Stray Cats Ch. 04

As a reminder, this is a continuation of a reprint of a story that I posted in 2015.

I was rereading it lately and correcting some of the typos (I'm sure I missed some) when it dawned on me that perhaps I should repost this story (in the original chapter format) for readers today. It's still relevant, well most of it is. I hope you enjoy it.

Oh, additionally, if you haven't done so, you might consider going back to read the opening chapters, as much of who these characters are, is introduced in those earlier chapters. Plus, several new characters are introduced here. You'll have a better understanding of them from earlier chapters with that foundation. But, as always, it's your choice.

Please leave a comment when you've finished, feedback is the lifeblood of a writer.

--Dreamweaver594

Friends, Lovers, and Wives

=ONE=

"You stupid fucking bitch! How dare you lead me on like this?" Standing in the street in front of a large condominium complex, a man grabbed the arm of a woman and shook her violently.

Coming around the corner, Rachel who borrowed Tom's bicycle and was out for a morning bike ride, looked down the street at a couple arguing.

"A boy?! Now you tell me! What the fuck were you thinking? That it wouldn't matter? Of course it matters, you stupid bitch!"

"Ted, you're hurting me!"

The guy continued to scream obscenities at her. Rachel stopped her bike several yards away then got off and dropped it to the ground. She felt that something wasn't quite right.

"Why didn't you tell me this before? Now everything is fucked!"

"Please Ted, I wanted to tell you before but you always told me how much you loved me and how nothing else really mattered."

"Well, this matters! You're a guy, for Christ's sake, a fucking guy. And you think that doesn't matter? I'm not a homo, maybe you are, but I'm not, you fucking son of a bitch!" Ted pulled his right hand back and punched the woman in the face. She went reeling across the sidewalk and landed against some bushes then slumped to the ground. He walked over, stood above her, and slapped her.

Rachel began to stride purposefully towards the man.

"We are through Wendy, do you hear me? THROUGH! The wedding is over; it's not going to happen, not with you, never with you! I don't marry dicks!"

"But I don't have a penis, Ted, you know that." Wendy reached up from the ground and tried to touch is arm. "I had an operation before we even met. I'm a woman now, completely. I wanted to tell you when we first met but you were so caustic about 'chicks with dicks' as you called them that I was scared to tell you."

"So now you tell me about this? What if we wanted to have kids? Did they give you a uterus too? Your no woman, you're a fucking freak!" Ted pulled his arm back to hit Wendy again but Rachel stepped between them and pushed Ted back.

"Leave her alone, asshole," Rachel spat menacingly.

"Who, the fuck, are you?" Ted asked, glaring at Rachel.

"Someone who's going to kick your bigoted ass if you don't get the fuck out of here now," Rachel growled threateningly.

Ted looked at her, looked at her fist ready to strike him, looked at Wendy lying on the ground with this strange woman between them, then spat at them both.

Rachel swung an upper cut and landed it beneath his jawline. She knocked him to the ground. "That's for that filthy habit, now get the fuck out of here slime ball," Rachel growled taking another step towards Ted.

Ted scrambled to his feet and beat a hasty retreat down the sidewalk. He opened his car door and then turned to look back at Wendy a moment. He shook his head, got into his car, and drove off down the street, his tires burning rubber.

Wendy started crying the moment Ted ran off. The tears began to run down her cheeks like tiny rivers lined with mascara.

"Are you okay?" Rachel asked bending down to look at the scrapes and cuts on Wendy's face. "Hey, he's gone now, everything is okay. You're safe now, okay?"

"It's not okay, you don't understand. We were getting married next month. This condo was going to be our new home. Now it's all ruined, ruined, ruined! I've ruined everything!

"Come on, my place is just around the corner," Rachel said as she held out a hand for Wendy to stand up. "Let's get you cleaned up."

As Wendy walked into Rachel's apartment, she found two people standing around an island counter grousing about the real estate market.

"That house on Reynolds was sold right out from underneath us, damn it," the woman sputtered as she slammed her fist down on the counter. "It was perfect, the lawn, the bedrooms, the driveway, perfect."

"I'm sorry Amanda, we'll start looking again tomorrow," the man said, trying to calm her down.

"What happened?" Rachel asked as she helped Wendy towards the kitchen counter.

"Oh that dumbass, Janet Wheeler, our so-called real estate agent dropped the ball on our offer and someone else got the house, and it was perfect too," she grumbled. Then as if finally realizing that Rachel wasn't alone, "Who's this?"

Rachel steered Wendy to a stool by the sink and sat her down. "This is Wendy. I broke up a fight between her and her boyfriend a little while ago." She pulled out a bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some cotton balls from beneath the sink and began to dab the cuts and scrapes on Wendy's face and arms. "The son of a bitch was going to kill her if I didn't step in."

Alex pulled out his cellphone and began to dial 911. "Where is he now, I'm calling the cops."

Wendy turned quickly with a frantic expression. "No don't, please. I don't want any more trouble. He's gone now, out of my life for good I hope."

The man closed his phone and walked around the counter to help Rachel with bandages.

"What happened?" the woman asked holding Wendy's hand.

"I..."

"They broke up," Rachel interrupted. "It was getting ugly so I stopped it." Rachel finished cleaning her wounds and, with the man's help, they added antibiotic ointment and some bandages to all but a few of the scrapes and cuts. "Here," Rachel gestured, "Why don't you rest here on the couch, okay?"

"I'll make some tea," the woman added, as she walked back towards the kitchen.

"Do you live with him? Is there going to be trouble getting your stuff back?" Rachel asked.

"No, I have my own place, we were suppose to move in together once we got married but that's all over now." She began to cry again.

The man handed her a tissue as Rachel wrapped her arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug.

"I never thought he would have acted like this, he was so open and carefree," Wendy said between sniffles.

"Except for the 'chicks with a dick' comment," Rachel said with a grimace.

The woman and the man glanced at one another then at Rachel. She dismissed their unspoken questions with a slight shake of her head.

"I had my surgery two years before we met, he would have never known if I'd kept my big mouth shut but I just couldn't lie to him, I loved him." Wendy quickly glanced up at the man and then the woman, she was suddenly frightened about what she had just revealed.

"No worries, Wendy, you're among friends," the man said, with a warm smile.

She glanced at Rachel, the old fear still creeping across her face.

"I'm a pre-op transsexual," Rachel replied, "Amanda is a genetic girl, and Alex..."

"I'm a little of both," he interrupted, "so you're safe here."

"Welcome to my family," Rachel said, holding her arms wide open and sporting a huge grin.

Wendy let the tension and anxiety drop from her body. She was safe at last.

There was a knock at the front door and a young woman peeked her head around the door. "Hi, anybody home?"

"Hi Kim, come on in," Amanda said, getting up to open the door further.

"Ray's here too, we brought pizzas," Kim replied as she shoved several large pies into Amanda's arms. "Oh, you have company, I'm sorry."

"No, don't worry about it, Wendy's a new friend. She might as well meet the whole gang." Rachel got up to retrieve some plates from the kitchen cupboard. "I'll get some plates, set the pizzas on the counter. Wendy, this is Kim Crossman and Ray Klein."

"They came over a couple of weeks ago and we haven't been able to get rid of them since," Amanda quipped.

"Ha, ha, very funny, I love you too," Kim replied, hugging Amanda.

"Fair warning Wendy, Amanda likes to tease," Ray chimed in with a grin.

Amanda grinned impishly and shrugged at Wendy. She pulled a large slice of pizza from one of the boxes and dropped it on a plate.

Wendy was surprised at how open and carefree everyone was. Kim and Ray were obviously a couple, presumably straight, and yet they seemed perfectly at home here with everyone else. "Why can't I have friends like this?" She murmured softly to herself.

Amanda set the plate with a slice of pizza on the coffee table in front of her. "You already do," she whispered back with a gentle smile.

An hour and a couple of nearly empty pizza boxes later, everyone sat around laughing at the latest exploits of their favorite landlord, Tom Reilly.

"Apparently he got into trouble with his next-door neighbor yesterday when he decided to rent a bobcat and use it in the backyard," Amanda said grinning.

"He was trying to put in a new patio area and he backed the bobcat into the fence," Alex added pulling another slice out of the bottom pizza box.

"Totally shredded the fence," Amanda said, laughing. "The neighbor was livid."

"Gotta love Tom, he's always good for entertainment," Rachel added.

"And then, to top it all off, he rolled it on it's side and the rental company had to bring in a forklift to sit it up again." By now Amanda was laying in Alex's lap with tears running down her face.

Wendy watched the three of them banter back and forth with a look of wonder. They hugged and kissed then swatted each other playfully while Kim and Ray just sat back and laughed at their antics. The joy was infectious, in no time at all Wendy was feeling like life wasn't as black as it looked just a couple of hours ago.

"Hey, who's on the schedule to work today?" asked Amanda sitting up and wiping her eyes.

"I'm on at five today," Alex muttered, "but at least I'm off tomorrow." He looked at Kim and Ray. "We have three chapters in the Meyer anthology to read by Monday for Dixon and our final draft of that short story is due in Ferguson's class on Wednesday, yuck."

"Damn, I haven't even started," grumbled Ray. Ray and Alex looked at Kim.

"Don't look at me," she grinned, "I didn't take Ferguson this semester for that very reason."

Ray grabbed her and smothered her in kisses while Alex picked up the plates and carried them into the kitchen to place in the sink. Amanda walked into the kitchen and gave Alex a big hug and a kiss.

"That's for being you," she said with a wry grin.

Rachel wandered back over to sit on the couch with Wendy. "My shift starts at eight again and I'll be late because I have to close."

"Want to take the car?" Alex asked.

"If you don't mind. Can I drop you off and pick you up at the usual time?"

"Sure, thanks," added Alex with a kiss on her cheek.

Wendy was beginning to put people together but her math wasn't working out quite right. Obviously Kim and Ray were dating, but what about Rachel and Alex, or Amanda and Alex? They wore matching rings on their left hands and all, but it was still very confusing. Then there were the earrings and the necklace Alex was wearing, was he a boy or a girl?

"You look a bit troubled, Wendy, what's up?" Rachel asked, as she laid a pillow under her feet on the coffee table.

"Not troubled, just confused," Wendy replied.

"About what?"

"About your relationship with Alex and Amanda."

"We're a family, the three of us," Rachel replied.

"Yes, but who's married to who?" she said looking at the wedding rings on their fingers.

"We all are, the three of us," Alex replied. "Not legally because society doesn't recognize our type of relationship, so we just say we're a family and leave it at that."

Wendy looked at everybody with a blank expression.

"I was totally confused just like you when I first met Alex's wives," Kim added with a smile. "In my head I wanted their relationship to conform to some sort of 'social norm'. I wanted it to fit neatly into a pigeonhole like everybody else's. But that wasn't going to happen," she said with a laugh. "Once I understood who they were it was clear that the love they have for each other means that society has to catch up with them not the other way around."

"What about the legal stuff?"

"We're working on it," Amanda said from the kitchen. "A friend of mine from work thought it might be a good idea to try to officially create a family but I think, given the legal climate in this country, that a corporation might be a better bet."

"A what?" Wendy asked.

"A corporation, where we all have equal shares. The corporation owns all the assets so the whole issue of beneficiaries is solved. Legally, we'd be recognized without the hassle of busy-bodies sticking their noses into the bedroom."

"In our eyes, and the eyes of our friends, we're married," said Alex drawing Amanda with him from the kitchen as Rachel stood up to join them. "The corporation idea would be our non-conformist way of conforming. Eventually I want us all to have the same family name, for medical reasons, but there's no rush on that."

"I think it's brilliant," Wendy exclaimed. "But...I guess I'm still a little confused about you, Alex. I hope this doesn't offend you but, are you a boy or a girl?"

"Time for the iPad," Kim and Amanda said in unison and everyone else laughed.

"Huh?" Wendy looked from Kim to Amanda and back to Alex.

Alex blushed a bit then reached for his backpack and pulled out his iPad. "It's becoming the family jest actually. Here, I've Googled it for you. The term is intersex. It's what I am."

Wendy quickly scanned the page and looked up at Alex in wonder.

"Yup, that's me, about halfway down the page," Alex said still blushing slightly and taking his iPad as Wendy handed it back to him. "I'm still trying to get used to this bumpy ride called my life," he pulled Amanda and Rachel into a big hug, "but with these two around the road has gotten a lot smoother."

"Where were you guys two years ago?" asked Wendy.

"Waiting for you to show up today," answered Amanda with a gentle smile as she gathered up empty plates and walked to the kitchen.

Wendy opened her mouth then she closed it, unable to form into words the warmth that surrounded her heart.

"It's called kismet," Rachel said. "I learned it from Alex."

"Who taught everyone else sitting in here," added Ray.

"Nothing in life is a coincidence Wendy, everything is meant to be," Amanda continued walking back from the kitchen drying her hands on a dishtowel. "We are here for you because you needed us to be. It's that simple."

Wendy began to tear up again and Rachel grabbed another tissue.

"Oh crap, sorry, we didn't mean to make you cry Wendy," Alex said.

"No, no, these are happy tears. It's been a tough day."

Concerned, Kim looked at Rachel and she whispered, "I'll tell you later."

Kim shrugged. "Hey, we got an apartment!" She shouted with glee.

"What?" Alex asked collapsing into a chair near the couch.

"Yup, we signed the lease this afternoon. The pizza was a celebration," Ray added, hugging Kim.

"When do you move in?" Amanda asked.

"The first of the month," Ray replied. "My lease was running out this month and Kim's was nearly over so we talked and, well..."

"It was kismet!" Kim interrupted and everybody laughed again.

"Did I hear you say you're looking for a house Amanda?" Wendy asked between sniffles.

"Yeah, any ideas?"

"Well, I just happen to be a real estate broker so I think I might have a few," she said with a big grin. "Ouch, it's hard to smile when you're still broken."

"A smile is the best medicine," said Kim. "We do a lot of that around here." She glanced at her watch. "Hey, we have to go."

Ray nodded and grinned as well. "Yeah, I have to pack up all my junk, then throw out half because it's just that, junk."

"See you guys," Alex said hugging them both. "Thanks for the pizza and congratulations."

Once they left everyone turned their focus on Wendy.

"Okay, so when can we see our dream house?" Amanda flopped down on the pillow in front of the couch and leaned her elbows on the coffee table. Her eyes sparkled with excitement.

"Here's my card, how about we meet Monday afternoon and go over what you're looking for."

"Perfect, no wait, we have Tae Kwando Monday afternoon. How about we talk over dinner here that night?"

"That works for me," Wendy said jotting down a note and slipping it into her purse. "Tae Kwando?"

"Yes, Amanda got us all signed up," Alex replied. "A couple of months ago she had a run in with a former supervisor at her work. Rachel managed to make him a eunuch right before he fled to Milwaukee..."

"Courtesy of my boss," Amanda interrupted with a grin.

"So then we all realized that self-defense classes would be a good investment," finished Alex.

"The name of the school is called 'Karma'. Go figure," Amanda added and everyone laughed.

"Sign me up! I need something like that after the beating I took today," Wendy said pulling out her blackberry and jotting down another note. "If it wasn't for Rachel I might be in the hospital right now."

"Our class starts at three Monday afternoon, it's the studio on 28^th street near the warehouse district." Amanda scooted over to look at Wendy's cellphone. "I'm sure there's room for at least one more in that session. Yeah, that's the one," she said pointing to the marker on Wendy's GPS. "Master Kwon is cool too, he can be cranky at times..."

"Especially when you don't remember your routines," Alex interrupted.

Amanda stuck out her tongue. "But he's got his heart in the right place," she finished.

"The more the merrier," chirped Rachel. "Pick me up at work tomorrow and I'll guide you there."

"Where do you work?"

"It's a law firm, Tamsen, Willis, and James, I'm in the accounting department."

"I know exactly where you are, my office is in the building across the street." Wendy pulled the three of them into a big hug. "I'm so glad I met you guys. Oh, ouch...still sore."

Monday, after Alex's classes, he picked up Amanda from her work and drove to the Tae Kwando studio. They were walking to the front entrance as a white BMW Z4 Roadster rolled into the parking lot. Behind the wheel was Wendy and in the passenger seat was a very wind blown Rachel wearing a smile that seemed to hang off her ears. She hopped out and nearly bounced across the parking lot, she was so giddy. "That, girls, is one cool car."

"You're hair is a total mess," Amanda said trying to untangle a few curls.

"That's why I always wear a ball cap when I drive with the top down," Wendy giggled. "I warned her but she was not having any of it."

"Ball caps cramp my style in a car like that," she replied with a grin and then pointing to Wendy's car. "Someday I will drive one of those."

"Wendy picked me up from work, you should have seen the shocked look on the faces of some of those guys from the office. I wish I had my camera."

"It is a pretty car," Amanda said laughing at Rachel's boisterous charm.

"Come on, let's go, you know how much Master Kwon likes it when we're late," Alex said as he looked Amanda in the eye.

"Pushups are no fun," she muttered.

=TWO=

Kyle Upton sat on his balcony and sipped his weekend cup of coffee. He was stumbling through his email on his iPad without much interest in anything offered until he opened a spam message linking the viewer to a new chat space for singles on a site he'd never visited before. He had lurked on chat room sites before, even browsed the personals on craigslist, and looked at a few webcam sites but mostly he was too shy to actually open a conversation let alone meet someone online.