After my Mexican Fang post, some of you have wondered how Fang, 15 years my junior, a less-literate Mexican man-boy–How did he and I manage to hook up, when I’m a word-loving, nerd-loving oldish whiteish lady?
Whatever this magnetism is that Fang and I have, the more he and I chatted at my friend’s, the more his magical powers pulled at me. On the 4th of July, there were almost fireworks down on the ground when I nearly leaned over and just kissed him out of nowhere! THAT is not like me. Especially since I was consciously fighting the whole thing. I was really not comfortable at the thought of how Fang would react to seeing me naked. My body looks pretty good for my age. But a guy THAT young? What he imagined he’d see and what he would see were likely to be different.
Meanwhile, Fang, who had set his sights on me from the first time he saw me, was running a sneaky campaign to overcome my resistance. He said he wanted to be only my friend–that he had no romantic interest in me at all. (This was mostly so that I would rent a nearby apartment of his brother’s, thereby staying within easy reach.) By the point he came up with this, I had PLENTY of interest in Fang, despite my body/age doubts, and hearing the “let’s be friends” line was a great disappointment.
Turns out he was a big fat lying liar. But why use words, when pictures will do? Here’s your free comic for being such a good post reader!
(Click to expand. Use the back arrow to come back.
If you close the window, you’ll be lost to me–sniff! sob!):
2014-02-14–As usual, first version was WAY too wordy. Cut out the ca-ca.
Billy Ryder. Just saying his name silently to myself was enough to reduce me to a useless puddle of drool.
Somewhere in the middle of junior high school, I developed one of those helpless, heart-stoppingly painful crushes on a boy with whom I had never spoken.
“…perfect or excellent…” Pair? Uh… Gone (In Billy’s and My Case).
Billy Ryder. He was extremely tall, lanky, and walked with a very graceful loping stride that really got me—right there, you know?
He wore his straight dark brown hair parted on the side, and it was always falling in front of his eyes, which meant that he always had to reach up and gently push it back, or, even better, toss it back with his head.
Oh, how that got to me!
Of course, his face was cute. But the crush clincher was that he was highly intelligent and well-informed, and oh so soft-spoken. What a killer combo.
But Billy Was More Handsome Than Pretty…
Between classes was a very difficult time for me. That is when there was a chance I would have to pass my paragon.
I was terrified that he would spot me, and immediately detect the embarrassing depth of my feelings for him.
I would spot him coming, miles down the hallway, and immediately avert my eyes, hoping that this would prevent the bright red blush that always covered me when he was near.
It never worked; I’d feel the heat burning my face and even my arms. As he grew closer, I would find it hard to walk.
As soon as I knew he had passed, I would have to stop and lean against the wall and wait for the cold sweat to break out.
I hated being so out of control of my feelings and my body.
And my feelings were utterly hopeless. Me, skinny, ugly, nerdy. He, tall, beautiful, and—already with girlfriend!
Here is the worst part:
Said girlfriend used to have crying jags in the girl’s bathroom about problems in her relationship with Billy, and cry on my shoulder while I offered her sympathy! When what I really wanted to do was take her place…
This is just how pathetic this crush was:
In the summers, when our family traveled by car to Chicago, my heart would race and be broken by every Ryder Rental truck we passed.
The Right Move for ME!
By high school, the crush had not faded one whit. Then: The day of The Fiasco.
We Choir kids are lined up in the hallway waiting to go onstage. Boys on one side, girls on the other. I’m next to my good friend Vicky.
Billy happens to be across the hall from us, so I am doing my very best to be invisible. Then, the most horrible, most awful, most dreadful thing happens:
Billy, my paragon, the most perfect boy for me ever put on this earth, leaves his place in line, walks across that hall, straight up to me, stands directly in front of me, looks down at me from his angel-like altitude, and, smiling broadly–at me–says, “Hi!”.
And what does Ms. Suave, Ms. Always-be-prepared, Ms. Grab-your-opportunity-or-it-will-pass-you-by do with this golden moment?
You do remember my smooth moves with Chuck “Hot Pencils” in Biology class, don’t you?
Yup. You Guessed It.
That’s right.
The first thing I do is cast a panicked look at my friend Vicky, thinking “Surely, Billy must be talking to Vicky. He can’t be saying ‘Hi’ to me.” But Vicky’s back is turned.
Once I realize this, I totally freeze. That’s right. Like a deer in the headlights.
The nightmare I always imagined would happen if Billy ever spoke to me is exactly what does happen:
I am unable to move, or say a single word.
Billy continues to stand there for some moments, looking puzzled. Then, he turns around and goes back to his place in line.
Billy was the student who organized our school’s first Earth Day, adding social consciousness and leadership strengths to his long list of attractive qualities. This rubbed in painfully the gem I had missed out on.
Someone told me years later that my paragon, Billy Ryder, had had a crush on me during those years!
I find that very hard to believe. Wouldn’t it just be so sad if it were true?
Stupid teen years.
Note: No names were changed to protect the innocent. So, Billy, or perhaps Bill or William now, if one of the readers of this blog (Shout out!) happens to be six degrees separated from you, you may finally learn of the awe you inspired! (I think I can feel your virtual cringe from here.)
Me: Old (mostly), white (mostly), raised in an upper-middle-class neighborhood (me po’ nuff sho’ nuff now, though).
So what the HELL was I thinking when I hooked up with a “BROWN PRIDE”-tatted Mexican FIFTEEN YEARS younger than I am?
(Yeah, I know what you’re thinkin’ I was thinkin’…with.)
Oh, and not just hooked up…I love the dude! Jeez, Louise!
Fang-boy is loud, ignorant, bossy, ignorant, sexist, ignorant, racist, ignorant, sexist (did I say sexist and ignorant yet?)…
Oh, and I mean SEXIST!! Really, really, OFFENSIVELY sexist! The man is a f#cking NEANDERTHAL!! (We’re workin’ on that.)
Not Fang. I think Fang’s tat is racist, BTW…
We have NADA in common. I don’t even speak Spanish (except como un bebe).
And, like many L.A. Mexicans, Fang only THINKS he speaks English–he’s lived here practically his whole life–but his brand of English has about 100 words in it.
I’m constantly having to define for him everyday words and expressions, like explaining that I was using sarcasm–although he uses irony and sarcasm and the like in Spanish to me; e.g. In mock anger: “Que vamos a hacer contigo!”/”What are we going to do with you!”–right before he shows me, in a way that makes us both very happy…
Yeah. Like This.
When I say Fang is ignorant, I mean of more than just English vocabulary.
He paid no attention in school because when he came here as a young boy, all the other students called him “Beaner” (all but one, who became his best friend), and the teachers were unkind to the little brown import, as well (all but one, but that’s for another post).
I also think Fang is dyslexic, which certainly didn’t help. So–next-to-no schooling, and, since school, the typical seven-day work week of the hard-working Mexican man. Not much time for learning much about anything, except his trade.
So, it’s not just language we don’t have in common. We can’t share films or television programs or books, or history, or science.
I love wordplay, love making puns and stupid language jokes, and Fang just can’t “get” what I get. Add the culture gap. And then there’s the huge age gap on top of it. And the gender gap on top of that, of course.
Good grief, even in the bedroom–or kitchen or wherever–we are still working out compromises! Although give credit where it’s due: Fang’s sexist bossiness has not always been entirely unwelcome (something this feminist never would have suspected about herself!).
We’ve never even shared a meal. I’m an everything-organic rice-only almost-vegetarian. Watching Fang gnaw away on chewy, gristly strips of beef is enough to make me barf.
I sip a half glass of wine occasionally. Fang? Tecate by the truckload. And just TRY to get him to use a coaster!
Let’s face it. We are just not meant to be together.
And yet…
Some of you may be old enough to remember the little Scottie dog magnets, one white and one black, that you set on top of a table and slowly pushed toward each other until, suddenly, they RUSHED together with a !!CLICK!!
That’s Fang. That’s me.
I’ve told him I wish I could quit him. He’s told me the same. But–at least for now–we need each other.
It’s over a year we’ve been dating, and I still thrill when I hear his ringtone. And his voice is sexy as hell.
The man is a pig, really. But he’s my pig. And YOU say one thing against him, I smash your face in.
And Don’t Think I Can’t Do It!
Addendum:
Blacks and Hispanics (not only Latinos) are included among my prior dates and boyfriends. Fang, however, is my first Mexican(-American) boyfriend.
Begrudging Second Addendum:
Ignorant he may be, but what does that make me? Fang has the very irritating habit of being right over half the damn time…(but since he’ll never read this, he’ll never know I admitted it!)
Many of the posts herein consist of opinions. Others, memories. Memories are subjective, and, we now know from research, fallible.
Statements made about others in the posts and replies to comments on this blog are based upon the memories and opinions of the blogger. Readers are left to draw their own conclusions about the the accuracy of these statements.
I do not do reciprocal Follows (I cannot keep up with reading posts on the few blogs I currently follow) and to my great and deserved shame, have even been remiss about visiting and thanking you, my more recently-added Followers
:(
or popping in for occasional visits among the rest of my wonderful readers. But I will be trying to catch up with everyone over the next couple of months.
We'll see how well I manage and how long it takes!
The Last Half 