For Colored Boys 1
DISCLAIMER: This story contains adult content.
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Unforgettable
"It's this way."
He had dark eyes tilted to the sky. He was feminine in a masculine way. He had this aggressive talk about him. I'd met him a few years ago and at a party he told me about what he did and I found out about it. The escape was all that meant anything to me.
"Is this the place?"
"House of Boys," Rocky said, "Are you sure this is where you want to be Strong?"
Strong is what they called me. Rocky and I had been best friends at one point but we had gone completely different ways after highschool. Now here I was retracing my steps and coming out here.
"I'm sure."
Rocky opened the door to the house.
The house was a big house in the middle of the city. It looked like an old building and the door creaked when I walked in. Rocky looked so hesitant as he walked me in here. He didn't want me to be like him. He kept saying it the whole time that we were on our way to the house. He didn't understand why I wanted to be the way I was.
As I entered I saw a boy he walked past us giving us a head nod. He was handsome. He was a Spanish boy with curly hair and piercing eyes.
"Who is that?" I asked Rocky as the boy passed.
"Nico," Rocky said, "Ignore him...bad news. In fact Strong...we are all bad news here. You shouldn't be here. This isn't your life..."
"I'm fine," I cut Rocky off.
He sighed, "Ok man...Mama Tea is in here."
We walked into a room where Rocky pushed open the doors. Rocky opened the door to the house and in the room was a middle aged white woman. She was smoking a cigar. She had a suit on with dark red lipstick. She looked up at me with her dark eyes when I entered the room. Standing over her was a large muscular man. He was smoking as well. His eyes looked down at me when I walked into the room. Unlike the woman, the muscular man smiled at me with welcoming eyes.
I didn't smile back...
Rocky stood in front of my luckily. I could feel my hands sweating. I was sullen. There was a fireplace that was sitting behind me and the flames beat against the walls of this house. It was an image that I'd never forget.
"Mama Tea, this is the boy that I told you about..." Rocky said, "Nate Strong."
"Nate?" the lady sitting down said.
Her eyes weren't staring at my eyes. They were staring over my body. Those eyes studied me. They studied my hands, my arms, my waist and my legs.
"Nate?" she said.
"They call me Strong ma'am," I said.
The man behind her nodded, "Strong. I like that..."
"Rocky you can leave," Mama Tea said.
"Maybe I should stay," he said.
Mama Tea gave him a look that was so crazy at that point. For some reason Rocky seemed to know what that look meant. I knew he was still being protective. He was still being a friend. He didn't understand that this was what I wanted. This was what I needed.
Mama Tea was looking up at me. The man behind her had started too but he came a lot closer. He walked close to me encircling me. He was so close that I could feel his body heat on mine. He stared at my back, at my ass. He touched me...squeezing my muscles.
"Do you like Corbin?" she asked him.
"You have a good one on your hands," he said, "I'll see you later Mama."
I was even more surprised when the man left at that point giving me one final smile and winking at me. I wasn't sure what any of this meant but the way he did it seemed to really was just interesting.
Mama looked at the seat, "You can sit."
I sat down in the seat across from her. Women made me nervous where men didn't. I wasn't big on women. They were strange characters to me. They always had been.
"So you want to be an escort?" she asked.
I nodded.
"Speak up boy," she said.
"Yes."
She laughed, "I'm confused. I heard a lot from Rocky. Most of my boys they come from the street...but you aren't from the street. Your father is a reverend isn't he? Over on 33rd street?"
I nodded, "Yes."
"What does your mother do?"
I didn't come here to talk about my parents. The idea of bringing them up pissed me off. She wouldn't understand me anyway. She wouldn't understand anything I told her even if I tried to break it to her in slow terms.
"She is a lawyer," I said.
"Did they kick you out when they found out you were gay?"
"No."
"Did they disinherit you? Cut you off financially."
I shook my head, "No. They didn't know I left."
"Strange. So curious minds would like to know. The son of a reverend from a respectable family wants to sell his body. Why? What do you get out of this?"
I couldn't take this any longer. I couldn't take the interview thing. She was looking at me trying to figure it out. She was trying to break down my walls. Little did she know my walls were higher than she could ever imagine. She would never even put a crack in my walls to see through. I had surrounded myself with this wall.
"It's my business. Can I stay or not?"
She laughed at what I said.
"Smart mouth," she said, "I like that. You are strong. You are handsome. People will pay some good money for you. My clients aren't low class. They are the best in the city. We aren't prostitutes. We are pay-for-hire escorts. You understand that?"
"That's fine."
She pushed over a piece of paper to me, "This is your contract. Make sure you read it carefully. We value discretion more than anything as our clients are very high profile. Most of my boys leave here wealthy however there are rules. Three rules---"
"Pen?"
She laughed again.
"Impatient? We'll get there. Remember my three rules though. Don't ever go public with your affair. Don't ever not pay me my percentage. Don't ever fall in love with your clients. You can make them fall in love with you all you'd like...but don't fall in love with them. Love is bad for business."
"Pen?" I repeated again.
She slide the pen over to me.
I didn't even read it before I signed it. I didn't care. I was beyond caring at this point. When I looked up I was surprised to see her eyes looking over at me. She was interested. Her interest made me nervous.
"Call me Mama," she said smiling.
"When do I start?"
"Be patient," she said shaking her head, "Get settled in. I'll have Corbin show you the ropes. He's our top boy. "
"What about Rocky...he brought me in," I asked a little confused.
"He'll be a better mentor than Rocky. Rocky barely has been making his quota. Where are your bags?"
"I don't have any..."
"What are you running from?" she asked me, "No...no...you are right that's your business. But from now on whatever you are running from better not effect our business."
Corbin lead me to my room that day. The house was a Victorian house. It seemed to have a lot of history. Corbin's eyes kept looking at me and even though he was leading me he was walking slightly behind me. I could feel his eyes watching me.
"Strong right?" he asked.
"Yeah."
He laughed, "You trying to come in here and take my throne huh?"
"What?"
"That ass...you got a fat ass. Is it fake?" he asked.
I almost laughed at the idea of it as though he was telling a joke. It took a lot lately to make me laugh but then I realized Corbin wasn't laughing at all. His eyes were dead serious as he led me to my room.
"No my ass is not fake," I said.
"Don't sleep on the fake asses. I got mine plumped by one of my clients. Hurt like a bitch. It turned on nice though. Before this I had a flat ass. I'm a top though. The other boys think ass don't matter if you are a top. I say bullshit. Niggas love to hold a fat ass when they get fucked up in their guts. You like that? You like to hold an ass when you getting fucked."
The way he was looking at me, biting his lower lip was the look that I seen so many times. He wanted to see what I was about.
"How you know I'm not a top?"
"I can just tell. Am I right?"
I nodded, "I'm not a top. And I guess ...to answer your question. It just depends. Is this my room?"
He nodded.
"Yeah you gonna give me a run for my money. But here's your room. There is a community bathroom at the end of the hallway. Breakfast is at 10:30. Mama wants me to take you shopping for clothes tomorrow. I'll come get you at 10 ok? She gave me some money. You gonna have to pay her back but she'll give you a grace period.."
"So what is Mama Tea...like our pimp or something?"
He laughed.
"Something like that. We ain't regular hoes though. She's not going to chase you down yelling, `bitch you better have my money'. Naw, not like that type hoe. Don't get me wrong. You don't want to FUCK with Mama Tea, but she'll take care of you if she likes you. You'll be that BITCH if she really likes you.."
He handed me the key to my room and winked at me again.
She was a charming guy but had that cockiness about him. He really felt like he was top dog around here. Maybe he was. His body was a lot better than mine. She was very muscular. I could see guys really wanting to pay good money to do things with him.
I walked into the room after he had left. The room was quiet and had a window. I opened the window. I flickered my fingers through the blinds and looked out at the city. No matter how big the city was it still felt like a prison. There was snow falling. It was the middle of winter.
I looked at the canopy bed and candles around the room. It had that romantic feeling that the rest of the house did. It would be the perfect place to work.
I laid in my bed and cuddled myself...holding myself before the emptiness came.
All that was left to do was fall asleep before the tears...
I woke up and went to the community bathroom. It was kind of set up like a college bathroom with stalls and sinks on the other side of the room. There were cabinets there as well. I dug through the cabinet looking for a toothbrush and just when I found it...I saw someone standing at the sink.
It was the boy Nico.
He was wearing a towel...wrapped around his waist. He had just come from out of the shower. He didn't say anything or acknowledge me. I had to admit he was sexy. He had a different sort of sexy though. He wasn't extremely muscular but slim and toned. He was very light...almost white but I could tell he was Spanish for some reason. He had a very Hispanic facial structure if that made sense.
He was brushing his teeth and his eyes turned to meet mine.
He still didn't say anything.
I walked up next to him. Two could play that game. If he didn't want to speak I wouldn't say anything either. We were at adjacent sinks being completely silent.
I ran the water and realized I had no toothpaste.
I realized at that point that he did have toothpaste.
"Can I---"
Before I finished what I was saying he handed me the toothpaste. He didn't say anything as he handed me the toothpaste. It was a slow handoff. I had so many questions for him. How did he end up here? I was so curious but all the questions I'd ask him would probably be reversed right back onto me.
I couldn't afford any nosy people in my life. I hadn't come here to make friends.
So I didn't say anything but a soft, "Thanks."
"It's cool. You can have it."
Nico shook his toothbrush over the sink, wrapped his towel even more over his tight body and walked out with his sandals flapping over the wet bathroom floor. I watched him walking out not saying anything really. He was a strange boy for some reason seemed so interesting.
Corbin lead me downstairs at 10:30. He had folders in his hands. When we got to the table I realized the boys there. There were about 7 boys besides Corbin and I.
The first one that I noticed was Nico. He was sitting with another boy who was Spanish as well. They were the only ones that looked Spanish there. Across from them was Rocky and next to Rocky was a heavy set boy. Then there was a blonde haired white boy that was actually quite masculine and handsome too. He sat beside two black boys that were clearly twins. I was surprised to see that they had twins here.
Corbin was loud as he announced to everyone, "Everybody this is our new boy. His name is Strong. Rocky brought him in."
"Cakes!" one of the twins said loudly.
Him and his brother started laughing as though it was the funniest thing ever said. Corbin rolled his eyes.
Corbin nodded as he lead me to the big dining table, "Strong, that is Ace and Mace. There is no need to tell them apart. They might as well be the same person."
"Fuck you too bitch," one of the twins said.
"You aint moving no mountains," Corbin snapped back dismissing them and moving onto the blonde, "This is Walt. Walt gets the clientele that loves the white boys. Also happens to be my best friend."
Walt smiled and held out my hand, "Nice to meet you."
I was surprised that he wasn't ratchet like the twins. I shook his hand and nodded.
Corbin moved on, "Now there is Nico and little brother Chris. The real money makers besides me and Walt.
Chris shook my head but Nico didn't shake my hand.
Nico nodded, "We met already."
He was rude in the most awkward way but I had to admit I was entertained by it. He couldn't even shake my hand. He seemed to be completely dismissing me as if I wasn't even here. Nico was such a strange person. His brother Chris and him looked similar but it was clear that Chris was young. What worried me was how young Chris looked. He couldn't have been legal. There was no way in hell that he was 18 years old. It turned me off to see someone so young here.
"The rest of these bitches aint really making much of anything so you don't need to know them."
"Rude ass," the heavy set boy said and got up off the table, shaking my hand, "I'm Twix..."
"Twix?" I asked.
"Cause I'm chocolate and tasty."
"No because your black and double the size of anyone else here," Corbin said rolling his eyes, "Anyway...you know Rocky of course."
Rocky smiled over at me. He seemed so busy.
"Come sit over here," Rocky offered.
"He's good over here," Corbin refused.
Corbin looked around the table. It was clear that he was in charge. In a few minutes I saw Mama Tea walk into the room. The whole room kind of went quiet when she walked in. Everyone had been talking but all of a sudden they stopped. They got extremely quiet.
Mama Tea picked up the folders and walked around the room.
She picked up the folders and distributed them across the room. There were some mutters from people across the table when people got to their folders. No one said anything out loud though. For some reason it seemed like they were scared to talk or something when she entered the room. The got real hushed.
When she got to me she stopped, "Corbin why don't you take the new boy out to see your client today."
Corbin looked in his folder, "Mama, I have Amore today..."
"Exactly. Amore gave me a call. He wanted more options."
"More options!" Corbin asked.
"Who you raising your voice at lil boy," Mama Tea said and shook her head, "You gonna do what I say. And I say take the new boy with you. He's still your goddam client. It's not like you two are fucking anyway."
Corbin lowered his head.
I heard him say something under his breath, like `fuck this shit' but he said it so low that I was sure she didn't hear. The chubby boy stood up after that.
"Mama, I didn't get a folder."
"No one wants your ass that's why. You gonna have to lose that gut," she said, "Before you end out on the motherfucking street. You got two weeks Twix. I'm not playing around this time."
Twix sat back down.
I could see he looked somewhat defeated by what she said. She walked out of the room with her stern face not really saying anything else. Twix got up off the table as soon as she left the room and I could see he was crying hard.
"Twix," Rocky said.
Rocky and Nico's little brother Chris went chasing after Twix to the next room. The twins were laughing at that point. I could only imagine how embarrassed he was.
Corbin paid it no mind. He looked like he was already pissed in his own way, "You ready?"
The inviting tone he had seemed to be dismissed a little bit. For some reason I could tell that he didn't want me tagging along with him later on that day. To be honest I rather had been around Rocky but Rocky I guess wasn't successful. It was strange to me. Rocky had always been somewhat attractive. He had nothing uniquely special about him. I had always gotten more attention than he had in highschool but he was still handsome. I guess the business was really fragile like that.
Corbin had taken me shopping that day. The boy could definitely talk about himself. I didn't mind it though. He spent so much time talking about himself that he really didn't go too much into my business. I learned a lot about him. He was a stripper in his spare time and used this during the day. He said he wanted to be a model or something like that and was saving his money to move to LA. He was one of those dreamer guys. He wanted to MAKE IT. He kept saying that. He kept saying how he wanted to make it. I didn't get it. Make it where?
It was night time when he had dressed me. We had on matching white shirts and he called a cab that came and got us to take us downtown.
"Who is your client?"
He looked over at me and then at the cab driver before leaning over to me and whispering, "Amore Grady..."
"Who?"
"You don't know who that is?" he said, "The action star. He was voted sexiest black bachelor last year. Have you been living under a rock?"
"Something like that."
"Well let me do all the talking. He's my top client. Millionaire money. You hear me? He can throw some change and we'll be able to eat for months."
"I don't care about the money."
He rolled his eyes, "Whatever...I do...don't fuck this up for me. I don't know what Mama was thinking having me bring a rookie to an A lister..."
He got more and more annoyed the closer we got to our destination. When we got there I realized it was a high rise building the middle of downtown. We walked into the building and had to sign our names and show our IDs to enter the building. It was clear that we were expected though. It was also clear that he didn't want me to be here.
"He chose me out of all of the boys because I fit in the most. I could be his trainer. I could be an upcoming star. It wouldn't look weird for me to be seen with him. For that reason, I think it's best you stop tooting your ass out. He likes it when you aren't clockable."
"You think I'm clockable."
"I could tell you are gay if I pay attention long enough. That's not gonna fly with this client—"
We got to the floor and it was clear that Corbin was probably more nervous than I was. Truthfully I wasn't nervous at all. Wasn't he the veteran at this game? Why was he talking so much and breathing heavy? Why was he the one sweating and I was cool.
We got to the top floor and I saw someone open the door. His eyes set on me as soon as he opened the door. He was fucking beautiful and all of a sudden I realized why Corbin was so nervous. I had never met a man so handsome. He was muscular just like Corbin. He had a wife beater on and some sweat pants.
At that moment I felt something that I had never felt before.
It was a flicker.
It was a light.
It was a realization that Mama's third rule would probably be broken.