Jack

Jack was bored. The bar was empty and his beer tasted flat. The frumpy barmaid was away in a world of her own ignoring his calls for a fresh glass. The pub was a dump. The southern absentee owners used it to rip off as much money as possible while spending next to nothing on their itinerant customers.

Jack brushed the flies away and gave up. Mumbling to himself he headed out into the forty degree heat of the tropical North Queensland summer. He rolled down to the post office only to be told once more there was no mail for Jack Johnston. "No one wants an old burnt out fisherman," he growled. "Even the bloody Post office is giving me the arse."

Down in the dumps with nothing to do he slumped down on the bench under the big Moreton Bay fig tree and watched the few tourists who were stupid enough to be out in the noon day sun stagger past. Spying a newspaper someone had left on the ground near the bench Jack picked it up and glanced through its few pages. He was about to throw it away when the words oyster bank caught his eye.

Oyster Bank

North Queensland Remote Island
Surrounded by National Park.
8 hectares, 50 year lease.
As new 9 meter alloy landing Barge.
Protected anchorage with permitted accom.
Solar and wind power, Tons of fresh water.
Owner will be at Sovereign Hotel
For one week ending December 2
Ask for Mary. All offers considered.

Jack sat back and thought about his life and what he was going to do now he had sold his trawler and his fishing licenses. He wasn't short of money and didn't have to work. City life bored him and he knew pub life would eventually destroy him. An oyster bank that took him away from the vices of the city may be the life saver he needed.

With nothing else to do he wandered down to the Sovereign Hotel ordered a beer and asked for Mary. He was sipping his beer and thinking that he knew little about breeding and fattening oysters other than it was hard work when a quiet voice asked, "you want Mary?" Turning around he discovered a tall slim black woman.

"Sorry missus," he groaned. "I was looking for the Mary with the oyster bank for sale." Her face broke into a wide grin. "That's me boss, you want to buy it?" Jack was embarrassed he had not expected a black woman to be the owner. To hide his embarrassment he offered her a beer. "No beer boss, pubs no place for blackfella," she grinned "you come with me; I'll take you to see oysters."

Down at the wharf she led him to some lads loading bags of oysters onto a truck. She pointed to the bags." Good quality plate oysters will bring over $600 a bag, small milkies and others are worth just over $300. That's the last load from the oyster bank that Sam bagged before he died."

Jack could have kicked himself when he asked, "Who was Sam?" She turned away before she spoke, "He was my mate, he took me away from my tribe in the gulf when I turned eighteen. We lived together for ten years on that oyster lease until he died last month." She turned back to look at him steadily, "If you are interested I can run you out in the barge." she looked up at the noon day sun, "if we leave now we will be there just on dark."

"Hang on a minute," Jack growled. "If I read you right that looks like a four or five hour trip. I don't even know whether I want to buy an oyster lease. I know nothing about them." Mary shrugged. "Look mister you are the only one who has shown any interest. I have to go back. I am not making a special trip."

"You can come with me and I'll bring you back to the coast in the morning. I'd love to show you what's there and you will be company for me; it's a lonely trip without Sam." She stopped for a minute. "That's why I'm selling; too many memories and its too lonely now he's gone."

By the time Jack slipped back to the pub and grabbed his gear Mary had loaded her provisions and was waiting for him on the barge. "Hop aboard old fella," she called as Jack stood inspecting the barge. "Lets get underway; you can take the wheel and learn all about her over the next few hours."

After they left the harbor and headed south down the coast Jack took the wheel and settled back as Mary made a pot of tea. "What are you smiling about?" she asked when she sat his cup of tea on the wheelhouse table.

Jack couldn't help smiling. He had realized as soon as he felt the barge respond to his hands on the wheel what he had been missing. "I've just discovered what I have been missing. I love the sea it's nice to get aboard a well built vessel. I haven't handled a small barge before. I must say I am surprised she handles so well especially when she's powered by that big outboard. Who ever built her knew his business."

Mary sat down on the bunk and watched him as he turned the barge to head south east. "Sam built it. He said the outboard would be more practical than an inboard motor in the shallows near the oyster rocks. He was an expert sailor. I had only been in dinghies until we came here. He taught me to handle the barge and another old trawler that we wrecked on our lease. The local harbormaster says I am the only aborigine woman in the north that holds a master mariners ticket."

The sun was slowly sinking towards the horizon when Mary took the wheel. She laughed when he objected. "Its low tide so it will be best if I take you through the channel."

"A lot of yachts and commercial vessels pass close by. Sam found visitors a nuisance so the entrance is unmarked. It is very narrow. Our beam is eleven feet the channel is not much wider."

Jack was shown the value of the big outboard when she used the power trim and tilt to ease the barge up into the shallows and onto the beach. "We could never reach here with the old trawler," Mary said as she walked the mooring ropes up to posts buried high in the sand. "Pick up that rope at the stern and haul it tight it will keep the barge straight tonight at the top of the tide." Jack smiled as she issued instructions she was a natural Skipper and he did as he was told. Mary saw his smile and called, "Hop to it old man before it gets dark."

The twilight was fading as the last of the gas and provisions were locked up in the shed. The mooring and unloading was slow even with the easy access provided by lowering the ramp.

Jack was sweating as he stood in the shadows and inspected the hut. Like many hundreds of shacks that dotted the northern coastline it was constructed of galvanized roofing iron. The walls windows and roof were made of iron. The widows were pushed up and out then propped open with a piece of hardwood.

The floor was a solid concrete slab. A water tank stood on a tall stand at the rear close to a southern cross windmill that Jack suspected doubled up to pump water from the spear pump and provide power to the storage batteries he had seen in the shed.

As they stepped in the door Mary hit a switch and a hidden generator purred into life flooding the room with light. "My god," Jack exclaimed, "it's a mansion in here." She laughed excitedly. "Sam told me he was the bastard son of an English aristocrat. He used to laugh when he was drunk and speak of the family banishing the bastard son to the colonies. He received money every month from England he called himself a remittance man."

"Sam wanted us to be comfortable here so when he went over to the mainland to collect his remittance he would spend it immediately on what he called life's little luxuries. For example we have solar hot water showers and a satellite phone and television service. We have sufficient power from generators the windmill and the solar panels to provide more than adequate lighting and refrigeration including a portable air conditioner in our bedroom."

"Then we have our dry eco friendly toilet. It's the reason for that big hill of sand out the back away from the shore."

"The marine park authority approved and supervised its construction, it was very expensive. They come here all the time to check that we meet all their regulations and rules. We collect and recycle our grey water. Those paw-paw banana and mangoes are all watered by a drip system from a grey water storage tank back near the toilet. Without the eco toilet and the grey water tank we would not be allowed to live here."

They sat looking out over the sandy beach and the reef until Mary broke the silence. "Sam always demanded that we shower and dress for dinner. I will shower first so I can start to get things ready and you can join me after you shower and change."

When Jack returned from the shower he stood for a minute watching Mary move around the kitchen. She had changed from the jeans and long sleeved shirt she had worn on the barge into a short white cotton dress. The contrast between her deep black skin and the shiny white cloth was dramatic making him study her body for the first time since they met.

The dress was beautifully made drawing his eyes to a larger than normal set off breasts that without being sluttish seemed to spill out and draw attention to a tiny waist that spread again to a nice set of smallish thighs. Finally her long thin black legs ended in a pair of white high heeled shoes

He smiled to himself as he thought it really was no wonder that Sam the remittance man had stole her from her tribe and the reserve. She was the most beautiful aborigine woman he had ever laid eyes on.

Mary turned as he approached. "Would you like a glass of wine or a scotch before dinner? She noticed his questioning look and went into an explanation. "Sam used to say that there was no need to deny ourselves the pleasures of civilization because we were living in isolation away from city life. He always wanted me to dress for dinner. On these hot summer nights I would prepare a cold meal and we would have a drink before we sat down. He always wanted the table set with a table cloth and good silver. He would wait until I joined him before he ate."

"You miss him don't you?" Jack asked when she started to eat. "Yes," she whispered, "he was my life. I don't know what I am going to do now he's gone. I don't want to go back to the reserve and I don't want to become a fringe dwelling city aborigine. I'm lost without him."

When the meal was over Mary took a bottle of wine and ushered him out on to the small concrete verandah that looked out over the Coral Sea. Jack watched intrigued as she pored herself a glass of wine. "Back at the pub you refused a beer but you're drinking wine and I see a lot of alcohol in the cupboard. Don't you like beer?"

Mary stopped smiling, "My people have been destroyed by grog. Many white people in the cape exploit them with grog then put them down for being lazy drunks. I don't like pubs and the people who run them. Sam said they were parasites. He would not let me to go into a pub other than the Sovereign where he bought his supplies and collected his mail. The owner was another Englishman who knew Sam's family history."

"Sam hated seeing black women drunk in the streets. He took me away from my tribe and settled on this island so we did not have to put up with the snide remarks and see what he called the shame of my race."

Jack had to admit as he stripped off and stretched out on his bed later that evening that he had been critical of what he and his mates had called lazy aborigines who staggered around the streets with a flagon of wine stinking drunk.

He didn't think he was a racist but had to admit he had never been very supportive of attempts to improve the lot of indigenous people. He had from years of working in the cape developed a very low opinion of most of the aborigine race.

He was the first to admit there was some good ones and some smart ones but as far as he was concerned they were outnumbered by those who wouldn't work in an iron lung. He had to admit it was not always their fault. He knew from experience that many problems facing aborigine communities were caused by whites. He was pissed off at white men who hung around the black's camps and reserves peddling wine and looking for drunken sex.

After talking with Mary he was starting to feel a little ashamed. He had never had a long conversation with a smart aborigine woman. It was an experience that had opened his eyes. As they laughed and joked while telling the stories of their lives he found himself warming to Mary. She was beautiful and under Sam's tutelage she had become an entertaining and witty companion.

Sometime during the night Jack was woken by the touch on his face. "Can I sleep with you? Mary whispered as she joined him on his bed. "Tonight was like old times. Sam and I used to sit for hours talking and then when we went to bed he would hold me in his arms and I would feel secure and safe." She cuddled down beside him. "Please hold me. I miss him so much. I hate sleeping alone."

Jack did not say a word he just wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. They lay together for some time before her hands moved down his back, "you don't wear clothes," she whispered. Jack laughed, "No, but I can put some on if it bothers you."

Mary did not reply she ran her hands over his chest and back down over his butt then back up to hold him close. "You are very fit and hard, Sam was soft, he was too fat his body was different." Jack did not know what to say or what to do. All his negative feelings about aborigine women and sex raised their heads for a minute, and then faded as he felt her breasts pressing against his body through her nightdress.

Because of his biases he had never given a thought to having sex with an aborigine woman. He was making up his mind what to do or say when his cock made up its mind. It grew hard and poked up into Mary's nightdress pushing in between her thighs. Mary did not say a word she gently felt his hardness then broke their embrace and stood up dropping her nightdress to the floor before stepping out of it and sliding back in the bed beside him.

As she slid in to bed moonlight from the window shone on her breasts. They were much larger and softer than Jack had expected. As if it was the most natural thing to do he lifted his head and moved so his mouth could reach the closest nipple. His movements were tentative his brain still telling him this should not be. Mary changed all that when she gently took hold of his head and pulled his face in to her breasts.

"Oh my god," Jack groaned as he wrapped his arms around her and ran his tongue over and under her soft black breast and started nibbling on a thick brown nipple. His erection throbbed; his mouth went dry, as he forgot about her race or background and his anger at white men who sought out aborigine girls for sex.

Her warm soft body seemed to surround him and relax him as his hands stroked and touched her wherever he could reach. Moving so his hands could travel further on their mission he was able to eventually run his hands down over her flat stomach towards her pussy. When she did not object he let his body follow his hands down until he was kissing around her belly button while his urgent fingers found and opened her pussy to await his tongue.

Mary had been scared when she left her bed and sought to find a place in Jacks bed. She had missed the comfort of Sam's loving arms. She had slept in Sam's arms every evening they had spent together since he stole her from her family.

Sam had found it hard to raise or sustain an erection, so sex between them was extremely rare and never satisfactory. The lack of sex did not faze Mary because she knew Sam loved her. He was a cuddly bear who loved to hold her and kiss her. He made up for his sexual shortcomings spending hours teaching her to speak and dress properly.

"One day I'll take you home my black beauty. When we turn up in London we will shock the living daylights out of my stuffy family," he used to cry when he had too much to drink. He would entertain her as he laughed and staggered around the hut by describing how they would take London by storm. "My beautiful black colonial aborigine will rub their bloody noses in the dirt that's for sure." He would cry as he led her to bed.

Sam was not a lover. He did not believe in oral sex or foreplay. He joked about his soft cock accepting it as a fact of life. It was an exceptionally rare occasion when he could stay hard enough to put it in and even then it would quickly grow soft and slip out.

Instead of making love they slept in each others arms. He used to tell her when they lay together and his body would not respond to her caresses that his love for her was the thing that kept him going. They would hold each other as he cried and fell asleep.

Mary was brought back to the present when Jack's tongue licked along the lips of her pussy. She had been a virgin when Sam took her and was virtually a virgin ten years later. No tongue had ever invaded her pussy until now. She found the touch of his mouth so exciting that her body started to shake and tremble all over.

Never having had anyone kiss or caress her pussy with their mouth and tongue Mary started to panic when her body responded so vigorously. She was embarrassed thinking he would think she was a trollop. With those thoughts rushing through her mind and her body bucking under his tongues caresses she tried without success to stop her body from shuddering and bucking. But no matter what she tried his tongue prevailed and her shudders grew in intensity.

Mary's shivering body created havoc with Jacks breathing. Her trembling thighs and her quiet sighs drove Jack to distraction. His sex life in recent years had mostly been with Molly the only prostitute in the fishing village and lately with her twenty year old daughter Martha. Because of the number of clients they serviced when the fishing fleet hit town Jack never ever thought of going down on either Molly or Martha.

Tonight was different. Mary's hairy pussy smelt good. It was giving off a distinctive aroma that he had never experienced before. Just the smell of her pussy made his heart beat faster and his cock grow harder. To his surprise it not only smelt good it was hot and very wet.

Jack was not used to a wet pussy. Molly had always had to rub Vaseline on her condoms to prevent her customers from hurting her when their cocks slid into her dry hole. So Mary's hot moist pussy intrigued and excited Jack, he was in heaven. He played with it, fingered it, licked it, kissed it and smothered it with affection.

Her reaction to his tongue and fingers created feelings in Jack that he had rarely experienced in his brief times with a woman. He returned time and time again to her warm wet pussy working and sucking with his tongue and fingers until to his surprise he felt her come.

Mary lay back and enjoyed the sensations Jack was creating. She had become so relaxed under his gentle caresses that she jumped when he spoke, "I don't have any condoms," he whispered. "We shouldn't take a risk."

Mary did not know what to say. The question of safe sex had never been raised by Sam. He was her one and only man. He taught her to keep herself clean taking her to the local private hospital for a check up when they first arrived and occasionally after that. She knew he would have loved a son or a daughter so she never took precautions.

Mary did not say anything but she wanted Jack. She had dreamt of the day when Sam would stay hard and satisfy the longing that had built up in her over the years. Her body was on fire she was experiencing feelings she had never felt before. She didn't care whether he used a condom or not, she wanted Jack. She moved her body to accommodate his and started to tell him when he moved his head from between her legs and sat up.

Jack smiled at Mary and closed her mouth with a kiss before she could speak. She relaxed when he continued to kiss her for some time. She waited in anticipation hoping he would kiss down to her breasts but was disappointed when his kisses continued up along her cheek until his tongue filled her ear.