Ken and Ayala Part 2 Exploration

"I miss them, Ken. I miss them so much. I moved out when I was seventeen . . . actually, I was kicked out. By my dad. Because he couldn't understand me, what I was doing and how it could possibly be right or moral to be the way I was. He's a religious man; I mean, he isn't orthodox, but he's really a man of values. I thought he would understand, with our family history, that it was wrong to persecute someone because she was different, that it was important not to judge but to try and be open-minded. But he just couldn't. He couldn't understand the life of a transgendered girl, and he definitely couldn't understand why it had to be someone from his own family. So he rejected the idea . . . and me along with it.

"My mom was more sympathetic, but she couldn't stand up to my dad. After that, the only reason I made it was because of the help I got from my sister. Yasmin was so good to me. I ended up living on the streets for a month until she figured out a way to get me into a spare bedroom in a friend's house. I finished out high school, and then Yasmin helped me to apply to college and even get in with a full scholarship. She also helped me become the person I am today. Ayala. The girl you see in front of you now. She even helped me with all the medical treatments I needed with some personal loans, loans that she shielded from our dad so he would never know that she was helping me out.

"I couldn't have been the person I was born to be without her. She even picked out my new name, for a new life . . . Ayala . . . it means 'deer.' She told me that I was as graceful, as soft, and as beautiful as a wild doe, and equally fast and strong. That I could make it in this life and had the spirit to do so. She never stopped believing in me. Never. She's been the only person in my life that's supported me so much, so unconditionally. Up until now, she's the only one that I've ever felt I could trust. . . ." Her voice wavered.

I broke in with my own thoughts. "Ayala . . . I can't begin to imagine all of the things that you've gone through. Since last night, all I've wanted to do is to be with you, to make you happy, and to protect you. To shield you from the loneliness and hurt that I saw in your eyes, the kind that I know of firsthand. To show you that you're not alone anymore, that you have someone to support you now.