Pennies for Michelle
Part 2
 
By plastic_roses
 

One week after Joseph had first met Holly he was just walking back to his dank little motel room with it's wet carpet that stunk like rotting organic matter. As Joseph ambled along, in no hurry to return to the place he slept at night or the dreams that awaited him there he thought long and hard about all that Holly had said to him.

Due to Joseph's lack of desire to return to the empty room that awaited him, he ended up walking towards the centre of town, where the bustle of the people and the noise of the overall rush of inner city life could drown out the voice of doubt in his head.

The centre of this city like so many others that were founded an built in the same era consisted of grand granite, slate, marble and limestone buildings that while weathered with age had stood the test of time. These buildings at the centre of town with their majestic architecture also had a property about them that caused them to echo every sound around off their solid walls, which was just what Joseph thought he needed.

With his head down to hide his face and the shame he felt Joseph slowly walked past the old court house, which might have been the biggest as well as grandest stone building in the old town, with it's gray walls and shiny marble floors. The court house might also have been the grandest building in the whole city due to it's large pillars and the gargoyles that sat at the top of the building. Joseph however, was too blinded by his rage and self loathing to see any of the beauty of the city.

Stepping past a crowd that was mostly made of students Joseph didn't even bother to look around or at least not until he heard the voice of a young woman in the crowd call out.

"Michelle, Michelle Brennan, you don't have to do this, come on down and we can find another way."

Hearing the name of his daughter being called out Joseph looked around and quickly noticed that the crowd was looking upwards. Craning his head that was heavy with guilt towards the darkening sky, Joseph quickly noticed Michelle perched next to one of the gargoyles with a look of pure fear on her face.

Looking into the eyes of Michelle who was standing high above him in a very precarious position Joseph's first instinct was to run to the front of the crowd and call out for her to step away from the edge. However before taking more then a step towards the gathered crowd Joseph realized that announcing himself in front of the crowd might have been the worst thing he could do.

With Joseph's mind clouded by his desire to help Michelle, he came up with a plan that seemed totally rational to him but in truth was foolish. Knowing that most old buildings had a fire escape that ran from the ground to the roof of the building Joseph circled around behind the building.

Finding what he was looking for at the rear of the building in a old wet alleyway that people seldom used Joseph began his panic ridden climb up the rickety old, unsafe fire escape.

Reaching the top of the building Joseph made one final effort to make it over the top of the wall before dropping onto the recessed roof below. Landing with an almost silent thud, which was what he wanted Joseph gathered himself and then took a few steps forward.

"Michelle, what ever you are thinking about doing, please don't." said Joseph in an almost pleading tone.

Hearing the voice of her no-good father, Michelle slowly turned around and stepped away from the edge of the building with an icy cold look of hate in her eyes.

"What on earth do you want!" said Michelle as she threw her arms in the air.

"I was worried that you were going to..." said Joseph who was just glad Michelle had stepped away from the edge. "I was concerned that you were going to do something silly."

"You were worried about me!" screamed Michelle as months of stored up rage about the way Joseph, her own father had treated her, finally boiled over. "The only thing you've ever been worried about is your silly pride."

"You ran out on my mother and myself, so what gives you the right to be concerned for me!"

Feeling his daughter's rage wash over him like a relentless tide Joseph once more hung his head in sorrow as the guilt he felt over what he had done once more took hold of him.

"It wasn't like that," said Joseph trying to selvage the last of his dignity. "Your mother kicked me out because we didn't see eye to eye on things."

"Yes, okay that's true she did kick you out but only because you couldn't accept the fact that I needed to be a girl," whispered Michelle in a tone she knew the people on the street below couldn't hear. "The thing is, daddy dearest, I'm on hormones now and will soon have my breasts done so nothing you can say or do will stop me from becoming the woman I am."

"Michelle, I don't want to stop you..."

Sadly for Joseph, Michelle had her dander so far up that she was unable and unwilling to listen to what her father was saying so she quickly stalked past him as she headed towards the stair case that would take her back to the top floor where she could catch an elevator back to the safety of her friends.

"For your information I was up here getting some photos of the gargoyles for art class because my friend who was meant to do it is scared of heights but it seems I am as well. So for your information father of mine I wasn't going to jump, which means you are stuck with the shame of me for a long time yet!"

Hearing Michelle's heels on the old wooden steps of the staircase Joseph swung around to face the quickly closing door.

"Michelle, wait I..."

Realizing his daughter was gone Joseph let his sentence trail off as he stood there on the wind blown old roof of that building. In the silence of the roof with only the muffled noise of the city below and the wind to keep him company, Joseph realized Michelle had evolved so far since he had last interacted with her.

When Joseph had last interacted with Michelle who was technically still Michael at the time she was unsure of herself and had a personality like a rag doll but now, now Michelle had an inner fire and light the likes of which Michael had never had. Standing there alone Joseph also realized that Michelle had changed in other ways as well, with her long hair plus her makeup and the overly feminine clothing she wore such as dresses and skirts coupled with the piercings as well as the other jewellery she wore, there was no questioning it, Michelle was every bit the young woman.

That evening as Joseph settled into his uncomfortable bed, the water from the leak splashed onto the sodden carpet in an annoyingly rhythmical tone, somehow causing Joseph to wonder what Michelle and Maria might have been up to.

What Joseph couldn't know was that at the same time as he was wondering what Michelle and Maria might have been doing, Michelle was sitting in front of her vanity looking at herself in the mirror.

92... 93... 94... 95... 96... 97... 98... 99... 100, thought Michelle as she pulled her hair brush through her hair. Pausing her nightly beauty ritual for a moment Michelle listened to the sound of her mother sleeping in the room next to her.

In spite of the fact that Michelle was trying her hardest to ignore the events of the day her mind kept on going back to the roof top and her father. Michelle's mind was filled with so many questions, so many things she didn't totally understand like why her father was even there and more importantly why had he taken the time to call her Michelle instead of Michael.

Beginning to brush the other side of her hair just like she had on so many other nights, Michelle began to play the conversation between herself and her father over in her head once more but due to the anger and resentment she still felt towards him she couldn't comprehend what he had been trying to say.

Unable to figure out why her father, the man she classified as being unable to accept her as she was would bother to try to help her, Michelle's mind started to wander as she saw her reflection and what she looked like without the breast forms. Stopping to study herself for a moment Michelle realized as much as she looked like a young woman in her pink night gown, her flat chest betrayed the whole illusion and that filled her with an angst that was almost as bad as what she felt when she was still Michael.

Due to Michelle's discomfort with not having breasts yet because the hormones she was on hadn't fully kicked in, the first thing she did when she got up was to reapply the breast forms before even going to take her morning shower.

Ding! Dong! Went the classical door bell of Maria and Michelle's home. It was one week to the day after Michelle's encounter with her father on that rooftop and those events had largely been forgotten by Michelle who had never mentioned them to her mother.

Seeing it was 10:30 in the morning on a school morning and Maria who had a day off from work wasn't expecting anyone, she walked to the door rather slowly expecting the person ringing her bell to be a phone company salesperson or else a door to door theology salesperson.

Ding! Dong! Went the door bell for the third time just as Maria reached the door. Carefully opening the door as she prepared herself for the onslaught that would come from what ever kind of salesperson it was. Maria, however was stunned into silence as she saw her husband standing there.

"What the hell are you doing here?" hissed Maria.

"I... I... I needed to talk to you," said Joseph with a voice that sounded like a nervous school boy. "It's important."

Glaring at her husband who looked like something that had been dead for far to long and who didn't smell much better Maria clacked her shoe on the metal bracing that was designed to waterproof the front door.

"What do we have to talk about, Joseph," growled Maria. "I think you made your feelings abundantly clear last time we spoke."

"I was wrong," Blurted out Joseph. "I was wrong!"

"You are the great Joseph Brennan," said Maria in a condescending tone, "You are never wrong isn't that what you once told me."

"I'm never wrong when it comes to my job but I can and have been wrong in life Maria, you know that."

"So what do you want Joseph?"

"I want to know how Michelle and yourself are going, I want to tell you something..."

"We are doing fine without you," Maria said as she shut the door slightly to indicate that Joseph wasn't welcome. "We don't need you."

"But I... but... but..."

"Was that your game all along, let Michelle and I flounder for a while and then come back here like a gallant white knight so you can state the terms of our rescue!."

"I'm not playing games Maria, I am really concerned about Michelle and yourself. The two of you are the most important women in my life so I came to offer my financial support, it's the very least I could do, Holly helped me to see that..."

Having realized that he had just said one of the dumbest things he could have said, short of asking Maria if she had gained weight, Joseph didn't even have time to explain himself or back peddle.

Bang! Went the door of the house as Maria slammed it in Joseph's face, but not before she had given him a look that could melt steel.

"Get off my lawn!" screamed Maria as her anger boiled over. "Get off my lawn before I call the police!"

Realizing that Maria's threats were more then likely not idle and noticing that the neighbours as well as the people across the road were watching him Joseph decided the best thing to do was to make a hasty retreat.

By eight o'clock that evening Joseph was in the one place where he felt welcome even if it was a seedy little hotel in a dark part of town where most of the dancers had something extra that he didn't even want to think about.

"Hey I didn't expect to see you back so soon," said Holly's voice as Joseph felt someone sit down beside him. "So what are you doing?"

"Well I'm not drinking alcohol," stated Joseph as he held up his glass of ginger ale. "And I'm not having much luck on the home front either."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Why would you want to hear about my issues with my family?"

"Because silly, it's what I do, I help people who need help be it young transgender people or foolish men who throw away what they have because they are too blind to see it."

"Foolish men who throw things away, now that would sum me up wouldn't it!"

"You said it Joseph not me."

Sighing as he took a drink from his cup as he ignored the guy who was standing about four feet away glaring at him, Joseph turned so he could face Holly.

"I decided to do what you said I should do, I laid off the grog and dried out for a few days then I had an encounter with my daughter."

"An encounter?"

"It's a long story but basically I was down town when I passed a mass of people who were all looking up at the roof of a building. As I walked past the mob I heard someone call out Michelle's name so I looked up."

"What did you see?"

"I saw Michelle up on top of the building perched near the edge with a scared look on her face, so in my panic about what I thought she might do I scrambled up the fire escape to stop her."

"Did you think she was going to jump?"

"Yes, I honestly thought she was going to throw herself off the building so I went to try to stop her. I know it was foolish because I could have made things worse but I really wasn't thinking at the time."

"What was Michelle really up to because I assume from what you have said already it wasn't to jump."

"No it wasn't to jump, it was so Michelle could gather photos of the brickwork for her art class. I didn't even know she was doing an art class."

"It didn't go well? Your meeting with her I mean."

"No, it didn't, it didn't go well at all. Right from the outset I felt like I was staring down a rabid beast, every time I said something to Michelle she rebuffed it with anger or rage."

"Did you expect anything less?"

"Yes, no... I don't know, I was just hoping she... they wouldn't be so hostile."

"They?"

"Oh I went to see Maria earlier today," said Joseph as he took a long drink to calm his beating heart. "It went worse then my encounter with Michelle."

"How so?" asked Holly, who was keeping her questions simple so Joseph could reach his own conclusions.

"Well having found today was Maria's day off I went to our... her house around 10:00 o'clock this morning so I could speak to her."

"Didn't go so well?"

"At first Maria just seemed mildly hostile towards me, we even managed to talk for a while..."

"So what went wrong?"

"You know I'm really not sure. I remember telling Maria I was wrong. I also remember Maria telling me that I was never wrong..."

"Why would Maria say something like that?" asked Holly who was finally becoming comfortable using the names of people she didn't really know while speaking about them.

"In the early days of my job I was known as the man who was never wrong. It was just a nickname I had once come to believe in although I don't anymore but it made the perfect weapon for Maria to lob at me." said Joseph.

"So what happened after that?"

"Maria accused me of letting herself and Michelle flounder for a while so I could then come along and present myself as some kind of hero so I could state the terms that it would take to save them."

"Joseph, what do you mean by state the terms?"

"Knowing Maria and knowing what her job was I would have to say that she meant I had planned it so I could tell them that I would only help them if Michelle went back to being Michael, which is the last thing I want now."

"Does Maria know that you have made your piece with Michelle being Michelle?"

"I tried to tell her, I really did. I even told Maria that she and Michelle were..."

At that moment Joseph lent forward slightly and began to bang his head on the bar making the half empty glasses on it shake and rattle.

"I'm such an idiot," said Joseph after he had finished hitting his head on the bar and after he had remembered what he had done wrong. "I'm such a stupid idiot."

Feeling somewhat concerned for Joseph, Holly made sure that he wasn't going to hit his head on the bar anymore, by putting one of her hands on his chest so she could push back if he lent forwards.

"Why are you an idiot?"

"I told her..." said Joseph. "I told Maria that she and Michelle were the two most important women in my life but in the same sentence I mentioned that you had helped me to see that."

There was a very long silence after Joseph had spoken that was only ended when Holly looked at the clock on the wall and noticed the time.

"Hey I've got to do my bit up on stage, so would you like to stay and catch the show?"

"What?" said Joseph in a state of shock.

"Oh don't worry Joseph, I'm post-op," said Holly as she gave a smile. "Besides I'm just a singer, which means I don't take my clothing off."

"Might as well... I mean I might as well stay for your show." said Joseph

Buying himself another ginger ale Joseph made his way towards the seats in front of the stage where the other people were starting to gather. Remembering what Holly had told him about the people who came to this place and how they sat, Joseph took a seat on an end chair right in the back row.

When Holly finally stepped onto the stage Joseph was stunned by what he saw. It turned out Holly was a beautiful woman in her late thirties or early forties, with long dark hair and large green eyes. Holly's large green eyes coupled with the jewellery she wore and the white low cut dress she had on really made her dark skin stand out on the well lit stage.

As Holly walked to the centre front of the stage and took the microphone from it's holder Joseph realized he hadn't even known that Holly had dark skin up until that moment.

When Holly finally cut lose with the song that she was planning to sing Joseph realized she had one of the best singing voices he had heard in years, she was sweet and she was soft, unlike modern songstresses who couldn't even sing and made their way on their bodies or names.

When Holly was done with her song Joseph stood up and clapped like many of the other people and then as the crowd dispersed he decided it was best if he returned to the bar so he wasn't around in case any other acts of a different nature began.

Sitting at the bar about half an hour later Joseph heard Holly sit down next to him so he turned to face her and smiled, just before the scent of strawberries hit him.

"You were wonderful, in fact you are the first new singer I've heard in a long time that I liked."

Smiling from her shadow Holly took a drink from a fresh cup of ginger ale that Joseph had ordered her.

"Thanks, but you have something else on your mind don't you, I can see it written on your face."

"I guess I do have something on my mind," responded Joseph. "Just before you went to do your number you used a term I didn't understand."

"What, post-op?" asked Holly.

"That's the one."

"Oh that's a hard one to explain, some transgender women like myself under go an operation, which most males would find horrific."

"What kind of an operation?"

"It's sometimes known as Sex reassignment surgery, gender reassignment surgery or else more commonly known as a sex-change operation. Basically in the case of transwomen, check the wikipedia for more information on that word, have an operation that in simple terms changes their penis into a vagina."

"Really?" asked Joseph in a rather high sounding voice.

"Yep really, once the operation is done and if it is done well those transwomen who under go it can function sexually as the female they are."

Joseph, upon hearing the words that Holly had said, picked up his cup and drunk it down in one huge gulp.

"Oh, Joseph you should get going now." said Holly with a sense of urgency as she looked at the clock on the wall.

"What, why?" questioned Joseph.

"Because this place shuts down in about half an hour and a gentleman like you wouldn't want to be around when that happens."

Deciding to take Holly's advice at face value Joseph stood up and smiled before turning to leave, however he didn't take more then a few steps before he turned back around.

"Holly, thank you for tonight and thank you for helping me to sort out my problems, but do you think you can tell me why I can smell strawberries?"

"Strawberries and cat-girls, that's me," smiled Holly. "I just hope you can solve things with your wife and daughter or else work out where to go from here."

Later when Joseph returned to his hotel room and opened the door, the smell from the carpet overwhelmed him and it was in that moment he knew he had to do something to get away from that hotel room forever, but what he wasn't sure.

T.B.C.

---

Well I hope this lived up to the expectations of the first part and thank you for reading thus far...
I also hope I got some of the kinks out of my writing style.