Chapter 7
The Girl from Queens
I sat on the bed holding my father's small jewelry box in my hands as I thought about my life. My parents divorced when I was two, at six my mother died and I moved in with my father. They three days before my college graduation he died of a heart attack at work. My father was a cop, according to the department he was wonderful, in reality he was dirty. Or as he put it he had a supplemental income, I didn't question him I was happy he made sure I had what I needed. I attended a catholic elementary school and then a specialized high school in Manhattan. College tuition wasn't a problem so when the time came I just had to pick where I wanted to go from my acceptance letters. At my father's funeral I had promised Jen that she could move in with me, so here I was packing up everything that my dad owned.
Growing up with my dad was odd; he worked all sorts of hours so I hardly ever saw him. When I did see him, we talked mostly about school and my grades. My going to school was important to him, he had told me that he wanted me to have a better life then him and that he would pay any amount of tuition. So I did, I actually liked learning and spent most of my free time reading.
That was until I met Jen, she was the social butterfly of the high school. She was friends with everyone, she was the only person who completely ignored the quasi caste system in the school. Jen was a whiz when it electronics and mechanics. She was also the one who got me into the scene by practically dragging me to a race one-night back in freshman year of high school. From that point on I was hooked and we became a team. I knew from that first night that all I wanted was my own car. I wouldn't be one of those car whores who aligned themselves with whatever guy ran the fastest time. Jen on the other hand wanted to be a tuner, except most of the guys wouldn't give her the time of day. I promised her that when I got my car that she would get her chance to show them just what they were missing. After that night, I immersed myself in the scene learning everything I possible could, subscribing to all the magazines available.
It wasn't until my junior year of college that my dad found out about my obsession. He found me out on the fire escape reading up on the new model of my favorite car. I talked to him for an hour about it explaining all the modifications that could be done to it and all of their pros and cons. I think the most shocking for him was when I flipped to a page in my notebook and showed him the full body kit that I had designed for the previous model car. I explained that since the original body style had change, I would have to change my design also. I sat there and drew a completely new rendition of how my adjusted kit would look on the newer model. He sat there stunned before getting up and going inside.
Taking a deep breath I opened the jewelry box slowly and found a card addressed to me on top. I opened it and read the short note my dad had written to me. He told me that he was proud of me and that he hoped I enjoyed my graduation present when it came in. Came in? I realized there was something paper clipped to the back of the card. It looked like it was an invoice of some kind. I unfolded it slowly and found it was from an automotive import company. Holy Shit! My dad imported me a car from Japan, reading further I found out it was a 2000 Nissan Skyline R-34. I couldn't believe it; I sat that way holding the invoice for about an hour, the sound of the bell shaking me out of my stupor. I looked at the clock and realized that it was Jen coming to get me. There was some party tonight that we were invited too. Actually Jen was invited and she just always took me with her.
"Mo, why aren't you ready?"
"I was packing up my dad's room. Jen, you're going to shit when I tell you what I found."
"What is it?"
I held up the pink invoice waving it at her. She looked unimpressed and rolled her eyes.
"It's an invoice my dad imported me a car."
Her eyes lit up and I knew I had her attention.
"Shit! What is it?"
"It's a Skyline! R-34"
"Holy Fuck, do you know what we can do with that baby?"
"I know Jen, I can't wait. First thing in the morning I'm going to call and find out all the details about picking it up."
I noticed the first time the bags that she held in her hands.
"What are those?"
"I bought you an outfit for the party."
"Excuse Me?"
"Come on, you're a college graduate now. I think it's time to maybe start thinking about getting you a man."
"I don't want one, they are too much work."
"Mo, we'll discuss this later."
I let her drag me into my dad's room to change. She had gone all out, I eyed the contents of the Victoria's Secret bag warily.
"Is that a thong? Have you lost your mind?"
"Try it for tonight you'll like it."
"Sure I will just like a root canal right."
I pushed her out of the room and dressed in everything she had laid out for me. I hated to admit it but the thong was comfortable, not nearly as terrible as I thought it would be.
"Okay, I'm ready."
She came in and looked me up and down.
"Hell you are a fucking chick, I can't believe you've kept all this hidden all these years. Okay, let me do your hair and makeup."
I sat down on the bed as she grabbed another bag off the floor.
"Promise you won't make me look like a whore."
"Mo, you could never be a whore."
Ten minutes later Jen deemed I was ready and I followed her into my room where the full-length mirror awaited.
I stared at the reflection; I couldn't believe how different I looked.
"Holy Shit Jen. I can't believe this is really me."
"I know I'm amazed too."
She had picked out a black catsuit for me it was a halter top style that was totally open in the back, the pants hugged my curves and flared out slightly around the ankles. I turned around and hugged her.
"Does this mean you like it?"
"Hell yeah, if I knew I looked this good I would have started dressing like a real girl years ago."