We rode back from Richmond decorously side by side on the top of a bus. It was as though my left side {her side} burned and was so to speak dissolving into steam, or gases. Other people may often have experienced this secret journeying with the intention of sex at the end, but I was new to it, as I was new to what Fulla had done to my skin and bone-marrow, my fingers and toes, not to mention the most obvious part, or parts of me. I could have stroked her, or gripped her, or licked her, all that long way back, but putting it off, waiting, keeping still, looking uninterested, was so much more exciting…
The narrator reflects on a bus journey back from Richmond beside someone named Fulla. The experience is filled with a physical intensity that feels almost overwhelming, as if their shared presence is igniting a deep desire within the narrator. They express a newfound awareness of their attraction and the changes in their body, which are tied to their connection with Fulla, revealing an awakening to passion and intimacy.
This journey becomes a tension-filled experience, as the narrator resists the urge to act on their desire. Instead of acting impulsively, they find excitement in the restraint, enjoying the thrill of anticipation and the silent exchange between them. This delicate interplay between desire and self-control highlights the complexities of their emotions and the transformative nature of this new form of intimacy.
