Men: Parasites and Vultures!

Disclaimer: This does not apply to all men, so don't take it personally, just my mind-frame right now. Plus loosen up, it's only a story.

Curtis was getting on in years. His fiftieth birthday had come and gone, uneventfully, as it had been just about a decade since his first wife passed and she was normally the one that handled all special events and everything else. Curtis was growing weary of his solitary self-dependence. Apart from the several 'girl-friends' who would assist him from time to time, he had no clear support forth-coming as none were crazy enough to accept a proposal even if he mustered the decency to do so. Erica, with whom he was living, was a lawyer who owned two cars and the house they lived in. She was a divorcee and although she had sworn off marraige, was enamoured by Curtis and silently considered the prospects of becoming his wife. But Curtis was unsatisfied with Erica, she was slightly overweight and way too confident. It would be too difficult for him to convince her to entrust him with everything. Chara was slighty younger than Erica and as such had no assets but possessed great potential. She was working her way up the corporate ladder and Curtis hoped that she would carry him with her on that journey. But she was taking too long and his wife's insurance money was quickly trickling away. Partially because of his gambling problem but mostly because he had 'retired' from his job shortly after his wife's passing.

Mrs. Felicia Bailey, owned and operated her own business and was very succesful at it. When she died she left the business to her eldest daughter, knowing her husbands gambling problem but unaware of the insurance policy he had taken out on her. She despised her husband but kept him for solely narcissistic purposes, her death was her ultimate revenge, or so she thought.
Curtis, aware of his wife's need to nurture, used and abused her generosity. He had barely worked in her company, doing nothing but making unnecessary decisions. Yet still he recieved a fat paycheck at the end of each month, his allowance.

Being supported came second nature to Curtis. His mother had suckled him until age 7 and had continued to smother him until he met Felicia who took over her role upon his mother's death. For as long as he could remember, Curtis had three meals a day and wanted for nothing. Everything he ever desired was supplied by the women in his life. As far as he was concerned, being a man meant attaching oneself to a female and benefiting from all she had to offer. It was a parasitic symbiotic lifestyle, but to Curtis it was normal. And with women like his mother, Felicia, Erica and Chara, why would Curtis ever need to take resposibility for his own life?

His eldest daughter had recently married and was too busy being absorbed by her new husband to give her father the attention he had grown accustomed to. Curtis needed another benefactor. After finding out about Chara, Erica gave Curtis one more opportunity to change his ways, but Chara abhored discretion, calling him at all hours of the night, leaving messages on his phone and hickeys on his neck. Erica and Chara had become liabilities now, Curtis needed a cash-cow and he needed one ASAP.

Lorna was to be his next victim. If only she had known.

Work In Progress... to be contd...