by Karen Singer
The path continued past the long sandy beach, then past the row of small sailboats parked on the sand. The small boats all had two pontoons joined by some kind of colorful cloth. Catamarans? The name seemed to pop into her head. She didn’t know much at all about boats and she wasn’t the least bit interested in finding out more.
Just past the boats, she came to another building. This one had a big letter C on it and two floors of rooms that looked out over the ocean. In the fading sunlight, Jenni saw that a number of those rooms had lights on inside. It looked like most of the family was staying there in that building. So building C was just a little ways past building A. She already knew that building B, where her aunt was staying, was on the other side of the island.
The path continued on past building C, then branched off. Part of the path appeared to continue following the coastline around the island, but the branch that turned appeared to head inward across the middle of the island. She turned onto that path instead.
Like everywhere else, lush thick tropical plants were everywhere. Several other paths branched off of the winding path she was on, twisting and turning away and going places she would have to explore later. She was happy to notice a number of benches along the side of the paths, pushed back into nice areas carved out of the foliage all around. Very pretty little places where people could sit and enjoy themselves. She was already planning on doing that tomorrow. With nothing better to do, she might as well read a book on one of those benches somewhere. She wasn’t going to the beach like everyone else!
Continuing on her slow strolling journey, looking though the lush vegetation, she could just barely see part of the back of the buildings that held the hotel lobby and restaurant. She crossed over the path that she had taken from the lobby to her building, building D. Glancing to her left, she could just see a part of her building. Like building C, building D had two floors of rooms too, but it looked like it had more rooms than building C had. Her room was the first one on the ground floor.
Ahead of her, she finally saw another building. Following the path, she wound her way around to the front of it where the path joined another path that she guessed was the one that circled the coastline. The ocean was on her left again as she passed in front of the building with the big letter B on it. Her aunt was staying in that building. Room B-11. From the ocean side, she couldn’t tell which room that was. There were two floors of rooms there too, but she was quick to note that all the rooms appeared to be larger than in building C, and much larger than the rooms in her building.
She now realized that the lobby was flanked by buildings A and B on each side of it, with building C just beyond building A. And her building, building D, had been set at the very back of the island. From what she could see, that left the middle of the island as a maze of paths and little places to sit and enjoy the tropical greenery all around them. Nice!
In the growing darkness, she continued to follow the path all the way back to where the paths all seemed to converge again. From there she took the path that led back to her own building. She saw no lights on in any of the rooms there, but the path was dimly lit, and she had no trouble getting back to her downstairs room – D-1.
She didn’t even get a chance to set her purse down on the bed before she heard her cellphone ringing. She quickly dug it out of her bag and was very surprised to see who was calling her. “Hello?”
“Hi Jenni,” Mr. Bosch replied. “How’s the trip going?”
“Awful! Please tell me you need me back there. Please!”
“Sorry Jenni. And right now, I’m glad you’re way down there. Stay there.”
That wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “What did you need, Mr. B? Why are you calling?”
“Jenni, when you rode on the back of that truck to the storage lockers, did you by any chance see anything else that seemed out of place, or did they do anything else that seemed a little strange to you at the time?”
“I thought that case was settled Mr. B. What’s going on?”
“That’s a good question, Jenni. I’m not sure that anything is going on, but Mr. Granger has been in my office twice now demanding more answers about how we got that information, and he was furious that we went to the police with it instead of telling him first.”
“But Mr. B, you used to be a cop. You said you had to take that to the police first.”
“Well, some people wouldn’t have done that Jenni. They would have left the police out of it. But in this case, I thought it was best. Evidently, Mr. Granger didn’t agree with me, and now he’s hopping mad about it. I just can’t figure out why.”
“What can I do?” Jenni asked.
“Nothing. Enjoy yourself. Soak up some sun. You deserve a nice break.”
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Jenni sighed. “So far, this entire island has been nothing but miserable, and I don’t see it getting much better. So if you can find even the smallest excuse for me to leave, please…help me!”
Robbie Bosch laughed. “Sorry Jenni. Just try to enjoy it. Goodnight.”
“Night Mr. B.”
Enjoy it? A fat lot he knew! And what was up with Granger anyway?
Chapter 4
What day was it? Monday? Jenni had spent one whole night at the island, and for the life of her, she was sure it had been an entire week! The room she was staying in was so quiet, she found it hard to sleep. She was used to all the faint noises of the city around her, not being out on a deserted…well, almost deserted island where there was no life at all. Okay, the only thing that would really help this trip was if the island was a lot more deserted. If she was there without the rest of her family, that would certainly improve the situation. If her family were all there without her, it would make it even better!
With no reason to get out of bed, she tried to sleep late, but she wasn’t used to staying in bed, so she was up at her usual time and sat watching TV for a while. But the TV didn’t interest her either. She was on an island. A pile of useless sand, completely surrounded by water. Lots of water. She couldn’t get off the island if she tried, unless she caught the ferry back to the main island where the car was parked. But that wouldn’t do her much good since her aunt had the car key. She was stuck there with no way home…for how much longer? Forever! What was she going to do with herself? It was like her worst nightmare coming true – especially with nothing but her entire family on the island. Even horror movies weren’t that bad!
She didn’t always eat breakfast, but she was so bored she needed something to occupy herself with. She decided to go down and see what kind of breakfast the hotel had to offer. Besides, her meals in the restaurant were free. Why not take advantage of it?
She began her daily arduous process of turning herself from a boy into the woman she should have been born as. It was the same process she went through every day of her life now. A process that she had researched, and studied, and experimented with, and practiced for two years now. A process that was absolutely necessary. A process that with better parents, would have been totally unnecessary. A process that if she had been born properly in the first place, would never even have been an issue. But it was the best she could do under the circumstances, and it was all she had to be able to live as…herself.
She finally checked her reflection in the mirror. She deemed herself…okay. The best she could come up with anyway. No dress today. Not that she got to wear them very often anyway. Most likely, she wouldn’t be wearing dresses or skirts much at all on this trip. Just a pair of her new long loose comfortable shorts and a t-shirt. But at least she looked like a woman…now. She hoped.
Slipping her feet into some flip-flops, she grabbed her purse and headed for the restaurant. Leaving her room, she expected to see some signs of life around her…other than the plants. But she saw and heard no one. She continued down the path leading straight to the restaurant. Halfway there she saw her Aunt Madison on another path, in her swimsuit, heading toward the beach. Jenni had no doubt that her aunt would take as much ad
vantage of the beach on this trip as she could. Hopefully, everyone in the family would take full advantage of the beach – and stay there! Because she planned on avoiding the beach at all costs.
She expected the restaurant to be busy, but there were only a few people scattered about. But the two people she saw first and foremost were her father and mother. She almost turned around and left, but she decided to stick it out and just do her best to ignore them. She chose a table as far away from them as she could get. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed both her father and mother watching her. Let them watch. Just as long as they stayed far away from her.
The waitress was there as soon as she sat down. She ordered coffee and a tropical fruit bowl for breakfast, figuring that the fruit wouldn’t hurt her waistline that she had worked so hard to get as thin as possible. She did everything she could now to keep it that way. Dressing the way she had to, her skinny waist and body made things a lot less painful.
She couldn’t help it. Even trying not to see them, she still couldn’t help but “glance” over toward her mother and father – may they both rot in hell! Lookup the word “cruel” on the internet. You’ll find a picture of both of them right there. They were watching her. Let them…as long as they stayed away from her. Far away from her. She couldn’t be responsible for what she might do if they came up and talked to her.
The waitress came back with her coffee and fruit. Jenni was happy to see how nicely they served everything there, even breakfast. She felt like she was somebody rich getting that kind of service in such a nice place.
The waitress set everything in front of her and pulled out her pad. “What room are you in?” she asked.
“D-1” Jenni replied.
“Oh, so you’re the one who’s staying there,” the waitress said as she made a notation on her pad.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re the only one staying in that building. We’ve got four buildings with guest rooms. Building A has all the really nice, fancy suites with two bedrooms. Building B has nice suites too, but they’re smaller and have only one bedroom. Building C has nice big rooms that are set up kind of like mini suites with a small refrigerator and everything. And Building D is the cheap rooms. That’s where you are.”
“And you said I’m the only one in that building?”
She shrugged. “We’ve got fifty-two rooms here. Most of them are empty right now, but you’re the only one in building D.”
Once again Jenni felt like she was being ostracized from the family. Why had she ever come on this trip? And if her grandmother didn’t really want her there, why had she insisted so hard that she had to be there?
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Cassie Finch watched her son Kyle across the room. She hadn’t seen him in two years now. She hadn’t even talked to him in two years. She absolutely couldn’t believe how much like a young woman he looked, and seemed to act. But then, he had acted like a girl his entire life. In fact, he had insisted he was a girl his entire life, and no amount of punishment could seem to beat it out of him.
It hurt when he had left her and her husband. Walked out on them. It hurt, but at the same time, she was had been so angry with him back then that she might have really hurt him…thinking he was a woman and insisting he was going to find a way to live like one. She couldn’t believe it when Sally agreed to take him in. And now look at him. What had Sally done with him? Did she take him to a plastic surgeon or something? It was the only explanation she could think of for her son Kyle to look so much like a woman.
“I wonder where she got the money,” she said to her husband Andy.
“Who? And what money?”
“Sally, of course.”
“Sally? What are you talking about?”
“Kyle. Where did she get the money to pay for doctors to make him look so…female?”
“Sally?”
“Well look at him!”
“I’m sick of looking at him. Just thinking about him makes me sick!”
“Oh, buck up! It had to cost a boatload of money to make him look like that. So where did she get the money?”
Once again, Andy looked over at his son. Was that really his son? If so, then maybe he really should have killed him before he left home. Kyle was a huge embarrassment to him. To the entire family. Now, with Kyle gone, it had been easier to just pretend that Kyle had never existed. “As far as I know, Sally doesn’t make that much,” he said. “At least, not the last I heard.”
“I haven’t heard anything different either, but she had to have gotten her hands on enough money for doctors to do that to him.”
Andy looked at his wife and shrugged. “Mom?” he said, suggesting the only possible answer he could think of, and also finding it hard to believe that his mother would help Sally and Kyle out that way. Every time he had asked, his mother had always refused to help him at all, even when he and Cassie had real problems. No, his mother had always refused to lend them a single penny to help. And as far as he knew, she had never given any money to anyone else in the family either.
Cassie shook her head. “She’s showing him off. That’s what she’s doing. That’s why Kyle is here. Your mother is showing him off. Showing off that she gave him some of her money, and she hasn’t given anything to anyone else. She’s trying to rub it in our faces. That’s what she’s doing.”
Andy looked again at his son. He nodded. “Cassie, you may be right. That’s just the kind of low underhanded thing my mother would do. She just loves to do things to irritate everyone, just so she can crow over it. And you have to admit, this would be something that everyone in the family would be upset over. Yeah, I think you’ve put your finger right on it this time.”
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“There you are!”
Jenni looked up from her breakfast to see her Aunt Sally approaching. She smiled as her aunt put her arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate squeeze. She noticed as her aunt sat down that she was already wearing her bathing suit under her shorts and top. She knew what plans her aunt had for the day. Not that there were many choices. Jenni knew there was a shopping trip scheduled for later that afternoon, but she certainly wasn’t going.
“What are your plans for today?” Sally asked brightly.
“Being bored!”
Jenni’s attention was caught by someone walking past. Her mother and father were leaving. The looks of absolute hate on their faces couldn’t be missed. Well, Jenni’s feeling toward them was mutual.
Sally didn’t miss the angry looks on the faces of her brother and his wife either. “Good morning Andy. Cassie,” she said nicely. She was surprised to see both of them seemingly stick their noses up in the air at her. Did they all hate her that much for taking Kyle in? She no longer cared. As far as she was concerned, Kyle, now Jenni, was the best thing that had ever happened in her life.
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What to do, what to do, what to do? Jenni walked back to her room after breakfast, but once she got there, she didn’t know what to do with herself. And now she knew why her room was so quiet. She was literally the only person around. Well, she didn’t want to be near any of the others either…except for her Aunt Sally of course. But now that she was there, the total boredom of a room with nothing to do in it was too much for her. She grabbed one of the two romance novels she had brought with her and headed out to “discover” one of those nice little places the hotel had provided along the walking paths. This time, as she walked, she chose another path she hadn’t been on before. She decided to see where it went. Eventually, she was able to see the beach in the distance. Continuing on, she finally found herself in the nice area where the birdcage was with the two big red tropical birds in it. She spent a few minutes close to the cage admiring them again.
The sound of someone coming made her decide to leave. She hurried back the way she had come, but she just barely got out of the area and around the corner of the path before she stopped. T
urning around, she went back far enough to where she could just peer through the vegetation so she could see who it was. She saw her grandfather now in the area where the birds were, but he wasn’t looking at the birds in the cage. He was looking at another kind of bird instead…or rather, a woman. A young woman who was dressed in one of the hotel uniforms. Jenni thought she looked vaguely familiar. She was very surprised by the way her grandfather put his hand on the woman’s shoulder while he talked to her. Was that woman blushing? And then the real surprise when he leaned down and kissed her. Shocked and not wanting to see anymore, Jenni turned and continued back towards her own building, finally choosing a bench that she hoped nobody would come near for the rest of the day.
She sat down to read…and her cellphone rang. Once again, she was surprised to see who was calling. Not Mr. Bosch this time, but his wife! “Hello?”
“Hi Jenny,” Shirley Bosch replied. “How’s the trip?”
“Terrible! Please tell me you need me up there.”
“Stay there!” Robbie Bosch’s voice came over the line.
Jenni realized their phone must have been on speaker. “Mr. B? What’s up?”
“Jenni,” Shirley’s voice came back. “How busy are you down there so far?”
“Busy? You’ve got to be kidding. I just got here last night, and I’m already bored out of my friggin’ mind!”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Shirley said. “But if you do get the time, do you think there’s any way you can do a little bit of internet research for us while you’re there?”
“Get the time? I’ve got nothing but time. I’ve got literally nothing to do…all day…every day.”
“Okay then. If you can,” Shirley said. “We’d like you to go back to doing some digging on Frederick Granger and his nephew Todd again.”