Date: Tue, 16 Nov 2004 16:31:58 EST
From: Madasonaysha@aol.com
Subject: "Around My Way" chapter five

Disclaimer: Okay you know the drill.  This is a love story between two
teenage boys, one Black and One Latino.  This is not a sex story but in
the very near future scenes of that nature will occur. I just spent 80
bucks getting this damn thing legally copyrighted and if you try to steal
my work and pass it on as your own, be prepared to pay a 20,000 dollar
fine. If you want to post this story somewhere else in most cases I
would'nt mind just ask me first.

Authors Note: I HOPE YOU ALL READ THIS!!!!! I would like to thank all of
you guys for your continued support.  Your emails keep me on my ass
typing this story.  I appreciate all of you guys who take the time and
tell me what you like ( or in some cases don't like ) about my story.
Please keep sending any responses to Madasonaysha@aol.com or
Madisonaysha@yahoo.com but use the aol account first.  I will always
respond.  Special thanks to the man who corrects my grammer, Ladies and
Gentlemen,  My editor, Mr. Khayman Rice.  You guys can read his very
excelent story, "Whats Happening To Me", in the high school section last
updated October 23.  He can be reached at khaymanrice@aol.com .  Special
thanks to BJ and Anthony for you interesting conversations.  And a BIG
THANK YOU to Kris, Lee and Shay for your proof reading.  I will know be
posting every 10 - 14 days or once a week if time allows.  Be on the look
out for my NEW STORY, "I HATE ANTHONY" to be posted sometime next week.
And to those who recieved an advance chapter, my apologies for the wait
but here is five in it entierty......Now I promise no more long rambles!
READ!


CHAPTER FIVE

Once we left the park, all the fear of what happened with Nate and Jay
left.  The knot in my stomach returned as I glanced at Joey.  We walked
the first ten minutes in silence before Joey spoke.

"So where are you from"?

"Me? From all over, I guess, but I spent most of my life in Montclair."

"Montclair? That's a long way from Newark.  I guess you moved down,
huh?" He laughed at his joke and I nervously chuckled.

"I guess you can say that, but it's a lot nicer than I remember."
Damn, I could have kicked myself for letting that slip.

"You use to live in Newark?"  I thought about making something up, but
since Amanda already knew my story except the part about Hector, I
figured he would find out eventually.

"Well, my mom got sent to prison and I lived in a youth house for two
years after I turned seven."

"Sorry about that.  What was she in for?"  He had real look of genuine
concern in his eyes.

"She's still there and it's something to do with drugs." I hoped
that I didn't share too much, but something about Joey just made you
want to open up to him.

"I got a cousin doing twenty five for holding weed."  He said.

"Twenty five, for weed? That's a little extreme, isn't it?"

"Well, he had like ten pounds, but you know those fucking cops and all
their bullshit so..."

"Where are you from?"  I said, hoping to change the subject.

"I was born here and lived in Newark just about all my life.  My dad is
from Cuba and my mom is from Puerto Rico though."  It was so cute the way
he was looking at his shuffling feet while he was talking.  I had to
suppress my smile.  This guy really was doing something to me.

"That's cool.  Any brothers or sisters?"  I asked.

"Yeah, my brother Matt's fourteen and my sister Jennifer's
thirteen. You?"

"No, only child.  How old are you?"

"I'll be sixteen in December and you"? He asked.

"I turned sixteen in April."  Silence fell down again.  Every now and
then I would take a sideways glance at Joey. I would notice small things
about his face that I did'nt notice before.  He shaved a small cut into
his left eyebrow.  You couldn't notice it unless you looked for it.  It
gave his face a more rugged look but he would have looked tough without
it.   His eyelashes were long and curly but not in a girly way.  When he
laughed or smiled you could see a small dimple near the corner of his
mouth.  His hair shined under the street lights. An occasional light gust
of the cool summer's night air blew through his wavy light brown
hair, tossing his gentle waves around his head.  I think he caught me
staring, but he didn't say anything about it.  I caught him staring
at me and before I thought about it I asked him what he was staring at.

"Uh...Nothing." he shuffled his feet some more and jiggled his hands in
his pockets.

"Is there something on my face?"  He looked hesitant for a moment then
just blurted out what was on his mind.

"Your eyes.  What color are they?"  Everyone is always making comments on
them.  You don't see a lot of black people with my color eyes.  I
could see the regret in his eyes for his question.  I blushed a little as
I answered him.

"Hazel green, but most of the time they look green especially at night."
He relaxed and the conversation continued to flow.

"Are you mixed?" He asked.

"No, but my adoptive parents were white." I told him of my adoption and
my living with Aunt Mickey.

"Damn, son.  You been through some shit.  My bad about your folks."

"Thanks but I'm getting used to it."  I guess he sensed that I
didn't want to talk about it and changed the subject.

"So, how did you meet Amanda?"

"Well, after you cursed me out, she came up to me in the store."

"Sorry about that.  I was having a fucked up day and Pops was getting on
me about some shit, so I already was heated."

"It's cool.  Consider it forgotten.  So, you and Amanda use to be
close? What happened?" His jaw clenched and I could tell that he was
trying to suppress the urge to tell me why.

"People change but she will always be my girl.  Amanda is more like a
sister than my own."  Fifteen minutes later we were on Joey's front
porch.  He stood there and looked at me for a couple of seconds. I
wondered why we were just standing around and why he was grinning at me.
Through his smile, he asked for his keys.  I nervously fumbled for them
in my denim shorts.  I pulled them out, but dropped them.  We both
reached for them at the same time and bumped our heads.

We both laughed at the sight of us each rubbing our heads.  "This was so
cliche', just like in the movies."  I sorta laughed to myself.  Joey lived
in a condo.  His Spanish heritage was present in the decorating of the
house.  I assumed that he was Catholic with all the pieces of various
religious works of art lying around.

His family had gone to visit relatives in New York and were going to be
gone until the next night.   I sat on his couch as he left to get us some
soda's.  He came back with a Coke in each hand and sat down next to me.
He handed me my drink, grabbed the remote and began flipping through the
channels.  Again, that damn thing called silence returned.  I was trying
to think of something to say, but all my topics of conversation were used
on the walk to his house.  He asked if I wanted to play Grand Theft
Auto.  I told him that was my favorite game but X-box's version was
the best.  He smiled and told me that was the reason he bought an X-box.
He was just too perfect.

His large room was in the basement.  He had posters of Jay Z and Eminem
along his wall.  There was one of 50cent that I thought was hot.  He had
his shirt off with his muscles rippling under his cocoa brown skin.  It
annoyed me to see a bikini clad Tyra Banks on his wall.

"So, I take it you like rap?" I asked.

"Yeah of course, don't you?"

"Yeah, but I mostly listen to punk or rock like The Smiths." He gave me a
strange look and chuckled as he spoke.

"You are the first black person I've known who listens to rock."
Damn, I thought to myself.  He probably thinks I am some sort of
cornball.  Why did I tell him that?  God, I am so retarded.

"Well, I do come from Montclair and that's what we listen to." I
replied.

"Oh, ain't nothing wrong with it. You just don't see that
everyday, well not around here, but I think it's cool.  You gotta be
you."  I couldn't hold back my smile.  It wasn't until I looked
at Tyra's big head that I stopped.

"So you like Tyra Banks?"  I said, looking at the poster of her.

"She is okay-but not my type!"  I was taken back by the way he quickly
added she wasn't his type.  Maybe it was just the gay detective
inside of me looking for things that weren't there. I don't
know.  If I knew, I wouldn't be saying this to myself. We fell into a
natural comfortableness with each other.  About an hour into me being
there his phone rang.  He talked in Spanish to whoever it was, which I
thought was a little rude since I didn't know any.  Whoever he was
talking to obviously pissed him off because he started to yell at them.
His face twisted into a look of hate as he slammed the phone down.  He
yanked the cord out the wall and muttered what I was sure were curse
words in Spanish.  I felt the heat of his anger radiate off his body as
he sat down next to me.  Against my better judgment, I cautiously reached
my hand out and placed it on his shoulder.  He turned his body to mine a
looked into my eyes.

"Are you okay? You can talk about it"? I said to him.  He looked at me
for a moment and when he didn't reply I shrugged my shoulders and
told him it was okay.  I went back to playing the game.  I mentally
kicked myself for being so touchy feely.  I pretended to be engrossed in
the game but I really wasn't.   I glanced at Joey and saw he was looking
at me.  I smiled at him and turned my attention to the game.  A few
minutes later, I turned toward him again and saw that he was still
looking at me.  The anger on his face was gone and replaced with one of
curiosity.  Joey's voice wavered a little as he spoke to me.

"Your eyes look more green than hazel."  I didn't know what to say so
I turned back to the game.  I pretended to play again, but I think he
knew I really wasn't.  The hairs on my neck stood up as I realized he
was still looking at me.  I was sure he heard the pounding of my heart.
The heat inside of me escaped and I felt my face begin to flush.  He
asked me if I was okay.  I stuttered a yes, but I didn't trust myself
to look at him.  Finally, he turned his attention back to the game and
asked to play.  I handed him the controller and our hands touched during
the exchange.  His thumb caressed the top of my hand as he took it.  I
didn't move it away and he took that as a sign not to stop.  My gaze
slowly made it's way to his.  I saw the same mixture of fear and
uncertainty in his eyes that I knew were in mine.  I whispered to him.

"Your eyes are the brightest blue that I've ever seen."  He gave me a
shy smile while still caressing the top of my hand with his thumb.  I
turned my hand upwards and returned the gesture.  My fingers lightly
dancing over his thumb.  I knew it in that moment that he wanted me as
much as I wanted him.  He was the complete opposite of what I expected of
a gay boy.  He wasn't soft spoken or gentle.  He wasn't shy.  He
was nothing like me.  He was rough and tough and a...thug.  He was a
thug. "What the hell was I doing?"  I thought.  This guy
wasn't putting the moves on me.  He probably doesn't even realize
what he was doing.  I moved my hand away and looked back at the
television.  I didn't look to see his face, but I knew he was still
looking at me.  After a couple of seconds, he started to play the game
again.  I was kicking myself over and over again. "What the hell was
I thinking trying to hold his hand?  He probably was just too freaked to
move away.  God I am so dense."  We spent the next hour mostly
silence playing video games.

It was getting late and I was getting tired.  I closed my eyes for a
second and next thing I knew I woke up in complete darkness.  I forgot
where I was for a second and panicked.  I knew I wasn't in my
bedroom.  I got up and felt along the wall for a light switch.  When I
turned it on, I saw I was still in Joey's room.  The clock read
2:00.  Thank god Aunt Mickey wasn't home because she probably would
have killed me for being out so late.  I was alone.  "Where was
Joey?" I wondered.  I opened his room door to find the house in pitch
darkness.  I am a little embarrassed to admit this, but I am afraid of
the dark.  I turned on the lamp and called out for Joey but got no
answer.  I flipped on the television and waited for a half an hour before
he walked through the front door.  I could smell the alcohol on his
breathe from across the room.  He staggered in and had a look of surprise
on his face as he noticed me sitting on the couch glaring at him. I
jumped up.  I was pissed that he left me to go get drunk and I was going
to let him know just how much.

"Where did you go? Why did you just leave me?" I tried to control the
level of my voice, but it rose on its on.  He was taken back by my tone
and didn't reply for a couple of seconds.

"My--My bad."  He stumbled as he walked towards the couch to sit down.
I was so pissed.  I felt this surge of anger rise up from somewhere
inside I didn't even know existed.  I needed to sit down and get my
thoughts together. I knew I was over reacting.  I had no right to
question him. We only officially just met and I wouldn't even call us
friends.  I sat down across from him.

"Why did you let me fall asleep?" He couldn't even sit without
rocking from side to side.  Even though he's wasted, I still thought
that he was cute, God, I had it bad.  He looked up at me and didn't
say anything.  He just stared.  I felt uncomfortable and looked away, but
every time I looked back at him, his eyes were still glued on me.  After
a few minutes he answered.

"You just looked so cu--" He cut himself off and didn't finish.
In my heart I wanted to think he was about to say that I looked cute, but
my head wouldn't allow me to.  He looked away and got up.  He started
to walk towards the stairs He almost fell. I ran to catch him.  I put my
arm around his waste and he leaned his tall frame into my smaller one and
I helped him down the stairs.  It felt good to have my arms around him.
Despite the smell of liquor on his breath, he still smelled as good as he
did in the park.  Once in his room, he tried to undress himself, but he
was too wasted to do anything but sleep.  I wanted to help him out, but
for pure selfish reasons.  I didn't trust myself. I had to get out of
there.

"Listen Joey, I should go home.  It's really late and my Aunt would
kill me if she came home and I wasn't there.  I'll see you
tomorrow are something, ok?"  He started protesting.

"Nate and Jay are still out there.  They at the LQ around your way.  You
should sleep here.  Call your Aunt and leave a message."

"Where would I sleep?" I would have thought that he would have made me
take the couch or his brother's room.

"With me. Look at the king size. We both can fit." My head was screaming
BAD IDEA! BAD IDEA! But my lips betrayed me.

"Okay."  He had his shirt half off and told me where I could get a shirt
to sleep in. He was lean, but not skinny.  He didn't have a lot of
muscles, but he was cut in the right places.  He had the body of a
runner.  He was stumbling around his room trying to get his Nikes off.  I
laughed at him.  It was too funny not to.  I took off my shirt and was
putting on one of his when he pushed me.  I fell on his bed and looked at
him wondering what the hell he was doing.  He looked down at me and
started laughing.

"Yeah Nigga, I pushed you.  You shouldn't be laughing at me.
Ain't nothing funny...SHIT! I am fucking gone!" He laughed and I
stood up with a smile, shaking my head from side to side.  I laughed
again at him and his silliness.  He shoved me again only this time I
pushed back.  He fell back and pulled me with him.  We both fell back on
the bed and laughed at ourselves.  My body was half on top of his.  He
still had his arm around my waste where he grabbed to pull me down.  I
felt his body shake with laughter and the movements he was making made me
grow hard. Normally, if I was in this type of situation, I would have
gotten up with the quickness and came up with a lie, but he was too drunk
to even realize my "situation" and he probably wouldn't remember it
in the morning even if he did.  I looked down at him and he opened his
eyes to find me staring.  I moved to get off him, but he held me closer
to his body.  There was no way that he couldn't feel my dick.  He
pulled me even closer and I felt his hard dick through his shorts
touching mine. I wanted to lean down and kiss him, but I was not about to
risk it.  Drunks get horny easy and the last thing I wanted to do was get
outted by kissing on some straight boy.  Especially in this neighborhood
where you get shitted on if you look at someone the wrong way.  Even if I
thought he was a little into me, he would have to initiate it cause I
wasn't even going to chance it.

"Good night Alkey." I rolled off of him and hopped under the covers,
laying at the head of the bed.  The room was cold from the air
conditioning.  He gave me a weak smile and laid at the foot of the bed.
I fell asleep instantly.  I woke up with the strong urge to pee.
Something about the cold intensifies that urge.  Someone was spooning me
from behind. I felt Joey's warm body wrapped around mine.  I felt
safe being in his embrace.  I thought he was asleep when I felt small
kisses being placed on neck.  This was it!  This was the sign that I
needed!  I turned around to face him.

The room was dimly lit from the streetlight so I could see his features.
I saw him prepared to give and explanation, but I kissed him before he
could.  Timidly at first, he returned the kiss, but soon he was
aggressively taking charge.  His hands started to roam up and down my
shirt.  I followed and did the same to him.  His skin was smooth and kind
of soft and rough at the same time.  I moved closer to him and he pulled
my body tight and rolled on top of me.  His hardness was pressing against
mine.  They were rubbing each other through our boxers.  He started a
slow humping motion that drove me crazy.  Our furious kisses grew into
and even stronger frenzy.  Our tongues danced around each other.  It was
my first real kiss and I wasn't sure if I was doing it right, but it
was too good to stop. My hands were rubbing his lower back.  I wanted to
move down even lower, but I was too afraid.  My heart was thumping in my
chest.  The room was dead silent except for the sound of our sloppy
kisses and heavy breathing.  Just when I was working up enough courage to
start rubbing a little lower, he jumped off me.  He ran to the door and
stood there with his back to me.  I was confused and had to find out why
he stopped.  I didn't even recognize my voice as I whispered to him.

"Joey, what's wrong? Why did you stop?" When he didn't answer, I
turned on a lamp and walked over toward him.  I saw tears spilling from
those crystal blues.  I placed my hand on his trembling shoulder and he
pushed it off.  He moved even further away and sat back down on his bed.
He wouldn't even look in my direction.  I wanted to sit back down
next to him, but I was beginning to feel awkward.  It was obvious that he
was regretting what happened or was about to happen between us.  I had to
get out of there.  I felt embarrassed and ashamed.  In my mind I was
thinking that I tried too hard.  I pushed him and he freaked.  But then I
became angry.  He had made the first move and I was beating myself up.
"God, what is wrong with me?"  I looked at him once more before I
found my shorts.  I had my back to him and took off the shirt he gave
me.  I turned around to look for my shirt that I tossed on his floor
earlier when I saw him glancing my way.  I stood there for a moment when
he stared in my direction.  He saw me topless and quickly looked away.
He was pissing me off.  I threw on my clothes and was heading for his
door when he spoke.  His voice was hoarse and shaky.

"Where are you going?"   I glared at him and he looked away.  I
couldn't hide the irritation in my voice.

"It's obvious that I should go home.  Good Night Joey!"

"NO! You don't have to go.  I mean, Nate and Jay are still out there
and they might try and run up on you or something." He had a point. It
was still dark out and I didn't want to have another run in with
them.

"Okay, I'll be on the couch." He looked hurt and wanted to say
something, but turned his head and nodded.  I slammed the door and went
to the couch. I replayed the nights events in my head over and over
again.  Sleep didn't come right away, but eventually it came.  I woke
up to the smell of eggs and bacon.  I walked in the kitchen and saw that
Joey had cooked breakfast.  He smiled at me and spoke to me like nothing
had happened.

"What's up kid?  Damn, I was out my fucking mind last night!
Hennessey and 120 proof are not good combinations. I don't even
remember how I got home last night."

"You don't remember anything about last night?"  I asked him
skeptically.

"Naw, I just remember being at my boy's crib drinking than waking up
in my bed.  You look worst than me and I was the one drunk last night.
You A'ight?"  This fool didn't remember anything or he was trying
to make me believe that he didn't.   I was'nt sure which one was the
truth.  I wanted to tell him what happened last night, to let him know
how stupid he made me feel.  How pissed I was at him.  How he embarrassed
me.  But I didn't.

"Yeah, I'm cool, but I have to get home it's already almost noon
and my Aunt is already going to kill me."

"Want me to walk you?"

"I thought it wasn't safe for you to be in my neighborhood?"

"That's only when it's dark, but it's cool now.  Besides, I
gotta go and check on the store."  This gang stuff to me was really
ridiculous.  Not being able to go certain places after dark and having to
watch the color that you wore....I didn't understand it.   What would
make someone want to be apart of something that you basically had to
revolve your entire life around?  The walk was uncomfortable for me, but
Joey seemed relaxed despite our lack of a consistent conversation.  We
parted at the Bodega and I walked the last two blocks alone.  As I turned
on my block, I saw Nate walking with Amanda.  Nate smiled at me and
licked his lips. I knew what he was suggesting.  I looked away and smiled
at Amanda as I kept walking.  She was puzzled as to why I didn't stop
to talk, but Nate put his arm around her and they kept walking.  She
looked uncomfortable with his arm draped around her neck.   I looked back
and saw she did the same.  She gave me a weak smile that I returned with
a shrug of my shoulders.  Nate looked back too and he winked at me.  I
had to keep my distance from him.  I just didn't know how long I
would be able to.....

Copyright 2004
In Memoriam: I HOPE YOU ALL READ THIS!!!!! Very recently one of my very
best friends, Ashley Daniels, lost her uncle. I would like to dedicate
this chapter in his memory.  Rest in Peace Allen Jackson make you bring
smiles to the angels in heaven.