A Queer Turn of Events   by Lisa Lees	Episode map Characters Extras Blog
1:3 – "Emiko and Rachel" Part 1: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Part 2: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Emiko was in her room on campus, reading and listening to birds chirrup in the trees outside her window, when her cell buzzed. Irritated, she looked at it and saw that it was Rachel calling. She answered with a smile, which quickly left her face as she listened.

"That is their final decision?" she said.

"Yes," said Rachel. She sounded drained of energy.

"What will you do? Will you defy them?"

"They asked me to promise to never see you again."

Emiko clutched her cell so hard she was afraid she would break it. "What did you say?"

"I said I needed to think about it, though of course I will promise no such thing. They gave me until noon today."

"And then what?"

"They'll disown me. They want me out of the house," said Rachel, her voice sounding small, far away and very frightened. "They'll forbid Phoebe to have any contact with me. I don't know what Daniel will do. He's twenty-three and on his own. I haven't spoken to him about you."

They were silent for a moment.

Finally Emiko said. "I will understand if you decide to stay with your family. To loose your sister and not know about your brother; it is a terrible choice to have to make."

"Emiko, I was up all night, thinking this through. It's not just you, though I do love you and couldn't bear the thought of never seeing you again. I have to be who I am, not who my parents wish I was."

"But Phoebe? And your final year of college?"

"I woke Phoebe up four hours ago so we could talk. She's sitting here with me now. We've agreed that I should leave. Our parents can't actually keep us from having contact with each other. In one year she goes to college, and then I'll be able to see her again."

There was noise as Phoebe took the cellphone from her sister. "Emiko?"

"Hello, Phoebe."

"I can stand a year. I have friends who'll let me do email and IM and use their cell phones. I can even write letters! There's no way my parents can keep me and Rach from having contact! It's not like we'd see that much of each other anyway. I'm a senior. I'm going to be super busy. It'll be okay, for me."

"Phoebe, this may be more difficult than you think, if your parents intend to erase the memory of Rachel from their lives."

"I know. But they better not get that eraser too close to me, or they'll regret it! I don't think they're stupid enough to force me to choose between them and my sister."

Rachel took the cell phone back. "Emiko, I'm going to give them my answer now. I expect to be told to leave the house, with what I can grab and carry."

"That is barbaric!"

"They're going to disown me. I'll be lucky if they don't give me an invoice for the cost of raising me."

Emiko hissed and leaped off the bed, striding to the window.

"I'll start walking toward a bus stop, Emiko. If you can find someone with a car, please come get me. I doubt I'll still have this cell, so there's no point trying to call me. I love you!"

"I love you, Rachel. Be strong. I am coming."

Emiko snapped her cell closed. Almost immediately it buzzed. She looked at the number. Carys! No, they didn't have a car. She had to find a way to get to Rachel. She closed the cell again, slipped it into her back pocket, grabbed her purse, and ran from the room.

Who has a car? Who has a car? She ran down the stairs to the main floor of the residence hall. James! From the support group. He was here this summer. She and Kay had gone with James to a concert in Ann Arbor last month, in his car. They'd met at his room. What was it? She ran to the front desk, showed her ID, found out his room number and ran to the elevator.

Please, please be here! thought Emiko as she rapped on the door. She waited a moment and knocked again, louder. This time she heard a muffled grunt from within. A moment later the door opened. "Emiko?" said James, staring at her. "Did I wake you you? Sorry, James! I have emergency. I must get to Rachel!" "Uh, come on in while I get dressed. I ended up without a roommate for the summer." Emiko sat at the desk and told James what was happening while he pulled on pants, socks and shoes. "That sucks! Of course I'll drive you there. My car is in the lot at Service and Hagadorn, so we need to do some walking first." He glanced at her and smiled. "At least lesbians wear sensible shoes." "Sensible people wear sensible shoes, James. I am not dancing or practicing to kick butt, I am rescuing Rachel. Let us go!" "Okay, uh, my keys and wallet are here somewhere." Emiko grabbed them from the desk next to her and handed them to him. "Let's go. I will buy you breakfast, or lunch, or whatever."

James stuffed the items into his pockets, ran a hand through his hair and headed out the door, Emiko close behind. "Where are we going? Where are you taking her?"

"I have directions," said Emiko. "I will take her to my room for now. My roommate is gone for long weekend. I will call Carys. We will think of something."

Emiko gave directions as James drove west into Lansing.

"Turn here! She lives in this area. Down this street, then left again at the end. But watch for her. I don't know when she left her house."

James turned onto the street and drove slowly. "Can't you call her cell and find out where she is?"

Emiko shook her head. "She didn't think they'd let her keep the cell."

"Huh? What kind of nazis are her parents?"

"I hope I never meet them," growled Emiko, then she sighed. "Rachel and I need to have a long talk about her being more independent. She must not become dependent on me!"

James glanced at her. "You two are pretty solid, aren't you?"

"Yes, but there are forces in this world that no one can control."

"Do you work at being enigmatic, or does it come naturally?" said James, remembering how Emiko had fooled everyone in the support group by speaking in what she called 'Emiko language'.

"Yes. Look! Is that her?" "I think so." James sped up briefly, then pulled to a stop next to the figure walking along the street. "Rachel!" yelled Emiko, as she threw the door open and jumped out. "Emiko?" Rachel dropped to her knees and began sobbing. Once Emiko had comforted Rachel and she was able to stop crying, they loaded the few things she'd been able to carry into the car and headed back to campus. Rachel began sobbing ever time she tried to talk, so Emiko just held her. James parked outside the residence hall to help carry Rachel's things to Emiko's room. "Do you want me to call Carys?" he asked.

"No, thank you," said Emiko. "Rachel was awake all last night. I will fix us something to eat, and put her in bed. Then I will call Carys."

James set Rachel's things on the floor inside the room, then turned to leave. "Just let me know if I can do anything to help."

Emiko hugged him. "Thank you, James. It is good to know you are a friend." She closed the door and turned to Rachel, who was sitting on one of the beds, staring at the floor. Sitting beside her, she said, "I can fix some food? Or would you just like to sleep?"

Without looking up, Rachel asked, "What am I going to do, Emiko?"

"This weekend you are staying with me, because my roommate is away. While you sleep, I will call Carys." She pushed the hair back from Rachel's face. "We have friends. They will help."

"I thought when I figured out and accepted that I'm queer, and then you and I fell in love, that everything made sense and I knew at last what I was doing with my life. Now everything has fallen apart and I feel so lost."

"Not lost. Free you are."

Rachel looked at her and smiled through her tears. "Are you being Emiko, or Yoda?"

"I am being serious. When an animal that has been caged all its life finds itself outside the cage, at first it does not know what to do. It does not know what freedom is. It sits and waits for someone to return it to its cage."

Emiko gently took Rachel's head in her hands and briefly kissed her. "I will not build a new cage for you, but I will help you learn what freedom is."

Puzzled, Rachel said, "So I'm on my own?"

"Oh, no, darling! I am with you. But you must make your own decisions, find your own path, one that I hope includes me."

Rachel kissed her. "Of course it does. You mean I need to decide whether to flip burgers or bag at Meijer."

"Or finish college."

"Oh, right! It costs like $35,000 a year to go to Albion."

"You cannot be the first student to loose funding before their final year. There may be ways to obtain help. Or you can transfer to State. Or do something else."

"But I have to decide."

"Yes."

"Can I sleep first?" pouted Rachel.

"Yes, silly. Would you like me to fix some food?"

Rachel shook her head and put her arms around Emiko. "There's something else I'd much rather do before I fall asleep, seeing as how we're sitting together on a bed in your room? I mean, as a free lesbian, having sex with my partner seems like a good decision to make. Unless there's something else you need to do?"

"I do you," smiled Emiko, leaning toward Rachel.

"Oh, yes! Please do me."

* * *

After they made love, Rachel quickly fell asleep. The birds were quiet now, in the afternoon heat. Emiko took her cell and walked to the study lounge on the floor, which was empty. She had a long talk with Carys, who told her what was going on with Sandy and Crystal.

"What to do with so many homeless queer people, Carys?" "That is the question, isn't it, Emiko? How about we all get together Saturday to talk about things, and have a Wizzy Wig practice? We can meet at the apartment, then maybe go to my parents' house to practice?" "That sounds good, Carys. I have missed everyone. We will be there tomorrow." Emiko went back to her room to study and think. Rachel continued to sleep, though she was clearly having some unpleasant dreams. Emiko stayed up very late, finally just staring out the window at the stars, thinking about the future. Sometime after midnight she slipped into bed beside Rachel and cried herself to sleep.

To be continued...