Down Pour:

I knocked on the door and waited.

“Coming!” a woman yelled on the other side. I waited for a few seconds. Okay, I can do this. I snuck out of the house to come here. They are just people, only black. The door slowly opened wide. A tall black woman came out to me. She looked heavy. All I saw was curves on this woman. She nearly blocked my view. One word came to mind: muffin-top. (I didn’t speak it, however. She looked like she could kill me.) I could see her dark nipple through her white t-shirt. I was afraid that she would bust out of her jeans. The do-rag on her head finished her trashy look. She looked me up and down. This woman sneered at me.

“What the hell is a skinny white girl doing here?” she almost shouted. I did my best to keep my temper down.

“I’m looking for Jim,” I pushed out through my teeth. We were silent for a moment. She turned into the house.

“Jimmy! Some white girl to see you!” she yelled. I tried to force myself to stay calm. Now, I knew how black people felt at times. Your grandfather showed up a minute later. He looked me up and down and gave me that goofy grin of his.

“Star-love!” he exclaimed. “Glad you came! Thought that you would bail on me. Come on in!” I raised an eyebrow at him. He was joking right? I didn’t have time to complain, however. Your grandfather took me by the hand and dragged me inside. The big woman shook her head and shut the door behind us.

Everyone stared at me as I walked through the living room. Of course, I stuck out too much. I was the only white girl there. I began to feel like this was a bad joke being played on me. Jim didn’t seem to notice at all. He just led me to the stairs. (Makes me think he’s in on this joke too.)

We came to a bedroom. Jim let go of my hand, closed, and locked the door behind him. I looked around for a moment. To my surprise, this room looked rather clean. In fact, I don’t think anybody had slept in here for years. I became confused.

“Why are we here?” I asked as I turned to your grandfather. He looked at me seriously.

“I brought you up here to talk in private,” he explained. I raised an eyebrow at him.

“About what?” He shrugged at me.

“Anything.”

“Okay… why did you invite me here?”

“To see you again, of course!”

“But why?”

“Because, I like you, girl!” I blinked for a moment.

“What?”

“I. Like. You.”

“In what way?”

“What way do you think? Do I have to spell it out for you?” I slowly took it all in. This idiot likes me? But why? And does he care about what his little friends think?

“But why?” He looked at me oddly.

“Why what?”

“Why do you like me so much?” Jim shrugged me.

“Just cause…”

“Just cause what?”

“I just do.” I looked at him still.

“But what about your friends?”

“What about them?”

“What will they think about us?”

“Screw ‘em!”

“Just like that?” He nodded at me.

“Yeah!” I stared at him still. He noticed my face.

“What?”

“And you’re not pulling some sort of joke on me?” Jim smiled right at me.

“Do this look like a joke to you?” He walked forward and kissed me on the lips. I didn’t try to fight back this time. I was too surprised to. In a few seconds, I relaxed and kissed back. We didn’t stop kissing after that.

He pushed me down onto the neatly made bed. I felt uneasy at first. I tried to relax so to impress and keep your grandfather happy. This lasted for a few seconds. Then, Jim began to lift up my skirt. I began to panic. I pushed his hands off. Your grandfather stopped kissing and stared at me.

“What’s wrong, Star-love?” he asked. I squirmed a bit under him.

“I don’t want this!” I blurted out. “Not yet!” Your grandfather looked at me puzzled.

“Why? Don’t you like me?” I nodded a bit.

“Well… yeah, but we’re going too fast. At least take me out on a few dates for six months! And then we can see from there, okay?” Jim sat up and thought about that for a moment. I lied there, waiting nervously. I began to fear that I might have offended him somehow. Then, he looked at me again.

“Six months, huh?” I nodded at him.

“Yes.” Silence rolled over us for a moment. Jim finally smiled at my offer.

“Alright then, six months it is!” I smiled back at him. I lightly took his hand and kissed it.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

“Anything you like, my princess,” he whispered back. I kept my glowing smile at him. Our rain storm relationship began from there.

1983