Eric Skele would be the first guy to admit he very much liked getting laid. He loved to boast that he never had to chase after women either. They threw themselves at him. If he was out on the town and a woman couldn’t get his attention, she would often slip him a piece of paper. On it she would have written down her cellphone number and then covered the paper with lipstick kisses. Without fail the women all promised him ‘a good time’.

This suited Eric very well, as he had no intention of tying himself to one woman, ever again.

It had been two years since his marriage had exploded in his face. Though he was the one who had cheated on his wife, he was surprised and disbelieving when she said she was filing for a divorce. Then one evening he arrived home from work and found packed cardboard boxes on the stoep.

“Are you doing a clear out?” He was annoyed, because he could not smell the usual pot of food cooking on the stove. He was ravenous.

“The only one who’s getting out of here is you, Eric. All your belongings are in those boxes.”

“Please Dolores. I’ll change. Those women mean nothing to me.”

“I don’t care. I’ve found somebody else. He loves me and wants to marry me after our divorce. We want to start a family together.”

It was Dolores’s flat, so he had no choice but to leave.

“There’s plenty more fish in the sea,” he joked to his friend, Samson.

Samson was married with two small children. He’d never considered cheating on his wife.

But Eric’s father, Joe, urged him on. “You’re only young once, son. ‘Love them and leave them,’ is my motto.”

His mother thought differently. “You’ve seen first-hand what cheating on your spouse can do to a person, Eric.” She’d glare at her husband then.

In the early years of their marriage Joe had cheated on his wife. She had taken him back, and, as far as Eric knew, Joe had never strayed since.

“I didn’t raise you like that, son. You’ve got to respect yourself, and those women too. Dolores was a good woman, but you let her slip through your fingers.”

His older sister, Molly, was not impressed with him at all. Molly was very opinionated.

“Who do you think you are, bragging about the women you’ve bedded? What do you do? Keep a record?” There was disgust in her voice.

“What can I do, sis? They are begging for it.”

Molly shook her head. “One day, a woman’s going to come along and break your heart, brother. That is, if you even have one. Dolores was a fine woman, but I never felt she was the right partner for you. How could you have done that to her? You treated her very badly.”

Deep down Eric knew she spoke the truth. “I don’t think I’ll ever settle down again,” Eric scowled.

***

Tell us: Do you think it is common for men to speak and behave like Joe, Eric’s Dad?