The Trans gender-ation : My Friend Mike (A Short Story)

A story of a transgendered man's friends, struggle, and marriage.

It was a beautiful day in spring when we all gathered at the end of the pier at the North Avenue Beach. One of my 3 best friends, Mike, was finally getting married, and at 30, was the last of us to crack the code to that safe known as happiness. Derrick, Kyle and I sat on the bride's side with her family, talking with them, and expressing how fortunate we've all been to make it to see this day. Real soft stuff, you know how people get at weddings. In the back past the chairs stood a smiling Mike, a gorgeous, white and gold trimmed wedding dress adorning her body. She was beautiful today, more so than usual, at least. Now, I'm pretty positive you're all a bit confused, so allow me to clarify some things. Yes, Mike is a male's name, and yes, I did use the pronoun "she" when referring to him. Thats because Mike is a trans-gendered woman. No, we're not gay. We're just a very eccentric group of friends, and for the record, eccentric doesn't mean gay. I guess I should start from the beginning, huh? Theres myself, Jeremy, pale, butterfly collector, mid-height, and part of the writing staff for Men's Health Magazine. Derrick is the typical tall, handsome, muscular Black guy who'll completely destroy your self esteem more when you discover that he's one of the most well paid lawyers in the city. He seems perpetually serious until he gets around us, which then transforms him into one of the sweetest, nicest guys you'll ever meet. Kyle is what every White guy growing up in the tough man era of 90's Chicago wants to be. As Strikeforce's current mma middle weight division champion, he's muscular, pretty, has two beautiful cars and models to match them. He's the jokester, meaning if he's not making fun of one of us, he's smiling at his next victim of a woman. However, pissing him off is not what you would want to do. He hates when people are looked down upon, so arrogant individuals should beware. He's hurt normal people before so don't provoke him. Mike is the glue of the group. 5'7, caramel complected, with a woman's build (I'm not going to get into that with you), strangely, Mike is the one who brought us all together. We were with him the entire way on his path to understanding himself, and with his powerful will, he inspired us to be better. Growing up in a low-income neighborhood as a gay Black male wasn't easy, especially when you didn't want to be a male anymore. We protected, fought, and helped one another to the top, and now we've all achieved our dreams. But we weren't always like this. It started when we were kids.

Ever since we were five, Mike's been gay. Mind you, at five, you still don't understand what a penis or vagina are used for. He walked, talked, and played like and with girls, but was beaten up every week like a guy. His dad, and even to this day, hated it and tried to beat it out of him, plus Kyle and his gang made it a point to do so as well. Kyle was always a bully, and while he's changed a lot since we were kids, if he really wants something, you'd better give it to him. Back then, while I knew Mike, I really didn't feel one way or another about him. He was just another kid in my Kindergarten class. However, I did feel pity for him, watching him get picked on everyday like that, holding back tears so no one could see his pain. I would want to do something, but Derrick always reminded me, "Its not our problem. I'll fight if you fight, but then I'll get in trouble. You don't want that, do you?", he would say in a serious tone. Finally, in Third Grade, I had enough. One day in May, in the back of the school after class was out, the basketball court was deserted so Derrick and I played a game of one-on-one. Mike was also there, sitting on the bleachers on the side, lip gloss shining, blasting "Like A Virgin", writing in his diary when Kyle and his gang of four showed up. They spotted Mike immediately and advanced towards him. "Hey, f****t! I'm bored! Come down here so you can entertain me!", he demanded. I dropped the basketball and ran over, Derrick right behind me, sighing with frustration. Mike was scared, but this was the last time he would ever fear anything. "Kyle, just drop it, man, he's cool!", I asked calmly. He retorted, "Jeremy, this ain't got nothin' to do with you. Or do you want a problem with me, too?" Derrick stepped up behind me, imposing as always. "You touch Jeremy, and I'ma kick all of your asses. Besides, he's gotta point. Enough is enough. Leave the guy alone. Alright? The f**k outta here." I smiled. Derrick never backed down, which is what makes him such a successful lawyer. Kyle hesitated for a moment, looked at his friends, who obviously wanted no problems with the irate Black kid, and left. Mike was about to say thanks when we grabbed him and walked him over to Master Chang's Judo down the street from the school. I looked him in his eyes momentarily before saying, "You plan on being gay for the rest of your life, right?" He fired back defensively. "Yeah, so f****n' what? If you wanna beat me up too, then go ahead. I'm used to it anyway!" Derrick smiled in shock, and I was impressed. We both realized that he had a lot of spirit left, even after going through all of the pain in his life. "Look, Mike, we don't have a problem with you. Gay or not, we think you're cool." Derrick jumped in sarcastically. "Speak for yourself, dude." I rolled my eyes before continuing. "Look, life is gonna get harder for you, especially with the decision you've made, and we're not always gonna be here to protect you. So, go in there, talk to Master Chang about whats been going on and he'll help you. For free. He's my dad's old master." With out a word he hugged me and ran inside. As time went on, Mike was able to defend himself, flipping and throwing Kyle and anyone else making fun of him every chance he got. By sixth grade, he was hanging out with us and by eighth, Kyle had grown tired of the street fights and joined us as well, learning Judo from Mike and getting into MMA. Of course people would talk behind our backs because we hung out with a gay guy, but no one DARED say anything about it to our faces. My three friends were so tough. 

Which brought us here to today. We went through high school, college and bar fights together, forming a bond that no one can break. She's stayed with all of us for a short period of time at one point or another as her father and his side of the family continued to make it difficult for her, but she finally made it. And as she began making her way down the aisle towards her groom to be, we all stood for applause. Everyone knew what Mike had been through to attain her happiness. Just goes to show you that with a strong spirit, faith in yourself, and good friends by your side, nothing is impossible. Happiness is just a waiting game. Are you patient?