So, the way things turned out last week made Memorial Day weekend more of a staycation than I expected. Instead of being on my way home to North Dakota and trying to explain my absence, I was hanging around the Cortes house, still kind of shook from spending two days in an interrogation room and seeing my life yanked away from me when I finally did get out. I was actually getting a lot of support, because a really crazy number of Dunia's friends and family apparently know what it's like to be in Federal custody for no good reason. I guess I shouldn't be surprised about that by now, but I am; they're super-nice people and what they describe doesn't look nearly as suspicious as me having a missing person's property.
Dunia's father Hector had been hanging around the house consoling me in Spanish for the past few days - even though I've been mostly responding in English, something about the whole situation made him feel a little rebellious - and it was kind of a relief when he reluctantly went into work Monday morning because all the people messing up their cars on a holiday weekend were creating a backlog. Dunia's friend Ceci texted and asked if I wanted to hit the beach, and after checking my phone for other messages, I said to give me a little time to shave my legs, since I'd kind of been lying around the house for the past week, and she responded with a thumbs-up.
I'd kind of been expecting a text from "Alicia", since Dunia had texted me Sunday morning saying It had happened, including photos, and asking if I had time to give the new Alicia a crash course starting Monday afternoon, because we were expected back to work later in the week. I said of course, but hadn't heard back yet, so I figured I'd get a text at some point and I could make my apologies to Ceci and Ines and help someone else who'd been thrown into a weird situation by the magic inn out. But I hadn't gotten it yet, so I drew a bath and got in, making sure my hair was up because I'd already spent time blow-drying it in the morning, and let the hot water open my pores and follicles or whatever before soaping up and scraping the hair off. It's kind of nerve-wracking because it still doesn't feel like the right way to use a razor, and I don't know if girls freak out about shaving close to their pussy or if's just some leftover fear of cutting my dick off. That last bit is real weird anyway, because I kind of want a neat landing strip even though I don't intend for anyone to see it.
So I do that, get dried off, and put on the American flag bikini that I imagine exists just for that sort of holiday, but I'm kind of ashamed to say I wasn't feeling it when I looked in the mirror, or maybe that's totally natural. I was headed back to the bedroom to grab another one when I practically jumped out of my skin at the sound of the doorbell, followed by someone pounding on the door. I turned back around so I could open the door camera app on the phone that I'd left in the bathroom, and when I saw Alicia & Gerard waving, I kind of forgot what I was wearing and raced down the stairs, throwing myself into the man's arms, suddenly crying. "Oh my god, it's so good to finally meet you in person! I really hope I haven't let you down too much!"
He gently pushed me away. "Merci, but I think you are a bit confused? I am not Dunia, she is."
I turned to look at the new Alicia, who was smiling sheepishly. "Really? What is it about this that makes people think it's something to joke about?"
She brought her hand to her chest. "I swear, I didn't mean to - I thought I made it clear what happened! Maybe that text didn't send?" She started to move her hand toward her purse and then decided it didn't matter. "I'm really sorry!"
I said it was okay, and then suddenly realized I didn't know anything about this new Gerard before getting all in his personal space, and what he might have taken from that. "Hey, I'm sorry, that was really rude of me! I'm Toby Watson, although I guess I'm going to be Dunia Cortes for a little while more."
He smiled. "I'm Geraldine, which I guess will make Gerard easy to remember." He/she started to reach out for a hug, but then seemed to wonder about it and offered a hand instead. "But my new friend Dunia is right, you do wear her body quite well."
I suddenly felt self-conscious. Girls walking around Miami in bikinis isn't that unusual, but were were saying crazy-sounding things, and I looked around to see if the were neighbors about. "Do you want to come in, have something to drink...?"
Geraldine shook her head. "No, I think I will let you two get acquainted. I only came along because my two friends had things to discuss alone." She turned to Dunia. "Which way is the bus stop?" We both pointed up the street, and laughed as we saw what we were doing. She laughed, said "adieu mes amies", and started off while we waved and I led Dunia inside.
She stopped inside the doorway and took a deep breath, beaming at the lingering aroma of her father's breakfast. "I have missed this place so much!" She turned to me and grinned. "Look at you, just answering the door in that swimsuit, and have you lost weight? You look fantastic, if I'm allowed to say that!"
I blushed. "Well, the job has me on my feet a lot and helping folks stow their luggage in the overhead bins; I guess you'll find that out. And speaking of that, what the hell? I thought you were supposed to be Gerard!"
She sighed dramatically. "I know! I thought I'd be able to talk the person into the next room into trading with me, but Geraldine was sharing a bathroom with her friends, and she was the only one of those lovely French-Canadian retirees who wasn't hitting on me, so I couldn't get into the room that way. I tried pushing my bed right up against the wall and hoping for the best, but no luck." She shrugged, and then smiled. "But this should be fun! I'm really looking forward to hanging out with you rather than us just going our separate ways, even if it's like this. I mean, who gets to sort of watch their life from outside, right?"
I didn't know what to say (aside from Dunia taking this way better than you'd expect, Lambert was seldom this cheerful and it was weird seeing a bunch of new expressions on Alicia's face), but fortunately the phone pinged, so I could give it a quick look. "Uh, Ceci's on her way with Ines, and I kind of decided I wasn't feeling the flag bikini after last week, so I'm gonna go get changed."
"Right, of course. Hey, do you think they'd mind if I came? I've got a swimsuit in my bag if nothing in the closet fits."
I suddenly felt awkward. "I mean, I'd like it, but Lambert and I didn't really hang out much outside of work, and I don't think Ines and Ceci ever met him as Alicia, so I don't know how they'd feel."
It took her a moment to digest that before saying that they'd feel she was over 30 and white. I said they'll like her, but that was maybe not the day. She nodded and said that's probably true, and she should probably look at her new apartment anyway.
I told her she was handling meeting me way better than I had seeing Gerard, and we hugged before I went upstairs for a yellow bikini and she went "home".
It made for a weird rest of the day; I've been spending more time with Dunia's friends since New Year's and I'd just gotten to the point where it feels more like hanging out than trying to fool them, but that changes when you meet the real thing in person for the first time.
Gonna be different having her around.
-Toby/Dunia
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