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at it hammer and tong. I thought he’d flip his lid
when I decided to go all the way. To do exactly to
him what he’d been doing to me.

“I’d seen that sort of thing before in the alley near
our house. Two older boys snuck in there every
afternoon. They couldn’t get enough of it I guess. I
used to watch them from my window.

“That first adventure into mutual sex got me two
bucks. That was a fortune to me. This may sound
dumb, but I was less interested in the money part
than in having sex. I'm glad I was because after
that, none of the things that happened to me in the
‘gay world’ came about because I whored my way
around.

“Technically, you could say I slept my way down-
town from Harlem. But the fellows I went to bed
with wanted me to. I gave them their kicks and T
- certainly got mine. I've never slept with a woman.
Not that I have anything against them or wouldn’t
try. I prefer to think that I just have never had time. -

“I got good marks at high school, graduated in
the top ten, but when it came time to get a job I had
sense enough to head right down town and, like my
father, ask for a porter’s job or a place as an ele-
vator man. I knew if I waited around for something
equal to my education I’d be in Harlem the rest of