Thursday, 3/21/02

I stuck with my plan and chose to sleep in late. It was past noon when I finally left my hotel. I had errands to run north of the border, which took up a good part of the afternoon. I packed a duffel bag with all the necessities for an overnight stay in TJ, and headed south.

As I had done the previous day, I took the Mexicoach bus into TJ. Although not available in the late evenings, I find these buses to be an attractive transportation option. Safe, cheap and reliable. The one drawback is that it's not the quickest alternative when in a hurry, at least inbound. But that wasn't an issue here; I had plenty of time. I arrived on Revo shortly after 5:00.

I grabbed a bite to eat at the smaller Sanborn's between 3rd and 4th Streets. I ordered Puebla Chicken, which was delicious, but the portion was huge and I only finished a little over half the plate. I wanted to be fortified, but not stuffed to the gills.

Finally, I made my way over to Adelitas. It was 7:15. I was supposed to meet Elisa at 7:00, but I knew I'd be lucky if I saw her within an hour of that time, based on past experience. I'm getting more and more familiar with the concept of Mexican Time, and in fact it doesn't bother me in the least. Still, I wanted to be there close to the agreed-upon time, just in case.

I took a seat in one of the booths right next to the stage near the upper bar, not too far from the men's room, facing the curtains.

I watched the floor show for a little while; I had a great vantage point. But once again I found that when a lone gringo sits in a booth, the sharks start to circle. And this time, I was off the market, and I wasn't playing.

Teresa, whom I had met the previous day, was the first to come up to me. She was wearing a white cowgirl-style pants suit with sparkles, and demanded to know, "when are we going to have fun upstairs?" During the course of this visit, I would grow fond of Teresa. I admired the way she remained cheerful and friendly, despite the fact that I was always preoccupied whenever she approached me. But in this instance, I was honest and told her, "I'm waiting for someone." She abandoned pursuit for now, and moved on.

A short while later, Angela appeared. I slid over and let her sit next to me, and offered to buy her a drink. Since she was Elisa's friend, I knew she'd understand. Interesting strategy... using one shark to keep the others at bay.

Angela proceeded to launch into exactly the same sales pitch I had heard twenty-four hours earlier, right down to the "hawnymoon" remark. She threw in a twist, however: "Me and a friend?" I was momentarily tempted to inquire a little further, because I had seen Candi in the bar a few minutes earlier. But I just smiled, and declined once again. "Oh, you are waiting for Elisa, I think?" she replied. I nodded in affirmation. She very graciously said "Okay," and made a quick yet classy exit.

I may never go upstairs with Angela, but I think she's a sweetie.

My next visitor was a much more tricky one to handle: Maribel. She was looking very appealing in a white top and black leather pants. Perhaps too abruptly, given the excellent session I had experienced with her, I told her, "I want to see you again, but not now, okay?" She looked hurt. "You don't like me anymore?"

"I'll be here till Saturday," I replied. That appeared to satisfy her, and she made her exit also.

I sat back in my seat and engaged in one of my favorite pastimes at Adelitas… just taking everything in. The loud Latin music, which has always been part of the ambience at AB for me, seemed to be somewhat less in evidence on this visit. Instead, the DJ exhibited more of a preference toward gringo-centric pop-rock. It was an eclectic mix, to be sure, with selections ranging from CCR's "Down on the Corner", to Whitney Houston's "Saving All My Love for You", to Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb".

I watched the floor show for a few minutes. Fernanda, the long-haired blonde, was putting on quite a performance. I looked at my watch; it was 8:30, and almost on cue, Elisa emerged through the curtains.

Her eyes found me right away; she smiled and headed off into the dressing room. Moments later, she re-emerged and came over to join me. She was looking ravishing in a lime-green top, white pants and translucent green high heels which matched her top.

Right away, she asked me how long I had been waiting; I said an hour. She replied with a narrow-eyed, sideways look, "How many ladies sat here before me?"

I decided to kid around with her a little. Just as she had done yesterday, I started counting on my fingers. "One...two..three..." She laughed and gave me a playful smack on the arm.

It was mellow-out time. We sat there for a couple of hours, chatted, cuddled and went through three rounds of drinks. No need to rush; we had all night.

It seems that whenever I'm in TJ, all roads lead back to Elisa. A year ago, she was the one who claimed my TJ virginity. She was the first girl for whom I ever bought a drink in TJ, the first I ever danced with, the first I ever did an extended session with. It's only fitting that she would be the first I spent an entire night with.

It was around 10:30 when we retreated to the room. I paid the $35 at the check-in desk, and per usual, Elisa took great pains to insure we'd have enough towels, soap, condoms and toilet paper for the whole night. She also managed to procure an extra sheet.

Once in the room, she immediately plopped down on the bed, fully clothed, with the lights on. She motioned for me to join her. She just looked at me for a second, then spoke. "Tonight," she said, "I am yours."

Did I ever like the sound of that. For the first time since I had met her, I actually felt like we were "off the clock." There would be no knocks on the door, no waiters bugging me to buy drinks.

She turned off the lights as we got undressed, leaving the light in the bathroom on. I realize I'm in the minority here, but I actually prefer to have the lights dimmed or completely off during sex. There's something about the absence of light, the dilution of perception, that I find very erotic.

The foreplay seemed to last forever. Soft, lingering kisses progressed into deep, passionate ones. When I first met Elisa, the sessions were frenzied, furious, rabbit-like. Nothing wrong with that, for sure. In fact, for me, it's what set her apart from the rest in the first place. But, as I got to know her better, I found that she goes the slow, sweet, GFE route with the best of them, as well. Especially without the constraints of time.

I tended to her needs first. After a while, we switched places, and she went to work on me orally. She then moved into cowgirl and rode me for awhile, and then we switched to doggie when I popped. I half expected to hear a knock on the door at that point, out of habit. But not on this night.

We washed up, and the next several hours are a blur to me. We lay down next to each other and drifted in and out of sleep. The noise from the bar below wasn't too bad, but what was bad was the sound of the hotel patrons outside the door. At one point, we could hear a chica in a spirited argument with one of the room cleaners.

We just lay there, in a semi-dreamlike state, a state of suspended animation. A prolonged afterglow. During the more conscious moments, we engaged in some conversation and some light fooling around, but eventually drifted back off to sleep once again with our bodies intertwined. Then one of us would wake, and the cycle would repeat itself.

I find that in those moments immediately before and after sleep, a clarity of mind exists that sometimes can actually result in a state of heightened enlightenment. As Elisa lay asleep in my arms, I began contemplating why the Zona Norte holds such an attraction for me, and why I'm drawn to Elisa in particular. Actually, I've mulled those points over many times. But in this semi-conscious, lucid state, I came to a conclusion which I now believe to be dead-on accurate.

Everyone, no matter who they are, has a dark side. The Zona Norte is a place that, for me, is a six-hour plane ride from home, and on top of that, lies on the other side of a political and cultural boundary. It's a place where I can indulge in my dark side without reservations. And Elisa? She has gotten to know me a little bit, knows all about my dark side and doesn't judge me for it. Nothing really profound about that, for sure; but it's amazing how easy it is to simplify things with an uncluttered mind.

Well into the wee hours, we both drifted off into a deep sleep.

I was the one who awoke first. The light of dawn was beginning to creep through the drawn blinds. Elisa lay next to me, still fast asleep. I listened to her quiet breathing and studied her face... I wanted to commit it to memory. I realized that if she woke up and caught me looking at her like that, she'd probably be very embarrassed. So I moved in close and snuggled against her. She stirred, and repositioned herself so that her head rested on my shoulder. Then she drifted back off again.

Not too long thereafter, we were both very much awake, and engaging in some rabbit-like early morning nookie. Her incomparable oral talents finished me off.

After washing up, I stepped out of the bathroom; it was about 8:00 at this point. I found Elisa laying on the bed, fully dressed... but she wasn't going anywhere. She had her head propped up on her hand and was looking at me with a grin on her face. I started to get dressed myself, but stopped with a chuckle when I realized she was still looking at me.

"You are shy," she said, patting the bed. "Come here and talk to me."

The sunlight was filtering through the blinds by now. Elisa's makeup was gone. In the morning light, her age showed in her face. The sexy vixen of the previous evening had been replaced with a regular, thirtysomething Mexican woman, yet the smile I had grown so fond of was still very much in evidence.

I thought she looked beautiful, and I told her so. I had spent twelve hours with her, and I gladly would have spent twelve more.

We hung out for awhile longer, then I realized I had to get moving. I had planned to change my lodging arrangements on the other side of the border, and I needed to check out of the first hotel by 12:00. I anticipated a very long wait at the border.

But first, I presented her with a few small items from my duffel bag. Extravagance isn't my style; I prefer practicality. Several packs of her favorite brand of gum, a toothbrush, and various other sundries. There was also a six-pack of bottled water, which I had brought for both of us, but neither of us had touched it.

I kissed her goodbye in front of the check-in desk, and told her I would see her later that night. I watched her head off toward her own room in the hotel, then descended the stairway that was eerily quiet and subdued at 9:00 in the morning.

It was a night I'll never forget. I had wondered many times beforehand if my fondness for Elisa would change if I spent a long period of time with her. It did change… it got stronger. But in the Zona, becoming too fond of any one chica brings with it its own set of issues. I would get a heavy dose of that a couple of days later.

The morning sun shone brightly as I ascended the hill on Constitucion. I wanted to hit the Internet cafe before dealing with the border mess. After a quick email check, I flagged down a cab.

The pedestrian line at the border wound all the way past the row of stores. I groaned inwardly. The automobile lanes were even worse; I saw no end in sight to the motionless sea of cars.

But luckily, the walk-across line moved pretty quickly, and I passed through customs about 45 minutes later. It could have been much worse, and I made my way to my car. Once again, non-adventuring activities would take up the bulk of the day.

Sanborns??? If you changed the names of the chicas to prevent embarassment, shouldn’t you change the name of this place, too? In the future, lets use a code name. How about “Denny’s” or “Perkins’”?

“But in the Zona, becoming too fond of any one chica brings with it its own set of issues.” I’m shocked. SHOCKED that you would say that.

Try a bike next time.