The Belgian port loomed up, gantries black and menacing in the fog. I went
back to the lorry. Pete got in, looking rather pleased with himself.

“Were you having trouble with that sailor?’ I asked him. He shot a
surprised look at me, then smiled.

“No, I often meet him on this trip. He doesn’t have much to do while we’re
out at sea.’ He hesitated, then stretched out across the steering wheel, his
chin on his hands, and stared at me. “There’s a lot you don’t know about,
isn’t there?’

This enigmatic question caught me off guard. What did he mean? I knew that
I wasn’t an experienced traveller like him, but it was a peculiar remark,
all the same. It certainly did nothing to put me at ease, only made me feel
more out of place. No appropriate answer came to mind, so I just kept quiet,
watching the cargo doors of the boat opening.

Twink poses naked

Jack was a legend at the depot. He had worked there longer than anyone
could remember, becoming dirtier and dirtier each year, rarely sober, and
with a vicious temper. Most of the lads were terrified of him.

“Don’t get me wrong,’ Pete continued thoughtfully, “Jack’s all right when
you get to know him. He’s had a difficult life. But I certainly wouldn’t
want him on a trip like this. Have you been to Italy before?’

“No, I’ve never been abroad,’ I answered, “I’m looking forward to it.’

“A factory in Italy is just the same as one in England, but it’s good to
be out here away from the cities. Get my jumper for me, Tony, it’s in the
back.’

As a frequent jetsetter, I have for long fantasized about this ex-
clusive club, which in reality probably has few authentic members who
have genuinely screwed their way through the stratosphere. How can you
manage to have-it-away on board a crowded airliner? Well recently I
succeeded – and how! This amazing experience happened on the top deck
of a BA 747 heading out of New York for Heathrow, with a beautiful boy
I had never met before.

I had had a hectic day getting my work completed before flying
out, got to the airport late, and consequently was glad to have got
through the airport hassle and slump into my Club Class seat. The top
deck of the 747 has a small cabin which some airlines use for first
class passengers, but many including BA, use for Business Class; there
are only 20 or 30 seats, which gives you the feeling of being in a
small, but spacious airliner. The top deck is reached via a spiral
staircase and you travel cut off from the masses on the main deck be-
low. This flight, luckily, was fairly empty so I was fortunate that
through the lottery of seat allocations, Lars, as he turned out to be
named, took up the aisle seat corresponding to my window seat and no-
body else got seated either between us or in the row on the other side
of the aisle.