A Wildcat Fall 9

Lisa spoke with her mom, and then, they consulted Dr. Frankel. He was happy to provide them with the name of a lab that specialized in DNA testing. He smiled and reminded them that they had done a complete workup on Teri when they were diagnosing her intersex diagnosis.

“We looked at Teri’s DNA. A DNA test reveals information about a person's genetic sex and their sex chromosomes, specifically the X and Y chromosomes. However, a DNA test cannot definitely determine if someone is intersex. There’s a multitude of variations in chromosomes, genitals, hormones, and internal reproductive organs that don’t fit typical male or female patterns.”

As they were thanking him, Dr. Frankel reminded them that intersex is not a disorder, just a natural variation.

After Lisa called and spoke to someone, they arranged for the lab to pick up the sample. As she told Jessica, “They specialize in transporting frozen samples back to their laboratory and making sure that everything stays clean and not contaminated. It was just a question of giving them my credit card and asking to expedite the procedure.”

Jessica smiled. “It’s simple. Money talks.”

Lisa pondered this. “You know, you’re right. Suddenly, we’re all about not worrying about money. It’s so strange that the Wildcats went from begging to being over the top rich. When GLOW offered us a million dollars to endorse their products, it was hard to fathom. But the point is, we’ve got it. I’m going to write you a check for the same amount and donate it to your group. That way, I’m not feeling selfish.”

Jessica grinned, “Check? Do you actually have a checkbook?”

Lisa laughed aloud. “You caught me on a figure of speech. What I really need to do is give you my credit card number and make a donation.”

Jessica nodded. “That’s great. I’m donating my services for your detective work, too. You and Teri have helped me out many times in the past. But truthfully, our agency can always use more cash to help grease the wheels.”

When Lisa called to fill Teri in on what she knew, Teri’s next question was, “How ya gonna track down my daddy? I do miss him so. And my birthday is coming up, and I want a pony.”

Jessica heard her on speaker phone and laughed. “I’m working my way through Google, Facebook, the White Pages, and Ancestry.com. I’m hoping to get a hit.”

Teri laughed. “No Bat Cave? No digital computer magic where you can travel back in time and see my sweet papa donating his sperm. I wanted to see him walking out with a check in his pocket.”

As soon as she mentioned the word check, both Jessica and Lisa started laughing.

“What? What did I say?”

Lisa laughed at her younger sister. “Have you ever written a check?”

Teri thought for a minute. “Didn’t Mom used to give us checks for our birthday, or did she just put cash in an envelope?”

They were still laughing over the check thing.

“Hey. So if you get any hits, can I come along? I want to see my daddy up close and see if I look like him. I promise not to talk to him, just stare a bunch.”

Lisa shook her head. “And what if your dear poppa is spending life in a state prison for murder, or he’s on the run from the FBI for embezzlement?”

“Oh.”

“And what if Jack Dempsey has a real family and is a great dad to other kids our age? What would you do?”

Teri had to think for a minute. “Uh-huh. I’d knock on the door and when he answers, I’d throw my arms around him and hug him, calling him daddy.”

Lisa laughed. “You’re so ten years old.”

Teri smiled. “Yeah. Maybe I never matured past twelve or thirteen, probably ‘cause my puberty didn’t happen until later. But I like being Peter Pan. I like being a kid.”

Lisa shook her head. “You got away with the juvenile behavior because you wore a boy’s clothes for so long. Girls grow out of that silly stuff. And it’s obvious that you never thought about changing it up. Jenn must really love the boy who still wants to run away with the circus.”

Teri shook her head. “Hey, I deserve a break here. My musical ability is all mature and grown up; it’s just my point of view that’s juvenile. And I wonder about the boy-girl thing growing up. I never had any girl urges.”

“Uh-huh. That’s really something you need to talk to Grace about.”

Jessica was listening. “Okay. I knew I was in the wrong body forever. I talked to my older brother and my mom, but couldn’t go any further with it. It haunted me for decades until I could change my outsides.”

Teri was trying to think about her past and if she ever felt differently. “Yeah, I really don’t know about me. The only thing I do know for sure is that I’ve never been more comfortable and happy. I wake up in a great mood and walk around humming all day long. But seriously, don’t you have any curiosity about this guy? After all, half your DNA comes from a stranger.”

Lisa laughed. “Okay, okay. I promise that you’ll be the first to know what we know. And, by the way. We’re giving a big donation to Jessica’s fund to help moms and kids who are separating from their abusive husbands and having to start a new life.”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea. I was thinking…”

Lisa smiled, “Okay, my sweet sister. What’s your idea?”

“Well, maybe Robert will let us play at the Rendezvous and do a long weekend of fundraisers. It would be our first weekend back as a band since Labor Day. We just have to wait until I’m well enough to stand on my feet for an evening. Maybe in two weeks?”

Lisa smiled. “Sure, that is a great idea that needs to be shared with the band. But you’re going to need your doctor’s okay on that. Without her permission, it’s a no go. And I’ve gotta add, you always have great ideas, Tinker-bell.”

“Tinker-bell?”

“Sure, little sis. I can’t very well call you Peter Pan. I mean, that’s not fair to call you a boy’s name. Hmmm. I know. Okay, from now on, you can be called Pan.”

Teri struggled to find something good to say. “Pan sounds like a character in a Shakespeare play. You know, Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

“You’re thinking of Puck.”

Teri turned to her sister. “You know Shakespeare?”

Lisa smiled excitedly. “I’ve read all of the work, whether he wrote it or not. And I believe that a woman wrote some of his plays.”

“How do you know?”

“I like reading about Shakespeare, too. And there’s a huge amount of documentation that Will might not be the author of. Of course, we’d need a time machine to verify all of that.”

“ I never knew that. And all the plays? You’ve read it all?”

“All. Will gets credit for 38 plays, 154 sonnets, and poems. He became my obsession back in sixth grade when I could take his plays out of the library. I’ve reread them on the road.”

Teri shook her head. “I never knew you read anything. I thought it was all about working up a sweat. Like with Smith.”

Lisa glared. “What does that mean?”

Teri started laughing. “Well, I guess you’re the only one who hasn’t noticed. But you and Smith definitely have a unique way of showing love. We’re all imagining your lovemaking is as physical as everything else you do. You’re a roll and roller babe, tough girl, athletic jock type. We pictured the two of you going at it like a mixed martial arts cage match.”

At first, Lisa stared at her sister, her brain suddenly pushed into overdrive. She was trying to work through what Teri had just said. After a minute of thinking, she grinned, smacking Teri on the arm.

“Ow! Hey, why’d you do that?”

Lisa wound up and smacked Teri again. But instead of taking the blow, Teri grabbed Lisa’s fist and surrounded it with two hands. Using her extra height, she pulled that fist downwards and held it there. Then, let it go. Gritting her teeth, Teri said, “I’m not falling for that, you bully. First, I’m still recovering and shouldn’t be stretching my muscles too much. Second, this is not over, big sis. Just cause you're older doesn't make you better. When the doctor releases me, I promise that I will take you down until you beg for mercy. Let’s see, that’ll be March when I whoop your ass.” Then, Teri reached out and hugged her.

Lisa sighed. “I’m sorry. I forgot I was picking on a recovering patient. But it’s like you just tossed my whole relationship into one bucket. That sucks. It makes it sound like we’re just two rutting dogs.”

Teri squeezed hard. “Well, we all saw how you guys started out talking and flirting, and watched it ignite big time. After that, we enjoyed watching the fireworks that seemed to go on twenty-four seven. It was like you’d be saving it up your whole lifetime.”

“Oh, my God, Teri. It’s so bad how he still drives me crazy. Every time that I’m with him, well, I’ve never felt this before.”

Teri squeezed her again. “I love you and I’m happy for you. And I’m glad that the two of you match up so well. In the meantime, let’s get back to a weekend at the Rendezvous. Let’s make it special. We can donate our salaries. And it would be a good excuse to get the band rehearsing sooner than later.”

Lisa was nodding and listening carefully enough to encourage Teri to go on. “I’m sure Robert will give us a cut of the ticket price or the liquor. He’s met Jessica and it’s really such an important cause. But, do you think Zoe would be okay with that? I mean, can she play four nights straight?”

Lisa was nodding. “I know that Zoe will be excited about playing to help out moms and kids. And how cool would it be to see her showing and rocking on stage with her boomer inside?”

Teri thought for a minute. “I’m going to start working on arranging my Vampire opera so we can play those songs live. Yeah, that would be so cool to do a few at the Rendezvous.”

Lisa laughed, “Hey, Rock Star. Keep it simple and just teach us one new song.”

After that, Teri got excited and opened up her songbook. She found the lyrics she’d written to describe the scene when the two young lovers first meet. She remembered that the song was written from the teen’s point of view and tried to imagine it in her head. After looking at her book, she pictured it as a Haiku and began to write.

Walk in the daylight
Trout swimming in a cold brook
Chasing after mayflies.

We are so different

After rereading and rewriting the words, Teri texted it to Zoe and wrote, “It’s my opening scene in my Vampire Opera. For some reason, the first three verses are Haiku. Interested in hearing feedback. Right now, it’s too Phantom of the Opera and seems flat.”

Within minutes, Zoe had written back. “Crazy, awesome! I’m picturing playing soft, love music in the background while Gina recites the Haiku poems, like the Moody Blues did in their album Knights in White Satin. Then Lisa and you sing the song.”