Flamingo Lounge

We were all a bundle of nerves. The club was going to be packed beyond code and we all knew it. Every single one of them would be here to pay tribute to Miki. The energy was electric. When Ash and I did our duets, I floated on the energy of the crowd. When Ash sang 'I Will Always Love You.' I could feel the depth of her emotions in her words, except she wasn't singing to me, she was singing to Miki. The crowd felt it, too.

"Thanks, and I get to follow that." I kissed her as when she came backstage. Jules and Grace still had their sets before Ellen took the stage and thanked everyone for coming before introducing a special guest.

I hugged her and took the microphone. "Hi everybody. It would make my Aunt Miki happy to see so many of her friends here tonight and probably embarrass her a little, that you were all here for her." A light titter ran through the audience. I saw Dave sitting at the bar and had to stop and take a breath. "My name is Jackie Baker, and Miki was more than just my aunt." I went on with my little prepared speech, using it to ground myself before I had to sing. When I sang that last line, I realized the entire audience was on their feet singing with me. I broke down, but never had the chance to collapse. My girls surrounded me, holding me up, sharing my tears, tears of sorrow for our mutual loss, and tears of joy for the family we had here to help us through it.

Ellen had been right. I would never leave, could never leave. More than the charge I got from the energy of the crowd; I had found my family.

The bar closed, but the audience stayed. It was like the wake. People sharing stories about Miki, how she had helped them, how she had saved others. I sat holding Ash and let it all soak in. The sun was coming up when Ash and I finally crawled into bed. I was betting some shops in the neighborhood wouldn't even open.

Sometime Sunday afternoon, I woke up to Ash's lips and tongue worshipping my cock. I smiled and maneuvered her body so I could do the same for her. It was my new all-time favorite way to wake up. I exploded down her throat, my body shuddering and trembling with her answering my ecstasy a moment later. We shared our bounty in a passionate kiss before we went off to share a shower and start our day. That was the plan, anyway. What started as just a shower escalated quickly when she got hard again because I was being too aggressive with cleaning certain parts of her.

"Is that what my baby wants?" She smiled at me. I had one hand on her cock as the other gently massaged her balls.

"Always." I snickered. "I think I'm addicted."

Ash turned me around and pushed on the small of my back, leaning me over just enough to gain access. It wasn't what I had in mind, but based on our previous experience, I didn't resist. Her angle was perfect for her cock to hit my prostate as she thrust into me. I leaned against the shower wall and let one moan follow another as I lost myself in the pleasure building deep inside me. Erupting all over the wall, my legs gave out. When Ash finally came inside me, I was on the floor of the shower, my face on my arms and my ass in the air, mewling like a cat, my body trembling from my second orgasm.

It didn't seem fair that she fucked me, and I didn't get to fuck her, but my orgasms were so epic when she did, I didn't care. I was so drained afterwards, I probably couldn't, anyway.

We walked through the neighborhood, window shopping and visiting, stopping at the coffee shop for a short breather. I wondered if Miki truly understood what she had created in this little nook of the world.

I spent most of Monday working up a set list of my own. I kept the Bette Midler songs and dropped most of the Kenny Rogers, picking up some old folk-rock favorites, some Carpenters, a couple of Jim Croce classics like 'Time in a Bottle.' Of course, Ash and I would continue to do duets, and I chose Shania Twain's, 'Man, I Feel like a Woman' just for fun. I had realized Saturday night that I wasn't leaving and If I was going to be a part of this, I wanted to own it. Jackie was who I was now.

Tuesday morning, I was a bundle of nerves. Dave called, letting me know what Hank had forced me to sign. A courier had delivered a copy late Monday afternoon, and he had barely had time to review it.

I opted for conservative hot, skin-tight pencil skirt and knee boots with a loose-fitting peasant blouse that just showed the lace on my bra and the fringes of my fake cleavage. My makeup was subtle yet perfect, just enough to cover the bruises on my face, but not so much that it would be difficult to remove.

Hank and my dad wouldn't even look at me when I made my way into the courthouse. Dave waved at me, showing I should stay where I was. He was in a deep conversation with some people in business suits. When the bailiff came out in the hall and called our case, he came and got me, "just relax. We got this. Just tell the truth."

My dad's lawyer presented the document Hank had forced me to sign, and I had to do the whole promise to tell the truth and nothing but the truth thing, admitting that I had signed the document but under duress. I took some makeup wipes from my purse and wiped my makeup off, showing the judge the bruises. Naturally, Hank had his alibi. Dave didn't ask me anything.

The problem with people like my dad is that they believe they can't lose. That, combined with Dave being an excellent lawyer and his being personally vested in the case, meant they had misplaced their overconfidence. What happened next was right out of a tv crime drama. My roommates were called to the stand, identifying the other as the one stealing my mail and the other one confessing to the mail theft and implication my dad as the one that paid him to do it.

Ouch. Mail tampering was a felony.

It went back and forth from there. There was no jury, and the judge finally decided that, even considering their testimony, I had still signed the document and there was no proof that it had anything to do with my bruises, even with the police reports. The judge had no choice but to validate the document.

"You honor, that document references all assets and properties owned by Jackson Michael Baker." Dave grinned as he addressed the judge.

"Go on."

"In compliance with their request, my client would like to surrender the title to a 2001 Chevy Malibu and a cashier's check in the amount of $5,487.37, which entails the total assets owned by the party named in the agreement."

"What are you trying to pull?" Hank was livid.

"I'm not trying to pull anything." Dave smiled at Hank. "Jackson Michael Baker ceased to exist at two fifteen on Friday afternoon because of a name and gender change request filed by my office on Thursday. My client is Jacqueline Michelle Baker and has documentation to prove it. This document was signed and dated Thursday. What we have provided represents the entirety of Jackson's net worth at that time."

"Is this true?" The judge looked at me.

"Yes, your honor. I met with Mr. Spencer Thursday morning to sign the papers." If Hank could lie, so could I. "I figured he was my aunt Miki's lawyer, so he would be a good choice. It went through Friday, and I got my new driver's license on Saturday. It surprised me it all happened so fast, but I guess it's a good thing it did." Dave had a lot of connections, and that was a good thing.

"No! You can't..." My dad looked like he was going to have a heart attack.

"Mr. Baker, sit it down and be quiet, or I'll hold you in contempt." The judge shut him down. I showed her my new birth certificate and my driver's license. It was official. I was a girl.

"Do something, you moron!" Hank had their lawyer by the collar, shaking him violently.

"Bailiff," the judge had Hank restrained.

"If it pleases the court, now that we have resolved the challenge, I would like to proceed with the requested reading of the will."

My dad and uncle Hank got a big 'fuck off' from Miki; lifetime passes to The Flamingo with their bar tab included. Miki had arranged for the rest of the estate to be put in trust to be administered by Dave until such time that 'someone' showed a capacity to care for it according to her wishes. It was an interesting list of requirements designed to make sure my dad and my uncle and cousins never got their hands on anything. My sister, maybe, but I knew she liked boys too much to consider a lot of what was on the list.

Everything I had done since I came home, showing up at the wake, joining the cast at The Flamingo, changing my name, and especially my gender, had met those criteria. Effectively, I got everything else. I just didn't understand what that meant.

"Mr. Spencer, will there be anything else?"

"With the court's indulgence, I have additional evidence that there was collusion and attempted fraud, as well as other charges relating to the probate of this estate."

"I'm not sure this is the appropriate venue to explore these additional charges. I suggest you contact the appropriate authorities."

"Thank you, your honor. I have. I only offered that information as an explanation for what is going to happen next." Dave turned and motioned to the bailiff watching the door.

The people Dave had been talking to in the hall came in. One of them apologized to the judge for the interruption, telling her why they were here while the other two arrested my dad and my uncle; listed the charges including fraud, kidnapping, assault, conspiracy to commit murder. They were going to have me killed if I didn't sign the document. The agents that raided my dad's office found evidence of all of it. It implicated even my cousins, especially Chris.

I didn't make rehearsal and wasn't in the show that week, or the next, or the next six. I was too busy picking up the pieces of the disaster my dad and uncle had wrought. When my grandfather set up the trust that controlled his companies, he gave each of his son's twenty-five percent and each of his male grandchildren five. The girls were, well, my grandfather was a bit of a misogynist. There were all kinds of stipulations and only a majority vote of shareholders could alter the arrangement.

One of those stipulations was any convicted felon was ineligible to hold shares. Another was that any heir not specifically named had to be male. Fortunately, my grandfather had specifically named me in his will, or had specifically named my dead name. It was a mess. There were meetings with the board of directors and meetings with the corporate lawyers and meetings with the probate judge, not just for Miki, but for my grandfather.

By the time it was all settled, the appeals court had rendered the document I had signed mute, and I owned all of Miki's assets, which included twenty-five percent of Baker International, plus my dad's twenty-five percent, since I met the named heir requirement and he was going to prison for a long time and I was his only eligible heir, and my own five percent. That made me the majority shareholder at fifty-five percent. My four male cousins that didn't gone to prison were the owners of the other forty-five percent.

With the board's agreement, the first thing I did was get rid of the male heir requirement putting my dad's shares in the company in a trust in my, my mom's, and my sister's names, making my mom the executor. My aunt was as bad as Hank, so I figured I'd let her fight with her sons over Hank's shares.

As majority shareholder, I told the board to hire my mom as the new the CEO, taking over for my dad. She would be a veritable force to be reckoned with. Massive reorganizations, executive firings, promotions of more qualified people, regardless of gender, my mom turned a stodgy old company into a lean, efficient dynamo almost overnight. She had been my dad's executive assistant for years and knew where all the waste was.

I deferred any official position with Baker, deciding to be happy with my share of the trust. Besides, I had my property management company to worry about and a little cabaret with an excellent floor show.

Aside from her shares in Baker, Miki owned the entire neighborhood surrounding The Flamingo. My dad and Hank wanted it all. They were going to bulldoze the entire thing and build condos or a mall or something stupid like that.

Ash and I moved into Miki's old penthouse, and I finally had time to stop and think about Jackie. It had been fun at first, and then a necessity to stop my dad and uncle, but even when the opportunity arose, I hadn't even pretended to switch back to Jack. All the meetings, all the hearings, all the arguments and debates about how to put it all back together; Jackie had been there. Jack hadn't even been an afterthought. Besides, she was legal and jack wasn't.

My mom was running Baker and my property management company had been running itself for years. I didn't see any reason to mess with what was working. Sure, I had board meetings at Baker to attend and I met with my property managers once a week just so they knew I was watching, but I didn't really have anything else to do with my time.

I met with a surgeon that rearranged some of my fat, giving me a slimmer waist and nice full breasts to replace the forms I had been gluing on for the past few months. She shaved my trachea and bobbed my nose just a little, bringing it into the realm of cute, which somehow completely transformed my face.

It was a Monday night at The Flamingo. I was sitting at the bar talking to Jesse and watching the amateur night when a regular came up to me. "Are you going to sing for us tonight? I'd love to hear some Kenny Rogers."

"Go on, you know you want to." Jess grabbed my empty glass and shooed me toward the stage.

I ended up singing for over an hour. The crowd yelling one request after another until I begged off, letting someone else take my place.

"So," Ellen met me just off stage. "Am I adding you back to the show?"

"Was it that obvious?" I smiled and nodded.

The young man that took the mic from me blasted Pink's 'Bad Influence' and everything I had done became a distant memory for the crowd. He followed that with a couple of hilarious jokes about boys singing songs by Pink, which he followed with 'Get the Party Started.' I looked at Ellen and she at me. We both just smiled. Ellen caught him coming off the side of the stage. It didn't take long for Eric to become Erica and find her place among the girls at The Flamingo.

I wasn't Miki, but the crowd accepted my initial efforts to MC. I felt it was my duty, but it just wasn't working. I talked to Elle, and over her protests, Erica took over for me as MC. She thought she was too young, too new to the life. I saw something special, and besides, I owned the club. Who was going to tell me no? After a while, Erica was helping Elle run the show, and it only got better and better.

Ash and I did our duets, following Erica's lead and, with her encouragement, branching out from Dolly and Kenny to some more contemporary pieces. The other girls slowly followed suit and our crowds got bigger and bigger to where we had had to resort to ticket sales and reserved seats on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. We even found a couple of girls, Tammy and Billy, that did a tandem comedy act along with their singing, and one that did stage magic along with her songs. The comedy act was a hard sell with Elle, but I finally convinced her that a little variety would be a good thing.

With all the new success, we extended the live shows to Wednesdays. My mom and sister even started coming to watch us perform. With the new girls and the variety of talent, you could come every night and get something just a little different.

"Are you ok?" Ash came up behind me as I looked out over our neighborhood from the balcony.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I pulled her arms around me and basked in the warmth of her embrace. "Just letting it all sink in. I don't even remember before. You know, before Miki's wake. It's just all gone, being Jack, all of it. It's like that old life was just a vague dream that I woke up from and can only see flashes of."

"Is that bad?" Ash slipped under my arm and reached up and kissed me sweetly.

"No, I guess not." I kissed her back. "I wonder if Miki knew this would happen, if she saw this in me, if she really knew I would take care of The Flamingo for her."

"I think Miki had a unique ability to see the very best in everyone she encountered, and to put them in a position to blossom and flourish. I always thought she was a Gardner of sorts, and we were her flowers. You're a lot like her, what you did for Eric, and Tammy and Billy, what you continue to do for all of us. Your garden differs from Miki's, but in some ways, it's better."

"You really think so?" I could feel tears welling behind my eyes.

"I know so. Tomorrow's open mic. Who knows what new seeds you might find?" Ash smiled up, and me and pulled free from my arms.

"Speaking of gardens, why don't you come back to bed? I'm thinking it's time you planted some seeds with me." Ash grabbed my crotch, letting me know exactly what she meant.

"Gardner, I like that." I thought to myself.

"Are you coming or not?" Ash's voice called from inside.

"Yes, I believe I am." I grinned and called back as I took one more glance over the neighborhood, stopping at the sign for The Flamingo in the distance, grinning as I went to join Ash in our bed and see about planting those seeds.

The way I made Ash scream, well, maybe, just maybe, there was still a little of Jack in there somewhere.

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Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed Jackie's journey. Remember to leave me a comment so I know how I'm doing. Good or bad, they all help me get better at my craft.