Tony from Bensonhurst

I met Tony a few weeks after I found out my ex-boyfriend didn’t love me anymore and was dating someone else. We had one of those perfect first dates where the conversation flows and you forget what time it is. I knew I liked him when he mentioned reading Edwidge Danticat for an African American literature class during undergrad. When he thought it was awesome that my Substack essay “Ben from Hinge” went viral. When he also loved the band Big Thief. When he told a story about waiting in line to get his Arcade Fire record signed at that old vinyl store in Williamsburg that no longer exists.

We finished our chips and salsa and bopped from a restaurant on Cortelyou to Bad Therapy, the not-so-new bar on the corner. Lingering just a few paces behind me on our walk back to my place (my parents’ house), he grabbed my hand to pull me back. He brought me into his chest and kissed me. He caught me by surprise. I met him with an open mouth.

“You kissed me with an open mouth,” he smirked.

“Is that…