Throughout the story, Phil, the narrator, who's white (“six feet tall, nice wavy hair, and a bit of a five o'clock shadow,” according to his mirror), denies he's a bigot or a racist, although he's quick to zero in on his gay black neighbor Jamal Jackson's skin color, describing him as having “dark chiseled ebony muscles,” a “dark ebony back,” “ebony skin,” and “a long piece of dark deli sausage.” (I'm not sure what “dark chiseled” means, and I had no idea that muscles are “ebony” I thought they were pink and red.) Tabitha Allen's “Gay Black Neighbor” tries hard to deliver the goods, but it's sex scenes aren't erotic, and her characters are more stereotypes than believable, albeit fictional, representations of distinct personalities.