03.1 Valor

She returned to the lodge with a full tank so she scurried into the powder room, dropped the zipper and tossed out her stiffy. She released pee into the toilet.

The door opened and Valerie peered. “Oh! I am sorry. I didn’t know you were in,” she cried correcting her glasses. She did not even notice that the girl was peeing. She closed the door that barely latched.

She dragged a pale on the floor from one side to the other that made some noise but the noise did not cut. She paused listening to the sound of running water in a subconscious mind before grasping that the noise was coming from the toilet – Natalia was peeing.

When Natalia came out, Valerie jumbled to ask a question, “Did you…did you pee inside the toilet?”

“Yes, I did,” replied Natalia.

“Oh! Okay,” then she turned to ask, “How could you…but did you do it while standing?”

“Yes, I did. I’m actually a tranny,” said Natalia.

“Oh!” Valerie nodded pointing two fingers of her hands to make that point, she got it, “That explains it all.” And as Natalia turned to go, she said, “What do you mean by a tranny? Are you…?”

“Yes, I am a boy.”

There she actually understood that she was a he who did a pee while standing. “Oh! I’ll keep that in mind. Well, that is our little secret.” She returned some anxious nods correcting her glasses.

“Not at all,” said Natalia, “it is not a secret.”

Valerie returned a quick glance but to bang her head on wood, the door jamb, in the next step as she tried to step into the powder room. “Clumsy!” she cried.

Natalia spent that afternoon at the library. This time she browsed into some history of South Carolina on a hunch. She was right; there’s more to it in Charleston. It all started here. As she dug deeper, she could imagine standing on Church Street in Charles Town, in the 18^th century, to see those great ambitious people walk across the street to knock on the neighbour’s door. And to her surprise she found that Arthur Middleton was the great-great-grandfather of Alice Huger Smith and what’s more – a connection to this lady; Valerie Burke.

Natalia closed her notebook immediately and put aside all other books. History wasn’t a subject for her to attend now.

She bought a copy of the book written by Alice and her son, Daniel Elliot Huger Smith.

When Natalia came back, Valerie offered a date out with a bunch of crape myrtles. “This is for you.”

“Thank you,” returned Natalia, “Lovely!”

“Crape myrtles,” articulated Valerie, “the tree of one hundred days.”

“Short life!”

“No, no. It means, hundred days of a long bloom season,” she corrected her glasses, “These trees have a lifespan that can exceed fifty years.”

“These flowers look like crêpe paper. What are they used for?”

“I am not sure,” said Valerie, “around here, these trees are everywhere in the sidewalks and in the gardens. It’s pruned to bring new shoots and flowers bloom filling the whole tree.”

“I think I have learnt a lot about this crap today. Where are we going?”

“A little cafeteria on the waterside. I don’t drink but sometimes, a little.”

“Fine.”

“Then at eight.”

 

Natalia took a deep bath and dressed in a short white mini frock for the evening. They took a short walk to a nice tavern called Les Balles at the eastern waterside. A strong breeze caught them by the waterfront and the red sky in the falling dusk. They had a few drinks at this garden setting and dined.

After a few tequila shots, Valerie found her voice to say, “I’m a shy person. I choose not to go to downtown. I sat home during the Independence Day and missed that Bridge Run too.”

“What is a Bridge Run?” asked Natalia.

“A road running event,” she said, “it takes place in April across the Grace Bridge over Cooper.”

“Well!”

“Are you a party girl?”

“A working girl,” described Natalia, “First day, I drove around and couldn’t find a café. Now I am looking for a boat called ‘Valor’. I don’t know how to find it.”

“Do you have a contact?”

“No.”

“There are hundreds of marinas around town, in Ashley and Cooper.”

“Where is Ashley?”

“Over there. Ashley River flows down south and Cooper in the north. This harbour peninsula sits in the mouth of two rivers named after Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury.”

“Who?”

“The Earl of Shaftestbury. One of the eight Lords Proprietors and owned a barony of 12000 acres upon the Ashley River’s shores.”

“Forget it!” Natalia laughed spilling the drink on the table, “Let’s have some fun!”

“Fun!” she corrected her glasses, “I was going to ask about it. I mean, I haven’t had real fun for a very long time. I am thirty-seven.”

“How come?”

“I don’t know!” shrugged Valerie, “I do not know how to ask.”

“What kind of fun?” asked Natalia.

“Real good fun. I desperately want to have some old fashion fun.”

Natalia burst out, “We can work it out.”

“Will you?”

“Of course,” she resounded, “For crape myrtles!”

“For crape myrtles!” and Valerie took a toast on a huge swig churning the chin, “I buy a bottle of Southern Comfort for you and me.” Valerie even stepped up to the counter to pay. She returned with a couple of brochures from the counter, “I thought you might want them. Some little help. Information about marinas around town and a large map of Ashley Marina.”

“Oh great! This surely is some help. It saves a lot of time.” She took a quick glance and wrapped to give it a shot later.

“Do you like to dance?”

Natalia shockingly heard. “Sure!”

“I can’t do it alone.”

“Let me take your hand!”

Actually, Valerie’s short tapping steps and a lean figure flowing into the dance was quite spontaneous. She made faces singing the song; ‘Gypsy’ by Fleetwood Mac.

Afterwards, they sat on the prom at White Point Garden, looking at downtown lights from James Island. A screaming wind instantly tore between Natalia’s legs to turn her stiffy. Winds kept rolling from the ocean over east end Battery and down Ashley River.

That night, inside the new wing at Hutton House, in Valerie’s room with en suite bath, Natalia stood naked, her skin tight and gleaming. Valerie sat on a sofa to take a good look at her new friend, correcting her glasses and squinting her eyes. “Your legs look like the barks of a crape myrtle tree. I love them!”

“Thank you.”

“I think you are nice as a person.”

“Thank you! That’s quite a compliment!”

“Let’s make it happen!”

Light penetrated through sheer curtains and tall windows. Natalia woke up in the morning to find the tall woman lying buried in the pillows…snorting deeply.