Block Tales: The Pregnant Man

Jerri had lived on the block since he was 18 years old, as a female. Seemingly because at the time, Jerri didn't associate with most of the neighborhood children of the same age, nobody noticed the change ... until he arrived after college looking like a muscular bodybuilder. It was ironic how the same females who pretended not to see Jerri in high school, were now looking at him like a nice, juicy steak.

Staying away from the drama, Jerri decided he would not date any of his neighbors, and made certain of it by bringing in his best friend Tamika as his roommate: this would steer the vultures clear.

Staying clear of the enticed, young female neighbors was working well for Jerri. But he didn't feel the need to stay incognito from people that didn't live on his block, and he took up a friendship with a young man staying on another street within the neighborhood. Jerri knew from high school of the young man having relationships with other males, and had always admired the young man for being so brave. Oddly enough, and unbeknownst to Jerri, the young man didn't recognize the familiarity of Jerri's face and thought he was meeting another male such as himself. Their friendship blossomed, but Jerri knew it would be time to tell his 'new' friend of the situation. "Jo, I need to tell you something honey."

"Yes, what is it, Jerr... is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine honey... I was born female."

"I knew that, Jerri."

"How did you know?" Jerri was dumbfounded, and curious.

"You don't have an Adams Apple. See." Jo touched the center area of Jerri's neck, his finger riding smoothly downward to its base.

"And you don't care about this? I've deceived you, Jo. I'm so sorry." Jerri's sensitivity began to show. He needed to know what would cause Jo to not mention the difference.

"Of course I care, Jerri. But, it wasn't my place to force you to tell me about it." Jo reached out and grabbed Jerri's hand. "Would you like to tell me about it?"

"Yes, I feel I need to, if we are going to take this friendship any further." Jerri was afraid of having to say it, but it was the truth.

"I care about you, not your sexuality, Jerri." Jo reassured Jerri from his doubts. "But, I do want to know if you have plans on making it complete? Are you going to become 'all-male'?

"I do. But, I can't afford the procedure at this time." Jerri was finding more ways for falling in love with Jo. Their night started out on shaky grounds, but by the end, it ended with love.

Several months later, Jerri had started gaining uncontrollable weight, and was feeling sick. Still having female reproductive parts, Jerri noticed a lapse in the monthly visitor.

Neighbors started having conversations among themselves of Jerri's rapid growth in his mid-section; rumors of having an ulcer or a cancerous tumor, too much beer intake, and just plain ole' "getting fat" were among several reasons to why the young man began to grow a bowling ball where his six-pack stomach used to be.

Nearing the ninth month, it was obvious Jerri was pregnant. The block went into hysteria. One day while walking to the store with roommate Tamika, Jerri overheard some neighbors speaking about his "situation", and decided to stop. "Do you have something you'd like to ask me?" He asked the female who had been in his Home Economics class at Detroit Central High School.

"Yes, are you a pregnant man?" The ex-classmate didn't hesitate her query. The rest of the crowd beamed in, waiting for the answer.

"No. I'm a pregnant person." Jerri seen the fiasco approaching, full of nonsense questions, and loaded assumptions. He continued to walk with Tamika. He knew that would stir up much drama, but he actually didn't care. He was having the man he loved baby, and nothing could make him feel bad about it. He turned to see the faces of the questioning females, and shared a slight grin of knowing he had stumped them with his news.

Oh, and how the news traveled, and fast!

"Miss Purty. Did you know the guy down the block is pregnant?" Nosey neighbor, Dalise Guit piped in one morning while sharing coffee with the neighborhood elders. "How is that so, a man becoming pregnant?

"Yes, I seen him walking from Food Farm, looking like a wobbly duck," another nosey neighbor chimed in on the conversation. "He must have taken some special hormone. It's just not right for a man to be pregnant!" The rest of the coffee-drinking circle added their comments. All but Miss Purty.

Well, as far as I know, that isn't a man ... it's a woman," Miss Purty added the jaw-dropping news. "Nothing but a woman can get pregnant."

"That's not a woman! Miss Purty what do you have in that coffee?" Miss Purty ignored the sly remark by her neighbor, and continued on with her wisdom, and great memory.

"If I recall properly, that is Nina and JerryLynn's girl."

"That's Geraldine?!" The coffee-circle grew in sounds. "That's unbelievable."

"No, that's the truth," stated Miss Purty, "and that's how come you see a pregnant man."