Chapter 7: To Start With

As promised, Shari returned the next day. “Sam, I have an idea. To give you the best advice, I need to know as much as possible about you. Which will be hard, because most men have trouble talking about themselves and their interior lives. See, you’re rolling your eyes already.

“Bear with me here. My idea is I’m going to go first. You’re going to learn everything important to know about Shari Elder. And after that, you’ll be comfortable telling me all about Sam Hartman.

“I was born about four hundred miles west of here, 30 years ago. My parents were healthy, and they didn’t immediately recognize that I was impaired. They had another child, a boy, who was plagued with problems. My little brother died when he was only 11 months old. I don’t remember him as I was only 3 at the time.

“After age 3 my parents were convinced that I was also having difficulties. I wasn’t walking, of course. They took me through many doctors and by about age 5 they had a diagnosis for me. That diagnosis is still valid today.

“I have paraplegic cerebral palsy. Essentially, it’s brain damage. It could have happened before, during, or after birth. The section of my brain that would operate my leg muscles is missing or too damaged to work. My legs don’t do anything useful. Sometimes they cramp, or contract, or are just painful. But I get by well enough.

“It’s not total paralysis, I have feeling on my skin.

“A huge gift would be for my lover to massage my legs, particularly when they are paining me. Followed by some good sex, which I am 100% capable of and would fully enjoy, by the way.

“Sadly, there have been no applicants to that position, or should I say, opening.”

If Sam could stand, right now he would be shifting his feet nervously and staring at the floor. Instead, he just looked away, flushed with embarrassment. Shari noted his reaction, this time without comment.

“So, my parents did their best to raise me as normal as possible. They were early advocates to ‘mainstream’ me into regular school classes, except of course for P.E. And I was able to prove at school that my thinking brain was just fine. Only my leg-walking brain parts were broken.”

“School wasn’t ideal, though. Most of my peers ignored me. I had a couple of girls who were casual friends but no one I could truly confide in. No sleepovers, like the other girls would do. And I was invisible to the boys. Not one date. No homecoming. No prom.

“When I went to college, it was more of the same. I was now invisible to young adults instead of to teenagers. After a while the isolation got the better of me, and I withdrew, socially.

“It was so frustrating to me. I think I have a reasonable self-image. I would be about 5 feet 6 inches [168 cm] tall, if I could stand. I weigh a respectable 125 pounds [57 kg]. I’m in good shape and strong. (You’ll learn, Sam, that pushing yourself around on these wheels will be a huge effort until your arms get built up.)