My cousin E and her husband K are coming in this weekend for his 40th birthday – they’ve sent a care package ahead of time to help celebrate. Last time I saw K, he came to SF and had brass knuckles in his pocket “in case” – I wonder what sort of artillery might he bring to New Orleans? E is the daughter of my father’s cousin. This side of the family is the most fun – they all live in Miami and Puerto Rico. They wanted to come see New Orleans because it is one of their favorite cities. Last time they came to New Orleans, I was here for my niece’s wedding and a radio advertising conference, S couldn’t make it at the last minute because of work, it was 2001, a few days before 9/11, I was supposed to meet E&K for breakfast, but the night before I had gone out with N, the Snake, L and N. We had gone to LoLa’s and drank about 9 bottles of wine and eaten paella – I remember the conversation as if it was yesterday, I was regaling the group with tales of having S cum in a cup that I had to stick in my cleavage to keep warm so that we could rush it to the fertility doctor – I was saying it shows you the difference between a man and a woman, a man could get up at 5:30AM and cum in a cup – afterwards, all of us feeling euphoric went to Liuzza’s by the track to hear a Celtic band, which was terrific. We started drinking Maker’s Mark there, kind of an elixir, and N full on kissed me at the bar, taking me by surprise – I missed my cousins the next morning – and that evening began my odyssey with N.
It’s the five year anniversary of 9/11 – I regret that a terrorist attack could have happened in our country – to one of the cities I love most. I don’t regret what happened with me and N. Both events have profoundly changed my life.