Denise - New Beginning

Life was good. A couple of years out of school, I was working as a business software developer in the mini-silicon valley near the university. I was sharing a flat with a couple of undergrads. Unfortunately, both of my "roomies" were about to graduate. One was an ROTC type and would be going off to helicopter flight training in Alabama and the other, an education major, would be going to a teaching job across the state.

Although I was making a respectable salary, I wasn't so enthralled with the apartment that I wanted to pay full rent on it. So, it was either try two new at least semi-compatible roommates or go somewhere else myself. My older sister, Margot, lived across town. In one of my infrequent conversations with her I mentioned my dilemma. "Oh," Margot responded, "Denise and I just lost a roommate, too." She paused, as if considering the situation, then added perkily, "Maybe you could move in with us, little brother. At least for a little while."

Problem solved, right? Well no. Nothing is ever as simple as it seems. First of all, there's my sister who, in her own word, ls a "Flaming Lesbian." Seems like the only males she has ever been able to be more than passing civil with were our father and I. She is socially and, I'm pretty sure, sexually active.

I've occasionally been exposed to her crowd at her apartment. She even dragged me to a PFLAG meeting and an LGBT group social. While I guess I can handle her orientation on an intellectual level, I was just uncomfortable being among people of those persuasions, other than her. If I were to move into her apartment, I'd probably have to force myself to wear a non-homophobe expression till my face ached.

Then there was the matter of Denise. She used to be Dennis till she was about ten or eleven. Dennis' parents were wealthy an apparently more understanding than I could imagine, so they found a therapist for Dennis and a sympathetic private school that would accept him as a female or transsexual or what-ever. The therapist arranged for hormone treatments, and school enrollment was accomplished. Dennis disappeared and Denise came into being. However, she had never taken the final step and was still equipped with male plumbing.