“Hello. Can you hear me?” asked the young woman.

“Uhhhh,” moaned the figure lying on the ground.

“Lets get you up. You can’t stay here in the wet.”

It had been raining heavily for several hours and there were deep puddles everywhere.

She helped the Woman to sit up. Then she saw the bleeding. It was coming from a nasty gash on the side of the woman’s head.

“Open your eyes,” commanded the young woman.

The other woman did just that.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” she was holding up three.

“Three,” whispered the injured woman.

“Good. You aren’t seeing double. Can you try to stand up?”

With some effort she got the other woman upright. Needless to say there was no help from the literally dozens of passers by that just ignored them.
The young woman thought they probably thought that the older woman was drunk.

She knew different. She’d seen the two muggers beat her up and steal her bag. She had just stepped out of her apartment block on E 69th St when she saw the attack going on.

She’d called at the two to stop.

The two attackers took one look at her and ran off into the darkness. They’d obviously decided that they didn’t want to mess with someone wearing a White Judo Suit. Ironically, she was on her way to the class here she taught Women’s self defence.

The young woman helped the injured one up the steps and into her building. Then she literally ‘woman handled’ her into the lift.

Finally, and despite ever increasing protests of ‘I’m all right. Please leave me alone,” she got the woman into her apartment.

She sat her down and went in search of some antiseptic and some dressings.

While she was in the bathroom she made a quick call.

“Maria, Ebony here. Sorry I can’t make it to the class. I’ve just rescued a woman from a mugging. She needs a bit of TLC.”

“Yeah. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She went out into the main are of the apartment. The other woman was sitting there, head in hands and crying gently.

“Here. Let me take a look at that wound? It’s alright, my day job is an ER Nurse.”

She prised the hands away from the face.

She saw the other persons face properly for the first time.

“Oh shit. You aren’t a woman!” she exclaimed.

For two seconds, she debated throwing this impostor out.

Then her humane side got the better of her.

“It don’t matter to me who you are honey. No one deserves a beating like that,” she stated in a matter of fact way.

She set too and dressed the wound. Then she did her best and cleaned up the victim.

After nearly half an hour she pronounced, “There Honey, I’m done.”

The man obviously dressed as a woman was still sobbing. He/She. She didn’t know what to call them hadn’t said anything for sometime.

Gently, Ebony prised the hands open and made her sit up.

The face was totally devoid of emotion and colour. The expression ‘death warmed up’ seemed just about right.

“Ok Honey, you are going to have to speak. You can’t just sit there being sorry for yourself.”

“I can’t.”

“Can’t? Can’t what?”

“Tell you.”

Ebony sighed. This was going to be like getting blood out of a stone.

“Tell me what?”

“Why I’m dressed like this.”

Ebony laughed. She laughed really loud but always with this wonderful smile on her face.

“Look Honey, I said I’m an ER Nurse. Don’t you think I haven’t seen lots of people like you before? We get them in almost every week. Silly fools try to walk the whole length of Broadway or 5th Avenue in frankly silly heels.”

She giggled. Then she got serious.

“We also see those like you who have been mugged. NYPD has a taskforce setup to deal with violence against Trans people.”

There she’d said it, the ‘T’ word.

“No. You must not call the Police.”

“Why. You got mugged. I saw it. I also saw the car they took off in. Why ever not?”

The Tranny held her head up and looked her right in the eye.

“Because if you do, I’m a dead man. I’m being blackmailed. Being blackmailed by two fucking cops. Two of NYPD’s finest are ripping me off. What you saw was to have been my latest payment to them. Now, once they find out I can’t pay, I’m done for. My job my home everything.”

Then he made the sign of a throat being cut.

This shocked Ebony to the core.

“But Honey” she stopped.

“Look. I can’t keep calling you honey. What is your name?”

“Percival. Percival Bartholomew Montgomery.”

She looked at him.

“Hey, I know that name. Where do I know that name from?”

He grimaced.

“Yes you probably do know it. Most likely from the front page of the Daily Post, almost every day in the past three weeks.”

“Oh yeah. You got off for killing your lover.”

Then she smiled.

“But he was a man?”

“I didn’t kill my lover. I didn’t kill him and he was certainly not my lover.”

“Yeah, yeah,” groaned Ebony.

“It is true. The Jury….”

“Fuck the Jury. I remember seeing pictures of the two of you in an embrace.”

For the first time Percy smiled.
“Doctored.”

Then he added slightly wearily,
“And there was the little matter of when I was supposed to have been there killing him, I was on a plane to London. The passenger manifest and three flight attendants testified to my presence on the plane.”

“But didn’t they find your… your…”

“My semen?”

“Yeah.”

“What the lazy Police and DA didn’t bother to follow up was that I gave a sample before I started Radio and Chemo therapy. At the time of the murder I was incapable of producing any semen with swimmers.”

“Yeah, yeah that’s what they all say.”

“I’ve got testicular cancer. Or rather I did have. I can’t invent that despite my deepest wish that I could. It will be at least 3 years before I can produce any proper sperm if I ever can. That is in the lap of the gods. When my lawyer asked their medical expert what the consequences of radio-therapy was, their case fell apart. The Judge threw the case out on the spot. Someone in the NYPD and or the DA’s office does not like me one little bit. I’ve filed suit for malicious prosecution but that could take years to come to resolution.”

“So why are they blackmailing you?”

“Because I like to dress as a woman in the privacy of my own home. If that got out, then my position in the City Government would be untenable. I’d have to resign, publicly.”

“Didn’t J Edgar like to do the same?”

“Yeah but I’m not J Edgar Hoover and City Hall is for all its pandering to the LGBT community is very and I mean very conservative. After all, a lot of people think that the current Mayor is almost a Republican in Democrat colours?”

Ebony, after her first shock was starting to like this ‘man in drag’ even though he was almost as white as a sheet.

“How much was in the bag, the one that the muggers took?”

“Twenty grand. This weeks payment.”

Ebony almost fell with shock at the size of the sum.

“Why don’t you get the Police involved?”

“Ha-Ha. Fat chance after the treatment I have received from New York’s finest these past months. Do you really think I’d willingly go to them and say, ‘excuse me officer, two of New York’s finest are blackmailing me! I’d be laughed out of the station.”

Ebony sat for a minute or so.

Then she said,
“Why don’t I get you sorted out and I’ll get us a cab and take you home. You most certainly can’t go out looking like that. You look like something my old cat would bring home.”

Percival sat still. Thinking hard.

“Thank you. You know for taking the trouble to help. So many people wouldn’t even look at me lying there on the ground.”

“Forget about them. They all fear being sued if even they just stop and gawp. You can blame the lawyers for that. “

He looked at her.

“It sounds that you don’t particularly like Lawyers?”

“Ambulance chasing leeches every last one of them.”

Then she looked at him.

“Oh shit, you are a lawyer aren’t you? I think I read that somewhere.”

He smiled back.

“I’m afraid so.”

She shook her head wondering what the world was coming too. Then she decided that he was not like those money grabbing ambulance chasers that she encountered almost every day in her job.

Half an hour later Percival was in a fit state to travel home.

Ebony was just about to call a cab and take him home when she realised two things.

Firstly, she was still wearing her Judo Suit. Secondly, there was the little matter of the money that was being stolen. For some reason she wanted to help this funny named white dude who was sitting at her kitchen table in drag.

She smiled inwardly to herself. None of her friends would believe what had happened that afternoon. Some of the more hardliner feminists would most certainly not approve of what she was about to do.

“Stand up.”

He/she looked puzzled.

“Why?”

“Just stand up.”

He stood as commanded.

Ebony looked at her guest.

She looked up and down. Up and down.
“What are you doing?”

She stood back and said.

“With a little work Honey you could actually pass. Well, you’d have to lose those heels. Five inches is far too high for you but otherwise, you aren’t all that bad at all.”

She sniggered.

Then she stepped up to ‘Honey’ and kissed him.

At first ‘Honey’ was surprised. Then she responded.

When they came up for air Percival asked.

“Why did you do that?”

“Because I felt like it. I’ve never kissed no white man before. I wanted to see what it was like.”

Percival didn’t respond.

“Hey honey, didn’t you like this black mama kissing you,” asked Ebony in a faux southern accent.

“It is not that. I… I’ve never been kissed by a black mama as you describe yourself.”

They both laughed.

Then Ebony became serious.

“What are we going to do about the Money?”

Percival replied slightly angrily.

“We? It really isn’t none of your dammed business.”

Ebony was expecting something like that.

“Honey, ever since I saw those thugs kick the hell out of you and came to help it has been my business. Go it?”

Percival reluctantly showed that he understood.

Ebony then came up to him once more and embraced him. This time he responded more readily.

Slowly and while they were still kissing, she edged him backwards and through the door to her bedroom. He came up against her metal bed.

Suddenly, he felt his wrist being grabbed.

Almost an instant later, he found that it was handcuffed to the bed.

“Ok Lady. This has gone too far. Release me this instant.”

Ebony smiled.

“I’m not going to take some pictures of you and send them to the Daily Post if you are worried about that.”

“Then fucking release my fucking wrist then?”

She held up her hand.

“This is for your own safety. Firstly, while I change out of this,” she said fingering her Judo Suit.

“Then I’m going to find those Cops and…”

“If you do that, they’ll kill you. They threatened to do that if I went public on this.”

She smiled.

“Percy… Nope, that name does not work for me. Honey, I’m only going to see what they are about.”

He made no reaction.

“Where were you meeting them? Please don’t say Morgan’s Coffee Shop?”

Reluctantly he nodded his head.
“That place is full of Drug Dealers and Pimps. Why would two of New York’s finest risk going in there to do a deal?”

He shrugged his shoulders.

“How the fuck would I know?”

“Unless?...”

She turned and left him alone in her bedroom. When he looked around, he realised it wasn’t her bedroom. It was obviously a ‘spare’ bedroom with lots of junk but a very substantial bed. The one to which he was handcuffed.

Five minutes later she returned.

The transformation was dramatic.

She looked like a street worker.

Ebony saw his surprise.

“Don’t worry Honey. I really am a Nurse. This is just so’s I can use Morgan’s without raising suspicion.”

He gave a little shake of his head.

“Now what do these two goons look like?”

He described them to her. When he was done, she handed him a pad of paper and a pen.

“Good. Now write down what happened to you. Say you were mugged on 69th St and that you will get the payment to them tomorrow. Include a description of the muggers.”

“They won’t believe me.”

“What choice do they have?”

He shook his head.

“Good. Then I’m good to go.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Give them the note and disappear pronto.”

“What if they follow you?”

She laughed.

“Yeah and I know every pimp of the street. I do a little business on the side with the girls. You know, STD testing and the like. I collect the samples and take them to be tested. I can do it more easily if I look like this. Most of the pimps accept that I have their girls best interests at heart so they leave me alone as long as I look like this. Being black and dressed like a Ho makes me blend in nicely. The local vice squad also know me and leave me alone. That’s a perfect cover for me to deliver your message.”

Part of him felt relieved. The rest of him was very worried.

“But.. they are Cops. They have guns?”

“Boy are you from uptown. In these parts almost everyone on the street in this hood is carrying. If they pull a gun on me they will surely get popped as well. Hey that ain’t such bad idea is it Honey?”

He looked worried.

“Just kidding Honey. Just Kidding.”

“Look, It’s dark out there now and if you hadn’t noticed it, I’m as black as they come. Why do you think I put up with a name as silly as Ebony? Eh? I can also disappear into the darkness far easier than they can in this neck of the woods. I grew up around here. People know me. I’ll be fine.”

Without waiting for any more complaints, she turned on the very high heels of the black patent thigh boots she was wearing and left him alone.

There was nothing for it but to sit on the bed and wait. Wait in the hope that this mysterious woman would return safely and let him free.

Ten minutes later, she came back into the room made up to look like a hooker.

She smiled at Percival.

“I really am an ER Nurse. This just lets me blend in with the street girls.”

She would blend in all right.
From the Thigh High Patent High Heeled boot, frayed denim skirt and a sparkly boob tube that revealed more than it hid to her very exaggerated makeup and enormous false eyelashes, she really looked the part.

“Now you just wait here a while Honey. You won’t try to go anywhere will you?”

Percival rattled the handcuff and looked sourly at her.
She grinned showing of her very white teeth.

Then she was gone and his depression returned. He could see no light at the end of his particular tunnel.

It was more than two hours later before he heard the door to the apartment opening.

Her beaming face soon appeared around the door.

“Hello Honey. Didn’t I tell you that I’d be ok?”

He just grunted.

“Still sulking then?”

She grinned. She was obviously pleased as punch.

“I delivered your note. I got my friend who works behind the counter at the bar to pass it on. They never even looked at me even though I was sitting next to one of them.”

She paused for effect.

“I added a little bit to the note. I wrote the license plate number of those crooks who robbed you in it.”

Percival didn’t look very happy.

“It looks like you might be in luck. The White due, Franks I think you said his name was. Anyway Franks said that he reckoned that the car was the current ride of Rabbit. Otherwise known as Isaac Parker. Then they hot footed it out of the cafe leaving their coffee’s untouched. Very nice they were as well.”

“Did they say anything else?”

“Yeah. Bilbo Biggs, the black cop, said that if this was true they’d kill the bastard.”

Percival looked very relieved.

“I might be in luck then?”

Ebony laughed her head off.

“If it was Rabbit who robbed you then that dough will be long gone by now. He will have traded it for a load of smack and will be out selling it hoping to make a fast buck.”

Then she came and after pulling the handcuff key from down her cleavage released him.

“Lets get that cab and get you home,” she said.

Percy was horrified.

“You can’t be seen going into my home like that or even with me.”

She looked at him suspiciously

“So whitey can dress as a woman but is too ashamed to be seen with a black woman?”

“No... No it’s not that. I’d love to take you to dinner and be seen with you. Its how you look!”

She was not sure if he was serious about taking her to dinner but she’d let the bit about how she looked pass for the time being.

“That is just the point. I expect there are hookers going in and out of your building all the time? One more won’t make a difference. Will it?”

“There probably are as you say hookers going in and out of my building. But they most certainly won’t look like a $20 a time in a back alley hooker. Now will they?”

“Hey Honey, don’t you like the way I look? Wouldn’t you like to look like this?”

“Yes” I do like the way you look. I’d look silly trying to look like you. For one thing, you have two very nice assets that I don’t.”

His eyes lowered to look at Ebony’s fairly ample breasts.

She looked at him again and then laughed.

“I was egging you on Honey. You have a nice smile you know?”

He felt relieved.

“Let me go and change into something a little more tasteful.”

Then as before, she was gone.

When she returned, she’d changed considerably.

A black leather dress, black tights and a pair of black, not too high-heeled boots completed her outfit.

“Not too black for you eh? Not going to get your snobby neighbours chattering eh?”

“No, you aren’t. Its fine.”

She took his hand and off they went.

She grabbed a coat and her handbag and soon they were out the door.

Percival headed downstairs while she locked her apartment door.

He stood on the kerb waiting for her. Since the mugging, he had no money for a cab. Luckily, he had a way to get into his home that didn’t need a key.

Ebony arrived just as a Yellow Cab turned the corner.
She hailed it and they got in.

“Where to ladies?” asked the driver.

“Mill Basin Marina,” replied Percival in a quiet, hopefully feminie voice.

The driver took off with a squealing of tyres.

Ebony looked at him.

“Honey, I thought you said you lived in an apartment?”

“You did but we can talk about this later ok,” he whispered.

She glared at him.

“I ain’t been on no boat in my life. Not even to Staten Island,” she complained.

The traffic was fairly light and it wasn’t long before they arrived at their destination. To his relief, Ebony paid for the ride.

“So where’s your gin palace?”

“It’s not a gin palace.”

“Ok, so where is it then?”

“This way,” he said pointing towards a dock.

He led her to the extreme end of a jetty. There, all they saw was a pretty decrepit tugboat that was moored all on its own.

“That?” she cried in despair.

“I’ll bet you thought I was loaded didn’t you?”

“Yeah. Well, all you city hall lawyers and that…”

“My trial cost me nearly everything I had. This is all I have left.”

“What about the money you are paying them bent cops?”
“I have enough for two more weeks and that is it. My life will be over. I won’t be able to pay so they will ‘out’ me to the world.”

For the second time that day, the normally battle hardened Ebony Phillips took pity on the person standing with her.

A gust of wind blew up Percival’s dress. She giggled.

“Can you get inside? You know, without a key? Or do you want the ‘black mama’ to open if for you?”

“Yeah I can get in. I just need to bang on the hatchway at a certain point.”

They stepped aboard and Percival went towards the bow of the boat. He bent down and banged on the hatchway. At first it didn’t move. At the third attempt, it opened.

Ebony went to follow him inside.

“Stay here. I’ll open the wheelhouse door. It will be easier for you.”

She felt relieved at that.

After what seemed an eternity Percival opened the door to the wheelhouse.

“Ebony, welcome to my humble abode. All you see before you is mine but probably not for much longer.”

She came inside and was amazed at what she saw.
It was so comfortable and homely, so totally different from what she’d expected.

“Honey, you continue to surprise me. This ain’t no mans place. Yous is for real, a woman.”

Then she kissed him once again.

This time he responded with enthusiasm.

When they finally broke up, Ebony could only say, “Wow, yous is a good kisser for a white guy.”

Percival smiled back at her and proceeded to sit her down and poured them both a drink.

“This is my last bottle of decent Scotch,” he said with a big sigh as he looked at the half empty bottle.

She sat back and watched him. This was different person. In her apartment, he was awkward and unsure of him or herself.
Here, Percival was more feminine that she’d even dared to imagine.

When he sat down, he made sure that his skirt was properly tucked in. He crossed his legs properly and didn’t sit like a man with his legs wide open.

“Honey, I can’t keep calling you Honey and I certainly ain’t going to call you Percy when you look like a broad. What do you call yourself?”

“Jessica,” he whispered quietly.

“Well Jessica. I see it like this,”

She took a sip of the scotch. She approved.

“Them two bums are going to wipe you out and then when they can’t get any more blood from your particular stone, then they will out you to the world. They will probably sell your story to the Post or maybe even the Enquirer. Everything they do is down to their greed. Ok so far?”

Jessica nodded her understanding. Her eyes were fixed on the half full crystal tumbler of Scotch that she held in her slightly unsteady hands.

“My take on this is that you should do the following, firstly, I know the Captain of the 7th Precinct. He owes me a favour for patching up one of his boys, no questions asked, last year. I think he should hear your story. Then get the next payment you make videoed or summat like that.”

“Then,” she carried on.

“Then you should out yourself. Right there on the Steps of City Hall. Call them bastards out. Tell the world about them. Then, for Christ sakes, you are a lawyer, sue them for every penny they have. Take their homes, everything, their 401ks’, even the clothes on their backs. Let the world know that people can no longer be blackmailed for wanting to occasionally dress as a woman.”

Jessica shook her head.

“What’s wrong with my plans?”

“It is not quite correct to use the word occasionally. I want to do it all the time. You know be Jessica all the time, I’m fed with living a lie all these years.”

This shocked Ebony.

She put a bit of spin on her answer.

“Well, you are pretty good when you try. I will give you that.”

An hour later, Ebony put Jessica to bed. The effects of the mugging had caught up with her and she needed to sleep.

Ebony felt frustrated. Jessica was… she didn’t know. One moment she was responsive and the next, she was icy cold.

After a while, Jessica’s breathing steadied. She was asleep.

Ebony toyed with the options before her.

Should she stay and if she did should she get into bed beside Jessica. The other things and probably the more responsible option, was to leave the boat as quickly as possible, head home and hope to never see or hear of Percival or Jessica ever again.

It was nearly 4am when Ebony fell asleep with still many questions unanswered.

The sun was streaming through the cabin windows when she awoke. Jessica was still fast asleep and had seemingly not moved during the night.

She looked at the clock.

As she read it, she got a shock that jolted her into action.

It was after 08:00. Her shift had started half an hour previously. ‘Fuck’ she said to herself.

After some digging, she found her mobile phone in her handbag and called the hospital.
“Emergency Room please,” she said when the phone was answered.

After what seemed an eternity, the phone was answered.

“Hi Jackie, Ebony here.”

“Yeah I’m sick. No I’m not really but I need to take today off at least.
I’m owed a few days anyways. It’s for a personal matter.”

She laughed when she heard the reply

“Please tell little miss smarty pants that she can go suck a cock. Preferably a big black and I mean real black one, right to the tip, ok?”

Even Ebony surprised herself with that one. She’d basically told the Emergency Room Supervisor to suck some dick. For her usual self, that was well over the top. Luckily, Nurse Jackie who was on the other end of the phone was her friend as would be diplomatic when telling the supervisor of her absence.

“Thanks Jackie, I owe you one.”

She hung up and looked back at Jessica.

Jessica was stirring. The sunlight had eventually woken her up from her slumbers.

“Where am I?” she mumbled.

“Oh my head,” she added.

“You are on your boat, ship whatever and it is nearly 8:30 in the morning.”

She tried to get up and then remembered who Ebony was and her situation.

“You stayed all night?”
Ebony nodded.

“Why?”

“Because the nurse in me felt I couldn’t leave you as you were.”

Jessica was by now out of bed and frantically stripping off her clothes.

“Hey, slow down. What’s the big hurry?” asked Ebony.

“I’ve court at 9:30.”

“On a Saturday?”

He slowed down. He was naked as the day he was born by now.

“Oh. I’d forgotten. So much has happened these past few days, I’ve kinda lost track of the days.”

Ebony was smiling at what she was seeing.
Then he got embarrassed and covered himself up.

To avoid any further embarrassment all round she said,

“I’ll put some coffee on while you get dressed. Make sure that you remove all that eye liner. It can be a real bitch at times.”

Still with a smile on her face she left him to get dressed.

A few minutes later, she heard him hit the shower.
She quickly left the Boat and found a local deli.

With a few Bagels in hand she returned to the boat. By the time she’d brewed then coffee, set the table, Percival was still making himself presentable she sat down and took stock of the situation.

She was still doing that when he appeared in the Galley just as Ebony had finished toasting the bagels and spreading lashings of butter on them.

She put one down in front of him alongside a cup of Coffee.

“I think you could do with that.”

“Is that butter?”

“Yes. Why?”

“All that fat?”

She laughed.

“Honey, you need a little treat sometimes. You didn’t eat anything yesterday evening. You stomach was playing ‘The Funeral March’ continuously for the last hour you were asleep,” she said smiling back at him.

Then she added, “besides, I have this for Breakfast every Saturday Morning and I’m not doing so bad on it am I?”

He had to admit that Ebony was a very beautiful woman in a curvy sort of way.

He sat eating his Bagels and drinking the coffee in silence. She didn’t mind. She knew that he was collecting his thoughts.

Eventually he asked, “I seem to recall you said something about getting those bastards who are blackmailing me. I can’t remember exactly what it was that you said?”

She smiled.
“I said, that I think you should speak to this Captain friend of mine, nail those bastards and then Jessica, stand on the steps of City Hall and come out and be your true self.”

He looked her in the eye.

“Yeah, I thought it might be something like that,” he replied in a downbeat sort of way.

He was silent for a while.

“Why are you still here? I would have thought that you would have made a hasty exit once I was asleep last night?”

Well, he was direct she thought.

“Last night you needed someone here, so I stayed.”

“But it’s not last night any longer.”

“Oh believe me Honey, I nearly split when I went for these Bagels.”

“But?”

“But I didn’t did I?”

She held up her hands in admission.

“Firstly, I wanted to make sure you are ok. Secondly, I need to apologise for last night. I came on pretty strong at times. For that I’m sorry. Finally, I wanted to make sure you weren’t going to do anything silly. There is an awful lot of the East River out there. Just one step off the side… Well, I’m sure you know the rest.”

He smiled back at her.

“Thank you for staying.”

He paused.

“I’m not going to do anything silly. I’m feeling a lot better now. You are a really good nurse you know.”

She smiled at the praise. Then she made a move to get up from the table.

“Where are you going?”

“I think my work here is done.”

Then to her surprise, he grabbed hold of her arm. Automatically, her Judo training kicked in and she grabbed him.

“Hey. Don’t touch me.”

He immediately let her go.

“Sorry, sorry” he said in a very apologetic manner.

Then it was her turn to realise what she had done.

“No. Don’t be sorry. I may have over reacted a little.”

He smiled at her.

“You have every right to be angry at me. I shouldn’t have tried to grab you like that. But… But I really don’t want you to go.”

She sat and thought for a good minute.

“Ok I’ll stay, for a while.”

She looked him in his eyes.

“I came on pretty strong to you last night.”
Then she stopped.
“Shit. I already said that. If it came to a trial the judge would probably say, ‘I deserved it’. Can we start again?”

He thought for a while and then slowly a smile came onto his face.

“Yes. Lets. Let’s start again.”

He offered his hand to her. She took it gratefully.

“What are we going to do about Jessica and those Cops?”

“Nothing like starting this new relationship on an easy point is there?”

They both laughed.

“Are those cops likely to be turning up here anytime soon?”

He shook his head

“This would be the last place they come. If they are seen with Percival then they can be tied to the blackmail. That is why they insist on getting the money from Jessica.”

“I wondered about that. It sorta makes sense. I expect that in some parts of this city your face is pretty well known? Especially after your trial and all that.”

“You mean around City Hall?”

“Yeah.”

“I suppose so.”

All the time, they’d been holding hands.

Ebony changed the subject.
“You know we are still holding hands. Does this embarrass you? You know with you being white and me being so very black?”

He grinned back.

“Ebony, it does not embarrass me in the slightest. You are a nice person underneath that gruff exterior. While you were out last night and handcuffed to your bed, I had a chance to think about my predicament and my ‘Black Knight’ who’d come to the rescue.”

Oh dear she thought. This is getting serious.

“What you said later on is right on the nail. Something has to be done about those Cops. And it has to be done soon. If it isn’t, then I’ll lose what little money I have left and then I’ll be out of the streets.”

Ebony burst out laughing.

“Don’t fool me. Who ever heard of a homeless Lawyer?”

He joined in with the fun.

“I suppose you have a point, but from where I sit, there is a strong chance of it happening and not too far in the future.”

They sat silent for a while still holding hands.

“I’m going to do it,” he said eventually.

“Do what?”

“Become Jessica naturally. That way they won’t have a leg to stand on and the blackmail will have to stop.”

The calm and collected way he said this surprised her. She guessed that it was his legal training that made him act like that.

“I was only half joking when I suggested that last night.”

He grinned back at her.

“Yeah I know dat.”
She giggled at his slip of the tongue.

“What have I got to loose? My job? Well, the anti discrimination laws in this City are amongst the toughest in the country. I should know as I helped draft a lot of them. If I get sacked, then I’ll get millions in damages. As for my reputation, it is shot anyway after the trial. Everyone believes that I’m guilty despite the evidence to the contrary. The press will bring that up at every opportunity. I’m still guilty as hell with some editors despite the evidence.”

“But you were found innocent?”

“Yeah and mud sticks.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

He carried on.

“Pretty well all I have is this boat and a beat-up old car in storage on Long Island. We could slip the moorings right now and leave here for good.”

“We?”

“Yes we. Ebony and Jessica”

She looked at him hard once again.

“You are serious aren’t you?”

He nodded.

“Look, I don’t have to stand on ceremony with you. Pretty well every date I’ve had since I came out about Jessica to my family wouldn’t understand about me. I’d have to hide her. No more.”

She gave her a smile that went right inside her.

“You came into my life at a really low point. You were my Good Samaritan, fairy god-mother, call it what you will. But Ebony, you are more than that to me. I think I’m falling for you.”

That got a reaction out of her all right.

“Now I know you are pulling a fast one…”

He looked devastated.

This caused her to realise she’d put her foot right in it.

“You aren’t joking are you?”

With a sad expression on his face, he shook his head.

Ebony shook her head.
“I always knew yous white dudes was crazy. This sure confirms that.”

Then she looked him in the eyes.

“Lets sort of those crooked cops and then see how things work out. If it does, then great but don’t hold out your hopes. I have a life as well you know?”

He looked sad at her semi ultimatum.

“Come on, you know it makes sense.”

“But why do you want to help me? You could just walk out of my life and never look back?”

She looked him square in the eyes for several seconds.

“I hate crooked cops. That pair must be stopped. Once they have bled you dry, they will find someone else, and then someone else. That’s how it goes.”

It was his turn to look her in the eyes.

“You sound as if you know how it works from first experience?”

She returned a little smile.

“Let’s say that my old man tried to be a successful blackmailer. He lucked out when his second mark shot back. He’s now six foot under and frankly good riddance to him.”

“But you were married to him?”

“Yeah and that was a big mistake. He knocked me up so we got married. That was the high and also the low point of our marriage. I only saw him after that when he needed money or a place to crash to avoid the debt collectors. It really wasn’t a surprise when he kicked the bucket. At least he didn’t owe anyone any money otherwise they would have tried to get it out of me and I really don’t have much.”

Percival looked crestfallen.

“You never said that you have a child?”

It was Ebony’s turn to look sad.
“I don’t. Not any more. Little Sonny was born with a hole in the heart. He only lived five days. I buried him more than ten years ago. I had to find the money for his funeral myself as my fool of a husband managed to get himself arrested for theft the day he died. Then there was the little matter of the medical bills, all twenty grands worth. It took me years to pay it all off. So you see, I have no sympathy for blackmailers. They are scum.”

From a helping hand to her giving Jessica a lot of ‘come on’ to sitting most of the night watching him sleep to now, in less than 24 hours she’d had a world if different experiences. She was very confused about her reaction.

Part of her said ‘yes please’ and part of her said ‘Honey, get out of here, run a mile and quickly, you don’t know what you are getting yourself into’.

“I don’t know what to say.”

Then he smiled at her.

“You don’t have to say anything. I’ve told you how I feel. That alone must be a big shock for you.”

“I still don’t know what to say.”

“Then don’t say anything. Well not until you are sure of the answer one-way of the other. In the meantime, can’t we not have a little fun”?

“Fun? You mean get me knocked up and then say sayonara?”

“No. That is certainly not my plan. I’m not like that. If I try to do what you want and you are not happy then you have my permission to kick me in the balls.”

Ebony didn’t say much for a while.

“I don’t do bondage,” she said after some thought.

He smiled.

“What about those handcuffs?”

She smiled back at him

“They were left by a lover who tried it on me and I kicked him out.”

He held up his free hand.

“Ok. Point taken.”

“Were you serious about taking me out to dinner?”

Without hesitation he answered.

“Perfectly serious. It would be an honour to have you on my arm.”

“As Percival or Jessica?”

“Either. It does not matter to me.”

She was gently probing him. She wanted to know how serious he was.

“Jessica? Where did you get that name from?”

He laughed.

“Who killed Roger Rabbit”?

“Eh?”

“There was an 80’s movie called ‘Who Killed Roger Rabbit’. The female rabbit was called Jessica. Rather a ‘sassy’ rabbit.”

“I’m not always going to look like this you know? I’m on borrowed time before I get a big ass and huge boobs.”

Her honesty shocked him.

“I don’t think so. Honestly, look at you, you are a thin as a rake”

“You should see my Mom and my big Sister. Then you’d think rather differently.”

He squeezed her hand a little.

“I don’t think that will change who you are inside. Do you?”

“I dunno how they’ll take to you though?”

“Me as I sit here or Jessica?”

“Both. Me shacking up with a White Dude would be bad enough but a White Dude who lives as a woman? Mom’s Pastor would probably send you to hell in an instant.”

“How close are you to them? Do they live in the City?”

She gave him one of those broad grins that he liked so much.

“Can’t you tell from my accent? I’m from North Carolina. Rural NC.”

“The Bible Belt then? GOP as well?”
“Just about. Hordes of fire breathing preachers on the warpath every Weekend saying that everyone but them will go to hell, and not just on TV.”

“Do they have to know?”

“I don’t know at the moment. I don’t know if I could face them if they knew.”

“Ok. So that is something we must resolve.”

“What about yours? You obviously went to Private School. I can see a Yale Pennant in the Wheelhouse. You have money. Or rather your family probably does as you quite clearly have not.”

“I came out to them when I was 16. They know about Jessica but don’t approve of her. Lets say that we are estranged.”

“What would they say about me? Some white families are a bit sensitive about mixed race relationships?”

“Mom is British. Percival is her father’s name. She met Pop when he was studying Law in London. Her best friend is Jamaican so she’d be ok but Pop? Not a chance. But the Murder thing really ended any relationship I might have with him. He pronounced me guilty as soon as the press got hold of it.”

“Why? Why did he do that?”

“The man I was supposed to have knocked off was a golf buddy of his. That was or is more important to him that flesh and blood.”

She sat for a while.

“Do you know what we are doing?”

“Talking?”

“Yes Talking. Talking about us, no holds barred. More like an old couple who’ve been married for thirty years.”

He smiled.

Now that you mention it, it is a bit of a funny thing. I’ve never talked to anyone let alone a date like this.”

“Me neither. That’s what worries me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. That’s the problem with all of this. As I said before part of me keeps saying get the fuck outa here. The other half wants to be here with you. Can you understand this?”

“Yes. Well, I think I can. I’m having a lot of the same thoughts.”

“It think it is time I went,” she said after another period of silence.

“We both need some time to think.”

“Yeah. As long as you promise not to do anything rash?”

“I won’t,” he said smiling.

A little over half an hour later she left him alone on his boat.

As it was Saturday, the Marina started to get busy with the weekend sailors. There were only a few like him who ‘lived afloat’ at this particular mooring.

Percival got dressed and went shopping. He saw few people he knew which was just fine. He had a lot on his mind and wasn’t really up to chin-wagging with other people.

With the shopping in hand, he started to walk back to the boat.

Suddenly and out of nowhere, a Police Car drew up, sirens and lights in action.

He looked at the Police Officers. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it wasn’t the two crooked ones.

“Hold it right there. Drop those bags and spread’m,” shouted one officer who emerged from the car with his gun drawn.

He did as he’d been instructed. It was obvious that there was trouble ahead.

“What seems to be the trouble officer?”

“You are under arrest for supplying Class A Drugs.”

“Eh?”

“You heard me buddy.”

In a well-practised move by the second officer, he found that he’d been thrown against the squad car, patted down and his hands handcuffed behind his back. Almost before he could blink, he found himself being stuffed into the back of the Police Car.

He looked out of the rear window. His shopping was left behind on the sidewalk. As it disappeared into the distance scavengers were already hovering around it. It wouldn’t be there for long.

He sighed and sat back. There was nothing he could do about the situation. His legal training kicked in big time.

The Police Car went to the 7th Precinct Station House where he was roughly manhandled from the car. It was obvious that the officers knew who he was and thought that he was ‘guilty as hell’ of the murder for which he’d been acquitted of so recently.

Within seconds he was push into an interview room and one hand released. The other still cuffed hand was chained to the steel table.

Without any explanation or as much as being read his rights, he was left alone.

It was well over an hour later that another officer came in to the room.

Percival was ready. The last time he’d been in this situation he’d delayed but this time he said simply.

“Lawyer Now. I want to call my lawyer.”

The officer held up his hand.

“Hey, not so fast we brought you down here for a chat.”
“Bollocks. Cut the crap. I was told I was under arrest. Now get me a fucking lawyer. Oh, and get me IAD. I’m making an official complaint of Police Harassment.”

The officer ignored him and left him alone once more.

Two more hours had passed before someone else entered the room.
“Lawyer Now,” was the only words to pass between them.

The officer left without saying a word.

A little later one of the ‘bad cops’ entered the room. It was Franks. Percival had thought all along that he was the ringleader.

“Well Percy we do seem to have gotten yourself into deep water this time haven’t we. Or should I say Jessica. Selling Drugs. Tut-Tut. Naughty girl.”

“Fuck Off. And get me my Lawyer. I’ve already asked twice for one.”

“You don’t need no stinking lawyer. Besides we haven’t read you your rights yet so you don’t need no fucking lawyer. Officially, you aren’t even here. You don’t exist. You are a total non-entity. I could kill you now and there would be no record of you ever being here. Gettit?”

Percival shrugged his shoulders. He sat there with his eyes closed and waited for the inevitable attack. He’d noticed that the CCTV Camera that covered this room was either not working or had been switched off.

He thought that the other one was probably outside waiting for his partner to do the dirty work.

“You people make me sick,” shouted the officer as he grabbed Percival’s head and forced it back so that his eyes would have stared at the ceiling if they were open.

“Sick. Look at me when I’m talking to you,” he shouted.

Percival kept his eyes deliberately closed.

“Your foolishness in getting mugged like that cost me a lot of money yesterday. A lot of money! That was MY money you were carrying. Not yours. Everything you own is mine. I own you and your perverted ass. Got it? If you like to dress up in frilly dresses, then you have to expect to pay for it. For you, the cost is everything you have. Including that heap of a boat you call home. What is it worth? Possibly 10 maybe 12 grand I reckon. Well, the $12,100 and change you have left in your bank plus the title to that boat is your next payment. Got that pretty boy?”

He paused for effect.

“Oh, and don’t think that is the end of it. There will be more to pay besides all your money. Cocksuckers like you are in great demand in this wonderful City you know. We can rent your ass out for maybe $500 an hour. I’ll even find you a nice friendly pimp. I’ll let him look after you and I’ll take my 60% cut.”

Then Percival got three quick slaps around the face.

“Look at me bitch when I’m talking to you. I own you lock stick and barrel. I’m sure you will be great at turning a trick or two.”

Percival kept his eyes tightly closed as he waited for another blow to hit him.

Then Franks delivered a punch to his face and finally a fist in the stomach.

“That’s what you get for resisting arrest,” laughed the officer.

He was about to deliver some more punishment when the door to the room was thrown open and two other police officers came in.

“Get the fuck outta here this is my collar,” shouted the bad cop.

“Officer Franks. You are under arrest for blackmail, assault, extortion and at least a dozen other charges.”

Officer Franks laughed.

“Oh yeah. How are you going to prove it? This fuckers word against mine? Who’s going to believe a fairy queer like him?”

Percival was by now recovered enough to take an interest in what was going on.

“I think that the Video tape of your session in here will convince a lot of people. I will love seeing that play to the court. We switched it on once you had entered. We got everything. And your accomplice, Officer Biggs, is already singing like a Canary.”

Officer Franks was quickly read his rights and bundled away in Handcuffs. Even then, he was still protesting his innocence and that Percival was guilty of at least a dozen capital crimes. The Officer leading him away just laughed.

“Hey what about me?” asked Percival rattling his cuffed hand.

“Hold on a moment will ya? There is someone outside who wants to see you,” said a Sergeant.

Then the man who was obviously in charge left him alone once more.
Percival kept staring at the door to the room. He tried to think about who would be waiting to see him?

The door opened and in walked Ebony proudly brandishing a handcuff key.

She came over and kissed him briefly on the lips.

“Are you ok?” she asked quietly.

“Yeah. I’ll be ok. But what are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story and I’ll tell you about it later. In the meantime, you need to make a statement about the blackmail and everything. I’m doing the same. Then we can get out of here.”

In a flash she’d undone the handcuff that was securing him to the table.

She kissed him again.

As she walked towards the door she turned and smiled.

“Yes.”

He looked up at her puzzled.

“The answer’s yes. But we are certainly going to have to do something about the place that you currently call a home Jessica. It is far too frilly for me you know. It needs the Ebony touch.”

They both laughed and then they kissed for a long time. Their first impressions of each other could not have been more wrong.

[The End]
[Authors Note]
I originally wrote this back in 2008. I was going through my back catalogue and this popped out. It was originally published un my Blog in 2010 as “Sometimes Fairy Tales do come True”.