by Jack Wallen
Lakme turned the penis’ head toward the hole he had just created and stuffed the flesh back inside. The bleeding had yet to stop, and that made it difficult to see what he was doing. He pulled out his suture needle and began stitching the penis into the hole that had been created. After he managed to sew around the length of the hole, the bleeding finally began to subside, and he was able to clean up some of the mess.
He stepped back to enjoy his handiwork, turned off the music, and took a bow. “Tye Siam, you are now a woman.” He started sobbing as he put his tools back into his bag. “But we’re not quite through. What lady would lie in her bed without her wig and makeup? And what would you like to wear? Let’s just take a look inside your closet and see what there is to see.”
The sobbing man opened the closet door and gazed into Drag Queen Heaven. “My my, Tye. You do have fine taste.” Rummaging through the closet, he pulled out a bright red, sequined number by Vera Wang. “And expensive taste, too.” His feet carried him over to the full-length mirror and his blood-soaked hands held the dress up to see how he’d look in it. At first, the image stunned him. He saw a graceful young woman floating across the dance floor with light bouncing off the red sequins. Very quickly, however, grace was replaced with reality, and his muscular arms gave away even the slightest possibility that he might be found attractive in the dress. He screamed and pulled the mirror down onto the floor.
He stood in the pool of broken glass and cried, wishing he could just fade away and crawl back into his dead mother’s womb to rot.
When his sobbing eventually subsided, he was able to pull himself together enough to put the final touches on his work. The visions in the mirror had his emotions in a torrent, so the final touches were not nearly as perfect as he would have liked.
He tugged the dress onto the body. Blood was smearing everywhere. He looked around and realized that blood was covering the bed and the surrounding floor. He knew there wasn’t time to clean up the entire room. And, like Santa Claus, he didn’t want his children to see the giver of the gifts when they woke. So instead, he concentrated on the newly reborn woman.
After cleaning as much of the blood from the body as possible, he applied the makeup. His hands were shaky, so the makeup wasn’t perfect. But the overall effect was stunning, at least in his eyes. Tye Siam would awaken to a world he had only dreamed of. His fondest wish had been granted.
The good doctor stepped back and admired his work. Once again, tears were streaming down his cheeks. “Congratulations, it’s a girl!” He laughed, picked up his bag, and left.
TWELVE
Like all good Americans, I hated Monday mornings. The police officer’s Monday morning wasn’t the usual morning where you could sit back for a moment and enjoy your coffee and bagel in a civilized fashion. Instead, here in our offices, we had to deal with the weekend’s special blend of hate that trickled in while we were away. As Mondays at the precinct go, it was business as usual, but for one small detail. Perched on my desk like some chanteuse ready to break into an impassioned rendition of Send in the Clowns, Skip was waiting in my office.
“Sweetie, Jason wants you down in the computer lab. He says it’s realllllly important.” Skip batted his big gay eyes at me. “He’s family, you know.” Skip uncrossed his legs and crossed them the opposite way. “So of course, that means there’s nothing in it for you ‘ceptin’….”
“…another good man-friend. Great, just what I needed.” The banter was familiar, old. “So tell me, Skippy, why are all the good ones gay?” Skip just smiled.
Skip swept down from my desk. “And sweets, I attempted to find some information about our Walter Jameson. The closest thing I could find was from a short, balding queen named Vince. Apparently, Walter had started a new support group for cross-dressers because he didn’t like how the Southern Belles were evolving. Turns out, the Belles stopped letting spouses and significant others attend the meetings. Walter didn’t like this, so he formed his own group. When the Belles got wind of it, a sort of turf war started brewing.” Skip continued his novella as we walked down to the computer lab. “Turns out, there were some pretty heated words exchanged between Walter and one S’Fonda Heels.” Skip punctuated the last word with an ‘uh huh’ only gay men and teenage girls could pull off.
We finally reached the computer lab and found Jason sitting in front of two computer monitors.
“I hear you want me.” I paused. “I mean, I hear you want to see me. I mean, I know that you…oh, never mind.” I couldn’t help but look at Jason in a different way right now. The reality of just another man-friend always sunk in hard. Even though I had known for quite some time, actually admitting it sucked. I turned to Skip, who just winked and walked away with a smile.
“Yeah, I think I found something that you need to see. I was rooting around in Jameson’s computer and found a diary. This last entry…” Jason stepped out of the way and gestured for me to look at the screen. I read:
“I can’t believe what has happened. Dead. My dearest best friend. I found his body in his own bed. I don’t know what to do. I know I should call the authorities but I can’t let Mako’s secret out…GOD!!!!!! This isn’t fair. It’s hard enough to live my life as I am…but I can’t be the one to let Mako down. Oh my God, I have to let someone know! A man is dead…
…Oh lord, please let the images leave my mind. I can’t sleep anymore. All I see is that poor man’s body lying bloody and blue on his bed…dressed in his favorite chemise. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t take it. I can’t stand to see the images in my mind and I can’t tell anyone out of fear of ruining more lives.
…I think Mako was murdered. I went back one last time to see his body. There was something very odd about the way his body looked…but he didn’t take his own life and that sure as hell isn’t natural.
…it ends here. I die. If my best friend is gone then I have no reason to live. I know my family will be broken apart but I can’t continue on like this. I realize that I should inform the authorities of Mako’s death but I can’t have that on my conscience. The easiest way out is to take my life. That relieves me of the suffering this tragedy is cursing me with.”
I finished reading and let it all soak in. Walter Jameson was a suicide. But it seemed his suicide was brought about by what could have possibly been the murder of his dearest friend. “Can you pinpoint when this was written?”
I stepped aside as Jason took control of the keyboard. He hit some keys, and the text went away. After entering a command, he replied. “It looks like the last date of this journal was very near the day and time the coroner placed the time of death. The file was also password-protected, so only someone who knew the password would have been able to get into it. It’s real.”
“So, somewhere out there is a dead man, and the only clue we have is an assumed name for the victim.” I was keeping it as cool as possible.
“Not necessarily. I looked through his mail log and found an email address for Mako. After looking on a local support group site, I found a discussion, and the only Mako listed was Mako Chung.” Jason’s voice was filled with the thrill of the chase.
“So, we have a name, an assumed name, and a support group. I doubt we’ll get too much information from them. Hell, they may not know any more than we do about this man.” Frustration was starting to boil to the top. The ambiguity of S’Fonda was still pressing down on my brain and forcing an opinion of the transgendered community upon me. It wasn’t pretty.
“There’s more. I found a picture of the man, er, the woman.” He ran some more commands and the monitor changed.
“Welcome to Linux.” His enthusiasm was very charming, and his knowledge was starting to become sexy. “You see, you can pretty much make this baby do whatever you want it to do.”
“Can it make my morning latte and wax my eyebrows?” I asked to lighten the mood. “I’m actually familiar with it, dear.” Jason just turned and gave me his angelic smile. I started melting before I remembered which team
he played for. Before I could become so much Frosty on the greenhouse floor, I shook myself out of my dreamscape.
“So, this picture….” I didn’t want to be rude, but there was a dead man out there somewhere.
Jason took it in stride. “Oh yeah, let’s fire it up.”
After a moment, a picture of our supposed victim appeared. The victim, Mako Chung, was pretty astonishing. If this was a man, I would never have known. He was of Asian descent, had long, straight, black hair, a tiny nose, dark eyes, immaculate makeup, and a diamond tiara that would make any Miss Universe choke twice. Jason’s voice rang in my ear.
“I took a really hard look at this image and noticed that she’s holding something blue in her hand. Because of the tiara, I assumed the blue might be a ribbon.” Jason did some magic with the image and zoomed in on the victim’s right hand. He was right; it was a ribbon. “The ribbon says “Miss Transgendered Kentucky.” I think that pretty much gives us our lead, don’t you?”
“Not only a lead, but now I know the chief was right about the suicide.” I anticipated a surge of vomit to rush up my esophagus. When none happened, I continued on. “But there’s also a murderer on the loose and, according to this letter, there was something unnatural about the victim’s body.”
I was impressed, impressed enough to ask him out to dinner before I could stop myself. “Methinks Inspector Clouseau deserves dinner tonight on my dime. What do you think?” At first, I wasn’t sure if Jason’s reaction was one of shock or fear. I was so hoping for shock. Come on, give me shock!!!!
Eventually, a smiled crossed his face, and the whole room lit up.
I think I got shock.
“Sure, that would be great.” His voice quivered a bit.
“You like Mexican?” He nodded. “Great, there’s this incredible dive near my place we can hit. You want me to pick you up?” Again, he nodded. We stared at each other for a moment. Surprisingly, it wasn’t uncomfortable. In fact, it was rather pleasant! Jason’s eyes were the most interesting shade of gray.
As I left the computer lab, a sense of ease washed over me that I hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Not since I had first moved in with my last boyfriend had I felt that the world wasn’t collectively plotting my own painful demise. Of course, that cohabitation lasted about a year and ended with me packing my things in the middle of the night and running for my life. Life was much different now. Life was showing itself to be quite possibly…well…good! Okay, okay, so this one was gay. But maybe he had friends—straight ones!
Before leaving the precinct I sat down at my desk and made some notes. There was a lot to look into before this strangely evolving case would be closed—the chief be damned.
THIRTEEN
Jason’s apartment was easy to find, but of course, like any gay man worth his weight in MAC cosmetics, he was running behind. I made myself at home by gawking at all the landscape. The decor was very minimalistic, almost Spartan, and in the stereotypical black and white with a splash of rainbow here and there. He was, if anything, proud.
On the entertainment stand was a rather large picture of Jason and an older woman. The two of them were face to face and laughing at some private joke that stopped at the picture frame. There were a few other pictures of the same woman, as well as some of a dog, a blond cocker spaniel. One particularly large picture of the dog was propped up against the wall on the mantel. It was very tasteful in black and white with a dark frame. The dog was stunning, posed looking off in the distance. Jason finally came storming out of the bathroom. His hair was glommed to one side as if he had had a horrible accident at the Aveda headquarters.
“I am so sorry, Jamie. As soon as I got home, there was nothing but drama on my answering machine, and I had to tend to some calls. Then of course, I was out of hair care product, and it all when downhill from there.”
I laughed lightly “How can it go downhill from there? Finding out I’m without product is a curl-up-on-the-couch-and-call-in-sick day for me. You need more time?”
Although Jason had been rushing around frantically, he stopped and looked embarrassed. He seemed to laugh at himself, and then he smiled. “No, I’m fine, really. Let’s just go eat and have a wonderful time.”
“That is the best idea I’ve heard all night!” I chimed in, relieved that the drama could cease. There was always enough drama at work; bringing it home was usually a bit more than I could stand. “Now, I’m going to warn you, I adore Mexican food, and I might make an absolute pig out of myself. I know my girly etiquette as well as I know my musical theater, and I’m only supposed to eat three stalks of celery, two crackers, and a glass of water on the first date. Well, I’m breaking that rule tonight, so be prepared.”
We laughed as we left his house. On the porch, Jason said, “You know, I’ve been thinking about that image I showed you today…”
I interrupted.
“Let’s not talk about work. We’re off the clock. Let’s just enjoy the company, the food, and the other-than-work conversation. Deal?” I was tired of work. I just wanted to pretend I had another life.
“Deal.” Jason’s smile pulled me right into that other life.
“But as soon as the date is over, I want to hear every detail.” The word date stopped Jason dead in his tracks.
“Date? Is this a…but, you know I’m…” Was he blushing? I wasn’t sure if it was natural or over-the-counter.
“Gay?” I interrupted before he become too uncomfortable. “Yes, I know. This is just a twisted plot of mine to get to all of your handsome straight friends.”
“Well, truth be told, I’m bi.” He rolled his eyes as I looked back at his home. He knew exactly what I was asking with my glance. “The rainbows? All gifts from friends trying to convince me of the old adage: Bi now, gay later. I don’t believe it one bit.” Jason finalized his comment with a slam of the front door.
In the car, Jason snapped his seat belt and said, “I honestly believe that, for me, it’s only a matter of meeting the right person. That will be the defining moment, when the code inside of me finally compiles, and the resulting program is one team or the other.” He winked and started the car.
After I got over the shock of knowing my gay-dar hadn’t been as dead-on as usual, I instantly wondered if I could be the piece of his puzzle that he’d been looking for. Stranger things had happened.
FOURTEEN
I was in the middle of the best cheese quesadilla I had ever eaten when my cell chimed. I was having such a wonderful time with Jason, I nearly didn’t hear the ring. Sure, he may not be fodder for my deepest dreams, but he was a treat to be around, and I could just forget about the work I had left behind when I was in his company.
Well, I could try to leave work behind, but it had a way of following me like a lost puppy chasing after a lunchbox full of meat. I didn’t even need to look at the caller ID to know who it was…Skip. He was probably calling to give me an update on his latest triumph in bed. He was very good about details, details I didn’t necessarily want to hear.
“Skippina, you have the worst timing.” My voice would surely give away my irritation.
“Hon, I’m sorry to interrupt whatever you and princess have going on, but the first victim has been found. His mother found him and called it in. It’s pretty bad. The chief actually passed on this one and sent moi. So naturally, I want vous to partner along. You game?”
No, not in a thousand years would I set foot in yet another murder scene. I was closing my eyes to the whole thing. I was going to live a life without blood, pain, suffering, gun shots, and death. I was sick with the thought of seeing another human fall prey to a psychopath.
“I’m at El Sol. Drop by and pick me up.” I caved; it’s my nature. I closed my cell and sighed the heaviest sigh ever to breach the female lip.
“Work. They’ve found the first victim. It’s pretty bad, and I’m needed…or, actually, just wanted. Skip is coming by to pick me up on his way to the scene. I might have just enough time to suck down th
is delight without choking. I hope you understand?” Hopefully, my voice conveyed the pure disappointment I felt.
“Of course, hon. It’s your first case, no matter what that fat fuck chief of police says, you’re the best girl for the job.” Jason replied with a big grin.
I smiled a warm thank-you of a smile. “I promise I’ll make this up to you.”
“No need. Now eat, Papa. No one wants a skinny Santa!” I got the reference. We laughed. It was, at least, a wonderful shared moment in time.
“Thank you,” I said before I shoved the largest bite of Mexican food possible into my mouth. It wasn’t pretty. Fortunately, neither of us was going to get lucky tonight, so a mouth full of cheese and tortilla wouldn’t matter in the slightest.
As soon as I sucked down the last of my soda, Skip arrived and tossed back a handful of chips from our basket. “Hurry skurry, sweetie. We’ve got corpses to Holmes.” Skip was in full cute in front of Jason. I had no idea why because the geek wasn’t the model type for Skip. But he was in the company of a fellow “mo,” and they always tended to dress up their queen for each other.
“Thanks for the dinner company, Jason,” I called as I ran out the door. I felt a twinge of guilt, but I knew he understood. Besides, it wasn’t like it was a real date.
At least, I didn’t think it was.
“I know what you’re thinking, Jamie, and don’t,” Skip spoke matter-of-factly.
“What do you mean? What am I thinking?” My question was real, even though Skip probably thought I was playing dumb.
“You’re thinking maybe you could sway Jason over to your team. Well, forget about it, sister. We hardly have enough players to complete a roster in this town. So, go find you a nice old-fashioned straight boy and leave the mos to me.” Skip was cute. No matter how flustered or preachy he got, he was still cute. I couldn’t hide my smile.
