When I came home from college that day, my mom was fuming. I wasn't even able to make it from the front door to my room before I heard her bellow from the kitchen, "Louis! Get in here, NOW!"
I began to run through a mental list of all of my recent wrong-doings. Had I forgotten to empty the dishwasher? Change the cat litter? It sounded much more serious than leaving the wet laundry in the washer too long. What could I have done to earn such ire?
My heart sank when I got to the kitchen to find my mom sitting at the table with my entire collection of pornographic magazines spread out, facing away from her, like exhibits A through M.
"I was cleaning your room today and you'll never guess what I found," she said snidely. "A whole bunch of nudie magazines." She spread her hand out across the them like a game show model displaying my debauchery. "I shouldn't have to remind you, young man, that you're too young to legally be in possession of these things. Worse, I am shocked by the content of them. Let's take a look, shall we?"
She began flipping through the pages of one of that magazines that was facing me. She knew it well enough, it seemed, that she could flip to the offending page with relative ease. Spread across two pages was a full-color glossy image of a very buxom transsexual with a very hard cock.
"As if it wasn't bad enough that you're looking at adult material, you're looking at god damn trannies," she sneered. I wanted to speak up about using a politically incorrect term but knew I should keep my mouth shut.
"My boy isn't old enough to have these kinds of things and he certainly be looking at stuff like this," she said, pointing to the engorged cock, "unless, that is, you like this stuff.... I mean, have a raised a little faggot?"
She waited for my response but I gave her none.
"Well? Have I?" she yelled.
"Mom, I'm not a little boy anymore! I'm over 18 and just staying here while I go to community college for my Associates!" I wanted to yell. Instead...
"No, Mom," I whispered, not sure if I was telling the truth or not.
"You like girls, then, Louis? Do you?"
"Yes, Mom," I said, a little more confidence in my voice.
"What kind of girls do you like? Be specific."
"Do you mean who do I like?" I asked, confused.
"No, I mean what kind of girls? What kind of girl turns on my son?"
I lapsed into silence, not sure what to say. I had one particular girl in mind but wasn't sure how best to describe her.
"This is ridiculous," she said. "Do we need to wait until your father gets home to continue this conversation?"
I panicked at the idea of my dad, not the nicest of men, having anything to do with what we were discussing. I was hoping to just sweep it all under the rug and forget that this ever happened.
"No! Please!" I cried with more desperation in my voice than I had planned.
"Then tell me what kind of girl you like. Is she short? Tall? Black? White? Skinny? Fat?"
Once I opened my mouth the words just fell out: "She's white, blonde, a little on the shorter side, she's not fat but she had a lot of curves, she's older than me, and has a beautiful smile."
The words hung in the air. My mom looked from the cover of one of the magazines, "40 Plus Lovers", up to me.
"Does she have green eyes and a sweet ass?" she asked wryly.
"They look green sometimes and hazel other times," I said wistfully.
"Then this problem is even worse than I thought," she said, crossing her arms across her chest. "This is definitely not something we can bring to your father," she added.
"No, I don't think that would be a good idea."
"What do you think we should do about this?" she asked.
Thinking that she meant the magazines I suggested that we throw everything out and forget the whole thing.
"I don't think that's going to solve the larger problem," she said. "I know boys your age have urges but it sounds like these are unhealthy urges. It sounds like you're fascinated by someone you shouldn't be. And that's a real problem."
"I know it is," I sighed. It seems that she had certainly understood who I had been describing. I didn't know what kind of response this would garner but I was amazed that she was taking it this well. I had been afraid of more yelling and screaming. I never thought we'd be having the conversation we were having. I thought that this would be a secret that I'd have to keep all my life. It filled me with such shame and the shame was still there even after having admitted it. I don't know when I first realized what was going on but I know that for the prior six months that not a day had gone by without trying to drive the idea out of my head.
"I don't want this to drive us apart," she said. "This isn't easy for you and it isn't easy for me either. Though I really can't say it's that much of a surprise. I've noticed the way you've been acting lately and knew that something was up. There's really no easy solution for this. For now, I want you to take all of these magazines back to your room and put them back in your bottom drawer. We'll decide later what we're going to do with them and what we're going to do about this situation. Otherwise, no one has to know. Understood?"
I nodded, not sure what to say. I gathered up all of the magazines into one unwieldy pile before rushing off to my room with my treasured pornography. I carried them at waist level in order to cover the growing erection I had. Mom knew now. She knew that I had fallen in lust with her. This turned me on, knowing that she knew how I thought of her.
Nothing was said over the next three days despite my mind now being a rage of fantasies about my mom. I found myself avoiding her when I could, staying in my room and masturbating furiously as I thought about her.
Friday afternoon when I got home from school, mom was waiting for me. She was sitting in the chair directly opposite of our front door. I was immediately struck by the outfit she wore: one of her black business suits that she often went to work in. These power suits always filled my head with fantastic images of what she might be wearing underneath. I loved the way the black fabric contrasted her pale skin, especially that of her ample breasts.
There was no greeting, no kiss hello. Instead, she told me, "There are some things we need to get clear, Louis. Important things. Come in and have a seat."
I did as she said, looking at her legs in her stockings and her high-heeled shoes as I cross the room to the couch.
"I've thought a lot about what we discussed the other day," she said, tenting her fingers in front of her. "I think that we can come to some kind of understanding that will be good for the both of us. Your father hasn't been very attentive to me the last few years and your mother has needs that haven't been met. I want you to listen to me, and listen good. This kind of thing that I'm proposing is not, repeat not something accepted in our society. This is something that can never leave this house. You may never speak to anyone about this at any time. Do you understand me?"