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Altered Fates- Shocking Part One

By Danielle J

Synopsis- Clyde Heppner is a private investigator working and living in Southern California. One day a woman pays him a visit at his trailer home and asks for his assistance in locating a person she once knew.

This story is dedicated to John in Wauwatosa. He has been very kind to help me with a few of my stories. I want to also thank Puddin for her help in preparing this story for publication.

Author’s note- The idea for this story came from an old episode of The Rockford Files.

When Clyde Heppner’s eyes opened, it was perfectly clear he had slept much later than was normal for a Saturday in April. Bright light filled the tiny bedroom of the single-wide trailer home he lived in and it was warm now. When he’d stumbled into bed, it had been cold as hell, 40's at least, maybe down to freezing, but now it was warm.

As he sat up in bed and as tried to get his eyes to focus, he heard a rap tap tap sound came from the trailer’s one door. Whatever time it was, someone wanted to speak to Clyde Heppner very badly.

“I hear you,” he called out. “Be with you in a minute.”

It was more like three minutes before he was ready to see who was knocking at his door. First he had to visit the bathroom to freshen up and take a leak.

When those tasks were completed, he left the bathroom. Just short of the trailer door was a window that was covered by curtains that should have been discarded years ago.

Clyde pulled up one of the curtains with two fingers on his left hand so he could see who was knocking at the door.  ‘It has to be Tony. He’ll be glad to know I got this month’s rent for him.”

Tony Knowles was the park manager, but he wasn’t the person knocking at the door. Clyde instead saw a woman in a cream colored overcoat waiting patiently outside.

‘Shit, I can’t let her see me like this,’ Clyde instantly thought to himself. He was dressed right then in a t-shirt and boxer shorts. They were hardly suitable clothes for a private investigator seeking new business. Especially if it involved a woman you had never set your eyes on before that day.

“Wait one minute,” Clyde called out.

It was then that the woman spoke for the first time, telling Clyde to take his time.

Clyde then returned to his bedroom. There he scrambled to find a rare clean shirt and a wrinkled set of pants to put on. Like many bachelors, Clyde Heppner only did laundry when his supply of clean clothes was at near exhaustion.

Before letting his visitor in, Clyde had to make his living area look more presentable. This he did by piling his personal belongings in a corner or by throwing them into an already bursting compartment along one wall of his trailer home.

Clyde then went to the trailer door and opened it. “Good morning.”

“Are you Mr. Clyde Heppner?” asked an attractive Asian woman who seemed to be in her twenties. Her voice had a foreign accent and her tan overcoat had pockets over her breasts and buttons running down the front of it.

“Yes, I am. Come on in.” Clyde then held the door open for the still unnamed woman.  She had very full shoulder length black hair with bangs that framed an attractive oval face. “What can I do for you?”

“You are a private investigator?”

“Yes, I am,” Clyde said as he showed the woman where she could sit while they talked. “Can I get you anything?”

“No, thank you.”

“Do you mind if I make some coffee for myself?”

“No, go ahead. Forgive me if I woke you up today.”

“It’s all right. I overslept.” No more conversation took place till Clyde had gotten himself a cup of coffee.

“First, we have to do a few preliminaries,” Clyde said as he sat down across from his possible future client. “What is your name?”

“Sorry, I did not tell you that already. My name is Misook Han.”

“Misook? How do you spell that? Do you use a hyphen.”

“No, there is no hyphen anymore,” Misook said. “I dropped the hyphen after I came to America.”

“Thank you for explaining that to me. Miss Han. Are from Korea?” Clyde asked as he sized up the woman in front of him. She looked to be in her early twenties, but as Clyde knew from experience, estimating the age of Asian women was very much hit and miss. So many of them looked years younger than they really were.

Misook Han appeared to fit that description, but she had an air of maturity or world weariness to her that made him think she might be older than she appeared to be.

Clyde noted something odd about Misook Han’s body language. It was like she was hiding something. This wouldn’t be the first time a potential client was not being totally honest with the private investigator.

“Yes, I am from South Korea. I am a US citizen now.”

Clyde smiled before taking another sip of coffee. “How did you learn of me?”

“I went to the office of Angel Torres. He then told me to see you.”

Before Clyde could say another word, Misook reached in her purse and took out an envelope. She then gave it to Clyde.

“Mr. Torres says I should give this to you.”

Clyde opened the envelope. A short double spaced typed letter on stationary paper from the office of Torres Brothers Private Investigators was inside.

Clyde,

First let me tell you did great work on the Nelson case. Mrs. Nelson said she was highly pleased with the assistance you gave her.

The woman giving you this letter came to my office on the 13th of April.  Esteban and I were too swamped with work to even do some preliminary investigating, but Miss Han’s story sounds like a cock and bull story to us. She does, however, have money and is eager to have someone help her.

I suggest caution before accepting Miss Han as a client. Neither Esteban nor I will hold it against you if you say no. You’re technically still working on the Nelson case till the 10th of next month.  It gives you a convenient excuse to say no.

Please keep me and Esteban in the loop as to what you decide.  Again, let me say commend you for your work on the Nelson case. Esteban and I will keep sending you more work when we have any to spare.

Sincerely,

Miguel Torres

Clyde put the letter back in the envelope it came in. While reading, he had begun to size up Misook Han in his mind. The woman was hiding something. Probably a great many somethings.

“Why are you here today, Miss Han?”

“I want you to find someone for me.”

“Who is this someone?”

Misook took a newspaper paper clipping out of her purse. “This person.”

Clyde studied the newspaper. A picture of a man receiving a community service award was circled.

“I want to speak to Kevin Kostro.”

The newspaper caption said Kevin Kostro was vice chairman of a redevelopment committee associated with the Orange County Chamber of Commerce.  After he was finished examining the photo, Clyde handed the newspaper clipping back to Misook.

As Misook placed the clipping back in her purse, Clyde made note of a familiar card tucked into the woman’s handbag. It was an identification someone who lived or worked at a military base would have.

 “Do you know Mr. Kostro?”

“Just a little. I hope he can tell me where a friend of mine is.”

Clyde noted the absence of a wedding ring on Misook Han’s hands, but also saw the pale skin that told him she'd recently taken one off. ‘This woman is married and I bet her husband is active duty military.’

This calculation was made based on Clyde’s knowledge of human behavior and that he had once served in the Marines himself and had friends who were still in the Corps. There over twenty military installations and facilities scattered around Southern California and Clyde knew a few people at almost all of them.

“Who is this friend?”

“His name is Ernest Jackson.”

“Why do you wish to see him?”

“I knew him in Korea,” Misook said without elaborating further. “He may have something that belongs to me.”

Clyde took a minute to process everything he learned so far before speaking again. “Miss Han, I’m working on another case right now.”

Misook reached in her purse again. She had a thick wad of what looked like hundreds. From the size of the roll, there had to be two or three thousand dollars at least.

“See, I have plenty of money. Can you help me?”

Clyde had encountered many ‘damsels in distress’ during his seventeen years of private investigating work. These women usually made him wary, because they more often than not were short on funds. Miss Han clearly wasn’t in that category, but too much cash made Clyde equally wary.

“Miss Han, as I began to say, I’m on another job at this minute. Also I need to do some checking before I take on any client.”

“I see,” Misook replied. She looked very disappointed with Clyde’s answer.

Clyde saw this. “Miss, I haven’t said no. Please understand that I just can’t take on a new client right this minute.”

“When can you?”

“Before we get to that, can you answer a few questions for me?”

“Yes, I can.”

Clyde was already prepared. A yellow legal pad and pen were on the table in front of him. “First I need your name, address, and a telephone number you can be reached at…..”

Some ten or so minutes later, Clyde was through with his questioning. “I think we’re finished for now.”

“When will you get back to me?”

“Soon,” Clyde replied. Miguel Torres was right, what Misook Han said were the reasons she wanted to find Kevin Kostro and Ernest Jackson could be described as a cock and bull story.

Again Misook took out the bankroll she had. She was way too eager. “I give you some money now?”

“No, Miss Han, that isn’t necessary. As I said, I have to check on a few things. You can be reached at the number you gave me?”

“Yes, but it is better if I call you. When do I do that?”

“Not for at least for a week.”

“I will call you in a week.” Misook said as she stood up.

Clyde then made yet another observation about the woman.  Misook had a Star of David pendant on around her neck, but she had concealed it either  deliberately or by accident underneath her overcoat.  Miss Han or whatever her name was was most likely Jewish.

Clyde showed Misook to the door a few moments later. “You speak very good English, Miss Han.”

“Thank you. I learned it in a South Korean school.”

“How long again did you say it is since you moved to America?”

“Over six years ago.”

“Have you lived in Victorville for long?”

During her interview phase, Misook had stated that she lived in Victorville. Clyde was very familiar with the town, since it was less than a hour’s drive from his trailer. He also knew few Asians lived in that particular part of San Bernardino County. Those who did were there for one reason.

“Yes, for almost two years,” Misook stated.

During the interview Clyde asked how Misook had learned of the Torres Brothers private investigating. She had stated that she had seen a advertisement for them in  a local newspaper.

Misook then said goodbye to Clyde.  After that, she walked over to where a Buick Century station wagon was parked and got inside.

Clyde watched as Misook drove off. Everything about the woman, including the car she drove didn’t add up. As soon as the Nelson case was closed, Clyde would begin looking into Misook Han and her requests.

To get back to Victorville, Misook had to pass by Hospitality Lane, the part of San Bernardino that catered to personnel stationed at Norton Air Force Base. In that part of town, bars and strip joints lined both sides of the street.

As she waited at a traffic light, Misook saw a face she could never forget. A man was walking on the opposite side of the street but in her direction. He was in civilian clothing, but Misook still saw the mannerisms that unmistakably marked a man as being military past or present.

She tried not to be obvious as she watched Ernest Jackson enter a bar. He was thinner and a little paler since the last time Misook had set eyes on him.  Ernest Jackson had also grown a small moustache.

Misook knew the person of Ernest Jackson as well as she knew herself. That is because up till June 1973 she had been Ernest Jackson.  

Was it coincidence that the faux Ernest and Kevin Kostro were in such close proximity to one another so many years later? It didn’t matter to Misook.  It didn’t matter as long as she got gained closure for a chapter in her life.

While she daydreamed about what the closure may be, the honking of a car horn brought Misook back to reality. A chance at becoming Ernest Jackson or another man would have to wait for another day.

Exactly two weeks passed before Clyde and Misook got together once again. This time they met at a diner in Hesperia.

Clyde got there first. He ordered coffee from a waitress but nothing more. Misook joined him a few minutes later. It was a much warmer day than the first time they met. This time Misook had on a sky blue dress which she looked very attractive in. A oversized black purse was slung over her right shoulder.

The waitress arrived with Clyde’s coffee before he and Misook could get down to business. “Anything I can get you?”

“No, nothing,” Misook told the waitress, who frowned almost immediately.

“My friend will have some toast and coffee.”

“And you sir?”

“Two scrambled eggs with bacon and toast.”

Misook spoke again before the waitress walked away. “Can I please have some tea rather than coffee?”

The waitress said, “Sure. I’ll be back with it shortly.”

Clyde spoke up a few seconds later. “I should have known you were a tea drinker.”

“I drink coffee too. Have you have decided to go to work for me?”

“Before we get to that, let’s begin to level with each other. Your real name is Misook Epstein, isn’t it?”

Misook looked genuinely surprised when Clyde mentioned her last name. “Yes. You haven’t said….”

“Said anything to your husband?” Clyde asked. “No, Mrs. Epstein, I have not. Through my investigation of you I learned you are married to Murray Epstein, a sergeant in the United States Air Force who is presently stationed at George Air Force Base in Victorville.”

Misook saw no reason to continue pretending she was a single woman. Before saying another word, she took her gold wedding band out and put it back on her left ring finger.

“I knew you were married not long after we met. The skin on your finger was a different shade than the rest of your hand. That was a dead giveaway.”

“You are very good at observing things.”

“In my line of work, Mrs. Epstein, I have to be.”

“I understand.”

“You also have two children at home?”

“Actually three,” Misook corrected Clyde. “I gave birth to Sarah two months ago.”

“Congratulations,” Clyde replied back. Misook took out her wallet and showed the private eye a picture of her husband and children. The older Epstein daughters were Rachel age five, and Naomi age two. “You have a very nice family.”

“Thank you,” Misook said as Clyde handed back her wallet.

“Does your husband know what you are doing right now?”

“Of course not.”

Misook went on to elaborate that Murray was home with the Epstein girls at that particular time. Misook had asked her husband for a brief break, and he had happily obliged her.

“Why are you risking all that by requesting me to find this Ernest Jackson for you?”

“If I tell you how I know Ernest Jackson, you will not believe it.”

“Try me.”

Ernest Jackson was born on April 1st 1952 in Salinas California. His father George Jackson, was career Army. This meant he and his family lived in many different parts of the United States and Europe during Ernest’s childhood.

The Vietnam War was still going strong when Ernest turned eighteen years of age.  Feeling the same sense of duty his father, a veteran of both the Korean and Vietnam wars had displayed when serving, the young Mr. Jackson enlisted in the Air Force less than a month after his high school graduation. In October 1972, Ernest was assigned to Kunsan Air Base in South Korea, where he held the rank of Airman First Class and worked in material management for the 3rd Tactical fighter wing that operated out of the Base.

It was there that Ernest met Kevin Kostro and other people working for him. His first encounter with the businessman took place at a bar not far from the air base.

Ernest was just having a soda to drink in between playing games of pinball when Kevin sat down on a bar stool right next to the Airman First Class. “What’s my friend having?”

“Don’t bother, I’m leaving soon,” Ernest said.

Kevin insisted. He ordered Ernest another soda. While the bartender got the drink, a Korean woman tried to come on to Ernest. He politely told her he was not interested. She then tried her charms on Kevin, but was rebuffed in a much harsher fashion.

As he watched the unnamed woman walk away, Ernest felt kind of sorry for the woman. All she looked to be trying to do was meet a nice American man, one who might marry her, and supply her with a better life than the one she had now.  Ernest just thought it was pitiful any person felt the need to use their bodies to get a better life.    

After introductions were made, Kevin got right down to business. “How would you like to make a few extra dollars?”

“By doing what?” Ernest asked as he put down his beer. The air force didn’t pay him much, but being single and thrifty, Ernest was rarely short of cash. Most of his spare money when not put in a savings account was spent on the purchase of paperback novels or on chewing tobacco.

Kevin proceeded to tell Ernest Jackson a shaggy dog tale about a businessman trying to make an honest buck and how bureaucratic paperwork was making it ten times more difficult than it should be. “This is the shit I get for being a patriotic American. Want to guess how many people I employ back in California?”

Ernest shrugged. “A couple of thousand?”

“Try ninety eight hundred. It was over eleven thousand till these recent hassles began. I had to lay people off.”

“Why are you talking to me?”

“I hear you work in logistics and supply. You can be of use to me.” Ernest’s first reaction should have been to say no, but he was naïve back then.

 Kevin then laid out to Ernest what he was asking for. When the businessman was through talking, Ernest was wary. “I’m not a thief.”

“That’s not what I am asking you to do. I just want your help with paperwork. The parts the Air Force buys from me helps those people back in California and elsewhere who rely on me for their jobs. So what do you say?”

Ernest fell for it. Even dumber than that, he did what Kevin Kostro asked without receiving any compensation. All he got for his trouble were a few free drinks and….

“Wait a minute! You’re telling me you used to be a man?”

“Yes, I am,” Misook said. The waitress then arrived with breakfast but Misook would barely touch it. She had eaten earlier that day and wasn’t feeling very hungry.

“Lady, you’re nuts.”

“I will pay for your breakfast if you will just finish hearing what I have to say.”

“All right then, but I’m going back to San Bernardino after I’m through eating,” Clyde snorted.

On July 5th Kevin and Ernest met up at the same bar they first met at. “I got my new orders today.”

“Where are you heading for next?” Kevin asked.

“Malmstrom. It’s in Montana.”

Kevin nodded his head. “Yes, I know where that base is. You can’t ask to extend your tour here? I could really use your help now.”

Ernest was sick of South Korea. The place just bored him too much to ever request an extension.  “I could, but I don’t want to.”

“That’s all right,” Kevin replied back.

Five days later Ernest got a message from Kevin. The businessman wanted to see him. Something about the businessman wanting to give Ernest a gift for all that he had done for him.

The day after that was when Kevin and Ernest met. Ernest was picked up about a mile away from Kunsan’s main base.

“Ernest, I’m glad you’re here,” Kevin said from the driver’s seat of a Japanese manufactured car. The front passenger seat was empty but a Korean man was seated in the back of the car. “Get right in. I got somewhere to take you.”

Suspecting nothing, Ernest got in the vehicle. Kevin immediately drove off.  Almost seven years had passed but Misook still couldn’t remember what happened next.

What she did remember was waking up in some warehouse with a splitting headache. Someone, probably the Korean man in the back of Kevin Kostro’s car, had made Ernest unconscious by hitting him over the head with a blunt object.

Besides having a headache, Ernest discovered he was tied up and gagged when he woke up. He was wearing no clothing either.

“He’s awake,” A man called out as Ernest struggled to get free.

Kevin walked over towards Ernest. Only when they were separated by about five feet did the businessman begin talking. “I’m truly sorry for what I’m about to do to you. You never asked for even a dime for all the favors you did for me and I appreciate that. The problem I have is that you know too much. With what’s at stake for me, I can’t leave any loose ends.”

Ernest was expecting to get shot or stabbed at that moment. Of course it didn’t happen. Since 1973 there were just a surprisingly few instances where the person once known as Ernest Jackson wished Kevin had killed him that day rather than turn him into a woman but Misook was again getting ahead of herself.

With a click of his fingers Kevin summoned the Korean man. He was carrying a pink robe over his left arm and holding a odd looking necklace with his right hand. Ernest noticed how the man was being careful to keep the objects as far apart as possible.

“Yong, you know what to do next,” Kevin said to the Korean man who then handed him the necklace to hold. Then Yong took the bathrobe and wrapped it around Ernest’s upper torso, knotting it when he was finished.

All while this was going on, Ernest futilely pleaded for his life.  He had begun to sense that if Kevin Kostro could have heard the words Ernest was saying underneath his gag, the businessman would have paid them no attention  .

Kevin began to speak again. “I assure you, Ernest, you will walk out of here a living human being. You just won’t be Ernest Jackson anymore.”

Before Ernest could say another muffled plea, Yong took the necklace and touched it to the bathrobe then to Ernest. At once Ernest felt a slight spark.

“I feel spark,” An excited Yong exclaimed.

“You fool, you were supposed to be careful. Leave the medallion around Ernest’s neck and get out of here. I will deal with you later!”

“That is how I became this way.”

“A magic necklace?”

“Yes, a magic necklace,” Misook said emphatically at the same time Clyde was shaking his head. “I know what I say is incredible.”

“Mrs. Epstein, that’s the understatement of the year.”

The transformation from Ernest to Misook wasn’t painful. Ernest just felt odd during the entire experience. The bathrobe around his neck kept him from seeing breasts grow out from his once male chest. Nevertheless, Ernest did get to grab brief glimpses of what was happening to him.

“I got a question for you. Did that guy Yong change too? You give me the impression that was what Yong feared.”

Misook made a slight shrug with her shoulders. “I don’t know what happen to that man. I never saw him again.”

“Let me guess, you want me to find this necklace for you?”

“Yes, yes, that is what I want.” Misook said excitedly.

Clyde looked down at his half eaten breakfast then looked Misook in the eye. “Since I am having to listen to your crazy story, I should have ordered steak and eggs.”

“Get the waitress. I will pay for your steak.”

Again Clyde noted how over eager Misook was to hire him. “No, it is not necessary. Just tell me the rest of what happened.”

The odd necklace didn’t just transform Ernest physically, but mentally to some degree as well.  As his physical changes came to completion, Ernest began to feel less sure of himself. A body wasn’t just being copied onto him, but a whole other life, memories, and thought processes.

Ernest struggled to get free while all this took place, but it was of no use. If not for a sudden unexplained noise, Ernest may have lost his mind not just his body.

“Fuck!” Kevin exclaimed. “I think it is time for all of us to leave.”

Not wanting to risk his own gender, Kevin summoned another of his henchmen. On receiving orders from his boss, the unidentified black man carefully took the necklace off of Ernest Jackson.

“You can cut the ropes Curt,” Kevin instructed the man. “We got to get her and us out of here at once.”

Ernest was glad to regain freedom for his hands and feet. No similar sympathies existed for the gender change he had been given and was only now discovering.

The next thing Curt did was undo the bathrobe still knotted and laying over Ernest’s upper torso.  When this was done, Ernest finally got to see the total extent of the physical changes done to him.

“I have breasts and I am a woman now,” Ernest tried to say though only a few muffled sounds were able to escape from underneath the gag .

“We must be leaving now. Don’t put up a struggle or I will have to kill you.” Kevin told Misook.

Ernest, a gag still in his mouth, stared back at Kevin Kostro with wide open eyes. Maybe death would have been preferable to being turned into a woman.

However Ernest did as he was told. Survival had won the struggle for now. Ernest reasoned there had to be a way to get back his real body, if he remained patient.

Ernest was soon shoved into the same car he made the trip to the warehouse in. The trip to Mi-Sook Han’s apartment in the center of Kunsan took less than ten minutes.

On the way Ernest was fighting a battle to hold onto his identity as an American man named Ernest Jackson.  Strong thought processes in his head kept telling him she was really a twenty-year-old woman named Mi-Sook Han. Ernest even found herself thinking in Korean, a language he knew about ten words of only ninety minutes earlier.        

It was already late at night and no one saw the odd happening of a gagged Korean woman being taken to her apartment by three men.  Another one of Kevin’s henchmen had come along on the trip in place of Yong.

When they got into the effeminately decorated apartment, Ernest was forcibly made to sit down by Curt. Kevin Kostro came in the apartment also but the driver remained outside.

“I’m going to have the gag removed. Do not yell or make a disturbance.”

Ernest just stared at Kevin with wide open eyes full of fear again. ‘This can’t be happening.’

“Did you understand me Ernest? Nod your head if you do.”

Ernest refused to nod his or her head. It was so difficult to think of himself as anything but a woman now but Ernest kept fighting. Otherwise she would be giving in to what had been done to her.

“I can’t leave you alone Ernest till you can speak to me. My only other choice is to kill you but first I may let Curt have his way with you. He finds you very attractive, don’t you Curt?”

Ernest watched as an evil grin formed on Curt’s face. The need to survive quickly came out on top.  Ernest nodded her head.

“All right then, we are in agreement,” Kevin said before Curt came over and took the gag off. “Now you can say what you want to me but without any yelling.”

“Why?” Was Ernest’s first audible word as Mi-Sook. She already noted her new female and Korean sounding voice. One of the few things she had to be glad about right then was the ability to still communicate in English though it took more work now.

“I should think the answer was obvious. You know too much about my operation over here. Therefore I could not leave a loose end.”

“Change me back. I promise not to tell anyone what I know.”

Kevin shook his head. All evening long with the exception of when he threatened Mi-Sook with death and rape, Kevin maintained a polite but firm outer facade about the course of actions he was taking. The man was almost certainly a chameleon, able to slip back and forth with ease from businessman to ruthless criminal.

“No it is too late for that Mi-Sook. I have plans, important business dealings, all of which are more important than you are to me.”

Mi-Sook, she was already thinking of herself by this name rather than Ernest Jackson, shook her head as she continued to quietly protest what had been done to her. Nothing she said seemed to affect Kevin Kostro.

“Who am I?”

Kevin looked impatient but answered the inquiry. “You are now Mi-Sook Han or as people go by here in the east, Han Mi-Sook. You are Korean, twenty years of age, and Curt has informed me that you work as a singer at a nearby club.”

“I’m not any of that,” Mi-Sook protested in not too strong a voice. She was still taking Kevin’s earlier threats seriously. “If I’m Mi-Sook, is she me?”

“That isn’t any of your concern. Explore the apartment after I leave. I am sure you will learn all you need to live as Mi-Sook Han from this point forward.  I think you will agree, that you have no choice but to live the life I so generously gave you today.”

‘He thinks this is some sign of generosity?’ Mi-Sook asked herself as she silently stared back at Kevin. ‘What kind of monster is this man?’

Kevin glanced at his watch. “I have spent enough time with you Mi-Sook. It is time for me to leave.”

“You can’t leave me like this.”

Kevin began his way towards the apartment door. Curt at the same time took a position between the former Ernest Jackson and his boss. Just in case the woman decided to become violent.

“Yes Mi-Sook I can. Think of it this way, I gave you a new and pleasant life. One that is full of opportunity and new adventures. The alternative was for me to kill you.”


“I rather be dead than be like this.”

Kevin continued to be unaffected by anything Mi-Sook said. “You say that now because you are angry and I don’t blame you. With time, I think you will come to see I did you a favor. Now I have no more time for you. Goodbye Mi-Sook and good luck.”

Mi-Sook jumped from her seat and ran over to the door but Curt kept her from laying a hand on Kevin Kostro. “I’ll call the police.”

“And tell them what?” Kevin asked calmly. “Who will believe a story about a man turning into a woman? Very few sane people will, and the police are usually humorless when people waste their time with absurd allegations.  No Mi-Sook, you and I both know the police are a waste of time. Goodbye and don’t come after me. If you do, Curt will deal with you in a very unpleasant manner.”

Mi-Sook watched as Kevin and Curt left the apartment.  A moment after the door was closed, she said. “Now what do I do?”

If Misook read Clyde Heppner’s face correctly, the private investigator didn’t believe a word of what she had just told him. “Everything I just said is true.”

“Mrs. Epstein what you just told me is very hard to believe.”

“I know, but why would anyone make this up?” Misook reached into her purse and for the first time that day, flashed the bankroll of one hundred bills Clyde had first glimpsed two weeks earlier. “See, I want to pay you to help me find these people and the necklace. For what other purpose would I want your assistance?”

“Maybe in order to gain revenge against Mr. Kostro for something he did to you.”

Misook shook her head. “No, I just want the necklace. I don’t want to harm anyone.”

Kevin looked at the empty plate in front of him. Maybe it was time to tell the screwy Misook Epstein to get a life.  

“Do you still want a steak?”

“No Mrs. Epstein, I’m full,” Clyde replied as he studied Misook some more. The private investigator had met over a half dozen South Korean women who had immigrated to the United States. Two of whom were married to past or present active duty Marines who were good friends of Clyde Heppner.

Clyde thought he had learned something about Korean women immigrants from these military wives. To leave behind your homeland and culture for a very different and unfamiliar country requires a great deal of inner strength. Even those who did possess that attribute, don’t always make a happy transition to American life.

Misook Han was strong willed but in a different way. Also her English, while not perfect, was too good for someone who wasn’t a native speaker and had supposedly never set foot in the United States before her immigration to the country.

So Misook was like no other Korean Clyde had met in his life. Could there be something to her story?

“Do you want me to tell the rest of what happen to me?”

“Yes Mrs. Epstein, I would like to hear it. First I would like to ask you a few questions. Is that all right?”

Misook nodded her head before glancing at a watch she had on. “Yes ask me anything you like. I will tell the truth.”

“That’s good to know. Do you have time for me? I saw you check what time it is.”

“Yes I have time. My husband Murray is home now with our children.”

“Does he know where you went today?”

“No, Murray gave me a timeout today.”

“Timeout?”

“A time for me to do anything I want without my husband or children. Murray has always tried to give me at least one timeout a month since I gave birth to Rachel.”

“It sounds like you have a very good husband.”

“Murray loves me very much.”

Clyde could have made a few comments right then, but postponed them for now. “Did you ever tell the police what happened to you?”

“Yes, the police in Kunsan and Air Force security forces at the base. No one believed what I said happened to me.”

“Since that day in 1973, have you met Mr. Kostro or any of the people you know work for him?”

“No, none of them. I just see his picture in the newspaper.”

The waitress came by with the check in addition to a dirty look for Clyde and Misook. She either didn’t like whites and Asians associating with one another or maybe she just wanted the table for another paying customer.

“All right then. Tell me what happened to you after Kevin Kostro left you at the apartment.”

Mi-Sook watched but took no action when Kevin and Curt left her. Kevin had made it clear, that if she made any attempt to follow them, he would have her killed.  For the short term at least, Ernest Jackson reconciled himself to living his life as a woman.

The first things Mi-Sook did were to begin gathering her senses and after that fully examine the exact physical changes she had undergone. Mi-Sook told Clyde she was surprised not to have suffered a nervous breakdown in those few hours of womanhood, or even possibly go into shock because of what had happened to her.

For Mi-Sook to gather her senses, she had to discover who she was now. This she did by exploring the apartment. It definitely belonged to a single woman and there were no signs of anyone else living there.

The apartment was modern by Korean standards.  It had a flush, rather than a squat toilet. Central heat and air conditioning kept the room a pleasant temperature all year long.

Mi-Sook came to these conclusions through an inventory of the apartment’s contents. A dresser and closet were each full of just women’s clothing.  There were no signs of a man being any part of Mi-Sook’s life at the time. Ernest Jackson was grateful for that.

A purse was on the dresser. Inside it were identifications belonging to Mi-Sook Han. One of which said her birthday was June 1st, 1953. Also inside the handbag were a hairbrush, lipstick, makeup, a pen and small notepad, a miniature personal phonebook, and a large amount of miscellaneous items.

Mi-Sook looked at the makeup and lipstick very carefully. The magic necklace hadn’t just changed her physically into a woman but given her the essential knowledge she would need to live as one. She knew how to fix her hair and makeup as if she had born a female.

The apartment was one small and very cramped room. In it were a tiny kitchen and only slightly bigger living and bedroom areas. There was no television set, but there was a radio in the kitchen and record player in the living room. Misook also had her own phone.

The kitchen was stocked but not overwhelmingly so with food. Most of which was of the Korean variety, but there was Pepsi-cola in the refrigerator and a bag of potato chips on a counter.

Mi-Sook was a single young woman of modest but not uncomfortable means.  If the apartment wasn’t exactly a slice of the United States of America, there were far worse conditions to be living in around the world.

On the dresser were both letters and a personal diary. Mi-Sook didn’t read these for a few days. When she did, she learned she was the only daughter of Jin-Hoo and Chin-Hae Han. Chin-Hae was Mi-Sook’s father and he made his living as a rice farmer.

As soon as she completed her schooling, the real Mi-Sook had left her family’s home. She loved her parents, but they were backward in their ways and the young lady wanted to be independent. Mi-Sook had achieved this by moving to Kunsan.

Clyde interrupted Mi-Sook’s narrative to ask a question. “If you are Mi-Sook, is she you?”

“No I don’t think so. Her diary entries were rich in detail, but no there was nothing in them to say she knowingly knew Kevin Kostro or any of his employees.”

“Could she have gone back to her parents?”

Mi-Sook strongly shook her head. “No, they used to write me till I moved to Maine with Murray.”

“But not anymore?”

“No they didn’t like it when they found out I married Murray. Mr. Han came to Kunsan to force me back to the farm but I refused to go.”

Clyde didn’t need to know more about Mi-Sook’s relationship with her father. “Do you think the real Mi-Sook is dead?”

For the first time Mi-Sook got the impression Clyde believed what she was saying. “Yes I think so. Kevin probably killed her and had someone dispose of her body. Let me tell you more…..”

Finally curiosity about her new body won out over the need of Mi-Sook learning about the life she had now. While surveying the apartment, she had caught a few glimpses of herself in one of the two wall mirrors she now owned. The changes done to Mi-Sook had initially made her afraid, but now she had summoned the courage to look at what had been done to Ernest Jackson.

Before that could happen, Mi-Sook had to urinate. During the car ride to the apartment, Mi-Sook had spent the better part of a minute touching herself where Ernest Jackson once had a penis. From the grin he saw on  his face, Mi-Sook assumed at the time that Kevin Kostro had to control himself from laughing as the new woman learned just how complete the sex change he had given her was.

As Mi-Sook sat down to go pee, she wondered just how completely female she was. Did Mi-Sook have the ability to re-produce?

Like sitting to pee, wiping herself afterwards came as an afterthought to Mi-Sook. She then took the pink bathrobe she was wearing off and walked straight over to the mirror hung above the apartment’s one and only dresser.

The sight of naked female flesh was new to Mi-Sook. Ernest Jackson before his transformation had not just been a virgin, but had never indulged in the viewing of magazines like Playboy or been to a strip club in his life. Also Ernest had never been much into movies, and had never watched any with female nudity.

The image of a Korean woman standing only an inch above five feet tall was what the eyes of Mi-Sook Han recorded. She blinked for a moment, like maybe the image she was seeing would change, but it was to no avail.

Mi-Sook had very small breasts back in 1973. By 1980 they had become larger in size, this was the result of the three children Mi-Sook gave birth to and the fact she was at present breastfeeding two-month-old Sarah Epstein.

In 1973 Mi-Sook’s black hair was much longer. Again her marriage to Murray changed this aspect of her appearance. The care and maintenance of almost buttocks reaching length hair is too time consuming for a woman raising three small children.  Mi-Sook had her hair trimmed and styled not long after her 1974 arrival in the United States

After a recent appointment with a hairdresser, Murray told his wife he thought she was prettier than ever. That her husband approved of her looks mattered most to Mi-Sook.

Back to 1973. The sight of female breasts hanging from her body caused Mi-Sook to pinch her left nipple to see if they were real. They were real and the pinch caused a few seconds of pleasure like nothing Ernest Jackson had ever felt before.

Further down Mi-Sook’s body, was the cavity all females possess also known as a vagina. Mi-Sook couldn’t view it, but knew it was very real.

“I can’t believe what has been done to me,” Mi-Sook muttered out loud. The shock of the gender change was causing her to think out loud.

Mi-Sook had no desire to indulge in female masturbation. After completing the examination of the front of her body, she turned her focus to the other half of her body. Mi-Sook then turned herself around and began looking at her back and buttocks with the assistance of the wall mirror.

“No surprise there. I got a girl’s ass now too.”

Shortly after saying those words, Mi-Sook began to feel overwhelmed. So she threw the pink bathrobe back on her body and sat down on the apartment’s only couch.

Mi-Sook spent almost her entire first night as a woman seated on the couch and doing nothing else than staring at the walls and thinking to herself. For some reason, Mi-Sook did not feel sleepy.

Only a few tears were shed by Mi-Sook that first night and in the weeks and months ahead.  For in the back of her mind, Ernest Jackson felt the gender change he had been given was a form of punishment for his helping Kevin Kostro break the law.  

When Mi-Sook was finally able to close her eyes, her slumber didn’t last long.  Someone was knocking on the apartment’s door.

Mi-Sook went to see who it was. She opened the door, but left the security chain in place.

A Korean woman of about the same age as Mi-Sook was out in the hallway. “Mi-Sook, can I come in?”

“Yes,” Mi-Sook said before permitting the woman to enter the apartment. At this point in her new life, Mi-Sook was taking things one step at a time.

The woman she would later learn was named Su Kang, wasted no time in addressing Mi-Sook. “Where have you been the last three days?”

Mi-Sook stumbled for the right words for a few seconds. She couldn’t just blurt out the truth to anyone.  “I just got here last night.”

“Where have you been?”

“Away.”

“I know that. Mr. Park sent me over here yesterday looking for you.”

“Mr. Park?”

“Our boss at the New Yorker. Mi-Sook, did you just wake up?”

“Yes, I did.”

“All I say is you better be awake tonight and at the club. Mr. Park said if you aren’t, your job is history there.”

Mi-Sook knew she had to support herself some how. While looking around the apartment the night before, she found South Korean Won that was about the equivalent of $120 U.S.  dollars and a bank book for a savings account with about $600 in it.

“I will be there. Don’t worry.”

“All right Mi-Sook, I will see you later then.” Su then left the apartment.

“I have a question,” Clyde said to Mi-Sook at the diner. “In those early days, how did you know what to do?”

“The magic that was done to me copy over not only the body I have now but some of the mind also.”

Clyde nodded his head in acknowledgment. He could see how the crazy story Mi-Sook telling him had some logic behind it. “You then knew who people were, where your workplace was, how to put on women’s clothing?”

“Yes all of that. I also recalled how to make Korean food, speak the language and even do makeup.”

“It would have been tough if you didn’t know any of those things.”

Mi-Sook smiled for the first time since arriving at the diner. “I think the word impossible is more appropriate.”

Clyde chuckled just for a second. “Tell me what happened next.”

Mi-Sook arrived at the New Yorker shortly after 4:30 in the afternoon. To get to the club, Mi-Sook rode a bicycle she owned for the six or seven mile journey.

As Su Kang warned her, Mr. Park was not in the best of moods when he first got sight of Mi-Sook. “You were supposed to work the last three days. Where have you been?”

On the way over to work, Mi-Sook formed a reason for her absence. “My mother was ill. I had to go visit her.”

Mr. Park didn’t care for this excuse. “I have a business to run. Because you weren’t here, receipts were down. I wouldn’t be expecting a paycheck next week if I were you.”

“I am sorry Mr. Park.”

“Now get yourself ready. You go on stage in exactly thirty minutes.” Mi-Sook then went to a dressing room she shared with six other female employees.

Mi-Sook’s worked at the New Yorker as a singer. She would sing English language pop songs to the mostly American customers who came to the club. For this Mi-Sook received a small salary from Mr. Park, but was allowed to keep every dollar or won in tips she got from appreciative people in her audience.

The money Mi-Sook made in any given week could be very nice. As time passed, she discovered herself to have a nice singing voice plus she could play the guitar and piano.

Working at the New Yorker wasn’t either easy or too bad. Mr. Park could often be tyrannical with his employees, but the workplace he ran was strictly legit. The New Yorker was a respectable establishment for members of the US Air Force and Koreans to visit and have a good time.  Mr. Park was very strict about there being no peddling of flesh inside the club. If an employee wanted to spend time with a customer, they had to make arrangements outside the New Yorker, and preferably after they got off of work.

“That was the work I did up till a month before I traveled to the states with Murray. By then I was pregnant with Rachel, and Mr. Park would not allow me to work any longer.”

“You said earlier that you went to the police. When was that?”

“It was my second full day as a woman. I went to the Kunsan police department. The people there laughed at me and said not to come back or bother them again or I could be arrested.”

“I guess the Air Force Security Forces told you the same thing,” Clyde remarked.

“Yes, pretty much so. I even tried writing some friends I had at the base.”

Mi-Sook had beaten Clyde to the punch. He was about to ask if Ernest Jackson had any good friends at Kunsan and why she hadn’t tried telling them what happen. “Did they answer?”

“Yes, two friends answered. One asked if I was nuts. They also both told me I had just spoken to them face to face the day before.”

“Someone else had become Ernest Jackson then?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have any clue who that person may be?”

“No, but they are still me. I saw them just the other day.”

“Here in Victorville?”

“No, in San Bernardino,” Mi-Sook said before glancing at her watch. “I better tell you the rest of what happened. My family is expecting me to come home.”

Mi-Sook made it clear, her current comfort level as a woman had been no where near as strong back in 1973 right after her transformation. In fact she admitted to Clyde it had been a struggle not to have a nervous breakdown.

No one suspected anything odd about the new Mi-Sook, or if they did, they never expressed it to her. When not working, Mi-Sook either stayed at the apartment where she tried to plan her next steps or that failing sullenly contemplate what the rest of her life would be like.  She also made regular trips to Kunsan in an effort to convince someone of her true identity.

All attempts to find Kevin Kostro and any of his associates were also fruitless. Mi-Sook believed the man having completed his business in South Korea had returned to the United States.  

As the days and weeks passed, Mi-Sook learned a great deal about the person she had become. With two exceptions, she and Ernest Jackson shared nothing in common.

The traits they did share? Both liked to read and more importantly Mi-Sook and Ernest as Mi-Sook both wanted to live in the United States. The real Mi-Sook Han through her diary entries expressed a strong desire to come to the United States. She hoped to meet a nice American man who she could love and who loved her back, get married, and then go to the USA to live.

The new Mi-Sook had no desire to live in South Korea till she died either. While her motivation was different than the real woman’s had been, the new Mi-Sook was surprisingly practical. She knew the most likely scenario for her return to the United States would have to involve a marriage to a man.

Ernest as Mi-Sook decided early on she would not throw herself at American men. If she would get a return ticket to the United States, it would happen on her own terms.

“The real Mi-Sook thought the same way as I do or maybe I think like she did.”

“Did Mi-Sook know your husband before you became her?”

Mi-Sook shook her head. “No, she didn’t have a boyfriend. Murray and I talked for the first time on the day after Thanksgiving in 1973. Do you want to hear about that too?”

“Absolutely Mrs. Epstein, if you have the time to tell me.”

Mi-Sook did have the time but made an effort to speed up her storytelling.  She was beginning to wonder what her children were doing right then.

It was early November 1973 when Mi-Sook first made note of Murray Epstein. He was becoming a regular customer at the New Yorker.  He would usually visit the club two or three times a week.

On or around November 15th, Mi-Sook got her first tip from her future husband. It was a five dollar bill.

Six and a half years later, Mi-Sook could still recall the first time she spoke to her Murray. It was as she arrived for work the Friday afternoon after Thanksgiving. That particular American holiday is not celebrated in South Korea.

Murray was waiting outside the club’s entrance. “Mi-Sook?”

“Yes I remember you.”

“My name is Murray. Murray Epstein.”

 Murray extended a hand to Mi-Sook. She shook it. “Hello Murray.”

“You speak very good English.”

“I studied the language very hard,” Mi-Sook said. As hard as she tried not to, she found herself studying the man in front of her. Murray Epstein was an average to good looking man who stood 5’11. He had receding brown hair and grayish blue eyes.

“You either must be very smart or had the best English teachers in the world,” Murray said with a warm pleasant smile.

“Yes I had good teachers. Murray, I have to start work soon.”

“Forgive me then for making you late.”

“I am not late yet.”

“Mi-Sook.”

“Yes?”

Murray suffered from the same fear of rejection most men have when they like a woman and want to ask her out on a date. Mi-Sook could see how tongue tied Murray was.

Finally Murray was able to loosen his tongue. “When are you off next?”

Mi-Sook knew from the first moment Murray said hello, where the conversation the two of them were having was headed. “Monday.”

“Would you like to go to dinner or a movie with me that day?”

Mi-Sook felt conflicted. She wanted a return to the United States, but she would most likely have to marry to achieve that goal. Ernest had more than likely been asexual before his transformation in light of fact he had never had a firm girlfriend alone had sex back then or even shown an interest in it.  On the other hand, the body of Mi-Sook was definitely heterosexual.

Murray’s first reaction to Mi-Sook’s hesitance was that she would tell him no. So he began to apologize for being presumptuous. “I really am a dummy.”

“Why do you say that?”

“You’re a beautiful woman. There must be a guy in your life right now.”

Murray had just made a very good first impression on Mi-Sook. “I have no boyfriend and yes I will go out with you on Monday.”

The first date was very nice. More dates followed and each was just as nice or nicer than the first. As 1974 opened it was clear Murray Epstein was in love with Mi-Sook Han.

“I make a big mistake the first time Murray came to the apartment for dinner.”

“What happened?”

“I made a baked ham for dinner.”

Clyde laughed very hard. People of the Jewish faith don’t eat pork.   “And he asked you to be his wife any way?”

“Yes that very same evening. It was February 21st 1974.”

The baked ham was given to a neighbor of Mi-Sook’s. The recipients were a Korean family of five who were both shocked and appreciative of the generosity shown to them.  After this task was completed, Murray and Mi-Sook went out to dinner.

Later that evening while sitting on a park bench as they gazed at the stars in the sky above, Murray asked Mi-Sook to be his wife. She said yes with only the slightest hesitation.

Later on that evening as they made their way back to the apartment, Murray said to Mi-Sook. “My mother always wanted me to meet a nice Jewish girl. I did better than that.”

“Mrs. Epstein, I’m just curious. Did you attend the Brides School the USO holds for Korean military wives?”

“Yes I did. It was there I learned to be a better cook and other things a good wife should know to do.” Misook went back to telling her story.

In barely eight months time, Ernest Jackson would go from being a single man to being a married woman. On April 21st 1974, in a ceremony held at the US embassy in Seoul, Mi-Sook Han and Murray Epstein became husband and wife.

Su Kang and Issac Feinstein were at the wedding also. They were Mi-Sook’s and Murray’s best friends in South Korea.  

“Did you and Murray get to do the chair dance?”

Mi-Sook allowed herself to smile once again. She was not a flirtatious woman, and someone seeing her and Clyde Heppner that day could get the wrong impression. “No, not till September 6th 1975 were Murray and I married in a synagogue. That took place in Brooklyn New York where Murray’s family lives and where he grew up.”

“Was it fun?”

“The Hora? It was a lot of fun. Are you Jewish?”

“No Mrs. Epstein, I am not. I have been to Jewish weddings twice in my life.”

“My faith is important to me,” Mi-Sook said as she pulled out the Star of David pendant she wore around her neck.  

Clyde had already known that Mi-Sook Epstein converted to Judaism sometime between her April 1974 wedding and August 1978 when she, Murray, and their children arrived in California. If Mi-Sook wanted to share that particular stage of her life, Clyde would love to hear it. He had never heard of a Jewish Korean woman before.

After the wedding in Seoul, Murray and Mi-Sook left for Japan. That was the place they chose to honeymoon for twelve days.

On the plane ride back to South Korea, Misook and Murray talked about the future. “I promise to never cook you pork again.”

Murray laughed out loud so hard other passengers began to stare at him. “I love you Mi-Sook.”

“Love you too.  Are there other foods I shouldn’t make?”

Murray gave Mi-Sook a rundown. He told her about not eating shrimp and other types of shellfish or having milk with meat.

Ernest Jackson believed in God, but his parents rarely went to church. Mi-Sook knew how important Murray’s Jewish beliefs were to him. If she practiced the same religion, wouldn’t that further strengthen her marriage?

“Can you teach me Jewish practices?”

Murray bent over and kissed his wife. “Honey, I’d love to. Tomorrow night is the beginning of the Sabbath, I know just what to teach you.”

On arrival in Seoul, Misook and Murray went to the city’s only synagogue. Next to it was a small store. The couple purchased Shabbat candles and candlestick holders there.

When they got to Misook’s apartment, they made a small area for the candles. The next day just before sunset, Murray taught his wife the ritual of lighting Shabbat candles before each and every Sabbath day.

In a Jewish home, it is the woman’s responsibility to light the candles but her husband can assist.  Before they got started, Murray went over with Mi-Sook exactly what she was supposed to do.

Murray first lit the candles, as a test run. Then he extinguished both, setting the stage for Mi-Sook

With a match, Mi-Sook lit both Shabbat candles. When she was finished, she waved her hands three times before covering her eyes.

Then she said the prayer she worked very hard to memorize since coming home from Japan. “Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who has made us holy through His commandments and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath light.”

When finished, Mi-Sook said a silent prayer for her and Murray. When finished she uncovered her eyes and used them to look at the burning candles.

“How did I do?” Mi-Sook asked Murray a few moments later.

“Honey, you did fantastic.”

“Next time I’d like to say the prayer the right way.” Murray then kissed his wife and said he would be happy to teach her the words in Hebrew.  He told Mi-Sook he instructed her in English first because he thought it would be easier for her at first.

As Murray and his wife began having children, additional candles were lit by Misook each Sabbath. By the time Clyde and Mi-Sook met, she was lighting five Shabbat candles each and every Sabbath.

“Three weeks after my first lighting of the Shabbat candles, I told Murray I wished to convert to Judaism.”

“He must have been delighted.”

“Yes Murray was. There was no synagogue or temple in Kunsan and it was over an hour trip to the one in Seoul. I began studying for my conversion on my own with the help of Murray and some books he borrowed from the Base library for me.”

“Did you take lessons from a Rabbi while still in South Korea?”

“Yes I did, I went back to Seoul and told Rabbi Moon I wanted to convert.”

“Did he turn you away three times?”

“Just twice. Rabbi Moon was very conservative and I had to work hard in order to convince him I was serious.”

Clyde nodded his head. Truthful or not, he found Misook’s story fascinating. “Did you live on Kunsan Air Base with your husband?”

“Mr. Heppner I thought you knew there is no base housing for married US personnel in South Korea except at the Yongsan Garrison.”

Yes Clyde’s last question had been a test for Misook. She passed it with flying colors. “Yes I knew that.”

“Murray lived with me at the apartment. The only exceptions to that were when his Air Force responsibilities required him to stay on base at night.”

 “What does your husband do in the Air Force?”

“He works in fire safety and control.”

A Jewish firefighter with a Korean wife who converted to the same faith, who claims to have been a man before being magically transformed into the person they are now. Clyde reminded himself not to stereotype people based on race and or religion.

Clyde also reminded himself that he had yet to accept as truth what Mi-Sook Epstein was telling him. No one can be magically turned into someone else, right?

Mi-Sook did share with Clyde a condensed version of her life happenings between April 1974 and the time the two of them met two weeks previous. As if Mi-Sook hoped a plethora of details would make the private investigator believe her insane transformation story.

The moment their post-honeymoon life began, the Epsteins went into hurryup mode. For one thing, Mi-Sook would need a immigration visa before she could come to the United States as her husband’s bride. Murray was due to PCS out of South Korea in October 1974.

Murray and Mi-Sook got that important task done with ten days to spare. When the news arrived via mail at the Epstein house, it caused additional rejoicing for a new family that already had much to celebrate. Mi-Sook got the verification in late July 1974 of what she had been suspecting for almost a month. She and Murray were already expecting their first child.

Mi-Sook could see the signs of skepticism on Clyde’s face. Would a man transformed into a woman, both marry and then allow herself to be with child so soon if at all? She tried to explain, because to gain Clyde’s private investigational assistance, Mi-Sook had to make the man believe what she was saying.

“From the first time I met Murray he was always gentle, loving, and considerate to me. Today he is still the same way towards me after six years of marriage. When we marry, I feel I had to reward my husband for all he had done and was doing for me.”

“By giving him a child?”

“Yes.”

“You gave your husband three….so far.”

“Yes I have. He loves me so much, and only till a little while ago, I had all but stopped thinking of my old life. Also I have learned being a mother is very rewarding for a woman.”

Clyde began to mull these last statements as the waitress shot him and Mi-Sook another dirty look for staying so long at the diner. In the mean-time, Mi-Sook began to tell the closing chapters of her post transformation life.

When Mi-Sook arrived in the United States on October 31st 1974, she was feeling very nervous.  There were many reasons for the way she felt.  Mi-Sook was almost six months pregnant, converting to the religion of her husband and had yet to meet her in-laws for the first time.

Last but not least, was the way Mi-Sook arrived in the country of her birth when compared to the way she departed it two years previous. Her life was totally the reverse of what Ernest Jackson’s had been in 1972. Inside of Mi-Sook’s head were a few fears about her adapting to life in the USA now that she was both a woman and a minority.

JFK Airport outside of New York City was  Mi-Sook and Murray’s final destination  in the United States. The moment they came out of the jetway, the couple began to look for Murray’s parents.

Murray knew Mi-Sook was nervous. He then whispered in her ear. “You’ll do just fine. Always remember how much I love you.”      

Mi-Sook didn’t question or doubt the love her husband had for her. It was whether the rest of the Epsteins would love and accept her.  Mi-Sook was coming back to the United States without any friends and no other family except for her in-laws.

A few moments later, Murray caught sight of his parents.  Mi-Sook saw them too, and the look on the faces of  both Mr. and Mrs. Epstein as looked at their daughter-in-law  could be summed up in one word. Skepticism.

Murray gave his mother a kiss and then shook his father’s hand. “Mom, Dad, let me introduce you to my wife…..”

To be continued in Part Two