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Lilith Pinkerton sat inside the Bridgewater State College library, watching Adam Warsaw as he fought back tears. She'd only recently told him that she loved him. The short, blonde-haired and green-eyed South African woman bared her soul to the handsome young African-American scholar who stole her heart. Adam struggled to find the right words, and in the end he didn't say anything. He took her hand in his, and kissed her. When their lips met, it was more than just a guy and a gal kissing. More of the culmination of years and years of frustration and passion unleashed. Lilith's heart thundered in her chest as she wrapped her arms around the young man she loved more than anything in the world. Her dream had come true. The man she loved indeed loved her back.

Two years ago, this scenario would have seemed impossible to all parties concerned. The summer of 2009 had been really tough for Boston-born rascal Adam Warsaw. The tall, lean and bespectacled young African-American had grown to hate his hometown because of its patrician mentality. Even though Deval Patrick, Governor of Massachusetts, was a Black man, some things in New England would never change. Adam Warsaw drove away from the house of one Morgan Finkelstein in Milton, Massachusetts. The tall, red-haired Jewish gal he met at Bridgewater State College had come to mean so much to him these past six months. Too bad she neglected to tell him that her father, Rabbi Anthony Benjamin Finkelstein was more racist than Hitler himself. In no uncertain terms the Rabbi told Adam that he disapproved of Black male/White female relationships. And then he ordered him out of the hilltop mansion.

It took every ounce of self-restraint Adam possessed not to deck the short, bigoted little man. He walked out of the house with his head held high. He didn't even look at Morgan Finkelstein, who stood by in tears. Of course, she didn't say anything as her father called the young man she claimed to love every slur in the book. Adam drove back to his folks house in Brockton, Massachusetts. His parents were away on vacation in Boca Raton, Florida. His pops, Massachusetts State Policeman James Warsaw, decided to treat his wife Marcy Jeanne Jackson to a second honeymoon. They left their duplex in the care of their only son Adam. Adam sat in the living room and watched the movie Hancock on TNT. His eyes blazed with anger when he saw Charlize Theron turn away as Will Smith tried to kiss her onscreen. Fuck Hollywood for its racism! Adam took a six pack of beer from the fridge and downed one after the other.

Adam Warsaw tried hard not to think about Orientation Day at Bridgewater State College in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. He was so young and eager to begin his higher education journey. So much for the media stereotype of the African-American male as a dumb brute who loved sports, sex with random women and criminal activity and seemed allergic to following the law or pursuing intellectual endeavors. Adam graduated at the top of his class from Cardinal Spellman, a private catholic school. He won himself a full academic scholarship to Bridgewater State College, a private school in downtown Boston. Yeah, he was doing alright for himself. And he wanted to do big things with his life. His bedroom was filled with posters of African-American giants like Deval Patrick, first Black man to become Governor of Massachusetts, Professor Cornell West, world-famous author and professor Henry Louis Gates, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Reverend Al Sharpton, and of course established legends like Hollywood leading man Will Smith, U.S. President Barack Obama and media sensation Oprah Winfrey. Adam fully believed in African-American achievement. After all, his father was a state police officer and his mother was a Vice President at the local branch of Bank of America.

Adam Warsaw believed in his parents and wanted to follow in their footsteps. His father James Warsaw had a master's degree in sociology from Northeastern University and his mother Marcy Jeanne Jackson was a graduate of Harvard University's MBA program. An African-American couple that fulfilled its dream of education, professional success, home ownership and marital happiness. So much for the stereotype of the Black American family as poverty-stricken, violently unstable, fatherless and doomed. Adam Warsaw adored his parents. When he came home and watched them dancing together to old school music, he pretended to be embarrassed but he was actually happy for them. He hoped that when he reached their age, he would have someone who loved him just as passionately. He wasn't that good with women. Adam Warsaw looked like Taye Diggs, but inside he felt more like Steve Urkel. After all, he was studying civil engineering in school these days.

Adam Warsaw was goal-oriented and ambitious, but his social life was in dire straits. The problem was that most of the young women he knew in high school or college weren't impressed with a decent young Black man who was polite, friendly and treated women with respect. Several of the Black girls at his college told him flat out that he wasn't thuggish enough for them. Most Black women in colleges and universities across North America either dated thuggish Black men or rich White men. Adam Warsaw wasn't a thuggish Black guy or a rich White guy. He was something young Black women didn't know existed. A decent, college-educated, church-going, disease-free, totally heterosexual and law-abiding, single Black male. No brats. No rap sheet. No STDs. No baby mamas. No ex-wife. Yeah, Black women wouldn't know what to do with a brother like him because they didn't know his kind existed. That's why when Morgan Finkelstein showed an interest in him, he went for it. And look where it got him. Sitting in his living room, drunk, Adam wondered why in hell he was born. From now on, he would only date Black women. The next day, Adam approached a young woman named Evelyn Brownstone. A tall, gorgeous young Jamaican woman. They began hanging out, and Adam resolved to make her his lady and never look at another white female again.

Halfway around the world, another soul felt the same way. For different reasons. Lilith Pinkerton sat at the dinner table inside her parents mansion in the City of Johannesburg, in the Gauteng region of the Republic of South Africa. If only her father Wilhelm Pinkerton could see the irony. The stocky, flame-haired older white male was foaming at the mouth. He'd been incensed ever since he saw his daughter Lilith kissing a handsome young Zulu guy named Andile, whom she met at the University of Johannesburg. Lilith had been dating the tall, muscular young Black man for weeks and kept it secret from her family and friends. Even in a liberal place like the University of Johannesburg, the symbol of the racially integrated higher education system of the post-Mandela Republic of South Africa, Black male/White female couples got nasty looks from the haters. And Lilith's father Wilhelm, who once voted in favor of freeing Nelson Mandela and ending Apartheid, was one of those haters. He couldn't stand the thought of his tall, blonde-haired and blue-eyed daughter with a Black man.

For the past hour he'd been lecturing her of what he thought of Black male/White female relationships. Until Lilith finally told him to shut up. Enraged, her father smacked her hard across the face. Lilith spat on his face, then stormed off to her room. Her father sat down and got drunk. The next day, he turned Lilith's world upside down. He decided to ship her to her aunt Nadine Pinkerton's place. Lilith's eyes widened when she heard that. For her aunt Nadine Pinkerton lived in the City of Bridgewater, Massachusetts. In the United States of America. As far from the City of Johannesburg, South Africa, as one could get. Lilith begged her father not to send her away. That only strengthened his resolve. And thus, Lilith Pinkerton was shipped to New England. Her transcripts were faxed from the University of Johannesburg in provincial Gauteng, South Africa, to Bridgewater State College in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. The young South African woman began her new life in New England with all the enthusiasm a condemned soul shows in the gallows.

Lilith Pinkerton experienced a world of change and confusion at Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts. The school was fairly diverse, and the school president was a Black man with a funny name. Lilith noticed quite a few interracial couples among the student body. Lots of white guys with Chinese ladies. A few Black women with white men and Hispanic guys. By far, the most common interracial couples were Black men and white women. Wow. Lilith went to her civil engineering classes, and ran into the most beautiful man she'd seen in a long time. He was tall and fine and Black. Sexier than Tyson Beckford. Only he wore nerdy glasses. And he walked around with a tall, big-bottomed Black woman who had a permanent scowl on her face. Typical Black American female. Lilith asked the portly white gal next to her about the hot couple. The chick told her that Adam Warsaw and Eve Brownstone were bona-fide Black Royalty on campus. The ultimate power couple. The smartest guy in the civil engineering department and the school's top female athlete. For Evelyn was the captain of the Bridgewater State College women's basketball team. Lilith absorbed all that, and decided Adam Warsaw would be hers.

Over the next few weeks, Lilith Pinkerton tried to find out as much as she could about Adam Warsaw. Until finally they met in class. He was friendly but reserved. She sensed there was something there. However, she didn't know what. One day, she watched him and Evelyn have an argument. In a fit of anger, Evelyn smacked Adam so hard the sound was heard several feet away. Adam stood there, stunned. Evelyn spat on him in anger and walked away. Lilith's eyes widened. She'd seen angry women taking their frustration out on boyfriends before but this chick was crazy. After making sure Evelyn Brownstone was gone, Lilith Pinkerton approached Adam. He just stood there like a zombie. Evelyn knew how he felt. Humiliated. Hurt by someone he cared about. She totally understood. Her dad smacked her all the time back in metropolitan Johannesburg, South Africa. Adam stared coldly at the tall, blonde-haired white woman who asked him if he was alright. Of course he wasn't fucking alright. He just his ass handed to him by his woman. What the fuck?

Lilith Pinkerton gently touched his face, remarked he had a bruise and told him to report it to the school authorities. Adam glared at her. What was she smoking? Men who reported receiving abuse from women weren't taken seriously by the authorities. Male victims of domestic or relationship violence got no help from anyone. That's life. Adam sighed, and told her he had to go. Lilith suddenly grabbed his arm, and told him she would be there if he needed help. Then she thrust a paper into his coat pocket. It was a flyer with the words "Domestic Violence Awareness Training" on it. Adam started crumpling it but for some reason he kept it. He watched Lilith as she walked away. Man, who was this chick? That night when he got home he saw that he got several angry messages on his phone from Evelyn. However, he had to get away from her. Reluctantly he approached Lilith the next day at school and asked her what he should do. Lilith smiled at him and told him he had done the right thing by isolating himself from Evelyn Brownstone. And then she told him what to do. Adam found himself fascinated by Lilith and the things she told him. According to her, domestic violence was a human issue instead of a gender issue. Men and women could be victims of it. Adam was stunned when Lilith told him that one third of victims from domestic violence-related homicides were male. Wow.

Lilith Pinkerton sat across from Adam Warsaw inside the cafeteria. He'd volunteered to help her distribute the flyers about the Awareness program after she helped him. Of course, people at school speculated about his breakup with Evelyn Brownstone. Evelyn's posse of Black girls shot murderous looks at Adam when they saw him talking to Lilith, a white lady. Adam shrugged. To hell with them. He shook Lilith's hand, and thanked her for being his friend. At that precise moment, Evelyn Brownstone strode into the cafeteria and saw them. A sharp scream escaped her lips and she walked up to them. Adam froze. Oh, man. This wasn't good. Evelyn came to their table and started shouting at him and Lilith. Amazingly, Lilith looked Evelyn straight in the eye and told her to shut up. When Evelyn scoffed, Lilith told her that as a proud female Afrikaner, she wasn't scared of angry Black women. When Evelyn rose her hand to smack her, Lilith beat her to the punch. Literally. Lilith smacked Evelyn hard across the face. Everybody in the cafeteria gawked. Lilith eyed the shocked Evelyn coldly, and then Evelyn walked away.

Adam Warsaw breathed a sigh of relief. Lilith Pinkerton smiled at him, satisfied with herself. Adam squeezed her hand in his, and called her his hero. Lilith smiled, then promptly kissed him on the lips. Later, they walked out of the Bridgewater State College cafeteria hand in hand. What a pair they made. The school's newest Ass Kicker and her new man. Lilith Pinkerton looked at her new guy, and smiled. Tall, intelligent, and definitely going places. African-American masculinity at its best. She blushed as Adam gently kissed her hand, and mouthed yes when he asked her to be his lady. With their heads held high they strode through campus, catching everybody's eyes everywhere they went. No mistake about it. They ran the school.