The Model

Ch.17 - The Truth About Her

I sit in front of Katerina quietly, waiting for her to gather her thoughts. She rubs her chin and looks at the glass of water. As if trying to decide if she wants to drink it, she frowns and finally looks at me. I'm not sure why on earth I decided I was going to listen to this woman who was extremely rude to not just me, but Erika too. But here I am, sitting in front of this woman as she decides what she's going to say.

For further explanation, she got my number from Casey and decided to meet up in Downtown where we're sitting now, waiting for the waiter to break this awkward silence.

"I grew up with Erika. She and I lived three houses apart. I always thought she was the calm and collected one when we were young." She stops herself to breath. I wonder how hard this is for her. Talking about her ex to someone like myself.

"When we hit middle school, she became more ... aggressive towards the other boys. And not in a sexual way. She decided to cut her hair short and stick to boys clothes. I watched her get into fights or pick fights with our classmates and I stood by the side lines." She bites her lip and look out of the window. The sun has already set. It's dark out and not many lights illuminate the sky tonight.

"Freshman year of high school was when we met Casey." I frown.

"So you remained friends even after middle school?" I ask. Every fiber in my being couldn't believe a word she was telling me. If Erika was this aggressive young girl, hormonally confused with who she was, then who is she now? Is she still confused? When we were at the Chinese restaurant that night, she emphasized her want to be a man.

"Yes. And I had met Casey first. She was my seat partner in science class and I introduced Casey to Erika. Erika took a liking to her quickly from what I saw." Katerina sighs for a moment and I frown.

"Casey always told me how they'd play ... what you call here ... hookie?" She asks and I nod my head. "Well they went to cause trouble and eventually Erika got caught which upset her because Casey didn't get in trouble."

"Why?" I ask and Katerina looks down.

"Her dad was the chief of police in town so she got of off the hook a lot and because Erika was already a delinquent in town, no one had much sympathy for her." She explains and I raise my eyebrow, folding my arms.

"And what about you?" I ask. She's caught off guard by my question but recovers quickly, understanding what I'm asking.

"I stuck to my studies. I played soccer so I was busy with that. I even held a job for a while." I nod and she sips water. "As far as their troublemaking, I wanted no part of it so I stayed away."

"Aren't you going to finish?" She looks pointedly towards my food. I look at the plate of food still sitting on the table.

"I'm not hungry." I push the plate to the side and look at Katerina's eyes.

"Please proceed," I say and she nods with a look of astonishment in her eyes. She doesn't try to even argue about my wavering appetite.

"After noticing particular traits about Erika, I realized she preferred to really be a boy," she says and I frown.

"Well obviously. You said it yourself earlier." I argue and she nods her head.

"I liked girls and still do. I've known since I was in elementary school. When Erika changed her gender and Casey saw this, she copied her and they both started a new rivalry." She explains. When I'm not catching her drift, she says, "to see who's the better gentleman."

"Why? It sounds like a pissing contest," I say and sip my water.

"They both have had this rivalry since they were seventeen. It hasn't changed and I don't think it will change." Katerina looks bored as she explains that to me. Not at all sympathetic for either ones desire to please her.