His Fair Lady (20 page)

“I told them she was my sister.”

“So you lied.”

“I needed to see if she was okay. You got a problem with that?”

“No, but I got a problem with you.”

“Yeah? And what would that be?”

“You said some pretty shitty things to her the other night. Now you show up here pretending to be all
I needed to know she was okay
. Don’t you think that’s kind of, I don’t know, assholish?”

“Did you just call me an asshole?”

Kyle nodded. “Yeah, I think I did. If the shoe fits, right?”

Mark laughed. He couldn’t help it. This kid had balls.

“You think that’s funny?” Kyle shifted his stance, like he was ready to brawl right there in the hospital corridor.

“I was just thinking you had balls.” Mark turned toward the door of Josie’s room. “I’m going in to see her.”

Kyle caught him by the arm. “She’s sleeping. Don’t bother her.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“She has a slight concussion. They don’t think it’s bad, but it’s hard to tell with a concussion, so that’s why they kept her for observation.”

“I thought you weren’t supposed to fall asleep with a concussion because you might never wake up or something.”

“That’s a myth.”

“How do you know?”

“You’re just full of questions, aren’t you, Marky-Mark? I know because I thought the same thing, and the nurse told me it was a myth.”

“But she’s going to be okay? You’re sure?”

“Yeah, she is, not that you care.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean? I’m here.”

Kyle shrugged. “That doesn’t mean shit to me. You made her cry. That makes you an asshole in my book.”

She cried? Over him? Maybe it wasn’t too late for them after all. Maybe with Kyle’s help he could even…

“You’re right. I was an asshole.”

Kyle blinked. “Pardon?”

“I said I was an asshole to say the things I said. I don’t know what her life’s been like. I was in class for her presentation, but ultimately I don’t know what it’s like to be trans. And I know I was wrong to expect her to just tell me straight out like that. And I was really wrong to say it the way I did.”

“I saw that presentation. She worked on it all night and showed it to me before she went to class. And it doesn’t even scratch the surface of what her life has been like.”

“Tell me.”

Kyle huffed out a breath. “Well, she’s been living as a girl since she was, like, six. But even before that, she always wanted girl’s stuff—clothes, toys, the whole nine. She told me when she was four, the thing she wanted most in the world was this fairy princess Halloween costume with the sparkly dress and the tiara and the wand. Can you imagine that?”

He couldn’t. “But her parents were okay with that. Right?”

“Her parents are amazing. They always supported her no matter how much backlash they got from the community or how many times they had to move because people wouldn’t accept their transkid. But they never flinched. Imagine how hard that is, thinking you have a son named Joey, then finding out you have a daughter named Josie.”

Mark remembered the picture of the little boy and Josie saying he was her brother Joey.

Not her brother, but her, he now knew.

“God, I am such an asshole.” Mark scrubbed his hands over his face.

“Most people won’t admit their assholery right out like that.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not most people.”

Kyle glanced back toward Josie’s room, hesitated, then seemed to come to a decision. “Did you know she’s being harassed, probably by somebody in the show?”

“What?” Mark couldn’t hide his shock.

Kyle nodded. “You remember the costume snafu the other night? Well, when she got her costume back, there was a note in the pocket of the skirt.”

Mark listened in horror as Kyle related the story of the note and Josie’s reaction to it.

“So she didn’t go to the director? Why not? Christ, Kierra’s trans herself. She would have—”

“Because Josie’s not like that. She’d rather push it aside, ignore it. Calling attention to it makes it too important.”

Mark nodded. “I get that. My brother’s the same way. Whenever somebody gave him shit, like in high school, he always either wanted to ignore it or deal with it himself. He never wanted to involve the teacher or the school or the coach or whatever.”

“But now this happened,” Kyle said.

“Yeah. It’s sort of coincidental, isn’t it?”

“Too coincidental, if you ask me.”

A nurse approached them, her shoes squeaking on the tile floor. “What are you boys doing here so late?”

“Our sister’s in that room,” Kyle said.

“She has a concussion,” Mark added.

The nurse peeked into Josie’s room. “Well, it looks like she’s asleep, so you two can go home and do the same.”

Mark didn’t want to go. He saw in Kyle’s expression he didn’t want to either.

“You can come back in the morning. We’ll take good care of her until then.” The nurse gave them a smile as sweet as sunlight. It softened her stern features and made Mark like her in spite of himself and the fact she was kicking them out. He turned to Kyle.

“You need a ride home?”

Chapter Sixteen

Josie sat propped up in her hospital bed and stared out the window. Where was Kyle? The doc had come nearly two hours ago and said she could go home as long as she had someone to come and pick her up. Because she didn’t have her cell, she’d called Kyle from the room phone and asked him to come and get her.

So where was he? She couldn’t even get dressed until he got there, not unless she put on the flower girl costume from last night. And she was so not doing that.

Someone knocked softly on the open door of her room.

Kyle. Thank God.

Josie turned from the window. But it wasn’t Kyle at the door. It was Kierra Feni.

She smiled tentatively. “May I come in?”

“Dr. Feni, what are you doing here?”

“It’s Kierra. And I came to see how you’re doing and to bring you your things from the theater.” She held up a plastic shopping bag, then set it on the end of the bed.

When Josie opened it, she could have wept with gratitude. “My clothes. And my phone! Oh, Dr. Feni, Kierra, thank you so much for bringing this stuff.”

“I knew you’d be missing the phone. But I thought they said you were being discharged today.”

“I am being discharged. But I was waiting for Kyle to bring me some clothes, so this is great.” Josie dumped the shopping bag on the bed and began to sort through its contents.

Kierra sat in the chair by Josie’s bed. “How are you, Josie?”

“My head hurts some, but they’re giving me drugs for that, and it’s not as bad as it was.” Josie pressed the Unlock button on her phone, but the screen stayed dark. Dead. She stuck it in her handbag, which Kierra had also brought.

“How are you besides the head?” Kierra watched her, eyes filled with concern.

“I’m fine. Like I said, my head—”

“Will you tell me what happened last night?”

“Didn’t Brie tell you?” Josie toyed with the zipper on her handbag and avoided meeting Kierra’s gaze.

“I’d like to hear what you have to say.”

“So would I.”

Both women looked up. Mark stood in the doorway.

God, he looked good. Josie felt a familiar fluttering in her belly and struggled to shut it down along with the sudden surge of hope.

She had no clue what he was doing here, but neither did she have any business getting all aflutter over it. Nothing had been worked out between them, and they were still broken up.

“Hi, Joes. Hi, Dr. Feni.” Without asking, Mark walked in. He paused at the foot of Josie’s bed and placed a plastic shopping bag next to the one Kierra had brought.

“What’s that?” Josie asked.

“Clothes, but I see you already got some.”

“Dr. Feni brought them. Where’s Kyle?”

Mark didn’t answer, only walked to the window and looked out.

Silence descended among the three of them. Josie studied her hands as she twisted and untwisted the strap of her handbag. She could feel Kierra watching her, waiting for her to speak.

She could say it had all been a terrible accident, that she’d slipped on a wet spot on the tile, that Brie had tried to keep her from falling. It was a plausible story. Maybe not even so far from the truth. Josie wasn’t sure she even knew exactly what happen, so it wouldn’t really be a lie, right?

Josie looked up from her hands and met Kierra’s gaze. There was sympathy there and something else she couldn’t put her finger on.

“I don’t know exactly. We were in the bathroom. I was putting on my costume. I don’t know what Brie was doing. I came out of the stall, then I slipped or tripped or something. My heel might have got caught in my hem. I don’t know. It’s hard to remember. I hit my head pretty hard.”

The doctor had told her sometimes a concussion could affect short-term memory. It seemed reasonable.

“Well, it’s lucky you weren’t hurt worse.” Kierra rose. “I need to get going. I have a class in a half hour. But I’ll be in touch. And don’t worry about your classes. I’ll speak to your professors, and we’ll work something out. If you want to talk, about anything, give me a call or come see me.”

As Kierra’s footsteps faded down the corridor, Mark turned from the window. “That’s bullshit, Joes.”

“What’s bullshit? And where’s Kyle? What did you do, kill him and hide the body?”

“Kyle’s fine, but he’s not coming. I’m picking you up instead.” Mark crossed to the bed, opened the bag he’d left at her feet, and pulled out a gray hoodie. “You better wear this instead of that other shirt. It’s pretty cold out.”

“What are you doing? I’m not going with you.”

Mark paused, one hand still digging around in the bag. “Kyle told me about the note, Josie. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because we broke up, remember? Because I’m a liar, and that’s what I do. I lie by omission.”

Josie snatched up the hoodie and hugged it to her chest, then pulled it on over her hospital johnny. She was suddenly freezing, and even more than that, she felt unbearably exposed. A fleece hoodie made a pathetic shield, but it was better than nothing.

“I don’t believe that, about you being a liar, I mean. Though you didn’t tell Kierra everything just now, did you?” Mark lowered the guardrail and perched on the edge of the mattress.

“You’re the one who said I was a liar. Maybe you were right.”

“I was an asshole for saying that. Look, I don’t know why you felt like you couldn’t tell me—”

“I wanted to, but I was afraid.”

“Of me?” Mark looked horrified.

Josie shook her head. That was a mistake. It felt like someone had put glass inside her skull, and it was grinding together.

She looked down at her hands clenched in her lap. She couldn’t look at him and say this next part. She was too much of a coward.

“I was afraid you’d be grossed out and wouldn’t want me anymore. I didn’t think I could stand that.”

“But you came out to our whole class.”

She shrugged. “Yeah, well, that cork was already out of the bottle, wasn’t it?”

“I’m sorry if I did something to make you think you couldn’t tell me the truth.”

“You didn’t. It’s just…my way of protecting myself, I guess.”

“You don’t have to protect yourself from me. It doesn’t matter that you’re trans—”

“Yeah, right.”

“No, I don’t mean— Shit, I’m totally fucking this up.” Mark took her hands in his. “Josie, I care about you. I. Care. About. You. And when I think about you, which I do, like, all the time, I don’t think about you as that transgirl. I think about that smart, funny, sexy girl with the great voice and the great laugh, who loves Etta James and can quote movies that are older than my mom. That’s who I think about, and I’m crazy about that girl.”

She hardly knew what to say, could hardly speak at all past the pounding pulse in her throat. She swallowed and found her voice.

“I’m not having surgery to, you know, change myself.”

“I don’t care about that. Have surgery. Don’t have surgery. Whatever you want. Just give us another chance.”

“I don’t know, Mark. I mean, I’m out now, so everybody is going to know. And I think I’m going to join the organization for trans students, so—”

“Please, Joes? I know I’ll probably screw up and say stupid shit. Sometimes I do that. But Josie, I’d never hurt you. And I’ll do my best to make you happy. I want to be the guy they point at and say, look at him, he’s Josie Frazier’s boyfriend, the lucky son of a bitch. So, will you give me another chance? Give us another chance?”

She felt as if her heart were filling her entire chest. Her eyes stung, and her throat was clogged with emotion. He wanted her, and more than that, he wanted everyone to know he wanted her.

She knew if she tried to answer, she would start to cry. She might cry anyway. So she drew her hands from his and held open her arms.

Mark leaned toward her, then paused. “There is one thing.”

Josie’s balloon of hope deflated. She lowered her arms. “What is it?”

“Promise me you’ll tell me the truth from now on, no matter what.”

“Sometimes the truth is hard, Mark.”

“I know. But it’s important.”

She searched his face and saw he meant what he said.

“You have to promise too.”

“I do. I mean, I will. Oh hell, I promise, Joes.”

“Me too.” She reached for him again, and this time he drew her close and held her.

Chapter Seventeen

“I feel bad you’re missing the party.” Josie waited while Mark unlocked and opened the apartment door. Once it was open, she stuck her hand around the jamb and flipped on the overhead light.

“I don’t care about the party. I’m just glad you came to the show.” Mark followed her inside, dropping her keys on the table by the door before taking off his jacket.

“I wouldn’t have missed it. I think Vi was disappointed, though.” Josie crossed to the kitchen, then bent down to peer inside the fridge.

Mark laughed. “Vi is so over me, it’s not even funny. She and Masterson are hot and heavy these days.”

“You want a beer?” Josie took two bottles from the fridge and offered him one.

“Sure. When did you get beer?”