Faint

We all know someone or have heard of someone who has an addiction. Addictions are dangerous, both for the people who are addicted and those who care about them. But what happens when someone's addiction is their only source of joy and it harms no one? Can it really be considered an addiction? By nature, addictions are harmful. Or are they? Can certain addictions sometimes be considered to be harmless? What a revolutionary thought! That's what this great story is all about.

We shall follow events in the lives of a tall, somewhat chubby young man afflicted with a terrible addiction. Dudley Jennings is a young African-American living in the Boston Area. He's nineteen years old, and a student at the Commonwealth Institute of Technology, a small private school located in downtown Boston. Right on Commonwealth Avenue. When Dudley enrolled at Commonwealth Avenue in September 2007, he was an ordinary young man happily beginning his college career. CIT was just the school he needed. A small private school with only eighteen hundred students. CIT had a focus on engineering, computing and various aspects of technical education. The school granted associate's and bachelor's degrees in more than forty fields. For a lifelong techie like Dudley, this was the place to be.

Dudley Jennings graduated from Brockton Military Academy, an all-male private high school in June 2007. He had been looking forward to college his entire life. He had been a straight A student at the Academy and won himself an academic scholarship to the Commonwealth Institute of Technology. He comes from good stock, intellectually speaking. His father, Kyle Jennings, is a graduate of Georgia Tech. He teaches in the civil engineering department at Worcester State College. His mother, Adelie Brown Jennings, is a distinguished MIT alumnus who owns a chain of hardware stores with branches in four states. With such accomplished individuals for parents, one could see that Dudley was under pressure as he began his college career. He enrolled in the Computer Science program at CIT. Dudley was happy to discover that CIT had a fledgling varsity sports program. He used to play Baseball and Soccer at the Brockton Military Academy. Fortunately, his new school had a wide variety of varsity sports.

The Commonwealth Institute of Technology Department of Athletics currently sponsors Men's Intercollegiate Baseball, Basketball, Soccer, Cross Country, Swimming, Volleyball, Wrestling, Lacrosse, Golf, Tennis, Water Polo, Ice Hockey and Football along with Women's Intercollegiate Softball, Tennis, Basketball, Cross Country, Swimming, Golf, Volleyball, Field Hockey, Water Polo, Lacrosse, Ice Hockey, Soccer and Rugby. They competed in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division Three. Unlike Division One athletic powerhouses like Boston College, Ohio State University and Georgia Tech, CIT didn't offer any athletic scholarships. Student-athletes played for love of the game. It is with great pleasure that Dudley Jennings tried out for the Baseball team and made it.

The athletic facilities of the Commonwealth Institute of Technology were located at the nearby town of Milton, as were most of the student dormitories. There simply wasn't enough space for CIT to house a Football Stadium, a Gymnasium, a Track Course and an Olympic Swimming Pool in the various buildings they owned in downtown Boston. It simply was not feasable. The real estate market was murderous at the moment. Always a good sport, Dudley was more than happy to get on the bus and commute to Milton to practice with the Baseball team. All he wanted to do was to play. The day CIT's Baseball team defeated Bridgewater State College was the happiest day of Dudley's life. His parents were there to cheer him on.

Yeah, life was good for Dudley Jennings. He was leading the kind of life many people could only dream of. Playing one of America's most popular sports while attending a pretty good school basically for free. He lived in a really nice and spacuous dormitory on Commonwealth Avenue. It was one of Boston City's priciest neighborhoods. Yeah, some of his neighbors were the richest men and women in the country. One of the New England Patriots was rumored to have lived there, some time ago. Dudley Jennings had it made. He was young, healthy and happy. He felt that he could do just about anything. Yes, in many ways, life simply couldn't be better. Unfortunately, trouble would soon come to paradise.

When trouble came into Dudley Jennings picture-perfect world, it came in the form of Matthew Masterson. A tall, good-looking African-American stud who enrolled at the Commonwealth Institute of Technology in January 2008. He was a transfer from Bridgewater State College. By a strange twist of fate, Dudley ended up becoming Matthew's roommate. Dudley's old roommate, chain-smoking and dope-dealing charmer John Jersey, had dropped out and left the school. Apparently, he had some issues of a personal nature to take care of. Dudley didn't know what to make of his new roommate. The first time they met, Dudley held out his hand for Matthew to shake. Matthew looked at his hand, smiled, and didn't shake it. Then, he threw his bag in the middle of the dorm and lay on the bed, after turning his CD Player volume to the maximum. Dudley sighed, and suddenly realized that the next few months were going to be quite long. He had a jerk for a roommate.

As it turns out, Matthew Masterson wasn't just an ordinary jerk. The guy had a chip on his shoulder the size of Mount Rushmore. He always acted like he was all that. A man with something to prove. He joined the Men's Ice Hockey team, a move that shocked many people on campus. As a tall, athletic young black man, Matthew Masterson was expected to play anything from Football and Basketball to Soccer, or maybe even be into Wrestling. However, he wasn't into any of these sports. The guy actually wanted to play Hockey. He tried out for the Men's Hockey team and made it. He was actually a really good Hockey player too. How about that? Even though Dudley dislike Matthew, he secretly admired him for knocking down stereotypes about black people.

One day, Matthew surprised Dudley by asking him to come to a Hockey game. Dudley hesitated, but his curiosity got the best of him and he agreed. The two young men went to watch the Boston University Men's Hockey team take on Harvard. It was a fast-paced game of Division One Hockey. Dudley had never watched a Hockey game in his life and was surprised at how wild it got. Matthew seemed to be really into it. He had a wild look on his handsome face the entire time. Dudley was fascinated by the sight of Matthew in his own element. In the dormitory, Matthew kept to himself. He greeted Dudley with a chilly nod every morning and didn't care to make conversation. He hung out with a bunch of guys from the Football and Hockey crowds and their girlfriends. Baseball players like Dudley didn't seem to exist or matter. Well, that night, he seemed really different.

After the game, Matthew took Dudley to a restaurant and insisted on paying for everything. As they sampled some fine dishes, Matthew surprised Dudley by being charming. He seemed really interested in Dudley and expressed an interest in his life. Also, he apologized for his earlier behavior. He claimed that he had nothing against Dudley personally, but was mad at the world when they first met. Dudley accepted his seemingly heartfelt apology. Then, they went to see the new Alien Versus Predator movie at the downtown Boston theater together. It was a damn good movie. At the end of it, the two buddies walked through Boston Common together. The park was cool and quiet, just the way Dudley liked it.

As they walked through the park, Dudley's mind raced. He was discovering a whole need side to Matthew, one that he was strangely liking. What in hell was going on? Matthew suddenly dropped the ball on Dudley. He asked him point-blank why he didn't have a girlfriend. Dudley blinked and swallowed hard. Should he lie or tell the truth? He decided to do the latter. He looked Matthew in the eye and told him the secret he had kept from his parents, friends and teammates all these years : He was gay. Calmly, he waited for Matthew's response. Matthew laughed. Dudley's eyes narrowed. What the heck was he doing? Dudley had just shared his darkest secret with him and Matthew, in typical jerk fashion, was laughing his ass off? Filled with anger, Dudley shoved Matthew.

Matthew shoved him back, but didn't stop laughing. Dudley's heart sank. Was Matthew going to divulge his secret to the entire school? In the next second, he found the answer to that agonizing question. Matthew suddenly grabbed him, and did the last thing Dudley ever expected. Matthew kissed him. On the lips. In public. It was a long, deep kiss. Dudley tried to fight it but he couldn't. When their lips parted, Matthew was still smiling. Dudley looked at him with wide eyes. Matthew winked, and confessed that he was gay too. Like Dudley, he didn't feel that his sexual orientation was anyone's business. Dudley couldn't believe it. Wow. Matthew the Hockey team's superman was gay. Wow. And a great kisser too!

Matthew put his arm around Dudley, and they walked back to the dormitories together. Once there, they resumed kissing. Truth be told, both of them were sexy black college men with needs and desires that they had repressed for too long. And both of them wanted to make up for lost time. They hastily undressed. Dudley sat on the bed and watched as Matthew got naked. The six-foot-three, 240-pound black stud had a lean, muscular body that Olympic athletes would envy. Dudley got up and dropped his shirt and pants, showing off his six-foot-tall, 250-pound body. He had a few extra pounds and felt a bit self-conscious about that but Matthew reassured him that he looked good.

Emboldened, Dudley kissed Matthew again. The two sexy black studs hopped on the bed, and rolled around. They caressed and felt up every inch of each other's bodies. Tenderly, roughly and passionately, they made love. Again and again, until all strength was gone from their bodies. Dudley and Matthew lay side by side, their bodies covered with sweat. Matthew smiled, and gently stroked Dudley's face. Then, he kissed him. Dudley kissed Matthew passionately. That night, they bonded, and not just sexually. This wasn't a random hookup for either of them. Their souls had bonded. They were addicted to each other, they just didn't know it yet. This was the beginning of a passionate relationship for both of them. Two black male college athletes who had fallen in love. It was a beautiful thing.