At Toms we smoked a lot of pot. Tom was there, we were in his room. We sat in a little circle near the open window and passed around a six-inch bong. We blew the smoke out the window. I got really high.
Look at my eyes, I said. Im Chinese too.
She said she wasnt Chinese, that she was half Vietnamese and half Caucasian. Then she said, Im adopted.
I looked at her. I was so high.
I love adoption, I said. She looked at me weirdly, then she laughed. I liked making her laugh, because then she wasnt so ugly.
I love adoption too, said Tom.
We all laughed some more. Tom was tall and blond and handsome. The Sunday sun from the window was warm on my back.
We were sitting there, and then I said, as if it was the best idea Id ever had, Lets play Camping!
She asked what Camping was.
Tom, go get a flashlight. And a sleeping bag. Well pretend were out in the woods, camping. Tom got up and went out to get the stuff. I went to the door and closed it, and turned off the lights. She was on the floor, watching me. I went to the window and closed the blinds, which made it pretty dark in the room. There was only the light from around the sides of the blinds, which glowed, a dull, radioactive orange. I took the comforter off the bed and went over to her.
Roll up in this blanket with me, and well pretend its a sleeping bag, I said. I laid the comforter on the floor. I opened my arms, and she got close to me. We lay on the comforter, I took her in my arms, and we rolled ourselves up in it. Our heads were covered too. We giggled.
Then I heard the door open. Tom was there, but I couldnt see him and he didnt say anything. He was standing there, and we were lying there. We were being quiet, as if he wouldnt know where we were if we didnt make a sound, as if we were out in the forest. We were giggling but we kept it in. Silent giggling.
I got the flashlight, he said from the doorway. That really made us want to laugh, because it sounded like a question. Very quietly I said, Shhh. Her face was right next to mine. She was holding on to me tightly.
Tom stood there, and then said, Fuck you guys.
I heard the door close, and it was all dark again, except for the radiating window.
Were camping, I whispered.
Yes, were camping, she said.
Then I whispered, I heard that Chinese people have sideways vaginas.
She didnt say anything. Her face was touching mine, cheek to cheek.
Im Vietnamese, half, she said, like it was a secret, and like she hadnt told me before.
Do you have a half-sideways vagina? I whispered.
She said, No, very quietly.
Can I see? I said. She was quiet, but not as long as before, and then she said okay. I took her pants off. We were still in our blanket, so it was hard to maneuver. I couldnt see in the dark, but I could feel. Her ass was fantastic, very hard. And her tits were big for an Asian. I spit on my hand, and then I put my dick inside her. It was good. And in the dark I couldnt see her face.
Afterafter I got her number, and after she leftTom and I were in his room. We turned the lights on. It was dark outside now. He found a blood spot in the middle of the comforter.
I added it up. I had eighteen.
Part II
Headless
We talked on the phone a few times. She had just moved to Palo Alto. She was an orphan. She was half Vietnamese and half white, she had white adoptive parents. I didnt talk long on the phone, just enough to make her feel comfortable. She didnt talk much; I did all the talking. I was a nice guy. Im a nice guy to everyone. I asked her questions. Her parents were both doctors. They lived in a big brown house near Castilleja, a few blocks down Embarcadero from the park with the wooden sculpture of the couple sitting on the bench. It was from France, and the couple was headless because Jason King sawed their heads off. He lived just across Embarcadero.
I called Pam one night and went over. She opened the door and came outside. Her parents were home. We went around the house to a shed in the backyard. She gave me a blow job in the shed. I asked her if she liked it. She said that she did. Then I left.
A week later, I was riding in Toms car. Seth was there too. I said, Lets go over to Pams. Everyone said okay. I called
dinner.
I called Pam and I picked her up. I told her I was going to introduce her to someone. She knew what I meant. We went to Caffe Buon. It was five oclock and Monday, so there were no customers.
Al was standing in the small circular bar in the corner. I introduced Pam to Al; they shook hands over the bar. Al was laughing, he asked her about school. The cooks peeked out of the kitchen to look at her. Theyre all Mexican. Al is Italian, and knows my dad. Al nodded to one of the waiters, Esteban. Then Al and Pam went to the back. Pam didnt look at me. She held Als hand and they walked through a door next to the mens bathroom.
I sat at one of the tables. The place was empty. I had it all to myself. The waiter, Esteban, brought me a chicken dinner with farfalle. The chicken and the farfalle were under tinfoil. He brought a salad on the side. Farfalle is bow tie pasta, but it means butterfly in Italian. I ate and he brought me some red wine.