Arab Girls for Haitian Boys

I've always been unlucky in all things related to love. Now, I hear a lot of talk about the Dearth of good Black men in the Black Community. Sometimes, I want to shout at Black women that there are good Black men out there. Like me. By the way, my name is Adonis Saint-Guillaume. I'm twenty three years old and I'm a six-foot-one, lean young Brother with light brown skin, curly Black hair and hazel eyes. My mother is White, and my father is Black. They met and had me in Haiti, but I grew up partially in the Caribbean and partially in the Quebec region of Canada, birthplace of my French Canadian mother Astrid Villeneuve. My father, Leonel Saint-Guillaume was born and raised in the Republic of Haiti. Both my parents are highly educated, worldly people who put a lot of good things in me. Making me a fine global citizen.

Without wanting to sound like a braggart, I come from good stock, and I believe in higher education and lifelong learning. I'm not one of those Brothers walking around with their pants hanging low, hoping to break into music or sports instead of studying or getting a real job. There are a lot of Black female students at Carleton University, so why can't a decent, educated and good-looking Brother like me find a beautiful Black girlfriend on campus? Someone forgot to tell me that educated Brothers aren't seen as cool by today's North American Black women. Only Black thugs and rich White men are seen as cool by Black women. When I tell my father about my issues when I date Black women in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, he laughs at me. My father isn't into Black women at all. Having been born and raised in Haiti, he lived on an island full of Black ladies. And the guy still managed to marry a White woman who was visiting the Republic of Haiti from her native Canada. Talk about having unique preferences.

The Black ladies I knew in the Republic of Haiti found me weird because I was what they called a mulatto. People in the Republic of Haiti don't believe in politically correct racial terminologies such as mixed or biracial. They stick to their old ways and their old terms. Also, unlike most mulattoes, I had a Black father and a White mother. Lots of Black women in the Republic of Haiti have mixed offspring from sexual relationships with Hispanic men from the nearby Dominican Republic, and visiting White businessmen from the U.S. and Europe. Yeah, I liked the local Black women but the history of clashes between mulattoes and regular Black folks in the islands, an issue having to do with race, class and economics, has led to Black folks mistrusting mulattoes in the Republic of Haiti.

Growing up biracial in the Republic of Haiti was a lonely experience, though I continued to be fond of Black women. When I moved to Canada with my parents, I mainly dated Black women. Unfortunately, again they found me weird. I grew up in a middle-class household. My father Leonel used to be a top of the line airline director in North Haiti. He studied in the U.S. in his younger days and has a Master's degree in business administration from Howard University in Washington D.C. Now that we live in Canada, he works for the Bank of Montreal as a manager. As for my mother Astrid Villeneuve, she teaches philosophy at Concordia University in metropolitan Montreal, Quebec. I opted to study at Carleton University in the City of Ottawa, Ontario, because I wanted to spread my wings, so to speak.

At Carleton University, I experienced a brand new world. I lived in a French style system of law and education my whole life, both in the Republic of Haiti and within the Province of Quebec. Located in the South end of Ottawa, Carleton University was completely different because it's English only. Wow. Very few French people study at Carleton University. The only Haitian sister I met there was Jacqueline Poilu. A tall, good-looking young Black woman with a curvy body and an ass like whoa, as they say. I ran into her in my Computer Science class. I approached her and eventually asked her out. And it was the beginning of my nightmare. Suffice to say Jacqueline had a lot of anger issues toward Black men.

Let me explain these things a bit, please. Jacqueline had issues, yes, but they came from somewhere. Her ex-boyfriend, a Jamaican guy named James, left her for a fat White woman. After James, she went out with a White guy named Lucas. He seemed like a knight in shining armor to her, until she caught him getting his dick sucked by Lola Chang, a Chinese chick from one of his classes. After such disappointments, Jacqueline had issues with men in general, especially Black men. To say she was mean and unpleasant would be an understatement. I tried to convince her that I'm not like the others. I'm a good Black man who loves Black women. All I wanted was my Black Queen to worship and adore. Well, she wasn't having it. So I had to run for dear life. Let's just say I'm glad I got out of our relationship in one piece. After that nightmare, I started to wonder. Maybe my father was right. Black women had way too many issues. Perhaps it's time for this Brother to try something new?

I was despairing about ever meeting anyone special, until SHE came along. The first time I saw Aludra Faiza, I wasn't quite sure what to make of her. The six-foot-tall, dark-haired and bronze-skinned young woman with the piercing dark brown eyes whom I saw in the Carleton University library practically every day was obviously an Arab woman. No mistake about it. Now, I have a thing for Arab women. The problem is that I'm a Catholic guy born and raised in the City of Cap-Haitien, Northern Haiti, and I have no intention of converting to Islam. Nothing against Islam but I love dogs, I love sex, I love booze and I think praying once a week is plenty. Quite a dilemma when you find yourself attracted to your polar opposite. Sometimes, I think I was cursed before I was born. Seriously. I'll explain my gloomy view of the world shortly. It gets better, don't worry. This is a love story, after all.

I had been burned in relationships too many times. My problem with women is that I'm too eager sometimes and I've got Nice Guy Syndrome. I decided to try another approach with Aludra. Thus, I became Mr. Cocky. And it worked! Aludra was a painfully shy gal who needed someone cool and confident to help her come out of her shell. She was new to Carleton University and I helped her discover much about the campus and campus life. While hanging out with her, I learned something which astonished me. Aludra Faiza wasn't Muslim, even though she's an Arab woman through and true. She's a Roman Catholic! As I stared at her, amazed, she told me something which shocked me even more. There were lots of Christians in the Republic of Lebanon, where she was born. In fact, Lebanese Christians made up forty percent of their country's population. Wow. A beautiful Arab woman who's a Christian, now that's a Godsend!

I liked Aludra, and I wanted her to know. So I dropped all pretense of coolness and cockiness and told her how I felt, exactly three months after we first met. I sat at the Tim Horton's located near the Field House at Carleton University, holding her hand in mine and waited for her answer. Inwardly I cringed and kept my fingers crossed. I was tired of acting like Mr. Cool. I'm a Computer Science guy, for crying out loud. I'm a nerd at heart. Aludra looked at me, an amused look on her beautiful face. Grinning, she did the last thing I expected. She kissed me. If a bolt of lightning had struck me, it wouldn't have shocked me more. My shy Arab lady friend had just kissed me...in front of everybody! I smiled at her and she smiled at me. For several moments, neither of us said much. Smiling, I took Aludra's hand in mine and kissed it. Then we walked out of the Field House together, hand in hand.

That night, I took Aludra to the movies. We went to the Blair movie theater in East Ottawa and saw a showing of Immortals, followed by that Charlize Theron movie where she's a crazy author in a small town. We had fun. As we walked out of the theater, Aludra and I kissed again. Then we got on the train and went back to campus. I thank my lucky stars that I met this lovely lady. A biracial Canadian guy of Haitian and French descent meeting a Lebanese Christian woman in Ottawa, and falling for her. Oh, and for once the feeling appears to be mutual. Proof that there is a God! Even for unlucky-in-love guys like me. Wait your turn and don't despair, guy or gal who reads this tale. Your time will come.