My sexual promiscuity didn't just reside in New England, however. I'd be shacking it up with complete strangers in New York, P-Town, Florida, Palm Springs, San Francisco, London, Hong Kong, or wherever my travels would take me.
One summer's day in 2001, I remember I was at my friend's apartment in the South End watching an episode of Ricki Lake. It was a rainy afternoon and Trevor and I were nursing our hangovers from the previous night's libations at Buzz (one of the hottest nightclubs in Boston that has since shut down) with strong mimosas. We sat by a window so we could exhale our cigarette smoke from his living room, but the hot damp still made the nicotine linger around us. Our eyes were glued to the TV where Ricki's guests were gathered to discuss: Help! My sister's out of control!
Neither Trevor nor myself managed to hook-up the night before and watching this trash TV was a sad consolation prize. Nonetheless we were both captivated by the drama unfolding on the TV.
"Ricki, girlfriend, you have to talk some sense into my sister, Shaniqua," one guest complained.
"La Dawn, what is it that Shaniqua is doing?" Ricki questioned.
"Shaniqua a total ho!" La Dawn explained.
La Dawn continued to reveal that she was concerned about Shaniqua's sex life. Apparently Shaniqua was a "total ho" because she had 24 sex partners at the tender age of 28. Trevor and I looked at each other and chuckled while we slurped on our mimosas. We didn't have to verbalise anything as we already knew what we were thinking. We were in our mid twenties and our sex partners already far exceeded Shaniqua's.
"What are you laughing at you stuck up slut?" I teased Trevor.
"Lady, please! I'm not a stuck up slut. I'm a stuck up twat," Trevor defended, "I may sleep around but I still have standards!"
"Yeah, low standards!" I added.
"You should talk, Cum Sponge," Trevor always had the best nick names for his friends.
It was true. We were both easy. And that was part of the reason we were such close friends. We never judged each other for what we did in our own respective bedrooms, or in the bedrooms of others we'd end up in.
"When did this all start?" Ricki asked La Dawn.
As La Dawn started to recount when Shaniqua's tawdry habits began, I started to question myself how such an innocent Asian boy from Hong Kong turned out to be such a tramp. I took a deep drag on my cigarette and tried my hardest to think back to when my first hookup ever occurred. My memories, however, must have been under the influence of my strong mimosa and leftover remnants of cocaine from the night before, as I traveled all the way back to a time when I was in primary school in Hong Kong.
*****
I went to Peak School in Hong Kong, a primary school originally dedicated to the children of UK expats, from primary one through six. It was at the Peak School that I met my first best friend, Matt Hallard. We were both in P1.2 and Matt and I hit it off immediately, perhaps because of the fact we both didn't naturally fit in with the rest of the school; Matt was American and I was clearly not English having dark hair and no freckles.
We quickly formed a bond-alliance at school. It was us versus the Brits. Matt and I sat together, played together and laughed together. During play time we were inseparable. We were like brothers joined at the hip. We threw sand at each other and shared paints during our hand painting sessions. We giggled together during lunch when we heard our head mistress recite our daily lunch prayer: For what we're about to receive, may the Lord make us truly grateful. Amen!It wasn't long before we continued our play time after school. Matt lived in a very luxurious four storey house in Strawberry Hills that was situated right around the corner from Peak School. While I took the school bus into school each day, Matt just had his maid drop him off at the school entrance. Like many of the other Brits, Matt's dad moved to Hong Kong from the States for work. Matt's close proximity to school made it convenient for me to head right there after school some days.
"Mrs. Hallard, you have such a big and beautiful house," I said shyly when I first met her.
"Well thank you, Ch'ien-hung," Mrs. Hallard smiled proudly.
"Mom, his name is Chengy!" Matt interjected.
Matt quickly pulled my arm and brought me downstairs to his bedroom to show me the fort he had constructed during the weekend. We spent hours there before my mum came to pick me up.
"Boys, Chengy's mother is here to take him home," Mrs. Hallard's voice came through the intercom in Matt's room.
"No!" Matt cried. "Can't you stay a little longer?"
I shook my head and we slowly slumped ourselves to meet our mothers upstairs in the kitchen.
"Daphne, your son is so well behaved. It's a pleasure to have him anytime," Mrs. Hallard said to my mother. "Our other son is in the Army Reserve in the States and Matt is often quite lonely without his brother," Mrs. Hallard continued.
I looked over to Matt moping into his glass of milk on the counter.
"Maybe one night Chengy can stay the night," Mrs. Hallard offered.
"Yay! When? When?" Matt perked up from his grouchiness, "Chengy, that would be awesome!"
Sleep over? What the heck was that? If I stayed over at the Hallard's, would Mrs. Hallard tuck me into bed? That was my mum's job! Or Mary's job (our maid), if my mum was out at a squash tournament. I looked back at Matt who was beaming at the idea of a sleep over and I just smiled back at him.
Matt and I continued our play sessions after school and even occasionally invited each other to our country clubs to play during the weekends. We'd splash around in the pool or run around on the cricket field while my mum played squash with her girlfriends.
Our first year at Peak School quickly ended and it was time for our summer holidays. Matt went home to the States to visit his family while I traveled with my parents to Malaysia to see my grandparents and some aunts and uncles. By the time I was returned to Hong Kong to start Primary Two I couldn't wait to see Matt. We called each other the night before school started and we were thrilled to start another year together.
At school we were quickly reunited and couldn't stop telling each other about our summer holidays.
"Chengy, you have to come over soon!" Matt started telling me over lunch. "My brother was here over the summer and he helped me build the coolest fort in my bedroom!"
Matt cheated on me and had build a fort without me! I told Matt that I would check with my parents when I could stay over. I knew I wouldn't be able to decline Matt's offers for long and that eventually, I'd have to sleep over at Strawberry Hill...
That night came the following weekend. On that Friday before, Matt pulled me aside before I got onto my school bus that would drive me home.
"Chengy, we're going to have so much fun this weekend," Matt assured.
"I can't wait," I said to Matt even though I had no idea what to expect. I had never slept over at someone's house who was not related to me.
The next day, Mary helped me pack an over nighter as we waited for my mum to come home from a morning squash match at the Kowloon Cricket Club. I knew we had a lot of time because we lived in Repulse Bay, the south side of Hong Kong Island, which meant my mum had to take the tunnel under the South China Sea and drive from the top of Hong Kong Island to the bottom.
Mary helped me pack "Bee Bee," my favourite stuffed puppy dog, a set of pyjamas, my swim trunks, toothbrush, a set of clean clothes, and a couple of my favourite Mr. Men books that I thought Mrs. Hallard might enjoy reading to me.
During the car ride to Matt's, my mum turned around to look at me buckled in the back seat. My pop was driving.
"Son, I will miss you so much tonight," my mum started cooing.
"Baby, are you sure you have our phone number memorised in case anything goes wrong?" my pop asked me.
"8-1-2-0-1-0-1!" I replied proudly.
"Of course our baby remembered our phone number, 'Dar,'" my mum snapped at my pop. She called him 'Dar,' short for 'darling.'
My pop parked the car at a guest spot at Strawberry Hill as my mum held my hand as we walked to the Hallard's front door. She rang the doorbell.
"It's Chengy!" I heard Matt scream from somewhere behind the front door.
Matt's maid opened the door and Matt came running out milliseconds after. This kid couldn't wait for me to stay over! Mrs. Hallard appeared and started chatting with my mum. Matt pulled at my arm to direct me into his house. But my other hand was still clutched to my mother's hand. My mum pulled me close to her and knelt down beside me.
"All right, son," my mum started, "Be a good boy and have fun with Matt, all right?" She pulled me closer for a hug and I sunk my face into her hair. The smell of fresh shampoo from the country club and her perfume sank into my brain.
"Mummy, why don't you stay with me and Matt?" I pleaded.
"Don't be silly son," my mum replied, "Mrs. Hallard will be here if you need anything. Have fun with Matt and pappa and I will come back tomorrow afternoon to collect you."
I hesitated to let go of my mum, but as I did, I was quickly dragged into Matt's house with my sleepover bag in tow.n I quickly forgot about my mum as Matt revealed his new fort made of sofa cushions and pillows. It was truly a construction of splenor. We crawled through the makeshift tunnels and pretended to throw bombs at everyone we didn't like from school. When we got bored of that we changed into our trunks and ran over to the pool in the Strawberry Hill complex.
When Mrs. Hallard called us home for dinner I was delighted to hear that she had prepared her famous spaghetti and meatballs that I loved. She even let us drink a whole can of Coca-Cola each! After dinner, Matt suggested we head into the TV room to watch some cartoons.
"Okay boys, I'll be right behind you with some ice cream," Mrs. Hallard said as we cleared the kitchen.
"I also have a bunch of candy in my room so we can have a midnight feast later," Matt whispered to me.
I was touched by the Hallard's hospitality, but I suddenly had a sick feeling in my tummy. I knew it wasn't the dinner. The meal was delicious. It was something else. I was starting to feel homesick. I longed for my mum, my pop, Mary, and my two older brothers. I wondered what they were doing as Matt turned on the TV and put a video in the VHS player.
When Mrs. Hallard came into the TV room with two bowls of ice cream and kissed Matt on the forehead I wanted to cry. I wanted my mum to kiss me on my forehead.
"Is everything okay, Chengy?" Mrs. Hallard asked.
I nodded and looked over at Matt spooning heaps of ice cream into his mouth. I told them I had to pee and headed downstairs into Matt's bedroom and started to pack my bag. I crept into Mr. and Mrs Hallard's bedroom and searched for their telephone. I found it lifted the receiver and called home.
"Mummy, I want to come home," I started sobbing into the telephone.
"Are you sure, son?" my mum asked me. "Is everything okay?"
"No, I want to come home," I said.
"All right. We'll bring you back home. Let the Hallards know we're on our way."
I quickly wiped the tears from my eyes and slowly headed back up to the TV room where the Hallards were watching cartoons.
"Chengy, your ice cream is melting," Matt said.
"Are you sure everything is okay?" Mrs. Hallard asked again.
I ignored her and started scooping a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth. The cool sweetness felt nice sliding down into my belly. I stared at the TV screen wondering when my parents would arrive to bring me home.
When the doorbell finally rang, I snapped out of my tortured trance.
"I wonder who that could be?" Mr Hallard said to the Mrs.
I continued watching the cartoon unaware of what was going on at all. Matt didn't even twitch. Matt's maid entered the TV room.
"Ma'am, it's Chengy's parents," the maid said to Mrs. Hallard.
Without hesitating, I ran out the TV room to find my mum waiting at the front door. I held out my arms and started to cry as my mum lifted me up to carry me in her arms.
"Oh, son... Don't be so silly. There's no need to cry. Mummy's here," my mother caressed my head as she held me tight.
"Chengy! Where are you going? You're supposed to stay the night!" Matt said at the doorway.
Mrs. Hallard held him back and motioned to Mr. Hallard to grab my bag. My mum put me down and I turned around to say Sorry. I wasn't sure who I apolgised to or why I was apologising but I knew an apology was in order. I crawled into my pop's Peugeot where I found him sitting in the driver's seat and my two brother in their pyjamas giggling.
"You're such a loser!" my oldest brother, Tien, said to me.
"Ha ha! You couldn't even stay away one night," added my middle brother, Ch'ien-Hsiang.
"Boys, cut it out!" snapped my pop.
I knelt onto the back seat and looked out of the car's rear window and saw my mum speaking with Mrs. Hallard. Matt was pleading with his eyes to have me come out the car, but I had already made up my mind to go home. My mum eventually started walking toward the car and got it.
"Okay, let's go home," she said simply to my pop.
As the car started, I turned again to look at Matt and Mrs. Hallard standing in their doorway. Matt wiped tears from his face and sunk his face into his mother's skirt. She cupped his head and brought him into the house.
*****
I'm not sure why that memory resonates so clearly in my head. Matt and I were so close but I wasn't able to stay at his house that night. I think another few weeks passed before I managed to stay at his house for a whole night. After that night there was no going back. I asked to stay for 2 nights and soon if I wasn't staying the night at Matt's house, he was staying with me.
I then started staying at other friends' houses, too. My parents started complaining I was never home and they missed their baby son. By the time I was fifteen I was rarely home. I was out with friends at the video arcades or sneaking into bars and smoking cigarettes. By the time I left home for University, I had full freedom to do anything without the permission of my parents.I recounted the story about Matt to Trevor.
"Now instead of innocent sleepovers, you're just sleeping around!" Trevor laughed. "Like I said, you're a cum sponge!"
"Shut up!" I said to Trevor. "I don't know why but I still feel bad I did that to Matt after all those years... I'll never for get his face from that night!"
"So is that who you think of everytime some daddy picks you up? You don't owe Matt, or any one you wanna go home with, shit!"
I'm not sure if Trevor had a point, but I do wonder why I found it so easy to sleep with strangers. Was it a gay rite of passage? Was it curiosity? Promiscuity? All of the above? None of the above? Looking back, I think Matt was trying to fill a void his brother created when he left home to head to the Army Reserves. I'm glad Matt found me to fill it because he forced me to get comfortable sleeping in another bed other than my own.
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