Chapter 8

The General

The Gina, Maria and Rachel got back home at nine o’clock. Garrett and Charles were watching Sportscenter on ESPN. They were talking about how the football season was going for Garrett, who was a freshman and starting on the varsity football team as an outside linebacker on defense and a wide receiver and third string quarterback on offense. Gina and Maria came in and sat down with them, while Rachel went upstairs to play with her new phone.

Maria asked “So, how did you boys get along while we were gone?”

Charles replied “Maria, how do you think we got along? I took the boy to the tavern, we got drunk and headed back here to sleep it off”

Gina giggled.

Maria was nonplussed. “That’s nice dear. Now, Garrett, how was the bar. Were you able to pick up any sexy women?”

Garrett did not like the way this was heading. Nobody wanted to hear their grandmother ask them about women. “Grams! You know we didn’t do that! Dang! Gramps, why did you say that!”

All the adults started laughing. Garrett was mortified and turned bright red. It was a good thing the light from the TV was the only light in the room. He didn’t want them to see how embarrassed he was. Eventually he started grinning.

“Are you going to the game Friday night Mom and Daddy?” asked Gina.

“We wouldn’t miss it, Gina” replied Charles. “This is Texas you know, and we don’t miss high school football”

Charles wasn’t exaggerating. Martinsburg was a small town of eight thousand, and the home games usually attracted nearly four thousand fans. The team was undefeated, at 3 and 0 with the meat of the schedule was coming up.

Gina got a bit more serious. “Garrett, how have things been for you at school since Rachel’s, well, issues”

“Mom, I’m not going to lie to you. Her transformation has been the talk of the school, especially since the incident at the church. People have made some comments to me, both supportive and hateful. Fortunately, I have a reputation as someone you don’t really mess with for some reason, so the impact on me has not really been too bad, just some ribbing at first from some of the guys on the team. But a couple of hard hits on the field to the few jerks who made fun of Rachel kind of made my point that Rachel was not a subject to be brought up with me”

You didn’t fight, did you?” asked Gina.

“No, Mom, that would be stupid. I’m not getting thrown out of school or kicked off the team for a couple of stupid comments someone makes. But, being a football player with the nickname of ‘Headhunter’ Harris means that a few well placed hits in practice means that I can get my point across, with a slap on the back from the coach for a job well done” Garrett smiled. The slightly crooked, loopy smile of a linebacker who loves to hit. Then he started to laugh. The smile, laugh and looks that had made him the most sought after boy in school to the female students.
”¨“I don’t suppose you get too much flak from anyone, do you son”

“No, I don’t Gramps. My teammates know that when the chips are down on the field or anywhere else, I’ll be there for them. Dad told me a long time ago that the toughest men he knew never had to fight, and he showed me how to do that. Character, he always told me, was the best defense a man could have”

Gina’s heart went to her throat. That was the Randy that had attracted her years ago the Randy that had always known what to do in every situation. Not the shell of a man who had come back from Iraq.

“That was the best advice you could have gotten, son” said Charles. “Always remember that, and your dad will always be alive in your heart, where it counts”

Garrett nodded. “It’s probably for the best that Rachel is home schooled for now though. I couldn’t protect her all the time, and there are some real nutballs there. Guys with more testosterone than brains. Idiots that don’t think about the consequences of their actions”

Gina agreed. “I know. the thought of her in with some of those animals in her mental state is horrifying. There’s no telling what could happen to her there”

Rachel came into the room with her sleepshirt on. Her makeup was off and she was ready for bed. She gave her grandparents and brother a kiss goodnight and asked her mother to come upstairs to help her with something. Gina and her daughter went upstairs.

“What do you need help with, honey?”

“I wanted to ask you some questions”

“Like what?”

“Well, it’s about my chest. It is really itchy and it hurts under my nipples I have to wear my bra to bed because it’s the only way I can get any sleep, but it’s not really comfortable to wear my bra to bed”

“Ohhh, I understand completely, dear. It’s completely normal for you to have that reaction. It just means you are developing breasts. I can get you some ointment to make it better tomorrow”

“That makes me feel better. I thought something was wrong with me”

“Nope, It’s perfectly normal. It happened to me too, and about at the same age”

“Mom?”

“Yes, dear?”

“I also have a question about my hair”

“What about it?”

“Well, I don’t have any, well other than on my head”

“Hmm. Well, honey, some girls develop body hair later than others, and it’s very light on others. I read online that in your case, you may never have any body hair, which, believe me is not necessarily a bad thing. But, I don’t think it’s anything you have to worry about right now”

“Mom?”

“Yes?”

“At the mall, I was looking around and I began to think that some of the boys I saw were, I don’t know, cute. I started to wonder if they would like me. I thought I was physically a boy just a week ago. Does this make me strange or something? I mean, I never have liked anyone before, and Becca was always just a friend. I never wanted to kiss her or anything”

“No, honey, it makes you a girl. A normal, everyday girl who is starting to notice to opposite sex for the first time. Mentally, no matter what clothes you put on, you were always a girl, and that’s what you will always be”

Rachel hugged her mom. “Thank you Mom, I love you, and I don’t know what I would do without you”

“I love you too, baby, and I thank God every day for you”

“Good night mom”

“God night, love”

Garrett got up at his normal time, six o’clock. He had morning workouts to attend for football at seven. He got ready to go, grabbed his backpack and headed out the door. As he headed out of the door, he noticed the back of a large wooden placard sticking out of the ground. Thinking it was some sort of political ad, he went around and read it.

“Son of a bitch!” said Garrett under his breath as he read it.

“A PERVERT LIVES HERE” read the sign. The post holding the sign was steel and buried deep. Whoever planted it didn’t want it to come up easily. They didn’t count on Garrett. With a little grunt, the youth pulled on the post and ripped it out of the ground.

“Assholes” cursed Garrett as he took the sign into the garage and hid it. He didn’t want anyone to see it right now and knew that Brianna might want to see it. He went inside and found his mother at the kitchen table drinking hot tea.

“Mom, I need you to come into the garage”

Gina went into the garage and gasped when she saw the sign. “When did they do this”

“Sometime last night. I pulled it up so no one else could see it. You need to tell Gramps”

“I will. You need to go on to school”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, There’s nothing you can do now. Thanks for getting it out of the yard””¨
Garrett left, and Gina winced as a Braxton Hicks contraction hit her. She had never had problems like this with her other pregnancies, and while the OB had said they were harmless. Gina wasn’t so sure. She was only six months into her pregnancy.

Gina got her father into the garage to look at the sign. He immediately called the non emergency number to the Martinsburg police, identified himself and requested a unit be dispatched to the address.

“Don’t worry, Gina, I’ll handle this”

The Martinsburg officer arrived within ten minutes. Charles identified himself with his DPD identification. The officer identified himself as Stan Harrick.

“Thanks for coming so soon, officer, good morning” greeted Charles.

“Good morning, sir, what’s the problem”

“It seems we have someone who doesn’t like someone who lives in the house. Charles showed the officer the sign”

“Why would someone do that? I don’t have any notice of a sex offender in the neighborhood. Has that changed”

At that time, Rachel came out in her fuzzy pink robe and slippers with a large mug of coffee. Here you go, papa. I thought you might want some coffee” she noticed the officer and said, “Oh! Do you know my papa? He’s a policeman too. Can I get you some coffee too?”

The officer smiled. “Sure, I’ll have a cup while I talk to your papa. Thank you very much, uhh...”

“Rachel, sir”

“Rachel, thank you” replied the officer with a smile.

The two men waited for Rachel to go back inside before resuming their conversation.

“Nice kid. Very pretty. You must be very proud”

“Yes I am, she’s the best”

“Now, Detective Walker, about the alleged ‘pervert’ according to the sign”

“You just met the ‘pervert’. She brought me coffee and is getting yours right now”

The officer gaped. “The girl? Rachel? How can she be a...a...”

“Pervert?”

“Yes. But I can’t put that girl and pervert in the same sentence”

Rachel came out with another mug of coffee for the officer. He took it and thanked her.

“Thank you, Rachel”

“You’re welcome, sir. I have to get ready for school now. Bye” she said brightly.

“Detective Walker, whoever put hat sign in the yard could not have meant that girl”

“Oh, but they did. Let me tell you a story......”

Charles related the events of the last few days to the officer as they drank their coffee. The officer was gobsmacked.

“Unbelievable. All this because she was mistakenly identified at birth? Damn, sir. I thought there were some backwoods peawits in this town but this takes the cake. I come from Austin, and this wouldn’t cause a ripple there. Hell, they’d probably give her the key to the city. Nothing wrong with that girl. At all”

“Stan, you know that and I know that, but some folks here don’t want to know it. Can you maybe get the chief to put a couple more patrols in this area between midnight and six?”

“I’ll put it in my report, sir. I don’t think there will be a problem. If there is, here is the contact info for the chief”

“Thanks, Officer. You’ve been very helpful. Hopefully, this will be the end of it”

Officer Stan Harrick looked at Charles. “You don’t believe that any more than I do”

Charles looked at the officer. “No, but I hope for the sake of whoever is doing this that it is”

“Copy that, sir”

Charles walked back inside. Maria was waiting by the door.

“How did it go?”

“All right, I guess, They are adding a couple of patrols to this area to try to scare off whoever did this. Maybe they won’t do it again” he added “Gina, no reason to trouble Rachel with this now. It may be a one off thing”

“If you say so, Daddy”

Rachel was finding it hard to concentrate on her school work. She was planning for her sleep over with Becca and Angela. They would go to the game and watch Garrett, then come back for some fun. She was dressed in a jean mini and a Baby tee with ‘Spoiled’ written on the front. Her mom tought it was a little suggestive for a twelve year old, but it wasn’t particularly tight, and the mini wasn’t too terribly short. Rachel found that more and more, she liked the comfort of skirts and dresses.

Gina dialed the office number for Randy’s father, Lt. Gen. Barton Harris. He picked up on the second ring.

“Dad, this is Gina”

“Hello, Gina. How have you been?”

“I’m doing well, Dad, how is Mom?”

“As well as can be expected. Her health has really gone to hell since Randy died”

“I’m very sorry to hear that, Dad. Look, I need to talk to you. It’s about Randall”

“Oh?” Barton almost audibly sighed. He didn’t know what was wrong with that boy. He was always hanging around with his mother, not at all a prime example of a boy. Barton always wondered if the boy was gay. Not like Garrett. There was a real boy. On his way to becoming a real man. He really didn’t have time to listen to Randall’s problems. “Look, Gina, I’m really busy here, maybe some other time””¨”¨“Dad, It’s very important! Please take a few minutes to listen to me. I really need to talk to you about some developments in the last few days. It’s very serious, and you need to know about it. Please!”

Gen. Harris was taken aback by the urgency in his daughter in law’s voice. “All right, Gina, If it’s that important to you”

“Thank you. Here’s what has happened” Gina began to relate the tale to Randy’s father, leaving out nothing. The general listened in rapt silence. Twenty minutes later, Gina was finished. “That’s the story, Dad. I don’t know what else to say”

“Well, Gina, we simply need to get the boy some counseling. Maybe military school. I always thought there was something wrong with the boy, now I know. I’ll fly out there and set him straight. Don’t worry. We’ll make Randy proud of that boy yet”

“No, Dad, we won’t. The decision has been made. Randy and I made a mistake when Rachel was born, and it’s taken twelve years to start to fix it. If you ever had one bit of love for your grandchildren, you and Mom will fly out here and watch your granddaughter, talk to her, and then see if she’s a boy”

“I’ll be on the next plane out there, I’ll get this boy fixed”

“No you won’t Dad. Until you come out here with an open mind, and with Mom, you aren’t welcome here”

“You can’t do that! I’m the boy’s grandfather! I’m Randy’s father! How dare you...”

“No, Dad. I told my parents the same thing. Rachel is very delicate right now. She has already had to face down bigots here in town, and I don’t want her to face the same kind of bigotry from the family that she holds so dear. She is a girl. She always has been. I was too stupid to see it before. So was Randy”

“Listen here, Gina. I have rights. If I have to go to court, you’ll lose”

“I hope you don’t decide to go that route, Dad. I am not without friends here, you know. I want you and Mom to be a part of Rachel’s life. The little boy Randall is gone. Accept that. Accept Rachel. The girl. You won’t be sorry you did. Good bye Dad”

“GINA! You will be sorry! What would Randy say! GINA! GINA!” She had already hung up. The general’s assistant came into the room.

“Sir! Is everything okay?”

The general was quiet. "Yes, everything is fine. Dismissed.”