Creative Writing: The Black Boy

What!!! "No dad, don't do anything like that, you know how much I like her" I could see the smirk grow on my dad's face. Damn!!! What did I say just now, I closed my eyes in embarrassment, "Son trust me she will be happy with you and you with her" I nod my head in agreement.

“Mandy, your dad and I have something we need to talk to you about.” Being the bright-eyed eight year old I was, I would have never suspected what was going to escape my mom’s lips next.

David must pretend, not just for the remainder of the novel, but for the next forty years, to be ignorant of Frank’s crimes, and much of what is happening because his parents do not realise that he has

asks him, “Is that how a father rules?” A family is not supposed to be one person ruling over

“What’s wrong Fletcher?” I looked up at him and told him the truth. Dad looked at me for a second, thought showing in his eyes

ELIZABETH, delicately: John—grant me this. You have a faulty understanding of young girls. There is a promise made in any bed—

After many attempts to help David had failed, David ended up at a local hospital where he called and asked his loyal friend to come and visit. This did not sit well with Mark’s wife, who never supported his

David acknowledges that his sexual violation of Melanie, who was a student, was not desired by her, he states it was “Not rape, not quite that, but undesired nevertheless, undesired to the core. As though she had decided to go slack, die within herself for the duration, like a rabbit when the jaws of the fox close on its neck. So that everything done to her might be done, as it were, far away” (pg 25). During the disciplinary hearing, Melanie’s account never reaches the reader, and David refuses to defend himself. This leaves the reader scratching their heads, wondering if it was rape or if it wasn’t.

Reminiscing on his childhood, David remembers his father as “boyish and expansive, moving through the crowded room[,] . . . handling all the men as though they were his brothers, and flirting with the women” (Baldwin 12). Adhering to the traditional image of a father-son relationship, David looks to his father as a role model, and therefore learns to showcase masculinity in the way put forward by his father, who is additionally the only male figure in his life. Through his flirtation with women and platonic attitude towards men, David’s father demonstrates to David that he must uphold his expected role in society in order to truly be a man. Because of this mindset, David is terrified after sleeping with his friend Joey, thinking to himself, “But Joey is a boy. I saw suddenly the power in his thighs, in his arms, and in his loosely curled fists. The power and the promise of that body made me suddenly afraid . . . I thought of my father [and] . . . a cavern opened up in my mind, black . . . [and] full of dirty words” (9). David’s focus on the more masculine aspects of Joey’s body emphasizes his confusion about being attracted to another man - his father’s example further compels him to view his actions as wrong and vile. However, David not only sees the power in Joey’s body, but also

“That still doesn't explain why dad. Why in the world are you telling me this when you know I’m not going to be able to think about anything else but this!”

JIMS FATHER: Um…honey, listen you’re doing great, sure you could use some extra help, but other than that everything’s

“I told you to clean this shit up, boy. What would your Mom say, when she comes home and the house is a mess. And it’s your fault. Yes it is.” Dad said. He sat back down at the table, eyes glaring at Charles.

It is this conversation, not the beatings in jail, which broke Richard’s spirit and caused him to commit suicide. The very structure of his life had been called into question. He discovered, to his dismay, that he had built his house upon a marsh. No matter how smart he is, he remains a ‘n*****.’ Richard’s death changed Elizabeth. New York now became in her mind the City of Destruction. (12)

“I want to leave and can I live with you Mr. David...errrr...uhhhh...Dad?” ask Asriel hoping I would say yes.

Softly I muttered, Jenny saw my disheveled face and as a result, she turned around and pointed as she said: