My Secret Life
By
Rebecca Anna Coleman
Sequel To
Magnolia Blooms & Sakura Petals

-1-
A Letter From Dad

I took a deep breath as I gazed down at the letter that had arrived this morning. The letter was from my father, who I'd not seen since I was eleven and who I could go all the rest of my life without seeing. My father had divorced my mother when I was ten, the divorce had caused a minor scandal in our little town of Greenville. Mom had been raised Episcopal my dad had been raised Roman Catholic. Neither approved of divorce. Mom, the strong woman she was, had endured the scandal and kept her head above water.

Dad, who had been publicly humiliated by the ordeal and whose honor as well as his pride had been wounded as well as being blackballed from the local Masonic temple decided the best course of action would be to decamp from Greenville, and return to the red clay hills north of the Delta. There he could call upon his family to soothe his wounds and find solace. But he did not stop there, he decided to go one step further and kept going. His flight only ended when he found employment in the coal fields of northern and west-central Alabama.

There like I said he found some measure of meaningful employment and slowly he started the process of putting his life back together. Mom, who could have returned to her childhood home in Benton, refused to decamp from Greenville and decided to stick it out.

Now returning to the letter, the letter appeared out of the blue, I was not expecting it, and neither did I want it. But there it was sitting on my desk. I wanted to pick it up and toss it into the trash, or better yet burn it. But I was overcome with curiosity. There is an old saying that goes like this. “Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought it back.” So with trembling fingers I opened the letter and scanned the first line.

William. Typical Dad. I was looking around on the internet. Wow, dad knew what the internet was! Amazing somebody must give this man a round of applause! My new wife has introduced me to this new thing called MySpace. It seems you can find family members there. I found you, your sister, there but not your mother. I wanted to vomit. Of course the bastard discovers something new and the first thing he does is to go around and snoop on my sister and I. My sister hated the man with every fiber of her being. I don't blame her, the divorce was hard on my mother and her, I was too young at the time to know what was going on. But according to my mom my dad had left my mom and us in some pretty dire straights. My older brother had to enlist in the army as soon as he turned seventeen to support us while my sister went to work as soon as she could.

I don't think your sister has forgiven me. Well of course not, you walked out on us and forced her to get a job at sixteen to help support her mother and baby brother or baby sister,I was still trying to figure out the last part. And I admit I was something of a bastard. I should have taken better care of you two. Oh you think!

Anyway what I'm saying is I discovered your profile picture and well, the length of your hair worries me. You know what the Bible says about men having long hair? Anyway I don't want you turning into one of those sissy boys. I mean if I'm honest with you son, you look like a girl. Boys who look like girls have a hard time making it in this world. This world is cruel and unforgiving. I know I was not much of a father to you. And I think I might have made a mistake in letting your mother raise you. Because clearly you are being raised the wrong way.

I blinked and blinked again. I wanted to tear the paper to pieces and then throw it into the trash can or get the neighbor's cat to piss on it. But then it dawned on me, if the length of my hair had bothered him enough that he would write a letter, what would he say if he discovered I was building a collection of girls clothing? What would I say if I was going to start writing under the pen-name “Aoi-Chan” first the girl at the Bazaar and now this.

Anyway I'm including a check for a hundred and twenty dollars. Use it to find a proper barber, Greenville has to have one. And get a proper haircut. A good old fashioned one. Like one you got before I left Greenville. And I want to use the rest to buy you some real clothes. You're a man William, it's time you start dressing and acting like one. I love you and only want the best for you.

I felt a sudden rage come over me, I wanted to break something, but I took a deep breath and collected my thoughts and just as the old man said, at the bottom of the letter I found a check, the amount was one hundred and twenty dollars. I blinked and blinked again. A hundred and twenty pieces of silver. Slowly a little smile formed upon my lips.

“I'm going to put this into the war chest.” I said smiling. “Of course daddy, I'll buy some 'Real Clothes'” I said rubbing my hands together. “I'll buy some clothes that show the real me.. and then when I'm ready I'll update my Myspace Account to show the world who I really am!”

End Chapter 1