*

Falling in Love again

*

Warnings for this chapter: language!!!, mention of drug use, two, no
three kisses and some naughty thoughts,

 

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Chapter 5: (No) Satisfaction

*

(A/N: Sam takes his guitar. Making screech the strings, he sings at the
top of his lungs: /I can get no satisfaction/... The author pads his
head, but has to jump for doing this.)

 

*

Tokyo, years 36/37 of Meiji (1904/5)

*

It?s really strange that a person can grow so fond to your heart in such
a short time. Within a half year, I knew that for the first time in my
whole life I have meet a man I could trust blindly. A man who was always
there to cover my back, teaching me to rely on him.
A friend.

*

New York, May 12, 1965

*

"I don?t want to continue this investigation." Jasper Cagney let out his
primal wish while they were sitting in the diner. His boss looked at him
curiously, a dry smile around his thin lips. "If I continue this, I will
go blind. I hate fags. It?s already unsupportable to see them walking in
the streets. But seeing them ? making out. It?s just sick."

"Fine. What did he make, and more important who was with him?" Henry
Shatner asked, using the time when the other man needed to take a breath.

"I?ve written a report. It?s not necessary to speak about it."

"And if I said you that I wanted you for this job exactly for your
obvious antipathy. It?s rare to find a man who doesn?t end falling under
Farrel?s charm."

Usually, Henry Shatner didn?t flatter anyone. That was the reason why
Jasper Cagney felt a bit pride, even if I wasn?t sure if this words were
supposed to be a compliment.

"The other?s name is Sam Sherman. He is already registered for minor
legal transgressions. One time he was involved in a pursuit of the
patrol forces. He sings in a Rock ?n? Roll-band and participates
regularly on prize fights in Harlem or the Lower West Side. He frequents
one of the clubs on our list. The ?Velvet and Blue-jean?."

"Do you have a photo?" Jasper Cagney snorted, but he took the picture
out of his pocket. It showed the two men at a table. While he was
looking at it, the smirk of his boss grew more sarcastically. "And what
did they do?"

"Kiss," The private eyes spat out violently. "on the streets. And later
in the night the red-head get almost trapped in a raid on the West
Street, but he escaped. You could have told me that he knows Martial Arts."

"I said you not to take him lightly. Was he with the other?"

"No, he was alone. He is working in a jazz club in the Village, and
after its closure he went there. I have written everything in my
report." Jasper Cagney explained.

"Who is watching him now?"

"One of my hands."

"Is he good?" Jasper Cagney nodded, although he was rather skeptical.
But everything was better than watching the fag any longer. "Alright,
let your hands have an eye on Farrel. Just to stay safe. For you, I have
another plan. You will have to play a traitor, but this is necessary to
get you into this group."

The blond private eye took a deep breath. Finally, he would have the
real, big job.

***

/

"Imagine your lower body like a bag." My sudden laughter interrupts his
explications, he?s looking at me with slightly strained patience. "Can
we continue, Sam?"

"Yes, yes."

"Good, every time when you take a breath you fill the back. No, don?t
rise your shoulders, press the air downwards! Yes, like this. You must
have the impression that the bag is very full, almost cracking. No, not
your face." Now, it?s him who laughs at my grimace. Then he lays his
hand on my back. Oh god, his hand on my back! "Don?t be so tensed, Sam!
Just breath! Lay your own hands on your stomach, and feel the pressure
when you inhale the air."

The poor innocent man, he hasn?t the slightest idea what he does to me.

"Why all this things, just for playing saxophone?" I ask to hide my
confusion.

"Knowing how to breath is essential. Even for singing it will help you."
Singing? I will never sing anymore in my whole life. How could I, with
this unsteady voice? And I?ve been so proud of my voice. And my parents
too. The angelic voice of the little Sam. Making people forget that,
normally, they had to yell at me. "Come on, try again!"

I sigh, and ...

/

The tones coming out of my instrument are clear and steady. It took me a
long way, but now it?s just natural. Using the midriff for breathing,
canalizing the air to produce perfect sounds. Even if I had to make half
of the way alone, he would be proud of me when he saw me. Does he? Or
does he rot in hell, as they say? Fags will rot in hell, that?s what
they say. What my parents said, only they didn?t use this word. They
just said "the lost", or "the unrepentant sinners".

Fuck! The next tones come out with difficulties, but, No!, no one will
see me cry. Not even a fucking saxophone.

*

I didn?t hear them before they stormed in the room. I had been so
absorbed in my daily ritual, my holy sacrifice, playing music and
remembering. That?s the reason why I?m not fast enough to lay down my
instrument. A gun aiming me is faster. Fuck! If my hands were empty, I
had no problem to deal with this guy. Even the guitar I would sacrifice,
but never ever the saxophone. It had been /his/.

"What do you want?" I yell.

"Shut up!" The man with the gun tells me. Feeling himself very strong
with this gun. Fuck again! They are five, beside the man by my side,
three of them root up every corner in the "Underground", the others go
upstairs.

A very long time before, Arthur, Kay and me have spoken about the
potential necessity to fight back a potential police force. Not because
of the drugs, but because we are transgressing liquor regulations. But,
I?m not sure if Arthur still remembers it, and if he remembers, he might
be unable to apply our strategy on the actual situation. Not to speak
about our sleeping guest, one of Arthur?s strange friends, who is simply
knocked out since yesterday evening. I don?t even want to know what
stuff he takes.

"Come on, tell me what you are looking for, guys?" I ask the man
watching me, having a certain idea what they are searching. But they
won?t even find the empty cardboard box which I have thrown in the
trashcan, when I came back yesterday.

"You are grinning as if you know something." The guy with the gun says,
reaching for my saxophone.

"Don?t touch it!"

And suddenly, the events turn over. The men who had gone upstairs come
stumbling back, one of them with a bleeding nose.

"Out of here!" Arthur says very coldly, following them. He?s completely
sober, holding the long stick of our broom in his hands, looking like a
gloomy version of Errol Flynn himself.

I use the surprise of our intruders to lay down my saxophone, before I
send the guy with the gun sleeping with one of my best blows. Taking the
gun from his lifeless hands, I throw myself on the next.

"Great! That?s what I needed." Very quickly, all but the unconscious man
have made a dash. I?m heady with adrenaline, gripping the shirt of the
remaining guy who just regains his conscience. "Remember to never again
disturbing me when I?m playing saxophone. It pisses me off." I slap his
face gently. "Now, tell me who you are?"

"I?m nobody." The other is gone wobbly now. What a coward! "They simply
asked us to look for drugs. They told us that you might have picked some
of their stuff."

"Who?" This time, Arthur addresses himself at this guy.

"I don?t know. His name?s Reynolds."

"Brian? Brian Reynolds?"

Arthur and me, we are both stunned, and the guy uses our stupefaction to
escape. Brian? I have thought, that it must be Simon. But, maybe, this
affairs were more complicated than I believed. Shrugging, I pick up my
saxophone to lay it properly in its coffer.

"Where is it?" Arthur is standing in the door of the lavatory. "They
didn?t find it, it should be there."

"My lovely red-haired dream-dancer threw it in the toilet."

"That?s a lie."

"No!"

"He is never /yours/." I can?t help but laughing at his face, its purely
serious expression. He?s convinced that I didn?t deserve to even touch a
creature like Shin-chan. "And he must have been here to do what you have
said."

"He was. Yesterday. You can be sure he isn?t very pleased, that you are
in the drugs. You have disappoint him."

Yes, yes, I?m an asshole to tell him that, using his lack of memories
for my own good. But I?m still mad at him for disturbing my fun with
Shin-chan, and I don?t want him to have the occasion to do that a second
time. And I don?t want Shin-chan to worry about Arthur. It cuts all the
fun we could have.

Suddenly, the phone is ringing. Installing a phone had been one part of
our anti-police-raid-preparations.

"Sherman." Arthur has been faster than me. I can?t read the expressions
of his features, but his voice betrays him. When someone speaks with the
person he is attracted to, his voice grows softer and lower. Even
Arthur?s. "Yes, he is here too. ... I?m sorry, if I have offended you.
... Yes, he has told me, but ... Thank you. Would you -? ... Yes, I will
lend him my car, I don?t need it at this moment. ... No need to thank
me! ... Can I do something for you? Okay!" Arthur turns to me without
letting me see in his eyes. "It?s Farrel. He wants to speak with you."
Before he gives me the receiver, he covers him with his hand. "If you
treat him like your other conquests I will kill you."

"You are pathetic." I return, pissed off. Arthur has never understood
and never believed me that all my affairs were based on a simple accord
between the other guy and me: /I want it, you want it, let?s have fun/.
No complications, no twists, and surely not abuse. I take the receiver
from his hands. "Hi, here?s Sam. Do you already miss me?"

Arthur kills me with his eyes, before he leaves me.

"Can you come and fetch me? Now?" Something is wrong, not only because
he ignores my greeting, but tension swings in his voice. I had intended
to pass there in the afternoon, and it was just around 11?o clock. "If
you haven?t time, I will call a taxi."

"No, no. I will co-"

"Toot-toot-toot", says the phone. The line is dead. What the fuck was that?

*

When I arrive at the house, he is already waiting for me, sitting on the
stairs at the entry and smoking a cigarette. Forgetting my anger
immediately, I grin when I see that he wears a dark-blue scarf, covering
his neck. I have marked him, and, yesterday, it was very funny to see,
that he hadn?t had any idea. Now, he knows, but the blue scarf suits
him. Dark-blue is the nicest color for him anyway. The excitement which
hadn?t left me since yesterday evening returns with sudden violence. But
what else could I do, when even the skin of my hands still preserves the
sensation of his small, but strong body, the play of firm muscles under
the pale skin?

Shintaro stands up, when I stop the car. I ask myself, if he would kiss
me again. Sweet and reckless, in the eyes of the world. At that moment I
see his face and his eyes, and I know that he doesn?t think about
kissing. He doesn?t even fake a smile, projecting the rest of his
cigarette in the bushes before the house. Then I see the suitcases. A
very big suitcase and a medium sized suitcase. Shintaro opens the
backdoor of the car and puts all the stuff on the backseat.

"Hi!" I say, when, finally, he settles himself on the passengers seat.
He doesn?t answer, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. His face
is blank, not displaying any emotion beside weariness. But his fisted
hands, the strain of his posture and the thin line of his lips are
visible manifestations of his inner tension. His whole body is crying
distance. Not the gloominess I?m used to with Arthur, but the behavior
of a stranger caught in some worries. The-not-your-business-posture.
"What?s the matter with you?" I query, punching his upper arm lightly.
The only reaction I got from him are harsh, unsteady breathes, as if he
is struggling for air. "You should stop smoking! You have already
problems with your respiration."

This time he opens his eyes, but doesn?t look at me.

"Would you please shut up your mouth and start the car!"

Fuck yourself! Honestly, he is the only person I know who can insult
someone with a polite request, but I?m not in the mood for this. If I
wanted someone to annoy me, I could stay at home and talk with Arthur.
Pissed off, I leave the car to go to his side, and I open the door.

"I?m not your fucking taxi driver. If you want to pout, do it alone. Out
of the car!"

That?s what he does without looking at me. My anger grows with every
second, and I put my fists in my pockets, while he is pulling the
suitcases out of the car. Having set them on the ground, he crosses the
street, fumbling in the pockets of his jacket. When he has reached the
railing by the river, I see him making a new cigarette. But he doesn?t
smoke it. He throws it in the river, and the tobacco packet is following.

"Fuck!" It appears as if I would end playing the fucking Samaritan
again. "Fucking bitch!" I hiss, but he cannot hear me anyway. Then I put
the suitcases back in the car. "Freaking bitch!" Shintaro has laid his
head on his crossed arms. I see it when I risk another look. Fine, now
he is crying. How touching! How could I forget that guys like him could
be more annoying than every noisy girl, playing the fucking little diva.
"Bitch!" I spit again, but I go to him anyway. If I wouldn?t get this
ass today, I would let it drop, but I could try it a last time. By
giving him manly comfort. And suddenly, I realize that the balance who
was off since yesterday has returned in the right order, every position
is clear again. I?m the man and he?s ? the femme.

That?s what I?ve thought, before I reached him. Though, I promise myself
to never ever again believe that I know this man. That I could judge, or
foresee any of his reactions.

"I thought you were gone." He says lifting his head. Although his voice
still sounds unsteady, and his features are strained, he isn?t crying.
"I?m sorry that I was so childish. But I thought, when I opened my mouth
I would break down. Starting to cry like a baby. Making you think what
stupid idiot I might be, but in the end I comported myself like an idiot
anyway. Sorry!"

"Will you tell me what happened?" One more time, he makes me do things I
never thought about. I don?t even understand why. Perhaps it?s his
conviction that, in reality, I?m a nice guy. This isn?t true, but
sometimes it feels good to believe it. "Did she kick you out?"

"Yes," He turns around to face me. "she asked me to leave, and later in
the night, I was trapped in a police raid. I escaped, but ? " He closes
his eyes. "It was a bad night, and I haven?t slept one second."

It?s more jealousy than worry what I feel. Where did he go for being
trapped by the police?

"Don?t tell me that you searched someone to -?"

Before I finish my question, I see the hint of a smirk around his lips.
A little glance of amusement behind his obvious sadness. Then Shintaro
opens his eyes again, shaking his head.

"Why should I search someone for this purpose, if I could have you?" The
smile grows more definitely. "Don?t worry!" He takes a long, deep
breathe. "No, it was just coincidence that I was in that corner. I
walked a bit to pass the time until the first subway. I didn?t even know
that there?s a gay area now. It hadn?t been when we lived there. I just
thought I would feel better wandering through streets I know, but it
didn?t work." He turns to the river again, looking down in the water.
"Even before the police came, I knew it was stupid to go there in my
troubled condition. Everywhere bad memories."

I can feel what he is thinking about. There are some streets in a city
called Charleston I want never to see again in my whole fucking life. I
rather died than making myself suffering because of all those memories
they preserve. But sometimes I think about them nevertheless, although
it hurts. Sometimes, the pain is the only sign of life I feel.

"Let?s go!" Shintaro breaks the silence, still looking in the water.
"The way will be long enough." He pushes his hands in his pockets,
smiling slightly. "Thank you!"

"For what?"

"For staying. And for reminding me that I should stop smoking."

When he turns away to go to the car, I hold him back. "Wait a minute!"
I?m not sure if I don?t make the biggest error in my life. "Tell me why
she did kick you out!"

"Why do you want to know ?"

"Yesterday you told me almost your whole family story. After all, it
doesn?t fit that she let you down like this."

Turning his face to me, he gives a strange sound. I realize that he is
laughing, but not his usual laughter. It sounds terrifying.

"She doesn?t let me down. She proposed even to give me money, and the
last time, I needed it urgently, she gave me more than I needed. But
this doesn?t change anything at the fact, that it makes her sick to see
me, to know what I am. That she hates like the people in her
neighborhood speak about me, pity her. The pity she hates almost as much
as lies." I regret that I have asked him. My question had the same
effect as stirring up a hornets? nest. And I understand finally what he
meant by the break-down he feared. Though, he isn?t crying, the violence
of his emotions is shaking him. "And I have lied to her more than one
time. I didn?t tell her that Soza taught me self-defense, because the
other boys tried to beat me, and I wanted to prove them, that I was not
a coward, and not a fucking queer. And they stopped to annoy me, when
they knew that I could beat them. Kumiko believes in non-violence, she
didn?t understand it. I didn?t tell her, that all these stupid things I
did, should prove the same. That I was not a coward and not a queer, nor
a girl either. I didn?t tell her, that I hated these feelings for Soza,
and that I punched him for kissing me. I didn?t tell her what I felt
when I knew that he had died in a fucking stupid gang fight. I didn?t
tell her how much I hated the new school even more, because they wrote
/things/ about me on the lavatory walls and on my locker. I didn?t tell
her how many times I was involved in a fight with other kids, until I
didn?t go to school anymore. I couldn?t speak with her about any of this
things, because I hated it, and I didn?t understand it. How could I have
explained it ?" He is leaning his head on the railing again, shaking and
breathless. "Fuck!"

I stay rather dumbfounded, watching this outburst. Unsure what I should
do, or feel. I can still see inside him the angry, miserable boy who
doesn?t understand himself, lamed and trapped by his feelings. I can
imagine it, because I felt the same, and sometimes I still feel it.
Especially when I think about my parents and their pure horror when I
told them that, yes, I have kissed a man. And, yes, I wanted to make
love with him, although he said that I was far too young for such
things. Those memories are the reason why, finally, I overcome my
irritation, touching his back, soothing the strained muscles with timid
caresses. Yes, timidity?s the right word, because my heart?s pounding.
Never before I touched another man to comfort him; complicated emotions
aren?t my cup of tea. But, now, it feels just right. The only thing I
have to do, and after a while I sense him relax, the shaking abating,
and his breath calming and steadying.

"I would like if you never ask me such personal things again." Shintaro
says, but his voice doesn?t sound as harsh as his words. "It?s
humiliating to lose my face."

"I will think about it."

We go back to the car, silently, until we are sitting in there again.

Then they words come out of me just naturally: "What do you think about
starting our meeting again, as if you just came in the car? We only have
to use the same words as yesterday. So your part is to ask: ?What do you
want?? Then I return: ?Are you not happy to see me? I thought you wanted
to see me again.?"

It works. He gazes at me with his special smile, hiding very naughty
thoughts.

"Why don?t we continue where we ended yesterday?" He proposes still
smiling, and my heart pounds faster again. He can?t mean what I think?
Though, lowering his eyelashes a bit, he says: "After all, it doesn?t
matter anymore, what people might think."

He means exactly what I?m thinking about, lifting one hand to brush my
lips. Yes, please, kiss me again! He does, sweetly and recklessly. No
idea, what excites me more the sweetness and the growing passion of the
kiss, or the fact that we are sitting in a car, in the bright daylight.

"Hey, you fags! Get out of the car!" Someone?s beating the front window,
and we break apart. I see two policemen beside the car. They have their
fucking truncheons in their hand. Looks not pleasant at all. "Get out of
the car!" One of them yells a second time.

Fuck yourselves! I glance at Shintaro who looks somewhat worried. I
start the car, not caring that the window beside me ?s breaking. The
only thing what matters is that I can shake them off. It?s easier than
the last time. Besides, I know, that the registration number isn?t
really visible as dirty as the car is. Somewhere in the middle of the
usual New York traffic, we start to laugh.

"You are incredible." Shintaro says breathlessly.

"I promised you fun, and look, you are laughing. Besides, I grow better
shaking off the men in blue. The last time ?"

"You have crushed Arthur?s car."

"How can you know it? When it happened, I mean."

"Pure intuition." He chuckles again, and I?m relieved at that. Laughter
and smiles suit him far better than negative vibrations and painful
memories. It makes him being Shin-chan, someone you can use a pet name for.

"Your intuition is really remarkable. Apropos intuition, I wanted to
tell you that it was good that you informed me yesterday about the
?Velvet?. We had visitors this morning. They thought we had picked the
stuff."

"I?m really sorry to cause you trouble. I have overreacted yesterday
without thinking at the consequences."

"No, no, don?t excuse yourself. It was fun to kick them out."

"Sam!" He is worried about me. How cute! "You shouldn?t put yourself in
danger."

"Hey, hey. We have talked about that yesterday, that I?ll be your
partner when we fight off the bad guys. You can save the world, and I
can have fun, as like as you have saved the girls, and I had fun, the
other night. It?s perfect."

His eyes grow large, like yesterday when I told him that. I like that
idea, very much. It has nothing to do with my intention to have his ass,
but I like it anyway.

"What will you do now?" I ask after a while, making a sign to the back
of the car. "You can stay with us, we -"

"Sorry, Sam, but I will never live in the same rooms with someone who
deals drugs." Shintaro returns with deadly seriousness. But, this
expression doesn?t remain on his face for a long time. "No, I have
thought about it. Already for a few days. Karen Kaszowiz proposed me to
live in the little apartment, located behind the dance school. I would
like it, I would barely find a nicer place to live for a cheap prize. It
has even a real bathroom and a little kitchen, you know. Not just a sink
and a cooking plate, posed on a table."

"But? So many good arguments, but I can almost hear the ?but?."

He rests his elbow on the opened window, cupping his cheek in his hand,
smiling sadly. The wind is playing with his hair. I have to take a very
deep breath, my pants growing definitively too tight.

Finally he says. "No, there is not really a ?but?. I really would like
it. But," He laughs a bit about the obvious contradiction. "it bothers
me nevertheless. The question if I should tell her about me, or not. And
how I could tell her without causing too much trouble."

Quite reckless! As much as I like flirting when I know that no one,
beside Arthur, might be offended by my sexual orientation, I?m very glad
that, in the normal life, I can easily pass as the perfect straight guy.
No one to call me queer or fag, right in the face. And I would never
tell whatever boarder something like this.

"Do you tell this every time you take an apartment or a room?" I voice
my thoughts after a while.

"Certainly not." He shakes his head. "The little Karen is a special
case. I owe her and her family very much. Sometimes I consider them even
as my own family, and I loved them certainly more than most of my real
relatives. I mean, her grand-mother knew about me, because it was so
difficult to hide my trouble before my teacher. And she tried to help
me, they all tried. Even the little Karen who didn?t know anything about
my troubles, felt that she needed to cheer me up. And she did it." Some
pictures in his mind make him smile, his voice still sounding a bit sad.
"The Kaszowiz gave me shelter for a half year, when I was on bad terms
with Kumiko. And they arranged the travel to Paris for me, when it
became clear, that I would never pass successful any competition,
staying in New York. I never had any possibility to thank them, and ? I
think this girl just deserves sincerity."

"But?"

He slaps my arm with a lazy, teasing movement. "Idiot! It is not easy
nevertheless, even more since yesterday. That?s all. I?m cowardly in
this matter."

"Coward! This is exactly the word, I have in mind. Tell me, coward," He
gives me another slap. "do you have learned this interesting fighting
style of yours in the dance school? I?ve forgotten to ask you, but I?m
highly curious about it."

"No, Soza ? Sozaru has taught me."

What a lame try to hide the importance of this name! Not to mention that
I still remember having heart something about kissing this guy. Just one
hour before. But I don?t interrupt him. Interesting fighting styles are
a hobby of mine.

"It was just supposed for self-defense, and to impress the kids
harassing me. It?s a kind of Asian martial art mixture, and in the end,
it is not so far away from dancing. Only the choreography is not music
but the fight and the moves of your opponent. Soza has learned it in the
relocation camp, and later he asked some Chinese to teach him more.
Sometimes, we went together there. Not that the Chinese were very fond
of two American-Japanese boys, but Soza told them, he just wanted to
learn to fight, not to marry one of their sisters. The result of all was
a kind of random style. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to show
Soza what I learned in Japan."

Suddenly, he presses his lips together, obviously realizing that he has
said something he didn?t want to tell me.

"When did you have time to go to Japan?" I ask, it sounds very
interesting. "Between dance competitions, dance exercises, moving over
to Brooklyn, trouble with your aunt, trouble with school, a travel to
Paris. Did I forget something?"

"You have promised not to question me about personal things again."

"The question if I have forgotten something isn?t very personal. And I
only said I would think about it."

He doesn?t answer. Fucking stupid idiot that I am! I don?t want him to
get distanced again. He has been so candid the last hour, that I?m very
reassured concerning my opportunities for later fun. Making him chat had
such a good result yesterday, that I have considered it as the best
strategy I ever had. At the moment when I open my mouth to excuse myself
for my rudeness, he decides to answer.

"In the summer of 52, Kumiko and me, we had obtained American passports
and an official permission to travel to Japan. It was a very special
case, because the eldest sister of Kumiko and my mother, their family
and their father had lived in Nagasaki, at the time when Kumiko had
fled." With a violent movement, he pushes his fists in the pocket of his
jacket, trashing his head back. "And now, we will stop speaking about
this."

I must be a fool to have insisted. The only thing I know after his
words, is that Kay was right in telling me that I was no match for this
guy. We live in two different worlds, and I?m rather abhorred of his
world. Too much passion and, consequently, too much suffering. We stay
silent for a very long time, swimming through the traffic, passing
Sheridan Square.

"I?m sorry that I have asked you!" I break the silence when it starts to
bother me.

"Don?t worry. It?s my own fault to have turned to these subjects."

After this, he?s silent again.

"What do you say, if we go into a movie tonight?"

His eyes grow wide looking at me.

"I know, you didn?t like Hollywood, but a movie isn?t the same."

The sweet smile reappears on his face.

"Thank you for your invitation, but usually, I don?t go to see movies."

"Don?t say me you despise them too?"

"Not really, but I have never been to a movie without falling asleep, or
dozing off after a while." He grins apologetically. "That?s the reason
why I don?t go to the movie theatre so often." I can?t believe it. We
really live in two different worlds. And his world doesn?t even contain
movies. "Are you mad at me?"

"I?m completely shocked. And I will not believe you until you prove it.
Nobody falls asleep in the movie theatre, I mean people fall asleep in
symphony concerts, operas, or ballets, but not ?"

I don?t realize what I have said, until his smile becomes very
mischievously. Then, unexpectedly, he chuckles, rubbing my arm with
affection.

"We will see."

*

The house looks even more run down in the daylight. That?s something to
say about most of the houses in this street, it?s only strange that even
the store rooms in the ground floor are emptied. I park the car on the
other side of the street, and open the door.

"Wait!" Shintaro grips my arm, then makes a sign with his head to a
store neighbored to the missy?s house. Four men are coming out of this
store, one of them is a heavily built guy. "Wait in the car! I will
follow them. Just wait and look if something happens! I will be back in
some minutes." He opens the car door, while I?m still gazing at these
guys. Wondering what might be so special with them. A little voice is
calling in my mind, but I can?t understand what it wants to tell me. "Do
you still have the chain?"

"Yes, but ? hey, I want to have fun too. Don?t do it alone!" I take the
chain out of my pocket, suddenly remembering. I had fought with the big
guy in the night from Friday to Saturday, and I know him. He?s one of
these good-for-nothings who worked regularly for the "Family", doing
dirty jobs like convincing people how much they needed the "Family" to
protect them, or participating on big break-ins. "Hey!"

"We have no time to discuss. Do what I say, just one time! Watch the
white car! Okay?"

He takes the chain. Winding it around his hand, he follows these guys,
still on our side. Distracted, I look after him for a very long time,
gaping. In sheer wonder how a man could walk so graceful and controlled
at the same time. I observe him, leering for this living poem, until he
crosses the street because these guys turn around the corner.

Fuck! I have almost overseen it. The white car who has parked about five
meters behind us. I only realize that the guy in the car might be
interested in the same things as I, when I see him getting out of the
car. He passes me by, following Shintaro, or simply choosing the same
way. It?s just an ordinary guy in formal clothes, wearing glasses and a
little suitcase. He could be a business man, or a commercial traveler,
nothing interesting around him. But my eye, expert through a lot of
detective movies recognizes the observer. Should I follow him too, or
wait? I imagine the picture how we all follow each other, and it seems
very ridiculous. No detective would do such things. But, I can do
another thing. I know that Arthur always has something to write in the
car. To be prepared whenever the muses might kiss him.

Great! Very satisfied with my idea, I take the pencil and the notebook
from the glove-box, get out of the car and note the registration number.
Then I risk a glance in the car, and shake my head. Very bad ... This
guy has never seen a detective movie, for letting lay his binoculars in
the car. Trying to hide it under the seat wasn?t a good idea either,
because I can still see them anyway. Unfortunately, he isn?t stupid
enough to forget documents in the car, only a newspaper is laying on the
passenger seat. Somewhat disappointed, I return in my car. Who the fuck
could have an interest in my lovely red-head? The "Family" would not
send an private eye to watch someone, it wasn?t their style. Beside, it
would be too early for them to know about him.

After some minutes, waiting grows incredibly boring. I sink deeper in my
seat. Humphrey Bogart never has to wait such a long time for something
to happen. At the moment when I?m thinking about looking for Shintaro, I
see this man in the mirror. A tall and lanky man with blond hair. If not
for the hair cut, I would have taken him for a journalist. He wears this
kind of constant grin, a shark-like grin, I have seen on journalists
when they approach someone. Even Kay practices this expression
sometimes, but he isn?t this kind of a journalist. The "journalist" has
stopped by the white car, frowning. Then he takes a notebook out of his
jacket and scribbles something before putting the note behind the
windscreen-wiper. After this he goes away.

Happily, I clap my hand, rising up and getting out of the car again.
Nonchalantly, I pass the other car, picking the note and continuing my
way some meters, before I slap my forehead and return to my own car, as
if I had forgotten something. Opening the door I look at the note. /What
the fuck you think you do? Call me in the bureau immediately!/ That?s
all. No real message, no telephone number. My beautiful little
performance had no result than this. At last, it proves that the blond
man must be the employer of the salesman-like guy.

Still thinking about the meaning of this message, I see a familiar
figure in the mirror. Shintaro has made the whole tour around the
blocks. A little promenade while I've been waiting in this car like a
fucking idiot. And even now, he still takes his time, watching the
stores he passes.

"Thank you for waiting!" He greets when he finally reaches the car,
opening the back door and setting himself beside me. "Now, tell me, what
happened!"

"Why the fuck can you not tell me before what you want to do? Instead of
letting me waiting like an idiot."

This time, I see how he looks in the mirror, but he must have done it
all the other time. "I?m not sure, maybe it?s just coincidence, but I
have seen this car more than one time, since that morning. It started to
annoy me, to make me nervous." He laughs uncomfortably. "I?m a bit
paranoid."

He?s a bit paranoid. What else?

"The only thing I can tell you is that this guy got out of his car,
right after you, and that he has a pair of binoculars in his car. If he
followed you, while you was making the tour around the blocks, he may
come in a few minutes. I have written down his registration number. You
want it?"

Shintaro shrugs, but takes the note out of my hand. "How did he look like?"

"Nothing special, like a salesman."

"Was he blond? With a kind of army hair cut?"

Not him! Paranoid? What does he hide? I can?t help but looking very
curiously at my companion, but as I open my mouth, I see the salesman
right in front of me. "There he is, but he hasn?t made the whole tour."
Shintaro frowns, rubbing his forehead with his hand, while the salesman
is going past us, before he enters his car again. "But there was another
man who was blond, had an army hair cut, and" I take the note from my
pocket. "abracadabra ? let this message on the car."

I?m very proud to offer him the result of my little private
investigation, but his reaction isn?t as enthusiastic as I expected. He
reads the note, still frowning. Then he takes the pencil I have laid in
the open box and starts rubbing it over the whole note, effacing the
letters almost completely. Only after this, his lips curl in a tiny smirk.

"After all, your action has not been so useless. Even if they might know
now that I have noticed their observation."

I open my mouth, only to close it immediately, finally understanding the
flow of his thoughts. He was sure that the blond guy has watched me from
somewhere while I was taking the note. But this wasn?t /my fault/. If
Shintaro had informed me about his suspicion, I wouldn?t have made this
error.

"The blond man is a private eye called Jasper Cagney. I have seen the
plate announcing his office at the house with the bakery.", Shintaro
explains.

"How can you know this? I mean, his name, and that he?s a private eye."

Shintaro shows me what his scribbling has revealed. The imprints of a
notice from the previous leaf of the notebook: /French saber, slightly
damaged blade, silvery knob with broken rubies, 17th century (?), 50 $/.

"He collects old swords. Karen has told me." He glances in the mirror.
The business man is still sitting in his car, faking to read a
newspaper. "Let?s go in!"

"Tell me first who could send a private eye after you?"

"I have absolutely no idea." He smile fades, and his gaze becomes
somewhat hazed. What a bad liar he is! "Maybe, the private eye is an
undercover agent. The FBI has put bugs in Kumiko?s phone and the phone
of her office." Kay has told me the same about the newspaper he is
working for. It?s the normal procedure for people being suspected of
communist activities. No matter if it was true, or not. Some of the FBI
guys believe that the Civil Rights movements is a secret net of
communists. "Maybe, they have included me in their investigations. I
don?t know."

Sounds very logical, but I still sense that he is hiding something.
However, I?m also sure that he wouldn?t tell me if I asked him. As
usual, it?s him who sets the pace.

"What?s about these guys you have followed?" I ask to change the matter.
"You should have waited a second, and I had told you that we have fought
with some of them. To help the girls."

"I know that."

"Yes, Mister Super-Detective, but you don?t know that they work for this
organization I have told you about yesterday."

Now, Shintaro?s finally impressed, thoughtfully tabbing with the pencil
against his lips. Oh god! Not this! The vision I have would deserve
immediate damnation. He doesn?t even need to smile.

"That?s very interesting. They have gone in a casino, which was closed
actually."

"Don?t tell me that you have fought them off all while I was waiting
here?" I try to joke.

He shakes his head, smiling again, but for my taste, a bit too much
amusement is laying in this smirk. "I never would. Maybe Karen knows
something about this. After all, they are busy in her neighborhood.
Okay, let?s go in now!"

*

We can hear the piano from the open door of the Dance School. It?s a
slow, rather melancholic piece of music, very classical. I?m carrying
the larger suitcase who isn?t as heavy as it looks, and Shintaro is
carrying the smaller suitcase. He?s not out of breath at all. And
instead of going to the Kaszowiz apartment, he lets himself guide by the
music. I follow him a bit slower.

He has stopped at the entrance of a room with mirrors and large windows,
leaning against the frame with closed eyes. The suitcase is standing in
the small corridor at the entrance. I?m rather surprised to see the
weasel-girl. Though, she had told us that she played piano and prepared
herself for the Academy of Music, I hadn?t thought that she could play
like this. She doesn?t realize that we are looking, because she is
deeply absorbed in her play. Sometimes frowning, and making an angry
grimace, then repeating a part who sounded perfect in my ears. It was
almost unbelievable that I saw the same, always bouncing and chatting
girl, but I could sense that she had collected all her energy in her
concentration.

And suddenly, I remembered what Arthur had said about her. In one of
this moments when he was really, really clear in his mind. He said, that
she was like a little living flame when she was making music. That she
had so much strength. That she was able to make her way, to reach
everything she wanted. A lot of more crab what just served to explain
why he wanted to stay away from her, or better wanted her to stay away
from him. Because she would spend all her strength in useless fights if
she stayed with him.

"Hey, you jerks," The girl exclaims, suddenly stopping her play. "I?m
working. What would you do if I observed you for hours when you are
working. It sucks!"

"I?m sorry, Miss Mimi." Shintaro excuses himself immediately. "I didn?t
want to disturb you. Just, - Is it Beethoven?"

In the brink of a second, her angry face melts in a large cheerful smile.

"Yes, indeed, it?s the Adagio of the eighth Sonata, the pathetic one,
you know," She puts out a dramatic, heavy breath and continues. "and I
hate this man for writing pieces who sound so easily to play, and in
reality, take your last nerve. However, he is a real challenge. Now, you
know what you have to do!"

She signs us to go. When we have left the little corridor, I hear the
piece starting by the beginning. A slow suite of long tones. It sounds
really very easy to play.

The door of the Kaszowiz apartment is also open, but Shintaro rings the
bell, polite as he is. The little missy appears in the door, with a
happily flushed face and an even brighter smile when she sees us. Her
arm hangs in a slung.

"Hi, Kenneth!" Oh, we are already on the first name level! She glances
only shortly at me, nodding, before she addresses herself to him again:
"This is such a wonderful day. I got so many nice visitors. Come in!"

"Hi, Karen!" They are indeed both on the first name level. "I would like
to, and -."

"Don?t let us speak at the door! Come in, and you too!" Finally, she has
decided to notice me, and we all can enter the apartment.

If I had known what I would have had to face, I wouldn?t have set my
foot in the apartment. At the big table in the large kitchen sits Shawn,
or Sarah how he prefers to be called. He looks even more femme than
usual, because he?s wearing a dress today. For a second, I?m amazed that
the little missy is familiar with a queen. Maybe, I have misjudged her.

Shawn stands up when we enter.

"I hope you feel better today, sweetheart." He says with a tight voice,
but beaming and changing cheek kisses with my companion. I?m on alert
immediately. Sweetheart?! I thought, Shawn preferred only guys greater
than him, but ? who might know what he wants in contact with this
strange little red-head. "You looked so sad yesterday."

No, no, Shintaro told me that he hadn?t looked for men last night, he
has told it and I believe him. But I?m so fucking jealous nevertheless,
that someone would pick my lovely friend before me.

"Thank you for your concern. I?m feeling very much better now." He
smiles, his hand still laying of this guy?s shoulder when he turns to
me. "This is Sam Sherman, a friend of mine," He explains, and I don?t
understand anything. Shawn?s eyes grow huge, as if he was stunned. Does
he want to pretend not knowing me? - "And this is Thea Sealsfield. She
is Karen?s colleague in the club."

I?m gaping. Fucking shit! Shawn?s sister? He has a sister, a twin even,
as far as I can see. I had sex with him a few times, and now I have
confounded him with his sister! And her subtle smile tells me that she
knows that, but Shintaro notices my reaction with innocent stupefaction.

"Nice to meet you, Sam, Sarah has told me interesting things about you."
Thea says quietly.

"Sarah?" Karen interjects at the edge of a laughter. "Do you really call
him like that, Thea?"

"It makes him happy. Why shouldn?t I call him by the name he prefers?"

"But, it is not wise to encourage him in his foolishness."

"Please, Karen, don?t let us discuss this now. I know your opinion in
this matter." I feel so fucking uncomfortably. We are standing in this
kitchen, Shintaro without any idea what they are speaking about. I
simply hope that the little missy would not come to conclusions after
Thea?s reference. Thea finally sighs, shrugging. "I will leave you now."
She breaks the moment of silence, turning to Shintaro. "I hope I?ll see
you again, sweetheart. It was very nice to work with you. But Karen
won?t support it any longer, if she had to stay at home the entire day."

"Take care, Miss Thea!"

"I?m sorry, Thea. Sometimes I speak without thinking." We can hear the
voice of the little missy, when she?s accompanying the other girl to the
door. "Please, don?t be mad at me!"

Then their voices become just a soft murmur, not audible from the kitchen.

"Sarah is a face queen." I use the time to explain, adding even if it
was not really necessary. "Her real name is Shawn."

"Oh!" That?s all he says, then tilting his head a bit, he smiles. "That
explains a lot."

Some moments later, his shoulders start to shake, and he rises one hand
to cover his face. Flushing red is spreading slowly over his cheeks and
his neck. And little choked sounds emerge from behind his hand.

"Hey, there?s no need to cry." Embarrassed, I reach out for his shoulder.

"I?m ? not ? crying." He brings forth barely audibly, before he clutches
my arm and laughs his fucking ass off. "You ? should ? have seen ? your
face, when you saw her. It was ? You thought - "

"That?s it! Just mock me! You heartless bastard!"

My words have no other effect on him than more laughter, while he is
almost leaning against me. And instead of getting angry, I feel a
familiar stiffness between my legs and a pounding in my temples. It
feels just right to grip his arm too.

"Sorry, but ? but you look so cute when you are jealous."

I don?t believe my ears. What did he just say? Me cute? While I?m still
stupefied by this words, he regains his posture, letting my arm go. I
will open my mouth to protest against his suggestion. To make clear that
I haven?t been fucking jealous at all. And not cute!

"I?m such a jerk sometimes." Karen says, returning in the kitchen at the
very same moment. "I have forgotten how protective Thea is. Her brother
wants to be a girl. It?s silly, but he is like that. And he is a nice
guy nevertheless."

Nevertheless! I would not consider Shawn as a nice guy, crazy like he
is, but I don?t say anything. Besides, he?s not crazy because he?s a
queen, only one of the craziest people I know. A real fucking diva.

"But this is not what I wanted to talk about." Karen continues, not
realizing the grown tension. She might be just naive, or she might be
stupid, in both ways she could be a source of very much problems. "Sit
down, please! Do you want something to eat or to drink?"

"No, thank you for your kindness, Karen."

What? I?m hungry, because I have skipped lunch for him.

"I would like something /to drink and to eat/."

We look at each other, before we start grinning. Karen smiles too, but
her glance at me is somewhat sparkly. Then she goes to get something to
drink and to eat out of the fridge.

*

"Thank you for sending Maggie to me, Kenneth!" Karen says when we are
sitting by our a rather frugal meal. "She said me that I could back to
work, if I would."

"I didn?t send her." Shintaro returns smiling, after a sip at his orange
juice. "When did she come?"

"Yesterday, the late afternoon. You really didn?t send her? She came on
her own?"

"Obviously, she is like that. You can always count on her."

Shintaro still smiles, but it becomes somewhat thin. He must have spoken
with Maggie today. Who else could have given him our phone number?

"Yeah, I?m completely exhausted now."

The yawning Mimi interrupts us, stretching. She takes my glass, sitting
down, and empties it quickly.

"Hey, what do you think you do?"

"You hadn?t drunken yet." She says, her tongue quickly swirling around
her lips, to collect even the drops remained there. "Did you speak with
King Arthur?"

She crosses her arms on the table, resting her chin above them and
blinking at me. And I can?t tell her. No idea why, but I feel unable to
tell in this cheerful face, that Arthur preferred not to see her anymore.

"I have forgotten it."

"You, rooster, I knew it." Quickly she rises up her upper body, punching
her little fist in my arm. It doesn?t hurt very much, but it makes me
angry, because I have been so nice to her. What an ungrateful girl! "I
can?t trust you with this."

"Why don?t you come in the "Velvet" tomorrow?" Shintaro is asking.

"I would like to, but I can?t." Mimi returns, almost whining. "They
asked me to assist at a prayer. I know it?s only a pretext to prevent me
from going out in the night, but it?s an obligation anyway."

"The address is 27, Broome Street." If she wants to become miserable she
can do it on her own. "The thing is called ?Underground?. If you aren?t
faint-hearted, you can pass on Saturday evening."

It would not be my fault if she appears there, everybody could have told
her. Her reaction on my words is terrifying, while she is hugging me
violently. Oh my, love is such a foolish thing! Everyone infected with
it goes fucking crazy.

"Hey, I didn?t permit you to strangle me!"

The others are chuckling. Mimi lets go, giggling somewhat nervously.

"What are the suitcases for who stand in the little corridor?" She tries
to distract us.

"They are mine."

He doesn?t need to give further explications.

"You have decided. You want to live in the little apartment!", The
little missy exclaims happily.

"I?m not sure, if ?"

"No, no. It?s such a great idea. Come on, let?s have a look to see if we
need to arrange something!"

"But ?"

"No," Suddenly, her voice grows very menacing. "the first idea is always
the best idea."

He doesn?t counter her again, and we go over to the school. The entrance
of the apartment is at the end of the corridor. And I see that Shintaro
has been right. Even if it looks a bit run down, it?s a fine place to
stay. There?s a wash tube with a shower in the small bathroom. It has
feet like lion-claws, and I can?t help but grin, when Shintaro tells us:
"The first time we came here, Kumiko and I, we came for the cleaning,
because Kumiko had found this job offer in the newspaper. I had to help
her with the cleaning, and we cleaned this apartment too. I played a
little game with myself, pretending that the wash tube was a lion." His
smile grows sheepish. "I was nine years old, you must understand it."

My grin is a bit strained, when I imagine him lying in the wash tube
filled with bubbling water, outstretched, lazily. His hair down, spread
in the water, sticking to his skin. This skin would be covered with
water drops and goose-bumps, tightening ?

"Sam, what are you dreaming about?" He is asking, standing at the door.
The others have already left the room. His eyes are sparkling lights,
lingering over me from the top to my feet. "Yes, I can picture it. But
the other picture is very nice too."

Then he laughs quietly, letting me alone. I have the strong suspicion,
that he adores flirting. And it?s not the first time I have this idea.
Is it that what still keeps me attracted? I know that tonight I would
return home so unsatisfied like all the other days. So what are all
these efforts for?

Oh yes, I would even go alone to the movie theatre.

It?s decided when we are all looking in the principal room of the
apartment. The room itself is quite nice, with two windows, one of them
leading to a fire-stair, a small sleeping couch, an armchair, an old
wardrobe, a little bookshelf hanging at the wall, and a small desk with
a stair. But whoever had been the last boarder, he has left the
apartment in a worst condition as I ever would. The little missy grows
bright red, because she hadn?t known it, or has forgotten about it.

"I know what I will have to do the rest of the day." My lovely red-head
says sighing. That is the moment I?m deciding that it is better for me
to disappear. I?m nobody?s cleaning maid. When I?m already on the
stairway, he comes after me: "Wait a moment! I wanted to thank you!"

"What for?"

I ask, stopping and returning. The frustration that he wants to pass the
rest of the day with cleaning, diminishes a bit.

"For being there when I needed it, for forcing me to speak about the
things bothering me, for ? " His cheeks are slightly redden, while he
starts playing with my jacket. Then he laughs quietly, a bit nervously.
"Good grieve! How clumsy! I?m not so good at this anymore, you know."

"You are good enough." I return, grinning at his embarrassment. Did I
already say how cute he looks like that? I clutch his shirt, to pull him
towards me. The smile I sense when our lips meet, fades quickly when he
answers my kiss with his usual fervor, not clumsy at all. I don?t know
how long this blissful moment endures. Whenever my hands are buried in
the silky mass of his hair, or laying on the small of his back, or
cupping his rear end, I never have any notion of the time-flow.

It is the sharp gasp of a third person who distracts my attention from
the delicious textures of his mouth. Mimi is looking at us in complete
shock.

"How can it be? How can you do this?" She lets out. "How can you face
damnation without any regret?"

My jaw is tightening at her words, I?m speechless. Shintaro isn?t,
wherever he finds the courage to say such things: "I don?t believe in
that damnation you are speaking about, nor heaven, or hell. The only
hell, and the only damnation I know are made by the hatred and the fears
of human beings. The only heaven I know is making other people smile. I
have no problems to face this."

Wow! Hard enough! You don?t even need the menace of hellish flames to
suffer with such a credo. But the girl doesn?t understand this.

"Don?t believing it doesn?t make disappear something! Being an atheist
doesn?t safe you." She doesn?t wait for whatever reply, running down the
stairways.

"Now, she hates us."

"No, I don?t think so. It troubles her that she could feel sympathy for
people like us."

This man?s just crazy, in the weirdest way I could imagine. Believing in
humanity, in reason and tolerance. Defending a crazy girl who sees us
already rot in hell. I can?t really understand what gives him the
endurance for that.

"What?s about you? Will you tell your little landlady, that you too are
a silly man who wants to be a girl?"

"I don?t want to be a woman, but ? I think I should wait for the right
moment." He isn?t completely indifferent to negative feelings, or
prejudices, although he tries. I can read it in the embarrassed
expression of his face, and how he starts to chew his bottom lip.

"Not today! As I said I?m a bit cowardly in that matter."

"Sure. That?s what you just have proved."

"Alright, Sam!" Shintaro takes a deep breath. "I will go back to start
to clean up this mess."

"You are a perfect little housewife."

"Shut up, Sam!" Says it and closes my mouth with another kiss, more
playful this time, before he gives me a little slap on my buttocks. "See
you!"

Whenever you want, we still have something to conclude. I turn away
before he could see how much this perspective enlightens me.

 

*

Author?s notes:

*

1. Let?s talk about twins! I hope you like Thea and Shawn/Sarah
Sealsfield aka Tae and Sae Sekihara. I inserted them because I needed a
bit more people who can figure on the up-coming parties in my later
parties. And for torturing Sam a bit with his ex-lovers. (Sometimes, I?m
a very mischievous goddess for my poor creatures.)

2. Let?s talk about other characters: In the last chapter, I have
presented Kumiko as the most important original character. Other
original characters playing a considerable role are Brian Reynolds and
(although his name) Sozaru. Brian Reynolds was not supposed to be an
important character in the beginning. And even now, he is just one of
these guys, who in the manga, are the helper of the bad guys. Sozaru is
really dead, and will not reappear out of his grave, but he is important
for more than one person in this story. He isn?t Okita, and the name is
basing on a character from the movie "Tabou", or "Gohatto" called
Sozaburo. It just sounded nice in my ears, and as much as for /Jaspar
Cagney/, or Kenneth /Farrel/ I chose a name which just plopped in my head.

3. Let?s talk about movies! Comparing Arthur with Errol Flynn is just a
sign of Sam?s disrespectful view on his cousin. Errol Flynn is
especially famous for playing the first Robin Hood. Today, his playing
attitude seems rather pathetic. Humphrey Bogart has figured in some
detective movies, like Raymond Chandler?s Philipp Marlowe and Sam Spade
in "The Maltese Falcon" (based on the book of Dashiell Hammett). If you
think that Sam?s performance of a private detective looked somewhat
stupid, you are right.

4. Let?s talk about American-Japanese history: It?s true that Americans
with Japanese origins received American passports in 1952. The journey
to Japan I invented just for my story, and I?m not sure how and if
people could have gotten such a permission already in the Fifties. Yes,
it?s purpose is that Sam doesn?t connect anything with the name of
Nagasaki.

5. Let?s talk about Beethoven: The piano Sonata, No. 8, called
"Pathetic", is one of the pieces Mimi prepares for her competition. I
chose it because, the mentioned Adagio is familiar for people who have
seen the Kyoto Arc until its end. It is the piece played when Yumi dies.

6. Let?s talk about lifestyle:
After one of my sources, a face queen is a man who wears make-up, but
not women?s clothes.

7. Last but not least: Thank you:

**

*Kensuyoko*, *Atlashia* and *Darco* for reviewing my story. Every review
is an encouragement for me.

**

*Pirandella* for everything I owe you. I hope I could surprise you as
you wanted.

**

*Fitz* because I care a lot about your opinion.

Please, dear and worthy readers, be nice to me and let me know your
opinion. Every comment is welcome and will help me to make the story
better. Discussions are appreciated.

Posted first: 03-11-2002

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