The World According
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Hi, my name is Peewee and before you laugh and snicker at the name my family gave me, why don’t you think about some of the nicknames you were given. We really don’t have a choice in the matter, so we just take it and respond when called. Living in a big city has its good and bad and even that was chosen for me, as with you. I ate what was prepared for me, wore the clothes that was purchased for me and was sent to a school decided by the school district. Don’t look on me as a snotty arrogant teen who was feeling the need for identity; but you know what I mean, don’t ya.
Making friends seemed to be the only thing I had a say so about, but only until I ran into the group of the better-than-thou tribe, and the mighty super jerks – oops, I mean jocks – who was confused between figuring out if the lumps of muscle on their bodies were brains or the grey matter located somewhere in their head. Now don’t look at me like that. I mean not all jocks were like that, you know what I mean? Sure you do.
One thing that was interesting about school in the city is that either we walked to school or we metro jumped a ride. Which would you rather deal with: riding on a school bus filled with 39 different personalities that you had to see every day, or the adventure of meeting one different and interesting person. I don’t know about you, but somehow doing that gave me a sense of hmmm… making my own choice of who I talked to or not? Yeah, maybe, but it sure felt good looking at the different faces every morning and afternoon.
As I grew up and put high school behind me I was ready for entry into the wonderful and life-promising age of 18. I just knew that I was finally on my way to being my own boss, don’t you remember? It was just a moment ago; ya know what I’m talking about now? Well anyway, I was like all beside myself, and the few friends I did have were not interested in taking flight, so I prepared myself for that wonderful transformation to 18 which was rapidly approaching.
After graduation I took a job as a messenger, delivering all kinds of advertising photo shots and negatives and blueprints for architects all over the downtown area. Needless to say, my eyes were opened by the crazed crowds of people from all walks of life. Seeing the real deal walking all around me, above and under me, was mind blowing. I knew for sure I was on the right path for an exciting life, run and controlled by me – and it felt good.
Until this stage in my life I guess I was in the kind of the last-to-know group. You know, the last to understand why people lie right in front of you like you’re the dumbest, or say something to you that seems like the truth but is only a staged lie for personal gain. Hey, I wasn’t a complete idiot who sucked in every word, but as one who loved meeting and talking to people you just listen and pretend.
Sex, as we all know, is a huge piece of the obstacle course built into adolescence and we either choose to go through it or walk around it. Well, it's not that I wasn’t interested, but after seeing a couple of my friends smashed and crashed in pursuit of the opposite sex I took matters into my own hands and found it to be quite satisfying, you get me? I decided to deal with the real deal when the time comes. Besides, my idea of the real deal was made to order and I was unable to find the right person to prepare it the way I liked it. Does anyone know what I’m talking about here… please say you do!
Since I liked to explore new and interesting places at work, I decided to go upstairs and investigate the printing room. Everyone there had seen me around, either picking up an order to deliver or turning in my receipts, but I always stayed out of the way of the huge printing equipment. As I was about to go back downstairs I noticed a group of workers gathering around a DVD screen, so being the investigator that I was, I walked over to check it out. To say what I was looking at was gross was a shocking understatement to the core. Laughing and giggling like a pack of sexual deviant teens were my adult coworkers watching porn that I never knew existed and which I wanted no part of. Put it this way, it wasn’t about sex with man and women or man to man and it shocked me so much that all I could say was oh, gross!
Making a hasty escape, I quickly ran down the stairs and while looking back to see if anyone saw me, I ran dead smack right into a guy who was going up. I was so embarrassed and quickly reached my hands out to both catch him and hold myself up. As I looked at his face what I saw caused my stomach to flip twice. The guy I was holding onto was a redhead teen who was at least my age or a year older, with bluish eyes. The contrast between his red hair and blue eyes was like nothing I had ever seen before, I knew I had an ordinary Jewish look with my dark brown hair and brown eyes, but what I was looking at to me was the picture of perfection. Fixing myself from sheer embarrassment, I rapidly apologized over and over as I bent down to pick up the box he was carrying.
He reached out his hand and introduced himself as Julian. I gently grasped his hand and told him my real name, the name which was given to me at birth, Michael Hirsch. Peewee was retired the day I turned 18 and was replaced by my first name, Michael. Not Mike or Mickey, but Michael!
Yeah, well anyway, meeting Julian that weird afternoon was the door opener of my life journey. I found Julian to be both interesting and cute, funny and beautiful, and the more I spent time with him the more I wanted to be with him. He was into adventure flicks, and classical piano which I learned he played just as well. He lived on the south side of the city where the rich and wealthy lived. To let you know, I didn’t come from a wealthy family; however, my parents both had professional jobs, my mom was the principle of a middle school and my dad was an electrical engineer for the city.
Through conversation I learned that Julian was 19 and was a very independent person. Not interested in being like his rents who believed in flaunting their wealth, he decided to get a job and attend City College instead of going to one of the Ivy League colleges which did not excite him in the least. In a lot of ways Julian was like me, and when he made friends with someone it was a lifetime commitment. He had no close friends until that day of embarrassment on the stairs, which really became the start of two lives together.
I will never forget the day as we walked hand in hand along Southside Beach planning what careers we would choose and where we would choose to live. There were many choices that I longed for as a kid. And now? Ha, how we can be so naïve when we’re kids.
The night before Julian and I became life partners, we surrendered all we were, for all we wanted to be for each other in everyway; the truth of the matter is I knew we were meant for each other the moment I ran into him on the stairs and unlike the glimpse of that gross DVD, our love was sealed in the beauty and innocence of truth and trust.