sunny, not too warm yet and not a hint of humidity in the air. They walked up and down side
streets gazing into windows. They held hands for a little while. Then, on Fifth Avenue, Chad put
his arm around Ricky’s shoulders and Ricky put his arm around Chad’s waist.
Ricky couldn’t help thinking about his entrepreneurial project, the one he’d been kicked
out of because he’d yanked Nurse Cunt by the collar. Here he was walking around New York,
with a man’s arm around his shoulders, while his other classmates were back in New Jersey
wading through a long, dreary lecture by blank-faced teacher in charge of a project he didn’t
know the first thing about. The poor things were plotting their hapless little businesses and
hoping to make a profit. Some were selling crafty homemade decorative planters and hoping to make a five-hundred-dollar profit. Another group was marketing and selling flameless candles
and hoping to make an eight-hundred-dollar profit. Even though he’d been kicked out of the
entrepreneurial project, it made Ricky smile. Ricky had already made more money in just one
night than his business teacher or his classmates would make in an entire year with their little
projects. He’d grossed over sixty thousand dollars, thanks to Chad’s idea. When it had all been
divided up, he’d collected almost thirty thousand for himself. But more than that, he’d had better
sex in one week than most people have in one lifetime. And he’d gained more self-confidence
than most people his age could hope to gain in a year.
Ricky and Chad wound up in Central Park, near a bridge that overlooked a small body of
water. It was dark by then and they were still holding hands. When they walked beneath the
bridge and reached the middle, Chad grabbed Ricky by the waist and pushed him into the
cobblestone wall. Chad put his arms around him and kissed him on the mouth. A guy jogging
slowed down and gaped as Chad unbuckled Ricky’s pants and slid his hands inside so he could
grab Ricky’s ass.
Ricky didn’t care. He arched his back and rested his palms on Chad’s shoulders, allowing
his pants to drop below his waist. “I thought we were going for ice cream,” he said. “I should
have known better than to trust you. You always have an ulterior motive.”
“I’m horny,” Chad said, running his hands up the back of Ricky’s shirt.
“You’re always horny.”
He bit Ricky’s neck. “Should I stop?”
Ricky reached down and grabbed Chad. He squeezed the bulge in Chad’s pants; a guy on
a bike slowed down to see what they were doing. “Do you have a condom?” Ricky asked.
“Three in my back pocket just for you.” When the guy on the bike stopped and started edging toward them, Chad took Ricky’s
hand and they walked out from under the bridge. He pulled Ricky into a cluster of bushes on the
other side of the bridge where it was dark and private. He put his arms around him again and
kissed him so hard Ricky almost lost his footing and fell backwards into the water.
Ricky’s pants were down around his knees by then. He didn’t care; he knew they were
alone. When they stopped kissing, he caressed the back of Chad’s head and told him to put on
the condom. Chad had one hand between Ricky’s shoulder blades and the other pressed to the
small of Ricky’s back. He didn’t reach for the condom immediately. His chest was heaving and
he couldn’t catch his breath.
So Ricky leaned into Chad’s warm body and ran his fingers up through Chad’s thick
black hair. He whispered about how much he loved Chad and how perfect he thought Chad was.
Chad’s hands went up and down his naked back. Ricky rambled on, taking quick pauses to catch
his breath. Ricky said he wanted to introduce Chad to his parents. He told Chad he wanted him at
his graduation, sitting in the front row with his mother and father. Ricky wanted to exchange
rings and he wanted to go to the movies with Chad on a Friday night. Then he promised Chad
that if anyone even so much as looked at him sideways, including his mother and father, he’d fix
it so they’d never make that mistake again.
When Chad began to unbutton his Ricky’s shirt, Ricky was still talking. He leaned back
and said he was tired of sneaking around. He was proud of who he was, he was proud of the man
he was with, and he wanted the entire world to know it. And when Chad removed Ricky’s shirt
and jacket at the same time and let them drop to the ground, and caressed the right side of
Ricky’s face, he said he was ready and willing to do anything, as long as it would make Ricky
happy. THE END