The Amoral Hustler--and-- Juan Fulano
by
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Arli decided to stay and try to psych out Evie; then put into operation the first step of his scam--seducing her. His exploitation will not be based on formal training in psychology but merely on his having read up on the subject and talks with a middle-aged man named Adam, whom he used to visit. He recalls Adam telling him that the key to unlock the door to a person's subconscious where harrowing experiences are stored is "psychological intimacy." Opening the door to Evie's "storeroom of her of painful memories" is to be a challenge for Arli's amateurish psychological analysis. Putting his arm around Evie's shoulders, he draws her close to him and whispers, "Evie, you must not keep painful memories locked in your subconscious. They can fester and slowly eat away at your brain, causing you to think that you are mentally ill. You should talk to someone, using that person as a sounding board. Cast out from your subconscious that which has traumatized you, let it bounce back at you in a different light. Examine carefully what bounces back and it might help to drive out the emotional hold that it has on your mind. Am I making any sense?" Arli, himself, has doubts that his rambling is coherent. "I think I understand," Evie murmurs in a trance-like state of mind. "There are times when I believe that some of the things that had happened to me are really parts of movies I had seen. At times, things that I see in movies, I believe are from my past. It is very confusing and scary. I get so mixed up that I think I'm not normal. That something is wrong with me." "No, Evie, no. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you. You are not alone. Everyone has had bad experiences happen to them that were very scary. What must be done is to accept what happened. Tell yourself that nothing you do can change it. Accept it as a fact of your past life and, by doing so, you will be able to let go of it emotionally. You will have stripped it of the destructive emotional hold it has on your mind. Don't let unpleasant happenings in your past prevent you from becoming the woman you are meant to be." Arli is caught up in his pseudo-psychoanalysis, unconcerned that if ineptly carried out, it could further damage Evie's psyche. He tells her, "I'm a good listener. Let me be your sounding board. Bounce your thoughts off me and lets see if we can rid your subconscious of the demons that are haunting you. Talk to me, Evie." As he speaks, he gently rubs Evie's shoulder. She lays her cheek on the back of his hand and sighs deeply. Arli is quite pleased and feels certain that he will achieve his goal; that he will psych out Evie and, then, seduce her. He whispers, "It might be more easy to talk if I turned off the lamp." Attuned to Arli's hypnotic voice, Evie murmurs without hesitation, "There's a night-light in the kitchenette." Arli eases his arm away from Evie's shoulders, gets up, turns off the lamp, and switches on the night-light. The diffused lighting creates a conducive atmosphere for his plan to dispel from Evie's mind her fear of sex. Back on the sofa, he turns her sideways. *********** SATIN: What a wonderful evening . . . the most exciting I've had since I came to Mexico. I never thought that jai alai could be so thrilling to watch. JUAN: (Slurring) What do you think of my winning one thousand pesos? SATIN: How much is that in American dollars? JUAN: About one hundred . . . It sounds better to say it in Spanish . . . one thousand pesos! Wow! SATIN: Come, sit down. I'll call the desk and have some tequila sent up. I think I have it right now . . . a taste of salt, then the tequila followed by a suckle of lemon. JUAN: (Giggling) You kept sucking the lemon first. (Totters to the sofa; leans against it) SATIN: You better sit down before you fall down. JUAN: I better get going. In this altitude, just one or two tequilas and it hits you . . . Pow! (Strikes open palm with fist and gets off balance. Grabs back of sofa) See what I mean. (Giggles) SATIN: (Going to Juan and taking him by the elbow) Come, sit down for a little while before leaving. You'll feel better. (Guides him to the front of the sofa. Juan sits down, kicks off his loafers, leans back, and closes his eyes.) SATIN: (Goes to the telephone) Hello. This is Señora Love in two-twenty. Please send up a bottle of tequila, a lemon and some salt. Thank you. (Goes to sofa, gazes at Juan for a few seconds; then, sits down next to him. She speaks softly.) Juan . . . Juan . . . Can you hear me? JUAN: (Mumbling) Uh-huh, I hear you. SATIN: Juan . . . you are in a small room . . . very small . . . Do you feel as if you are locked up in a cage? JUAN: (Child-like voice) Please don't send me to the closet. SATIN: (Loudly) Closet! JUAN: (Bolts so sitting position. Disoriented.) Oh . . . Oh! You're Satin! For a moment I thought you were someone else. SATIN: Who, Juan, who? JUAN: Just someone else . . . No one in particular. I don't want to talk about her. SATIN: Her? A girlfriend? JUAN: I don't want to talk about it. Maybe some other time. SATIN: Promise. JUAN: Yeah . . . promise . . . maybe. SATIN: Lie back, . . . relax. (Nudges him to lie back. Juan lies back, closes his eyes and starts to breathe deeply. Satin whispers.) Juan . . . Juan, can you hear me? JUAN: (Mumbling in a childish voice) Uh-huh . . . I hear you mommy. SATIN: (Startled) Mommy! JUAN: (Bolting to a sitting position. Stares at Satin.) Did I fall asleep? Not much company, am I? I'm sorry. It's the tequila. I better get going. SATIN: Don’t go . . . Stay. Something frightened you . . . What was it?
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About the Book
To handsome, street-smart Arli Ramalo sex is as natural as life itself, having been imprinted on his brain since he was a one-year-old; becoming second nature to him while growing up in a New York City apartment where uninhibited sex was part of the daily routine and he was one among many participants. At the age of 15, he is picked up in Riverside Park by a former college professor and under the professor’s tutelage Arli matures into a learned hustler adept at sexually pleasing both men and women. Now in his 20’s, Arli lives in polarized worlds. In one--his neighborhood where prostitution, drugs, murder, and bizarre sex are not uncommon--he is deviously and methodically manipulating an innocent 21-year-old introvert into whoredom. In the other--the elite world--he associates with well-to-do women and men who pay him generously for noncommittal intimate relationships. While with a wealthy widow who is benefactress for a Greenwich Village repertory company, Arli reads a scene from the play Juan Fulano. The woman is impressed and invites him to a cast meeting to try out for the role of Juan. He accepts her invitation. When the novel ends, the play is presented in its entirety with a story line of its own: An American youth living incognito as Juan Fulano in Mexico City is befriended by a middle-age woman who has an ulterior motive in mind. As their friendship grows, Juan--unwittingly--gives her what she wants. The repercussion forebodes disaster.
About the Author
Born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, Stephen R. Krysko is a World War II veteran who capitalized on the GI Bill of Rights by attending three colleges: Keystone and Penn State to study journalism and Mexico City College to study Spanish. Returning from Mexico City in 1951, he settled in New York City and was employed by the American Express Company as an administrative assistant to the company president. His assignments included being Coordinator and Secretary of Managers’ Conferences in Europe and the Far East. In 1972, he was appointed Historian, established the Archives Department and, for the next eighteen years, catalogued the company’s worldwide operations during its first 100 years (1850-1950) before retiring. In earlier years, when the War ended in 1945, Krysko was a tank commander with the 712th Tank Battalion (3rd Army) in Amberg, Germany, awaiting redeployment to the United States. During the wait, the Battalion newsletter Tank-Tracks was conceived and published for twelve weeks with Krysko overseeing all phases of production. Practically all of his writings dealt with facts, including material for history books about the 712th and American Express. After retiring, he decided to try his hand at writing fiction. This is his first book.