I think ...for you to truly understand, I have to go back to the beginning.
I love, being in love, and back in my 20s it was I could dream about. I wanted a husband and a friend. I wanted a soul mate and a lover. I wanted a family. I wanted to grow old with my husband. I dreamed that one day we would be elderly sitting on our porch in rocking chairs fussing at our grandchildren together. My husband and I.
Summer Fling
2002 - I was sitting in the kitchen listening to music when my mother called. She was at work and needed tampons. I grabbed the tampons and my purse and headed out the door. It was a warm summer night. I walked to the corner and checked for the bus. Nothing. I'd have to walk the four blocks to her job. It was Friday and the whole neighborhood seemed to be outside. Teenagers roamed the streets in groups talking loudly. Cars cruised down the block with various genres of music fading away as they passed. A small crowd lingered outside the Chinese store. I walked quickly down 23rd Street until I reached Snyder Avenue. There was crowd of men outside the bar talking loudly. I went inside and tried to get my mom's attention from behind the bar. There was a party going on and there were people everywhere. I noticed my Aunt at the other end of the bar and squeezed my way though the crowd to get to her. to greet my Aunt and then waived to get my mom's attention. I wasn't a drinker, but my Aunt asked me to have a drink with her & bought me a small bottle of Verdi Spumante. I sat with her until I finished half the drink and then I gave her a hug and decided to head home. On the way to the door I heard my cousin's voice,
"Hey! What you doing here? Come sit with us. What you drinking?"
"I was just drinking a bottle of Verdi that your mom got me," I told her.
"Verdi? Okay. Have you tried the Incredible Hulk? Cuz! You have to try this!" She turned to the guy beside her, "Get me two Incredible Hulks." Then she turned back to me, "I'm so glad you came out. "You never go anywhere. You deserve to get out sometimes you know?"
She wasn't wrong. I did deserve to get out and the Incredible Hulk was a damn good drink! I sat with them for awhile and she tried hard to divide her time between me and the guy buying her drinks. He was so smitten by her. I smiled and looked down as I swirled my straw around in my drink. When I lifted my head up I saw a man's reflection in the mirror in front of me. He had broad shoulders and really good posture, a low fade, and wavy jet black hair. For a second our eyes met in the mirror. I turned my head quickly and when I looked again, he was gone.
It was almost 2 a.m. and the bar was clearing out. People were either going home, or going upstairs to the party. My mom came over to the end of the bar where I was sitting and said, "Come on. Get up," as she motioned for me to go upstairs. She started cleaning the top of the bar where I was seated. I got up and went upstairs. As soon as I got upstairs an old drunk guy tried to get me to dance with him. "No." I told him as I walked past and sat down. I sat there for a good five minutes before thinking about going home. I walked over to the bar to tell my mom & Aunt that I was going to leave. They didn't want me to walk home by myself so late at night. I sat back down. The drunk old drunk guy danced his way over to me.
"Come on girl, get up! Come dance with me." He said. "You don't know what you missin'!"
I laughed, but still declined his invitation. When moved from in front of me I noticed the guy from the mirror has come back. He was standing at the bar. He saw me looking at him and motioned for me to come to him. I looked around as if I was confused about who he was talking to and shook my head no. I then motioned for him to come to me. Neither of us would concede. I stayed in my seat and we continued with our night talking to other people and sneaking glances at each other from across the room. Eventually I had to use the restroom which meant that I would have to walk right past him. On my way back from the restroom he stopped me and introduced himself. He spoke well and he was reserved in his conversation. My mom noticed us talking and walked over. She said, "Oh! This is Ex! I'm glad you've met. He's a nice young man. So polite and always smiling." She turned to him, "Ex, this my daughter." He extended his hand to me and said, "Nice to meet you Daughter," with a big smile on his face. I smiled and blushed as I shook his hand. "Hi, Ex. Nice to meet you, formally."
After that the two of us sat downstairs alone at the empty bar. We talked and laughed for over an hour. He had moved to Philadelphia a few years ago from South Carolina and we talked about the different cultures and experiences went both through moving from a town to a major city. We talked about law and politics. He wrote songs and sang. I wrote poetry and loved art. It was the best conversation I'd had from a guy who was interested in me in years. After the party was over we walked to 7Eleven for convenience store food and snacks.
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