"You're my 'little man'," Alvin whispered to Ty that autumn night. They were alone in the elevator of Alvin's apartment building.

Alvin purred as he stood behind Ty. He enjoyed the wonderful feeling of Ty's shorter but very male body in his arms, and Ty enjoyed Alvin holding him this way.

Alvin's lighter colored arms were a contrast against Ty's rich brown skin. Mmm, chocolate and creme or salsa and soul? Whatever it is, it's all good. Alvin thought as he lifted the front of Ty's shirt.

"And you're my 'little man' too," Ty whispered in return. They both laughed and he rested in Alvin's embrace. It was okay, here, alone.

The phone rang shocking him from his thoughts. He glanced at the clock, hoping that it wasn't another irate customer or worse, his supervisor calling for a late afternoon meeting. It was four o'clock and he wanted to be home by five-thirty.

"Hey, how's my baby?" Alvin asked after he realized it was Ty on the other end.

"Can you leave work at five o'clock today?" asked Ty. The temperature had reached 65 degrees that early spring day in Seattle. It was perfect weather for them to go skating along the waterfront, except neither Alvin nor Ty owned any skates. A trip to Sport Shack would remedy that.

"What you doin' man? Stop that!" Ty said, as he reached back to swat at Alvin. Ty felt Alvin pinch him in the pocket, and he tried to squirm away.

"Wassa matta?" Alvin shot back, through a grin.

Alvin was a prankster at heart. That's what had attracted Ty to him from the beginning. He relished making Ty blush and steam with nervous sweat. Alvin was good for the shyer Ty — he could help Ty open up a bit. Ty was the right fit for Alvin as well — for he needed someone whose feet were firmly on the ground, someone who could keep him in line.

"Take your hand out of my pocket!" Ty whispered.

"Why? I just wanna walk with my hand in my babe's pocket! So what?" retorted Alvin.

"We can't do that here, we're in public, man!" Ty answered. He made a move to walk back out of the door, but Alvin moved his larger body in the way.

"Where you going?" Alvin asked.

Ty reached back and removed Alvin's hand. "Cut it out, not here," he commanded, continuing into the mall.

Alvin walked a few steps behind Ty. Again, Alvin thought about the night in the privacy of the elevator. That night, he finally felt that he'd found his one and only love. He knew that there was no shame in what he felt for Ty, and his love soared freely.

What's the matter? I love being with you, man. he thought as he lagged behind. Why do we have to change just because we're in public? Neither he nor Ty had asked or answered this question.

"Hey baby, wass-up?" Alvin whispered when he'd caught up. He looked deep into Ty's eyes, unrepentantly.

Ty laughed. "You's a mess, you know that?" He shook his head - he loved his Alvin.

Alvin continued through the mall with his boy Ty. Looking out over the walkers and shoppers, he saw young guys like him with their girls, and husbands with their wives. Some were holding hands or walking arm in arm and a few even kissed each other, right there in public. And he laughed inside as he thought, "They think everybody is like them - straight."

Alvin was 'all boy' as parents are often proud to say. For years, he'd heard his own parents say it about him. He knew that he was a man, and he knew what he wanted and didn't want.

He wanted what the straight guys enjoyed; the freedom to be with is guy in public like they were with their girls. The feelings that he and Ty had for each other were just as good and right for them as anybody else's love. This was America, and he resented feeling as though his love was criminal.

Just cause I like a dude, and straight dudes like chicks, doesn't make them better than me! Alvin thought. They don't have to live like this, why should we?

Ty tapped Alvin on the arm. "I wanna check these out," he said, pointing to a window display at Foot Fort.

"You just don't like to shop," Ty replied. "Put on those new shoes you say are so comfortable."

"I will later, but not here," answered Alvin.

"Hey Ty," Alvin said, to get Ty's attention. Ty looked up from stowing his shopping bags under the table. "I love you," Alvin mouthed. Ty laughed and looked around the room to see if anyone else might have read Alvin's lips.

"You ashamed of it, Ty?" Alvin asked.

"Ashamed of what?" replied Ty.

"Ashamed of us, what we got going between us." Alvin stated.

Ty replied, "No, it's just that we can't be doing that stuff in public."

"Says who?" Alvin questioned.

Ty shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. He had no answer.

They'd forgotten why they'd come to the mall in the first place. He put down the large cup of Sparkle they were sharing. Ty was busy working on a slice of pizza, but managed a painful sounding "mmm".

"Oh dang, Vin," he said after finishing the mouthful of food. "We gotta take some of this stuff back," Ty said. He usually reserved the playful "Vin" for when they were making love. This wasn't lost on Alvin.

Ty felt Alvin's foot slide back and forth along the side of his own foot.

"Me and my baby gonna go skatin' ain't we!" Alvin said excitedly. He wanted to lean across the table and kiss Ty right there in the restaurant – and one day he would – but they both just smiled, as much on the inside as out.

"Yo, people!" Alvin said as though addressing all the diners in the restaurant. "I'm with my baby! Yea that's right, my baby's a dude, and we're goin' skatin'!"

Their laughter was interrupted when they heard someone say, "Yo Alvin, man! Wassup?"

Copyright note: This story may be freely re-posted over the internet exactly as it appears, including authorship credit, provided *this* paragraph is also included intact. For any other use or form of reproduction or distribution, please obtain the author’s written permission in advance. Copyright © 1998 by Marcus Stringer
Email: goodguy_Sea@yahoo.com
Website: http://geocities.datacellar.net/~mhaven/.