I did in fact pick her up, but not the way you think

Going to work one day I saw a disabled car with a young woman standing there. I knew that anything she tried to do was futile, these cars can't be fixed like they used to. I exited, came back around and stopped and offered her a ride to convenient place and to call a wrecker. It didn't matter what the car had, it wasn't going be fixed there.

She rode with me, nice looking, fair in complexion, not Caucasian, maybe a breed or something like that. Her demeanor was one of those girls whose father fixes everything, talkative and pleasant. It made me want to run interference for her.

We got the wrecker dispatched, I convinced her to send the car to the dealer. When the car was on its way we headed to the dealer to meet up there. The man at the counter was nice and pleasant and they received her car and said they would call when they had figured out what was wrong. In the meantime, I offered to buy her lunch. No one was getting to work that day.

Her car had a transmission problem, and she would be on foot for a few days. I found out where she lived and took her home and told her I would be there in the morning to take her to work. I know I'm accused of ulterior motives, but at that time there was none of that, just a stranded girl.

For three days and a big bill they got her car running again, I put the bill on my credit card and she was forever thankful. It was her idea to cook me dinner and I arrived with flowers and a bottle of wine. The food was good, somewhat Mediterranean. She is Palestinian, Christian Palestinian, and we got along wonderfully. It was her that offered to be romantic, to give herself in return for the favor. It was her that got my head spinning. She turned me into her servant. ** was great, considering her inexperience, but it was her other qualities that mesmerized me.

In her world, giving herself was an act of submission. A permanent act, once and done. For her it was all over, she had chosen and now she was forever committed. It took a while for me to really understand that no matter what, where I went. who I went with, she was committed. I never considered any of this, I was being friendly. But no good deed goes unpunished, and out of it I got a dependent. Not quite old enough for being a real woman, not too young to be a kid. It was up to me to finish raising her, and that's the way it's been.