Copyright Don Abdul ©2008
Prelude:
Their popularity didn't stem from their parents bank balances but from their athletic prowess, as they were all members of their high school's football team. They were fondly referred to as the "Gang of Four".
After their last football match as the walked back to the locker-room, they made a pact "All for One and one fall all". Ricky, Jim, Paul and Miguel, they promised to look after each others interests and keep the Team Spirit alive.
*************
Although Leslie has been a single mother all her parenting life, she was finding things rather difficult since her only child Ricky left home. She wouldn't ever admit to it but the loneliness was getting to her, the transition from having a handy son around the house to spending endless lonely hours everyday hadn't been an easy one for her. To fill those hours though she had sought the comfort of younger men, whose youthful energy she often used to obliterate her wanton desire for sexual gratification. That was part of the reason her son moved out six months before he joined up and subsequently got posted to Iraq.
She often wondered if he didn't just join up in order to escape her and her "slutty reputation". She sometimes felt guilty that she embarrassed her son but what could she do? She is what she is, a slut pure and simple and what's more she happy being one.
She looked sadly at her crippled car by the side of the road thinking, 'regardless of what he might think of my sexual conduct, if Ricky was here at least I could call him up and he'd come right away and fix this car problem up'. She starred into the horizon with a tinge of regret in her eyes.
Just as she checked her cell phone battery again to see if by some far fetched miracle it had come back to life, a car drove past at top speed, then several yards down the road, the car stopped and reversed to where she stood. The doors opened and the four occupants of the car disembarked. They were all tall well built men in their early twenties.
"Hello Ma'am, what happened to your car", Miguel asked as he approached Leslie with a warm friendly smile on his face.
"Oh my God, Miguel I didn't recognize you!" She said excitedly, happy to see her son's old friend and then recognizing the others she called out their names as they exchanged greetings.
She explained quickly to Miguel how her car gave out and wouldn't restart, and he asked Paul to pop the hood open. After a brief check he figured the problem out and explained that it would take a little while to fix it. Paul volunteered to stay back and give him a hand while the rest of the guys carry with their journey.
Half an hour later Miguel and Paul had the engine turning over nicely, although they were all greasy and dirty from the grease and motor oil. Leslie thanked them and since it was almost lunch time, she offered to cook them lunch and show her gratitude by also throwing in a shower.
'Wow!' Paul thought, 'she's always so nice'.