We had been talking a lot about women, just like the last time. Noam informed me that a love interest, Rachel, had gotten married, so he's now focused on a Taiwanese-Australian with a "temporary boyfriend."
"I feel so behind," Noam said in the darkened Friendly. "Growing up, I was told to stay away from all women, as if they were a great source of danger, and even at home, I was not supposed to touch my sister. Ever!"
"That's pretty extreme!"
"A what?"
"A spermache. I had my first ejaculation. I was in sitting in class and feeling extremely claustrophobic. I had never felt so trapped, I just wanted to get out of there, but I couldn't, then suddenly, it happened, and I felt so relieved, but also fearful and confused. I had no idea what had just happened."
On television, Jorge Alfaro had just reached on an infield single, plating somebody. Led Zeppelin blared from the juked box.
"All through my teens," Noam continued, "I felt so much guilt because I was attracted to my male classmates. I just wanted to touch them."
"You thought you were gay?"
"No, it wasn't that. Just the sexuality. I didn't understand why I felt such a strong need to touch."
"And you didn't feel this towards girls?"
"There were no girls! I was never around any girl!" Noam leaned back, lit another cigarette then huffed out a disgusted smile. "Recently, I was on a commuter train, and surrounded by all these gorgeous women. They were showing legs and cleavages, so I had an erection, you know. It was so obvious, I thought I might get arrested. Suddenly, this huge black guy came in and sat down. He was manspreading. For some reason, I came right then. I was practically convulsing. I thought surely, everyone knew, but nothing happened." Noam laughed.
"Man, you must solve this soon, get it out of the way, so you can think straight!" I did add, "But sex, though, isn't just the act. It's the totality of being with someone. One step at a time, man. You can be with a girl, and get used to each other, then if it happens, it happens."
"It almost happened."
"What did you do?"
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).