Carny - October 15
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Sunday, October 15Andrea finished her beer and Copley got her another one out of his cooler. He put his arm around her and they sat together on the bally. “You going to dance tomorrow, baby?”
He heard her breath catch. “I don’t know if I can …not like I was.”
Copley laughed. “You ain’t turning shy on me, are you? You got so much talent.” He held his whiskey bottle up to catch the ragged light from the single bulb on the power pole. He frowned at the diminished level.
“That’s not it.” Her voice sounded husky and deep. “I might have trouble with the costume.”
He drew back and looked her over. Her blouse fit tight across the shoulders and her tits looked smaller. “You putting on weight? Hell, nobody gets fat on the carnie except the fat lady.”
A noise inside the show made them both jump. The hour was past midnight, and with the rest of the crew gone to bed or town, they had the lot to themselves except for one roustabout on watch in a trailer by the parking lot. Even if that guy was making the rounds, there was no easy way he could have gotten into the tent without going past them.
“What was that?” Andrea asked.
“Sounded like someone walking.” He shivered, fighting the image of the devil skin climbing out of its display.
“You going to look?”
He sat very still, listening, but heard nothing else. “Nah. It’s nothing.”
He knew neither one of them believed that.
“You got something on your mind, kid? You can talk to me.” He leaned in for a kiss. She tasted like beer and flowers and her lips opened to him hungrily.
Andrea had always been an aggressive kisser but this time he thought she might eat him alive. There was desperation and dominance about her that surprised him and made him hard. He pulled her close, his hand in her blouse, groping her breast that felt flatter and smaller than he remembered. He had the weird thought that Andrea might have a sister and that he’d made a mistake.
She responded to his touch but he felt her hesitation and she broke the kiss, breathless, her hand finding his inside her blouse and guiding him down to the waist of her jeans. Her stomach felt smooth, hard, and hot and he slid his fingers under the fabric, through the tangle of trim hair he remembered.
“Fuck!”
“Don’t,” she said, the pain in her voice echoing inside him. “Please don’t. I know…it’s… I tried to tell you.”
Copley had been around the carny long enough to know that he-shes were common enough. Carny folk were tolerant of queers and cross-dressers and some of the best cooch dancers in the business were guys, but this wasn’t possible, unless…
“Who the hell are you?” he asked, not angry, trying to sound reasonable though he felt anything but. “Andrea’s brother?”
“No,” she said. “I’m me. I’m me, but I’m turning into a boy.” She shook her head and reached for him and he let her cling and cry against him. After a moment, he put his arms around her and it was okay.
She cried for a long time, and Copley felt like crying too.
Copyright 2011 Angela Caperton. All rights reserved. Content may not be copied or used in whole or part without written permission from the author.













































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