L A Easton

A Real Man

A Real Man I was coming home from my punishing housekeeping day job on the bus. I was working at a resort on South Padre Island during the summer season. The next couple days were infrequent days off, so I was looking forward to a beer and falling into a deep sleep. It was going to also be a girl’s night; one of my buddies at work needed a drink as much as me. It was the last stop on South Padre. A couple guys got on the bus. I recognized one of them. He was Rick; I had met him previously at a party on the island at Boomerang Billy’s. The guy that was with him, I’d never met. I’m pretty much an anti-social bitch most of the time, but this guy was so positive and happy. It just oozed out of him along with a lot of self-confidence. That’s the only ice-breaker for me. Self-confidence in a man is sexy. So I decided okay, just this once I won’t be a bitch and this one can talk to me. I could tell he was much younger than I was. He was very tall, yet clearly had some Mexican. But hey, that’s 90 percent of the valley. So I had told myself when I moved there I’d probably have to adjust my attractions to something a little more realistic if the occasion ever presented itself. Because the majority is a culture I’m not familiar with but was curious about from working with them. The ladies I worked with weren’t always nice to me on the job. But when it came to breaks and after work, I never went hungry or had to walk home. They worked so damn hard yet they were always happy and in a great mood. I was envious of them in that respect. I wondered how they could be so damn happy all the time.