"A Quickie" - Leroy B. Vaughn

It was the summer of 1968, and Jake Pederson was on top of the world. He had been out of the Navy for one year and had a good paying job with the State of California.

Jake had left for work early that day. He wanted to run his New Mercury Marauder on the back roads of Riverside County, since he had just finished breaking the engine in last week.

He also planned to stop at the coffee shop in Corona, before he checked in for the swing shift at work. He had the Merc cranked up to 90 miles per hour as he flew past a woman walking down the road.

It was unusual for anyone to be walking on a farm road at that time of the day, especially a woman in a dress. Jake slowed the big car down, turned on the radio and turned around. Maybe this woman needed help.

He sang along with the Beach Boys, wishing they could all be California girls, as he came to a stop across from the woman. She was not as old as he expected her to be and was fairly good looking. He figured her to be in her late 20s, two or three years older than he was.

He asked if everything was alright. She said, "Yes, thank you. I'm just going over to Norco."

Norco was three or four miles away, and Jake wondered why a young, good-looking woman would be wearing a cotton work-type dress. He had her figured for a housekeeper, or some member of a religious cult.

"Can I give you a ride?" he said. She accepted and waited for him to turn the big car around. She said, "Thank you, sir," as she slid into the passenger seat.

"You don't have to sir me, I was enlisted," he said to her, before thinking how dumb that sounded.

No one her age dressed the way this woman did, and Jake had to find out why she was wearing a dress.

"So, are you a housekeeper?" he said.

"How did you guess?" she told him as she smiled sweetly at him.

They had not moved yet, and Jake asked where she wanted to go. "If you don't mind, you can drop me at the big truck stop in Norco," she instructed him.

"No problem at all," he told her as he put the car in gear.

They had just pulled onto the road when she grinned at him and said, "Why don't you pull into the orange trees for a few minutes, before we head for Norco."

Jake was confused at first. Why would anybody want to go into an orange grove? The woman did not say anything. She just continued to smile a sweet little smile at Jake as she slipped her panties off and placed them on the dashboard in front of him.

Then it hit Jake, as he looked at the old lady looking white panties that lay in front of him. She must be one of those lonely farmers' daughters he had heard so many stories about when he was in the Navy.

He barely had time to put the gear shift in park. The farmer's daughter was riding him like a Missouri mule. It didn't last long, but it was some of the best, if not the best sex Jake had ever had. Even better than Da Nang or Okinawa.

They didn't talk much on the short ride to the truck stop. Jake didn't ask why she wanted to go to the truck stop, but assumed that she might be a janitor there.

Before she got out of the car, Jake asked if he could see her again. She was nice, but told him she would be going out of state soon.

Jake drove away as the strange woman walked into the truck stop. He would have no way of knowing that she had spotted a woman about the same size as her, getting ready to go into the women's shower room.

The woman in the house dress took the other woman's clothes as they hung on a rack, and walked out of the truck stop in a pair of blue jeans and a Western-style blouse.

The first trucker that she asked for a ride told her that he was going to El Paso, if she wanted to ride along.

Jake was now running a little late. He and his buddies at work always came to work at least 20 minutes early, in order to change clothes and get ready for guard mount.

The guard at the gate looked at his identification card and opened the gate for Jake to enter the grounds of the Chino State Prison. His buddy, Frank, was already in uniform as Jake walked into the locker room.

"Hey buddy, I was wondering if you were gonna make it today," his pal told him as Jake opened his locker. "I just met a really wild woman on the way to work," Jake explained.

"Tell me about it after briefing. I need to see the Lieutenant before we get started. I've got some vacation time and I want to use it if I can," Frank told him as he left the locker room.

"Nice to see you could make it today, Pederson, " the Lieutenant growled. The other officers laughed while Jake struggled with his uniform. He was still getting dressed while he walked into the squad room. Frank noticed that Jake was sweating a little more than usual.

"All right men, settle down. Let's get started," the Lieutenant told his squad. "They had an escape from the women's prison at Frontera this morning. No one is sure about the time of the escape, but there's a good chance that this woman may be hiding in the fields near Frontera, waiting for dark to make her run for it.

"I'm going to pass this picture around. Someone may spot her on the way home tonight. If you do, use caution. Don't try to take her yourself, call the Sheriff's office or the Highway Patrol. This innocent-looking little chickie murdered two bad dudes in a drug deal three years ago, earning her a long stay at Frontera."

The Lieutenant passed the picture around. Frank saw a strange look on Jake's face as he stared at the photo. Jake handed the photo to the man next to him. The Lieutenant concluded the briefing after he gave the officers their assignments for the shift.

Frank and the other officers headed for work, but Jake hung back. He need to speak to the Lieutenant.

-30-

Leroy B. Vaughn is a retired law enforcement officer from Southern California. He has written several short stories, true and fiction. He has had stories published in 10 magazines in the U.S. and Mexico.


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