Crocodile Rapids

Larry loved travelling.  He had a goal to see a new country every year and for the last six years, he had accomplished that goal, usually hitting more than one new country.  Even though this was his goal, it was always other people that would pick the country.  As his seventh year was coming to a close, no friend invited him to a country he hadn’t been to.  He was faced with a dilemma to end his streak or pick his own country.  He picked Costa Rica as it was close and he heard good things about it.  As he asked around to his friends to see if they wanted to go with him, he couldn’t find anyone to take the bait.  This left him with one choice; end the streak or travel alone.  Given that he has a horrible sense of direction, Larry was always wary to travel alone.  Since Larry had vowed never to get married nor have children, he surmised that he would have to learn to travel alone sometime.  He decided Costa Rica was a good start.  As he was searching the internet for Costa Rica trips, he was surprised to find how many people reach out to him to plan his trip.  The tourist industry in Costa Rica was spot on in luring in interested travelers and helping them plan their trip.  He finally booked a trip for December 30, just in time to keep his streak alive.  He took an overnight layover in Miami and headed to Costa Rica staying all night at the airport as his friend in Miami decided he was too tired to take him in for the night like he planned.   At 31-years-old, Larry had been to 34 countries and this was his first trip alone.  He had an excursion booked for each day he was there.  The first one was White Water Rafting.  Larry had never been white water rafting before and had always wanted to go.  He waited outside his hotel for the tour van to pick him up and take him on his excursion.  When the van came, he got in.  As Larry looked around at the other people on the van, he saw a familiar expression on their faces.  It wasn’t that it was familiar in the he has been given that look before but he recognized the expression as one that he has given to people many times in his travels.  It was the look that asked why this person was travelling alone. After all, anyone that is travelling alone abroad must have something wrong with them.  Larry immediately thought back on lone travelers that would spark up conversations with him and he remembered feeling bad for them for how lonely they seemed.  Now, he was that person.  There was one marked difference, however, Larry wasn’t initiating conversations.  He was perfectly content.

When they off loaded, Larry went with the flow of the tour guides waiting to be instructed where to go.  He looked at the river and saw the increasing water currents and rapids and became excited.  He had always wanted to do this since he was a young boy.  Larry had many friends of Latino descent so his Spanish was pretty good.  That being said, he was proud at how well he was conversing with people in Spanish in Costa Rica.  He noticed with other Americans trying to speak the language, the locals answered back in English but with him it was in Spanish as his accent was passable.  That being said, the taxi driver that he spent two and half hours with on his way from the airport to the hotel spoke no English and he didn’t know the word for “toll” (payayee) but with charades at the toll booth, he figured it out.  He was ripped off as the taxi driver didn’t give him the price that was agreed upon by the recruiter at the airport.  For a two and half hour drive though, Larry was okay giving a little more than was asked.  Part of travelling is being ripped off.  Some travelers let it ruin their trip but Larry wasn’t one of them.  Money was not something he held in high regard and that cab driver would be much more appreciative of the extra money then he would miss losing it.  While driving, the taxi driver asked him if he wanted to stop to see “cocadilles.”  Larry didn’t know what a cocadilla was but being from New York, he was always in a hurry.  He thought this was just a scam to drive up the price.  What he didn’t know is that the area in Costa Rica he was in has a very large crocodile population.  The driver was going to pull over on a bridge and let him look out at a bunch of crocodiles lying in the shallow water under the bridge.  Although he missed out on the way down there, Larry would see them on his return trip when the other two people in the car knew about this bridge so agreed.  This, however, was not Larry’s first encounter with crocodiles on his Costa Rican trip.

Larry was put in a group with a family.  There was a mother and father that looked to be in their late 40s early 50s and a girl that Larry would tell you looked no older than 13.  What Larry should’ve realized but hadn’t anticipated is that when you travel over New Years Eve to tropical locations, you will see a lot of families that can only travel during those times because the kids aren’t in school.  As Larry’s friends started having kids, he had warmed up to children but he never was a large fan of them.  Usually, he’d ignore the girl and just be polite if she said something to him.  What happened, however, was much more troublesome to Larry.  The girl was wearing a one piece bathing suit and was getting fitted for life jackets.  Larry zoned out and stared at her as his mind sent conflicting information to him.  On one hand, his mind was telling him that this was an attractive girl and extremely cute.  The other part was questioning how he could think this about a 13-year-old girl and calling him a “pedophile.”  The second part kept telling him to look away but he didn’t.  This mental dissonance distracted him to not realize that he was being called for his own life jacket.  Her father snapped him out of the trance by saying, “You’re up”

Larry shook his head snapping back to the moment and got fitted using his peripheral vision to see the father’s expression.  He was unsure if he was being paranoid or not but he seemed to believe that her father noticed him looking at his daughter.  He composed himself and said that he hadn’t done anything disrespectful and just focused on going white water rafting.  They got into the raft and they quickly went over the signals for what they should do.  Larry asked how many times people fall out and the instructor told him almost never.  Within five minutes of heading down the river, the instructor, seated in the back, didn’t see a large underwater rock that they struck sending the raft airborne and Larry and the daughter fell out of the raft.  Larry instinctively reached out and grabbed the raft.  He struggled to get in and then helped the girl by pulling up on her life jacket.  To Larry, he was happy it happened as he no longer had to fear it.  Larry knew how to swim but was not a strong swimmer.  Neither he nor the girl, who Larry learned was named ‘Gabby’, was bothered by falling out.  As they all realized later, these rapids didn’t stay rapid the entire time.  There were periods of calm water.  On one such encounter, the instructor jumped out of the raft and started swimming.  Other instructors on other rafts would pull each other out.  Larry looked around and figured that if it’s only them four in the raft, they can’t go anywhere.  He liked the water so he jumped out of the raft and went swimming.  Larry always carried a pocket knife on him, which he regretted as water and steel don’t mix too well.  He wondered why he had it and maybe if he thought about it, he would have left it at the hotel.  Gabby also went swimming but the parents stayed in the raft.  When the instructor called them back since the river would start picking up again, Larry walked over to the raft as the water wasn’t deep and pushed himself in.  Gabby did the same and the father said something that would give Larry a large sense of relief.  He said to his daughter, “Man, all that money we wasted on gymnastics when you were younger, you can’t even pull yourself into a raft.  Then again, you went to college and put on some weight so now you’re out of shape.”

Larry couldn’t help but smile.  One, Gabby was about 5’0” and extremely petite so if she put on the freshman 15 or anywhere near that, she must have been emaciated before.  She had long straight black hair that went midway down her back and brown eyes and smooth skin.  Larry had no problem recognizing her attractiveness now for now he realized Gabby was in college, meaning she was not 13 but at least 18.  He wasn’t a pedophile after all.  He turned to her and said, “Where do you go to college.”

Gabby responded, “Cornell”

“Must be smart then.”

Gabby shrugged her shoulders.  The mother asked the instructor how old he was; and the instructor responded, “20”

“Oh, that’s the same age as she” indicating her daughter

The instructor gave Gabby a strange look, and Gabby said, “I’m 19, I know I look really young but I really am 19.”

Later, Larry learned she had a brother that was sick at home.  Because of this, the family wouldn’t be staying for lunch after the rafting but catching a taxi back to their hotel.  Another calm stretch came and Larry and Gabby jumped out again to swim.  While swimming, Larry saw a snout breach the surface.  He jumped back to see a small crocodile lunge at him.  Larry sidestepped the crocodile’s mouth and jumped on its back pinning him down on a rock using his weight.  He slipped his arms under the crocodile’s jaws and held its mouth shut.  He felt his knife pushing against his bare pubic bone and thought how to reach it.  Right now, he had both arms interlocked under the crocodile’s jaws pulling up forcing it closed.  The crocodile struggled at first but calmed as if waiting for an opening.  The thing that people didn’t realize is that predators are never looking for a fair fight.  Because of this, they don’t put up much of a fight when their prey fights back.  From a survival stand point, it makes sense.  Animals don’t have doctors; if you’re injured, you’re probably dead.  If your meal fights back, better off to just move on because the risk reward is low.  You may eat this meal but you’re next one will be that much harder to catch.  There is no pride in the animal kingdom.  Your fellow predators aren’t going to ridicule you for being a coward.  Larry slid his left arm towards his right maintaining his grip.  When his elbow joint was bent over the crocodile’s mouth closing it shut, he took the risk to let go of his right arm and grip his shirt at his right collar bone to free his right arm but still keep pressure on the crocodile’s mouth forcing it shut.  The crocodile fidgeted when it felt the loosened pressure on its jaws but it did nothing to stop Larry from performing the transaction.  He sat up, unclipped his knife with his right hand initiated the spring to snap the blade out, switched his grip to an overhand and slammed the knife down in between his left arm and his stomach drilling the brain stem of the crocodile.  He struck again this time moving his thumb and pointer to the top of the hilt so his hand wouldn’t slip as it had the first time.  His knife dug deep and the blade buried inside the crocodile killing it.  Larry rapidly pushed the knife back and forth using the smooth part and the serrated parts to cut the crocodile moving the knife towards the right while continuing to pull up on the mouth.  Soon, the head came clear off in Larry’s left arm.  He smiled and held the crocodile head over his own head.  Larry had eaten alligator in Florida, and he wondered what crocodile tasted like.  He loved trying new foods and was hoping he could try snake in Costa Rica but two new foods wasn’t bad.  He looked over at the raft and saw Gabby hurrying towards it.  He wondered why she hadn’t made a bee line for it before but figured she had to get over her fear and shock.  One paddle was floating down the river as a tourist dropped it watching from a safe distance.  Larry picked up the paddle in his left hand.  He wasn’t shaken up by the encounter and was going to make his way over to the instructor to see if he could use the rope to tie the crocodile carcass and drag it with them so he could eat it later.  He dropped the crocodile head in grabbing the paddle but the rock he was on was almost breaking the surface. 

He was going to pick it up again when he heard a woman scream.  He looked over and saw Gabby jump back falling onto her back.  A large crocodile had emerged opening its jaws near Larry.  Larry jumped off the rock using the paddle as a lance driving it into the crocodile’s jaws forcing it to the side and it snapped its teeth together beside Gabby’s head.  As Larry’s momentum carried him over, he lunged his knife into the side of the crocodile to stop his momentum and wrapped his legs around the beast.  He lost his grip on the knife but the crocodile turned toward Larry as it felt its thick hide being punctured by a 205 pound man shoving a knife in.  The crocodile stepped on Gabby as it did this pinning her down to the rock.  Larry immediately wrapped his arms around this crocodile as he had done to the last one.  The crocodile struggled and Larry felt a lot more force trying to rip his arms apart to free it.  It became clear to him that he wasn’t going to be able to hold this crocodile’s mouth closed with only one arm.  Larry calmed himself but felt his body tensing because of Gabby’s screams.  He looked over and the instructor was holding her parents back because it was too dangerous to go in just in case there were more crocodiles.  Larry quickly realized that everyone was too afraid to help.  He thought back and thought one of the instructors had a machete on the bus.  Then he realized that only he would be dumb enough to bring a metallic object on a raft where getting soaked is a certainty.  He calmly said, “Gabby, stop screaming, you’re okay” repeatedly.

When that didn’t work, Larry yelled at the top of his lungs, “Gabby, STOP IT!!!”

Gabby’s father yelled, “Don’t yell at her!”
                Larry ignored him as Gabby had listened and stopped screaming.  She said in a pleading voice, “Get it off me, please get it of me, just get it off me.”

Larry took a deep breath and relaxed himself.  He said in a soothing voice, “I can’t” Gabby fidgeted under the crocodile as Larry saw her panicking once again, he continued, “Gabby..” thinking that using her name would help calm her, “you’re going to be fine.  There’s only two possible scenarios here.  Either I kill the crocodile and we both are safe or I sacrifice myself so that you can get away.  I die and you make it to the raft to your parents and get to go home safe.  Either way, you’re okay and the second scenario doesn’t matter because you don’t know me so you shouldn’t give a shit about my life.”

Gabby relaxed.  Larry meant what he said.  He had wanted to die for the last 12 years since he reached the same age as his best friend when he died of cancer shortly after Larry’s 18^th birthday.  Larry was old fashioned in a world that looked down upon those values.  In his mentality, women’s lives meant more than men’s lives.  If given the opportunity, men should always sacrifice their lives for women’s.  Also, although Gabby was technically an adult, she had just started to be one.  She’s in college, hadn’t really seen the real world yet.  This was an easy trade.  Gabby felt a little guilty that this speech calmed her but she was beginning to take solace in Larry’s calm demeanor.  She recognized that she had no idea what to do and was willing to let Larry take control of the situation.  As much as the feminist movement had tried to mask this, women liked sitting back and letting a man take control every now and then.  A man willing to take the responsibility away from them was very attractive to them.  She calmly replied, “Okay, just kill it already.”

Larry nodded his head.  He was happy that Gabby was relaxed but it didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t do it alone.  He said, “I will, but you need to listen to me and do exactly what I say.”

Larry saw her tense up again and she said, “No, please, just take care of it, I’m scared.  Just do what you did to the other one.”

“This one is too strong for that. I need your help.”

“No, I’m tiny, I can’t do this.”

“Again, listen to what I say and everything will be fine.  Like I said, if it doesn’t work, I die, you live, no matter what you’re going to be okay.”

Gabby nodded and said, “What do you want me to do?”

“Wrap your legs around the crocodile.”

Gabby wrapped her legs around the crocodile interlocking her legs behind Larry on the crocodile’s back.  Larry kept a straight face and realized that he would be better off handling Gabby’s legs than telling her what to do.  He kept his calm voice and said, “New plan, stick your legs straight up in the air perpendicular to the ground.”

Gabby unlocked her ankles and stuck her legs straight in the air.  Larry noticed that her thighs were right along the crocodile’s mouth.  She was in the exact position he wanted her in.  He said, “Take a deep breath and relax your legs.”  Gabby did so and Larry said, “Just focus on your breathing, I’m going to grab your legs.  Let me move them, don’t do anything, don’t try to help me, just let me maneuver them.”

Gabby took another deep breath and said, “alright”

Larry coaxingly said, “breathe, relax” repeatedly.

Gabby closed her eyes and focused on her breathing.  Larry shifted his right shoulder against Gabby’s left leg and saw it slap against the crocodile’s mouth and limply ricochet back.  He realized that Gabby had to do one more thing but was worried that she would tense her legs again.  He had to risk it though, he said, “Bend your right leg.”

Gabby bent her right leg.  If her eyes were open, she would see that her right foot dangled millimeters from the crocodile’s razor sharp teeth.  Larry visualized what he wanted to do in his head.  He made the motions with his arms to aid in muscle memory.  He took a deep breath for he had to go sometime and now was just as good a time as any.  He reached with his right hand and grabbed Gabby’s right leg and pulled it underneath the crocodile’s jaws while simultaneously driving his right shoulder into Gabby’s left leg knocking it over the crocodile’s mouth bending over it.  He yanked her right leg up and twisted her foot against her left thigh.  He reached back with his left hand grabbing Gabby’s left foot and pulled it in between Gabby’s right leg in between her calves and her thighs.  He opened his arms and quickly slapped them against Gabby’s thighs and yelled, “Now flex with everything you got.  Forget what I said, tense up, flex like you’ve never flexed before!”

Gabby’s body tensed not because Larry told her to but because she was startled.  This yelling was a quick departure from Larry’s soothing voice before and now she was no longer focused on her breathing but on being scared again.  This was exactly the result Larry was looking for.  He sat up and admired his work for a split second as he reached down with his right hand and pulled his knife out of the crocodile’s side.  He grabbed the knife with both hands and pulled his arms behind his head as far as it could go and slammed the knife down into the crocodile’s brain stem.  The crocodile was struggling as he did this almost sensing that its life depended on it.  Larry saw blood but the crocodile was still alive.  He raised his arms again and pummeled it again in the same spot as his eyes were narrowly focused on the crocodile’s brain stem.  This time the knife buried to the hilt and Larry sawed like he did last time.  He said to Gabby in a normal voice, “Don’t let go, I know snakes can open and close their mouth after death and I’m not sure if that’s true for all reptiles.”

Gabby didn’t release her grip and Larry didn’t stop sawing until the head snapped off, which was aided by Gabby’s body weight.  Larry took a deep breath and for the first time since grabbing his knife looked at Gabby.  He still saw fear on her face and he relaxed and said, “Now you can let go.”

Gabby flung her legs to the side and unlocked them.  Larry closed his knife and clipped it back to his bathing suit.  Larry picked up the crocodile head where Gabby dropped it.  He walked over to the previous rock and grabbed the other crocodile head and grabbed one in each hand.  He stood on the rock that Gabby was pinned by a crocodile on a moment before and screamed raising the heads in the air and said, “If there are any other crocodiles in this fucking river, this is what will happen to you if you mess with me!”

Gabby crawled over to the raft and her dad pulled her in hugging her closely.  Her mother joined in as well as Gabby protested that she was fine. Larry stood outside the raft and asked the instructor if he could get rope.  Gabby’s dad said, “Who cares about the crocodiles? Get in the damn raft.”

Larry shook his head and said, “I want to eat the things that tried to eat me.” He turned towards him and said, “There’s plenty of meat if you want to join.”

The man gave Larry a dirty look and said, “No, I don’t want to see those fucking things ever again.”

Larry turned toward the instructor and said, “Can we use the rope to drag them?”

The instructor looked at Gabby’s father and turned back toward Larry and said, “Sure.”

Larry dragged over the crocodiles as everyone else looked on incredulously at him still being in the water.  They secured the crocodile carcasses and Larry took the heads and tucked them into his bathing suit.  It wasn’t comfortable but he wasn’t going to leave them in the raft as a sign of respect to the family he was sharing it with.  He knew it wouldn’t do much to assuage the father but as far as he was concerned, he just saved his daughter’s life so he can spare him this.  The father glared at Larry giving him a look that he thought Larry to be insane.  Larry made no response back; everyone on the tour with him seemed to think the same thing when he was travelling alone, let alone now.  He turned toward Gabby and said, “Sorry I was rough with you back there, I just needed you to tense up and I figured telling you at the last second was better than telling you before because if you weren’t relaxed while I positioned your legs in the hold, then the crocodiles mouth would have been free.”

Gabby glared at Larry and said, “No problem” in an obvious voice as if to really say, “Ummm, you saved my life, I don’t care that you were rough with me in the process.”

Larry continued, “How’s your ankle? I twisted it pretty good there.”

Gabby’s right ankle was kind of sore but she said, “It’s fine” using the same tone as before.

The rest of the rafting trip went as planned.  The instructor kept apologizing saying that there’s no reason for crocodiles to be in the river.  It’s not a body of water they like to roam in.  He kept telling them it made no sense for crocodiles to be in the river and he had grown up on the river never seeing a crocodile in these waters.  The four people in the boat kept telling him it was okay but internally they were all thinking the same thing.  They don’t care how unusual it is, it doesn’t make them feel any better about it.  When they were back to safety, the father let leash everything he was holding back on while his life was in the instructor’s hands on the water.  He snapped at him for endangering his daughter’s life and told him that he didn’t care about how rare it was.  The instructor was very apologetic. He knew it was out of fear and worry for his daughter.  Larry undid the ropes and was dragging the crocodiles onto shore.  He looked weird having two crocodile heads protruding from his sides but he was alone.  He would never see these people again so didn’t care how ridiculous he looked.  Larry never really did care what people thought.  Gabby walked over to him and said, “Thank you for saving my life.”

Larry looked up and saw a gleam in Gabby’s eyes.  He wasn’t good with girls but Gabby was making it very obvious that there was desire in her eyes.  Larry shook his head.  He may not be a pedophile but Gabby was still really young for him.  He did the known calculation on how to tell if a girl is too young for you.  It’s half your age plus seven, which gave Larry 22; three years older than Gabby.  Larry didn’t really need the equation; he felt dirty with a college student anyway, which only made him confirm the formula.  He chuckled to ease the tension and said, “Don’t mention it.”

Unlike Larry, Gabby was not old fashioned so had no problem making the move on a guy.  This is especially true when she was on vacation.  She said, “What hotel are you staying in?”

Larry knew where this was going.  He said, “Look Gabby, you don’t owe me anything.  I’m glad I could help you out.  My hotel doesn’t have a kitchen so I’m probably going to bring it to a restaurant near me called ‘Aero.”  The taxi driver said it had good food so I figure they’ll know how to cook it.  You’re more than welcome to join with your brother.  This is probably too much food for me.”

Gabby said, “Maybe, what hotel are you staying in?”

“Jungle Beach Hotel but again Gabby, you don’t owe me anything.”

“What room number”

“2, but I’ll be at the restaurant at around 6:00PM.  I still think it’s cool to eat the thing that tried to eat me.  Given that it tried to kill you too, I thought I’d offer you the same experience.”

“No, I’m not interested in eating a crocodile.”

“Okay”

Gabby turned to her dad who was still yelling at the instructor but realized her mom was looking at her talking to Larry.  Gabby smiled at Larry and said, “I think we have to go now but I’ll see you later.”

“Not necessary.”

Gabby hugged Larry and walked towards her parents.  She turned back to give Larry one last look and smile before going to her parents.  Gabby and her mother pulled their dad away from the instructor and organized a cab to get back to their sick son.  Larry had lunch with the rest of the group sitting alone.  A family from Tennessee asked him to eat with his them and he obliged.  They had two small children; one boy and one girl and Larry talked normally with them.  They avoided the topic of the crocodiles and why Larry was alone.  They had been white water rafting before and told Larry what he already figured, that the river was way too calm to be considered real rapids.  Larry agreed but was happy he could say he’d done it; even if it was a minor version.  He just figured that Costa Rica didn’t have very rough rivers to accommodate it.  The lunch was really good as Costa Ricans put various spices and herbs to marinate their chicken that made it the best Larry had ever had.  As much as he enjoyed the meal though, he was looking forward to dinner.  The little kids asked to see Larry’s crocodile heads and he gave it to them.  They were fascinated with them and Larry chuckled.

The tour group was more than accommodating to put Larry’s crocodiles in the van.  They had stopped bleeding during the rest of the rafting trip as the water did what water does and washed them out.  They dropped Larry off at his hotel and he brought the crocodiles inside his room.  It was 2:00PM now and he kept the air condition on and went to the beach across the street from his hotel.  He hoped the meat wouldn’t spoil in the next few hours till the sun set.  He alternated between swimming and lying out on the beach and watched the sun set on the ocean as he was on the Pacific Ocean side of Costa Rica.  It was breathtaking and he would remember to bring his camera the next day.  He returned to his hotel and saw the crocodile carcasses.  They didn’t smell so he figured that it wasn’t rotten yet.  Manual Antonio area of Costa Rica, where Larry was, has only one main road making it virtually impossible to get lost.  He was at the bottom of a steep hill but on top of that hill was the restaurants and other hotels.  Even without carrying things, it’s a tough walk despite it not being too far distance wise.  There’s a bus that isn’t too expensive that takes you up there but he didn’t know how they would handle his two passengers.  He decided to try it as he kept coming to the same conclusion.  He knows nobody so he can do whatever he wants and not have to deal with people telling the story to others back home.  He liked this about travelling alone.  The downside though is he realized he didn’t know what to do at night.  He didn’t want to drink alone and eating at a restaurant alone was depressing to him.  He missed New York where you could get any food delivered to you.  There was no kitchen at his hotel therefore no room service.  He used his shirt to tie the crocodiles together and carried them across his back to the bus stop.  The driver gave him a weird look but he paid the fee and the driver didn’t say anything.  They went to the top of the hill and Larry got off.  He went into the restaurant and asked the waiter in Spanish if they could cook the crocodile for him.  The waiter got a chef and the owner and they discussed price.  When they came to an agreement, Larry handed over the crocodiles.  They told him it would take forty five minutes to prepare, which Larry thought was a little fast.  They offered him appetizers but Larry knew there was a lot of meat so he just had a drink.  Sitting there alone in the restaurant waiting for his food made Larry realize this was the last time he was going to do this.  Nobody was looking at him, the waiters were fine with it but it still bothered Larry nonetheless that he was alone in a restaurant.  The crocodiles came out in large steak sizes.  Larry took a fork and a steak knife and dug in.  He was right; it did taste like alligator, which was like a tangy form of chicken.  The cooks did a great job with it.  Larry couldn’t eat all of it so told the waiter to offer it to their other guests.  The waiter did so and Larry was unsure if they succeeded.  What Larry didn’t know was that the restaurant owner predicted this so although he gave Larry a lot of meat, he kept a decent amount in the back and offered it as a special.  Larry would have been fine if they told him this.

Larry walked back to his hotel as going downhill was much easier than uphill.  He entered his room and sat down contemplating what to do next.  It was only 8:00 but there was no TV and nothing really to do at night in Costa Rica.  He didn’t have Facebook or anything like that as he despised social media and tried to disconnect from back home when he travelled.  He found himself hooking the Ipad to the wifi.  The hotel manager instructed him he wouldn’t get a fast connection as they were in the middle of the jungle.  Larry said he didn’t care because he didn’t anticipate him doing exactly what he was doing; going online.  He texted people back in the states ashamed of himself.  At around 9:00, he heard a knock at the door.  He figured it was a hotel employee to offer him something.  He was in his boxers so he put on a pair of shorts but remained shirtless when he opened the door.  All day on the beach, Larry was trying to figure out why he told Gabby his hotel and room number.  He had sworn off sexual experiences a while ago, but every now and then he had an itch.  It was never enough to put much effort into it so when it did work he actually lost respect for the girl that gave it up so easily.  He opened the door to find Gabby smiling back at him.  She said, “Hey Larry”

Despite Gabby making it abundantly clear that this was a possibility, Larry was shocked to see her.  He looked around for her parents or another guy that would be her brother but saw nobody.  Gabby realized this and said, “I’m alone.”

Larry sighed and lowered his head backing away from the door as an invitation to let Gabby in.  Gabby walked inside and Larry closed the door.  Gabby was wearing short shorts and a low cut T-shirt.  Her hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she was wearing makeup.  She sat on the bed and Larry stared back at her and said, “Gabby, you shouldn’t have come here.”

Gabby chuckled and rolled her eyes and said, “And why’s that?”

“Because you don’t know me.  You’re a young attractive girl in a foreign country.  Now, you’re alone with me.  All you know about me is that I carry a knife and am not opposed to killing things.  You know I’m travelling alone so you have to ask yourself what type of person does that.  Do you really think it’s a good idea to be alone with someone like that?”

Gabby chuckled again.  She thought it was obvious enough with her being there but realized she was just going to have to be a little more aggressive but first she would toy with him a little more.  She said, “So, what are you saying?  You tell me that you’re going to die for me when you don’t know me.  You save my life just so you can lure me to your hotel room and hurt me?”

Larry contemplated this for a second.  It did seem a little far-fetched when put that way.  He wasn’t going to admit this though and said, “I’m saying you don’t know.  This is a very dangerous situation you put yourself in.”

Gabby got up and wrapped her arms around Larry’s neck and stared up into his eyes.  She was on her tip toes but Larry was a full foot taller than her.  She said, “It’s only dangerous if I’m not willing to let you do whatever you want to me.  You said yourself I was attractive.  I saw you looking at me at the river.  Women notice these things.  The only reason it’s normally a dangerous situation is the girl may get raped but I’m willing and you can’t rape the willing.”

Larry undid Gabby’s arms and grabbed her biceps gently pushing her back.  He walked past her and sat on the bed hanging his head in his arms.  He wanted Gabby so bad but he knew it wasn’t right.  He just couldn’t really think why it wasn’t right now.  Yea, she’s young but she is legal.  He just felt he was taking advantage of her knowing that her affection for him was only because he saved her life.  Then again, is that really wrong?  This was vacation; most people have casual sex on vacation.  In all Larry’s travels, however, he never had.  He looked up at Gabby and said, “What if I wanted to do something to you that you didn’t think about?  Something you weren’t willing to do?  What if I have some crazy fetishes?”

Larry had none of these things.  His only fetish was that he enjoyed taking body shots off girl’s butts but he had no alcohol or salt to do this right now.  Besides, most girls he spoke to called that juvenile high school shit.  Nothing close to what he was alluding to with Gabby.  Gabby smiled and said, “Like what?”

“I don’t know something sick.”

Gabby nodded her head and said, “Well, right now…” as she opened her hands and swiped them along her body to indicate that’s what she was talking about “this is fully intact and I’m alive and well because of you.  So, as far as I’m concerned, for one night only, it’s yours to do what you want with.  And if you come up with something so sinister that I couldn’t possibly imagine.  Well, then I may revoke those privileges but right now, as you described so well, I can’t even imagine it.  So, I’m here.  Whether I should be or shouldn’t, it happened.  You have me alone in your room completely submissive to your will.  What are you going to do?”

Larry shook his head.  He had nothing to say in response.  Gabby pulled off her T-shirt to reveal her bra, which she didn’t really need.  She kicked off her sandals and removed her shorts revealing thin cut panties.  She stood there in her bra and panties and walked towards Larry.  Larry sat up straighter and moved his arms from his lap to his sides.  Gabby straddled Larry and wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.  Larry opened his mouth and kissed back making out with her.  Gabby shoved Larry onto his back and kissed down his neck over his chest down his stomach.  She pulled off his shorts and boxers and lowered them to his ankles.  Larry kicked them off and lowered his hands to Gabby’s butt squeezing it and pulling her towards him.  Gabby lied on him gyrating her hips and kissing his neck and mouth.  Larry moved his arms to her back and unstrapped her bra.  He yanked it off her and Gabby ran her small breasts over Larry’s face.  Larry grabbed her and turned her around so he was on top.  His mouth explored her neck and breasts as Gabby wrapped her legs around Larry’s waist and Larry caressed her legs.  Larry brought his hands to her waist and pulled off her panties so they were both naked.  He pulled up and Gabby said, “Do you have a condom?”

Despite Larry not being sexually active, he did have a condom in his bag.  He knew they were old but decided to use it anyway.  He took one out and placed it over his penis and said, “See, you didn’t anticipate that did you.”

Gabby said, “Shut up and fuck me, we’re passed that now.”

Larry was a little surprised by the bluntness but he didn’t put the condom on for nothing.  He walked over to Gabby and mounted her driving his penis inside her.  Gabby groaned but wrapped her legs around Larry’s waist once again.  Larry kissed her mouth, neck and breasts again as he humped her driving himself inside her.  Gabby moved her legs to over Larry’s shoulders forcing Larry deeper inside of her.  Larry kissed her feet as he caressed her legs and humped her harder and faster.  He pulled out and swung Gabby’s legs around his head turning her onto her stomach.  He re-inserted his penis into her vagina from behind and reached around fondling her breasts.  Gabby screamed out indicating orgasm as Larry continued to drive himself into her.  His hands ran along her back and massaged her shoulders and back feeling no lactic acid build up indicating stress.  He placed his hands back on her breasts and kissed her neck.  After a bit, he grabbed her by the hips and dragged her back as he stood on the ground.  He stood up and wrapped Gabby’s legs around his waist and grabbed her midway up her side and hoisted her up.  Gabby reached back and Larry kissed her neck as his right hand massaged her clitoris and his left fondled her breasts.  He inserted two fingers behind her labia major and minora and reached back to stimulate the G-spot while his thumb continued to massage her clitoris.  Larry knew that few men had long enough fingers to pull this off.  Some just used two hands to do it; one buried to the G-spot while the other worked the clitoris.  Larry didn’t need to do that but felt that a girl would be indifferent to both.  Gabby turned her head and made out with Larry.  The double vaginal penetration along with Larry’s tongue invading her mouth was a shock to Gabby’s senses and she burst out in another orgasmic moan.  Larry switched hands and continued to the same result.  He let Gabby down on the bed and Gabby lied on her stomach.  He slapped his hands on her butt cheeks and squeezed hard.  He said, “Now, Gabby you can stop this at any time but I want to fuck that ass.”

Gabby turned her head toward Larry.  She had never done anal before but she already decided she was going to submit herself to Larry.  She said, “My body is yours tonight.”

Larry walked into the bathroom and grabbed the bar of soap and ran it under the sink.  He was moving quickly so that his erection didn’t go down.  He also grabbed the shampoo as he wished he had Vaseline.  He hurried over to Gabby who still lie spread eagle on the bed.  He placed her right leg in between his legs and Gabby got the idea as she moved her leg back and forth rubbing Larry’s scrotum to keep him erect.  Larry poured shampoo onto Gabby’s butt crack and generously rubbed it in.  He also turned the bar of soap in his hands repeatedly and rubbed it over the area where Gabby’s butt cheeks met.  He figured that was the best he could do.  He said, “Get up and bend over the bed.”

Gabby shifted her body down and placed her feet on the ground.  Larry grabbed Gabby by the hips and pulled her back driving his penis into her rectum.  He humped her repeatedly as his hands massaged her back.  Once again he brought her legs back and hoisted her up placing his hands and mouth in the same position as earlier.  It took a little longer since only his fingers were penetrating her vagina but Gabby did scream out again.  Larry again switched hands so his left was simultaneously working her G-spot and clitoris while his right fondled her breasts.  Gabby was kissing him so Larry was penetrating three orifices of her body with three different body parts.  When she screamed out again, Larry let her down.  He said, “I told you you may regret this.”

Gabby rolled onto her back and got up.  She jumped up and wrapped her limbs around Larry’s body and locked lips with him squeezing her legs against his pelvis.  Larry backed her to the wall and jerked his pelvis against hers as his hands grabbed her butt.  Gabby pulled up and said, “I’m much dirtier than you think I am.”

Larry backed his way to the bed and sat down as Gabby gyrated her hips and shoved her body against his.  She rubbed her breasts along Larry’s face and bounced up and down on his crotch.  Larry lied back and Gabby continued sitting up and bouncing.  She collapsed her body forward as she grinded against him.  Larry was beginning to realize that she had a lot more energy than he did.  He got up and brought her to the shower.  He undid her limbs and rubbed soap all over her body.  She did the same to him knowing that he was buying time to keep from climaxing.  Gabby didn’t want it to end either.  Larry backed her against the wall of the shower and Gabby leapt wrapping her arms and legs around him.  Larry turned around so he was against the wall and Gabby leaned back into the shower stream.  Larry ran his hands over her midsection and legs as the soap suds careened off her young smooth tanned body.  He motioned her off him and then slipped behind her pushing her against the wall.  He lunged his penis back into her rectum and pulled back her hair.  He whispered in her ear, “You’re mine now girl” as he licked her ear and kissed her neck.

Gabby reached her arms back and gripped the back of his head as she wrapped her legs around his calves using his body to support her body weight.  She said, “You finally get it.”

Larry slowed and Gabby kicked her legs back under her.  She turned toward Larry and saw him panting.  She smiled back at him controlling her breathing as if to show that he was more affected than she was.  She dropped to her knees and yanked the condom off.  She reached around and squeezed Larry’s butt, opened her mouth and pulled Larry’s groin towards her inserting his penis deep into the back of her throat.  Larry grabbed the back of her head but Gabby was bobbing her head at her own pace.  Larry didn’t last long as semen shot into Gabby’s mouth.  Gabby didn’t stop until Larry struggled and tried to pull her head back by her hair.  Gabby’s eyes looked up locking on Larry’s eyes and she swallowed the semen theatrically.  She got up and stroked Larry’s penis in her right hand as she kissed him.  She was surprised when Larry kissed back as the other guys she had given a blowjob to squirmed at the thought of tasting themselves.  She walked out of the shower and Larry watched the water gleaming off her skin as small wet footprints followed her out of the bathroom.  Larry followed her also ignoring his wet body.  Gabby lied back on the bed and said, “Your turn” as she spread her legs. 

Larry approached Gabby and placed his head between her legs.  Gabby wrapped them around his neck and Larry licked her clitoris and stuck his tongue inside her vagina as his hands caressed her legs.  He lifted his body up so that Gabby’s hips were off the ground so he could grab her butt as well.  Gabby moaned louder and more frequently as Larry’s mouth filled with vaginal juices.  After a bit, her thighs tensed against Larry’s neck cutting off breathing but he continued as Gabby burst out in orgasmic screams.  She released Larry and sat up on the bed.  Larry sat next to her and turned towards her.  Gabby smiled at him but said nothing.  Larry grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over his lap.  He wrapped his right leg around her legs holding her in place.  He placed his left forearm against her neck and rubbed her butt with his right hand.  He said, “Little girl, you got my bed all wet. You’re going to need to be punished.”

Gabby smiled and said, “Punish me daddy.”

Larry flinched at this.  He didn’t like to be called that as he had met her father.  He raised his right hand and grabbed a handful of hair in his left hand.  He slapped her butt hard and squeezed as he pulled her hair with his left hand.  He raised it again and said, “That was for getting my bed wet, this is for not leaving when I asked you to” as he spanked her again.

Gabby said, “I didn’t hear you tell me to leave.”

Larry spanked her again and said, “That’s for talking back to me.”

Gabby laughed and said, “I’m sorry sir.”

Larry’s hand ricochet off her butt again as he said, “That’s for putting yourself in danger and enjoying it as much as you did.”

He nudged Gabby off him.  Gabby grabbed a sock from Larry’s floor and placed it over his penis. Before Larry even knew what she was doing, Gabby sat down on Larry’s lap facing out inserting him inside her vagina from the rear entrance.  She leaned forward and shook her hips as Larry’s penis moved around inside her.  Larry squirmed as he had achieved orgasm again and he got up with the intent to push Gabby off him.  Gabby raised her legs and wrapped them around his waist and put her arms on the ground.  Larry caressed her legs and let Gabby continue to shake her hips with him inside sending semen into his sock.  His hands squeezed her thighs and butt as he was trying to fight the urge that his body was telling him to pull out to allow him to go into the limp phase.  Finally Gabby crawled forward exiting his penis from her.  She got up and stared back at Larry who lied back on his bed.  She crawled onto him straddling his stomach and putting her hands on the side of his head.  She said, “Is that all you got?”

Larry chuckled and said, “Yea, that’s about it.”

Gabby lowered her mouth and kissed Larry.  Larry kissed back and Gabby pulled up.  She lay down next to Larry with her back to him.  Larry turned towards her and wrapped his right arm around her body resting it on her stomach.  He slipped his left arm under her neck as an extension of the pillow.  They both closed their eyes knowing full well that she couldn’t sleep there.  Larry felt Gabby’s body relax in his arms and loved that feeling.  He always believed it was the most manly feeling when you hug a girl and feel her body relax as she felt secure in your arms.  He was the first to speak and said, “You know Gabby, that move you did on the crocodile can be used if a guy is forcing himself on you too.”

Gabby said, “I don’t really know what you did.”

“I can show you.”

“Later”

Larry closed his eyes and held her for a little while keeping an eye on the clock.  After 10 minutes, Gabby rolled off the bed and got up after a deep breath.  She said, “Now you can show me.”

Larry showed her how to wrap her legs around his neck the same way she did with the crocodile interlocking her legs to force her left tibia bone against the man’s neck as the right leg shoves his neck against it by resting on the back of his head.  Gabby let go and Larry said, “Good job”

Gabby said, “Funny you showed me after fucking me.”

Larry smiled and turned his head as if to say, “I warned you.”

Gabby and Larry sat on the bed.  Larry knew Gabby lived slightly north of New York City in Westchester County.  Larry lived in Manhattan so it wasn’t too much of a commute.  He wasn’t interested in a relationship though.  Gabby said, “Thanks again for saving my life today” as she turned toward Larry and gave him a serious look.

Larry still had a playful expression and said, “I think you made that abundantly clear.”

“No, I’m serious, I was so scared.  I thought my life was over when the crocodile had me pinned down.”

Larry’s expression turned expressionless and said, “Well, I’m glad I could help.”

Gabby said, “I just can’t believe I almost died today.  I mean, my dad just stayed in the raft.  He didn’t come to help at all.”

“He couldn’t risk other crocodiles in the water.  I was the only one close enough to do something.”

“He still should have come, I’m his only daughter.”

Larry actually did agree with this but also knew there wasn’t much he could have done.  He said, “There’s nothing he could have done Gabby.  The instructors were holding him back.  I was on top of the crocodile; even if he grabbed the knife he’d have to reach around my legs to stab it and that crocodile had thick skin. He couldn’t put enough force behind it.  From the side he couldn’t hold the crocodile’s mouth shut.  There’s not much he could have done.”

“If you’re standing on the side of something, you can wrap your arms around it.”

“He was scared just like you Gabby.  He didn’t need to help you.  Like you, he had to put your life in a stranger’s hands because that was his only hope of keeping you safe.”

“Yea, I guess you’re right but I don’t know.”

“Either way, it’s over now.  Bottom line is you’re safe, no reason to be mad at your dad.”

“Yea, I know, it just really scared me.”

“I know, but it’s over.”

Gabby hadn’t looked away from Larry the entire time.  She said, “I’ve never let a guy penetrate me from behind before.”

Larry switched back to his playful expression not realizing Gabby was still serious.  He said, “You never did it doggy style?”

“No, I meant anally”

“Oh” Larry responded as the smile left his face.

“I know you’re a stranger but I feel more comfortable with you than any other guy I’ve been with.”

“That’s only because I saved your life.  It’ll pass”

Gabby laughed breaking her serious demeanor.  She shook her head and said, “Man, you really fucked me hard.”

Larry’s mouth widened into a smile and said, “I think you fucked me hard”

“Yea, you started getting a little tired there at the end.  Couldn’t keep up with me.”

“Well, I’m old”

Two small wrinkles appeared on the side of Gabby’s face commonly known as dimples.  She got up and faced Larry.  Larry got up and faced her as well.  She said, “I should go home now.”

Larry nodded his head and said a little disappointed, “Yea”

Gabby went to the bathroom and dried herself off.  Most of the water had evaporated but she did it anyway.  She got dressed and found Larry seated on the bed still naked.  She walked over to him and Larry got up and she wrapped her arms around him.  Larry hugged her back feeling her body relax again.  Gabby said, “Thanks again for saving my life.”

“Thanks for the reward”

Gabby smiled back and pulled away.  “Alright bye.” As she walked toward the door. 

Larry said, “Wait”

Gabby stopped at the door and Larry got dressed.  He said, “I’ll wait for the cab with you.”

Gabby waited for Larry and they walked out together.  Larry told the front desk to call a cab and tried giving Gabby money for the cab but she refused.  When the cab showed up she hugged him again and they both kissed the air.  “Good bye Larry”

“Good bye Gabby”

Gabby got into the cab and Larry closed the door.  Gabby rolled down the window and called out, “Hey Larry”

Larry turned around and Gabby said, “Thanks for not pretending this was something more than it was.”

Larry knew what she meant and said, “I can’t handle you girl, I’m way too old for you.”

Gabby smirked and said, “I know” as she turned back into the cab.  Larry knew that Gabby was referring to not asking for her number or any contact information.  She’d be going back to Cornell and Larry would never call her.  They live in the same city but Gabby was too young for him and he had no interest in dating a college girl.  From Gabby’s perspective, he was just a vacation fling.  She got back to her hotel and her brother didn’t bother asking where she was.  He had an idea and didn’t want to know the details as he was a younger brother so not very protective.  They were sharing a room and the parents had a separate room.  As it was still relatively early, Gabby and her brother went out for drinks.  At night, she couldn’t sleep thinking back on her day.  She knew she’d forget Larry soon but tonight was not that day.

Larry lied in bed contemplating his day as well.  He couldn’t help but feel guilty for having intercourse with Gabby.  It was just that when she was standing there in her bra and panties talking dirty to him, it was hard to resist.  He knew what the right thing was but he just couldn’t do it.  In the end, he knew it was consensual so he didn’t really do anything that wrong.  He didn’t plant the crocodiles there.  She was turned on because he saved her life.  He was unable to resist.  It just so happened she was young but not young enough to be illegal.  She was a consenting adult so there was no harm done.  He knew he’d never see her again.  He fell asleep and the next day went zip lining.  He finished his trip never running into Gabby again and returned home.  On the cab ride back, he had a two and half hour conversation with a Dominican that he was sharing a cab with all in Spanish.  This solidified his confidence in the language.  Despite his experience, he had no problem standing on the bridge watching the crocodiles sun bathe.  He did admit it was much better from atop the bridge than up close and personal. 

He brought the heads home as souvenirs.  Due to this, he always had a constant reminder of Gabby.  Truth is, Gabby was only the second girl he had prolonged sex with.  Unlike the first one, he enjoyed this encounter much more.  He never forgot about Gabby but never tried to find her.  After all, there’s a lot of Gabrielle’s and probably a lot of them go to Cornell.  He had no last name and didn’t bother trying to find her on social media. Larry had no feelings for her as it was just a memorable trip. Gabby forgot about him quickly after she returned home from her trip.  Just one more one night stand.