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an artist, a writer or a musician, I’d have to make
my way in business. That’s tough for a Negro. I
knew that when I was still in high school.

“In this kind of story, sex, I guess, is supposed to
come into the picture ‘round high school time or
shortly before. It’s not much different in Harlem
except we’re better prepared.

“I can remember when I was about eight my uncle
throwing me out of the front room so he could lay
my sister. And the same uncle was playing around
with me two weeks later when we went to the movies.
Sex is no surprise. You begin seeing it in Harlem
from the day your mind begins to work with your
eyes.

“So I wasn’t surprised when the school athletlc
director, a white man, asked me to stay after school.
I knew before he started copping feels what he
wanted. And I wasn’t sorry when I gave it to him. I
just opened my trousers and let him have what he’d
been ogling ever since I'd been in his class. He
always made it a point to busy himself around the
shower when I was around and to walk up and
down the aisle where I was dressing. I never flinched
when he pinched my bare behind.

“He gave me a dollar that first time and told me
to keep my mouth shut. The following week we were