Chapter 1

Ricardo (Rico) Cortes---I’m going to start by giving you a little background on myself. Maybe that will help you understand. I did not mean for what happened to happen. Things just began to snowball and I could not stop what I had started. Ok, I am getting ahead of myself.

I am third generation Cuban/American. I grew up in Tampa wanting to be a veterinarian. I made good grades in high school and got lucky by earning a scholarship to the University of Florida in Gainesville. They have one of the best Animal Science programs in the country. After graduating I was accepted into their vet school where I earned my D.V.M. I had become very interested in animal nutrition. What am I talking about? What to feed steers on a feed lot to make them gain the most pounds in the less time while at the same time keeping them healthy. That is what interested me. While in school I had written a number of papers and articles that were well received by my colleagues. I was offered a professorship at a University in the Corn Belt. I agreed to teach a couple of classes in their animal science department while at the same time I started a small consulting company helping feed lots across the state manage the diets for their steers. Life was good and I really enjoyed my work. Then I met Amy.

She was a sophomore seeking a liberal arts degree. I noticed her sitting in a restaurant working on a biology paper. She seemed frustrated so I offered to help. Now six months later I am preparing to ask her to marry me.

Amy is the perfect wet dream for every boy like me. I am 5’11” tall and weigh185 lbs. I have black hair and like every other person in my family I have an olive completion. Amy is 5’6” tall 110 lbs. with short blonde hair, blue eyes and that pale white skin that screams “Snow Bunny”. Get the picture?

Like I said my consulting business is doing well, I am teaching my classes a couple of days a week. Amy has moved in with me. Life is good.

It is June and I am on the road a lot. Visiting my clients and running tests on their feed and their animals. I tell Amy on a Tuesday that I will be gone until Friday afternoon. She is okay with my traveling as she is taking some classes in summer school and can use the alone time to study. I do make a couple of stops before I return home. I have a big surprise for her!

I bought the ring! I am going to propose in grand style.

When she gets home from her classes this afternoon I am going to be in our bedroom with a dozen red roses (her favorite) and the ring. I will get down on one knee and ask for her hand. It will all be recorded by the hidden camera I have installed in the smoke alarm over the bed. It will send the images of this special moment to the cloud and we can show it to our kids, even our grandkids. That is the plan. What could go wrong?

I am in the bedroom, the camera is running. I get on one knee with the roses in one hand and the ring in my other hand. I hear Amy un-lock the front door.

Crap! She is not alone. I hear two other voices, definitely men! This is not part of my plan! Fuck! What am I going to do? I get up and run into the closet. The door is louvered so I can see thru it into the room. Amy walks into the bedroom followed by two men! Two black men!

One is talking as I stare thru the door. This is feeling like one of those internet stories.

“Same deal as the other times. A thousand for showing him a good time. If he signs you get the $5,000 signing bonus.” He lays 10 one hundred dollar bills on the bedside table.

Amy answers, “No problem and don’t worry about it. After he fucks me he won’t go anywhere else. Just like those two last month. They both signed didn’t they? By the time Sara (I recognize the name of her best friend) and I got finished with them they would have signed up to go to the moon.”

I realize I know both these guys. One is the assistant football coach at the university. The other is some retired pro player who graduated a few years ago. After a pretty mediocre pro career he came home and owns the local Ford dealership here in town. I bought my truck from him! He is always on TV promoting his Ford trucks and the university’s football team. Now the coach is talking.