He was unusually attractive. Or as attractive as he could be to my (at the time) 9 year old senses.
My nephew (or older brother as our neighborhood friends would call him... yes, he's a year older than I) had the ability to befriend almost anyone. I envied him because of that. He always surrounded himself with guys of all types -- we would spend hours playing football, at the pool or playing the infamous manhunt in our neighborhood.
I found myself drawn to some of them. Confused at the time to these feelings -- I would steal a glance or two, shake it off and ignore them all together. There was one however, that I just could not shake off.
Pooh.
He was perfection.
When I think back, he wasn't all that cute -- but I've never been caught up on looks. He was tall, with a chocolate complexion and an athletic build -- of which, I suppose, came from the community little league teams he played with. And his personality? Man, his personality literally brightened the room. He was 12 and mature for his age. Well, at 9 everyone older was mature.
I developed the concept at an early age that if I wanted something, I was going to get it. At any cost.
I had to have him. I would flirt. I would pretend to act "gay" when I was around him and smack him on the butt. Everything that I could do to make some physical contact with him, I did.
He would laugh it off, I would go home happy. Thinking about Pooh.
It was too much, I had to let him know. I was tired of only thinking about him, I wanted my first "boyfriend". Of course, I didn't want anyone to know that I was gay "confused" but I was willing to take that risk. It was that serious.
It was the July 4th, 1996 and I decided to make my move. I knew that at some point, I would be alone with Pooh and I was going to let him know how I felt. As usual, my nephew and I woke up, showered and got dressed, grabbed a bowl of Fruit Loops and headed outside to play. As the day dragged on, I saw no signs of Pooh until later that afternoon he joined us outside. He and his family went to Centennial Park earlier in the day.
There were moments during the day where we were so close to being alone but to my dismay someone would ruin that moment. I was frustrated and I'm sure I had a visible attitude.
After hours and hours of running around Spanish Trace Apartments, it was time for the fireworks. I was excited. This was the biggest part of the holiday to me. A few days before the Fourth every year -- my parents would take us to South Carolina to one of the fireworks outlets for us to pick out firecrackers and my dad would light them for us in the parking lot.
I sat alone, on the stairs as my nephew and our other friends (Pooh included) were engaged in the conversation with my dad as he was lighting the fireworks.
I don't know how or when, but Pooh made his way on the steps next to me. It was do or die, the moment I had been waiting for and..... I just couldn't do it.
"Why are you sitting over here alone?", Pooh asked abruptly.
I finally spoke a soft, "... oh, I'm just watching the fireworks."
"Oh", he said in a confused tone. "Well, you mind if I watch them with you?"
Why was he asking me this? Of course it was fine if he watched it with me. As I was thinking Pooh said, "You know, I really like you."
"I know that", I spoke hoping that he was implying something else.
"No. Like I like you... like you and I know you like me too."
He beat me to the punch. I couldn't believe it.
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There's more where this is coming from. These stories are based on actual events in my life and Pooh was actually his name. I'm sharing these stories to share what I've gone through in my life and what I've learned from my interaction with other guys. It's hard finding love out here. You'll hear them all.
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