In the beginning…

“Yo, check out shorty down the way,” said my cousin Tony as he nudged me. “Thick as a milkshake, ya hear me?”

Slowly, Tony’s best friend, Eric, and I glanced in the direction Tony was looking as Eric voiced my thoughts.

Damn!!

Immediately standing at attention, I had to calm myself down as the milk chocolate beauty headed our way.

“That’s JaShel Jackson,” Eric informed us. “She’s one of those quiet smart types. Too busy with the books to get busy, ya hear me?”

“If I get a hold of that ass, you can bet she’s not gon’ stay quiet!” Tony whooped. “Then again, if she rollin’ wit’ Angela, I know she’s down. Shit, I heard Angela let you hit it on the first night, ya hear me,” Tony said, shamelessly pointing at the girls sitting with JaShel. “But that other hoe, Nina? She can eat a dick! Ol’ uptight ass! And she ain’t that cute for all that attitude either! Probably mad nobody wanna put up with her mouth to fuck her ass. Hey, E, why don’t you bust your cherry with Nina? Y’all can be each other’s first!”

“Fuck you, Tony!” Eric snapped, flipping off my cousin.

After all these years of talkin’ smack, I wouldn’t be surprised if my little cousin was still a virgin himself while he was jonin’ on his best friend. Smiling to myself, I watched as JaShel walked past us without even a glance in our direction. Once I was sure I was presentable, I adjusted my swim trunks and followed her to the diving board. Normally I knew exactly what to say to the ladies but this one straight had me tongue tied! Before I could make my next move, JaShel dove into the deep end of the public pool. Quickly, I tried to figure out how to introduce myself as JaShel emerged from the water. Still at a loss for words, I simply returned to my lounge chair and watched her every movement as I tried to decipher what it was about this girl that had me like this!

The lifeguard blew his whistle, announcing the closing of the pool area. As my cousin and his friend talked with a couple of girls heading toward the door, I gathered my belongings and my courage before stepping to Ms. Jackson.

I caught up with Tony and Eric who were conveniently in line behind JaShel and her friends. When I approached JaShel, I received more attention from her companions than I expected. In fact, JaShel didn’t even acknowledge my presence!

“Excuse me, ladies,” I smiled looking directly at JaShel as her friends hungrily looked at me.

Slowly, she turned to face me. Crossing her arms under her full breasts, my eyes were instantly drawn to the cleavage. As I stood there in awe, I couldn’t help taking advantage of the up close viewing. Her legs took up most of her petite 5’6” frame, which was accentuated by the turquoise and white bikini holding firm to her curves. I couldn’t decide if she had an hourglass or Coke bottle body. Dammit, girlie had a body and that was all I could focus on until I heard her voice.

“Can I help you?” she asked sultrily as her friends anticipated my response.

“Uh, um…” I couldn’t believe how speechless I was! “Um, yeah, I was just…”

Her smile put me at ease.

Starting over by clearing my throat, I said, “Hi, my name is Jayson. And you are?”

“Not interested,” she replied quickly before walking away with her girls in tow.

Am I losing it? All the ladies love Jay!

“Wow Jay,” said Tony as he patted my back. “I think your face is still on the ground, man.”

“T, what just happened?” I asked more to myself than to my cousin.

“It’s probably for the best,” Eric replied as he walked past us out to the parking lot to Tony’s Honda Accord. “From what I know, her mama is very strict and doesn’t allow JaShel to date yet.”

“Yet? Damn! How old is she?” I inquired, hoping I wasn’t setting myself up for a jailbait heartbreak.

“Sixteen, maybe seventeen,” Eric guessed.

“Hmm,” I thought to myself, thinking six years younger would be a nice change of pace.

“No, Jay!” said Tony, surprising me with his stern tone.

“No? Whatchu talkin’ ‘bout, T?” I asked as I grinned while watching JaShel and her friends walking down the street. I hated to see her leave but I loved watching her walk away.

“For one thing, you live in New York,” Tony pointed out, unlocking the car doors.

“But I’m here now,” I retorted. “And if this job your mom is hookin’ me up with works out, I’ll be here long enough.”

“Yeah, just for the summer,” Eric replied. “JaShel’s a sweetheart and doesn’t need an East Coast Casanova breaking her heart.”

“If I didn’t know better, Eric, I’d think you wanted her for yourself,” I laughed knowing that Eric could never be competition.

“I’m just trynna save you the trouble. Been there, tried that. Hell if I couldn’t tap that…” Eric said shrugging his shoulders before he climbed into the backseat.

“Thanks for the warning,” I thought as I smiled to myself.

Just because you couldn’t pull her don’t mean I won’t.

The better portion of that summer was spent finding out more about JaShel while convincing her that I wasn’t the Big Bad Wolf. For the first time in my life, I wanted to hear all about someone other than myself. As the youngest of three children and the only boy in the house, getting what I wanted from any female I approached started at an early age. Teachers smiled when I’d enter the classroom on “Jayson” time. Girls damn near broke their necks at the mention of the simplest desires. “I forgot my pencil.” Pencils appeared from all directions. “I don’t know what this word means.” Before I could reach for my own dictionary, I’d have one thrust in my face by a cutie eager to recite, spell and define any word that came to my mind.

As I grew older, I learned to hone my power but for the first time ever, I had to actually work to impress someone!

Not just anyone.

Janet JaShel Jackson.