Embracing diversity takes its toll on a young condo couple
Author's note: This story was inspired by the series
Black Man One
by Weak_White_Wimp. It involves a young white woman and her black neighbor, somewhat similar to two of my previous submissions,
Amber's Six Pics
and
Good Neighbor Sam
. As always, your votes are very much appreciated (just click star 5!), as well as your comments and feedback.
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Jonathan "Jon" and Loretta "Lori" Davis were in their mid-20s and had been married three years. Jon was an average guy with an average build and average looks. He considered himself lucky to have fallen in love with Lori, who was anything but average. She was gorgeous, about 5'5" tall, with full breasts, a perfect ass, long blonde hair and dazzling blue eyes.
Jon and Lori had met at a political rally. Politically, both were very liberal. Some would describe them as left wing. They were both raised in white-bread, middle-class families but they took pleasure in advocating and demonstrating for people far different than themselves, whether they were Native Americans, illegal aliens, homeless people, or any other identifiable underdog. For tirelessly campaigning for Barack Obama, they received an autographed photo of the president, which they proudly framed and hung in their living room.
Before meeting Lori, Jon graduated from college. Lori had three years of college herself but had never graduated. Jon landed a really good job as Personnel director for a large company. The high salary made it possible for Lori to resume her education, and it allowed the young couple to buy their own home, a condo apartment.
Their condominium was a 20-unit building with a spacious patio area and swimming pool. The patio had several round tables with chairs and chaise lounges, making it a popular gathering place for the 15 couples and five singles who lived there. Jon and Lori considered themselves lucky to have purchased a ground-floor unit that had a sliding glass door leading directly onto the patio.
One sunny Saturday afternoon, Jon and Lori saw that several of their neighbors were sitting on the patio, having drinks and socializing. They decided to put on their bathing suits and join them. Jon and Lori pulled up chairs to join the large group that crowded around a table. They discovered that a lively discussion was underway regarding the fact that a black man had bought a second-floor apartment and was moving in. Everyone in the building had been white up to that point. Some of the neighbors were making what Jon thought were bigoted comments, saying that their quality of life could be affected and property values could decline if their condo were to "go black." Jon took offense to the remarks and argued that diversity would be an improvement. After the discussion became somewhat heated everybody agreed to change the subject.
The next Saturday, the neighbors were on the patio again, Jon and Lori included, when the new condo owner made his first appearance, strolling onto the patio and dropping his towel on a lounge chair. The new resident was very tall, very muscular, and very black. He had numerous tattoos all over. But, what caught everyone's eyes was his bathing suit. He wore bikini swim briefs and the bulge in his crotch was quite noticeable. In fact, some of the wives began poking each other and giggling like school girls while the men quietly expressed their disgust.
The black man dove into the pool. One of the white men cracked a joke, saying he always heard that black people can't swim. After swimming a couple of laps, the black man got out of the pool and began to dry himself with a towel. Jon left his chair and walked over to the new guy and extended his hand, smiling and saying, "Hi. I'm Jon. Welcome to condo living!"
"Hey there," was all that he said. He ignored Jon's offer of a handshake, continuing to dab his dark skin with the towel, and he never introduced himself. Through their dark sunglasses, the women all seemed to take notice when he put one leg on the chaise lounge and drew the towel back and forth over his groin bulge. Once he was mostly dry, the man walked away from the patio. The women cackled and whispered among themselves. The men grumbled that the new guy seemed antisocial.
The scene was repeated the next day. The black man walked onto the patio, carrying a towel. A couple of people said hello and got no response. This time, after taking a brief swim, the man reclined on his back on a chaise lounge, pulling his baseball cap down over his eyes. He wore bikini briefs again and the outline of his oversized penis was obscenely obvious. If he wasn't dozing, and no one could really tell if he was or not, he probably heard some of the women gasping, laughing and making comments about "junk in the trunks".
The next weekend, Jon and Lori and several neighbors were back on the patio, having a good time, when the black man reappeared on the scene, again wearing briefs that barely concealed his penis. To anyone daring to look closely, his scrotum was even detectable, hanging below the bulge. The scenario played out differently this time, though.
"Hi Leon!" Lori said loudly as she gave the big black man a little wave with her hand.
"Hey Lori," he casually called back as he strutted toward the pool.
Jon's jaw dropped. His wife knew him? He knew her? She had never even mentioned making his acquaintance.
After Leon exited the pool, Lori left her chair and walked toward him as he dried off.
"Leon, I want you to meet my husband, Jon, and some of your neighbors," Lori said with a smile. She persuaded Leon to follow her back to the table and he took a seat. Leon still had nothing to say, but he didn't need to because Lori proceeded to fill everyone in on their new neighbor.
"Leon is new in town," Lori explained. "He moved here for a business opportunity. He got a settlement in a lawsuit, didn't you Leon?" Leon nodded his head. "He used the money to buy a bar on Martin Luther King Avenue and he's going to run it himself. He says they need a nice lounge in that neglected area and he is going to make it a first class place, right Leon?" Leon nodded his head. "Leon had enough money left to buy his condo and a nice car. His parking place is right next yours, honey," Lori said to Jon.
Lori continued, "After Leon finishes remodeling the bar, in a week or two, he's going to invite us all over for a drink, on the house. He says it'll be the first time that white people have ever set foot in the place!"
Lori laughed out loud as Jon looked at her, totally bewildered.
Later, after Jon and Lori had returned to their apartment, Jon asked his wife why she had never mentioned meeting Leon. She said that it didn't seem all that important and she apologized for not saying anything, not realizing that Jon had a need to know. Jon asked Lori how she got filled-in on Leon's life history.
"Well," she said, "I was just hanging out in the living room, watching the Wendy Williams show, and I saw him diving into the pool. I decided to break the ice, so I went outside. I already had my bathing suit on. I sat down near the steps with my feet in the water. I laughed and told him he was not getting out of the pool until he told me his name. After all, we're neighbors, I told him. He said his name was Leon, and I probably blushed when he said it was nice to have such a beautiful neighbor. Then we just started talking, you know, about where he was from, and how he bought the bar and the condo, and all that other stuff."
"So then what," Jon inquired, "he left and you went inside?"
"Well, not right away," Lori continued. "Leon told me the water was nice and warm and I should come in. So, I walked down the steps and we swam around for a while, just talking some more. Then my friend Myriam, from apartment C, came out on the patio, along with Gail. I think she lives in B. Anyway, they came in too."
