PART 1

The atmosphere of the auditorium was exciting as the students were preparing for graduation. Oliver excitedly put on his cords for graduating Magna Cum Laude in Sociology and being in the National Honor Society.  Marching out on the floor, he saw his mom, dad, brother and sister sitting near the floor slightly above where he’d be sitting at. The graduation was about three hours with a large class. He listened to sounds of horns as his parents heard his name. It was a lovely day. He worked hard for this. He finished his undergraduate studies at the young age of 21. Through high school AP courses and early admissions he completed two semesters before setting foot on the college campus. As the graduation came to an end and he through his cap in the air, he waited for his parents to meet him on the floor before they all walked down and headed to lunch. He had his plans laid out, he was going to take a year off and work and then go to graduate school.

FOUR YEARS LATER
[Oliver Narrating]
[I didn’t  think that this would be my path. I thought that by now I’d have my MSW. Hard times hit. The economy kind of fucked up where I’m at when I got to college and the bachelor’s degree is essentially the new high school diploma. I know social work is a relatively low paying job, but prostitution was not my aspiration. I grew up in Miami Gardens, my parents both come from the West Indies. My mom is from Haiti and my dad is from Trinidad. I was raised the typical black Caribbean way. Got our asses whipped quite a bit. There was a lot of spices in our food and our parents wanted better for us than they did for themselves. My mother? She thinks I dance, but she doesn’t  know it all]
Laying in the bed, motionless as he watched his client get dressed to leave after a long night, he pondered on how the he got to this place and what he missed when he was in school. He earned $750 for the night, which was enough to make the rent in his run down apartment.
"Thanks for a great time", the client said as he slipped on his tank top and escorted himself out. Oliver Still numb struggled to get up and make it to the shower. He took a rather long shower before going to make his car payment. While running errands, he met his childhood friend Damon for breakfast. Damon is a disabled veteran (retired from the Army) who lives a simple life. He lives in a small home in a low income community.
[Damon, black father of Jamaican ancestry. Mom is of Dutch descent. White mama black daddy.nothing new. He grew up in the same community as me. His dad fled when he was really young. It was in the cards that he escape the community that he grew up in]
"So how you holding up?"
"I’m here" Oliver said "made a good little bit of change last night"
Damon unimpressed simply responded "good"
"Good?"
"I’m just sad that you wound up like this"
"So am I, I thought I played my cards right but so far the best job I’ve obtained outside of work has been a temporary job, I worked for FEMA and that job was much longer than I thought it would be. It lasted two years."
[My job lasted for two years and I did a bit of modeling part time. Of course "modeling" in this area is just a code word for pornography. I wound up jacking off on two videos and then I begin to advertise on craigslist. Shit. Did I need to go to school for this?]
"At least you have something on  your resume"
"How’s your mom?"
"She’s good. My dad died in October of last year. He had cancer."
"Sorry"
"It’s fine, it was aggressive. He had deteriorated to the point that he was no longer living. He was miserable"
"How about you?"
"My check allows me the basics. Food stamp amount is shit. I fight wars for the country and this is the thanks that I get?"
"Basically, ‘we know you served our country and risked your life but fuck you’ right?"
"Yup" as Damon scoffed.
After brunch, Oliver suggested that Damon get in the car with him while he finished his errands.
"Gotta pay some bills, it won’t take long"
"Got all day"
He payed his electric, water, and phone bill. He went to the bank to make a deposit.
"ballin", Damon joked
"Yeah right! It helps that I don’t have cable, I use this service called NUMEDIATV that’s only like 50 a month"
After an hour and a half, he dropped Damon back off to his car. "How long you gonna be in town?"
"I got nothing but time, ain’t shit going on at the house"
"Well how about we go for drinks later?"
He was on his way home when he recieved a phone call from the non profit orginazation that he interviewed for.

[Lord knows I wanted to say "well thanks, still not enough to retire from sucking dick", but it gives me a little relief. Client’s can be quite ungrateful. It’s difficult being bisexual, black, and still wanting to date. Girls? It’s hard to find one who is willing to date a guy who’s attracted to other guys. Guys? I’m either in denial about my sexuality or they all want to fuck. Just because this is my part time job doesn’t mean I want you grabbing my ass at the beach.]
He arrived home and decided to turn Hulu up. After watching an episode of "The Resident", he decided to go the the gym. He stayed at the gym for roughly two hours. He worked out hard. He takes good care of his body for health and job security. He recalled a moment where a client tried to rape him in his first year of the profession and barely got out alive. That trauma actually fueled his work out and made him want to work out even harder.
With his bag already packed for the weekend, he met up with Damon at Publix and Damon followed him to the resort where he’d be staying for the weekend.
The drive was about 45 minutes away from where Oliver resided with a stunning view. The town was impressive and give Oliver some time to  think. He was glad to have a little relief with this part time job and a night off with no clients. He arrived at the resort where he checked in. After he checked in, he called Damon and told him that he was on his way out and suggested that they go to the mall to kill some time.

There was a moment of silence and then Damon asked when Oliver had last seen Carlos.
"I saw him about a year ago, I talk to him on Facebook, he lives in Tallahassee now. He does the modeling thing."
[We grew up with Carlos.  He lived in a neighborhood not far from ours. Miami Springs is a majority black suburb of Miami. Damon is my ace from pre school. We met Carlos through a mutual friend in basketball camp. His parents were working class. He dropped out of school due to circumstances beyond his control. He recently enrolled in high school online and earned his high school diploma]
"When I last talked to him, he said he was going to a medical training school in the fall"
"Nice!"
They spent a bit of time in the mall before heading back to Oliver’s hotel room to shower.
"You know the deal. Drive behind me and follow me in"The hotel room had two bathrooms that way neither one had to wait on the other.
Upon getting out of the shower, Oliver sprayed some Axe on and sat on the couch of the living room.
"Damn, you clean up sharp"
Damon said noticing the lavender button down and pair of khaki pants Oliver was wearing. While Oliver said "you too! I like that color" pointing to Damon’s bright green button down which he sported with a black vest and pair of dark blue jeans.
"Yo I found this steakhouse up the road, looks like they got a nice bar"
At the bar, the bartender noticed them well dressed and asked what kind of work they did.
"Hospitality, but we’re here for a conference"
"What will it be boss?"
"Dos Equis"
"Mai Tai"
They each ordered Sirlons medium well. Wondering how Damon was doing, how he was managing he admitted that his uncle had a construction company.
"I do a little work under the table. I handle the clerical duties for my uncle’s business. Doesn’t pay a whole lot but, gets me out the house. Gives me extra money"
"I landed a part time job with a non profit agency, start next week"
"Great! Man, I’ve never known you to settle for "ok". You’ve aspired a better life for as long as I can remember"
"Here you guys are" the bartender said as he put their plants in front of them.
"Man, I’m about to kill this!"They ate rather silently, keeping the conversation somewhat wholesome as they were sitting at the bar and did not want the bartender knowing too much of their real work situation. After paying the bill, they drove back to the hotel.
"Damon, why don’t you just crash for tonight"
"Okay Thank!"
"It is so nice to come to a hotel and not have to suck dick"
"Umm…..yeah, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that with me"
"Duly noted. I find I get along better with straight guys than other gay dudes for this very reason"
"You hate your job don’t you?"
"Ummmm yeah!"
"Well goodnight"
"’Night"
Friday Morning around 10AM, they woke up and decided to go to the pool.
"Can I say thanks for the invite?"
"No problem, it must be nice to have your uncle as your boss"
"It’s got it’s perks. As long as I don’t take advantage of him."
With the sun beaming down and the pool very enticing, Oliver decided to locate a ladder on the deep end and plunge in in order to immerse himself.
"Bruh, you might as well do it now"
"Oh shit, HOLY SHIT! THIS IS COLD"
As they swam to the shallow end towards the steps, Damon asked him if this was the nicest place that he had been.



Oliver nodded, and looked at the sky ahead of him and thought about it. It seemed so far away right now.

PART TWO TO FOLLOW
STORY SYNOPSIS
CHARACTERS