on the porch together several times, and most of the time late at night or early in the morning, this was the first time we shared it in our underwear. So there I sat, sucking away on a Marlboro; me in my CK’s and ugly robe; he in is boxers, watching the rain storm. But I now had a different soundtrack screaming through my mind. The sound of the rain and thunder, I could no longer hear; only the sounds of him at his most intimate.

The lightning flashed again, but this time I only heard a different pounding—that of a headboard against a wall, a bed spring writhing and the sound of he and his girlfriend bringing each other to orgasm. It seems that the only sounds I ever hear from upstairs was that of my neighbor having sex. And not muffled sounds mind you, it was so clear and so distinct that I felt as though I were in the same room, like watching a porno movie with the picture off. I knew the most intimate details of that part of his life, how they moaned, what they said and what they enjoyed doing to and with each other.

And he was completely oblivious.

“God that was a close one.”

He was looking straight at me when I snapped back to reality.

“Yeah,” I responded assuming he was talking about a crack of thunder I hadn’t heard. “It seems to be getting a little harder.”

“Starting to blow in a little over here. Are you getting wet?” He asked.

“No, I think my car is shielding me from the spray.”

He picked up his chair and moved a little closer to me. I could see that his body was now damp, glistening in rain water, mixed with the moonlight, making him glow.

“There that’s better” he said, and then looked at me and smiled.

Another flash of lightning, like a camera bulb popping on the porch.

“Man”, he said, “I never noticed how perfect your chest is until now.” It was then that I noticed my robe, while bulky as well as ugly, was untied and had slipped completely off my shoulders, resting on my forearms, which rested on the arms of the chair. “Except for there”. He touched a jagged scar on the shoulder. It wasn’t a sexual touch, just one of curiosity.

“Car wreck,” I said.

“How often do you lift?”

“Not nearly as much as I would like to.