Family Values

Dear Kit,

This is the most difficult letter I’ve ever written. I only wish I had the strength to tell you what I am about to say in person, but I don’t have that kind of courage. That’s why this letter is wrapped around a video cassette. A picture is worth a thousand words.

Before you put the cassette in your VCR, let me try to prepare you for what you are about to see. The woman who will be speaking to you in a few seconds is me.

I didn’t want this to happen, and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve tried to overcome the impulses that have led me beyond the point of no return. I have to choose between living a lie and being true to myself. Living the lie would be so much easier on everybody but me. I suppose what I am about to do is selfish, but I have only one life to live, and I am going to live it as a woman.

You have been my lover, and now I hope that you will be my friend. All my love,

Chris

Kit was in a state of shock as she crumpled up the letter and put the tape into her VCR. With shaking hands, she fumbled with the remote until the set came on. Her jaw dropped as she stared at the image on her television screen, and she collapsed onto the sofa as the tape played on.

“Hello, Kit,” said the nice-looking girl staring into the camera. She was perched on the same sofa where Kit now sat, her dress pulled primly down over her knees. Her voice was husky, but with a feminine lilt to it that betrayed nothing. She appeared to be extremely nervous as she brushed a stray hair away from her familiar face with a delicate gesture.

Familiar, yes, but so utterly different! Chris’s blue eyes were now framed by long lashes and arched brows, and his cheeks and lips had a rosy glow. His long hair was styled into a perky shag, and the hands folded in the lap of his dress had polished nails.

Her dress, Kit corrected herself as she stared at the screen. The person looking back at her was a total stranger now. How could Chris have kept this from her? For over a year, as they progressed from casual acquaintances to friends and finally to lovers, he had given no inkling of his secret life. How could she have been so blind?