"Born of Man and Woman"

"Born of Man and Woman"

A Story by Cody Williams

“Born of Man And Woman”

By Cody Williams

 

We’re all born of man and woman. That’s what my daddy used to always say, anyway. I suppose that statement is true enough. But often times, things are a bit more complicated than that. That was the case with Zelda. Daddy wasn’t a bad man, no, not at all. But was a man of his time. He was not the least bit tolerant of blacks (or n*****s, as daddy called them) and certainly not, as he called them, queers. The Civil right’s movement was well under its way when daddy was growing up. But still, daddy could be a little stuck in his ways. He was raised to believe that blacks and whites shouldn’t mix races and to believe that blacks are the reason for all the crime in America. Daddy had his moments of bigotry and was a real son of a b***h at times. Almost like a certain man, what is his name? I believe that he plans to run for president in 2016…Trump? Yeah, I believe that is it. But he was a product of his time. It doesn’t justify what he did, but it does make it easier to understand. How bigoted and hateful thoughts can poison the mind of a typically good man.

            The gay rights movement was hardly a thing when daddy was younger. I’m sort of glad that he wasn’t alive to see gay marriage legalized on a federal level. Not because I didn’t what it to go through. No, I’ve been a gay rights activist almost my entire life. That was probably what hurt the relationship between me and him so much. Well, that and everything that went down between him and Zelda. I do not tolerate bigoted intolerance. I was glad that he was already dead when gay marriage became legal because, honestly, I didn’t want to hear it. Daddy used to tell me stories. H was a young man back in 1967 when interracial marriage was legalized. Daddy used to tell us when Zelda and I were kids about the fuss that he and grandpa used to put up over it. “Those f****n’ n*****s need to know their goddamn place! Next they’ll want to legalize marriage for the goddamn queers too!” He used to say. Zelda and I would just look at each other for a moment and exchange smiles. If it weren’t the great fishing accident in October of 2005 that killed him, surely he would have had a heart attack when they legalized gay marriage in just ten years later. Canada legalized gay marriage that year, you know? I often joke that America is Canada living ten years in the past. Except, that isn’t much of a joke.

            The funeral that fall was the first time that I’d seen my daddy in over ten years. I just couldn’t stomach to be around him anymore. Not after what happened with Zelda. Now I know that I’ve mentioned Zelda quite a big here. You’ve probably never heard me say her name, but that was for good reason. As far as momma and daddy go, they had two sons. Daniel and me. Never heard about my brother did you? Well, that was mostly because he was never really my brother to begin with. She was my sister, Zelda.

            Something was different about Zelda from the start. She had a marvelous fascination with Barbie dolls as opposed to my obsession with WWE actions figures and Hot Wheels toy cars. Now I know that theses fascinations do not mean that the kid will grow up to be gay. Hell, a lot of kids grow up playing with those kinds of dolls, gay and straight alike. But daddy wasn’t so understanding. Whenever he caught Zelda playing with toys like this, he would often flip s**t and take them away from him. I don’t know what he did with them most of the time, but once I caught him stuffing the head of one down the garbage disposal. Momma didn’t care too much for this behavior, but she never did anything. Perhaps she was afraid he might hurt her. It was certainly a possibility considering the fact that he was drunk most of the time.

            So, if daddy acted this way when it came to Zelda playing with f*****g dolls, imagine how he acted when she told him that she was transgender. I was there that day. I had just turned sixteen the month before and Zelda was thirteen. Momma cried when she told them. I’m not quite sure if she cried because she was genuinely upset or because she was afraid of what daddy would do to her. It was probably a conversation of both.

            “Transgender? What the f**k does that mean? You’re talking nonsense Daniel! Now sit your a*s down and eat your dinner. You’re momma went through all this trouble fixing your favorite for you. Now eat!” Daddy said trying to sweep the whole conversation under the rug.

            “No daddy! I’m tired of pretending to be someone I’m not for your sake! I have to be myself and the truth of the matter is that I’m transgender. That means that I’m a female trapped inside of a male body. And the name is not Daniel anymore. It’s Zelda!” She told him. Daddy looked up from his plate with his mouth dropped exposing the mashed potatoes, corn, and chewed up meatloaf that he had just stuffed in there with a fork. He dropped his fork onto the glass plat, which made a loud clinging sound that broke up the dead silence. Daddy chewed his food and swallowed it thinking of what do say. Momma said nothing but looked down at Daddy’s hands that were shaking.

            “You need to shut your mouth Daniel! This is just f*****g crazy! You are a boy! That’s what gawd made you and gawd makes no mistakes! Now sit the f**k down before I get really mad!” He shouted. I looked of at Zelda and nodded for her to go on.

            “No daddy! We got to talk about this now!” She said. Daddy stood up and threw his plate across the room against the wall. It shattered into broken pieces and the food slowly slid down the wall.

            “I’m not gonna tell you again, boy! You shut the f**k up and drop this nonsense!” Daddy shouted while point at Daniel and drooling like a bulldog.

            “No! We’re going to talk about it now!”

            “The f**k we are! You get upstairs and pack your f*****g things! Get the f**k outta my house and damn it, keep going! There’s no room for f*****g queers here!” Daddy shouted.

            “But daddy! Please…”

            “Enough!” Daddy shouted. The room fell silent. “Now git!” Zelda looked at me with tears starting to roll down her cheeks. She wadded up the napkin that was unfolded and lying across her lap and threw it into the plate. I looked over at daddy for a moment and we exchanged looks.

            “You know, daddy, gay and transgender are not…” I started before he cut me off.

            “Enough! I don’t want to hear about this again unless you want your a*s out on the street too!” He said as he sat back down and dipped him out more food onto a new plate.

            It wasn’t long after that when Zelda committed suicide. She did it in an unusual way by running in front of an eighteen-wheeler on the interstate. Daddy didn’t lose much sleep over the matter. In fact, he treated the whole thing like it was his son that died and he honestly didn’t really care. They buried her out at the local cemetery with a headstone that read DANIEL: SON! LET GOD HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL! I still visit the place every now and then. Which is more than I could say for momma and daddy. As far as daddy is concerned, he was convinced that he only had one child from that day on leading up to his death. Zelda was forgotten by him, but not by me.


Copyright © 2015 by Cody Williams
Courtesy of TRUE TERROR PUBLICATIONS
A division of TTP Entertainment

© 2015 Cody Williams


Author's Note

Cody Williams
It's often said that you can't write about something without having to experience it. I believe that to be bullshit. If it were true, nobody would write about war. As a straight man and an ally to the LGBT community, I wrote this story because of a heartbreaking news story that haunted me the last several years. Could parents be that cruel to their own kid? Yes. This conservative evangelical Christian ideology (most notably from FOX NEWS) poisons the mind of people and eats up all empathy. I hope you like this little tale. It's not my typical horror story with supernatural beings, but it does have a lot on it's mind.

-CW

My Review

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Featured Review

This is the reality, I've heard many similar stories myself, having spent a lot of time talking to LGBT people. One of my good friends is transgendered, but luckily in her case it all went relatively smoothly or at least she leaves out the bad stuff. I mean, it's a thing we should be taking for granted, but some have to fight for it and go through hell to just be.

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Cody Williams

8 Years Ago

Thanks for the review!

-CW



Reviews

It's sad that there has to be so much hatred, and intolerance in this world.

Posted 7 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Sadly, these kind of things happen in many families; probably not to this extreme. This story really made me think. Well written.

Posted 7 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Cody Williams

7 Years Ago

Thanks for reading!
Stephanie M

7 Years Ago

no problem
Stephanie M

7 Years Ago

I apologize for taking so long to get back to my read requests.
Hard for old school people to understand new world. Old world. Gays were quiet. My step-brother is gay and he had been with his mate for 40 years. Few of us know. He kept his love life private. I believe sexual preference and religion should be private. Today. Media is forcing their view. What a man or woman does in private. Is their business. I don't advertised my want and need. This is my private business. This is a hard topic. Thank you for sharing your words and thoughts in the powerful story.
Coyote

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Cody Williams

8 Years Ago

Thanks for reading Coyote!

-CW
Coyote Poetry

8 Years Ago

You are welcome.
A great story ... well told ... in the true transparency of its living experience. Its the stuff that reaches the reader in the pain and happiness of cognitive understanding. Well done Cody.

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Cody Williams

8 Years Ago

Thanks for reading Dayran!

-CW
This is the reality, I've heard many similar stories myself, having spent a lot of time talking to LGBT people. One of my good friends is transgendered, but luckily in her case it all went relatively smoothly or at least she leaves out the bad stuff. I mean, it's a thing we should be taking for granted, but some have to fight for it and go through hell to just be.

Posted 8 Years Ago


1 of 1 people found this review constructive.

Cody Williams

8 Years Ago

Thanks for the review!

-CW

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5 Reviews
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Added on December 13, 2015
Last Updated on December 13, 2015
Tags: horror, short story, literary fiction

Author

Cody Williams
Cody Williams

Elizabethton, TN



About
I am in my second year at Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City, Tennessee were I major in instrumental music education and minor in English. My passions include playing the trombone/euphonium an.. more..

Writing