The B-52s: A Short Story

Improved Essays
The B-52s, ‘Love Shack’ played through the Mustang’s speakers, and although upbeat, the lyrics sent a nervous shiver throughout Tom’s tense body. After his explosive outburst in the locker room the day before, he felt ready to try a second date, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t anxious. In terms of a sexual relationship, he still wasn’t sure how far he was prepared to go with Booker, and the nagging uncertainty played havoc with both his conscious and unconscious mind. The previous night, he’d experienced one of the most vivid dreams of his life. He was standing in a room surrounded by people adorned in fancy dress. Soft, pink lighting shimmered over tendrils of silver gray smoke, the faux mist curling and dancing around the party-goers’ legs …show more content…
Lowering his eyes to the pavement, his blush deepened as he wrestled with the concept. Booker was his lover… his lover! While he had grappled with the idea of falling in love with Booker, the realization he was his lover had only just occurred to him. Why it had taken too long to acknowledge the fact was one of life's many mysteries, but there it was, out in the open for all the world to know. Except the world didn't know, no one did, apart from Tom and Dennis. Theirs was a clandestine affair, a cloak-and-dagger romance carried out under the covers of darkness. Not that the young officer cared, he wasn’t comfortable coming out to his friends and family, at least not while his feelings were still so new and confusing. He was still coming to terms with his bisexuality in his own mind, and until he had it straightened out in his head, he figured it was better to let sleeping dogs lie. However, he couldn't help but wonder if there was more to it than just his sexual confusion. As much as he tried to ignore it, the annoying voice of doubt continued to whisper in his ear, telling him it was all a game, and Booker was playing him for a fool. Deep down, he knew it wasn’t true, but his insecurities gnawed at his intuition, chewing at his confidence until all that was left was uncertainty. It was the story of his life. Despite what most people thought, he lacked faith in his own …show more content…
The oppressive atmosphere was a far cry from Tom’s modern apartment building, and the young officer wondered why Booker chose to live in such depressing conditions. When he’d visited two weeks before, his high levels of anxiety had blinded him to the rundown surroundings his friend lived in. But on reflection, it seemed out of character. Booker certainly wasn’t a snob, but he was somewhat vain, and his apartment didn’t really fit the image. Except, the more Tom thought about it, it did. The dark-haired officer loved to portray the bad-boy persona, and living in a building on the wrong side of the tracks added an element of danger to his facade. The thought amused Tom, and he chuckled softly. He was starting to see through Booker’s prickly exterior, and beneath the surface, was someone who battled with the same insecurities he

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    W. D. Snodgrass’s “Leaving the Motel” focuses profoundly on language, tone, and symbolism, along with other strategies to express the idea of love as fleeting, yet businesslike. The poem tells a story of the happenings between two people at a motel after a surreptitious sexual meeting. These two people are participating in a secret affair and Snodgrass’s technicality expresses the formality and routine that their connection demands. Although the encounters are businesslike, situations in the poem suggest the two share tenderness and intimacy. However, this is suppressed by the well-organized discerning thoughts and activities of the two lovers as they prepare to leave the motel.…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Today, most families are faced with hardships, but Jeannette Walls and John Steinbeck wrote some of the best examples of endurance in their novels The Glass Castle and The Grapes of Wrath. In The Glass Castle, Walls wrote about her childhood and problems that were unique to her family. Steinbeck wrote about a very common issue that tenant farmers faced during the dust bowl and Great Depression of the 1930’s. He wrote of a fictional family, the Joads. The Walls and Joad family both lived their lives under completely different circumstances, but they had two common characteristics that allowed them to survive, loyalty and resilience.…

    • 1029 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Environment Means Everything Former Olympic Sprinter, Wilma Rudolph, once said “It doesn’t matter what you’re trying to accomplish. It’s all a matter of discipline. I was determined to discover what life held for me beyond the inner-city streets.” This quote by Rudolph is a prime example of how hard the inner-city life can be to overcome.…

    • 1725 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    It is a full moon in the sky pitch black calm night on the first weekend of October. The four amigos as they call themselves in Henry Lambert s new blue Pontiac as a early graduation / Christmas gift or like he would say so his dad wouldn't have to drag his lazy ass out of bed early to bring him. Henry was a six foot Caucasian teenager , just turning eighteen in September . He would keep his blondish brown hair combed nice . His dad worked hard long nights as a security guard and was not a man to play with when not getting his beauty sleep.…

    • 1960 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dawn broke to an explosion of bird songs, the cacophony starting Booker awake with a disgruntled groan. Unimpressed by the early morning alarm clock, he angrily pulled his pillow over his head and attempted to drown out the noise. However, the humorous fact that the sound easily penetrated through the downy feathers brought a good-natured smile to his lips, and with a resigned sigh, he threw the pillow onto the floor and sat up. From across the room, Tom yawned loudly, a sleepy smile spreading across his face.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The story I am analysing is The Baddest Dog in Harlem. It was written by Walter Dean Myers. The story starts with some guys talking about who is the all time best fighter. Their conversation where cut short by the police. The police looked after a guy with an automatic riffle.…

    • 851 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Dawn broke to an explosion of bird songs, the cacophony startling Booker awake with a disgruntled groan. Unimpressed by the early morning alarm clock, he angrily pulled his pillow over his head and attempted to drown out the noise. However, the humorous fact that the sound easily penetrated through the downy feathers brought a good-natured smile to his lips, and with a resigned sigh, he threw the pillow onto the floor and sat up. From across the room, Tom yawned loudly, a sleepy smile spreading across his face.…

    • 1248 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Crack! The sound of lightening striking in Tangerine County. The same lightening that strikes at the same time everyday. The same lightning that caused a ripple of heartbreaking occurrences. The same lightning that caused a wave of sorrow to flood Tangerine County.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    2. The inciting incident in Their Eyes Were Watching God occurred when Janie met Joe Starks. At the time, Janie was currently married to Logan Killicks on behalf of her grandmother’s wishes. She believed her love for Logan would grow and develop after their marriage. However, Janie realized she does not love him, and their marriage fails.…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Hate You Give Analysis

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Recently in the United States police brutality and the killings of innocent civilians have been frequent. On average, in the United States, a police officer takes the life of a civilian every seven hours on Fatal Encounters. Fiction books catch kids interest and that makes them want to read the books. The importance of fiction books can provide real-world information and better educate students about the problems we live in. The Hate You Give, by Angie Thomas is a story about how a teenager goes through the life and struggles of growing up in a minority community, Garden Heights.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Love is a powerful bond that has different levels of intensity and strength. It can make the weakest person strong, and the strongest person weak. In a world where humans have categorizing themselves by their skin color, gender, sexual orientation, religion and wealth, love is the only force strong enough to fight off societal oppression. This is apparent in two pieces of literary works by authors who share the common factor of being a part of an oppressed minority. James Baldwin’s is a gay African American writer and activist.…

    • 1933 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Jimmy Valentine Journey

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Life presents us with many paths, some risky and some tranquil, but depending on what paths you choose, will determine how you live your life. Jimmy Valentine is a young adult who lives in Missouri during the late 1800’s. His occupation is a criminal, and a rather good one at that. Jimmy’s high status in the criminal world comes with great skill and many friends. After three months in jail, Jimmy is released back into the regular world.…

    • 1114 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Marshall Mathers

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Thirteen year old Marshall Mathers sat in a bathroom stall, quietly eating his lunch. It was a daily routine for him at the middle school in order to avoid bullies and young gangsters. He couldn’t stand up for himself. Whenever the bullies came around, he had great reticence as they hurt him with disparaging remarks. He just sat there, thinking about his life in a small town in Detroit.…

    • 990 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Tennessee Williams’s Glass Menagerie and Henrik Ibsen’s Doll’s House, various comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the characters Tom Wingfield and Nora Helmer. Being writers who originated from similar backgrounds, Williams’ and Ibsen’s similarities and parallels can be identified in their writing and their characters. Both were exceptionally well off during their early childhood until their lives became twisted as their formerly prosperous and successful parents had experienced financial or marital problems. The Williams family left Columbus, Mississippi to their new urban home in Missouri, causing Williams’s stress due to the lack of a father figure and new responsibilities is his life. Similarly, Ibsen’s father, previously…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In All My sons by Arthur Miller, the usage of symbolism is used in a post war world to show the death of a son and a community’s disregard for the truth. Symbols include an apple tree and a jail created by the patriarch of the Keller family. The neighborhood is living in a time period following World War II. The time period allows for the symbols to have more impact.…

    • 804 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays