Later, I regain my senses. I remember about Gina, and how loud we were when we made love. It appears she did not even hear us. My eyes adjust to the darkness. I can see the figure of Sara and the couch in grayscale. My lips kiss her cheeks and her lips. She softly moans and moves her face around. She's more asleep than awake. I become accustomed to her drunken breath so much that it does not bother me anymore. She begins to snore. I find it funny that when I continue to kiss her face, she continues snoring placidly.
While Sara snores peacefully, I get up from the couch. I put my clothes back on. Sara is asleep in her bra and panty. Her thighs titillate me. She might feel cold. I need to find a bed sheet. I go to Gina's room to search for a bed sheet. I take the bed sheet from her room to cover Sara sleeping on the couch.
Seated in other furniture in the room, I watch my love having sweet dreams. I can't believe how I tolerated being around a drunken person. I always get turned off around drunken people. I don't recognize myself. Before I know it, I have fallen asleep as well.
The next morning, I am awake before anyone else. I am not telling Sara or Gina anything that happened to see how much they remember. They drank more than they should have. My best-case scenario for Sara is that she remembers until we started dancing together. As far as Gina is concerned, I know she does not remember that Sara and I placed her on her bed.
Sara, holding her head, wakes up lying on the couch. She becomes aware of the bed sheet covering her. I did not clothe her after making love because I did not want to wake her up. Being so drunk, she could have asked me to make love again. I am not a love machine. I didn't think I could physically have another orgasm soon. She looks at herself wondering why she is just wearing a bra and panty on. She yawns and rubs her eyes. She shakes off the hangover.
"Hi, Jimmy. What happened last night?"
"Not much happened last night. I drove you and your sister to this apartment because you were too drunk."
"Aw, how sweet of you. I know you hate driving. You used your GPS, right?" Sara holds her head in pain.
"Yes. GPS is the best invention ever."
"My head hurts. I think I drank too much. I don't remember how we got here. Why am I in bra and panty? Did we do it last night?"
"No, we didn't. You were so drunk you fell asleep on the couch."
"Oh, really? Why is my dress not on me now?"
"You said the apartment was too hot. You took all your clothes off. Later, you dosed off. I covered you with a bed sheet I found in Gina's bedroom."
"Are you sure you are telling me the truth, Jimmy?"
"Yes, I am telling the truth." I lie. "Hopefully, this headache you have now will stop you from binge drinking again."
"I am not an alcoholic. I only like to have fun every once in a while like everybody else." Sara defends herself.
After Sara and Gina spend the entire Sunday recovering from the hangover, Sara and I say goodbye to Gina. The sisters hug and kiss each other goodbye. Gina hugs and kisses me too. Sara drives us back to New Jersey to begin our new stage of our relationship.
Chapter 5
This Monday morning is like every other morning with one exception; I am living together with Sara. There is no time for any meaningful romantic interactions. We are getting ready for our jobs. When I wake up, the first thing on the schedule is taking a bath and getting dressed. After that, I heat some milk on a pan for my cereals. Sara bathes and only drinks a cup of coffee. Since I don't have a car, we leave earlier from her house. This allows her time to drive me to the college I tutor in and arrive on time for Biopharm. I am not required to arrive early because tutoring services start a few hours later, but Sara does have to arrive early for her job.
At the college, I help many students of different ethnicities and genders effectively study and understand Biology. The easiest way to memorize complex subjects is to use mnemonic devices. It is useful in helping name the steps of the cell cycle and signaling pathways of cellular responses in our bodies. It is a difficult task at first, but eventually the material becomes easier.
Let's just say I prefer tutoring female students than male students. I like to have a beautiful view. Women inspire and energize me. As far as guys are concerned, they are ugly. I do not know if it is the fact that I am a heterosexual, but guys are very ugly and unattractive. Some guys are better looking than others, but as a whole they are hideous. On the other hand, a woman is always a lovely sight to see. Even the "ugly" ones are pretty. That pretty much says it all.
Today, a beautiful Indian college woman that I tutor reminds me of my dream woman. I always have been attracted physically to Asian women, especially Indian. I love their long black hair. I know Hispanic women also have long black hair, but Indian women have the brown skin that gives my eye pleasure. I also love the Saris and Ghagra Colis that Indian women wear. They look adorable in those clothes.
Throughout the first 18 years of my life, I did not meet many girls from India. When I was a little kid at elementary school, the first girl I had a crush on was a Honduran girl of Native American Indian descent. Native American Indian is different from people of India culturally. Many of my high school crushes were either white girls or black girls. There was no Indian girl nearby. It wasn't until I went to college that I truly discovered my physical attraction to Indian women.
Many Biology and Chemistry courses I took in college had many Indian women. There were a few Indian women I got along with as classmates. It always made sense to partner with Indian women because their demeanor is calm and relaxed like mine. People do not get excessively drunk at Indian parties like they do at Hispanic parties. Being cool and hip is not important to Indian people. Indians value stability. I fit well in their society because I am a person who likes to do the same things every day. Not like in Jersey, where my personality is taken as boring and no fun.
Unfortunately, I did not know a small detail about their culture that is true of every culture that exists worldwide. I learned that Indian people tend to marry with people of their same ethnic background and religion. This is true in every culture. In Hispanic culture there is the freedom of dating and choosing the person you like. In Indian culture, marriages are arranged. An Indian person choosing and dating a person who is not the family's choice is frowned upon more strictly. As much as I enjoyed being with them, many are already married, too. It is a lost cause for me.
The young Indian lady, Krishna, asks for my help to understand signaling pathways involved in microscopic metabolic processes. Krishna has gorgeously long black hair. I adore her Indian accent. Her eyes bewitch me; they are full of expression. She has a sexy long neck like Sara. She wears a white t-shirt and blue jeans. She asks of the signaling pathways involved in tumor growth. Lucky for me, it is a pathway I am familiar with. The long list of proteins in this pathway is intimidating. They become less scary if you think of them as different people's names involved in an assembly line that produces more cell growth.
In general, signaling pathways are highly similar. They are best understood as stories than as a long series of proteins interacting with other molecules to carry out a molecular process. From a storyline perspective, whether it is cell division, cell growth, cell death, and wound healing to name a few, a protein binds to another protein called a receptor at the cell's boundary, the plasma membrane. After the protein binds to the receptor, molecular processes inside the cell will occur. This interaction will either increase or decrease a particular molecular process.
The difference between signaling pathways are the molecules and their interactions with each other in a particular molecular process. When a molecular process needs to increase, the molecular interactions' end result is the secretion of another protein out of the cell. The secreted protein binds again to the receptor. This will encourage more of the same molecular process. When a molecular process needs to decrease, the end result is that translation from RNA to a protein does not occur in the cell's nucleus. This negates the protein's secretion out of the cell.
This causes a decrease of any molecular process.
Tumor growth leading to cancer is a magically harmful process. Cells need oxygen to survive. What do cancerous cells do? These cells secrete angiogenic proteins. They cause vascular endothelial cells found on nearby blood vessels' surfaces to grow and become another small blood vessel.
This newly formed blood vessel branches out towards the cancerous cells. This allows the feeding of cancerous cells with oxygenated blood to grow more. It also allows cancerous cells secrete angiogenic proteins. These proteins can travel into the body's circulatory system to promote cancer growth in other body parts. As I studied this topic in college, it felt like I was reading science fiction.
In Krishna's case, she is trying to understand the Ras/Raf/Mek/Erk Pathway. This pathway is often studied in cancer models.
"James, this is what I understand so far. I understand that proteins are translated to take part in the cell cycle's regulation. I am having problems with what happens before the proteins are translated in the nucleus. Make sure if I am saying this right. The Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), a protein, binds to the receptor at the plasma membrane."
"Yes. This receptor is also a protein. Its name is a receptor tyrosine kinase."
"What exactly happens at the receptor?"
"This receptor adds phosphate groups to the tyrosine (amino acid) portions of its own structure. The phosphates attached to the tyrosine portions act as docking stations to attract two other proteins, GRB and SOS, from the cytoplasm."
"Okay, before moving on, let me get this straight. An EGF binds to a receptor tyrosine kinase. This causes that receptor to trans-phosphorylate itself. The phosphate groups act as docking stations to attract GRB and SOS. Gotcha. Now, what's next?"
"Yes, Krishna, that is right. When GRB and SOS are together, SOS becomes a nucleotide exchange factor. What this means is that SOS can do something to Ras, which is a protein that is an intracellular transducer."
"Wait, hold on. Ras is an intracellular transducer. What does SOS do to Ras, and what is an intracellular transducer?"
"Okay. Intracellular transducer is just a term that describes Ras. Remember that SOS is a nucleotide exchange factor. This is an important point. Ras is not active all the time. When Ras has a GDP molecule attached to it, it is off. When Ras has a GTP molecule attached to it, it is on. What SOS does is change the GDP molecule into a GTP molecule on Ras."
"So SOS turns Ras on, right?"
"Yes. You are correct, Krishna." Krishna cheers for being correct. "Now, this is what happens next, Krishna. When Ras is on, it moves to where Raf is, deeper in the cell's cytoplasm, to activate Raf. In other words, Ras turns on Raf, another protein kinase."
"Okay. What happens when Raf is active?"
"Yes. This next step is simpler if you think of Raf, Mek, and Erk, as protein kinases that behave similarly. This means they all add phosphates to another molecule. When Raf is on, Raf will put a phosphate on Mek. This causes Mek to turn on."
"Okay, hold on. So if Mek and Erk are similar to each other, an active Mek should put a phosphate on Erk. What molecule does Erk put a phosphate to?"
"Right. You are a smart learner. I haven't gotten to that part yet. Erk puts a phosphate on c-myc, a protein that acts as a transcription factor. Now, c-myc will also turn on like the other protein kinases, but it will do something else. C-myc will migrate from the cytoplasm to the cell's nucleus. C-myc transcribes DNA into RNA. This RNA becomes translated into other cell cycle proteins and another EGF. The translated proteins will be secreted out of the cell. These proteins promote cell division and growth in the cell cycle. EGF will secrete out of the cell to bind back to the receptor at the plasma membrane. The binding of EGF to receptor begins the Raf/Mek/Erk Pathway again."
After she understands better the pathway during a very long tutoring session, I feel proud of myself. As someone who never had a chance to be important in any social circle, being a tutor makes me feel good. Sometimes, I shock myself at how I can memorize complex concepts. I am not smart by any stretch of the imagination. Everything I know and understand concerning Biology is the result of studying for many hours. Often, the first time I look at a textbook chapter, I am as confused as Krishna. I feel great that Krishna will not spend the first few hours of studying frustrated. When I was a student, I did not understand anything at the beginning. Tutoring did not work for me when I was a student because I memorize better when I am alone in my room than when there are other people around me.
During the entire morning, other students from Krishna's class also came for tutoring when she left. It seems the class Krishna is in will have an exam coming up tomorrow. They all asked about the same signaling pathway and other related pathways. The same explanation I gave to Krishna was the one I used for these students. It was easier to explain the pathway again because Krishna's tutoring lesson was still fresh in my mind.
During my lunch break, I call my parents to see how they are doing. I am not normally someone who actively seeks to talk, but my parents are worth too much to cut complete contact with them. My parents are always complaining about ungrateful people who only talk to them when they are in need. I can't be ungrateful to my parents. They are the only people in the world who accept me as I truly am for the last 27 years. Even if I moved in with Sara, my parents will always be in my life.
"Hi, mama."
"Hi. My love, my life, how are you doing?"
"I am fine. I am on my break."
"How are you doing? Everything is going well with Sara?"
"Yes, mama. Everything is going well. Everything is fine."
"Is she taking very good care of you, my love?"
"Yes, she is a good woman. She drove me to my job."
"Oh, that's great. She is so nice. So is the bed comfortable at Sara's house?"
"Yes, the bed is comfortable. I slept as well there as I did at my house."
"Who prepared breakfast? What did you eat for breakfast?"
"Well, I eat cereal and milk like I always do. Sara prepared breakfast." I lie to my mother. I don't want my parents hating my girlfriend so quickly.
"Oh, great. How is work today?"
"It's good."
"No problems of any kind?"
"Nope."
"No angry students or problem with any students you are tutoring?"
"No, the students are fine."
"What were you tutoring about today?"
"Oh, it was about Biology and stuff."
"Okay. Your father wants to talk to you. I love you and miss you so much. God bless you. Always pray to God."
"Thank you, me too. I will. Okay. Goorbyes."
"Okay, Goorbyes." My mother passes the phone to my father.
"Hello, son."
"Hi, dad."
"How is it going?"
"I am fine, dad. Thank you."
"Are you going to watch prowrestling tonight?"
"Yes, dad. It's going to be fun. I will watch it." I lie to my father. My father is a very old school type of man. He still thinks the man should call the shots in the house. It is probable Sara will not want to watch prowrestling.
"I am going to miss you tonight. I am so used to watching prowrestling together."
"Yes, dad. I will miss watching TV together too."
"Is everything going well over there?"
"Yes, everything is fine with Sara."
"Son, you make sure that you are the man of the house. You can't let a woman stomp over you like a doormat."
"Oh, no. I will not be a doormat. Don't worry." I lie to my father again. He is stuck in the past thinking men are in charge and tell women what to do. I will not be like that. I am a big advocate of women's equality.
"Yes. You can't do the dishes or clean the house. That's a woman's job."
"Don't worry. I won't do that. I will do what I am supposed to do." I continue to lie. I will probably end up doing the dishes or cleaning the house many times.
"Okay. Son, I am so proud of you f
or having a beautiful girlfriend."
"Thank you father. I have to finish eating my food to start to tutor again. Is everything fine at the house?"
"Yes, son. Everything is fine, but we miss you very much. We love you."
"Thank you, me too."
"Okay, it was nice talking to you. Have a great day, son."
"Thank you. You too. Bye."
"Okay, bye."
After I finish eating my chicken sandwich, meatballs, and drinking my soda for lunch, I will tutor students in Algebra the rest of the afternoon. This is a simpler topic for me. Many of the questions I will help students with are finding the x and y values based on two different "x + y = number" equations. The key to solving these equations is canceling out the x from the two equations so you can solve for y. Once you know what y is, you can plug in y into any of the two equations to find the value of x. The complication occurs because, for example, one equation has 3x and the other has plain x. In order to cancel out the x variables, you have to multiply the entire equation with x by -3. After multiplying by 3, when you add the equations together on top of each other, the 3x and -3x cancel out. This makes it easy to solve for y.
By the end of my afternoon tutoring session, I did this explanation for many groups of students, but one group of students made me envious of what they have. They were three white guys wearing hoodies and baggy jeans. Their names are Alex, Bruce, and Clark. Their bond to each other makes me think they are brothers. When one of them understood what my explanation concerning algebraic equations, he spent the entire time trying to make the other guys understand. I became a spectator, looking at the camaraderie between them.
Later in the session with these three guys, I discover they are just best friends since elementary school. In my entire life, I never had someone who I could call my best friend. I never really clicked with anybody. Luis, Juan, and Justin were friends of mine because we lived on the same block. I never felt that I could fully trust them enough to share my personal worries or concerns. None of them are best friend material. I could be wrong about them, but it was a risk I wasn't willing to take. They always were too crazy for me. On the contrary, these guys were different. They truly trusted each other and are very mature for their age.
Life Ain't A Fairy Tale Page 6