15 - As the Years Pass - Draft

Juanita and Bird spent the years after their wedding building a life together. Although it was sometimes difficult to get by or find work with their pasts, they managed to buy a small house in their neighborhood and raise a beautiful daughter named Jordan who was their pride and joy.

Jordan carried on the best qualities from both of her parents. The whole neighborhood grew to love and respect her as they had her parents. When Jordan discovered that she was a guy, it was no surprise to anyone. People commented about the superficial aspects of gender like how she never wanted to wear dresses and preferred toys and activities that were typical of boys but they also just knew. There was no easy explanation to how they knew that she was a boy. It’s just who he was.

Every argument given could be explained in a different context. There are plenty of tomboys who are girls. Juanita herself is a strong, independent woman. Being a lesbian didn’t make you a boy, just look at Grandma Frannie.

No, there was no one thing to point to that told you Jordan was a boy. Some believed that it was that most of his traits were masculine. Others believed that gender is a social construct and that we all possess traits of both sexes, which is true enough. The reason or logic behind it didn’t matter though. Jordan was loved, supported and respected by all who knew him as a lovely boy and young man.

When Jordan came of age, the entire neighborhood came together several times to raise funds for his transitional care of psychological evaluations, testosterone and top surgery. In this community he flourished into a remarkable young man.

Everyone knew that life wasn’t so idyllic for people like Jordan in most places. Both men and women were raped, tortured and murdered with little regard to the victims who many referred to as freaks. Most lived their lives with daily insults; restrictions in health care, public and private life; and physical abuse.

Shortly after Jordan’s transition, Queen Narcissus herself declared that transgender people were an abomination that must be eradicated. To accomplish this she enacted numerous laws that were announced as protections for children against predators.

All citizens were to be referred to by their gender at birth. If anyone suspected that a minor was queer or genderqueer, their parents must be notified or else receive jail time. Absolutely no more transitions through drugs or surgery would be allowed for anyone. Performances by anyone in drag were prohibited. Bathroom usage was restricted to one’s gender at birth in both public and private restrooms.

Jordan and his community watched in horror as the effects of these laws rippled throughout the country. Already high suicide rates for trans and queer people were skyrocketing. Children who were suspected of being trans or queer were reported to their parents who beat them, berated them and kicked them out of their houses. While the streets already had their fair share of kids kicked out of their homes for their gender or sexuality, the numbers increased significantly.

Any person who looked even slightly different from the gender on the bathroom door would be harassed, beaten and sometimes killed. Women who had lost their hair or had facial hair due to illness or biology were beaten for attempting to use the women’s restroom. Trans people who had already transitioned were put in the toughest spot of all. The law stated that they had to use a bathroom that didn’t align with their physical appearance. This led many to avoid them altogether.

Those who knew and loved trans people became extra protective and vigilant. This was no truer than with Jordan. Someone generally accompanied him outside of their neighborhood. If he went alone, he had to check in frequently with his parents. Every detail of his time outside of the neighborhood was planned to mitigate any potential problems.

Only travel in daylight. Stay in crowded areas with police close by. If your car breaks down, lock your doors and call for help. Be hyper vigilant. Look for the attack before it happens. If something doesn’t feel right, leave quickly. Keep items that can be used as weapons within reach. Never let your guard down.

Grandma Frannie was always close to Jordan and probably knew before anyone else who he was. She also knew the very real dangers that he faced. She had told Jordan the stories of her life with his Grandma Henrietta numerous times. She wanted him to know all aspects of being different. The wonderful feeling of finding the love of your life. The pain of having to hide that love. The abuse that was inflicted upon Henrietta and Juanita for being Black. The abuse when people discovered that she and Henrietta were lesbians. The laws designed to hurt those who are different.

While Frannie knew more about the dangers that faced Jordan than his parents, she didn’t worry as much because she had learned that bad things happen even with the best of plans. There was no sense worrying beyond that. She knew that Jordan would be careful and could take care of himself, just like his Grandma Henrietta did.

When the laws were enacted and the fallout began, Juanita became a mother bear. She wouldn’t allow Jordan to work outside of their neighborhood to make more money and save for his future. Instead she looked for a higher paying job even if it meant time away from her beloved family and community to secure his future.

This is when fate intervened. The Royal Wing of the hospital was seeking a nurse to take care of one patient who was bedridden. The salary was phenomenal so she jumped at the opportunity even though she doubted that she’d be lucky enough to get it.

Juanita interviewed with the head doctor of the Royal Wing. Her references and job history along with a background check had already been completed ahead of time. She was pleasantly surprised that the interview had gone so well. The doctor had invited her to meet her potential patient after signing a confidentiality agreement. She jumped at the opportunity.

The doctor led Juanita into a darkened hospital room with one lone bed in the center. He cautioned her to remain quiet and speak only in hushed tones so as not to agitate the patient. They moved slowly and cautiously towards the bed.

“Princess Darcy, it is Doctor Alfred. I just wanted your potential new nurse to meet you,” he began.

Juanita was shocked. She saw the lifeless body of her sister before her. It had been over twenty years since they had seen each other. She looked so sick and frail.

“Princess Darcy, this is,” he continued before Juanita cut him off.

“Hello, Your Highness. I’m Angela,” she said before turning to the doctor. “It’s a nickname. What most people call me.”

Juanita turned back to Darcy and smiled brightly with a tear in her eye. Her beloved sister was right here before her. She had a mixture of intense joy, sorrow for her condition and fear of being rejected by her. She made up a name so that Darcy wouldn’t suffer the shock of hearing her true name and to keep her identity secret, at least for now.

Darcy struggled to open her eyes out of politeness and looked upon the face before her. While her brain struggled with basic tasks that are automatic in healthy individuals, something inside of there had a glimmer of recognition or understanding for Darcy managed to smile for the first time since Aisha’s death.

“That’s incredible. You must be an angel. She hasn’t had any signs of emotion or cognition since she arrived here many years ago,” the doctor exclaimed in hushed tones.

Juanita looked back at Darcy, held her hand, smiled and said, “Angel with an A. The devil in disguise,” before winking at her. Darcy had always enjoyed a good turn of phrase. She managed a slight chuckle and lightly squeezed her hand.

“That’s amazing. I’ve never seen such a response before. Well, obviously you have the job if you want it. Name your salary,” he exclaimed while sticking out his hand towards her.

“I’ll take it,” she said while shaking his hand. She turned back to Darcy and asked, “If that’s alright with you, Chica?”

While calling her Royal Highness Chica was hardly appropriate, Darcy slightly nodded her assent, so the doctor let it slide.

“I’ll see you tomorrow. I promise,” she said smiling brightly before letting go of her hand and turning away.

Juanita and the doctor returned to his office to further discuss the position and Darcy’s condition. Juanita was in shock. The news reports of her tragic marriage and collapse were the last that she had heard. She didn’t know what had become of her after that.

“I’m not sure if you remember the news reports from about twenty years ago when her husband murdered his sister in front of her. She collapsed into a paralytic state after that. I presume that the shock was too much for her. This occurred five years before that as well when she was rescued from her nanny but she managed to recover from that episode. We have had some minor successes but nothing as remarkable as what I just witnessed and certainly nothing long lasting.

Since the brain is a complex and delicate organ that we know little about, we can’t say for sure what is wrong with her. Doing any psychological tests is impossible since she has been unresponsive. She could’ve had a psychological break or it could be something organic like a virus that caused chaos in her central nervous system and the shock triggered a shutdown. We just don’t know.

What we do know is that any activity from moving her to speaking to her, causes her great distress. Any sensory input is also devastating to her. That is why she’s in a darkened room, we speak in hushed tones and avoid all scents. We will wash your uniform here in unscented detergent to avoid any issues. We ask that you avoid any scented products like shampoo, lotion or perfume. You can change and shower here to avoid any outside odors.

Since she’s in this paralytic state, she is doubly incontinent so that will need to be attended to with great delicacy to mitigate the pain. She has a feeding tube that will have to be used and tended to.

We have discovered that she is immune compromised so if you feel even mildly ill, we ask that you stay home. You will still be compensated for those days.