That means my mind has yet to attune itselfto this body's habits, tastes and preferences. The months I spent as Ruthmight never have existed.My only c...onsolation - and it doesn't seem like one, believe me! - is thatprovided I don't fight it, the worst should be over within a couple ofweeks. True, from a neutral observer's point of view I have no incentive torebel. No one is holding out false hopes for me to cling to. I'm going tobe a woman for the rest of my life, so I may as well get used to. The man grabbed my arm as I slid off the stool, and led me to theback room. He had obviously been there before. It was a quick 'wham-bam-thank you ma'am' screw, but he seemedsatisfied, leaving with a smile. I found a douche bag ready, andcleaned myself up before returning to the bar. Word must have gotten around the village quickly, for I spent mostof the afternoon and evening in that small back room. The longest Ispent on the stool after that first man was about ten minutes. I. “Hi!” she said when I’d identified myself. “I hoped you would call!”“I’m free this evening if you wanted to grab a bite to eat.”“Sure. There’s a mom-and-pop burger joint on Glendale-Milford Road in Blue Ash. Do you know it?”“I do! I’ve been there with my friend Pete.”“Cool. Is 5:30pm OK?” she asked.“It is. See you then.”After I hung up, Bethany and I walked back outside to my dad’s Lincoln, and I helped Bethany into the passenger seat. She carefully buckled in while I walked around to the. Soldiers were on the roof of a building across the street overlooking. They were peacefully hanging out laundry on an improvised line strung between a flagpole and a water pipe. On the flagpole, the Republic's tricolour hung limply above the red, hammer and sickle flag of the Communist Party. Benin watched one of the soldiers stare in their direction before resuming his task.She stared back down at John's face. "Hey," she said, "shall we go inside?" He looked at the soldiers on the roof across.