(But It Depends on the Gifts)
1
Following the Virgin Whirlwind in Spain and the Double in the Canaries, I tried Mallorca the following year. This time the linguistic dimension was less in evidence, though I was dealing with another, this time young, novice.
I'm not sure that term was used in 1997, but I was stalked, or, given the build of the stalker, 'storked' would also be appropriate. For when she towered over me at my table at breakfast on the second day, her height and movement at once suggested the stately birds I had enjoyed all across Mainland Europe.
She was at least six feet two tall, much of which consisted of lean, muscular leg, revealed by a very short, dark green skirt. Above that, there was a slim waist, and a trim bosom pushing at the confines of a creased, tight, white, short-sleeved shirt.
'Please, I can sit here,' she stated in deep tones, folding herself into the chair beside me and peering intently, intensely, at me through green-tinted spectacles perched on a long, thin nose. This and the narrow cheeks and circumflex eyebrows added to the ciconine appearance, completed by the crest of black hair.
At first, I thought she was possibly older than me, because of an impression of weariness, and there was nothing immediately youthful about her. She was one of those girls who seem middle-aged after the menarche. Then I realised that she was actually a very young, probably naΓ―ve lassie, who had spent her life so far in some abstruse activity in seclusion. She was also staring at me openly in a juvenile manner. She put down the plate of eggs and tomatoes she was carrying and held out a hand. 'Chloe. You're Norma?' She seemed to know I was.
I allowed her to wrap long fingers round mine, and said, 'You know me?'
'Not know, no, but know about,' she said, tightening and relaxing her grip. That seemed to be all she wanted to say for the moment, because she lifted the eggs on to some bread and began to eat, as if this were a necessary task which had to be accomplished before something more important would be dealt with.
I was amused, curious, and content to await further information. Meanwhile I ate muesli and drank orange-juice.
She disposed of her meal, pushed the plate away and drank tea. Then she fixed me with a look, like that of a stork eyeing a tasty frog and said, 'I'm hoping to know you, because I think you can help me.' Her thin lips spread into a confident, disarming smile.
I asked how she knew 'about' me.
'An artist told me. But I can't say who, because they made me promise not to.'
It is one of the conventions amongst the artists whose erotic works I buy and sell that no identities are revealed without consent, so I was surprised and annoyed that my identity had been disclosed. 'That shouldn't have happened,' I said.
'I know, but I bullied them till they told me. They realised I needed you, too.'
I drank coffee waited for more, but she waited for me to speak. I studied what was visible of her above the table.
She was probably under twenty, head poked forward, shoulders slouched, chest hollowed. Any deportment lessons had been wasted, as I also suspected her knees were wide apart under the table. She was clearly not much concerned about her appearance.
'What did this nameless artist tell you that made you think I could help you?'
She answered this so quickly it was clear she had prepared for it. 'They said you could teach me sex,' she informed all present loudly.
'Well,' I said, 'I think I'll have another coffee first.'
'Let me get it,' she said, grabbing my cup. 'Stay here.'
'It's all right,' I said, 'I won't run away. Not yet, anyway.'
While she was away I wondered quite what she expected. Surely her mother or biology teacher had done the birds-and-bees talk? Well, that would actually not be much use, since the sexual behaviours of avifauna and insects doesn't much resemble those of homo sapiens.
When she returned, she put down the cup with a shaking hand, spilling the coffee into the saucer. I thanked her and she folded herself into her chair and slid it closer.
'How old are you, Chloe?' I asked.
'I am adult, almost nineteen.'
'Well, then,' I said, 'Remember, when you were around twelve or thirteen your breasts began to grow and your periods started?'
'Oh yes,' she said, 'My mother told me all about tampons and all that. I've researched all the facts about sexual intercourse, of course.' Then she delivered another rehearsed utterance, with a prepared grin. 'The key fact about me is that I've been more interested in mensuration than menstruation.'
I was evidently supposed to ask what that meant. I said, 'You're a geek.'
'Or a freak. I've only been with a boy once, and that was an experiment which failed.'
I drank my coffee and considered the situation. Did I want to spend some or all of my vacation introducing nearly two metres of near-virgin to the joys of sex? 'Let's take a walk,' I said, 'And you can tell me what you want from me. No promises I'll oblige. Meet me outside in twenty minutes in trainers and a hat.'
2
She was there, dressed as before, yards of leg below that tight skimpy skirt, hunched over, but properly shod and covered. She gave me a nervous smile and fidgeted with her hands.
'Off we go, then,' I said, stepping out. 'This is called "outdoors," and we're going to move through it. You look like you've spent so long in classrooms and labs that outside is just what happens between buildings.'
She did titter and said, 'I haven't been out much lately -- well, ever, I suppose. Too busy working for exams. I waited for my A Level results before coming away.'
'You got three A grades,' I said.
'Four.'
'Maths, Advanced Maths, Further Maths, and Way-Beyond Maths.'
'That sort of thing. I got my university place.'
'You're going to study maths so difficult only ten other people can understand it.'
'That sort of thing,' she said.
'But there's this other business called "real life" you don't know much about.'
She kept pace, swinging those endless legs as if having consciously to manage them. 'I do know some things,' she said.
'Tell me what you know and what you want to know,' I said as we swung along a path through an orange grove.
'I don't much like boys. Well, they're all right, but I don't want to fuck them.'
'You had sex with one boy and now you think you're a lesbian.'
'Actually, I've always fancied girls, if I fancied anyone.'