There is something about the love of two men. They hold you, even when they hold you at a distance, and you always know, if you have given them everything they've ever wanted, you will never have to worry about them leaving. I have two such men. Jay and Adam.
My name is Mavis Ayilah Clifford. I'm considered an African-American woman, although my mother was from Grenada, and my father was born in the United States of Jamaican parents. If I were to describe myself physically, I'd have to say that I am medium height (about 5'5), medium brown-skinned (somewhere between sienna and the color of caramel). I have dark brown eyes with long dark lashes-- jealous women call them "cow eyes", lustful men call them "fuck me eyes". My hair is dark brown, and, if I wore it natural, it'd be a 1970s blow-out afro. Despite what the present generation thinks, the afro is not my idea of what should ever be be "in" again-- probably showing my Product-of-British-Commonwealth- Parents' influence. So, wearing it as I do now, my hair is straight, and a little longer than shoulder length.
My features always made me attractive to African American men, but for some reason, I've never felt totally comfortable with African-American men. Maybe it's because my first experience was with the boy from the white family who lived next door to us.
That boy's name was Perry. Perry and I were the same age. He was on the small side of medium build, and a little lanky. His hair was dirty blonde, and his eyes were an incredible combination of light gray irises that made his pupils look dark gray instead of black.. He was kinda picked on by our classmates, and I stood out as "naturally odd-man-out" in our predominately white neighborhood. As a result, Perry and I gravitated towards each other.
We were both loners and avid readers, so, one day, we got into this habit of going to the library together.
"Hey 'La," Perry whispered from around the corner of Aa to An, "I found something!"
"What's that?"
"I
found
something....g
ood
."
I put the book I was half-heartedly perusing back in its slot on the shelf and walked around to where he was to see what the fuss was about.
"Look at this!" he hissed. "This is hot! I wonder how this got here?"
It was a small paperback, with kinda cheap dark grey paper and dark black lettering. The edges of outside of the book weren't worn, but not as crisp as they would have been if the book were new.
Perry started quoting a portion of the page he was on, looking nervously over his shoulder to make sure no one else was around. As he went on quoting it, I felt a kind of tingle.
"They call a...a..vagina, a quim!" he said, looking up at me with bright eyes.
Thus was the beginning of our sexual awakening. From then on, we spent all our spare time in the library, trying to find the most salacious reading we could so we could hide away together and read it.
Even though we were both afforded time and opportunity to "make it" during our teenage years, Perry and I never did anything but fantasize together. That is, until the summer before we each left for college. He was going west, to Indiana. I was staying east, but going further south. We were 18, both working summer jobs, and spent every spare evening we had in common, together.
My parents would never have taken kindly to me being at Perry's house with his parents gone. They would have been even more upset if they had known how much time I spent in Perry's bedroom in the past without his parents
there--
but they never really had a reason to worry until this particular day. I got home from work and my parents were still working. It was late afternoon. Perry's parents were gone for the week and he had the afternoon off too. When he saw my friend drop me off in front of the house, he popped over.
"Hungry?" he asked.
"Sure. Starved. I didn't even get a lunch today. The trade off for getting out early".
"Cool. Come on over. My parents left me some cash and a fridge full of food to keep me while they're away. We can order pizza and watch a movie."
"Sounds good," I replied, and I dropped my backpack in my room and followed Perry over to his house.
We ordered pizza and wings, and stuffed ourselves, then retreated to his bedroom. His room was always a fun place. He had tons of books, posters of our favorite bands and writers, and a stereo with a cassette player
and
a turntable. He put on some music and started going through a bag of books.
"Remember how we used to go to the library to look for books that had the dirtiest parts?" he asked.
"Sure, I remember," I replied, laughing.
"Did you ever think about any of it after you went home?"
"What do you mean?"
"You know...like
think
about it." He looked at me, with those striking gray eyes, the bangs from his hair flopping into his face. A book in one hand, his other hand propping him up on the bed.
I knew what he meant, but I guess I was afraid to admit it. There were moments in the past where I felt like I was-- and wanted to be-- more than a platonic friend and confidant to Perry, but the sense was fleeting. This time, the sensation was stronger. It felt like our relationship was about to change. He waited for my response, and I said nothing. He was the brave one. He broke the silence by saying,
"Well, I have. I've thought about it. Doing some of those things. With