Incest?

Cameroonian men have often declared their love for us, but it's usually been in the context of a taxi or a bar, so their oh-so-sincere advances are easily escaped.

I would normally ignore the text message I received last week--I just to tell you that i alway think about you and to let you know that i want something serious between us i mean more than a simple relationship because i am falling in love--except that this particular admirer is my host brother.

This is problematic because, a, duh, and b, I despise him. This is the guy who was a jerk the whole weekend we went to the beach (see "A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Weekend at the Beach").

Luckily he doesn't live with us, but he comes over all the time to make his mother feed him and to vex me. Normally I can't blame anyone for falling in love with me--who doesn't love hystrionics, sarcasm and a penchant for the absurd?--but I have never been such a bitch to anyone in my life.

(For example, last night he knocked on my door to ask me for batteries for the remote control, which is annoying to begin with, but when he saw that I was drinking a mug of tea, he asked, You're not going to invite me to join you? I said no and closed the door in his face.)

The only reason I can fathom that he would want anything to do with me is that in Cameroon, it's a status symbol to walk around with a white person. I feel used.