“’I was thinking last night,” said Melody as we ate an early Breakfast.

“You seem to know an awful lot about business for someone who says that they don’t want to be involved in it?”

She’d got me bang to rights there. Melody was proving to be a very astute person indeed.

"I do. More by necessity than anything. When I came back from Australia, I started to travel along the canals. Living in a tent apart from the odd night in a hotel, I spent a lot of time in Libraries especially when the weather was crap. As I’m sure that you are aware, many Public Libraries have daily newspapers available for visitors to read. I started to read them just to keep up to date with things. I soon found that Papers like the Mail, Express and the like contained very little real news that wasn’t related to sensationalism, conspiracy theory or the cult of celebrity. As a result, I moved onto the Times, Telegraph and Financial Times. Because I’d inherited a share in the company, as I told you about last night, I started delving a bit deeper into the roles of Directors, Shareholders and accountants.”

“Don’t you have Evan and Matt for that?”

I shook my head.
“At the time I wasn't in contact with them. I ran into Evan in Reading as I came out of the Library one wet Wednesday in June. After a weekend bender, he put me up for a week and with his help, I got myself a bank account. That’s after I made my first name change.”

“Hey! How many times have you done that?”

“Just the two. As I was saying, I didn’t want my Father or worse, my Brother to find me. I hoped that they’d think that I was still in Australia. I was wrong but anyway, thanks to Evan I became a legal person once again. I settled up my tax liabilities in Australia and here thanks to Matt and by August, I was back in my semi-nomadic life. I started sketching again and then I found Roxy and started selling pictures. My interest in financial matters continued. Matt was very helpful. He kept an eye on my families company once I found out that David was becoming the boss. I knew that he’d soon be up to no good. David was always like that as a child which almost always ended up with me taking the blame. I had to become as well briefed if not better briefed as he was. Fight fire with fire and all that.”

Melody was shaking her head in disbelief.

“Today, and with a lot of luck, I’m going to not only come out as a woman, but I’m also going to blow at least part of the lid off what David is doing to Dad’s company right behind his back.”

“From what you have said, I guess we get in, rat your brother out and head for the exit?”

“That’s the plan but plans can go wrong as I am sure that you are well aware.”

“What if your Father isn’t there? What if he’s… on the Golf Course?”

“Dad on the Golf Course? Now that would be a sight for sore eyes. It would be a little difficult as he’s been in a wheelchair for the last ten years.”

“I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. He was lucky to survive. He took a chunk out of his leg with a chainsaw because he was too much of a skinflint to pay for a tree surgeon. After the incident, he refused to go to the hospital because of his stubbornness. If he did then he’d have to admit that he had actually failed in something which would be disastrous for his ego. After three days, he passed out from the infection so I called the ambulance. The end result was that he lost his leg to Gangrene and nearly his life to Sepsis. Since then, he’s been holed up at home because he’s too proud or stubborn to be seen in a wheelchair. So, no, he won’t be on the Golf Course.”

Our conversation sort of petered out about then. I was glad, otherwise, I would have ranted on about exactly how he and I had argued and I ended up being sent to live with my Uncle in Oz in order to ‘make me a man!’.

Before we left Roxy, I checked my email. There was one from Matt telling me that David was supposed to be working at home today. He’d made some enquiries through a third party about his whereabouts.

The thought of David being there made me even more determined to get my points over and make a hasty exit before things got physical. I’d seen David hit a woman before. It wasn’t a pretty sight as he didn’t hold back. That’s the sort of psychopath he had become.

---

“Here we are,” I said as I pulled our rental car up outside the family home.

“It looks pretty grand,” commented Melody.

“It is in danger of becoming a big pile of dry rot unless something major has been done about it since I was last here,” I said as I got out of the car.

“And from what I’ve seen so far, that hasn’t happened.”

I waited for Melody to get out and get herself straight. She was learning fast about moving like a woman. Soon, it would become second nature for her. Being that bit older… ok, almost ten years, it was more difficult for me. I pinched myself for being a bit jealous of her. She didn’t deserve that one little bit.

Together, we walked up the five steps to the front door. The house was an Edwardian monstrosity. Part late Victorian, part Arts and Crafts and part Art Nouveau. A total mismatch of styles. Some people loved it. I hated the place from an early age. It was always a ‘cold’ place. Not just the temperature but the atmosphere. Firstly, my grandfather and then my father ruled over the place like it was their own little kingdom. I shuddered as the sound of the bell echoed around the empty hallway.

I soon heard the sound of footsteps approaching.

The door opened and an unfamiliar female face appeared.

“I’m here to see the master of the house.”

“Do you have an appointment?” asked the owner of the face. The person who answered the door was a housekeeper. Late to mid-thirties and very plain. Perfect for my father. Nothing to pick holes in.

“My father is always in. When was the last time he went out?”

I didn’t wait for an answer but I walked right past her. Melody followed me.

“Is he in the conservatory?”

The housekeeper didn’t answer so I took this as a yes.

I walked as confidently as I could through the hall, into the dining room and out into the conservatory. It was reasonably warm thereafter the coldness of the house. My father could never bear having the heating on in the hall or landing.

I saw him in his chair working at a desk.

“Hello Dad,” I said quietly.

He looked up and after a slight doubletake, he said,

“Have you really gone that far down in the world that you have to dress like a tramp? You can never be a woman and you bloody well know it.”

I just smiled and ignored his taunt.

“This is my friend Melody. She’s been travelling with me for a few months.”

Dad ignored her. His eyes were fixated on my breasts.

“What do I own the displeasure of this visit? You were not supposed to be here until Easter Sunday.”

“I have come into some information that can’t wait that long. It concerns David.”

“Still trying to lay the blame for your failures on him then?” he replied sarcastically.

“You know that it was always the other way around but I didn’t come here to be insulted. Did you know that David sold over half of his shares in the company the other day?”

Then I added,
“Where is he by the way? His secretary thinks he is working here today?”

True to form, my father, ignored anything to do with my Brother.

After a brief expression of surprise, he said,

“I suppose you can prove this?”

“I can.”

I opened the folder that I’d been carrying and handed him a sheet of paper.

“That is a copy of the notification to the LSE[1] of the sale as he is required to do by law. If you doubt me, the reference at the bottom of the page would allow you to search for it yourself.”

I gave him a little bit of credit for actually reading the document rather than just throwing it back at me.

After an awkward minute or so, he put it down on the desk.

“Is this all?”

"Far from it. David has tried to make me MD of three of the satellite companies. Here are copies of the change of directorship records that he sent to Companies House."

I handed them over.

He read the first one and merely glanced at the others.

“He used my old name which was his first mistake. I legally changed it in February. The signature is a bad forgery of my old name and he gave my address as here. As you well know, I have not lived here since you sent me to exile in Australia.”

I handed over a copy of my deed poll that recorded my change of name. Attached to it was a copy of my driving license showing my now legal female name.

“Why would he do something like that?” asked my father.

“Probably because he is up to no good. Like this.”

I handed over a copy of the cheque and bill of sale that David had written to the gallery.

"As you can see David is trying to buy six paintings using my name and the family business account. That is very much an act of fraud. I am not and have not ever been a signatory on the company account. If such a signature has been added then it is not mine. You made it clear that when I rejected having anything to do with the business that I could never return unless it was to start right at the bottom. There is no reason for me to want to be a signatory on the account as you well know. For your information, I am still in the 'never want anything to do with the business' camp so why would I want to buy my own pictures from the gallery that I'm using to sell them? The only reason I could think of is that he’s using it as a tax fiddle. Melody and I saw him leaving the gallery on Marylebone High St after writing out the cheque."

I gave my Father some more credit because he took the time to look at the cheque and bill of sale.

“Are you trying to tell me that your childish dabbling's with a paintbrush is worth thousands?"

“Yes. I am. Why are you surprised? I subsequently discovered that David bought four paintings from my previous show, some eighteen months
ago. I’m surprised that they aren’t on show here?”

“He did nothing of the sort!” retorted my Father.

“He did and here is the invoice and the shipping details. The address where they were shipped to is here.”

Once again, I gave him the evidence.

“What else do you have?”

I have lots. It is all documented here in this folder. You might like to look at the last page.

I put the folder onto the desk in front of him.

“That is a copy of a lease of a warehouse just off the M66 near Bury. From my knowledge of the various businesses that come under the family business, there is no need for any new warehousing and especially that far away. There is plenty of spare capacity at the Hinckley site as you are well aware especially since the company has been trying to sublet half of it for over a year. David is up to no good. You must get a proper audit of the company done. I mean proper and with the real set of books. Not the ones that David shows you.”

“Why? You don’t have any interest in the company…”

“As you know only too well, I do have an interest thanks to the shared that Grandfather left me but only indirectly. If you recall, I promised you years ago that I would put the shares I inherited into a trust. That trust is administered by my lawyer and accountant. That means that they are duty-bound to keep tabs on the company as trustees. It was they who alerted me to the issues outlined in that document. I could just get them to sell the shares which would make the company open to a takeover. I don't want you to do that but I will if only to get David out of being chairman. To me, he is up to no good as he has been all his life and as he has been all his life, he is trying to drop me in it big time which is what would have happened if this stuff had not come to light."

I didn’t let him respond. I carried on with what I’d spent half the night going through in my mind.

“I am very happy in my life. I make money from my painting. That is more than enough to live on and put some away for my retirement. |I am living full time as a woman and will continue my transition. Why on earth would I do these things with a business that I have expressed many times both verbally and in writing that I want nothing to do with ever! I only came… We only came here today to give you a heads up. If you choose to ignore it then fine but you have been warned.”

That was it. I was done.

“Come on Melody. I can see that we have outstayed our welcome.”

As we left the conservatory, I glanced back. My father was glaring at me but he had his hands on the file I’d left him. That told me that when he had cooled down, he’d start to sift through the evidence. In my mind, it was clear that David was up to no good but would what I’d given him be enough to not only get his attention but make him take action against David. That was now beyond my control.

---

“You should be a lawyer,” said Melody as I turned out onto the main road and headed towards Oxford.

“That factual demolition of his arguments is the sort of thing that lawyers live for…”

“No chance of that Melody. I tell the truth. I can’t lie. I have too many tells as my father knows only too well and has chosen to ignore far too often. Even today, while he was doubting my word he would have been reading those tells. I have to hope that upon reflection, he will come to the conclusion that I was telling the truth.”

“Don’t be so sure about him not believing you today. He nodded his head a good number of times when he read those documents. I’m sure that deep down he knows that you are right.”

“But is too proud to admit it as it will show weakness?”

“He is a proud man. That is clear. Perhaps the incident with his leg has taken some of the aurorae of invincibility away from him?” countered Melody.

I looked across at her.

"It sounds like you had an experience of something like that yourself?"

“I did. Dad was made redundant back in 2008. It hit him hard. The worst part was no longer being the main breadwinner. He found a new job but it paid a lot less than Mums. He was never really happy until 2010 when he got a job building the Olympic Stadium. That brought the old more dominant man back. I preferred the more submissive version. Once he was king of the castle again, he made sure that I knew that he was not going to let me fail my exams. It was failing my GCSE exams that tipped him over the edge. Even though I passed the resits with flying colours, he never made me forget it. Then he caught me wearing Mum’s wedding dress and that was it. I was out the door.”

“At least you had a clean break.”

I added,

"And yes, keeping some form of contact with my family is my own fault but spending three months camping out in the Western Australian bush made me realise that I needed to keep some form of contact even if it is very small, with my family until I found my own family. I've burned those bridges today. I’m on my own apart from my little sister.”

Melody went red in the face.

“What if I and Heidi get it together? You won’t have me around? I’m not saying that it is going to happen but it might.”

“Where has that innocent and petulant teenager that I rescued from the towpath gone?”

“You made me the person I have become. I had to grow up and you gave me space and guidance to do at least part of it. Isn’t, that what big sisters are for?”

I grinned. We were good.

“How about we go and see Roxy? According to the manager of the boatyard, she should be back in the water and there are some breast forms with your name on them waiting for you? After that perhaps you can go and see Heidi? I know from the long phone call that you had with her last night that you are missing her…”

Melody smiled and relaxed back in the seat.

“I thought that you would never ask.”

[to be continued]