Chapter 10

"I see the confidence training worked then!"

I was outside Dr Edwards office, tears streaming down my face but with my stance and jaw set in a way that would have given a hungry lion pause for thought.

"Paws for thought!"

"What? Are you losing it girl?" queried Jenny

"No just remembering a character given to inappropriately timed puns in a favourite book "

"Let’s get out of this place! To the café!" cheered Serena. "Gwen if you’re not in your own car we can squeeze you in."

"You were magnificent. Just like a movie heroine storming out - except for the tears of course. We’ll have to work on that." Serena was in full flood and her protégé was not going to be denied a single second of her time in the sun.

That was when Martina and the lads came in, Evan included but not Brian, and the story of the day’s adventures had to be told all over again.

"I still don’t see the connection to the movie though" said George, who had never knowingly watched a chick-flick in his life.

"It’s association; putting yourself in the character’s shoes. Watch a psycho-thriller movie and afterwards jump at shadows; watch an uplifting movie and afterwards feel ready to face whatever the world throws." explained Jenny.

"No, it’s not that way for me," replied George. If I watch a psycho-thriller movie afterwards I feel like shooting or blowing up the bad guys; watch a romantic comedy and afterwards want to shoot or blow up everyone!"

Serena gave George a hug and kiss on the cheek then turned to us and rhetorically declared "Doesn’t he say the sweetest things!" at which moment the paper case from a straw Gareth had just opened and blown across the table, bounced off her nose.

"Let’s all go get rat-arsed?" suggested Andy eloquently.

"There is no way I am keeping sober to drive while you lot get wasted" was Serena's reply but Evan then offered to be the nominated driver for everyone as long as Serena didn’t mind coming back to pick up her car next day.

It was brave talk but in our mixed group cash shortage and the drinking laws limited our real options so we drove the three cars to Serena’s house and walked to a pub half a mile away that was tolerant of our predicament. Conversation quickly drifted away from my medical adventures to work and the future.

Gareth was in the enviable position of being able to afford a gap year to travel before University and Serena through family connections had a job with an estate agent although she too planned to go to University in a year or two. Martina, George and Gwen were going straight to University. Jenny and Evan into retail, Andy would happily do whatever paid the bills………

As I looked at my friends whatever adrenaline there was left in my system drained away. Of all of us there was one who stood out as being up the creek without a paddle and it was me. I rose to my feet, "Sorry everyone, thank you for helping me get through today but everything has rather caught up with me. I’m going to call it a day and go home. Serena, I’ll call you tomorrow.” With that I left and walked the short distance home entering the front door after my big night out at 9pm!

Mum, dad and Litara were watching the television in the lounge when I came in and I had to face their annoyance that I hadn’t at least rung to give them news of my results. I did do my best to explain what the doctor had said but beyond knowing that a normal woman had XX chromosomes and a normal man XY, mum and dad knew nothing about genetics and in truth I only knew little more myself from biology classes. It was Litara who saved the day as she had been more concerned about my health than she showed and been doing research on her computer.

"These things are nowhere near as simple as I thought when I started looking. All dogs are very similar genetically while looking quite different while sharks and dolphins look similar but are genetically very different. Looking similar to boys when young didn’t mean Venus was a boy and now she been found genetically similar to girls doesn’t make Venus a girl. What is clear is that the doctor was concerned she might develop cancer - surgery for that is very expensive so NHS doctors don’t recommend surgery lightly!"

"Why did you leave when the doctor recommended surgery?"

Mum was asking the question I’d been asking myself ever since that moment I left the doctor’s office. It was only a week since the tennis club but it had been like being swept up in an avalanche. So much had changed.

"He treated me like a boy when I feel like a girl and that made me angry but then he told me I had female bits that he wanted cut out and that made me furious! He told me I could never be a father when I’d never even thought of that but once I heard I had female bits the thought came ……"

"Mum he was wrong about Grandad Joe. What if he was wrong about me? What if I could be a mother?"

“Time for tea?” It was my Da who said that and I wanted to hug him. We went through to the kitchen together putting the kettle on while making up a tray with biscuits. He put his arm round my shoulders and the floodgates opened.

Slowly the tears eased as dad brewed the tea then I laughed. "18 years old! Who’d believe it?"

Back in the lounge mum and Litara had clearly been discussing something and as dad and I passed the mugs and biscuits Litara stood and moved to the fireplace

"There may be some help for all this but to get it will mean doing something you really won’t like. First though I need a question answered…

“Could you, Venus, sail a yacht single-handed to Tahiti?"