Oilman

There is no sex in this story, sorry.

My name is John Turlock. I am an oilman. Actually, I am THE OILMAN. I work oil refineries, pipelines, tankers, oil and gas wells, and my favorites, platforms. I am the best in the business. I am in demand and I am proud of my work. I have a master's degree in petroleum engineering from Texas A & M. Because of my knowledge and experience, I now have more money than I could ever spend in a lifetime. No brag, just fact. I can fix anything and I can do anything, or so I thought.

About sixteen years ago I was finishing up a batch of safety audits on some offshore oil platforms near Mobile Bay. One night, I was unwinding with a group of the guys at an oyster bar near Bayou La Batre, south of Mobile. It was a rowdy bunch in a rowdy bar. We were putting down long necks almost as fast as we were slurping the oysters. I found myself looking across the room at the women who was shucking the bivalves. She was popping them suckers open like a machine. Just watching her work was mesmerizing. When she reached down and picked up a 65-pound sack of oysters with one hand and dumped them on the shucking table, I was hooked.

She was definitely ethnic. Her long black hair was tied back with a red, checkered bandana. Her eyes were dark and deep-set under eyebrows that had never been plucked. Her nose was large and had a bump in the middle, that you seldom see on women. She had a large mouth and thin lips that fit the rest of her face perfectly. I have seen and been with a lot of ladies from all over the world but this was the first one that I ever wanted to possess as my own. Her hands were hard and calloused and reflected years of work. She was not a pretty, young girl. She was a hard woman and fit to be the wife of a hard man.

"Hey John, what the hell are you staring at man?"

"Nothing. I was just watching that girl shuck oysters. I can't take my eyes off her."

"Hey fellows, John is checking out Marie." That was followed by a bunch of hoots and catcalls. Marie looked across the room at the ruckus. I was caught off guard and was just a little embarrassed.

From the other side of the bar, another of my recent workmates yelled over. "You must have a death wish John."

I rapidly tried to save face by ordering another round of drinks for the crew. We spent another hour sucking beers and oysters, but I caught myself sneaking peeks at Marie every chance I got. Bill Connor was watching me look at her and finally leaned over to me.

"John, she is bad news. If you want to date her you have to get her brother's permission. It has never happened. Do you see that guy over by the bar with John Deere cap?"

"Yes, so what?"

"Last year he decided to get permission to date Marie. He drove over to Slidell to see the brothers. There are three of them: Clyde, Claude, and Clarence. They beat the shit out of him, drove him back here, and dumped him on the porch. He couldn't work for a week. Hasn't talked or even looked at Marie since."

"What the hell is so special about her?"

"You tell me, you are the one who has been checking her out all night."

"Bill, she is absolutely fascinating. If I don't get to spend some time with her I know I will regret it my whole life."

"It's your funeral."

A short while later I got up and ambled over to the John Deere cap. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"What? Are you gay or something?"

"No. No way. Just wanted to ask you about your experience with Marie's brothers."

"It was a bad experience. I wanted to take Marie out and she explained I had to ask permission. My work takes me over that way so I decided to stop and see her brothers. They lived on a bayou, south of Slidell. All three of them were skinny and wiry. There was not an ounce of fat on the bunch. They had a good time laughing at me and making remarks that I couldn't understand. The oldest, I think his name was Clarence, told me I had to whoop each of them in order to take Marie out. If I wanted to marry her, I had to beat them all at the same time. It was a game to them."

"Sounds a little crazy to me."

"It was. They weren't normal. I took the first one down pretty quickly. I was hurting but was able to hold off the second one. Clarence was left and he beat the shit out of me. He was a kickboxer and I was not expecting a boot to the mouth. By the time I recovered from that he was all over me. The son of a bitch broke my jaw with the kick and a couple of ribs for good measure."

"That hurts just thinking about it. Any suggestions?"

"Yeah, don't go."

" I love a challenge."

"Well if you insist. I'd say take out Clarence first and watch out for his feet. Whatever you do, don't fight fair."

"Thanks." I laid a twenty on the bar for his tab the rest of the night.

Marie stopped shucking and came around to the counter when I walked up. She had a half-smile, half-smirk on her face. I just stood and looked at her. She was more mysterious closeup and I was sure I was making the right decision. Her rubber apron was wet with oyster juice and bits of shell. As she dried her hands on a towel, she looked up at me without saying anything. The sweat was glistening on her face and arms.

"You need to be married. Where can I find your brothers?"

"Four miles south of Slidell on highway 11. Look for a sign on the right to Beaudreau's Landing. They are at the end of the road."

"Thank you. We will be getting married tomorrow at noon. Be ready. I will pick you up here."

"How will I know you were there?"

"You tell me."

"Bring back my brother Clarence's leather hat."

As I turned to go she added. "If you can't handle them, you can't handle me."

I threw a couple of twenties on the table and said good night to the guys. I got a couple of verbal jabs from them on the way to the door. I turned and looked at her one more time before leaving. She yelled across the room. "I will come to see you in the hospital."

Damn, I loved that woman.

It took me two hours to find the landing. The brothers came down off the porch to greet me. I recognized Clarence by the tattered leather hat. He looked like a Crocodile Dundee want to be. He asked me what I wanted as I walked up to them. I told him I wanted his hat. As he looked over at his brothers and laughed, my boot slammed into his nuts. I grabbed his hat, as he went down, and put it on my head. Clyde and Claude both came at me, and both went down with one blow.

Three hours later Marie and I were married. She wore a white cotton dress and I wore a leather hat. I had my own Cajun Queen. The sex was great and continued to be great throughout our marriage. We both seemed to be happy with each other. The more time I was with her, the more I loved her.

Marie and I build a home just outside of Reading. It was large and expensive. The kitchen was her pride and joy. It had tile floors and all stainless steel commercial appliances. In the center of the kitchen was a heavy wooden harvest table. Life was good, with a few exceptions: I was gone too often on jobs and we had no children yet. Finally, Timothy came, and later, Mark and Robert. We had three fine boys and Marie was happy.

Marie worked for a short time after we were married, not because we needed the money but because she wanted something to do while I was wandering around the world. I would be away for months at a time doing various jobs relating to my field. There was always more work than I could handle and it was always far away. She continued to work after Timothy was born but quit when Mark came. She was doing a good job raising them. Unfortunately, I wasn't doing as good a job as a father. Marie never complained.

The boys were six, eight, and ten. For some reason, I decided that we should all get complete physicals and make sure all of our medical histories were up to date. Marie did not seem excited about the plan but seemed forced to go along with it. I didn't understand, but just to make things easier, I suggested that she get her exam first and the boys and I would get ours the next day. Two days later the doctor called and ask me to come in to go over the examination results. Marie insisted that I go alone and stated that she would be happy with any decisions that I might have to make.

Ooo00ooo

"John, It looks like all good news." Donald Curry had been our family doctor since we moved to Reading. He also delivered all three of the boys.

"Good to hear."

"I won't get into Marie's results unless you feel it is necessary. Let me just say that she is in fine health and has no immediate problems or pending problems to worry about."

"That's fine Doc. I have no intention of getting into her personal stuff."

"Both her file and your file is pretty complete. The only thing I would like to get is more information about the medical history of the boys' biological fathers. It would us a better point of reference if anything came up in the future,"

I sat there quietly for a few moments. I was trying to digest what he just said to me and didn't know exactly how to respond.

"Could you repeat that, please?"

"I am sorry, John, for not being clear enough. I just feel that if we could get some background information on the fathers, it would give us a database in case anything happened in the future. I just need your permission to request the data."

"I am a bit confused here Doctor. Are you telling me that I am not the father of my sons?" I watched as he got a surprised look on his face and seemed to squirm a bit in his chair. He rifled through his files a bit before slowly looking up at me.

"You didn't know, did you, John?"

I didn't answer him. I just slumped down in my chair and stared across the room at one of those stupid medical charts that hung on the office walls. It was a passionate moment. I didn't know if I wanted to cry or get raging mad. The overwhelming emotion seemed to be disappointment if you can call that emotion.

"Doc! Let me get back to you on that. I have a few things to work out. "

As I stood up I could tell that he was worried. It appears that everyone knew that I was not the father of the boys except me. I was on unfamiliar ground. I didn't know what to do. That was a feeling that I did not get very often. As I was leaving, I turned one last time.

"Doc. You said, fathers. Is there more than one?"

"John, each of your sons has a different biological father."

I sighed, nodded, and left for home.

OooOOOooo

She was sitting at the kitchen table when I got home She knew! I figured Doc Curry gave here a wake-up call after I left. I don't blame him. It was probably a good idea. I grabbed a longneck and plopped down across from her.

"Go ahead. I'm listening."

"I was worried." she started, " It was three years and I was still not pregnant. I knew how bad you wanted children so I went in and had myself checked; several times. Each time they told me that I was fine. I couldn't ask you to have yourself checked so I got a sample, don't ask, and took it in myself. You are sterile, John. Not weak! Not a low sperm count! Sterile!"

It was a shocking revelation, but somehow it made sense. At least I now had a reason.

"There were alternatives, John. We could adopt or consider artificial insemination. Both choices would force me to tell you the bad news. I was afraid that it would crush you, ruin your spirit, or possibly cause you to leave me. I couldn't take the chance. I guess that is when I made the mistake."

I got up and got another beer. "Just what was 'the mistake'?

"Timothy's father was 'the mistake'. Let me get to that last. It's a bit complicated."

"Okay! Start with Robert."

"I need a beer." I waited a few moments until she got settled.

"You were in Samoa. I didn't even know they had oil in Samoa. Anyhow, the washing machine was acting up so I called for a plumber.

Bob Monsano had a private business in Boyertown. He looked and acted just like you. He even had a similar manner of speaking. He was tall strong and confident. After he fixed the washer, I asked him to have some coffee and I started to chat him up. Two hours later he had me bent over the washing machine. We never even got undressed. Three days later you were home and three weeks later I found out I was pregnant.

"I guess I will have to pay mister Monsano a visit."

"Don't bother. Robert died in a three-car accident on the Schuylkill Expressway four years ago."

"And you named the kid Robert after him. How appropriate."

"It wasn't a dig at you. It just seemed to make things easier in my head. This wasn't an easy thing for me to do. It is not in my nature to tease or seduce men. I wasn't very good at it, but I did get the job done. You were so happy with Timothy and said several times that he should have a brother. This was a chance and I took it."

"Do you want to tell me about Mark's father?" I got us a couple more Fosters.

"I met Mark Langford at the DMV. You were in Holland doing something with Union Oil. Mark and I started Chatting while we were waiting in line. He was renewing his driver's license before deploying to Iraq. We ended up having lunch at the Peanut Bar and I end up getting screwed in the men's room. You would have liked him. He was tall, very muscular, and funny. I told him what I wanted and he agreed to do it. There was no seduction involved by either of us. It was almost like a business deal. I did buy him lunch."

"So Mark is named after his father also." She didn't respond to the obvious dig.

"Mark did not return from Iraq. They had a service for him at Indian Town Gap. I almost went, but changed my mind at the last minute."

We both sat silent for what seemed like a few minutes but was probably only a few seconds.

"Okay, now tell me about Timothy's father and why he was a mistake."

"When I first decided that I was going to do this, I had no plan of attack. I actually went out looking for somebody who looked like you. I had no idea what I was doing or how I was going to handle it. Of course, all of this had to be planned around your work schedules. I found Timothy at the Leesport Farmers Market. He had a stand selling model trains and accessories. I wasn't interested in the trains but he looked and acted so much like you that I was mesmerized. As I said, I had no idea what I was doing. To make a long story short, I started to date him. I didn't wear my wedding rings. The more time I spent with him the more time I wanted to spend with him."

"Marie, I don't think I like where this going."

"I know. I didn't think you would. That is why I saved it until last."

"Go on. We have to get this done before the kids get home from school."

"John, you were strong, intelligent, successful, and bigger than life. You were, are still are, a man above most men. Timothy is just the opposite. He is sensitive and understanding. He is easy to talk to and always ready to listen."

"Are you saying that you prefer him to me?"

"No John. Never. The two of you are different. Both of you are perfect in your way. The big difference is that you are my husband. The man that I betrothed myself to. The fact that I had to break my vows to give you the children that you wanted is tearing me apart. I was hoping that it would make you happy and proud. I am sorry things fell apart."

"But you do feel for him?"

"Yes. I do."

"So what happened?"

"You were in Antarctica. It was a long trip but you were due to be home soon. I had been dating Timothy for several weeks. He was not a skilled seducer and I was not very good at it either. I finally was able to get him into bed at his apartment and have sex. It was awkward, to say the least. I think it was his first time, but I am not sure. I was hoping to get pregnant, so I decided that I would have to give it at least a couple of attempts. It was not a hard decision to make John, because I enjoyed being close to him. I know that that is not something that you want to hear, but I am trying to be honest with you."

"So what went wrong?"

"Timothy proposed to me. He bought a ring, that was entirely too expensive, and got down on his knee and did the formal movie type proposal. He was crushed when I said 'NO' and of course wanted to know why. When I told him I was already married, I thought he was going to cry. That was the last time I ever saw him. You came home a week later and I found out I was pregnant."

"Why did you say that this encounter was a mistake?"

"Because I got involved. I got too close to the baby daddy and let it get out of hand. I made sure that the next two were quick and dirty. Thankfully, both of them took the first attempt."

"Do you want me to talk to Timothy?"

"Heavens no! I crushed the poor man. He does not deserve any type of revenge on your part. If you feel the need, take it out on me. I am the one that cheated. I am the adulteress. I broke our vows. Do what you have to do to me, but do not take it out on Timothy."

I was sitting holding my empty bottle as Marie got up and went to the bedroom. I had two more longnecks and spent the night on my recliner.

I am the Oil Man! I can fix anything!

OooOOOooo

It was not hard to find out where Timothy McClure relocated to. I didn't say anything to Marie, but Saturday morning the boys and I took a short ride to Lancaster to the Steampunk Model Train Center. Timothy successfully moved his model train business and enhanced it with a steampunk flair. It wasn't a large endeavor but it was impressive. The boys were ecstatic. I spend the first ten minutes with the boys and then wandered up to the counter where Timothy, I assumed, sat.

"Hi! Nice place you have here. Are you the owner?"

"Timothy McClure. And you are?" He held out his hand.

"John. John Turlock." I wasn't sure if he would make a connection with Marie, so I just went with it.

"Are you just passing through?"

"No! We drove specifically to come here. You don't mind if we spend some time looking around do you?"

"Not at all. That is why I went to all the trouble to set this up. I would like to move to a bigger place, however."

We ended up with a couple of coffees and spent thirty minutes talking about insignificant things.

"Are you married, Timothy? Any kids yourself?"

"No, unfortunately. I got close once, but it didn't work out."

"No alternatives?"

"Never happen. I thought about it, but Marie was the only woman I would ever consider. Water under the bridge. I have to move on."

"I take that you like kids?"

"Absolutely! I would give anything for a brood as you have. You are a lucky man John."

I sat back in my chair and could not help smiling. I am the Oil Man. I can fix anything.

"Timothy. I am going to make you the deal of a lifetime."

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

It has been eighteen months since I left Reading. For the last three months, I have been freezing my ass off here at Prudhoe Bay. The best part of the day was the end of the shift in the rec hall. Who would have thought that cold beer would taste good in northern Alaska? I had my well head crew with me and we were celebrating the first crude from a new shaft. Three of the guys were from the old Bayou La Batre gang.

We were there about an hour when I noticed a very tall blonde amazon sitting down across the room. She was with an equally large blonde male companion. It is odd to see females working on the North Slope, especially females of her caliber. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Even from across the room I could tell that her eyes were crystal blue. I watched as she reached up and unpinned her hair. The golden tresses fell as she shook her head from side to side to untangle it. She noticed that I was looking at her and gave me a small, wicked smile. It was like a dare.

"Rusty! Who the hell is that women that just came in? I never have seen her before."

"Her name is Izolda Sorokin. That is her brother Ratimir aside from her. They come over from Chukotka to take care of the earth moving."