The Last State Is The Best - Chapter 9 free porn video

Chapter 9 - On the evening news Wickenburg, Arizona is no metropolis. But it is large enough to rate bold print on the road atlas. After miles and miles of wide open spaces south of Kingman, pulling into this town signals a return to civilization. Wickenburg is the southern terminus of US 93, coming to an end at US 60. However, if you look at an Arizona road map, it looks like it is US 93 that continues straight toward Phoenix, not US 60. Lois negotiated the tricky traffic circle that put her onto US 60, heading southeast. But first, not far from the traffic circle, she found her next stop for the day, a Subway. She would get a foot-long sub and make it a meal. She would eat half for lunch and take the rest with her and it would serve as her dinner, too. She knew where she would be staying the night in Phoenix and didn't intend to do much exploring in that neighborhood. Lois mused to herself that once she moved away from New York, this would be the only Subway she would be seeing. She also liked the restaurants, especially the ones that still had the prints of the old subway maps on the walls. But she would miss riding the trains, even though it was only on rare occasions that she did it these days. Still, the New York City subways were in her blood, and the love she developed for them at an early age were a major factor in her erstwhile desire to become a transportation engineer. The Las Vegas monorail that she rode the day before was nice and modern, but it was like a child's train set under the tree compared to the subways that were a block away from the home to which her parents brought her home from the hospital after she was born. Her body refreshed, Lois stepped back into the stifling heat of an Arizona summer day. While she could take US 60 into Arizona, she decided weeks earlier to turn off of US 60 after about 10 miles and take Arizona Route 74 east to Interstate 17. While it was 6 miles longer, she was delighted to find that it was projected to take 12 minutes less than staying on US 60 until reaching one of the loop freeways. But she chose the route for a totally different reason. Another one of her musical favorites was Gordon Lightfoot, and at the point where Route 74 crossed Interstate 17, the road was also known as Carefree Highway (Carefree Arizona being a little further east of the interchange). Lois didn't have the song on any of the CD's she brought with her, but she remembered most of the lyrics. There was no symbolism here, either. They were as foreign to her as Arizona seemed to be to a Canadian singer- songwriter who was more likely to be singing about Canadian railroads and boats on Lake Superior. Although the song is about a broken relationship from the man's point of view, the lyrics had no personal meaning for Louis. Lois just liked the tune and the way Lightfoot sang it. And she liked it enough that she hoped to see a road sign proclaiming the name of the road. She had her digital camera handy to take a picture of it when she spotted one. Unfortunately, the only one she saw was when she had already started turning onto the entrance ramp to the Interstate. Concerned that the ramp was considered emergency stopping only, she kept going. However, some miles back, she was amused to see, out in the middle of nowhere, signs along Route 74 proclaiming that she had entered the city limits of Phoenix. It was about as urban as it would be if someone posted a sign at a certain location along the border between international waters and the territorial waters of the United States, declaring that you had just entered New York City. Where Lois had gotten on the Interstate, development was still rather sparse, though the signs of further development coming soon were evident. But within a few exits, the traffic increased and Lois was now back in urban sprawl. Would urbanized Phoenix actually reach Route 74 someday, and if so, how long would it take, Lois wondered. She was back in the city where she had started her trip. Her vacation was coming to an end. A new life was around the corner. There were just a few more details to handle before flying back east. Gordon Lightfoot was replaced by Glen Campbell, as "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" ran through Lois's mind. She wondered what her friends were doing. Regarding her new friends in Vegas, Steve would be close to finishing his tour, while Melissa and the rest of her future co-workers in the offices would be looking forward to the end of their workday. Back east, Crystal was still on her job while Connie was probably getting off the train from her evening commute. Josie and Linda were finishing up dinner. Lois realized that she would now have two sets of friends who would probably never get to know each other, as they would be thousands of miles apart. The increased traffic quickly brought Lois's attention back to the road. She also pulled her directions a little closer, stealing furtive glances at them when the traffic allowed. She repeated them a few times like a mantra: exit onto I10 east, then continue east on Route 202. After that, she would be exiting onto local streets near the airport. The north-south streets were numbered, while the east-west streets were named after Presidents in this section of Phoenix. It wouldn't be too hard to remember where to go. And once she was on local streets, she could depend upon a red light now and again to give her a chance to refresh her memory. Lois flipped on the radio, now that she knew it would be no problem pulling in the Phoenix stations. She wasn't that familiar with the roads, but if a traffic report came on, maybe it would help her avoid an unnecessary delay. Still, she was well ahead of check-in time at her motel for the night. She found her exit off of Route 202 without a problem. She was in a neighborhood mixed between light industrial usage and low income housing - mostly bungalows and other small houses in various states of disrepair. Vegetation was scarce. Scarcer still were people, wisely avoiding the late afternoon heat. Lois heard a radio station give the temperature as 106 degrees. The lack of humidity was more than made up for by the scorching sun, blazing through a cloudless sky. And the asphalt streets crisscrossing the lifeless landscape held the heat very well. Lois had caught a glimpse of this area when she took the light rail from the convention center district to the airport to pick up her rental car. Now she was in the heart of it. It's only for a few hours, she reminded herself. Tomorrow, it will only be a short drive to the airport, and it will still be dark when I leave the motel. A few blocks south of the freeway, she found Van Buren Street. She turned onto it and began to look for the motel. She noted that there were a few gas stations nearby. She could have stopped to get gas at one of them, to fill the tank, thus avoiding the outrageous rental car charge to do it for her. She had neglected to check online for the location with the lowest price before she left. But that should be no problem, as she always chose a motel that offered high speed internet in the rooms. She didn't want to leave her laptop in the car overnight anyway. So she would check-in to the motel, set up her laptop and check the latest info. Besides, she had finished most of her beverage at Subway or in the car between Wickenburg and Phoenix. She would pick up something when she bought the gas, preferably an Arizona Sweet Tea. Lois spotted the motel and pulled into the parking lot, which was nearly deserted. Parking in one of the check-in spaces, she braved her way through a few steps in the stifling heat. It wasn't much better in the motel office. An undersized air conditioner dribbled out a few zephyr's of cooler air, barely holding the desert blast furnace at bay. She glanced around the office as she rang the bell and waited for someone to emerge. The d?cor was early trailer park. It was probably showing its age during the Cuban Missile Crisis. How far she had come down from New York New York in such a short time. Lois kept reminding herself that she would be gone from this motel in a little over twelve hours. The desk clerk finally came out. Lois was in no mood for small talk and did her best to ignore the man's leering eyes. She took the key card and drove down to Room 119. Of course, the motel room door opened to the parking lot rather than to an interior hallway. Well, at least it faced east, so the afternoon sun hadn't been beating down on it. Gathering the remnants of her lunch, laptop and small overnight bag, Lois opened the door to her room. No air conditioner greeted her. It had to be close to ninety degrees inside. She flipped on the light, and immediately regretted doing so with the sight that it revealed. She threw on the air conditioner and was grateful that at least it seemed to work okay. But she knew it would take a long time before it would cool the room to a comfortable temperature. Lois wasn't hungry for dinner yet, so needed to do something with the sandwich to keep it cool. She checked her folder. The room was supposed to have a refrigerator. She found it just outside the bathroom, behind a little partition wall that separated the area from the rest of room. She opened it and estimated that it hadn't been cleaned since the Bush administration, which one of the three terms she wasn't sure. Someone who stayed in the room must have liked pizza, but not the crusts. There was a plastic bag full of pizza crusts on the bottom of the refrigerator. She was grateful that her sandwich was wrapped in paper and also had the plastic bag around it. (Lois had learned the trick a few years earlier of asking for the sandwich to go, even though she planned to eat half of it inside the restaurant. That way, she had something in which to carry the rest of it.) Now to set up her laptop and check the gas prices in a close radius to the motel. She had been told when she checked in that she needed a cable to connect to the high speed internet. That was no problem. She was prepared with one. What she wasn't prepared for was that the jack for the internet and the only available electrical outlet was next to where the cable tv signal entered the room: far away from any convenient place to use her laptop. Lois finally worked it out so that if she stretched the cable and power cord out at about two feet off the floor, and if she lay on her stomach (this was one of the few times in her life that she regretted her new breasts), she could work on the laptop while it was about a foot from the front right corner of the bed, with just enough slack in the cords that she didn't have to worry about them yanking the laptop off the bed and onto the floor. Still, any time she wasn't using it for more than a minute or two, she brought it across the room and placed it on the floor next to the wall where it would be out of danger. The rest of the accommodations weren't much better. There were even odds that she would come out of the shower dirtier than when she went in. The hot water tap in the sink was frozen tight. Stains liberally dotted the carpet and easy chair, obscured only by the dim light of the lamps in the room. Cigarette burns provided a significant portion of the design of the bedspread. Lois was afraid to pull down the spread to see what the sheets looked like. She planned to sleep fully dressed on top of the bedspread. Wonder upon wonder, she was able to connect to the Internet. But now she had more something more immediate to address than checking the price of gas. She was staying in a motel that was part of a national chain and she wanted to make a complaint to their headquarters. Even though this location was under their low-end brand name, there are still some basic amenities you expect, like simple cleanness. Lois also knew that complaining at the front desk would do no good, and she didn't want to face leering eyes again. Unfortunately, calling headquarters did not provide much more satisfaction. She reached some bimbette with the customer service ability of a flea who kept insisting that there wasn't much that could be done about it, because the motel she was staying in was franchised. She would try to reach the franchise owner and have him call Lois, and she promised that a complaint form could be e-mailed to her by Monday. (Neither ever happened.) Lois considered introducing her "husband" and reverting to her old voice as best as she could, as much as she hated the reminder of it. In the end, she decided against it as she had checked into the room as one person. Doing so could bring unwanted attention to her, not to mention insult being added to injury by getting charged for an extra person being in the room. One of the few things she missed about her old life was the extra measure of respect and deference men often get, even when dealing with women. Lois thought about her ride through the desert and the truth that came to her in connection with listening to the Moody Blues. Wasn't the opening line something about being after a journey? She was at the end of her journey, wasn't she? Where was the balance and the magnificent perfection? She'd settle from some average mediocrity right about now. What was it about the Universe that managed to come up with a doozy of a test of the amazing truth you had just uncovered? "Oh well. Let's go back online, survey the gas prices, fill up and settle in for the night. It couldn't get much worse than this, could it?" For some reason, Lois had forgotten how many people over the years had advised her to never say such a thing. According to the latest information on the website she used, the cheapest gas was at a station at the corner of 32nd and Van Buren, a "no name" brand. She had remembered passing it, but just to make sure, she checked the street view and it looked like there was a convenience store where she could buy a beverage. It was close to six o'clock by the time she ventured back outside. The sun was lower on the horizon now. The temperature had dropped a few degrees but still had to be close to a hundred. Lois opened the front window a crack to let out the trapped hot air, cranked up the a/c and the fan and headed out on the road. In a matter of minutes she was pulling into the gas station. Lois pulled up to a pump. Getting out, she saw the small hand lettered sign on the antiquated device: "PAY INSIDE BEFORE DISPENSING GAS". It was the first gas pump she had seen in years that didn't have a way to pay by credit or debit card. No matter. She was going to go inside to get her beverage, anyway. She only needed about a quarter of a tank. All she wanted to do was go inside, find the first bottle of cold beverage that appealed to her, give her credit card to the clerk, pump her gas, get her card and receipt and get back to the nasty room. She noticed five people loitering outside the door to the convenience store, but she thought nothing of it. She walked to the door without incident or conversation, only to find she couldn't open the door despite yanking on it three times. It was then that one of the loiterers told her that the clerk is working by himself inside and he locks the door and puts everyone out when he needs to use the bathroom. Lois thought it over for a moment and then she decided that she would feel safer waiting in the car. She could see when the door was being opened easily enough from that vantage point. But before she could turn and walk back to her car, the only other woman present asked her if she had a light for her cigarette. Lois barely had time to reply that she didn't smoke when she felt herself being grabbed from behind. You never know how you are going to react in a situation, even if you have been in a similar situation before. Lois had done her best to avoid any situations that smelled like they threatened physical harm. Feeling more vulnerable as a woman (and also a more likely target), she had changed a few of her habits when she transitioned in accord with her increased need to feel safe. Years earlier, Louis had been involved in three incidents with strangers, all within the space of about a year, where a decision had to be made on the spot in response to a physical threat. The first came when Louis was outside of a housing project auditorium. There was an audience inside (including Louis's parents), watching a children's theater performance. He was at a table with a small cash box, filled with the receipts from the best audience they had ever had, because he was able to get a feature on the show from Cue Magazine. Unfortunately, Louis also had an audience: two guys who were hanging around the front door of the lobby. The moment that Louis dropped his pencil and bent over to pick it up off of the floor, they were on the cash box in a flash and ran out the door. Louis didn't hesitate a second in giving chase, caring nothing about the suit he was wearing. He caught up to them, too, as they failed to negotiate a sharp turn on the sidewalk. But if they struggled with their footing while wearing sneakers, Louis was in even bigger trouble at that same turn, skidding on the slippery soles of his dress shoes. As he struggled to get up, the pair took off again and disappeared. All he got for his troubles was a torn pair of pants and torn skin on his knee. A few months later, Louis was hungry and there was nothing appealing in the kitchen. Even though it was about ten o'clock at night, he was in the city that never sleeps and he knew where he could get a snack, probably a milk shake. Foolishly, he walked past the park instead of taking the extra few steps to walk on the other side of the street. A man jumped out of the darkness at him, acted as if he had a gun in his pocket and demanded all of Louis's money. Louis didn't argue the point. Even though he didn't have much on him, it was the most expensive milk shake he never had. With his financial state at the time, he couldn't afford to lose a penny. Incredibly, a week or so later, the same young man accosted him again. This time it was in broad daylight while Louis was walking to the subway. Louis got a better look at the young man, saw he wasn't that big and figured he had a better chance of resisting him in broad daylight. But first he tried to get the young man to leave him alone. He told him that if he was going to keep picking on him, he wasn't afraid of dying because he wouldn't put up with a situation where he was constantly being attacked. Whether he scared off the attacker, fought him off or died trying mattered little to Louis. He was already in something of a depressed state, one ingredient that promotes foolhardy behavior. In response, the attacker stayed right on Louis's elbow and kept trash talking him, telling him he had buddies waiting down the street that would help him. Louis just kept walking steadfastly toward the subway. His hope was to reach the token booth and ask the attendant to call the police if the attacker followed him down there. The attacker had other plans. He waited right until they got to the top of the subway stairs. Then, shouting out to unseen buddies for help, he swung at Louis. Only this time, Louis was not empty-handed. He was carrying a briefcase, and using his quick reflexes, he was able to turn and ward off the blow. Before any further punches could come (and the buddies, if they existed at all, never showed up) a middle-aged woman came up the stairs, saw what was happening and screamed. With that the young man ran off. From then on, Louis was careful about going out at night alone. He lived in that neighborhood about three more months, but never saw the young man again. These were the scenes that flashed through Lois's mind right after she was grabbed. It is amazing how so much can come to mind in a split second. But this attack was different than those incidents from long ago. First of all, an attacker never took hold of her in any of the previous attacks. Second, she was in totally unfamiliar territory. Third, she had never been faced with being attacked as a woman. Yes, she went to the gym regularly and was in fairly good shape. But she was still on the smaller side, even for a woman. Her most muscular feature was her legs. But unless she could get free, she couldn't run. And even if she could run, where would she go? Could she make it inside the car and lock it before he would get to her again. Even worse, how many of them were in on the attack? While all this was running through her mind at light speed, only one thing came out of Lois's mouth, a loud, shrill, "Noooooooooooo!" "Quiet, chica, and you won't get hurt." With that, her assailant pulled up tighter under her breasts with his right arm, so that her toes were barely touching the ground. That pulled Lois high enough for his left hand to reach between her legs and lift her off the ground completely. Other than some ineffective thrashing around, she was immobilized. "You are hurting me," Lois sobbed. "Not as bad as I will hurt you if you keep resisting." With that, her assailant pushed on the top of her tee shirt and began to fondle her breasts while Lois cried softly in response. "Very nice tits, chica. Nice and soft and round, just the way I like them. What's a pretty Anglo girl like you doing here? I don't recognize you. You're not from this area, si? I think maybe you are puta, looking for a new place to work." "I-i-i-I'm just trying to get some gas so I can go back to my motel room for the night," Lois managed to say between sobs. "Ah, motel room. See, you are a puta. Only whores use the motels in this neighborhood. Maybe you already have a purse full of dinero from your Johns? Well, puta, to show you that I am not a bad guy, I give you a choice. You give me the money in your purse and if there is enough in there to satisfy me, maybe I let you go. Or, you let me show you why I never have to pay to have my fun, and I'll let you keep your money." Lois searched desperately for the woman who asked for the light. All Lois could do was hope that the woman did not do it deliberately to help the assailant, and further hope that their connection as women was stronger than the ethnic bond that she shared with the others. Finding her, she moaned, "Help me!" "You think any of these people are going to help you, puta? These are my people. We live together in this barrio. You are an intruder. In fact, you probably look down on us, don't you, puta?" With that, he began to rub her crotch roughly through her shorts. At the same time, he found her left nipple and he started rolling it around between his fingers. As a result, Lois could only moan in response. "Ay, I think she likes it rough. I show you how much help you get in the barrio, puta. Come on hombres, help me with this fine chica, and I give each of you a turn ... if you don't mind sloppy seconds," he said with a chuckle. "She is starting to get wet down here," he said, pointing with the index finger of his left hand. "Maybe, it's sweat, but we find out soon for sure, right, puta?" "Emilio, you loco?" one of them responded. "It's still daylight out. We can get caught. The guy inside the store might call the cops on us." "Pendejo!" Emilio spat back. "Why not give her my last name and address, too? And you think the store clerk is going to call the cops on us? He's smart enough to know that if he does that, we come back for him and his cash register." Nevertheless, none of the other men moved to join Emilio in his assault on Lois. But no one moved to help her, either. Emilio continued to paw roughly and Lois's crotch and play with her nipple. Between the fear, shock and sexual stimulation, Lois was nearly passed out, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She continued to moan softly. Her resistance to Emilio was fading away as her body began to grow limp. Emilio sensed the change and said to his uncooperative friend, "No matter. In her condition, she probably didn't hear you, anyway. More fun for me." Then to Lois he said, "Come, chica. We get nice and comfortable in my van over there. You can lie down and get out of the sun and find out why all the barrio girls love me. I give you the full treatment. I promise to be gentle ... at first, anyway. After that, when you start to feel me deep inside you, you won't care how gentle I am. You'll be begging for more. I'm going to spoil you for all your needle-dicked white Johns who can't get any without paying for it." As he finished his bragging, Emilio began to lift Lois into a cradle hold. But before he could complete his move, two patrol cars of the Phoenix Police Department pulled into the gas station, one from Van Buren and the other from the 32nd Street side. Emilio let go of Lois and tried running off as Lois slumped to the ground. Four police officers quickly jumped out of their patrol cars and all four men were apprehended. The woman escaped. Officer Gina Chavez, the only woman officer of the four police officers, quickly went to Lois's side. She was still sprawled indecorously on the pavement. "Are you alright, Ma'am?" "I ... I guess so. I can't stop shaking." "You're safe now, Ma'am. We caught the four men who were here, including the one who was holding you. But we'll still need your statement. Let's go inside where it's cooler." Officer Chavez helped Lois to her feet and to the door of the convenience store. She rapped the back of her hand on the glass door. "Open up, Sam. It's safe to come out now." Despite what Emilio said, Lois assumed that Sam was her benefactor, making the call that brought the police. But when she was about to say thank you to Sam, he seemed to be glaring at her. So she said nothing for now. Officer Chavez asked Lois some routine questions about who she was, where she was from and what she was doing there. She didn't find anything unusual about Lois staying at the motel to fly out the next day and that she came to the gas station so her tank would be full when she returned her rental car the next morning. "Okay, Ms. Simmons, take your time and tell me what happened as best as you can." So Lois explained how there were four men and one woman hanging outside the door of the convenience store when she arrived and that one of them told her that the owner had locked the door because he was using the bathroom. Officer Chavez glanced over at Sam at that point, and he nodded "yes", still scowling. Lois then explained that she felt uncomfortable about waiting out there and she started to go back to her car when the woman asked for a light for her cigarette. When she replied that she didn't have one, that was when she was grabbed from behind. The woman officer asked if Lois thought the woman was part of what happened. Lois replied that she couldn't say for sure. All she knew was that the woman didn't help when she pleaded with her, but that she and the other men didn't help the assailant when he asked them to. "Could you identify him if you saw him again in a lineup?" Lois shook her head "no". "I saw four men when I first approached, but I didn't take a close look at any of them. After he grabbed me from behind, I never was facing him. All I can tell you Is that he spoke with a Hispanic accent and used some Spanish words. And one of the other men called him Emilio. I did get a look at his right forearm. Give me a moment ... he had tan skin and I think he had something on his forearm ... a tattoo, maybe." Lois thought for a minute. "Yes, a tattoo: a black dagger with red blood dripping from the tip of the blade, I think. And I know I would recognize his voice if I heard it again. I just hope I don't have nightmares from that voice." "You're doing fine, Ms. Simmons. And you'll be glad to know that we caught all four men. We can hold them for questioning until well after you have flown home. Now, is there anything else you remember? Anything at all?" "I'm sorry. Nothing comes to mind right now." "That's okay. You've been very helpful. I'm going to give you my card, and you can call this number if you think of anything else." After Officer Chavez handed the card to Lois, she added, "How do you feel? Would you like to go to the hospital to get checked out? Any cuts or bad bruises anywhere?" The officer took a closer look at Lois's eyes when she asked that, to see if they gave any clues to head injuries. But Lois said she felt okay, just a little weak and shaky still. "Well, why don't you take care of what you came here for. Get your gasoline and beverage ... oh, and do you have anything you can throw on to cover your torn tee shirt. If you move certain ways, you are giving a little bit of a show." Lois blushed a bit, the first time the color came back to her cheeks since she was assaulted. "I left most of my luggage in the car since I didn't need to bring it into the room just to repack everything tomorrow morning. I can find something in there, even if it is a little dirty." "Good. Pay for the gasoline. Let's see. You're at pump number three." Then yelling across the room, "She's at pump three, Sam." Turning her attention back to Lois, she added, "You can go through your bags while the gas is being pumped, and then come back here and change in the restroom. I'm sure one of the officers will help you set the pump so it keeps pumping unattended. And I will accompany you until you are ready to go back to the motel. Of course, I will wait outside the restroom while you change." Lois walked over to Sam and began to thank him. "Don't thank me, lady. I ain't no hero. Although I might as well have been. Emilio's buddies will think I called the cops and they will come back after me. So thanks a lot, lady." "I'm sorry ..." Lois began, but Officer Chavez rescued her from the confrontation by suggesting they go outside and take care of what needed to be done. What Officer Chavez didn't realize was that someone else had arrived on the scene: a news crew, complete with reporter, camera and news van. The reporter, who had been interviewing one of the other officers, saw Officer Chavez and Lois emerge from the convenience store. She announced to the "audience" (this was being taped for later broadcast, after editing) what was happening and motioned for the cameraman to follow her. Once again, Officer Chavez ran interference, stepping in front of Lois. "Please, this woman has just been through a terrible ordeal and her clothing has been torn. At least give her a chance to change before you put her on camera." Officer James Franklin came over to escort Lois to her car and help her with the gas pump while Anna Morales, the reporter, asked Officer Chavez about any statements that Lois might have made. In response, the officer was very professional to keep her statements very general so no damage would be done to compromise any future court case. Meanwhile, Officer Franklin cautioned Lois briefly to not mention anything about the assailant and to restrict her statements to how she felt about being rescued and so on. She should especially avoid saying that she didn't remember something, and that if she wasn't sure how to answer, she should say that she will be working with the police department on her case and they would provide any details when available. Fortunately, the laundry bag containing the tee shirt that Lois had worn on her date with Steve the night before was right on top inside her suitcase. She grabbed it and headed back inside the convenience store to change. By this time the four men who were being detained had been taken away. The other two officers left with them. Anna Morales tried to follow her inside. Officer Chavez asked her again to give Lois time to change. The reporter protested that she wanted to interview the store clerk, but as soon as she approached, he covered his face, so Anna told the cameraman to shut off the camera until Lois came out. Lois wanted to get this over with, so she quickly changed in the restroom, came out and grabbed the first thing she could find, a twelve ounce bottle of pink lemonade. By that time, Officer Franklin had already signaled Sam that the pumping had been completed. So Lois retrieved her change and some more icy stares from Sam. Once again, Officer Chavez escorted her outside. Anna Morales, with reporter's vigilance, signaled the camera to start rolling the tape and began, "This is Anna Morales, reporting to you once again from East Van Buren Street in Center City, near the airport. Coming toward us with a police officer is the victim of this evening's attack at this gas station. We have learned that her name is Lois Simmons, and she is visiting Phoenix from New York. "Ms. Simmons, can you tell us in your own words what happened?" "Well, it all happened so fast. It was very scary and I didn't know what was going to happen to me. It was a miracle that the police came when they did." "You mean no one told you how the police found out that you were being attacked?" "No," replied Lois, perplexed. "Our traffic reporter, Stanley Byrne, had just finished giving a traffic update on conditions at the 202/51 interchange when his pilot had been given some routine instructions to alter his flight path. That maneuver brought them right over this very spot and Stan alertly spotted what was happening and immediately got in touch with the police." "Well that still sounds like a miracle from the sky to me. Praise God, and Mr. Byrne wherever you are, thank you so much. You saved me. You are my hero and I will be eternally grateful to you." "Stan, I think you just found the new president of your fan club. And there you have it from Center City. A very grateful visitor to our city, thanking God and our news team for her rescue. This is Anna Morales reporting for your Valley of the Sun news station. Back to you, Chuck and Lisa." Lois was confused. "That's it?" she said, turning first to Anna and then to Officer Chavez. "That's it, hon," replied Anna. "I don't understand," said Lois. "I was expecting more questions." "Lois," replied Anna, "because you weren't seriously hurt, your story will be forgotten within a week. But the angle of our traffic reporter being a hero? We'll be able to milk a promo about that for months. We could even win some awards in connection with this, both within the news industry and some civic awards. And then we can plug it some more. And when we do our year-end review, we can play it up big all over again. "Besides that, Lois, you were great. Within thirty seconds of our interview, you gave the perfect tag line. I've been doing this long enough to know a great closing sound bite. Once you said it, there was no point in going any further. They only left to do was play off of it and throw it back to our news anchors." "I see," replied Lois, even though she still didn't really. Officer Chavez got Lois's attention and said, "Are you about ready to go, Ma'am? We can accompany you to your motel to make sure you get there safely. I suggest you make sure have everything you need once we get there. Then stay inside for the rest of the night with the door chain latched and the dead bolt engaged. What time do you need to leave for the airport?" "Around 5:30 in the morning." "Okay. You should be all right at that hour. I'll notify the watch commander to have a patrol car swing through the motel parking lot around that time just in case. Bring your stuff out to the car in as few trips as you can manage and take care of your checkout and departure as quickly as possible. And if you get any suspicious activity like a phone call to your room with a hang up or knocking on your door, call us immediately." Anna Morales was hanging around, waiting for the crew to finish loading the gear in the van. She overheard the officer's instructions to Lois. She interjected herself into the conversation. "Lois, are you sure you want to stay the night in this neighborhood? Do you know anyone in Phoenix you can stay with? Or maybe it would be worth the extra expense to have some peace of mind by staying in a better part of the city for the night." Lois looked at Officer Chavez and she nodded her head in agreement with Anna. "I do have some friends who live in one of the west valley suburbs. But I didn't want to ask them if I could spend the night at their place because I had to be at the airport so early in the morning." "Call them," replied Anna. "The worst they can do is say 'no'. But this is an emergency situation. If they are any kind of friends, I am sure they will say yes." Officer Franklin came out of the convenience store after talking with Sam and getting a cup of coffee. Officer Chavez updated him on what was transpiring. Lois pulled out her cell phone and dialed her friends, Larry and Bobbi. "Hi, this is Bobbi." "Bobbi, this Is Lois ..." "Lois! I didn't know if we would hear from you so when you got back in town. I know you said you would only be here a very short time. How are you? How was your trip after you left Phoenix?" "The rest of the trip was very good. I have a lot to tell you about that. But something more immediate has come up. I'm going to be on the news tonight. I was attacked when I went to gas up the rental car. The reporter and the police seem to think it might be a good idea if I don't stay in this neighborhood under the circumstances. Can you and Larry help me out for the night?" "Oh my God! Are you all right?" "Physically I am okay: maybe a little bruised. Fortunately, the police came by in the nick of time. But I feel shaky and a little scared to stay here." "I can hear it in your voice. Of course you can stay with us. Let me put Larry on the phone and he can work out the details with you." Bobbi handed the phone to Larry and briefed him on what happened to Lois. "Hey buddy, I hear you had a rough time." Larry and Bobbi knew Louis before they retired and moved to Arizona. Larry still struggled with the name sometimes, so it was easier for him to give the greeting that was his habit. Lois knew that Larry cared and had a good heart, so she went with it. "Yeah," replied Lois, "I found out the hard way why the lodging is cheaper in this part of town." "Unbelievable! You live in New York and you have to come out here to get mugged." "I keep telling you, Larry, the crime is worse in Phoenix than in New York," replied Lois in mock annoyance. "I just didn't expect to prove it personally." "Well, you don't have to worry about that now. You can stay the night with us. I guess you need directions on how to get here." In the background, Lois can hear Bobbi telling Larry, "No! I don't want her worrying about trying to find her way here when she is upset. I want you to pick her up and bring her here." For the first time since she checked into the motel, Lois can feel herself smiling. These little discussions between Larry and Bobbi are like a familiar blanket. Their regular bickering over little things was like rough pebbles covered over by an ocean of love for each other. When Louis first met them, he didn't quite get their relationship. Larry is Jewish and Bobbi, Catholic. Bobbi was a professional and Larry, more blue collar. But then, after they got to know each other better, Bobbi shared how Larry had stood by her when she battled her substance abuse. Then Louis understood the depth of their love and devotion. So it was consistent that they would be one of the couples who showed the strongest support for Lois when she transitioned. Larry got back on the phone with Lois. "Uh, Bobbi is telling me that she wants me to pick you up. Where are you?" "I'd appreciate that, Larry. I'm by the airport, and I was concerned that if I drove all the way out to the west suburbs and then back to the airport, I'd have to get gas again for the rental car and be at risk all over again. But if you pick me up, how will I get to the airport tomorrow?" "When do you have to be there?" "I was going to leave the motel around 5:30 so I would have time to turn in the rental car. But if I turn in the rental tonight before you pick me up, I can get here around 6 or 6:15 and still have plenty of time to check in and get through security." "That's no problem. You know I go to bed early and get up early. In fact, I will be hitting the sack a little while after I bring you here. But it's Friday night and Bobbi doesn't have anything scheduled for tomorrow. So the two of you can sit and talk as long as you want." Lois knew that Bobbi was a night owl and tended to be grouchy if she woke up before noon, while Larry was an early morning person. That was another way they made their marriage work: they only saw each other a couple of hours on most days. "Thank you, Larry. The police officers with me will escort me back to my motel room. I hardly have anything in there. I should be able to get my stuff and check out in fifteen or twenty minutes. Then the police won't need to baby sit me anymore and I can turn in the rental car. Can you meet me at the car rental location at Sky Harbor? I should be there in about thirty minutes. I can transfer my luggage to your car and then turn in the vehicle." "I should be right behind you. It takes about a half hour to get from our house to the airport." Larry turns from the phone and shouts, "Bobbi, are you ready to go?" Larry tells Lois, "She's ready. I just need to slip my feet in my sandals and we'll be out the door." "You guys are life savers. I don't know how I can ever repay you, but I'll think of something." "Forget about it. I'm sure you'd do the same for us. Okay, I'm going to put Bobbi back on while I put on my sandals and get the car out of the garage. See you soon." "Hi Lois. I feel better about us picking you up and taking you to the airport tomorrow morning. Larry just doesn't understand how a woman gets shaken up by something like this. It doesn't matter how brave a woman you are. Larry's honking the horn. I'll let you go so you can get done on your end. See you." And that pretty much wrapped up Lois's last adventure during her trip: an adventure she hadn't planned, could have done without and was grateful to have survived. It took a while, but over the years Lois would become better at being able to talk about it. The checkout at the motel and the meet up at the rental car center went without a hitch. Lois didn't want to talk about the attack right away, but then she realized that her friends didn't know about her really important news. And since Larry would be going to sleep soon after they arrived at their home, Lois gave them the short version in the car about Steve and Melissa and her getting the job and moving to Las Vegas. Larry and Bobbi were thrilled. They would be able to see a lot more of Lois now. They regularly went to Vegas for the weekend or a vacation week. And sometimes Bobbi had business seminars there. "Now I know what I can do for you to show my gratitude," exclaimed Lois. "The next time the two of you come to Vegas, you are going to get the VIP treatment, courtesy of MGM. Even if I won't have the juice to pull it off right away, I know it will be no problem for Melissa. You just let me know the first time you will be there after Labor Day, and we will work out the details." The three of them continued to visit for a few minutes after they arrived at Larry and Bobbi's house. Then Larry excused himself to go to sleep. That enabled Lois and Bobbi to get comfy and have a long girl to girl chat. With Bobbi having been on both sides of a counseling situation, combined with their long friendship, Lois could not have had a better person to be with so soon after being attacked. And the remainder of her sub provided a nice dose of comfort food. It wasn't always what Bobbi had to say. It was often the fact that she was there for Lois as she rode the roller coaster of emotions. There would be times when she would be feeling better, laughing, changing the subject. For example, they might start talking about Larry and Steve and men in general. Then something would trigger that horrible scene at the gas station and her body would become rigid and start to shake. Bobbi would be there to hold her hand, rub her back, hand her a tissue and let her know it was good to cry and get it out. There was only one time when Bobbi was not able to totally relate to what Lois had to say. That was when Lois suddenly bolted upright in a panic and gasped, "What of that bastard's lawyer finds out that I am trans and attacks me with that at the trial? All they need is one juror who is convinced that because I am transgendered, I am a sex-crazed freak who was asking for it or deserve whatever happened to me and I will have ruined the case." All Bobbi could do in response was to remind Lois not to project. It was not known if the defense would even find out that Lois was transgendered. It wasn't even known if the case would go to trial. In the end, Bobbi was proven correct. When Lois got back to New York, she consulted her personal attorney who advised her not to inform the Phoenix District Attorney's office about her gender history. It was not relevant to the case. But revealing it would put the DA in the difficult position of deciding whether it had to be disclosed to the defense. Lois was also helped by a number of other factors: thousands of people had seen the attack on television (but it wasn't a big enough story to go national, so none of the handful of people with a grudge against Lois ever saw it); Emilio's four companions (the woman was eventually caught, also) were most anxious to avoid charges and they all pointed the finger at Emilio as the sole perpetrator; Emilio's public defender was overworked, understaffed and not willing to spend precious resources looking into the background of a victim in an open and shut case. Having reviewed the tape of Lois's interview with Anna Martinez right after the attack, there was nothing to suggest that Lois was anything other than a business traveler trying to get home, his client's assertions that Lois was asking for it to the contrary. In the end, after much persuasion, Emilio's assigned attorney was able to convince him that he would almost certainly lose at trial and it would be best for him to take the deal being offered. About a year after Emilio was sentenced, Lois won the struggle inside and was able to show compassion to her attacker. She was able to write a letter to Emilio, telling him in all sincerity that she forgave him. Sometimes, such a gesture can provide tremendous healing to both the criminal and the victim and pave the way for the criminal's successful rehabilitation. In Emilio's case, this was not to be. He ignored Lois's letter. A few years' later, Lois was told that Emilio had been stabbed during a gang-related fight in prison and died. But for now, Lois just needed to get through this night. We'll never know if Lois would have been in danger had she stayed at the motel. We can say with certainty that it was good that she did not spend the night alone. Bobbi gave Lois time to let her emotions out, and used her judgment as to when she should steer the conversation back to a happier topic. But even that was tricky. Traumatic experience reaches deep inside a person, dredging up the junk that has been dormant in the depths of the mind. For example, there was one time when Bobbi brought the conversation back to Steve. And for a moment, Lois perked up. But then she became pensive. "There was another time in my life when I thought I found true love. But then it turned out that I never really knew that person at all." Bobbi interrupted, "From what you told me about Heidi, she sounded like a very special person." "Oh, she was. Intelligent, charming, a good sense of humor, motivated: she worked her way out of the slums to get a Master's Degree from an Ivy League university and she was a respected professional. On top of it all, she was absolutely gorgeous. And here I was, some schlub who didn't know which end was up. When things were good between us, she would tell me that I was 'too good to be true.' I should have known that someone like her falling for me was too good to be true. There had to be a catch. No one had ever been interested in me. And then suddenly a woman with everything going for her falls for someone like me? I should have looked harder, waited longer. Maybe I would have seen the hidden personality flaw before I got in so deep." "Lois, I am not going to let you get away with that. You are a good person. You deserve to have a good person in your life. Speaking as a professional, I can tell you that even we get deceived by people with deeply hidden personality disorders like PTSD. They only surface under certain circumstances. So don't be hard on yourself." "Maybe. But my track record since then stinks. Every person I picked to get into a relationship with had major flaws, and they were hardly hidden at all. Or perhaps I should say that they picked me. I was too timid to initiate a relationship. Or perhaps I was playing the passive gender role even then. I'll say this much, I had a personality issue hidden far deeper than Heidi had." Bobbi smiled and Lois continued. "All I know is that I was so lonely for companionship. And I kept getting into relationships that were doomed to fail. Out of desperation? Because deep down, I didn't want it to work because of the gender issues I was hiding? I don't know - maybe both. Yes, I am happier now in my new body. But in some ways, I am lonelier. I lost friends as a result of transition. Yes, I gained some, too, some very good friends. But the chance for a relationship seemed further away than ever. Now here I am, jumping at Steve even faster than I got involved with Heidi. What if this is just my old desperation tape playing again? What if Lois is just as bad at picking a partner as Louis was?" "Oh honey, I've got a drawer full of 'what if coins' from my days before twelve step. And do you know what I can buy with them? Absolutely nothing. If you keep thinking and projecting the worst, that's exactly what you can expect to get. Besides, Lois is far better at picking out clothing than Louis was. It may be the same way with picking a partner. Both of them are related to being comfortable in your own skin." Bobbi saw a smile sneak onto Lois's face. She continued, "Yes, your relationship developed with Steve very fast. But you're wiser, now. You've learned much more about yourself and about life. You've got your job situation squared away and that should mean that you won't be financially pushed into a relationship. And if your finances are good, you will be able to find a nice place to live, so you won't be pushed into moving in with Steve. All that's left is guarding your heart, watching your feelings and emotions. Take time to really get to know Steve. Observe him, observe the two of you together, in many different situations. And finally, don't forget that you have one more advantage now. You have girlfriends to rely on. Keep in touch with us and use us as your sounding board. Collectively, we'll know if there is something wrong that you aren't willing to face. And we'll know if it is right and you are dragging your feet." With this, Lois and Bobbi instinctively held their arms out and then joined each other in a hug. Lois just soaked up the comfort like a sponge. As she relaxed, she suddenly realized how tired she was. And it wouldn't be long before she would need to be getting ready for the trip to the airport and her flight. As they withdrew from their hug, Lois said, "Bobbi, I have a very important question to ask." Bobbi's countenance became serious as she replied, "Sure Lois, what is it?" "Well, I really should get a little sleep tonight. I am starting to get sleepy. I know that I should always take off my makeup before going to bed. But this isn't going to be much more than a long nap. Do I need to do that now?" "Oh," replied Bobbi, relieved at the nature of the question. "You should always take good care of your skin, and that includes cleansing it regularly. Plus you've been crying and under stress and your skin has been through a lot today with the sun, the dry heat, the pollutants near the airport. So yes, I would definitely freshen up and moisturize before you get some sleep. And I wouldn't worry about makeup before you leave for the airport. You can do that when you are killing time after checking your bags and going through security. Grab your overnight bag and I'll show you where the guest bathroom is." "Thanks, Bobbi. There are still a few skills I need to learn." "We never stop learning, dear. Oh, let me show you how to set the alarm clock. But don't worry about Larry getting up on time to take you to the airport. He loves showing off how early he can get up and function. I'm sure it also gives him a way he can stroke his ego, especially when he sees me struggling to get up. Which means I won't be seeing you when you leave for the airport. So I'll say good night and good bye for now. But we'll be seeing each other soon, the next time I'm in Vegas. I'm so thrilled that we will be seeing each other a couple of times a year. I missed you." "I missed you, too. Thanks again for everything: for helping me out on short notice, and most of all, for listening." "You're welcome. I'm glad we could be here for you. Have a safe flight and call me when you get to New York." It wasn't a full night's sleep, but the couple of hours that she managed did refresh her enough to get going. She was already awake when Larry knocked on the door to check on her. The plan was to grab some juice and a couple of muffins to avoid the outrageous food prices in the airport. Except for her overnight bag, everything else had been left in the car. She didn't even bother with her laptop. She took a few minutes on Larry & Bobbi's computer to make sure nothing was urgent. The rest could wait. Without Bobbi present, the conversation between Larry and Lois was still a bit awkward. He had a hard time grasping that he could still talk sports with Lois and that transition did not mean amnesia. But his heart was in the right place, and he had been a huge help making two round trips to the airport to help out Lois. And being the man, he refused to take any gas money from her. Soon they were at Sky Harbor. The luggage was checked, and with a handshake, they said goodbye. Lois had time to kill before her flight. She settled down with her muffins and her cell phone. She had not updated her east coast friends on what had happened to her the evening before at the gas station. She did call Steve the previous evening, partially because he was expecting it. She spent most of the call reassuring him that she wasn't hurt, she didn't need him to come down (he was too far away to do any good by the time he would arrive) and that she was with good friends who were taking care of her until she left. But before she called her friends, she had one important call to make. She reached voice mail and left a message. "Hi Ann, this is Lois. I'm coming back east from Phoenix today. I called because we haven't had a counseling session in a while. A lot has happened during the two weeks I was away and I am certain I will need at least one session with you to discuss it all. Any evening this coming week that you can fit me in or on the weekend is fine." Lois had arrived at the airport in Phoenix around six that morning. And with flying time, stopovers and the three hour difference during the months when New York observed daylight saving time, it was around six in the evening when her flight was coming in for a landing on Long Island. Even though it was further from her home than some of the other airports, she could leave her car at the home of a family member, and save on long-term parking. She would take Natalie and her husband out to dinner that night to say thank you. Then she would update them, first about Steve and then about the assault. This was one time when she would probably be able to have more to say than Natalie, although it would still help to have her husband run interference now and then. They would go to church together the next day, and then Lois would head back to her apartment. When she had left it a couple of weeks earlier, she had no idea she would only be living there for another month. She opened the front door to find the same disarray from last minute packing that she had left behind. She would have a lot of work ahead of her, but moving always made it easier to throw things away, preserving only the essentials and those things of irreplaceable sentimental value. As she closed the door behind her, clearing a temporary space for her bags, she thought to herself, "It's good to be home." Then the words of a Neil Diamond song came to mind: "New York's home, but it ain't mine no more." It worked out by chance that Nevada was the last state of the fifty that Lois visited. It was also the last state she ever expected to end up in. But she was hopeful that the last state would prove to be the best, both anatomically and geographically. EPILOGUE (About one month later): Lois was heading toward the parking lot of her apartment building in New York. This was it. The apartment had been cleaned and was empty. The last time she saw it like this was before she moved in years earlier. It took every spare moment, but all the accumulated clutter was gone. One of the benefits of moving is that it forces you to throw out stuff you no longer need. A few items were being moved to Las Vegas. In addition to the clothes and toiletries she would be taking on the plane, her car had some items she would drop off at the Salvation Army or give to her cousin in Long Island. She was staying with them again for a couple of days before flying west. She was even giving her car to her cousin's son. She would get another car once she arrived in Vegas. She had time to do that as she would be staying at one of the MGM hotels until her new apartment was ready for move in. Until then, she could walk to work. She had just spent her last night in what was no her previous home. A couple of muscular neighbors took down the mattresses, slashed them and left them by the dumpsters. Although the closing had not taken place yet, the apartment had been sold. Arrangements had been made to take care of a few items before the closing. The rest of the time since she returned from Vegas was spent saying a lot of good-byes. Going away parties had been arranged by co-workers, friends, people at her church and her primary support group members. Also, Crystal and Josie had separately arranged for Lois to spend an evening of dinner and reminiscing, one on one. Many of the people saying good-bye also pitched in through various ways to make it possible for Lois to get everything done in the few weeks she had. As she made her way to her car, Lois turned and took one last look up the hill at the apartment building that she had called home for many years. It was originally supposed to be her starter residence, which she would leave when she traded up for a better place as her career moved upward over the years. But the cost of transition to her savings and her career progress changed those plans. For a while, Lois wondered if she would live here until it was time for a nursing home or morgue. Now fate had intervened, providing a promising but uncertain future in a different direction. Once the back wheels of her car left the parking lot, this address would join the list of her former residences. Shade trees lined both sides of the parking lot: the typical oaks, maples, birches and sycamores of the New York City metropolitan area. Before Labor Day, those leaves were still green, except for a couple that had been ill- placed, turning brown due to too much sun or too little nourishment. As Lois turned away from the building, her eyes still looking upward, she saw one of those brown leaves drifting on the light summer breeze. While it was still high overhead and meandering slowly downward in seemingly random motion, Lois recalled a game she had invented as a child: a game for a single, imaginative player. In the fullness of childlike fantasy, Louis had decided that catching a solitary falling leaf was good luck. He learned that the vagaries of a falling leaf's motion make it much harder to catch than it would appear at first. In a moment, Lois was transported back to childhood. As the single leaf over the parking lot descended, it caught less and less breeze, and its descent became faster, though still erratic. On a whim, Lois decided to play to play the game one more time. No one else was there to see her as her tennis shoe clad feet dashed in unladylike fashion in the direction of the falling leaf. Adjusting her course and slowing her pace a few times as she closed in on the dipping and swirling leaf, she was soon in position. She reached out and the leaf danced along her fingertips for a moment. Then, just as it appeared that she missed it, she swiveled, stuck out her other hand and managed to grab its stem. Lois stared at the leaf. The only thing unusual about it had been that it was catchable. "It ought to be good luck," she mused, "considering how hard it was to catch." Then she felt a little guilty. There was no place within the tenets of her faith for good luck charms. Guilt was quickly replaced by feeling silly. She was the one who invented the game and the supposed good luck associated with success. And based on what? Nothing more than the same childlike imagination that can turn a cardboard box into a castle or a bathrobe into a ball gown. Lois chided herself, "You're way too old to believe in such nonsense." But then something made Lois stop and look upward again. As she did, a thought entered her mind: "There is nothing wrong in believing in signs." She surveyed the rest of the leaves above. All she could find were a healthy green. What were the odds that the one leaf in that particular location would die off prematurely, pick the exact time as Lois was leaving to detach and descend, and then end up in Lois's hand? "As much of a long shot as being born transgendered?" thought Lois. "A God who knows my thoughts and memories would know what to do to encourage me with a sign that would have special significance only to me." Bolstered by that reassurance, Lois tucked the leaf in a safe place, started the car and drove off to face the rest of her life. Dear reader, the original plan was to end the story at this point and not let you know how things worked out between Lois and Steve. For whether they got married or parted as friends, the rest of Lois's life would prove to be rather mundane and middle class, with no major accomplishments. But then I realized that I made the same mistake that Mr. Spock made In the 1967 episode, Tomorrow is Yesterday, when he failed to take into consideration the accomplishments of the descendants of Captain John Christopher in making the determination that Captain Christopher need not be returned to Twentieth Century Earth. So it might be interesting for you to read the following news item: Las Vegas - May 8, 2024 Despite the controversy surrounding the selection of her essay as the winner of the citywide High School essay contest, Elvie Palmer and her parents are proud of her achievement. But Elvie is even prouder of her parents, who inspired much of the content of her essay. "When a number of adoption agencies turned them down, they could have given up. But then they found me, were permitted to adopt me and brought me here. I love my birth country, but I would not have had most of the opportunities that are available in the United States for a handicapped child." Elvie was born in the Philippi