Synopsis:   After Jessica’s operation, she’s starting to settle into her new life and the challenges that are sure to follow. With her new outlook on life comes new strength, and she’s ready to do whatever it takes to have the life she’s always dreamed of.   She still has people in her life that she has to deal with, most notably her parents.

Chapter 28

Jessica lay in bed, thinking about where she was going from here. She was living comfortably with Anthony and Janice, but she knew that it would be only a matter of time. Her birth parents’ would soon try to mess everything up for her.   Knowing this, she knew that it was finally time. She had put this call off for far too long, mostly out of fear. She knew that it was unavoidable, so she dialed the number. The phone rang through and an operator came on.

“Could I speak to Detective Johnson?” She asked politely, although she found this very uncomfortable.

An hour later, Mason arrived. He looked a little puzzled as he poked his head in the door.

  “Sorry, I must have the wrong room.” He said, and then looked at his notepad.

  “No, Detective, you have the right room.” She smiled.

“Andrew? Is that really you?” asked Mason.

“Yes, Mason, there have been a few small changes since the two of us last talked. I go by Jessica now.” She said with a smile. “I had a medical condition and it made me appear to be a boy, but the doctors have fixed that now.”

“Are you all right with that?” He asked.

“Yes,” I said happily. “I have believed for years that I was really a girl.”

“Well then, I am happy for you, Jessica. So what can I do for you?”

“The last time that we spoke, you said that it would be better if I pressed charges against my parents. I am ready now, and will tell you everything.”

  “All right, Jessica,” he said, opening a folder. “I’m listening.”

[-][+][-]

Statement of Andrew Roberts:

Relationship with Father: Jake Roberts

I have a medical condition called ‘Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia’, and because of it I was wrongly identified as a boy at birth. I’ve spent most of my life living as a male. The medical condition was only recently discovered, but I’ve always known that I was a girl. My family was unaware of my condition, and my father thought I was just gay, or a sissy. He did everything he could to try to make a man out of me. At first it was mostly mental abuse, name calling and stuff like that, but over time it became physical abuse and beatings.

My dad was really into sports when he was my age, and wanted nothing more than for me to follow in his footsteps. Because of my size, it was never really practical, though. He refused to see that, and he felt that if I worked out every day, it would make me stronger and able to play like other boys my age.  

I worked out every day, but because I was really a girl, I toned up but didn’t put on muscle like Dad expected. He would take it out on me, usually calling me names.   Sometimes when he drank, it would become physical and he would beat me. This became a normal routine between the two of us. One day, I’d had enough and told him that I wasn’t going to do it anymore.

Dad had been drinking pretty heavy that day and I really should have known better. I was just so sick and sore.   He lost control and started beating on me. If Mom hadn’t been there to calm him down, he might have killed me. He was just so angry! I had seen him angry but never like that. It was like he was a whole other person.

After that I stayed home from school for a week. Mom and Dad were afraid if anyone saw me, the police would be called.   After Dad came home, he said was really sorry for what he had done. He promised to stop drinking and never hit me again, but that only lasted for about a week, and it started all over again.   Towards the end, it was like walking on egg shells all time. For the most part, I did my best to avoid him and spent most of my time hiding in my room. I hoped he would leave me alone, but he always found me.

The day I tried to take my life was one of the worst. He thought I had taken his money out of his wallet, but he had given it to Mom the night before. He had forgotten, and he came after me. Mom had to remind him that she had the money.   He still looked like he was going to kill me. If Mom hadn’t been there, God only knows what would have happened. I’d had enough; I just couldn’t take it anymore. I just wanted to be at peace, so I took Mom’s pills, and I swallowed them. I knew that I would never be hurt again.”

“Alright Jessica, I think I have enough to move forward with your father. Now can you tell me about the relationship that you had with your mother?” Mason asked.

Statement of Andrew Roberts:

Relationship with Mother: Sarah Roberts

Mom and I were never really close, I mean, she never hit me or anything like that.   She also never really did anything to help me, either. For the most part, she took my dad’s side.   I guess that she believed that he knew what was best for me.   She just followed his lead most of the time. I can remember that there were a few times she stepped in, but it may have just happened to protect Dad. To be honest, I really don’t know. She knew about the abuse, and for whatever reason, she did nothing to help me.

Janice and I have talked about what happened, and she said that if she was my mother, she would have packed her bags and taken me away from my father. That’s what my mother should have done, but she chooses to stay and put herself first. I wanted her to take me and leave so many times, but I guess that she just never really loved me, or at least not enough to protect me.”

Jessica broke down, crying as Mason patted her back.

“All right, Jessica. I have everything that I need for now”, Mason said, gently. “I know that it wasn’t easy for you to do this. I believe that it might help give you some closure. Jessica, I should warn you that we are looking for your father. He has disappeared and if he should try to contact you, I want you to call me immediately. We have no idea what he is up to but I am betting that it’s not good.”

“Alright Mason, if he tries to contact me, you’ll be the first to know. What if my mom tries to contact me?”

“At the moment, Jessica, there is a court order preventing either of your parents from contacting you. The last time you were in the hospital and you received that dead rat, we believed it came from your father, but the signature didn’t match his.

We were unable to really do anything at the time, but it was enough for the judge that signed the restraining order against your parents. We need to bring your father in for questioning, but we haven’t been able to locate him, and your mother seems to have no idea where he is hiding.

“Do you think my father will try something?” I asked worried

“I really don’t know your father well enough, Jessica. Do you think he is capable of trying something?” asked Mason

“When it comes to my father, I wouldn’t put it past him, especially if he’s been drinking.” I said with a frown.

“All right, Jessica. I have everything that I think I need. I would imagine that someone will be contacting you from the courts within the next week. As far as a court date, to be honest it could be a while. These things tend to take time but if you have any problems, you can call me anytime. You’ve got my number,” Mason said with a smile, and then he was on his way.

It was around 10 am when Dr. Masters and a nurse came strolling into my room. He had a big smile on his face. “So how is Jessica doing this morning?” he asked, as he took a seat next to my bed.

“I am feeling much better today, and the pain is not as bad as it was yesterday.”

“That is good Jessica; I really hate having to give out the pain meds.” Dr. Masters said

“All right, Jessica, let’s have a look and see how you are healing,”

I slowly pulled up my gown and Dr. Masters started removing my dressings and took a look around the area, he then smiled, there is still a lot of swelling but otherwise you are healing nicely Jessica. I think that we will be discharging you within the next couple of days.

“That would be great Dr, Masters, but do you think it would be all right for me to maybe get rid of this catheter? It gets pretty boring here, and it would be nice to be able to maybe take a walk, sometime.”

“Alright Jessica I will have someone remove it and I don’t think you need the IV anymore either, so I will have that removed too.”

I smiled. “Thanks, Dr. Masters.”

“You’re welcome, Jessica”, he said, and then left to see his next patient.

Chapter 29

The sound of knocking woke Jake up from a deep sleep.

“Just a second!” He said, pulling himself out of bed. He looked at his clock, and he could see that it was 7am.

“Damn it!” he said to himself as he quickly finished getting dressed and opened the door. It was Rocco and he was carrying a cup of coffee. He handed it to Jake.

“Time to pull yourself together and get to work.” Rocco said with a smile.

“Has Vincent found my son?” asked Jake.

“You can ask him yourself, Jake. He want too see you in an hour.” Rocco said.

“Want to know something Jake? If it was up to me, I would put a bullet in your head. Don’t ask me why Vincent would even want a piece of crap like you working for him.”

Jake smiled. “It’s not up to you, though. Is it, Rocco?”

“Maybe not, but believe me, you are living on borrowed time. When Vincent gets tired of you, I will be the first too know. Now let’s get going, Vincent doesn’t like to wait.” Rocco said.

Jake and Rocco met up with Vincent an hour later at Vincent’s home.   “Damn it, Terrie, I told you already, you’re not going and that is the end of it!

“But Daddy everyone is going to be there, it’s not fair!” Screamed his daughter, as she ran upstairs to her room.

“Sorry about that.” Vincent said, and told Jake to take a seat.   “I have good news and bad news Jake. The good news is my informant has found out where your son is living. He is with a family. I think you might know them, Anthony and Janice Tanner?”

Jake shook his head. *It figures that they would be involved.   Now all I have to do is get Andrew to the cabin.*

Vincent looked over at Jake. “It’s not the time for you to run off doing something stupid. You just can’t walk over there and take your son.”   

“Well, what am I supposed to do then?” asked Jake

“The police are looking for you and chances are if you show your face, they’ll grab you. If you’re going to do this, we need to have someone else grab the kid.” Vincent said smiling, “Maybe someone like Rocco.”

“Vincent, you know how I feel about this. I don’t want any part of it.” Rocco said.

“Rocco, if I ask you to do something, you do it.” Vincent told him, calmly.

Rocco knew that if he went against Vincent, it would place his own family in danger. The last thing he wanted was his family harmed.

There was only one thing he could do; he would have to grab Andrew. If he was going to do this, then it would be on his terms.

[-][+][-]

Sarah Roberts was busy helping her sister Janet make breakfast. She had been cutting some potatoes to make hash browns, and accidentally cut her hand. The cut was deep enough that it was going to need stitches.

Sarah and Janet found themselves at the hospital, waiting to see a doctor. Like most visits to the hospital, there was a long wait before Sarah would be able to see a doctor. Sarah really didn’t want to go but Janet insisted when they couldn’t get her cut to stop bleeding.

Sarah really hated hospitals, as she was very afraid of them. She knew she would end up with a doctor that would know who she was. Okay, she thought. Maybe she was a bit paranoid, but so much had happened lately that she wasn’t really thinking straight.

Janet had been trying for the last couple of days to get Sarah into a doctor because she was pretty close to a complete nervous break down. This might actually be a blessing in disguise.   Janet doubted that Sarah would ever be able to get Andrew back and she hoped that wherever Andrew was, he was getting the help he needed.

“Janet, lets get out of here. It’s not that bad.” Sarah said, looking at the exit.

Janet looked at Sarah. “Then why are you still bleeding? Sarah, we aren’t going anywhere until you see a doctor.” Janet said firmly.

“Janet, I’m not a child.” Sarah said, indignantly.

“Then stop acting like one, Sarah.” Janet said in frustration.

“God, I wish Jake would call.” Sarah said sadly.

“Jake’s leaving was the best thing that could have happened. The only reason you are in this mess is because of him.” Janet said firmly.

“Maybe, Janet, but I still love him.” Sarah cried.

Janet hugged her sister. “I know you love him, Sarah. It’s still an unhealthy relationship, and all you’re going to find with that man is unhappiness. He’s already cost you your son.”

“No one forced Andrew to take those pills; he did that on his own!” Sarah said, looking a little angry.

“Then tell me something, Sarah. If Andrew was that depressed, why wouldn’t he at least have tried to talk to you or Jake?”

“I don’t know Janet”, Sarah said

“I know why, Sarah. Jake has been abusing that boy for years, and you knew all about it and you just sat there and let it happen. Just like when it was you being abused by Dad, you said nothing about it because you were too afraid.

Andrew knew that you wouldn’t lift a finger to help him, and if I had known at the time that he was beating Andrew, I would have called the police myself.   If you ask me he is better off without the both of you!” Janet said in anger.

Sarah broke down and started crying; hearing those words from her own sister had really hit her hard. Janet had never talked to her like that before and of all people, she thought that she would understand. The truth was, there was no excuse for what Sarah had done, and there was no way she could rationalize it. She was the adult in the relationship and it was her job as Andrew’s Mother. She had failed her son completely.

One of the nurses came over after seeing Sarah crying, and tried asking her what was wrong. Sarah was much too emotionally disturbed, and she was unable to answer. Janet pulled the nurse aside and told her what was going on with Sarah, and how she felt that she might try hurting herself if she didn’t get help.

After Janet explained everything, the nurse said she was going to talk to the emergency room doctor, to see if there was anything that could be done. Janet took a seat next to her sister and put her arm around her. She felt bad that she had betrayed Sarah, but it was the only way that she could get her sister some help.

Chapter 30

It was around 10am when the nurse finely arrived to remove my catheter and the IV. Now, with my new found freedom, I decided to try to taking a walk. At first it was a little painful, but after moving around a bit, I discovered that if I took small steps, it didn’t hurt as much. I made my way over and grabbed Anthony’s guitar and slowly made my way back to my bed. I took a seat and started playing a few songs. I did this for about an hour, just playing around and making up stuff on the guitar. Eventually I got bored and put the guitar away, then took out my cell phone and sent Megan a text.

• Jessica: “Hey sis, what up?”
• Megan: “School, rescue me”
• Jessica: “Poor baby”
• Megan: “Meanie”
• Jessica: “Are you visiting later?”
• Megan: “After school   will bring Jennifer”
• Jessica: “Cool”
• Megan: “Scotty said hi”
• Jessica: “Scotty’s there?”
• Megan: “Yeah he says he misses you”
• Jessica: “He doesn’t even know me”
• Megan: “Not yet but maybe soon   GTG Teacher   byes”
• Jessica: “Later sis”

I sat my phone down and thought that while it would be nice to see Scotty, my life was just way too complicated to even think of having a boyfriend right now!

End of part 13

To be continued in part 14