The Female Man

The reply to this was that Three took out a small revolver, and this surprised me; for everyone knows that anger is most intense towards those you know: it is lovers and neighbors who kill each other. There's no sense, after all, in behaving that way towards a perfect stranger; where's the satisfaction? No love, no need; no need, no frustration; no frustration, no hate, right? It must have been fear. The door opened at this point and a young woman walked in, a woman of thirty years or so, elaborately painted and dressed. I know I should not have assumed anything, but one must work with what one has; and I assumed that her dress indicated a mother. That is, someone on vacation, someone with leisure, someone who's close to the information network and full of intellectual curiosity. If there's a top class (I said to myself), this is it. I didn't want to take anyone away from necessary manual work. And I thought, you know, that I would make a small joke. So I said to her: "Take me to your leader."

VI

… a tall blonde woman in blue pajamas who appeared standing on Colonel Q____________________'s desk, as if from nowhere. She took out what appeared to be a weapon… No answer to our questions. The Colonel has kept a small revolver in the top drawer of his desk since the summer riots. He produced it. She would not answer our questions.

I believe at that point Miss X____________________, the Colonel's secretary, walked into the room, quite unaware of what was going on. Luckily Y____________________, Z____________________, Q____________________, R____________________, and myself kept our heads. She then said, "I am from the future."

QUESTIONER: Miss X____________________said that?

ANSWER: No, not Miss X____________________. The-the stranger.

QUESTIONER: Are you sure she appeared standing on Colonel Q____________________'s desk?

ANSWER: No, I'm not sure. Wait. Yes I am. She was sitting on it.

VII

INTERVIEWER: It seems odd to all of us, Miss Evason, that in venturing into such-well, such absolutely unknown territory-that you should have come unarmed with anything except a piece of string. Did you expect us to be peaceful?

JE: No. No one is, completely.

INTERVIEWER: Then you should have armed yourself.

JE: Never.

INTERVIEWER: But an armed person, Miss Evason, is more formidable than one who is helpless. An armed person more readily inspires fear.

JE: Exactly.

VIII

That woman lived with me for a month. I don't mean in my house. Janet Evason on the radio, the talk shows, the newspapers, newsreels, magazines, ads even. With somebody I suspect was Miss Dadier appearing in my bedroom late one night.

"I'm lost." She meant: what world is this?

"F'godsakes, go out in the hall, will you?"

But she melted away through the Chinese print on the wall, presumably into the empty, carpeted, three-in-the-morning corridor outside. Some people never stick around. In my dream somebody wanted to know where Miss Dadier was. I woke at about four and went to the bathroom for a glass of water; there she was on the other side of the bathroom mirror, semaphoring frantically. She made her eyes big and peered desperately into the room, both fists pressed against the glass.

"He's not here," I said. "Go away."

She mouthed something unintelligible. The room sang: Thou hast led capti- i-vi-ty Ca-ap-tive!

Thou hast led capti- i-vi-ty Ca-ap-tive!

I wet a washcloth and swiped at the mirror with it. She winced. Turn out the light, said my finer instincts, and so I turned out the light. She remained lit up. Dismissing the whole thing as the world's aberration and not mine, I went back to bed.

"Janet?" she said.

IX

Janet picked up Jeannine at the Chinese New Festival. Miss Dadier never allowed anyone to pick her up but a woman was different, after all; it wasn't the same thing. Janet was wearing a tan raincoat. Cal had gone round the corner to get steamed buns in a Chinese luncheonette and Miss Evason asked the meaning of a banner that was being carried through the street.

"Happy Perseverance, Madam Chiang," said Jeannine.

Then they chatted about the weather.

"Oh, I couldn't," said Jeannine suddenly. (She put her hands over her ears and made a face.) "But that's different," she said.

Janet Evason made another suggestion. Jeannine looked interested and willing to understand, though a little baffled.

" Cal 's in there," said Jeannine loftily. "I couldn't go in there." She spread her fingers out in front of her like two fans. She was prettier than Miss Evason and glad of it; Miss Evason resembled a large boy scout with flyaway hair.

"Are you French?"

"Ah!" said Miss Evason, nodding.