Ray was a little drunk that night. Not falling down, mind, but feeling good. Feeling randy too. It'd been a couple of weeks since he'd had any by his account, and there was nothing on the horizon. Even the barmaid at the Green Man was busy that night. I'd suggested that he'd have to make do with me and he'd chuckled and said, "I'll take you up on that one day, Sunshine, and you'll run in the other direction." "I'm still waiting," I said.

I went to fetch the next round and when I returned, there was a woman sitting at our table. Right out of a wet-dream, she was, with long blue-black hair and slanting greenish brown eyes. And she had an air about her too; worldly, I call it, in control of everything. Ray was staring at her as if he'd never seen a woman before. "My name's Bodie," I said. "Would you like a drink?"

"Yes, thank you." Her voice was husky and slightly accented. "Vodka and tonic."

When I returned with her drink, for which she thanked me prettily, Ray was still staring at her. "I apologize for my mate," I said to her, lighting her cigarette. "He's never seen a woman before." She laughed, took a deep drag of her cigarette, and sipped her drink. Her fingernails were very long and painted a dark red, like burgundy. There was something about her...

"My name is Lisa."

"'aven't seen you around here before," Ray managed.

"No. I'm new to London. A friend told me about this place."

With that, the spell seemed to be broken, and Ray began to chat with her, offering to show her the sights ... like his bedroom, I thought. Well, I was feeling generous that night, and didn't even consider moving in on him. Only ... I couldn't rid myself of a nagging feeling that there was something strange about her. My first thought was that I'd seen her before, and I ran through the files that I kept locked away. I made no connections though, and reckoned Ray would have recognized her if she'd been someone we were after. No, that wasn't it. I didn't know her, but I knew someone very like her.

She was Eurasian with skin the colour of old ivory, and she was on the largish side - tall, I imagined, though I'd only seen her sitting, and big-boned. Her hands were largish for a woman ... That's when the connection was made. I didn't know her, but I knew what she was. I looked at Ray who had progressed to the point of slipping his arm around her, and wondered if I should tell him. I decided to hold off.

"Where are you from?" I asked her. She gave me one of those glorious, cat-like glances.

"Singapore."

"Oh yeh, I've been to Singapore."

"Sailor?" she asked. I nodded and her mouth quirked into a half smile. "Ever been to Boogie Street, sailor?"

"Yeh."

"Like it?"

"It has its ... charms." We understood each other.

"Boogie Street?" Ray interrupted. "Sounds like the Ginza or something."

"It's a place where soldiers and sailors go sight-seeing," I volunteered. I could see her wondering if I was going to tell Ray exactly what sights there were to see on Boogie Street.

"Oh yeh? Sounds exciting." He glanced from me to Lisa and back again.

"It was, especially the first time they took me there." Oh yes, it had been exciting. Scared the hell out of me too, but it gave me a taste of some of the more esoteric pleasures life had to offer. Made me a bit more tolerant as well. "I was sixteen the first time." Lisa's eyes widened. "I learned a lot," I added.

"I can imagine."

"Why do I feel as if I've missed something?" Ray demanded.

"Oh, I wouldn't let that happen, Green-eyes," Lisa promised him, petting his cheek with a soft ivory hand.

For a moment I thought I ought to tell him what sort of surprise package he was getting, but then I thought, he's a big boy now. He can handle it. And once the initial shock is over, he'll probably enjoy himself.

"I think I'd like to get to know you boys better," Lisa decided as she finished her drink. Then she paused. "Two for one," she said to me. "For handsome sailors with pretty friends." Ray looked shocked, but before he could protest, I gave his arm a bit of a pinch.

"Bodie!"

"Believe me, old son, it's worth it. How much?" I asked her.

She shrugged and stood up. "We'll see." I was right. She was almost six feet tall. I took her arm and led her out of the pub, gleaning envious stares from other patrons.

"Lisa, this isn't the place for you to work. Your friend was mistaken." She stiffened a little. "I know what I'm paying for, but some of the others..." She nodded. "I can give you some addresses."

"Thanks sailor. Good addresses?"

"And safe ones. You don't want that pretty face damaged by a disappointed customer, do you?"

"For good addresses ... " she looked back at Ray who was following a few steps behind, looking sullen and confused. "Freebies."

"Okay. You have a place? Mine's close."

"Yours then," she decided.

I told Ray he could go first if he wanted, but that I wanted to watch. He looked quite shocked at that last bit. "Didn't know you were into that sort of thing, Bodie."

"Sometimes, my son. Go on, the lady's waiting."

He was hesitant at first. Despite the troys we'd done in the past, he wasn't sure about having me in the room when he made it with Lisa. He couldn't figure out why I wanted to watch and not play.

She was first class. Could've turned on a week old corpse the way she went about it, slipping off the straps of her gown like the pro she was, making the moments last. She let Ray slide the dress down to her hips but no farther, and he began to kiss and caress her little, dark-tipped breasts. She unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders, pulling him down on top of her, rubbing her nipples against his chest while they kissed. Ray twined his hands in her long black hair.

I was starting to get turned on, the constriction across my groin becoming uncomfortable. Ray was pushing her dress down, anxious to get down to cases. She'd unzipped him, and pushed his slacks down, freeing his cock which was already erect. Any minute now, I thought, arousal and laughter warring in me.

She wriggled free of the dress and Ray began to tug at her panties. He was so excited that I wondered if he'd make it. And then he stopped moving against her. He just froze for a second and then jumped away as if bitten. "What the hell is that!" he yelled. He had noticed. Good boy.

"It's called a penis, Raymond. Surely you've seen them before," I said, coming up behind him and putting a hand on his shoulder. He was pretty shaken up. I felt guilty for having set him up like this.

He stared down at Lisa who had by this time shed the rest of her clothes and lay naked across the bed. Her cock was small, but fully developed, just like her breasts.

"That's what they sell in Boogie Street, Ray," I whispered, kneading the tension out of his shoulders. His own erection had wilted noticeably. "I'm sorry. I should have told you."

"You're goddam right you should." He lurched off the bed and retrieved his jeans which he held in front of him like a shield.

"Hey, com'on, it was a joke."

"It's not funny, Bodie."

"Your pretty friend doesn't like me, sailor."

"You get off on this sort of thing, Bodie?"

"Have done. Why? What's wrong with it?"

"It's disgusting."

"No it's not. Don't be so rude."

"Hermaphrodites need love too," Lisa said. Tough lady. She'd had her share of prejudice in the past, I was willing to bet. "It's OK sailor, at least he didn't beat me up like a lot of other guys do."

"You can stay if you want," I told him, "but don't insult her again." At which he stared at me as if I was crazy and stomped out of the bedroom. "I apologize for my friend," I said to Lisa. You willing to stay?"

"For a handsome sailor? Sure." She gave me a kiss and undid my zip. "You look like you could use a bit too."

"'aven't 'ad it in a long time, beautiful. Not like this."

Oh my, she brought back a lot of memories. Like I said, it was one of life's more esoteric pleasures, making love to a man/woman. All you could ask for in one package. And when we finished, she curled up against me to nap for a few minutes. Nice. Her perfume was heavy and aromatic like patchouli or sandalwood mixed with exotic spice.

When she woke up, she gave me a cheeky grin. "You fuck like a sailor, sailor."

"Old habits die hard."

"In case you're wondering, I'm clean."

"I'm relieved." I noticed Ray loitering in the doorway. "Changed your mind?"

"Maybe." He had that angry little boy look on his face, but he was past shock and disgust and all the way to fascination. I wondered if he'd been watching.

"Would you be willing to forgive my friend his lapse in manners and give him the full treatment?" I asked Lisa who was stroking herself idly, enjoying the feel of her own flesh. Nice flesh it was, too, all silken and scented.

"He'll have to be very good. Are you very good, green-eyes?" and Ray's lips twitched upwards. She'd touched the right button. He was idiotically proud of his performance.

"Try me."

She beckoned him over and he sat down on the other side of the bed. "You have something else to do, don't you , Bodie?"

"Not a thing."

"Find something."

"Oh, be a sport, Green-eyes. Let us watch, eh? It's not every day I see you being educated."

He snorted and stretched out beside her, pushing me to the edge of the bed. Then he began using the justifiably famous Ray Doyle technique, to which, he insisted, no woman was immune. Christ, he could have added most men to that. I know very few people who wouldn't give in to Ray when he turns on that sexuality of his. It's like a laser beam, beautiful and powerful and very direct. I watched for a while and got turned on all over again. Sex is Ray's natural element. He was born for the saddle, so to speak.

He was sweet to her afterwards, obviously having got over his initial problems with the extra equipment. That's one of his strong points as well, he always acts as if he likes his sexual partners - makes them feel special. And he thought I'd been joking all this time about us sleeping together. No joke. I've wanted Doyle for a long time.

Lisa looked at her watch and said she'd have to push off. She had a date. As promised, I gave her the addresses of a few bars where the clientele was less rigid in its preferences, kissed her goodbye and wished her luck. I also slipped her twenty which she didn't refuse. A girl has to earn a living after all.

Ray was still stretched out on the wreck of my bed, arm thrown over his eyes. "Feel better now, Sunshine?" I asked.

"Better than what?"

"Better than at the beginning of the evening when you had a bad case of celibacy."

"You're a right bastard, you are."

"Me?"

"Don't come over all innocent, Bodie. Why didn't you tell me what she was?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Would you have come along?"

"Probably not."

"So. Consider it a sort of favour." His answer was to heave a pillow at my head. I ducked into the loo to wash. He was still in bed when I came out. "Are you planning to stay the night?" I asked. I wanted to change the sheets before settling in for the night.

"You invitin' me to?"

"Not really, but if you're going to stay, you can help me change the linen. I don't fancy sleeping all night in your mess."

"My mess?" He shifted himself to let me pull the bottom sheet free. "Who was first?" "'s just as messy either way. Cummon, Ray, get up, will you?" He sighed and climbed out of the bed, and went off to fetch some clean bed linen.

We had a drink and settled in to sleep, but Ray was in a talkative moo. "Do this a lot, do you?" he asked. I groaned. I was tired.

"Not much chance," I said. "And anyway, if it was a regular thing it wouldn't be as interesting would it?"

"Sixteen, eh?"

"And a half. Go to sleep."

"What else did you get up to at sixteen ... and a half?"

"All sorts of perversions. Curl your hair, son."

"It's already curly. Tell."

"Straighten it out then," I countered. He laughed his filthy laugh.

"I doubt that, Bodie. Come on, don't be shy."

"I'm not shy, I'm sleepy."

"You're always so interested in my sex life, why won't you talk about your own?" He nudged me rather ungently. "Fess up, Bodie, what do sixteen year old sailors get up to?"

"Fucking wombats in the officer's mess."

He began to laugh.

"You should see what we do with melons, Doyle."

"You're a loony." He was quiet for a long time and I thought he'd dropped off, but finally he said, more quietly this time, "you slept with a lot of men, didn't you?"

"Depends on what you mean by a lot. I ..."

"You know what I mean."

"Yeh."

"You liked it?"

"Not all the time. Sometimes. Didn't always have a choice."

"Oh. " Long silence. His hand touched my arm and at first I thought it was by accident, but then he grasped my arm tightly. "I'm sorry, I didn't think."

"Nothing to be sorry for, Sunshine. It happens. You couldn't know. Anyway, wasn't all bad. I had some good times too. Mostly I just learned that unless I knew I could back it up, saying no was useless. It was the way things were." Secrets in the dark.

"'appened to me once too," he said, and I felt myself tense. I wanted to kill the bastard who hurt him. "Put me right off the idea."

"Yeah, it can do that."

"You got over it, though." It was as if he needed to know how I'd managed to go past the outrage and humiliation to find pleasure.

"Sure. Like I said, it wasn't all bad. I had a couple of good mates who taught me how good it could be. Give it half a chance and you learn the difference. Feels good," I reminded him. "Doesn't matter who you're with as long as you want it."

"Yeh. Thing was, I was wanting it before it happened ... but I didn't want it to happen like that. I thought it'd be special, not nasty."

"Poor little sod," I muttered, giving him a hug. "It's not ugly, Ray. It's just like with a woman." He snorted with laughter. "You know what I meant."

"Mmm." He settled against my chest so that I couldn't pull away. "Thanks, Bodie, you're a brick."

"Oh anytime." I wondered if he expected to sleep like this.

"You're all tense; what's wrong?"

"Don't think I can sleep like this," I confessed, hating to break the mood, but not wanting to disgrace myself either. I couldn't stop wanting him even knowing why I could never have him.

"You really want to sleep?" he asked. It might have been my imagination, but there was something in his voice that I'd heard before; something teasing, tempting.

"Well, it had crossed my mind. Why, do you want to talk some more?"

"Not right now. After."

"After what?" I felt like an oaf. Pretty bloody obvious. He kissed my jaw just below my ear.

"You're so solicitous of my sexual education, Bodie, you can teach me how to enjoy it, can't you?"

"And then we can analyze it, eh?"

"Or do it again ... or both. Don't say no, Sunshine."

Oh christ, how could I? He turned that laser beam sexuality on me and I fell as fast as his birds. I did everything I could think of to make it great for him, and from his responses, I must have succeeded. And as for enjoying it myself, well, I don't remember ever feeling like that with anyone else. It was special. I knew it would be. Scary.

I remember kissing his face, kissing that beautiful, flawed cheek and telling him how much I'd wanted this. His hands were stroking down my back, restless. "Do you love me, then?" he asked.

"Dunno. Maybe I do. Stranger things have happened."

"Y'know," he said, all thoughtful and sincere," I don't know if I'd want to do this with anyone else. I guess it's like not wanting to be partnered with anyone else. When it's right, you know it."

"If it's not broken, don't fix it, eh?" Funny how much it can hurt to care for someone.

"Something like that. Bodie, do you still sleep with men a lot?"

"What sort of question is that?"

"Tell me."

"Yeah, sometimes. Not a lot, like once a week or anything. Why?"

"Would I be enough for you? On a regular basis, I mean, and not leaving out the birds?" I could see his face shadowed in the moonlight. He looked madly hopeful.

"Enough? I dunno. Why?"

He pulled away from me. "Innit bloody obvious? I'm asking you to be my lover, you great oaf. Since you obviously are non-functional after sex, I'll decide for you. Yes, I'll be enough for you. If I ever catch you with another man, I'll beat the shit out of you and chain you to the bed. Understood?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Then: Yessir, of course sir."

"Knew there was an advantage to being two years older than you." He snuggled up against me again. "So it's settled." He fell asleep while I was trying to sort out what had happened. It occurred to me that I'd been forbidden to see any other men, while Ray was a kid with a new toy. He'd not made any promises about fidelity, and the unbidden image of Ray with another man made me crazy with jealousy.

"Ray, Ray, wake up!" He jerked awake, disoriented and frightened looking.

"Wha? Whaswrong?"

"Promise me the same thing. Promise."

"Sure ... what?"

"Promise that you're not going to see any other men while we're together." He relaxed.

"Is that all? I thought it was understood. Who else would I want with you?"

I felt like an idiot. A happy one. "Robert Redford?"

"Nah, don't like blonds. Like 'em big and dark. Besides, until I use you up I don't imagine I'll have energy even for the birds."

"Well, no ..." Oh boy. He shifted about for a few minutes to find a more comfortable position. "Bodie?"

"Hmmm?"

"One of these days you'll have to tell me more about Boogie Street."

"Never heard of it," I said.

-- THE END --