolerable conditions at home and found himself on the streets with no money, no shelter and no hope at eighteen years old. That's when Lucy found him sitting on the curb with his head in his hands, silently sobbing with tears rolling down his cheeks.
"Cute boy like you shouldn't be crying. What's wrong, Honey?" she asked.
Mark looked up through tear-stained eyes to find a gorgeous woman of about thirty-five addressing him. "I was in such a big hurry to escape the house that I hadn't really planned much further," he replied as he sobbed into his palms. "Now, I'm out of money with no place to live. I really don't know what to do."
"Escape the house?" she repeated. She only now got a good look at the thin young man. "When was the last time you ate, Dearie?" she enquired of the emaciated youth
Mark looked up into Lucy's soft, chocolate brown eyes with a bewildered look on his face. "Ate?" he asked simply.
"Well, it wasn't today, and I doubt it was yesterday," she observed. "You must be hungry. Would you let me buy you something to eat?"
The mention of food made Mark's stomach rumble with hunger that sounded to him like it could be heard for blocks. "I'll take that as a yes," she giggled as she extended her hand to him. Mark grasped her fingers and rose to his full six-foot-one height, towering over Lucy. "And one tall drink of water!" she observed as she looked up at him. "What's your name, Honey?" she asked in her easy, casual manor.
"I'm Mark Densmore. Pleased to meet you," he said formally, extending his hand.
"Lucy Worthington," she replied as she smiled up into his light amber eyes. "Pleased to meet you!" she smiled. Is that the same as John Densmore of The Doors?" she asked after a moment's thought.
Mark chuckled. "Yeah, I've been getting that a lot lately," he admitted. "No, no relation but the names are spelled the same, though."
"Look Mark, there's a diner on the corner that we can get you something at," Lucy suggested. "Then, you can tell me all about it, okay?" she finished with sincerity in her eyes.
"Okay," nodded naive, country bred Mark. Little did he know he was falling deeper and deeper under her spell.
They entered the establishment and were immediately confronted by two signs. One proclaimed a contest whereby if the recipient were able to eat three hamburgers, their meal was free while the other announced the fact that this eatery was the home of the bottomless plate of fries. They sat down at a booth as the waitress brought them menus and took their coffee order. Mark needed no menu. He would take the challenge with a side of fries.
"Okay, Mister Mark Densmore. Tell me what brought a nice, country boy like yourself to this predicament in the city?" asked Lucy as the waitress retreated and she settled in to listen to his tale.
Mark let out a slow sigh as he gathered his thoughts. "I couldn't take living at home anymore," he started.
She smiled at what she thought was the common lament of the teenager. She remembered thinking the same thing at his age. Her smile disappeared rather quickly as he related the rest of his tale of a lifetime of abuses suffered at the hands of his Radically Evangelical parents. This was much more than just surfacing teenaged angst.
"That's terrible!" she exclaimed with tears in her eyes. "What horrible, rotten people! How could they do those things to you or anyone?"
The waitress arrived with her coffee and his milkshake, then took their order. "Don't worry, Honey. When the food arrives, you just eat," she offered without knowing what she was getting into. "I just want to see you well fed."
"I was either going to escape or die there before I was twenty," he continued. "My father nearly killed me last year when we were re-roofing a shed. I dropped a hammer over the side, and he flipped out like I'd murdered the president. When his anger peaked, he picked up a seventy-pound bundle of shingles, threw it and hit me right in the chest. Took me right off the roof and broke three ribs. I decided then that anywhere was better than there. I waited ten long months for my opportunity. But I am now faced with new predicaments I had not fully planned for," he smiled wanly. "I came here with five hundred dollars, thinking that would last a while. I was quite chagrinned to discover that it didn't go as far as I thought."
"You are lucky to have survived. I've heard the lament of, 'I can't take it at home anymore' from a number of teens, and it's usually just teenaged angst. This is far from that. You are one of a handful of cases I've seen who actually needed to get out."
Are you some kind of youth outreach or something?" Mark asked as he mulled over her words.
"Something like that," she smiled.
Their burgers and first plate of fries arrived, and Mark began his quest for the challenge. He munched on French fries between bites of his current burger and conversing with the charming woman he had had the good fortune to cross paths with.
Some time later, the waitress and Lucy sat back a little aghast as they watched Mark bite into his fourth hamburger and third plate of fries. "Where does he put it all?" asked the waitress, her mouth agape in amazement. Lucy just shrugged, more than a little amazed herself.
