The phone call came on that fateful afternoon in early April, mere hours after Samuel Etienne checked out the place on Kijiji. He'd been in the campus library, prepping for finals like everyone at Carleton University. Samuel reviewed his notes while periodically shaking his head at what his uncle Jean had done. The old Haitian man unceremoniously told Samuel that he was no longer welcome to stay at his fancy townhouse in Nepean, so Samuel had to find new accommodations. So much for family always being in a man's corner, Samuel thought bitterly.
"As salaam alaikum, I am Fariza Bhatti, the owner, can you come by for a viewing this afternoon?" said the accented female voice, once Samuel dialed the number and introduced himself. Samuel hastily agreed, and then rushed out of the campus library. He took the train from campus to Bayview Station and then hopped onto a bus going to the Nepean area of Ottawa, Ontario. Once there, he took a cab to the address on his phone, and found himself in front of a beautiful, freshly constructed home.
"Good afternoon, Miss Fariza," Samuel said, as the owner came to the door. Fariza Bhatti was a tall, not quite slim, but definitely curvy woman with dark bronze skin and long, curly dark hair framing an angular face. She was definitely South Asian, though Samuel could not tell whether she was Indian, Pakistani or Bangladeshi. Cool, analytical brown eyes fixed onto Samuel's face, reading the young Haitian man's intent loud and clear. Samuel was yet another college or university student desperate for a place to stay in the summer. This is going to be easy, Fariza thought with a calculating smile.
"The rent is five hundred dollars a month, to be given the first of the month, and I expect you to follow the rules of the house, this is a Muslim household, so no alcohol, and no pork, no overnight guests, and laundry can only be done on weekends," Fariza said firmly. Samuel nodded as the older woman enumerated the rules, and suddenly thanked his uptight Adventist upbringing that he loathed pork and alcohol anyways. This wouldn't be easy, but it was feasible...
"Understood, madam," Samuel said cheerfully, and he and Fariza shook hands before singing the contract. When Samuel returned to his uncle's place that night, he wired Fariza the first of the month's rent via his BMO student account. Samuel lay on his bed and felt a sense of hope. In the past, finding new accommodations hadn't been this easy. In the City of Ottawa, a lot of landlords and ladies went out of their way to avoid black tenants, and those who did take on black tenants were often shady, or their places were notoriously lousy.
"I want you out within a week," Jean said to his nephew Samuel as he came home from another grueling day at the Ontario Ministry of Labour, where he worked. Stocky, dark-skinned and bald-headed, Jean is the younger brother of Marguerite Etienne, Samuel's mother, who happens to live on the island of Haiti. The dude charged his nephew four hundred a month to live in his basement, and frequently berated him. On the day Samuel finally talked back, Jean wanted him out. Isn't life grand?
"No problem," Samuel replied as he continued to prepare for his criminology exam, and the older man glared at him but did not say anything else. Like a lot of older Haitian men, Jean is strict and bossy. Recently, he's begun dating a white woman, a short-haired, curvy beauty named Linda who lives in the environs of Gatineau, Quebec. Jean likes having his place to himself now that he's got a lady and his nephew Samuel's presence is definitely cramping his style. Samuel had to go, for this and many other reasons...
Three days later, Samuel moved out, to his uncle Jean's everlasting relief. He gathered his clothes and books in huge black trash bags which he loaded at the back of a cab, and then headed to his new place. Fariza was there to give him the key, and she surprised him by helping him with one of his bags. Samuel moved into the furnished bedroom located upstairs, right next to the pristine new washroom. Samuel liked his new digs already. Sure, Fariza seemed strict but the place was nice. Living in a strict house beats all hell out of being on the streets, that's for damn sure.
"I am going to be okay," Samuel said to himself as he lay on his new bed, which was king-sized, and quite nice. The room contained a bed, a chair, a table, and a huge placard where he could put his clothes. There were dozens of empty hangers which he hung his clothes on. Half an hour after moving into Fariza's fancy townhouse in Nepean, Samuel was settled in. Feeling hungry, Samuel grabbed his keys and went out for grocery shopping.
Samuel used his U-Pass to catch the OC Transpo bus circling Nepean before heading back to the City of Ottawa. He got off at Walmart, and bought a carton of eggs, hot dogs, TV dinners, and three cans of orange juice. As a brother without a car, Samuel tends to buy only as many groceries as he can carry. Taking the bus with arms loaded with goods isn't fun, especially given how unfriendly a lot of his fellow riders could be. Samuel wanted to buy a car, but all in due time.
While at Walmart, Samuel ran into his former classmate Jasmine O'Hara, the tall, foxy redhead with the clear green eyes, curvy body and mesmerizing ass. Jasmine works as a cashier at Walmart when she isn't distracting all the fellas and a few of the ladies in criminology class with her provocative outfits and outlandish ideas. Samuel had a thing for her, but the crimson-haired gal made it clear to him that she sticks with her own kind, and that was that.
"Not into black guys, sorry," Jasmine told Samuel, after he worked up the nerve to ask her out, one fine day in the Carleton University food court. Samuel felt crushed but he flashed a placid smile and nodded as though Jasmine hadn't said anything derogatory. Any woman is free to reject any man whom she isn't interested in. Samuel felt that a simple no on Jasmine's part would have been fine, but whatever. Swallowing his pride, Samuel walked away...
"It's all good," Samuel told Jasmine before walking away, and the smirk on her face haunted him for days afterwards. Samuel isn't always lucky with the ladies, so fortunately he has other options. Samuel considers himself heteroflexible, which means that while he predominantly prefers women, he has been known to dabble with the other side. This is the source of much misfortune for Samuel, for the world of men who deal with men is often a dangerous one...
Life is not easy for black men who happen to be bisexual, heteroflexible or mostly straight, whatever the cool terminology happens to be these days. Samuel has a thing for big-bottomed women of all races, but he also notices certain fellas. Knowing that gay men tend to talk a lot or get clingy after sex, Samuel avoids dealing with them and instead deals exclusively with another masculine black man who is as sexually fluid as he is. Life is better this way.
"I'll make you forget all about that white bitch," said Malik Damijo, when Samuel came to visit him at his South Keys apartment. Tall, gangly and dark-skinned, with a thick beard, Malik is a brother whom Samuel met during his security guard days. Originally from the town of Kano, Nigeria, Malik is studying business management at the University of Ottawa. Malik has a girlfriend named Ramona, a big-booty Mexican chick who has no idea that he swings both ways...
"Thanks, family," Samuel said as a smiling Malik tossed him a beer. Samuel caught the beer, Alexander Keith's, his favorite brand. Samuel doesn't drink usually but after the week he'd had, he needed to unwind. Sitting in Malik's living room, Samuel watched TV and chilled. The iconic movie Blade 2 was playing on the Space Channel, and both young men enjoyed it immensely. Samuel has always been a big fan of actor Wesley Snipes and hoped he would make a successful comeback.
"Dude, check this out," Malik said, as he tossed Samuel his cell phone, which happened to be playing an AMV video. Samuel watched the video, and at first, he thought it was porn. On the video, Malik was seated in that very same living room, and he was getting head from Ramona, his big-booty Mexican girlfriend. Samuel blushed and looked at Malik, who laughed and told him to keep watching.
"You're crazy man," Samuel said as he watched Malik, on video, put Ramona on all fours before spanking her big brown ass. Malik rolled a condom on his big dark dick and then began fucking Ramona from behind. Gripping Ramona by the hips, Malik fucked her with gusto, slamming his hard dick into her pussy. Samuel found himself turned on by the video. Malik's manliness and sexual prowess were some of the things Samuel liked the most about him.
"Oh yes Papi, fuck me," Ramona squealed on the video as Malik proceeded to dick her down. The Nigerian Muslim stud definitely knows how to slang dick and he made Ramona's big booty bounce under the force of his thrusts. To really shine Ramona on, Malik grabbed her long dark hair and pulled on it while ramming his big dark dick into her pussy like there was no tomorrow. Malik proceeded to fuck Ramona until the Mexican gal tapped out, much later...
"I fucked Ramona so damn well that she was limping the next day," Malik crowed proudly, and Samuel laughed and nodded in agreement before handing back the cell phone. Sometimes Samuel wished he could be more like Malik. There were times when Samuel felt guilty about being bisexual, heteroflexible or mostly straight, as the saying goes nowadays. The Haitian community isn't known for its tolerance of LGBT people, and Samuel knew that most women from the Caribbean wouldn't want a bisexual man as a boyfriend or husband. Life can be hell for a switch-hitter, for real.
