Uncut of a Love Story

The First Meeting

 'I asked her if I was black or white. She replied "You are a human being. Educate yourself or you'll be a nobody!' This beautiful line from a book Bailey's teacher recommended called, The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride. This her first encounter with this author, and she is enjoying every minute of it; along with the San Francisco's May sun peeking through Boudin's window. She has finished her lunch, vegetarian chili and a veggie sandwich, her eyes have been stuck in this book for hours and the alternate point of views are so fascinating to her.

Ezra has stopped into Boudin for a cup of water. Before he is on his way out he discovers a beautiful young woman,; she seems relaxed her head down reading a book with a familiar cover. He walks a little closer and he realizes the book she's reading is the same one he finished last month. He takes a breath, runs his hair through his hair, and approach her.

"So, What do you think of the two point of views?" Ezra asks her.

She replies, "It's amazing so far!" Bailey's head is still down reading the last line of the chapter she's in; when she suddenly looks up at the face who was just speaking, her words drop to the pit of her stomach. She suddenly looks down and rest her tongue to any spot in her teeth that leaves any trace of food. She's all clear.

"May I sit down?" Ezra points to the chair sitting across from her. Bailey nods, and there he is sitting across from her. She analyzes him. He has a blown back suave haircut; side her cut low. He is dressed very nice; he is wearing a black trench coat, blue straight legged jeans, a white collared dress shirt, and a silver vintage watch.

"Oh man he's about to look at me..." she bends down to drink her water.

He asks her, "What do you think about his mother? Do you think that it was right for her to keep the unknown hidden from James and his sibling?" She looks down for a moment before she notices he's looking straight at her. Oh my goodness, his eyes are so beautiful! Her heart drops to the pit of her stomach, and she tries to move her tremoring hands away from the cup of water when her eyes grow wide, and her tan brown color washes away from her face. The water fell to the floor.

"Oh no, what have I done? I just made a fool of myself in front of this wonderful guy. Man, I hate being in my body sometimes." She is beating herself up inside. She grabs some paper towels but eventually, the busboys come and clean it up

"I am so sorry." She's noticed the water got on his shoes.

He smiles and says, "It's okay, accidents happen."

She is terrified by the mess she's made, "But it wasn't a deliberate accident, this happens to me on a regular basis. I need to get up, and make a run for it."

She checks her phone, it's almost a quarter to 5 and her ferry ride will be arriving shortly. "I am so sorry again, but I have to catch my ferry ride."

Ezra checks his watch, and his eyes rise, "Oh indeed it does, I'll walk with you; we are catching the same ferry."

She is stunned but doesn't put up a fight she nods and says, "Okay, we should go then." They make their way to Pier 39, get in the moving line for the ferry, and find some seats downstairs close to the window. Ezra sits across from her but then he notices her tremors and he becomes a little worried but he asks anyway, "Oh no, are you cold? You need my jacket?" She blushes and after she shakes her head no, she opens her mouth to speak, "No, I have Multiple Sclerosis it's one of the symptoms, tremors." He looked intrigued, but not scared which was usual for certain guys. They would go ghost white when they find this out and find an excuse to leave. He was different.

"Well I feel honored for you telling me this, can you tell me a little bit about Multiple Scler-osis?" She looked up at him and she was surprised by his question. No one has ever wanted information about MS, no one has ever really cared, except for her parents but they are different. She's lived with this disorder since she was sixteen, and her parents have been helping her.

She smiles, and says, "You can actually just call it MS, that is fine, um...it's an autoimmune disorder when the body abnormally targets the central nervous system." He was actually a very good listener, he looked at her, nodding his head, letting her know he was truly listening.

They talked the whole ferry ride until the ferry stopped at Jack London Square. They both looked out the window because they knew their adventure was over for the day. They got off the ferry in silence for the first time they met each other. Ezra clears his throat, "Well, I don't know your name." She looked at him surprised that she hadn't introduced herself by now. The wind is starting to blow a little harder, so she says in her clear voice, "My name is Bailey... Bailey Paul." He looks intrigued by her name, it was something he's never heard before. "Well, it is nice meeting you Bailey Paul, I am Ezra Smith." She nods her head a few times, things were starting to get a little awkward now because what do they say at this point? They walk past Kincaid's pass the beautiful water where everyone has docked their boats for the day.

He speaks again, "So, where are you from Bailey?" She smiles at the ground, "I am originally from Oakland moved to Hayward when I was a freshman in high school. What about you?"

He clears his throat again, "Born and raised in Union City, California."

"Oh man that means that they are less than 15 minutes away from each other"

He asks, "Which part of Hayward do you live?"

Chills start coming up her spine. "South Hayward." She says hesitantly.

They reached the parking lot and they stop and look at each other.

"My car is at the end of the lot, it was nice..." His hands are on her shoulder.

"I can walk you to your car if you don't mind?" She nods and they head to her black Prius.

"Well it was really amazing meeting, you hope one day we can bump into each other like this again." She was talking so fast and didn't know if she was making any sense.

He starts to laugh, "Of course, we will meet again we're city neighbors. How about this, I get your number or email whichever one you feel comfortable giving to me and we can see each other again."

She was stunned, no guy has ever outright asked for her cell phone number she pauses for a little bit and replies, "Okay, my number is 510-978-6818." They exchange one another's phone numbers and emails. She's almost into her car when she notices him stop.

"You never answered my question from earlier." She blushed, she had forgotten all about it but the question crept back into her head 'What do you think about his mother? Do you think that it was right for her to keep the unknown hidden from James and his sibling?'

She immediately answers while he stands there for a moment, "I think as James mother she did what she needed to do which was encourage her children to be individuals not become labeled into this box called the race. I can tell that James when going to school felt like an outsider because he was different he didn't fit with the black nor white kids. Which was something his mother struggled with the most, her identity? She didn't want her kids to feel the same way."

He smiles as she finishes her sentence and says, "I agree! Good night, Bailey!" They went their separate ways.