Sex Education
Coming of age, in 1970s Los Angeles
My first time sex was talismanic for me, as it was bisexual— a group of three. My best friend, Joelle, and myself, seduced and conquered the “older man” of twenty-seven down the street. Richard was an unemployed soap opera actor, hustling by with commercials, going to auditions every day. I was almost 16. Joelle was a year younger, a recent émigré from Belgium with her father. We both lived with our dads.
I found out much later that Richard’s soap career consisted of playing “teenagers”— juvenile roles. No wonder he scrutinized us so oddly and cried about his aging process. We thought he was ridiculous but pretty— he envied our lack of concern about getting older.
Kissing Joelle is what I remember the most. We were all on Richard’s moldy futon, watching the World Series after we’d finished doing his laundry. Joelle and I had a housecleaning/sitting service and every other Thursday we went to Richard’s apartment to hose his man-cave down…