The line to meet the author stretched into the distance, and Kate looked up and down, shrugged and made the walk towards the end. Meg joined her, walking a step behind. They gave the spaced-out line a wide berth, walking in single-file down the sidewalk.
“Wow, that’s a lot of people,” said Kate, looking over her shoulder. “I didn’t know Laura was so well known!”
“Person,” said Meg, pointing a finger. They dodged the pedestrian moving the other way, and kept walking.
“I mean, I remember when Laura came out,” continued Kate as they rounded a corner, “when she wrote that column about coming out while working as a sportswriter. Must have been back, like what, eight years ago?”
Meg shrugged, then motioned for Kate to take her spot in line. “You know me Kate, I’m not the reader in the relationship.” She smiled as they took their spots in the line. “Still, it’ll be cool to meet a published author. I wonder if she knows how popular she is?”
“She has to, right?” said Kate. “I mean, can’t she see this line?” She craned her head around, looking up at the people filed ahead. Had to be what, a few dozen? Maybe more? It was hard to tell with everyone spaced out by six-feet, people waiting in little clusters that dotted the sidewalk.
“You know,” added Kate, “I’ve always wanted to be published.”
“I know, I know,” replied Meg, “you talk about it all the time. And how working at a newspaper doesn’t count.”
“I mean, anyone could do that, it’s just writing about what happened.” Kate paused and took a breath. “But like, to make up something and make it come alive… that’s magic, Meg. That’s special.”
Meg smiled. “We’re waiting to meet the wizard.” She reached forward and grabbed Kate’s hand, giving it a squeeze. “I’m glad we get to share this moment, hon.”
The line moved forward a step and more people filed in behind them. Kate blew on her hands, while Meg shoved hers deep into her coat pockets. Fall was in the air, the wind with a bit of a bite. Ahead of them, a couple hugged and ahead of those two, a lone trans masc leaned on a wall, whistling a melody Kate recognized but couldn’t place. She imagined having the courage to cut ahead and ask what the song was.
“The song,” he replied. “Just an old Beach Boys one, I dunno if you’d know it.”
“Try me,” said Kate with a grin.
“It’s called ‘Surf’s Up.’ It’s about how Brian, he’s the leader of the band, right, well, he’s tired of writing about girls and surfing and the sun, and by song’s end he’s singing about a tidal wave just wiping everything clean.” The masc paused for effect, spreading his hands out in a flat motion. “It’s how the album ended, it’s like it’s supposed to be the end of a chapter.” He looked Kate in the eyes and grinned. “But they never released the album, and the song came out on something else a few years later. Hey, Kate, Kate..”
Kate snapped her eyes open. Meg was motioning her forward, the line taking another shuffle towards the combination bar/bookstore. They took a step. Meg looked up and down the line, at the bodies all in a row and shuddered.
Meg didn’t see where the car came from, but it jumped up and skidded over the curb, slamming into the couple in front of her. One of them fell to the ground, crumpled under the car, while the other fell backwards, screaming, yelling so loud Meg thought the sound would never stop. As people around her jumped into action, one of them pulled the yelling person from under the car, two others rushed to the side, trying to lift the car off the second person’s body. Someone opened the car’s door, pulling the driver to the ground and a group materialized, yelling at the driver. One of them kicked the driver in the face. Meg stood there transfixed, scared, not knowing what to do, just frozen as people rushed around her, pushing her to the side, moving around her like a rock in a stream. She stood there, re-living the moment over and over again, blinking.
And then it was gone, the line back to normal. Nobody's been hit, there wasn’t even a car on the street around them. Meg took a gulp of air and squeezed Kate’s hand tight.
“You okay?” asked Kate.
“Yeah, I was just reminded of something.” Meg shook her head, let go of Kate’s hand and rubbed her eyes. “I’m fine, really.”
Kate looked at the line, which was inching its way up to the corner of the street, where it’d make a 90 degree bend to the right, then kept stretching for another hundred feet, ending at the entrance to The Drive Shaft, a combination bar and bookstore her friend ran.
The line wasn’t moving, and the night was getting colder. She looked at Meg, who was lost in thought and staring at her shoes. How much longer would she wait like this? Kate thought about cutting in front of the line, barging in and seeing what her friend would do. What would Laura do? They followed each other on Twitter, occasionally exchanging DMs. Would they welcome her? Tell her to get lost? There was only one way to find out.
“Hold my place, I gotta pee,” said Kate, dashing away from Meg. Before anyone could reply, Kate was walking up along the line, moving towards the corner. Her walk quickened as she got closer, and when she moved up to it, she was almost at a jog. But as she turned, she saw the line: it was going on, and on, up to another corner almost a hundred yards ahead, where it quickly moved out of sight. Kate’s jog turned into a run as she moved up along the line, ignoring the people yelling at her to get back in line, that there’s no cuts.
As the second corner got closer, Kate found she was almost in a sprint. The front of the line had to be close, but as she turned, she saw the line kept going, and going, that it seemed to just keep going ahead to another blind corner. She kept running - people were clapping now, one person held out a cup of water. She splashed it on her face, it felt refreshing, giving her the energy to kick into another gear, running harder than she’d run since high school. But the harder she ran, the further the line seemed to go. Finally, with her legs pounding and her lungs on fire, she reached the corner and…
She blinked. The line hadn’t moved, and neither had her or Meg. She leaned back against the brick wall, stared at the ground and exhaled.
Meg looked back behind her; the line had stretched out and looked like it went to a corner behind them. “Popular place, eh?” she said to Kate. “Seems like every queer person in town came out tonight.”
Kate looked up and behind her, then back to the ground. “Yeah, there must be like 40, 50 people in line here.” She rolled her shoulders, then reached into her handbag for a cigarette. “What do you think Laura will say when we get there?” she asked, her smoke dangling unlit from her mouth. “You think she’ll be cool?”
Meg thought about this for a moment. What would Laura be like? She didn’t know her at all, but had read her book It’s Time and found it interesting. A sportswriter who came out as trans. No wonder Kate liked her. She’d been in the same boat, except Kate quit her job after coming out. Too many weird looks in locker rooms, she’d told Meg. Except Meg knew better than to believe Kate - it was probably either quit or get fired, and Meg knew all about that.
Meg breathed out, her breath vanishing in a puff of steam. She thought about her old jobs, the ones she had before she scraped by with tech work. She thought of a book she’d read once: it said something about how every trans woman worked in tech, at a makeup store or did sex work. And here she was, waiting in line to see someone who’d made it work by doing something else. What did books even know, anyway?
“Well, well, look who’s here,” said a voice behind Meg. She recognized it, and didn’t want to turn around and look. She forced herself to do it anyway. “If it isn’t my son, all dolled up to go to the bar.”
“Hello, Dad,” said Meg, trying to steel herself and keep eye contact. She hated her dad, a loud, boorish man who enjoyed needling people. “What a surprise, running into you here. Of all places.”
Her dad shot her a quizzical look and spoke: “Hey, I’m just passing through on my way to the hockey game. Gonna be a good one, I bet. The Hawks are playing the Lions.” He grinned - he knew Meg didn’t give a shit about sports. “I’d invite you to come, but it looks like my son had other plans.” He motioned to Meg’s outfit, black tights coming out from under a knee-length coat.
“I’m not your son, Dad. We’ve been through this.” Meg felt her stomach tighten, her knees begin to shake. “We’ve spoken about this.” She stared into her dad’s eyes, past his old, narrow-framed glasses and the stubble lining his face. “We’ve talked about this.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, my daughter,” he scoffed. “My daughter, the transvestite. Look honey, just because you want something bad enough, it doesn’t make it true.” He chuckled, a low, menacing laugh. “If it did, I’d be a millionaire by now. But look, when you’re over this, drop me a line, will ya, honey? It’s been a while.” He turned on his heel and walked away, waving a carefree arm in a half wave.
“I hate you,” muttered Meg under her breath. “Hate, hate, hate, hate…”
“Hhmm?” Kate looked up from the ground and took a deep drag off her smoke. She looked at Meg, who was muttering something she couldn’t make out, her eyes closed and hands clenched in balls. Was it the line? It hadn’t moved in a while. She wondered what was even happening. If Laura was even there. Surely she would’ve heard if it was cancelled. She pulled out her phone, scrolled Twitter. More news about the pandemic, some bullshit about hockey. Scroll, scroll. It was always the same: bad news, something about how British women hate trans people, someone’s fundraiser. Twitter wasn’t fun anymore. But she scrolled. And thought about the inside of the Drive Shaft.
The bar was a bookstore during the day, with shelves set on wheels. At night, they were wheeled off to the walls and a few tables appeared. The bar was always there, right in the middle, and chances are it had Tanner, their forearms teeming with muscles, manning the lone beer tap.
Kate squinted her brain and could almost see the table Laura was sitting at, her bright-red hair almost shining in the light. She was at a table, copies of her book at her side. Kate walked in, clutching her handbag to her side.
“Hi Ms. Butler, I’m Kate… I, uh…” She blushed as she spoke, brushed some hair away from her eyes. “I’m a big fan.”
“Oh, Kate,” said Laura, “you can call me Laura. We’re friends, after all, aren’t we?”
Kate grinned, her awkwardness vanishing in an instant. She strolled up to the table, and asked for a copy of the book. “You know who to make it out to,” she said to Laura.
“You know,” said Laura, “I’m a fan of your writing, Kate. I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but I adore your column. I know how hard it is to pump out something new every week.” Kate blushed again. “Why don’t you join me? We can chat between customers, and maybe share a drink afterwards.”
“Oh gosh,” said Kate, “oh gosh.” She pulled up a chair, sat down and turned to face Laura. “Oh gosh,” she said.
Laura shot her a wink. “I’m glad you’re here, Kate,” she said, but with Meg’s voice. Kate blinked. What was that? “I’m glad you’re here.” Kate blinked and the world kicked back, her spot in line the same as it was before. She turned, looked at Meg and grinned.
“I’m glad you’re here, too,” said Kate. “Even if we have to wait all night, I’m glad we’re waiting together.” She stepped towards Meg, leaned in and put her face right next to Meg’s. “I’m so glad,” she said. She leaned in and kissed Meg on the lips.
Meg grabbed Kate’s arm and pulled her body close. “Like this,” she said, motioning for Kate to lean in a little tighter, a little higher. They wrapped their arms, kissing, Meg’s tongue probing into Kate’s mouth. Kate could feel a little prick, movement from Meg’s clit. She moved her legs in and pushed Meg against the wall.
And then it happened. A weird, warm feeling as they pressed their bodies together. Not exactly like a melting feeling, but sticky, almost fluid like. Kate wasn’t sure what was happening, but she liked it: she pressed her body harder into Meg’s and could feel her coat vanishing, the feeling of skin on skin, and then it was just one feeling, like their skin was one. She leaned in harder, pressing her face into Meg’s as their chests merged into one, their bodies sliding and changing into one. And then she had to breathe, feeling like she was going to explode if she didn’t take a breath, but she couldn’t tear herself away. She pulled back, separated their mouths, took a deep breath… the magic was gone, they were back in line.
So Kate leaned back against the wall, while Meg pulled out her phone, and together they waited as the line slowly creeped and crawled.