My First Crush

I’m a reader. Anyone who knows me knows that I keep a book or two with me everywhere I go I have a book in my hand. My mom says I’ve had a book with me for so long she doesn’t remember when I actually started reading. I get crazy involved with the characters and settings and everything. I have to even admit that my first love was a fiction novel character…….Marcus Garvey Carter.

My favorite book of all time is “Tryin’ to Sleep in the Bed You Made”. It is written by best friends Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant and it the story of Patricia and Gayle. Pat is an overweight girl who was raised by a southern mother. She is brilliant but a bit shy and awkward. When Pat’s mother dies she is moved from the country to live with her aunt. Pat finds out that her mother was really her grandmother and her aunt is really her mother. Gayle is the only child of her parents and the apple of their eye. She is beautiful and popular, not scholastically smart but very creative. Marcus and his family live in the same area as Gayle and Pat. One day an accident happens and Marcus’ brother is shot in Pat’s home. Her mother sends her to live in an orphanage and Gayle convinces her parents to adopt her. The book chronicles the lives of Gayle and Pat. It is touching and entertaining and I think I’ve read it 30 times.

I highly recommend it as a feel good read to any and everyone but this isn’t so much about the book. This is about Marcus Garvey Carter and my unwavering love for him. You see Marcus was the little knucklehead brother. He didn’t really have any direction and when his brother died he took on the guilt and sort of lived his life the way he thought his brother would. He ended up focusing on baseball and becoming good enough to go to the Major League. He lived life a bit recklessly and he made few excuses for it. He was a cocky jerk throughout most of the book. But his character was written so beautifully that I could see past all the bad decisions he made and recognize that he was a good dude with an enormous heart. I could see that he loved his family and he was loyal as he wanted nothing more than to make sure his brother’s memory lived on.

I think this is a true testament to the type of guy I like. People are always talking about their type and that usually means describing physical features. I think my type is more of a personality thing than physical. I like men who aren’t afraid to work hard. Hard work is a huge turn on for me. I don’t care if a man is a CEO or if he collects garbage, if he takes pride in his work and doesn’t mind working then I can rock with him. It’s the main reason why I am so difficult initially when getting to know a suitor. I have to comfortable that he doesn’t mind doing a more than average. I also like men who have good hearts. I am a sucker for a humanitarian. If he is good to people then I’m in. He also has to value education. Mind you I didn’t say he had to have 15 degrees or read the Wall Street Journal but he does have to appreciate knowledge and not be comfortable with not knowing something. He has to be respectful, a gentleman, and of good moral character….. Everything that made me fall in like with Marcus Carter.

It’s been about 18 years since I first read the book and I pick it up and fall in love with him all over again. As a matter of fact, I may revisit my first crush this weekend.