I think he had his suspicions that I might be, uhhh... different before he found my lingerie and stilleto shoes, but once he knew for sure thats the f...rst time he hit me. He made me promise, at pain of... pain, that I would never do any of "that faggot shit" again. Everything slowly got back to normal over time, however I couldn't look my father in the eye for a month.So I hid my faggottry better so as not to get my pretty face all ugly. It worked fine until one day when I was home from. When the door was pushed open it always drew a gasp from me – ‘little’ Joe was terrified of everything, so anyone’s guess what he thought – for me it was a palace. The room was double volume – cavernous in fact with a coloured glass lantern light in the ornate ceiling above- the top half of the room and the ceiling were painted wedgewood green with gold filigree vines frescoed in a fringe around the cornice – from countertop to dado ran a polished mirror the full length of 3 walls, reflecting. I was surprised how quickly I packed. It wasn’t until I was ready to head out that I removed the bandage on my neck. I stared there dumbfounded as saw it had already healed. Decided to put is aside for later I walked back into to the bedroom. I would grab my bags and head out. I was startled to find Alina waiting for me. “Sorry to surprise you. I just wanted to see you and didn’t feel the need to call. Is there something wrong? EThe last part Alina said as she saw the look of apprehension. Len was left completely devoid of any ammunition. He had fired his last shot for the evening and drifted off watching Char’s ongoing performance on the screen. *** Giggling girls and a knock on Red’s door brought Len back to consciousness. Red and Emily were drinking wine and sharing stories or maybe comparing notes when the sound of Char’s voice got everyone’s attention. A slightly tipsy Red rhymed, “Come on in, the wine is fine, your husband is done, we hope you don’t mind!” More giggling.