Gerald could smell the shampoo in her hair.
It was a scent of oranges, papaya maybe. He
had grown accustomed to it. Even as he kissed
her soft, puffy lips like silk; it was ever
present. When he gazed at her softly closed
eyelids, closed in the passion of the moment,
hiding her beautiful blue eyes, even then he
smelled it. It was strangely comforting, and
warm. Gerald would have never thought it would
be her shampoo that he would remember lingering,
as she was the most beautiful girl he had ever
been with. He kissed her pale long neck, as he
worked his way down.
Sydney lay on her back on the same soft
comforter she had had as a child on a bed she had
slept in thousands of times. As her spine became
engulfed in the fluffiness, she felt his weight
on her. He was overpowering when he lay on her.
It made her feel like prey; and she loved it.
Sydney was a small white teenage girl and Gerald,
a muscular, black man of three years senior. It
was these differences that made it exciting to
Sydney. It was these same changes that made it
frustrating and scary for Gerald.
Sydney opened her eyes and met Gerald's
with a look of admiration. As he looked lovingly
at the beautiful face of Sydney, he leaned forward
ever so softly. He could see his shadow moving
upwards over her perfect breasts, slowly overtaking
her neck, then her chiseled cheekbones. He
turned ever so slightly and glanced out the open
window. 'It was a beautiful day' he thought. He
kissed her on her left ear, and listen for the soft
sigh that was impending upon his entering of her.
Suddenly she sat up with a start!
"What, baby, what it?" Gerald asked surprised,
and confused.
"SHHHH!" Sydney scolded, "I thought I heard
something!"
"Damn, girl!"
"Gerald, you know my dad would kill you!"
"I can't take this!" Gerald loudly whispered.
"I'm sorry, honey. I'll meet you at the diner
at seven."
With a loud, disappointed sigh, Gerald started
crawling out the open window.
"Promise you'll be there. We're running out of
time before..."
"I know, I'll be there. Seven.". With that,
Gerald slipped out the window over to the tree that
he had shimmied plenty of times in the relationship.
As he reached the ground, he realized he was usually
so much happier and satisfied after the climb. He
looked at the familiar alley and started walking and
thinking.
Gerald lived about eight blocks down the
road from Sydney; just past the train station. He
remembered when she moved into town. He and a few
of his friends were rollerblading down the road and
stopped to see a moving truck in front of the old
Schnaebel residence. The neighborhood was always
friendly to newcomers. The house was huge, therefore
expensive, and vacant for some time. A friend of
Gerald's', Scott, had mentioned that they should go
say hello, greet them, maybe try to help them.
Gerald laughed. They didn't have time for that
community service bullshit, they were having fun.
Out of the BMW appeared Syd's father. "A white man!"
Scott laughed, "Fuck them." Yeah, fuck them, Gerald
thought. It was then Syd first appeared.
She was a vision of beauty to his eyes The
color didn't even matter at all. He instantly knew
he had to have her. "Naw, let's go say Hi. See
what's up." Gerald dreamily said. His friends
started cracking up loudly. "Look at loverboy!"
They yelled.
"Hey, Romeo, you know damn well you aint got a
shot in hell!" Scott stated, "Beautiful, blond,
rich, daddy's girl?....Oh, did I mention white?"
He and the gang started laughing louder. Then she
turned and looked right at him. Or maybe right
through him with her piercing blue eyes. "I gotta
try...." he mumbled assuredly, and continued to
skate across the street Rejection was the worst
that could happen he felt. There was something
about this girl that made rejection worth the
extra seconds of viewing, and he knew he would
never forgive himself if he didn't try right here
and now. His legs were moving towards her without
his brain's collaboration.
"Hi, I'm Gerald" he stated looking right
past her father, and extending his hand towards the
girl.
"Sydney." She said, never escaping eye contact.
"Sydney!" her father sternly coughed. Her eyes
fell to the ground.
Gerald composed himself. "Hi, welcome to the
neighborhood. My name is.."
He was cut off by a sudden 'Good-bye'. As the
two turned and entered the house, Gerald just stared
like a saddened puppy. Just as he was about to turn
with his tail between his legs, out of the corner of
his eye, she glanced back and smiled.
He could remember that day and that scene as
if it had just happened. It happened every day for
him in his memories. It was one of the scenes that
would both put him to sleep at night and keep him
awake into the wee hours. His friends and family
took it really well. Hers could never know. It was
this injustice that made Gerald hate mankind.
***END OF PART THREE***