There is nothing quite like fun in the summer. Trust me on this one. My name is John LeJeune. A big and tall young Black man of Haitian descent living in the city of Ottawa, Ontario. I was born in the city of Cap-Haitien, Republic of Haiti, but spent most of my life in Canada. I take Criminal Justice courses at Carleton University and hope to become a police officer someday. The summer of 2010 is here. It's been a really tough year. I decided to spend my summer vacation in the United States of America. Canada simply blows. I get mad bored in a town like Ottawa. So I went to stay with family members in the city of Brockton, Massachusetts, for a little while.
I stayed with my mother Astrid's big brother, Uncle Vincent Valeur, his wife Myra Jean Valeur and their two daughters, Mala and Vera Valeur. Both are students at the University of Massachusetts in the city of Boston. I guess it's cool when you have family all over. I have family all over Canada as well as in American states like Texas, Massachusetts and New York. My parents, Jonathan and Astrid LeJeune live in a nice house in the Ottawa suburb of Orleans in Canada. Dad is a police officer and Mom is a professor at Algonquin College. They don't like the U.S. too much. They claim it's too wild for them. Whatever.
I guess that's where my parents and I significantly differ. Personally, I love the U.S. Especially the town of Boston. I like to visit every summer. It's bigger and more diverse than most cities in all of Canada. The only Canadian cities which come close to having American cities vibrant diversity and sheer size are Toronto and Vancouver. The rest are small, lily-white and boring. Also, I find Americans a lot friendlier and open-minded than the covertly bigoted residents of Ottawa, Canada's capital city. Canadians are so two-faced, bigoted and insecure it's not even funny. In America, you know your friends and you know your enemies. You know where you stand.
In America, I wanted to make up for lost time. Romance isn't easy for me. Never has been. Partly because of my upbringing. I had the academic privilege and social misfortune of attending Cadmus Academy, an all-male military school. Upon graduation, I was immediately accepted into top schools around North America like Canada's very own Carleton University, and more well-known American schools like Harvard University, Boston College, Brandeis University, Howard University, Morehouse College, Hampton University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Northeastern University and the University of Houston in Texas. I was really tempted to seek higher education in the U.S. but Carleton University was offering me a full academic scholarship. I couldn't turn that down. So my ass stayed in Canada. Sad but true.
At Carleton University, I was surrounded by the sons and daughters of immigrant families from Africa, the Middle East, India, Korea, China and the Caribbean. There were thousands of them. I liked my school's growing diversity. I met a gorgeous young woman named Micah Tory. She was six feet tall, beautiful, and one hundred percent Haitian. One of many Haitian female students at the University of Carleton. And she was single! I am one of those Black men who prefer to date Black women. Why Black women? They are beautiful. They are strong. They are hot. Black women are the foundation of the Black community. I am so into them. I thought Micah would be my princess and I would be her prince. She came from a good family too. Her father Roger Tory is a professor at the University of Ottawa School of Medicine. Her mother Geraldine is a high-powered attorney. Did I hit the jackpot or what?
Well, I thought I did. I mocked my friends, all those young Black men who chose to date ugly White chicks instead of holding out for a sexy and educated young Black woman. I thought Micah and I were destined to be together. Unfortunately, she was less than honest with me. She forgot to tell me she had a thing for football players. While I was dating Micah, she was secretly sleeping with Hamilton, this burly Black guy who plays football for the University of Ottawa. One day, I caught them together. And my heart shattered into a million pieces.
Micah dumped me and I found myself alone and heartbroken. I focused on my studies rather than romance. My attempt to keep myself from focusing on the pain I felt. I swore one to myself. I have always been the type of brother who respects the sisters and cherishes them. That's not about to change. However, I don't want to limit my dating opportunities. No, I'm not going after white chicks. I've never been into them. However, Asian and Hispanic women appeal to me almost as much as Black women do. If the sisters don't want me, I just might get me an Asian chick. Or a sexy Hispanic gal.
