\b\ul The Presence}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}\pard \fs20\tqr\tx9360
{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab {\u169\'a9}C, 2004
}\pard \fs20\tx0\tx720\tx1440\tx2160\tx2880\tx3600\tx4320\tx5040\tx5760\tx6480\tx7200\tx7920\tx8640\tqr\tx9360
{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Why, yes, Bill, I{\u8217\'92}d love to go to dinner with you.{\u8221\'94}
}\pard \fs20\tx-1080\tx0\tx720\tx1440\tx2160\tx2880\tx3600\tx4320\tx5040\tx5760\tx6480\tx7200\tx7920\tx8640\tqr\tx9360
{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 The words almost floored me. Angel, her real name was Angelica del Alasso, was one of the prettiest girls in school, \softline
a dark-haired, vivacious, popular girl whose charms had attracted me since eighth grade. Now that it was Spring of \softline
our senior year, we were both legally adults, but Angel, I heard, still obeyed her strict mother in almost everything. \softline
Unlike ninety percent of the senior class, she didn;t even drive a car\'21 She said, when one of her friends happened to \softline
ask her, in my hearing, why she didn{\u8217\'92}t drive, she said, {\u8220\'93}Why, pay all that insurance, and car payments, and all?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 She had been courted by all the football team, but none of them had gotten anywhere with her {\u8220\'93}turn-off{\u8221\'94} mode, a \softline
perfectly and very charming, very complete, frost. She had been going fairly regularly with Walter Pickens, as Anglo \softline
a boy as you could want . . . originally form New England, his parents had moved to our locale to follow his dad{\u8217\'92}s \softline
job, and he was a breath of fresh {\u8212\'97} very fresh, some said {\u8212\'97} air in our sometime stodgy school life. Angel had \softline
appeared to prefer fellow latinos before Walter arrived like a breeze, and I was certainly not as brainy, or, I must \softline
admit, as good looking, as either Paul Francesco or Walter, her two most persistent and seemingly most favored \softline
swains.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Paul was a good guy, we were friends, but he was just a bit on the slow side; I helped him a lot in calculus that year, \softline
but then, he helped me in physics, which contained a lot of calc, so I couldn{\u8217\'92}t figure why he was slow with the \softline
math..His explanation was that since he was a {\u8220\'93}trade{\u8221\'94} student, he got a lot of work with physics in his engineering \softline
class, but I couldn{\u8217\'92}t believe that. Maybe he just liked me to do his work for him?
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Anyway, it was coming time for our big Spring Dance (most schools called it {\u8220\'93}Prom{\u8221\'94}) and I hadn{\u8217\'92}t made allowance \softline
for enough time to get a date with one of my regular girlfriends. So, feeling desperate and figuring any chance was \softline
better than going dateless to the Dance, I asked Angel, almost casually, as we were pressed together in the crush of \softline
between class movement in the hallway.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}You do mean to take me to the Dance after, right?{\u8221\'94} she smiled, striding ahead in that determined but very sexy way \softline
she had as a way opened before us..
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I stopped at the doorway to my class and as she disappeared around the near corner I called after her, {\u8220\'93}Of course\'21{\u8221\'94} I \softline
almost added {\u8220\'93}please,{\u8221\'94} but thought better of it as I realised I was not talking to her any longer. As it was, I got \softline
enough odd looks as I took my seat in the classroom.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 The following two days to the week-end and the succeeding week were an increasingly nervous time. I had managed \softline
to rent a decent tux and trousers, made the proper arrangements for a corsage and boutonniere, tried at six different \softline
restaurants within reasonable driving distance to get a table, but was told at each that I should have called sooner. It \softline
seemed that two other high schools and a junior college were all having their dances, proms, whatever, on the same \softline
night, a really stupid thing to do. Well . . .
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 It seemed very strange, but although I seldom saw Angel during the course of the next week at school, our classes \softline
not always being on the same {\u8220\'93}path{\u8221\'94} when the bell rang, I did catch glimpses of her three times. Each time I tried to \softline
talk with her but she was, although in no way trying to ignore me, impervious to my calls at her. She was always \softline
talking to another girl, or to one of her male Latin buddies in Spanish, usually loudly so that they could hear each \softline
other over the mob-noise in the halls. I was just too far away to communicate with her.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Finally, desperate, on Thursday before the Saturday night Dance, I cut a class just to intercept and talk with her as \softline
she left her classroom from the previous period.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Why, Bill Chalmers, where have you been? I{\u8217\'92}ve been looking for you all }{\plain \fs20 \i\fs20 week\'21}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Angel . . . damn it, I{\u8217\'92}ve tried to speak to you three times this week and could never get close enough to make you \softline
hear me.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Oh, Lordy, I{\u8217\'92}m sorry, Bill. I would not have missed you, but something came up and . . .{\u8221\'94} That scared me so that I \softline
interrupted her.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Angel . . . you{\u8217\'92}re not going with me to the Dance?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Oh, no, Bill, dear, it{\u8217\'92}s not that. It{\u8217\'92}s something else I was having to discuss with my latino friends, that{\u8217\'92}s all. It{\u8217\'92}s
about scholarships, not the Dance. I wouldn{\u8217\'92}t miss that for the world, not with all the trouble you{\u8217\'92}ve gone to and \softline
all.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 That, you can believe, made me feel a great deal better. But . . . why would Angel be worried about a scholarship? \softline
I{\u8217\'92}d have bet her grades were close to valedictorian level, if not actually there. I didn{\u8217\'92}t ask, though; my grades were a \softline
perfectly secure B+ and I had about a 3.47 GPA. A little more work and maybe I{\u8217\'92}d be an A-?
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Friday, as I was getting ready to rush around after school and was paying very little attention in my classes, Paul \softline
took me aside in the lunch break and said, very seriously,
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Look, amigo, you{\u8217\'92}re taking Anhel{\u8221\'94} . . . as he pronounced her name . . . {\u8220\'93}to the Dance.{\u8221\'94} He made that a statement.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I had a faint idea he might not like my taking her, so I backed up a little bit and said, {\u8220\'93}So?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Have you met her mamacita?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Uh-uh. Never been to her house.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Dios\'21 Do you know where she lives?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Yes. 128 Locasta Avenue, out by the big florist{\u8217\'92}s on Rambler Street.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Okay, buddy, her mother is a bit hard for an Anglo like you to get along with, maybe. She{\u8217\'92}s hard, man, hard. She \softline
treats Anhel like dirt in front of her friends, at least she has every time the gang of us has been over there to play \softline
cards. So, you{\u8217\'92}ve got that to face. Now, every time . . .{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I was getting a little bit angry. {\u8220\'93}Are you trying to tell me I shouldn{\u8217\'92}t be dating Angel? That she{\u8217\'92}s reserved for you \softline
and Walter?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I could see that made Paul sorta mad, too. {\u8220\'93}No, you ass\'21 Just this . . . you{\u8217\'92}re not used to latino ways, maybe, and \softline
you{\u8217\'92}ve gotta treat Anhel{\u8217\'92}s momma like a queen. We all treat Anhelica like a princess, so why not? Besides, when \softline
you meet la se{\f1\u241\'20}ora del Alasso, she{\u8217\'92}ll act like a queen, anyway.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}All right. Look, Paul, I didn{\u8217\'92}t mean to get you mad, I{\u8217\'92}m sorry. Now, I{\u8217\'92}ve gotta rush, but thanks for the warning.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 So . . . I got the whole list of stuff I had to get, picked up my tux and trousers, added a bow tie (which I{\u8217\'92}d forgotten \softline
before) and went home to get ready. Oh, yeah, I gassed up and cleaned the {\u8216\'91}01 Toyota sedan I was paying through \softline
the nose for, made sure the tires were up to pressure and finally, after carefully eating a snack in my underwear, \softline
brushing crumbs off them before I dressed, I could feel the excitement building inside, but I tried my best to keep \softline
calm. Ha\'21
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Driving over the Angel{\u8217\'92}s place {\u8212\'97} I took two wrong turns and finally arrived at the time I had said I would {\u8212\'97} I{\u8217\'92}d \softline
planned to be early, I passed two accidents and a lot of police cars.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 When I knocked at Angel{\u8217\'92}s front door, my heart was hammering in my throat and I{\u8217\'92}ll bet I was red as a beet when a \softline
gorgeous older woman opened the door and asked me to enter in a pleasant manner.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Uhm, you are Se{\f1\u241\'20}ora del Alasso, ma{\u8217\'92}am?{\u8221\'94} I asked, on my best behavior.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Si . . . ye-as. You arre. . . {\u8220\'93} she certainly rolled her {\u8220\'93}r{\u8221\'94}s . . {\u8220\'93} Meester-r Chalmer-rs, no? Welcome to our-r house. \softline
Nuestra casa es su casa.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I{\u8217\'92}d learned that bit in Spanish class, way back in ninth grade, but damned if I hadn{\u8217\'92}t forgotten the proper reply. I \softline
tried anyway.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}I am gratified by your welcome, ma{\u8217\'92}am . . . uh, se{\f1\u241\'20}ora.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}And here is la princesa . . . dios mio, Angelita, tu est{\f1\u224\'20}s bellissima\'21{\u8221\'94} I knew that, too. My Spanish was coming back \softline
rapidly, and Mrs del Alasso was, oh, so right\'21 Angel was an absolute ravishing beauty . . . she could have won the \softline
Mis America contest going away, as far as I was concerned.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Whew\'21{\u8221\'94} was all I could say. Angel was in a sweeping dress of pale green, matching her eyes . . . you know, until
then I had never noticed what color her eyes were\'21 . . . with a necklace that looked like half a score of emeralds {\u8212\'97} or \softline
something that sure looked like emeralds {\u8212\'97} on it at intervals. The dress was low cut, too, showing the tips of her \softline
substantial boobs . . . which I of course had never seen up close before. Seemed like I was going to get an eyeful \softline
tonight.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Well, Bill, shall we go? We have a dinner engagement, have we not?{\u8221\'94} She was in a princess mood, all right. Angel \softline
turned to her pretty mother and said something in Spanish, too fast for me to catch, but which made her supposed \softline
tyrant of a mother shrink and just nod her head. Angel came to me, took my limp arm and steered us both to the \softline
door. Her last words to her mother were, {\u8220\'93}Don{\u8217\'92}t wait up for me. We{\u8217\'92}ll be late,{\u8221\'94} as we sailed . . . I was, anyway, \softline
about a foot off the ground . . . out the door and down the walk to the car. How I got her and that dress into the car \softline
I{\u8217\'92}ll never know.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Then it hit me\'21 I didn;t have a reservation anywhere\'21 We couldn{\u8217\'92}t dine in the style for which she was all dressed up\'21 \softline
In a numb state of mind I started the car, put it in gear and said, miserably,
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Angel, I couldn{\u8217\'92}t get a reservation anywhere.{\u8221\'94} I felt like the most complete dweeb in the world, but it felt better to \softline
admit to my failure as a date at the start and perhaps let her figure out who she would rather have been with.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Bill, I think you{\u8217\'92}ll be able to get us a table at La Frontera, if we get over there right now.{\u8221\'94} La Frontera had to be \softline
the most expensive restaurant in town. I had about enough money for two decent, but not luxurious, meals there; I \softline
could offer her a better meal at The Grill, where I had wanted to take her originally . . . no reservation.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Oh,{\u8221\'94} she said, smiling at me, {\u8220\'93}Don{\u8217\'92}t worry about the menu . We{\u8217\'92}ll be fine and eat well. I{\u8217\'92}ll enjoy walking in there \softline
on your arm. We might startle some of the Board, huh?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Board? Hell, it{\u8217\'92}d startle the shoes off me if we could get a table, now. But . . . we did. There was a cancellation and \softline
we waltzed right into the diningroom, were seated by an overly servile waiter and presented with the wine list at \softline
once.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Huh? We can{\u8217\'92}t drink wine, Angel. We{\u8217\'92}re not old enough,{\u8221\'94} I said in an aside.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 She didn{\u8217\'92}t answer me, but turning to the waiter she said, {\u8220\'93}I{\u8217\'92}ll have a glass of the Merlot . . . my friend is unused to \softline
wines and will probably like a house brand.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 By some quirk of fate we were served, and no one raised hell or tried to arrest us\'21 I tried the house wine and as far as \softline
I knew {\u8212\'97} I{\u8217\'92}d been raised on sneaked drinks of whiskey {\u8212\'97} it was all right. Angel enjoyed hers throughout one of the \softline
more fabulous meals I{\u8217\'92}ve ever eaten, save for the fact that my mind kept slipping back into adding machine mode as \softline
I ate, enjoyed and watched Angel do the same. We ended with coffee. Just as well, I was nervous and that helped to \softline
give me a reason to show it.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 When the waiter presented the check, my eyes must have looked as though they were about to fall out of my head. I \softline
just had enough to cover the bill, but that meant no stopping for snacks after the Dance\'21
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 \tab Angel looked across the table at me, smiled and took the check from my trembling hand. She asked me for \softline
a pen. I didn{\u8217\'92}t have one but the waiter did. Angel took it from him and with an imperious gesture signed her name, \softline
handed the bill and pen back to him and said, sweetly,
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}I{\u8217\'92}ve included your gratuity in that, you served us decently well. Thank you.{\u8221\'94} He bowed more deeply, and, I{\u8217\'92}d like \softline
to think, more sincerely, than he had hovered during the entire meal. Somehow, after that exchange, I managed to \softline
rise and take her arm under mine. Only her insistent pressure on my arm kept me from running out the door.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}How did you . . .?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Hush, no matter, Bill. It{\u8217\'92}s done and we can go to the Dance, right?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Wow\'21 Angel, that was the most amazing piece of . . . of . . . effrontery I{\u8217\'92}ve ever seen\'21{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Porque, mi corazon? Estoy la princesa esta noche, no? So . . . {\u8220\'93}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I handed her into the car in a whirl of wild conjecture; yes, my Spanish, what little I remembered, was coming back \softline
to me in part. {\u8220\'93}La princesa{\u8221\'94} for tonight, eh? Boy, I was beginning to wish that she was more than my pleasant, \softline
pretty, nice, apparently wealthy and well-connected date for tonight and was a lot more than a one night stand.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Not, you understand, that I even dared to think that she and I could . . . God, what a thought\'21 . . . make love . . . fuck.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 But, not daring, I still was beginning to have an erection, perhaps from that display of apparent wealth, perhaps with \softline
the hope that with everything else that had happened so far, my date with Angel might possibly end with the two of \softline
us . . . Stop the dreaming.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I cannot remember to this day what the Dance was like. I have been told, occasionally, that Angel and I were the real \softline
king and queen of that Dance, not those elected to wear those tinsel crowns. I know we sashayed . . . yup, sashayed\'21 \softline
. . . in, my tickets were in my hand and into the hand of the assistant principal at the door, we sat with someone or \softline
other, talked, danced, ate something, danced, talked, danced and left at whatever time it was.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}This is fun, Bill. Don{\u8217\'92}t you think so?{\u8221\'94} Angel asked me as we left the Dance. I never knew how the heck we did \softline
that, students wewren{\u8217\'92}t supposed to ever leave before the end of the Dance, but we glided out of there like two \softline
shadows on the wall, and no one stopped us or questioned our leaving.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Drive us up the Hill, Bill,{\u8221\'94} Angel laughed. The Hill was a small local mound, maybe sixty feet above the plain, \softline
with a lane that wound twice around it so the bicyclers would have no trouble surmounting it. It was wooded on top, \softline
three or four acres of trees and well-tended bushes.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Park here, Bill, I want to watch.{\u8221\'94} I obeyed her, of course, this was a famous {\u8220\'93}parking{\u8221\'94} place, but I wondered if we \softline
wouldn{\u8217\'92}t be bothered by other students and their dates, or maybe the police, who knew as much about the Hill as we \softline
did. I did wonder what she wanted to {\u8220\'93}watch.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Bill,{\u8221\'94} she said, turning toward me, {\u8220\'93}Can you love me?{\u8221\'94} Not {\u8220\'93}do you,{\u8221\'94} but {\u8220\'93}can you.{\u8221\'94} That took me by surprise. I \softline
thought she had wanted to park here, knowing the Hill{\u8217\'92}s reputation, in anticipation of a little {\u8220\'93}lovemaking.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Uh, that{\u8217\'92}s a funny question, Angel,{\u8221\'94} I temporized.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Look at me, look at me closely, Bill. You can love me, can{\u8217\'92}t you?{\u8221\'94} I looked at her, sitting there half-turned toward \softline
me, her breasts about to fall out of th gown, her skirt rucked up almost to her rump . . . I caught the glint of flesh, not \softline
pink or white panties as I{\u8217\'92}d expected\'21 What the hell?
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I was quite quickly convinced that I could love her, love Angel now, next week, forever, if she wanted me to.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Do you feel a change in me, Bill?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I gargled out an answer through my growing confusion. {\u8220\'93}Yes, the way you got us a table, your paying for the \softline
dinner, the dance . . . who did we sit with, anyway?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}It doesn{\u8217\'92}t matter, Bill. None of it matters. Bill . . . I{\u8217\'92}m not her.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Wha. . .? You{\u8217\'92}re Angel del Alasso . . . you are.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Oh, I{\u8217\'92}m wearing her body, Bill, and I know most of her thoughts and have her memories, but I{\u8217\'92}m a stranger, Bill. \softline
That{\u8217\'92}s why I asked if you could feel a change . . . and if you could make love to me.{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}Why . . . why . . . . Angel,{\u8221\'94} I got serious as all hell, {\u8220\'93}I can make love to you if this boner in my pants is real. But \softline
what do you mean, you{\u8217\'92}re not Angel?
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 {\u8220\'93}I{\u8217\'92}m not, I{\u8217\'92}m riding her, that{\u8217\'92}s all, Bill. But that doesn{\u8217\'92}t matter. Can you make love to me? Will you make love to \softline
me?{\u8221\'94}
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I moved over a little closer to Angel, still not sure where she was coming from, wondering if indeed I could make \softline
love to an apparently crazy girl . . . a girl who hadn{\u8217\'92}t seemed one bit nuts until now. Truth be told, all those thoughts \softline
I{\u8217\'92}d had earlier had sorta flown the coop. I was more scared than interested, yet there was an attraction about Angel \softline
that I could feel, pulling my arm toward her, around her shoulder and down almost to her right breast. When she \softline
snuggled against me, rubbing her left breast and side against me, I guess I lost it.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 We kissed, slowly and carefully for a little bit, then more and more sensuously, winding up in a battle of the tongues \softline
which must have made her mouth sore. I know that her hands were all over me, and I remember . . . think I \softline
remember . . . that my hand wound up between her legs, stroking and fondling her as my breath went back to grade \softline
school (in short pants).
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 That dress and my clothes came off us without my seeming to do anything about it, and we were entwined, naked \softline
and rutting for what seemed like hours, before I finally could no longer stand the pressure and came for what seemed \softline
like forever.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I still do not remember what we did after that; if we went {\u8220\'93}home{\u8221\'94} even. I recall nothing more about that night.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 I do know that I am the first person to be seized by the Presence that occupied Angel that night. Angel and I are \softline
{\u8220\'93}married,{\u8221\'94} at least we{\u8217\'92}re living together these days, like almost all the rest of the world, and since the Presence made \softline
me not a breeder, Angel is a {\u8220\'93}milker.{\u8221\'94} Her udder is enormous, a fact to which I was quickly accustomed and made \softline
proud by the Presence, as is the fact that she is a champion milker, just as I am not a champion stud.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 After all, a {\u8220\'93}milker{\u8221\'94} for the Presences (there are now thousands, I suppose) cannot breed, so since we live together, I \softline
must have been sterilized and emasculated. The Presence makes me feel good about that. After all, 98% of formerly \softline
male humankind . . . if that{\u8217\'92}s what you can call us nowadays . . . is sterile and without any secondary sex \softline
characteristics . . . primary, either, if the tame doctors get to a young fellow before puberty.
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20
}{\plain \fs20 \fs20 Selected young males are allowed . . . forced . . . to retain their gonads until they grow up and can breed with \softline
selected females a they come on heat. }