Brianna's Story:

I couldn’t believe that the time was nearly here. Steve and I had just experienced a whirlwind engagement that lasted all of 12 weeks. Now, I was just 24 hours away from being Mrs. Stephen Marshall, and I couldn’t be any happier.

It didn’t matter that I could have any man that I wanted. I had my mother’s looks, and she was a former Miss Texas. I am 5’10”, 130 pounds, with what I have been told is a killer body. Okay, I guess that part is right too. 34C-24-35. My only disadvantage, if you could call it that, was I was born with and unfortunate part of my daddy’s DNA namely the Y chromosome. I say disadvantage, because the only thing I can’t do is have babies. I was born a boy, Brian Charles DiMaggio. I was one of the heirs to the DiMaggio Oil fortune.

Daddy was born here in Austin, the son of an Italian family that had been in Texas since before the Revolution. They had land in Central Texas, and took an active part in sending the Mexicans south of the Rio Grande after the Battle of San Jacinto. So I guess I don’t have the typical Italian-American/Ellis Island story to share.

Oil was discovered on our land at the turn of the century, and the family fortunes went up after that. My father, Jack, managed to expand the oil holdings to over 2,000 producing wells. Our family was, to say the least, well off. To say the most, we were stinking filthy rich.

I was born in 1981, at the height of the popularity of “Dallas”. Believe it or not, our family life was somewhat similar to that of the Ewings, minus all of the family intrigue. We were a happy family, who took vacations together, and did all the things that other families did. I was, by all accounts, a happy baby, who was mistaken for a girl all of the time. My mama hated to cut my hair, and it grew long. By the time I was four, I didn’t mind being mistaken for a girl. I believed, no, knew that I was one. My brothers teased me to no end of frustration. Junior, 6 years my senior was the worst. I thought my name was Sissy until I was six, because that was all he called me. He knew just how to torment me without leaving a physical mark. I hated him more than anyone on this planet. Caleb, 4 years older than I was, was no better, but he taunting was more physical. He was constantly hitting and pushing me, most of the time when no one was looking. Crying to my mother did little good, because my daddy was always trying to “toughen me up”. He cut my hair when I was seven, a traumatic experience that gives me nightmares to this day. All of this to “toughen me up”. Tough. There’s a word that’s way overused, and way to little understood. Looking back, I was plenty tough for not denying who or what I was.

I loved to read growing up. I identified with Cinderella, and adored the story “The Little Mermaid”. When the movie came out, I saw it 13 times at the theater, and bought it as soon as it came out on video. When she became a full girl on land, I cried every time. I cried a lot growing up. My brothers could not understand why I was so emotional. I don’t blame them now, and I really didn’t blame them then. They had no way of knowing what hell I was going through. They wouldn’t have been able to comprehend had they known.

When I was eleven, I was left alone in the house while the rest of the family went horseback riding. I pretended to be sick to get out of going. I had ulterior motives, however. Brianna was coming out to play.

I had created Brianna, my female self, some years before. I had several friends from school, all girls, and Brianna came out to play with them every time we got together. They dressed me in party dresses and we played with dolls until it was time for me to go home. I was truly happy during those times, and always hated to go home, because I would have to go back to being Brian. My brothers and father couldn’t understand why I hated the family passion of watching football. I always was happiest helping mama in the kitchen preparing the snacks for the boys. That was my fun. Being with my mama. Daddy and the boys could have their Cowboys. I wanted nothing to do with it.

As I watched the family walk off on the horses, I quickly went to my little storehouse of girl clothes. I had managed to get some things from my girl friends over the last few months, and I began to put my treasures on. I started with white cotton panties and a cami, and then put on a skirt and blouse. I didn’t have any makeup at the time, but I was just happy dressing how I felt I should be dressed. I stayed in my room, writing in my journal about how I was so angry that god had made a mistake with my body, and what I would do to be magically transformed into a girl. Finishing with my writing, I carefully put my journal away and went to the mirror to look at myself. I had such a pretty face, but the horrid crew cut I had to wear made me look like a freak or a cancer patient. I waked slowly to my bed, laid down and began to cry. Not loud, as I didn’t want to be discovered by the domestic help, but I was in agony. I cried until I fell asleep.

That was a mistake. The next thing I knew, I was being grabbed by two pairs of hands and dragged from my bed.

“Look at the sissy!” cried Caleb with a sick delight. “Daddy, Mama, you have got to see this!”

Screaming, I struggled to get away from my two brothers “Please! Let me go!”

“God, he screams like a girl!” laughed Junior. “Hurry! You gotta see this little freak!”

Mama got to my room first. “Oh dear God” was all she could say. Daddy was close behind.

“What the hell are you doing, boy!” he yelled. “Get that stuff off now! Jesus! Naomi, keep the help downstairs. Son of a bitch!”

The boys were laughing hysterically. I was crying just as hysterically. Dropping to my knees, I buried my head in my hands. I felt like everyone hated me. It was then that I began feeling like I wanted to die.

Mama began to take charge. “Caleb! Junior! Stop cackling like a couple of magpies and leave now. Jack! You take the boys and get downstairs”

“I ain’t leaving, Mama” retorted Junior. “I want to see this little sissy get what’s coming to him” Caleb followed with more insane laughter.

Turning to my daddy, Mama coldly said “Jack, get these boys out of here now, or you will have a bigger problem on your hands than a boy in a dress”

My daddy visibly blanched. “Boys! Get the hell out of here and let your Mama handle this”

“Aww dad. Are you going to let her push you around? Show her who’s boss”

Daddy’s hand went out like a snake and caught Junior by the collar. The next thing Junior knew, he was out in the hall on his rear end. Caleb followed under his own power. “Don’t ever talk to your mother like that again, boy. Now get downstairs before I kick your sorry ass all the way down.”

“Yes sir” said a red faced Junior.

“Handle this, Naomi” my father said quietly.

“Go on, Jack” replied Mama.

After everyone was gone and the door shut, Mama began to speak. “How long has this been going on, Brian?”

“I don’t know, Mama. As long as I can remember. I hate what I am. I hate being a boy. I’m not a boy. I don’t look like a boy, I hate what my brothers like. I hate my life!”

Mama hugged me “I know it seems like that now, but God made you who he made you. He doesn’t make mistakes. I always wanted a daughter, but the good Lord didn’t give me one. He gave me three sons. Two are kind of awful, but one is an absolute darling”

I had to laugh at that one. I knew she loved all her children, but the two older boys tried her patience on a daily basis. I really never did. “You don’t understand, Mama. I feel different. I can’t explain it. It’s like every day I get up, I feel the same way you fell looking at me dressed like this. This is who I am. I’ve tried, but I can’t change”

Mama sighed “Brian, you are a boy. You can’t go about looking like this. Our family’s reputation would be ruined. This is not negotiable. I want you to take these things off and throw them away. Get your regular clothes on, and come downstairs. Nothing more will be mentioned about this”

“But, Mama! Please! Don’t make me do this!” I began to cry again.

“It’s for the best, Brian” she said quietly, then left.

I sat there for five minutes, crying and wrapping my arms around myself. Looking back, I was sitting exactly like a girl would sit, knees together, arms protecting myself. I slowly got up and changed clothes. I wasn’t the same after that.

Time went on. I stopped helping my mother in the kitchen. I stopped playing with my girl friends. I withdrew into myself. I escaped into my books. My brothers still tried teasing me after their discovery of me, but that stopped when I kneecapped Junior with a baseball bat after he kicked me for ignoring him. He never kicked me again. Caleb leaked at school that I was a homosexual, which earned me a couple of beatings. They stopped when I poked out the eye of a would-be bully. That earned me an expulsion from school, and cost my father $750, 000 in the lawsuit that followed.

I simply didn’t care anymore. I had stopped dressing and doing anything that could be construed as “girly”. I left people alone, and they left me alone. If they didn’t, there was a swift and usually violent resolution.

When I was 14, the first girl I had ever played dolls with, Annie, was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I went to see her in the hospital. I had stopped going to her house three years prior, but I couldn’t let her go without saying goodbye. Her parents were with her in the room. She was sleeping.

Thank you for coming, Brian. She’s been asking for you for the last couple of days.

He mother woke Annie up. “Annie, Brian’s here to see you”

“Brianna!” she said weakly. “I’m so glad you came! I’ve missed you soo much. Why didn’t you play with me anymore?”

I felt as if a knife had been driven into my heart. “My name’s Brian, Annie. I’m a boy. It wouldn’t have been right to come over”

She smiled and reached up to my shoulder, as if she were stroking my hair. “Ohh, you’re being silly. Look at all of this long blonde hair and your beautiful body. You don’t look like any boy I’ve ever seen!” Where did you get this wonderful blouse?”

“She’s hallucinating, Brian” Her mother whispered quietly in my ear. “Just play along with her, she doesn’t need to be upset right now”

I paused, thinking quickly. “I got it from Forever 21, Annie. Do you like it?”

She opened her eyes again “Yes, Brianna. Will you get one for me too?”

A tear rolled down my cheek. “Of course, Annie. I’ll get it for you to wear when you go home, okay?”

“I’m not going home, Brianna. I’m going to my heavenly home. I know you’re sad. But you have to live for me. Be the beautiful girl you are, and live for me, okay?”

I looked at her mother, who shook her head. “Annie! You get better and I’ll come over and we can do whatever you want! Don’t leave now” Tears were flowing down my face as they hadn’t in three long years.

“It’s okay, Brianna. It’s beautiful over there. Turn around! Look!”

I turned, seeing nothing but the wall. “It’s beautiful, Annie.”

“I have to go now, Brianna. I’ll…..see you…….later” She closed her eyes and the monitors began to sound alarms. I backed against the wall as the nurse came in and quietly disconnected the monitors and silenced the alarms. Her parents were quietly sobbing in each other’s arms. I sank down and sat on the floor, crying like I had never cried before. She called me Brianna. She didn’t see the boy. Something snapped in me at that moment. If I couldn’t live as Brianna, I didn’t want to live. Annie was waiting for me.

I hugged Annie’s folks, and told them goodbye. I didn’t say anything to them, but I would be with Annie tonight. This much I knew.

Walking home from the hospital, I was in a daze. My home was 7 miles from the hospital. I could have taken a cab, but I needed to plan. I could not go on any longer. My entire life was a lie, a lie that I would extinguish tonight.

By the time I made it home, I knew what I was going to do. I walked upstairs and found my father’s prescription bottle that was filled with valium. He had difficulty going to sleep lately due to some negotiations he was in regarding the company. He had just gotten it filled two days prior, and there would be plenty to do the job. I put the bottle in my room and went downstairs to see Mama.

“Hi, mama” I said leadenly.

“Hi, Brian” she replied. “What’s wrong? You look like you lost your best friend”

“I did, mom. Annie died today. I was in her room when it happened”

Mama gasped “Oh my God, Brian! I am so sorry. I knew she was sick, but I didn’t know how badly. How are you feeling?”
“Ok, I guess. She’s in a better place. Her pain is gone. I’m glad I was there to see her go. Mom, death isn’t so bad. She said it was beautiful over there, just before she died”

“It’s all a part of life, honey. Do you have questions?”

“Nope. I know all I need to, mom” I replied without emotion. “It all makes sense to me now”

She looked quizzically at me. “What does that mean?”

I looked away. “Nothing, mom. Thank you for being here for me, Okay?”

“I know you’ve had it rough, Brian. But always remember, I love you very much”

“I know mom. I love you too. I love everyone in this family” I hugged her then walked away. “I’m going upstairs to my room. I need to talk a nap”

“Ok, but dinner is at 6, so don’t be late” Great. I had three hours to do this.

I walked up the stairs like a zombie. I didn’t feel anything. I knew mama would miss me, but I didn’t care anymore. I had already checked out. I went to my room, and grabbed the bottle of pills. I poured ten into my hand and swallowed them with water. That should be enough. I took off my clothes and crawled into bed, ready for the next great adventure. Drowsiness enveloped me 15 minutes later. Then darkness.

From what I learned later, my mother was curious why I called her mom. I never did that. None of us did. It was mama. It ate at her. “What was up with that boy” she thought. Then she felt a sick feeling in her soul. She couldn’t explain it even years later. She knew she had to get upstairs at once.

She ran up to my room and opened the door. “Brian?” she said aloud. No answer. She rushed over to my bed and saw me, barely breathing. “BRIAN!” she screamed. She shook me but got no response. She immediately called 911 from the phone in my room. She kept trying to get me to wake up.

The ambulance came 5 minutes later, and by 4:15 I was in the ER. I had stopped breathing, and the doctors were working feverishly to bring me back.

I woke up in the ER, looking at the doctors working on someone. I was dressed in white, and I looked at myself. I had long manicured fingernails, and I could see my hair cascading around my shoulders. I went to the door in the ER and walked right through it.

“What is going on?” I said aloud to myself. People were walking around and through me. I saw a mirror in the hallway and looked at it. To my surprise, I could see my reflection. I was a girl! I was pretty. No, gorgeous! Blonde hair, blue eyes and totally put together.

I smiled at my reflection. I was soo happy!

Suddenly a familiar voice spoke to me “Like what you see, Brianna?” It was Annie.

Whirling around, I saw my friend in the same white outfit I was in. She smiled at me with the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. I reached to hug her.

“Annie!” I exclaimed in my new girlish voice. “I’m so glad to see you! Look at me! I’m...me!”

She returned my hug. “I know, Brianna, I know. This is your soul, your spirit body, for the lack of a better term. This is who you really are. Inside, where it counts. But this is wrong, Bree”

“Why, I’m finally who I am!”

“It’s wrong to kill, Bree. Even killing yourself. This isn’t your time to go. You have so much to do yet”

“I can’t go back to being Brian, Annie. I can’t. This is who I am”

“So don’t go back to being Brian. There are ways of shaping your body to match your soul. You see, God gives some people tests to see if they are strong enough to be who they are on the inside. Some people fail that test, but God is love. He cares even for the ones who fail the test. And He gives justice to the ones who persecute those special people.

“You will pass that test, Bree. You will be the person that you were meant to be. Did you notice how puberty never caught up with you? There was a reason for that. You will grow up to defend those who cannot defend themselves. There will be one in the future who you will recognize as special. You will help her, and in turn, she will help you find happiness and acceptance. You will have happiness that you cannot imagine, Bree. But there will be many trials to come. Never give up. I will be watching and I will help you all I can”

“But I don’t want to go back, Annie!” I replied frantically.

“It’s not your choice, Bree. I’ll see you later”

I felt an electric charge run through my body as I was pulled back into darkness. I heard someone say “He’s back! Get that second IV going!” Darkness claimed me again..

“Brian? Brian can you hear me?” I heard a familiar voice. It was Mama.

I groaned. “Let me sleep, Mama. I’m tired”

“You’ve been asleep for three days, Brian. It’s time to get up” Came her authoritative reply.
My eyes fluttered open. The room was dim. I slowly was able to focus. My mother’s tired face came into sharp relief. “Welcome back, honey. You gave us quite the scare”

Tears rolled down my face as I looked up into hers. “I’m sorry, Mama. I just couldn’t go on living the lie”

“What lie, Brian?” she asked quietly.

“I’m not Brian, Mama. I’ll never go back to being him. I’ll die if I do” I tried to reach my face to wipe the tears away, but my hands were restrained to the bed. I began to panic. “Mama, take these things off! I can’t stand them. Take them off!”

“Shhhh. Shhhh Brian. They were on as a precaution if you woke up when no one was here. To make sure you didn’t try again”

“TAKE THEM OFF!” I screamed. The nurses rushed in and tried to calm me. I thrashed and they injected something in the IV that put me to sleep. “Take..them…off”

I woke up later, and my mother and father were in the room. The restraints were gone. “What happened? How long have I been asleep?”

My father replied “A couple of hours. They had to put you out after your panic attack before you hurt yourself”

I got right to business. I was going to let them have it with both barrels. Sighing, I began to speak.

“Daddy, Mama, I need to tell you something. I am not going back to being Brian. Ever. I can’t. It’s not who I am, and it’s not who I want to be. My name is Brianna. If being Brianna means you disinherit me and kick me out in the street, then that’s the price I’m willing to pay.”

Mama looked down. I could see she was crying. My daddy looked like he had aged ten years. Daddy spoke first.

“Son, I don’t pretend to know what you are going through. But I am willing to get you the help you need to get this worked out. However it turns out” I saw a single tear trickle down his cheek.

“We love you, Brian. Whatever happens that means we won’t stop loving you. Ever”

“I’m not going to change my mind. I know who I am and what I was meant to be. You haven’t failed me. But I need to be who I am, no matter what that means, no matter what I have to face”

We got together and hugged. The next day, a doctor came in to talk to me. He was a doctor who specialized in gender issues. His name was Doctor Bob James. I thought he was going to try and talk me out of what I wanted, but instead he just talked to me, about how I felt about things. He wanted to know about me, about what made me tick.

We had several sessions over the next month. My daddy wanted me in intense therapy to get things decided as quickly as we could. Dr. James was in agreement. He knew I had deep seated problems and needed to get the poison out as quickly as they could to get me on the path to recovery.

After the month was over, it was decided that I did indeed suffered from gender dysphoria. I was young, but the doctor was certain that if I didn’t transition soon, irreparable harm would be done. I was started in androgen blockers immediately and after the endocrinologist was consulted, the estrogen was soon to follow.

The reaction from my brothers was not at all what I expected. They said they knew that I was different, and were trying to pressure me to conform for selfish reasons. Junior apologized to me for making my life miserable. He was in college now, and had a more open minded take on life. Caleb was also apologetic. My suicide attempt made him realize that words have consequences, and he was blaming himself for driving me to it.

I started my life trail immediately. My old boy wardrobe was sacked up and donated, and my girl things were purchased and added to my closet. All of my old furniture was taken out, and my room was redecorated appropriately to a teen girl, with a good deal of input from me.

I was on cloud nine as the changes took place. Over the next nine months, my breasts filled into a full B and continued to get bigger. My hips filled out and my waist got smaller. I underwent a bilateral orchiectomy to remove my now useless testicles.

Whenever we went out, people who didn’t know us looked me up and down. I was fifteen, but in truth looked at least eighteen. I was tall, and model skinny. I did do some modeling, but those jobs dried up when it was revealed that I was pre operative transsexual. I didn’t care. I was becoming who I was meant to be. The next school year, Dr. James thought it would be a good idea for me to mix with other people my age. Mama and Daddy sent me to the same private school that Caleb went to.

My reception there was cool, to say the least. The girls were jealous of my looks, and the boys were intimidated by the fact that I looked like a model but wasn’t all girl where it counted. The teachers were hostile toward someone they viewed as a spoiled rich kid who was a freak. But they didn’t bother me at all. The pranks played by the girls were the worst, as they were always trying to humiliate me in some way or another, by calling me “little boy” or always flipping my uniform skirt up to expose me.

My first year was terrible, and I cried myself to sleep many nights. But always I came back to what Annie had said to me. There would be trials to come. I held onto that like a drowning woman hold on to a life preserver. I studied hard, and excelled in my classes. I was ranked number one in my class academically. I didn’t want to treat people the way they treated me, so I volunteered to tutor anyone who needed help. I had no takers until Danny Buford, a guy in my class, asked for my help in geometry.

I dove in to help him, grateful for the opportunity to help someone out. He was very grateful, and didn’t make me feel like a freak when we were together. He learned well, and soon was an A student in geometry in his own right.

We saw each other in the halls, and he never ignored me like everyone else. I thought he was cute, and there was no doubt where my sexuality lay. I was 100% heterosexual. Girls did absolutely nothing for me.

Finally, midway through my junior year, Danny asked me out. It was just to a movie and pizza afterward, but I felt like I was Cinderella going to the ball. He asked my daddy if he could take me out, and after the customary grilling, he got daddy’s permission to take me out.

I’ll never forget that night as long as I live. We saw “Liar Liar”, with Jim Carrey and finished the night off at the Pizza Hut. We had a medium pepperoni, and two Diet Pepsis.
He got me home 10 minutes before my 11 pm curfew and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I kissed him back. I felt like such a girl. I ached that I didn’t have the right equipment for him, or I swear I would have gone all the way that night.

We continued dating the rest of that year. I was his date for the junior prom, and I went all out to look spectacular. I wore a strapless blue gown, and he wore a black tux with accessories that matched my gown. I wore a garter belt and stockings that night for the first time, and the gaff I had to wear was the only uncomfortable thing I had on. My heels were a modest 3”, and I danced all night. No one else wanted to dance with me, but Danny held me in his arms and made me feel like I was the only girl there.

After the prom was over, Danny took me back home. On the way, I asked him to stop.

“Danny?” I asked quietly. “Do you love me?”

“Yes, Bree. I do. Why?”

“Because I love you too. You see me for the girl I am, not some freak, like everyone else” I was quiet for a moment. I looked out the window, biting my lip. I wanted to show him how much I loved him, but I didn’t know how. My eyes began to well up.

“What is the problem, Bree? Why are you crying? Aren’t you happy?” he leaned over to me and pulled me close. “What’s the problem?”

“Kiss me, Danny. Please.”

We began to kiss, and for the next 20 minutes, we were lost in each other’s embrace. I could feel Danny’s manhood begin to rise. I reached for his zipper and began to pull it down.

“Bree, what are you doing? We can’t do anything”

“Maybe we can’t, Danny, but I can. Please let me show you how much I love you. Lean back”

Danny leaned back while I unzipped him. I held him in my hands and began to stroke him. He gasped as I leaned down and took him in my mouth. I went up and down on his shaft and within a minute, he moaned and went off in my mouth. I swallowed all of the bitter liquid and licked him clean. I then dried him off with a hankie I had in my purse and then zipped him up.

“God! That was awesome, Bree!” he said breathlessly. “You were great!”

I smiled and kissed him. “Thank you, lover boy. I had to do that for you. You make me feel so wonderful, I needed to return the favor” I pouted. “You don’t hate me, do you?”

“Oh heck no, Bree. That was the most awesome thing anyone has ever done for me!”

We continued dating throughout the summer and into the next year. My mama and daddy were worried that I was going to get hurt. My daddy and I really connected since my transition began, and he was glad to have a daughter. He was very protective of me, and I was glad to have it.

In October of my senior year. My daddy had a heart attack and died at a business meeting. I was devastated. I couldn’t believe that the man who had grown to become my biggest fan was gone. I thought back to Annie, who said “There will be trials”.

After the funeral, I went back to school. Things were just as bad, and now the other students started teasing me about my late father, calling me “Little Orphan Annie” this name hit me hard, as I looked at it as an insult to my friend Annie. The people who called me this didn’t know, but their words stung more than they would ever know.

To top this off, Danny began to change. He started to pressure me into giving him more and more sex. I did what I could, but it never seemed to be enough for him. He wanted to go “all the way”, which for him meant anal sex. This was something that I couldn’t do. I didn’t want anyone inside of me until I could do it as a woman. To me, it was a dirty thing that hurt, and only one person could enjoy. I saw it as rape, and begged him not to make me do it. I just couldn’t.

“If you loved me, baby, you’d do it” he prodded. “All the girls are doing it” I noticed he didn’t say “other girls”

“If you loved me, you wouldn’t ask, Danny” I replied, shooting him a dirty look. “And I don’t care what the ‘other’ girls are doing”

“Okay, okay, babe. You win. We still on for tonight?” I thought he gave up way too easily.

I didn’t want to, as I had a big exam to study for. “I guess so”

“Cool. I’ll pick you up at seven”

Danny picked me up at seven, pulling in to the big semicircular front drive and honking, not bothering to come up to the door. This was a first.

I told my mama where I was going, and ran out to the car. It was starting to rain. He quickly drove off.

“Hey babe. I changed our plans for tonight. Hope you don’t mind” he said with an arrogance I found alarming. I hated it when he called me babe.

“I guess not, where are we going?”

“Out to the country. Just to appreciate nature”

“I know what you mean, Danny. I don’t want to do anything tonight. I have a test to study for” A little voice inside me was beginning to tell me to get out of the car.

“Then we’ll just talk. Okay?”

“Okay, but not too long, Danny. Please”

We drove for about a half an hour until we were out of town. Danny pulled over into a side road and stopped the car. He looked at me, with a strange look that I hadn’t seen from him before. It scared me.

“All right, babe, get out of the car”

“Danny! It’s raining! I’ll get all wet! What are you trying to do?”

“You’ve got a choice, babe. Give up the ass, or walk home”

I started to cry. “Danny, what are you doing? I thought you loved me. Don’t ask me to do this. When I’m eighteen, I’m having the surgery, then we can do it for real. Please Danny, you’re scaring me. Please take me home. Mama doesn’t know where I am”

“I thought you’d say that, bitch. I’ve been taking shit for a year and a half now for dating a freak. I never said anything to you, because you were always good for a blowjob. But I want more, and you’re going to give it to me” He then pulled a knife. Take your clothes off, bitch. Now” he had a look on his face that wasn’t human.

I was frantically crying now. “Please, Danny! I can’t! It isn’t right!”

He smiled a smile that chilled me to the bone. I knew he was going to kill me. “Get out of the car and everything will be all right.

I got out into the cold rain and stood there, shivering. Danny got out and came around to me. “Last chance, Bree”

“I can’t, Danny. I’m sorry” I was crying, and Danny came up to me. I thought he was going to hug me, but suddenly I felt a burning in my side. He had stabbed me.

I gasped for air and slumped down to the ground.

“I’m sorry too, bitch” he turned around and walked to the driver’s side, got in and drove off.

Dizzy from the pain. I got up and started to follow the lights to the road. It was a mile away and I knew I was hurt badly. I couldn’t get my breath. I was freezing in the cold rain. I walked as best I could, but it wasn’t fast enough. I thought about Mama, and the loss of her daughter so soon after the loss of her husband. I couldn’t die! Not yet! I had so much more to do.

I continued to walk. I saw a glowing figure ahead. It was Annie! She got closer, and closer. Then she faded and the glow became two headlights. I had made it to the main road! Raising my hand, the world spun, then went dark.

I woke up, with no idea how much later, in the hospital. It turned out I was found by a deputy sheriff on patrol. He took first aid steps that saved my life. I had been stabbed in a way that narrowly missed my heart, but caused me to lose a lot of blood. I nearly died.

Looking around my room, I saw my Mama sleeping in the chair next to the bed. “Mama?” I whispered. “Mama? I’m thirsty”

She stirred, and looked at me. Our eyes met, and she burst into tears. She came over to me and hit the call button. “Bree! Thank God! We thought we had lost you!”

The ICU nurse came in and checked my vitals. “We’ve called the doctor, and he’s on his way”

“I’m thirsty” I said again. The nurse went to get me some ice chips. I told her what had happened. “Danny did this, Mama. I thought he loved me, but he tried to kill me. Tears rolled down my face. It hurt to breathe. It was agony to cry. I willed myself to stop.

“I told the police that you were with Danny. They picked him up and he said that you wanted to be dropped off, and the last he knew you were walking toward a black pickup”

“That’s a lie, Mama. He took me out to a deserted road, and tried to force me to have sex with him. When I wouldn’t he stabbed me”

“He said that you two had been having sex for some time now, and that he wasn’t comfortable with it. He said you went down on him several times”

That revelation hit me hard. I had been so stupid. I had to show him physically how I felt. I was such an idiot. “It’s true, Mama. I loved him so much, and I didn’t want to lose him to a real girl” I was in agony.

“You are a real girl, Bree. To give that up before you are married is asking for trouble”

“I know that now, Mama. I was so stupid.” I was biting my lip so hard it began to bleed. My chest hurt so much.

“Let’s talk about this later, sweetie. It’s too much right now”

The days turned in the hospital. I was discharged after a week. The detectives that talked to me said that Danny had an airtight alibi that was confirmed by five of his friends. They didn’t believe me about his attack, and told me to stop blaming him. There wasn’t a shred of evidence placing him at the scene.

I was devastated by Danny’s betrayal. I was a pariah at school, and now it was out that I was “easy” willing to give it up orally to anyone with five dollars. My mother believed me, and tried to hire investigators that would get what we needed on Danny. No one would take the case. The bastards all believed Danny.

Resolving to put my troubles behind me, I continued to put my all into my schoolwork. I caught up with what I had missed, and was able to maintain my number one standing in the class.

The weeks and months ticked by slowly until graduation. I was going to get my revenge by being the valedictorian and giving the address at the graduation ceremony. Two weeks before graduation, I was called out of class to the principal’s office. There was a police officer there with a dog.

“Brianna DiMaggio, I’m placing you under arrest for the possession of marijuana on school property” said the policeman. He then read me my rights.

“What? I’ve never done marijuana in my life!” I said as he cuffed me. “Get your dog to sniff me! I’ve never seen that stuff”

“It was in your locker, Brianna. The dog found it” said the officer.

“No way! Please, I’ve never done drugs!” They carried me away, and expelled me from school.

After a convenient two week investigation, I was cleared of all charges. Right after graduation, and after someone had delivered the speech that should have been mine. “Trials to come” rang in my head.

I went to Colorado to have my SRS. It was a total success. I was now a complete woman. I didn’t rest though. When my recovery period was over, I was accepted at Harvard to do my undergrad studies, and spent four years with my nose to the grindstone. I would make the society who made my life a living hell pay on behalf of the girls just like me who didn’t have anyone to help them. I majored in business law and got my law degree from Harvard as well.

Daddy's company sold to ExxonMobil for just shy of 5 billion dollars, and I was able to parlay that into a fortune in the neighborhood of 16 billion dollars. My brothers were content to let me handle the management of the fortune, and I made sure they would never have to work again. They both went on to become successful businessmen in their own right. Jack DiMaggio Jr. served in the Bush Administration as Undersecretary of Energy. Caleb runs a successful electronics firm in the green energy sector.

I went on to champion the cause of the Transgendered in the United States. I worked tirelessly for their rights, and worked to prosecute those who would try to harm them. My organization won several lawsuits against companies and individuals who discriminated against transgendered or gay people.

I started a foundation to provide counseling for transgendered females, so no one would have to go through what I did. I do this worldwide, and have helped over a thousand girls to become all they were meant to be.

All of which brought me to Rachel Harris. Her story touched me in a way none before had. I remembered what Annie had told me about a special one. I found out that she was. She would be the sister I never had. Her mother was such a sweet woman who had lost her husband in the war. They had a son who was the most wonderful boy I had ever met.

I hired Steve Marshall from time to time as a very competent detective. I thought he was cute, sure, but I had other things to do that were more important than relationships. My past was too scarred from betrayal to even think of a relationship. The work was too important.

Steve had stumbled on to a hate group in Martinsburg who was targeting little Rachel. He eventually broke the ring and Rachel herself had taken out the ringleader before he could rape her. That ringleader was Dan Buford, the bastard who nearly killed me so many years before. He ended up a brain dead vegetable. Steve risked his life to save Rachel, who he knew everything about. It didn’t matter to him.

I fell in love with Steve at that moment. I knew he liked me, and now I could return the favor. My ghosts were dead and gone. I could love again.

I’m just about to walk down the aisle. Jim Abrams has my arm as we wait for the march to play. The march begins to play, and the room stands up. Steve is there at the altar with a silly grin on his face. My life begins anew.

Thank you, Annie. I’ll see you later.