I went to college in the Southwest (and this is now decades ago), in the desert, on a sprawling campus of more than 10,000 students. I was a semi-poor kid, cobbling together tuition with grants and loans and still had to work my way through -- as a tutor. On occasion, during breaks, I could fly home, though. One winter break I did, and on the flight back I saw the most incredible girl. She had the creamiest dark skin, full rich lips, and a cascade of dark hair that spilled over her shoulders.
Straight up, I was a smart kid, especially verbally gifted. I also was consumed with lust to an almost pathological degree. By college I had been through a couple dozen girls -- yeah, I was a male slut.
But I had never been with a black girl -- and this one was astonishing. Every once in a while the universe smiles on you and on a plane your seat mate is not the fat Mormon missionary or the grandmother from Topeka. That day it was Alicia. From South Carolina. Studying (I learned later) finance. She was small, maybe five feet tall and a hundred pounds soaking wet. She was wearing all white, gossamer blouse and white toreador pants (very retro). I have a thing about feet and hers were long and slender, exquisitely pedicured with nasty magenta toenail polish and ensconced in white leather sandals. I was leafing through a men's magazine, it's quarterly style edition. I leaned over.
"Which of these shirts do you prefer?"
No preamble, just a casual intrusion. She nibbled.
"The Tuscan yellow is nice. Unusual."
We talked. She told me where she lived.
It was Saturday, three days later, the new semester yet to begin. I walked to her place (just ten minutes from my apartment) and showed up unannounced.
"Ain't you something?" she said when she opened the door.
I shrugged. "There is no time like the present."
She told me her parents' house was not far away. She told me they were back in South Carolina. She told me she liked tequila.
Two hours later the desert sun was setting, and we were sipping tequila. Her parents' home was a sprawling Southwestern-style affair with a natural rock pool. We were immediately electrified. She whispered to me: "I've never done the I.R. Thing."
The I.R. Thing. The Inter-Racial Thing. Sweet Jesus.