“Confused and fucked up, but apart from that, bloody marvellous!” I said, finding it impossible to drop the Canadian accent, even here.
She laughed and led me by the hand to a settee upon which she sat down, pulling me down beside her.
“Harvey, be a love and fetch us some tea,” she said, so Harvey left.
“How does it feel to have completed the assignment?”
“Have I?”
“Oh yes, they were all there.”
“So, what happens now?”
“The diamonds are already on way to Switzerland, where we’ll keep them safe. My friend Holasu G'ymbai has already been informed of your success and he asks me to congratulate you personally.”
“Whoopdeedoo,” I muttered.
“Don’t be such a sourpuss, this means that he’ll be able to start making preparations to retake the country.”
“And then what? He’ll be stabbed in the back by the British, or French, or Germans or even the Americans. Forgive me, but I’m slightly less than impressed. I think he should thank his lucky stars he’s still alive and live out his retirement in relative comfort.”
“He happens to be passionate about his people,” she said.
“What for? They’re the ones who kicked him out.”
“Oh, you really haven’t changed, you’re still a cynical son of a bitch, aren’t you?” she said, her smile slipping.
“I’m sorry, but nothing I’ve seen or heard over the last few days has given me cause to change the way I look at life,” I said, explaining what I’d experienced. I ended with a question.
“So, you could have phoned to tell me that the diamonds were in Switzerland. Why did you drag me out here?”
“Simple, I’ve invested a significant amount into your recuperation and so I need to know how you are in yourself. You appear to have been busy, but I sense that you’re not altogether content. Am I right?”
“Content? You have to be kidding, Maryanne, how the hell could I be content?”
“Ah, you’ve had enough of the Julianna bit, have you?”
I stared at her, mind reeling. She’d misunderstood completely.
“Why am I still here?” I asked, in order to change the subject.
“I’m a great believer in finishing things properly. So far, you’ve completed the first part of the assignment, in that the diamonds have now been secured and are, for the moment, safe. I’d like you to complete the assignment.”
“Which is?”
“There was a conspiracy to take over Mgombi, and I believe it included certain prominent Vietnamese officials, some corrupt European diplomats and the unwitting help of several European governments, including the British. None of the men responsible will ever be indicted for their part in events, and will, if we don’t intercede, live to enjoy a retirement in which they will be hard pressed to spend the profits of their duplicity. I had hoped you would be willing to assist in seeing justice, of sorts, be done.”
“What can we do?” I asked.
“You’d be surprised, believe me. However, I think we need to get you sorted out first,” she said. Harvey chose that moment to arrive carrying a tray of tea things. He left it on the table and left us alone once more. We sat and chatted of trivia as we drank tea, but I sensed she was watching me closely.
“You do surprise me,” she said, placing her empty cup onto the tray.
“How so?” I asked.
“Robert Carlisle has gone completely. You’ve done a remarkable job, for you appear most natural as a girl.”
I smiled and shrugged.
“Thanks, I think. Mind you, it’s been bloody tough.”
“Tough? Oh, I guess it has, but what’s the cost?”
“Cost?” I asked.
“To you, my dear. What has it cost you?”
I looked at her for a moment, but then felt the familiar feeling of a single tear run down my cheek. Angrily I wiped it away and forced myself to be strong.
“If you must know, bloody everything!” I said, to which she simply nodded.
“The surgeon and his team are here and will undertake any task I give them. Now, what is it to be?”
“Now?”
“It seems as good a time as any. With all the interest in you by various parties, I think it’s just as well, don’t you?”
“Don’t I have a say in my own life?”
“I don’t know, do you?”
“I’d like to.”
“Okay, have a say, make an informed decision as to how you want to live for the rest of your life.”
“You already know what I’ll choose, don’t you?” I asked.
“Of course, you don’t think I’d send you in without someone watching you. I will never know exactly what you’ve been through, but I can make it right.”
I snorted. “How?”
“First, you have to choose.”
So I chose.
Chapter Twelve
Choosing was the easy part; the hard part was finding the mule that had kicked me in the groin.
Actually, what I found I needed was the will just to open my eyes to look for the damned mule, let alone the energy to get up and go find it. My experiences with pain in the prison and later when I was recuperating had ruined my pain tolerance threshold. I had become so used to pain in the prison that I’d actually learned to live with it. However, I now found the pain unbearable, so my moans and groans must have caused someone to give me something, because the pain almost went away and I experienced some very funny dreams.
Quang Lam was chasing me across a rugby pitch with some large and very rusty scissors.
“Come here, captain, I want your balls!” he said.
“No way, I told you before you had me shot, I’m not guilty!” I said, but tripped because the high heels I wore were six inches high and the mud through which I ran was like glue. As I fell, Mombossu arrived, grinning and holding a machete.
“Now, I’m going to cut off your balls!” he said.
“Why does everyone want my balls?” I asked.
A whistle sounded, as Lumsden, the British attaché from the embassy, ran over wearing a referee’s kit.
“Offside, Carlisle, you have to hand over the diamonds or they get to cut off your balls,” he told me.
I laughed until tears streamed down my face. I sensed that the dream was fading so I didn’t have much time before waking up, so I screamed at the top of my voice, “Tough bloody luck. You can’t, because I don’t have them any more, not the bloody diamonds or my bloody balls, so go fuck yourselves, all of you!”
The nurse looked at me strangely, so I grinned weakly at her. It was the same nurse that had cared for me on the ship, so she already knew I was a fruitcake.
This time the recuperation period was shorter, because I was in good condition before I went under the knife. I’d already had the facial and other plastic surgery and boob job, so this time I was simply recovering from a vaginoplasty. Simply! - It still hurt like a mule kick, so for the first three days, I wasn’t a happy teddy, but after that, things got back to normal pretty quickly.
The doctor was his usual dour self. He seemed thorough enough, but rarely spoke except to ask whether my bowels had moved or it hurt when I peed. I seemed to spray uncontrollably during the latter, but he grunted and told me that was due to swelling and it would go down after a few days. He was right and it did.
I now had a new series of hormone tablets, which I would have to take for the rest of my life. As far as I understood, because of the way my body was changing, the doctor had reviewed my implants and decided that what I had would be fine, but there may come a time in the future when I may need to remove them, or certainly reduce them. I had a regimen of dilators to use once he took the wadding out, but once he told me how to use them and that I wasn’t to have sex for twelve weeks, he disappeared.