When I was in college I used to hang with this one girl named May. May had pale skin and thin straight mousy brown hair. The tops of her ears always stuck out through her hair. She wore wire rim glasses and never had more than one drink. She dampened her sexuality with shapeless, colourless clothes. Very little skin ever showed. I never knew her to go on a date, but she had recently hooked up with Gloria and was experimenting with the joys of having sex with a woman. Then she got arrested for shoplifting.
To make a long story short May was appointed an overworked Public Defender and was convicted, but because she was a young college student with no priors she was sentenced to 200 hours of community service and assigned to work on the volunteer staff at a large nursing home on the other side of town. She used to hate going there. With no car, she had to take a bus across the city, with two transfers. She would stay for one or two hours only and then ride the bus back to the dorm at school. Her class schedule pretty much restricted her work to evenings or weekends.
Then, all of a sudden, May started enjoying it. She looked forward to her community service. Turns out, she had met Ms. Ramirez and Mr. Sloane. I found out about it when I ran into her on my way to the library, she asked me if I wanted to go to work with her. I passed her when she was standing at the stop.
"Hi, May. How's Gloria?"
"She's OK, I guess. Haven't seen much of her lately; I'm working at the nursing home. I think Gloria is seeing someone else, since I'm not always available. It might be that tight assed chick with the long blonde hair from her Asian Civ. class but I don't know for sure. I guess it really doesn't matter; I'm starting to have a lot of fun at the nursing home. There are some really cool people there. I feel a little sorry for some of them though."
"How come?" I asked.
May was really animated and I could tell that she was passionate about what she was about to say. "CJ you should come with me. I could introduce you to some of them. I think you would really like Ms. Ramirez. Her name is Esperanza. Isn't that a pretty name? I've never met anyone named Esperanza before; and now, I have. She's bisexual, like you; so you guys would have that in common. I think you'd really hit it off."
"I don't know, May. I don't choose my friends by their sexual orientation."
"...and, she used to be a show girl! In Las Vegas! She's got some really great stories. You're a writer. Come on CJ -- I think you, of all the people I know, would like this place. Ms. Ramirez has a boyfriend there in the men's wing, named Bone Sloane. He's a lot of fun too, but they only get to see each other at meal time. It's pretty sad."
"Why's that sad?"
"Cause they want to fuck but there's too much supervision in the dining room for that. All they can do is hold hands. You know why they call him 'Bone?'" she asked me.
"Lemme guess -- because he's a musician? Because he plays the trombone?"
"That's not it at all, CJ. It's because he has a really big dick."