textfiles/sex/EROTICA/T/t_naive.txt

		      TRUCKIN' NAIVE
	   (A Slice of the Author's Life Story)
		       by Ron Dalanor

     It seems strange to say, but I hadn't been gay long.
I had grown up in a small southern town where I just never 
came into contact with the situation of sexuality other than 
that of a heterosexual nature.  Hell, for all I knew, that 
was all there was.  Finally, when I went off to college, I 
met people who were gay, but, even then, it just didn't 
register.  Although I was very intelligent, I was naive to 
the full range of sexuality.  It did not even dawn on me in 
college to ask what two guys did with each other.
When a good friend told me that he was gay, I just responded 
that it would have no effect on our friendship as far as I 
was concerned.  Hey, I was good-hearted, but I was not 
sexually aware or literate.
     Eventually in graduate school, I discovered sex with 
men.  It was touch and go for a while.  I did go just a bit, 
as we say in the south, "hog wild".  Still, I didn't think 
of myself as gay.  I just liked having a guy suck my dick 
before I fucked him.  In my mind it was nameless; it just 
was.  After a while, I got acquainted with the term 
bisexual.  Since I liked screwing both men and women, that 
worked when I had to come up with a name for what I was.
     Despite everything, sexual literacy still wasn't within 
my grasp.  What I could do with men was limited to getting 
blown and fucking the guy.  What I knew about gay men was 
even more limited.  Though I found myself strongly attracted 
to very masculine looking men, I felt that I had to stay 
with those who were less masculine and physically smaller 
than I.  I was shocked the first time a married guy 
propositioned me.  If he hadn't been blunt, I would have 
turned him down believing, of course, that we wouldn't be 
sexually compatible.  But, when a guy says that he wants you 
to fuck him silly, there is little room for 
misinterpretation.
     Anyway, it was during my last summer of graduate school 
that I took major steps toward sexual literacy.  I was going 
to visit my family and friends back in Tennessee.  I needed 
and deserved a break before exams, and I desperately missed 
the mountains of east Tennessee.  The flatlands of Auburn, 
Alabama didn't do a thing for me.  I had left in the late 
afternoon, and it was now late and very dark.  I was very 
tired, but I had managed to traverse Alabama and Georgia.
I wasn't too far away from home...maybe a couple of hours.
But, it was two hours too many.  I pulled into one of the 
rest areas along the interstate....the kind without 
facilities or even lighting.
     There were a few cars and trucks around, but everyone 
was sound asleep.  I tried closing my eyes and napping.  I 
couldn't do it.  I thought maybe if I just rested a bit I'd 
be able to make it the rest of the way.  Not being able to 
sleep, I decided to settle for a cigarette and some coffee 
from my thermos. 
     The night air was warm and laden with the heavy, sweet 
smell of honeysuckles.  It was nice being back in Tennessee. 
Trees were all around; they shielded the area from the car 
lights on the interstate and created a dark wooded backdrop 
on the other side.  Except for the three or four vehicles 
ahead of me in the rest area, it was like being along at the 
dawn of time.  
     I must have dozed off after the coffee and cigarette.  
When I awoke, I was alone in the rest area.  I got out and 
walked around to stretch my legs and everything else that 
was stretchable.  I climbed back in for more coffee and 
another cigarette.  An eighteen wheeler pulled in behind my
car.  It was kind of strange because despite the fact that 
no other vehicles occupied the rest area the driver pulled 
up very close behind my car.  However, the driver stopped,   
he turned off his vehicle, and, again, all was quiet.  I 
went back to trying to convince myself to get back on the 
road.
     As I sat there wishing that I could be beamed the rest 
of the way to my home town, the light inside the cab flashed 
on momentarily and then flashed off.  A small thought 
crossed my mind that maybe this guy was interested in 
something other than rest.  I had read in a magazine about 
sex in truck stops and how those involved signaled each 
other.  I guess a part of me hoped; I could really get off 
on the stereotype of a rugged manly trucker.  I kind of half 
watched to see if anything else would happen.  I convinced 
myself that I had probably imagined the whole thing.
     I lit a cigarette, and so did the trucker.  Coinci-  
dence, I told myself, but the adrenaline was starting to 
pump over the possibility.  The dome light came on again.  
This time it was on long enough for me to see, through the 
side mirror of my car, inside the cab.  The light flicked 
off again.  I tried to recreate the picture in my mind, but 
it had been too fast to note any real details.
     According to the magazine article, if I was interested, 
I was supposed to flash my brake lights at the trucker.  I 
thought about it for a bit, and then reasoned myself out of 
any action.  After all, the trucker probably wouldn't be 
interested in anything that I wanted to do, and I certainly 
would not entertain the idea of blowing him.
     The cab's dome light came on again, but this time the 
door opened.  The driver, I was pretty sure, had gotten out 
of the vehicle.  My whole body froze.  The feeling I had was 
like lying on a railroad track with trains labeled "doom" 
and "anticipation" rushing toward me from opposite 
directions.  I saw the light from his cigarette as he stood 
near his truck, and I could hear him take a piss.  The door 
opened again, and he climbed back into the cab.  Seemingly, 
the crisis had passed.
      The dome light came on again and remained for a bit.  
The driver seemed to be motioning to me.  I got a good look 
at the inside of the cab this time.  There was a leopard 
skin spread covering the sleeper area.  The driver seemed 
less than a decade older than my twenty-three years.  The 
light flicked off, and I sat trying to figure out what to 
do.  The light came back on, and the trucker started 
stripping in a rather deliberate fashion.  First, he removed 
his shirt, then strained upward to pull down his jeans.  It 
was too much; I had to test these waters.  So I got out of 
my car and walked back to the driver's side of the truck.
     "How's it going?"  I said in my deepest voice.
     "Not bad.  It's a nice night." he responded.
     There was then that awkward silence.  He lit another 
cigarette, and I could see him better.  He had a nice 
looking face, a head of curly brown hair, and a not so heavy 
mustache.  His bare chest and arms were quite hairy.
     "Why don't ya hop in and keep me company for a while?" 
he said tentatively.
     To this day I have no earthly idea why I did, but I 
walked around and climbed up into the cab of the truck.
When the door open, the light came on, and I could see the 
guy was totally naked and half hard.  No sooner than I had 
closed the door that he buried his face in my jeans, licking 
and biting.  I helped him out by unbuttoning my jeans.  No 
sooner than my cock was freed, he deep-throated every inch.
For me, that was a first; my whole body shuddered.  It was a 
great feeling, and he held it till he began to gag.  He 
began to give me a fantastic blow job, going up and down at 
the perfect rhythm.  He grabbed my hand and placed it on the 
back of his head.  He then pushed my hand down, forcing his 
head down further on my shaft.  I got the idea; this guy 
wanted to be forced to do things.  I forced him to 
deep-throat me again.  Now, he was fully hard, and I was in 
total disbelief.  I was getting a great blow job from this 
burly, masculine trucker, and I could force him to lick my 
balls and gag on my dick.  This was incredible, but it was 
going to get much better than I could have ever imagined.
     "Let's climb back into the sleeper." he uttered kind of 
gasping for breath.
     The trucker slid into the sleeper, and I hurriedly got 
out of my clothes.  The trucker had an incredible looking 
butt, and what lust it produced from me.  It was one of 
those perfectly shaped, hairy and masculine butts.  When I 
started to move into the sleeper, I realized how little room 
was available.  I literally crawled on top of him; something 
that he didn't seem to mind a bit.
     His body projected magnetic heat which drew me to glide 
my hairy body across his in search of his mouth.  I started 
to kiss him, but he turned away.
     "I don't do that!" he stated loudly while trying almost 
to throw my body off of his.
     "You will with me and anything else I want!" I yelled 
at him pinning his arms down and forcing myself on him.
     The struggle didn't last long; that physical conflict 
was replaced with moaning and grinding.  It was as if we 
were trying to climb into each  other.  I scooted up so that 
my cock was in his face.  He began to suck and lick both at 
my cock and my balls.  Then he too slid, putting his face 
directly beneath me.  Without any warning, his tongue began 
to probe my crack.  I had never felt anything like that 
before.  The more he flicked his tongue, the more I thought 
I was going to cum.  And, I don't cum easily.  Once again he 
grabbed my hand and placed on the back of his head; he 
really liked the idea of being forced to do things.  I took 
the pleasure of his tongue probing my asshole as long as I 
could.  I then moved down and began nibbling at his tits.
     "Yeah, man, do it!  Don't be gentle; bite those fuckin' 
tits hard, man.  Rip them off!"  he screamed.
     I hesitated at getting rougher with his tits at first, 
but, after he made it clear what he needed, I really gnawed 
at them without restraint.  The more I went after his tits, 
the more he moaned and screamed.
     "Oh, Jesus, man.  Do it!  Make me scream like the 
cocksucker I am.  Oh, shit!" he cried out startling even me. 
     He reached over his head and waved a condom in my face.  
I took it, ripped it open, and hurriedly put it on.  I spit 
on my fingers and rammed them into his hot waiting hole.  I 
shoved his legs upward till I got the angle I needed and 
slowly started to slide my cock in.  Getting the big head in 
always took a little finesse, except with this guy; he 
wanted it all at once.
     "Don't be gentle.  Shove it to me, fucker; hurt me with 
that big dick!" he shouted while grabbing my shoulders.
     I gave him what he wanted; I rammed it into him as hard 
as I could, sinking all of my cock deep inside of him.
     "Oh, God!  Man, I needed that.  Oh shit, don't move.  
Let me enjoy that cock filling up my hole." he responded.
     His ass began to squeeze tightly and loosen in rhythm. 
He was milking the hell out of my meat.  The more he did it, 
the harder my cock seemed to get.  His moaning got even 
louder; this guy was getting off on just the feel of my dick 
inside him.  I began to thrust into him slow, hard and deep. 
He began to buck and shift, and I had to hold him in place 
to keep the rhythm of my fucking consistent.  He reached 
over his head again, pulled out a bottle, held it to his 
nose and took a couple of deep snorts.
     "Fuck me, man.  Fuck me hard.  God, it's been so long; 
don't stop.  Keep fuckin' me!"  he mumbled as if he were 
slipping off into another dimension.
     "Yeah, guy, you're going to get a good, long fucking!" 
I heard myself say.     
     It seemed like an eternity, but I just kept fucking him 
to make him groan louder and louder.  Sweat was rolling off 
my body and dripping onto his, mingling with his own.  The 
smell in the sleeper was of fully masculine hot and raunchy 
mansex.  The more I breathed in, the less in touch with 
reality I felt.
     "I'm gonna fuckin' cum.  Oh shit, I'm cummin'" he 
shouted.
     Cum began to ooze out of his hard cock in thick globs.  
I reached down and began to play in it, feeling the hotness 
of his load and smearing it on his body.  The feel of it got 
me even hornier than I was.  I began to fuck him harder and 
harder, but I could not seem to get close to an orgasm.  He 
seemed to sense my problem, and he took the bottle and held 
it under my nose.
     "Take a snort and shoot that fuckin' hot load in me." 
he spurted out while being pumped hard and recklessly.
     Things spun a bit and then I started cumming hard.  My 
body shook and uncontrollably began to spasm.
     "Oh fuck, oh shit!" I heard myself scream.
     I dropped onto him and shoved my tongue into his mouth. 
There was no resistance this time; his mouth was warm and 
inviting.  Our tongues struggled to enter one another's 
mouth.  His arms and legs were wrapped around me as if he 
never wanted to let go.
     Finally, we disengaged.  With the passion gone, it felt 
a bit awkward to me.
     "Let's have a smoke and talk for a while." he said.
     He pulled out an ashtray, lit two cigarettes, and 
handed me one of them.  He peeped through the leopard skin 
spread to check outside.  He then turned on a small light 
which didn't produce a lot of illumination.  In the light he 
looked about as much like the stereotypical rugged, handsome 
trucker as one could imagine.  I was still amazed by what he 
wanted from me.
     "Better late than never," he said.  "My name is Ray."
     "Mine's Ron."
     "Well, Ron, you sure as hell throw a mean fuck, and, 
man, I needed it bad."
     "I just didn't take you for the kind who'd enjoy it."
     "What'd ya mean, guy?"
     "Well, you're just so..... butch looking."
     "Hell, dude, I am full-blooded, beer guzzlin', sports 
watchin' man who just happens to like suckin' dick and 
gettin' a hard cock rammed up his ass."
     I felt very embarrassed and couldn't look at him.
     "You're new, aren't you?"
     I couldn't think of anything to say so I just kind of 
nodded.
     "Damn, did I strike gold.  Was I the first guy to rim 
you?"
     "Okay, so I haven't done much!" my voice rattled out in 
anger.
     "Hold on, dude.  I didn't mean to piss you off.  Man, 
you were great at fuckin' me.  You made me cum, and I didn't 
have to jerk off.  I just want to teach a new guy a few 
things."
     The joy of the experience was rapidly draining due to 
my ego's minor injury.  I was ready to get out of there.
I snubbed out my cigarette and started to speak.  But, 
before I could say anything, Ray put everything in order.
     "I want more of that dick of yours.  I'm gonna suck it 
hard, and you're gonna fuck me some more.  Then when we're 
done you're gonna follow me home, and I'm gonna teach you a 
few things while you pile-drive me with that meat of yours." 
     I started to decline, but I just really didn't want to. 
And, true to form, it took him little time to rekindle my 
lust and passion.  The slurping sounds he made seemed to 
excite me even more than before.  He stopped for a bit took 
a snort from the bottle, and then handed it to me.  I took a 
deeper drag from it and got that spinning sensation again.  
Meanwhile, he engulfed my dick and swallowed it.  I felt the 
back of his throat and then he started swallowing so that I 
could feel those muscles in his throat grasp and caress me.  
I wanted to fire off then, but he quickly tossed me a condom 
and turned around on his knees.
     "Ram it to me.  Make it hurt and make me fuckin' 
scream."
     I unrolled the condom, put it on and shoved my cock 
into him.  He grabbed my left hand from his shoulder and put 
it on his tit.  I wasn't gentle; I grabbed a handful of his 
pec and dug in hard and pulled.  I them grabbed his huge 
nipple and twisted unmercifully all the while fucking him 
harder and faster with each stroke.
     "Oh shit, fuck me, stud, fuck me!"
     The rhythm was fast and furious, but it seemed so 
effortless now.  It seemed so right, and it felt so good.  
     "Man, you've got me so close again; I can't hold back 
much longer."
     He handed me the bottle again.  I slowed only enough to 
take a small smell.  It was enough; I was rushing toward an 
orgasm as strong as the one before.  I snatched at his tit, 
and he screamed as he started cumming.  I grabbed his 
spasming dick so that I could feel his cum again, and I 
started cumming as well.  I heard myself screaming, and my 
spasms knocked him into the side of the sleeper and finally 
onto his stomach.  I just kept grinding it into him until I 
felt the flow ebb.  After a while, we separated and disposed 
of the mess.  Ray took the condom off my dick and licked 
away the remaining drops of cum.
     "God, fucker, you stay horny, don't you?"
     I just smiled because I didn't know what to say.  We 
got dressed.  I felt like a man who had just conquered a 
man, and my ego was flying high.
     "So are you gonna go home with me and spend the day?"
     I thought for a few minutes.  No one knew I was coming 
home; so why shouldn't I.
     "I guess so." I muttered without any confidence.
     "I can show you a real good time in less cramped 
quarters, but I do have to haul a load tomorrow night.
I live in Knoxville, and you seem to be headed in that 
direction anyway."
     "I was going to visit my family; they live east of 
Knoxville."
     "How about you just follow me.  I'll drop off the 
truck, pick up my car, and we'll go to my place.  On the 
way, think about what you've always wanted to do with a guy, 
and we'll see what we can do about it."
     I was kind of relieved to be back in my own car, and I 
thought about just driving off.  But, I followed him.  It 
took a little over an hour to get to where he dropped off 
the truck.  I waited outside the gate.  In about fifteen 
minutes, he drove out, rolled down his window so that I 
would know it was him, and motioned for me to follow him.
He didn't live too far from where he deposited the truck.
We pulled into his driveway.  Like most of rural east 
Tennessee, his house wasn't too close to any of his 
neighbors.  I was glad for that; I guess I still had a fear 
of discovery.  I was never ashamed of being gay, but I just 
didn't think that my sexual activities were anyone's 
business, save my own and my partner's.
     He told me to make myself at home while he got us 
something to drink.  He came back with a screwdriver for me 
and straight vodka for himself.
     "Excuse me for a bit.  I've got to do some john time 
after all that air you pumped into my ass."
     I was kind of amazed at how glib he was about 
everything we'd done.  Most of my other male sexual partners 
seemed to slink off in a guilt ridden haze.  Conversations 
that were had were about anything but what we'd done.  But 
this guy seemed totally comfortable with his sexuality, and 
that I envied.  Fully comfortable and totally confident were 
goals for me that had yet to be achieved.  When he came 
back, he was wearing just a pair of running shorts with no 
underwear.   He said he wanted to get comfortable and wanted 
to make sure that if I wanted him again that I would have 
little trouble getting access to anything I wanted.  He 
offered me the opportunity to get comfortable as well.  I 
took off my shoes; it was the best I could do at the moment. 
     "So what do ya wanna ask me?" he said.
     "Huh?" I responded without any of my intellect showing. 
     "Well, let's see.  You're new at this, and I'm not.  
And I just guess that there may be a few things you want to 
know."
     He was being earnest, and I almost choked at the 
opportunity.  I thought carefully about how to ask things, 
but that just didn't seem to help.      
     "When did you you first....."
     "Do it with a guy?" he finished my question. "Well, my 
first time with a guy was with a friend of mine who was on 
my high school football team with me.  We got drunk, and we 
jerked off in front of each other.  After a while we got 
drunk and blew each other.  And, finally we got drunk and 
fucked each other.  I fucked, got fucked, blew, and got 
blown by a couple of guys in the army.  I got out and got 
married cause that was what I was supposed to do.  It lasted 
less than a year.  I knew then that I liked the feel of my 
dick in a tight ass better than in a wet pussy.  And better 
than any of that, I liked having a hot cock ramming my 
ass."
     The look on my face said stunned.  He looked at me for 
a bit and chuckled.
     "You seem so surprised, kid."
     " I just never...." I couldn't find the words.
     "Look, different people like different things, and 
there is nothing wrong with that.  Some guys like me like to 
get fucked and suck dick.  Guys like you are happy fuckin' 
guys like me and gettin' sucked by guys like me.  Guys who 
like gettin' fucked don't have to be sissy anymore than they 
have to be tall or short, black or white."
     I nodded, but deep inside it was a bit much for me to 
fully grasp.  He changed the subject a bit.
     "Don't mean to pry, but you're not totally black are 
you?"
     He couldn't realize it, but he hadn't changed the 
subject for the better.
     "Most of my ancestors were black, some were white, some 
were American Indian, and some were even Oriental." I 
responded with a bit of curtness.
     "Well, my point is simple.  None of that matters.  You 
are a damn good lookin' man, and a fuckin' hot stud.  Any of 
that connect?"
     I felt really stupid then.  In a very subtle way, he 
had explained that I had been so busy stereotyping that I 
had looked past the person.  In those few minutes I grew up 
a great deal.  He leaned over and kissed me, deep and full, 
but he paused a bit to look deep into my eyes.  I felt 
myself smiling.
     "You name it, man, and I'll do it for you as long as 
you fuck me again before you go."
     I stood up and unbuttoned my jeans.  I pulled my dick 
out and pulled him from the sofa to his knees.
     "Oh yeah, man, make me suck that beautiful cock."
     I now had a great deal more confidence, and without 
prompting, I grabbed the back of his head and pushed him all 
the way to the base of my dick.  I began to thrust it deep 
into his mouth and down his throat.  He gurgled and moaned. 
After a few minutes of this kind of joy, I sat and pulled 
him back to sucking me.  He paused to take a sniff from his 
bottle.
     "What is that stuff?"  I asked in great curiosity.
     "It's called popper.  Don't worry it's not addictive. 
It just kind of frees you up and makes you feel good.  It 
also makes takin' the rammin' that rod of yours can give 
much easier."
     I took the bottle from him and sniffed.
     "Inhale deeply and hold your breath for a few minutes, 
then exhale." he instructed.
     My world was really spinning now.  He sniffed deeply 
and was all over my dick like a starving animal.  It felt so 
good; I didn't want it to stop.  Somewhere in all of this my 
mind went back to the sheer pleasure his tongue had produced 
in my ass.  I stood again and faced away from him while 
pulling his head tight against my ass.  His tongue went to 
work, and I was moaning loudly.  I just about collapsed, but 
he caught my arm, stood, and pulled me into his bedroom.  He 
laid me on the bed and began licking every part of my body. 
When he started sucking my big toe, I thought I was going to 
cum.  He went from that to my balls, to my cock, to my tits, 
and then to my underarms.  He then looked me directly in the 
face.
     "I wanna sit on that dick; I gotta have that dick in me 
again."
     After putting a rubber on me, he straddled me and eased 
himself down on my hard dick which was pointing straight up 
like a maypole.  I watched his faced as he got all the way 
down.  It read like a horror movie spliced into a love 
story.  He kept riding up and down getting faster and faster 
with his face contorting more and more.  I reached up and 
twisted both of his tits and cum suddenly shot all over me.
     "Oh God, don't stop fuckin' me.  Make me cum again!"
     That was all I needed to hear.  I pushed my legs under 
me enough to lift him.  I grabbed his arms and lowered him 
backward onto the bed while moving forward as not to leave 
his tight hole.  I started to fuck him slowly at first, 
gradually getting a tiny bit faster with each thrust.  This 
guy was incredible.  Most guys couldn't survive one long, 
good, hard fucking, but this guy seemingly couldn't get 
enough.  I knew this one would take a while.  He took an 
incredibly deep snort from the popper bottle, and he then 
seemed to just fade out into total enjoyment only 
periodically moaning "Do it" and "Fuck Me".  I knew that I 
wanted this guy to cum again because I was fucking him.  So, 
I changed tactics.  I would pull nearly all the way out and 
then slam hard into him and follow that with just hard fast 
fucking.  Sure enough this produced the reaction I wanted. I 
could feel his body tense beneath me, and I felt his ass 
muscles clinch my cock.  I took a deep drag from the bottle 
knowing that I wasn't as close as he was.  I suddenly lost 
all my control and started to cum and grind into him hard.
He started cumming as well, but this time no cum shot forth. 
It just sort of bubbled up at the tip of his partially hard 
cock and rolled leisurely out.  We laid there for quite 
sometime before deciding to clean up.
     "Man, you don't know how much I'd like to have you on 
the road with me so I could get some of that dick 
everyday."
     That made me feel really good and really masculine.  We 
had fucked the night away.  It was ten o'clock in the 
morning, and we decided to sleep for a while.  I had never 
slept with a man before, and it seemed awkward. 
     "Turn on your side and park that cock as close to my 
butt as you can.  I want to feel it next to me while we 
sleep, and if you wake up horny, you have a place to put 
it." Ray said as he kissed me and pulled my arm around him. 
     That short while turned out to be nearly seven hours.  
I woke up when Ray shook me, and, for a few seconds, I had 
no idea where I was.
     "Man, I've gotta pick up the truck in a little while.  
Let's grab a shower together."
     He pulled me from the bed and off to the shower.  He 
washed my entire body from head to toe, kissing and licking 
on the way.  When we got out, he took a towel and dried 
every inch of me.  He paused a bit, kneeled before me, and 
began sucking my dick.
     "Don't move an inch.  I want to taste that load of 
yours." he said as he left the bathroom.
     He returned with the magic bottle in hand and resumed 
his sucking with an even greater ferocity.  Between his 
hands roaming my body, his licking and sucking my balls as 
well as the attention he was paying my dick, I started to 
get really close.  As soon as my body tensed, Ray handed me 
the popper, and I inhaled.  The juice started flowing 
freely, and Ray was gobbling down every drop.  At the same 
time, I felt him spew a load all over my feet.  Even after I 
stopped cumming, he wouldn't stop sucking my cock.  I gently 
tried to get him to stop because I realized that I had to 
pee.  
     "Ray, I got to take a leak." I told him urgently.
     Despite my words, Ray shook his head and held tightly 
onto to my buttocks.  The piss started to dribble out, and 
he swallowed it.  I couldn't hold it back, and it started to 
really flow.  Ray drank as much as he could, and the rest 
flowed down his chin onto the rug.  I couldn't believe what 
was happening.  I was repulsed, but I was more thrilled and 
intrigued.  When it was over, I stood there stunned.  Ray 
spit out some, wiped his face, brushed his teeth, and used 
some mouthwash.  I just stood there.
     "You're the only one I have ever done that for.  You 
just marked your territory.  It's yours whenever you want 
it."
     Ray kissed me.  I was still kind of stunned.  We got 
dressed.  We exchanged addresses and phone numbers.  Ray 
drove off to pick up his truck, and I drove off to see my 
family.  Ray was a man of his word as well as incredible 
endurance; we kept in touch.  He came to spend one weekend 
with me while I was still in grad school.
     Two months later, I took my first full-time college 
teaching job which ironically wasn't too far from where I 
first met Ray.  Ray's route took him down I-40 and very 
close to me.  Once or twice a week, he'd stop in.  I had no 
complaints, but my neighbors in the apartment complex did 
start complaining about the noise from the frequent parties 
they thought I was having.  
     I learned a lot from that trucker, and, after a few 
years, I even taught him a few things.  Even though I moved 
a few states away for work, I look him up whenever I got 
back to Tennessee.  And I can't help but wonder what kind of 
guy is driving every eighteen wheeler I see on the highway.  

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