Sunday had passed without much excitement. The phone was ignored for most of the day, unless William was the one to answer it. Tracy had finished up her cleaning of the house the day before and was at the kitchen table with her mother, going over all the jewelery in her mother's jewelery box. Each piece she pulled out came with the story of how she got it.

“This necklace...I remember this one.” Maggie smiled as she held up a very thin gold chain. “This was the first piece of jewelery that your father gave to me. I think it was at our sixth month anniversary.”

“Really?” Tracy asked as she looked at it.

“Yeah. He was so nervous.” Maggie chuckled. “And this....” She sighed as her hands pulled out a bracelet made with silver chains. “This was one of the pieces he got me on our wedding day.”

Editing by Djkauf

More of Tracy and the pictures from hell!!!

January 29th 1983

Bruce sat in an office that the County therapist used at the detention center when he had to come in to deal with the hardest of cases. It was part of the county’s idea to help show the kids where they were messing up in their lives. This was one of the few times that Kenny and Frankie were separated from him. He had been seeing the man since a week after he got put in there. Of his friends, he was the one who wouldn't shut up in the arraignment and gladly admitted to attacking Troy. He tried to insist that he was innocent, even though he had admitted to the attack. His court appointed attorney managed to get him to take a plea bargain; as had Kenny and Frankie.

He wasn't at the top of the food chain when they had got in there. In fact, he wasn't ready for the welcome he got the first day. When all the guards seemed to turn their back, he wound up on the wrong end of several fists. So had Kenny and Frankie. The third day, when their attackers came for them, Bruce, Kenny and Frankie were ready and in front of many of the kids in the yard, Bruce beat the leader senseless, with the aid of piece of the bed he had removed and hid under his shirt.

Once the lead boy was on the ground, he began to taunt him, calling him Troy, which confused the other boys. Then he tried to do to the other boy, what he tried to do to Troy. He had stripped his would be attackers pants off and was about to undo his own when the guards came and broke it up. He had spent a week in a solitary cell to cool down, then he was let back into the main population. Two months had passed and the bruises had gone away, but his anger at Troy Patterson hadn't.

After his first time of fighting back, many of the others left him alone. He got it in his mind that to keep the fear, he had to make regular attacks on some of the newer kids and some of the bigger kids. He had attacked one of the new kids and that landed him in the office he was in now.

Recently, a boy, a couple years younger than had come in for car theft and Bruce put his sights on the boy. He was chunky, but bigger then Troy Patterson was, his hair was a bit shorter too. But he was close enough to looking like Troy for Bruce. But that didn't stop Bruce from catching him in a dark part of the facility and forcing himself on the boy. They later found the unconscious boy, beaten and raped. They didn't have proof it was him yet, but they had him at the top of the suspect list.

He hadn't heard from his brother in a few days, or any of the rest of his family. He didn't expect to hear from his mother. She didn't understand how the world worked. He knew if he listened to her, he would have been going to the church services that the state provided for them. He would have confessed his sins.

He wasn't sure what Clark would think about him keeping the fear the way he did. The people who called him the fag didn't understand that Bruce had to do it to keep people afraid of him.

“Bruce, pay attention.” The counselor said. “I asked you if you feel any remorse for your actions? Do you enjoy being in solitary?”

“No, but it's the price I pay to keep people afraid.” Bruce snarled.

“Do you at least understand that this is all your own doing? Your attack on Troy Patterson is what caused you to be put here.”

Bruce shifted quickly in his seat, leaning towards the counselor and causing the guard that was in the room for the counselors protection to move towards him. “That little faggot snitch had it coming. No one rats me out.”

“So you still claim to be the innocent one? Do you at least admit that stealing at the school was wrong.”

“What was wrong was me getting caught by a little dress wearing faggot.”

“Bruce, violence is what got you put in here. It's why we have to see each other every week. Can't you take responsibility for any of your actions?”

“None of this is my fucking fault you idiot. If it hadn't been for the little fag, I would have never been put here.”

“Okay.” The counselor said with a sigh. “We're done, you won’t listen.” He stood up and motioned to the guard. "He's all your’s."

"Later, Pansy." Bruce called as the man walked out of the room.

~o~O~o~

Clark lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, wondering what his next move would be. He knew he wouldn't have started this if Bruce hadn't asked him. He also knew that it really was all Troy's fault. If he hadn't ratted out his brother to the principal, then Bruce would have never gone to his house and he would have never been arrested. He thought about how he pulled his cousins into the plan, using Stan and Hank to spread pictures around the school and he had Billy call Troy's house.

With the pictures at his cousin's house, he was sure he was safe from the cops. He had kept the negatives, just so he could make more pictures if he needed to, but he had that hidden, taped to the bottom of the frame of his bed.

He wanted to just go to Troy's place and show him his place. It wasn't the fact that he wore dresses, that just made him a weak sissy, and he knew that everyone knew a sissy couldn't fight. No, his biggest issue was his brother Bruce. He missed his brother. Bruce had been there when their mother was off at work. He had been there when his father took off a few years back. And now, because of Troy, Bruce was gone.

He sighed lightly as he lay there. He knew Bruce's actions had hurt their mother, and Clark was torn in loyalty between his mom who he knew loved him, but she seemed to work far too much and his brother who had been there in the hard times.

He rolled over onto his side and stared at the bed that his brother had used, until his arrest. He couldn't help the tears. He was alone and it hurt him. He just wanted his brother back.

~o~O~o~

January 30th 1983

Sunday had passed without much excitement. The phone was ignored for most of the day, unless William was the one to answer it. Tracy had finished up her cleaning of the house the day before and was at the kitchen table with her mother, going over all the jewelery in her mother's jewelery box. Each piece she pulled out came with the story of how she got it.

“This necklace...I remember this one.” Maggie smiled as she held up a very thin gold chain. “This was the first piece of jewelery that your father gave to me. I think it was at our sixth month anniversary.”

“Really?” Tracy asked as she looked at it.

“Yeah. He was so nervous.” Maggie chuckled. “And this....” She sighed as her hands pulled out a bracelet made with silver chains. “This was one of the pieces he got me on our wedding day.”

“What about that?” Tracy pointed to another necklace.

“That one....” Maggie smiled again. “That was a gift from your Aunt Shelly on my wedding day.”

“Ah....these are yours.” Maggie said as she pulled out a pair of earrings with very small diamonds on them. “They were given to me by my Grandmother, something else for my daughter to have when she got old enough.”

“Are those diamonds?”

“Yes. These may not be large, but this is something that isn't meant for normal everyday wear.” Maggie stated. “In fact, when we get your ears pierced, you can wear these with that pink dress you have.”

“Cool.” Tracy said as she put the earrings in her jewelry box. “What about that?” Tracy asked, pointing to a necklace with two stones on pendants on it.

“This is mine. This is actually a gift from your father and these two birthstones are actually for you and your brother. He bought it just after you were born.”

“Cool.” Tracy said.

“And when you get older, you can do the same thing.”

"But Mama, I can't have children." Tracy reminded her.

"Baby, you can always adopt. Never say never." Maggie stated.

~o~O~o~

January 31st 1983

Monday morning William pulled into the mill in silent contemplation. His drive to work every day gave him time to think, and today was no exception. He thought about the few days before and about the current situation with his youngest. He was willing to call Tracy being home-schooled a victory, a small one, but still a victory. Granted, it was Troy who would have to go to the school for tests, but at least she got out of the main population of the school. They still didn't know who had the pictures, and while that was important, he was trying to not dwell on it.

He knew worrying about it would only piss him off. At least the teachers would be working to pick up the pictures. He got out of his car, and fell in step with a few of the other workers. He headed to the office and grabbed his time-card. As he punched it in the time-clock, his boss Steven walked up and cocked his head slightly. “Everything work out okay with the schools last week?”

“Kind of.” William sighed. “Someone has been threatening Troy and we decided to pull him out of school and home-school him.”

“Really? This about that kid who attacked him?”

William shrugged as he headed to the room that housed the lockers that held his safety gear. “Who knows. Someone left threatening pictures for him at the school. Then someone called him at the house and threatened to murder him, my wife and my other son. Now we're part of an ongoing police investigation.”

“Shit....” Steven blinked a few times and he shook his head. “Maybe homeschooling is for the best. Teachers can't watch him all the time, plus that would ostracize him from everyone. Your parents live close, so someone can watch him and keep him safe.”

“Yeah.” William nodded. “Poor kid, he did the right thing and all he gets is shit on for it. How's that for a life lesson.” He didn't want to get into the real story. This was one that Steven knew and it helped gain support for Troy.

“Sad, but true.” Steven agreed. They had reached the office and he stopped. “Well, I need to get to the office and get some paperwork done, be seeing ya.” Steven clapped a hand on William's shoulder, then he headed inside

William went to his locker and undid the lock that kept his stuff safe. As he opened it up a piece of paper fell from the little slots in the door to the floor. He bent over to pick it up. As his eyes focused on the now familiar picture of Tracy and Maggie, he read the note at the bottom that was in a different handwriting. “Daddy's little faggot.”

William closed his eyes and crumpled the picture in his hands, then he pulled his safety gear and tossed the picture back into the locked and slammed it shut. As he put the lock back on, he looked in both directions to see if anyone was paying attention to him, but most of the people were gathering their own gear.

~It didn't happen.~ He told himself. He thought back on the conversation he had Friday with his youngest and he made the decision. ~I won't give whoever did that the satisfaction.~

He was three steps away from his locker when he stopped and began to wonder. ~Who the hell did that? They have to have a kid who goes to school with mine.~ He began thinking of all the people who had children and as he made his way to the forklift, he shortened it to the few people he knew that had kids who went to Troy's school. ~Can't be the lady in the office, I would have heard from her by now.~ Then a thought occurred to him. ~I figure this out and we find out who's threatening him.~ He smiled to himself as he fired up the machine.

~We figure out who it is and we send that information to the school and the sheriff’s office, problem over.~ William thought. It was that simple to him. An easy fix for a problem like that. He knew he'd lean on his wife for what to do. But he didn't want to make things worse and tell her he had gotten the picture. ~Last thing they need to worry about is more people knowing. I'll tell them if it gets worse.~ He thought to himself as he drove through the mill.

~o~O~o~

Peter walked from the bus stop and was headed for the cafeteria for something else to eat when he began to hear kids around him snicker. He did his best to ignore them, till a boy from his class stepped in his way. “So, your little girlfriend stopped going to school?”

“What are you talking about, Jason?” Peter asked, keeping his tone neutral.

Jason showed him the now famous picture of Tracy and Maggie at the mall, this time the words read. “Troy Patterson, Peter Lowery's fag girlfriend.”

“PETER IS DATING A FAG IN A DRESS!” Jason yelled out, causing most of the kids nearby to look, point and laugh. Peter made a quick step forward and snagged the paper out of Jason's hand. He was about to head for the office when a voice stopped him.

“I'll take that young man.” Mr. Walkley said, holding his hand out. Peter handed the picture over and Jason blurted out.

“He was passing these out, I saw him!”

The teacher read the picture, then gave Jason a look that said he wasn't believing him. “Right.....And he was implicating himself?” Mr. Walkley said with a shake of his head. “No, I'm not going to buy that. Not when I saw you ram the picture in his face. So let’s go up to the office Mr. Case and we can discuss where you got this picture.”

“Do I need to go, too?” Peter asked.

“May be best. Sorry if you miss breakfast, but we need to clear this up.”

Ten minutes later, Peter sat in the chair in the principal’s office with Jason in another chair. He sat there, shaking his head as Jason tried to claim that Peter had spread the pictures around. Finally when the Principal threatened him with the possibility of going to jail for having evidence in a crime, the boy broke down and admitted he found the pictures on Friday but had wanted to tease Peter.

After his parents were called and he was sent to the main part of the office, Mr. Harper looked to Peter. “So you know, you're not in trouble. But could you let me warn the Pattersons?”

“Yes sir.” Peter said with a nod. “I won't tell them. Are you going to tell the cops?”

“I can just call. But now you're involved and I should let your mother know. Have you told her about any of this?” Mr. Harper asked.

“Yes. She knows all about the pictures.” Peter said. “Mom will be pissed that I'm being threatened. But there's nothing we can do.”

“Unfortunately.” Mr. Harper agreed.

“Can I go to breakfast now?” Peter asked.

“Go on. If we need you again, we'll call you back up here.”

~o~O~o~

Febuary 1st 1983

Maggie was back at her desk on Tuesday and was thankful she didn't have much to do, but the downfall was in her boredom, she got to think and her thoughts focused on Tracy's problems. She was aware that one more child had been pulled into the mess with the pictures, but she wasn't shocked that it was Peter, to her the shocking part was that he had been left out till now. Her solitude was disturbed when the mailman came in. “Hello, Maggie. Got anything going out?”

“No Henry. We got the bills taken care of last week. Give me two more weeks and it'll get heavy again.”

He looked at the desk and laughed. “Well, warn me and I'll be sure to wear my weight belt then.” He handed her a stack of envelopes and turned and left the building.

Maggie began flipping through the mail, till one envelope caught her eye. She raised an eyebrow as she read the hand-written words on it and shook her head. She could tell it was the work of a child, one who didn't bother to use the proper spelling of the company name.

Right Cleanin
Office person.....very important!

Maggie set the other mail aside and grabbed a letter opener. She wasn’t the boss of the company, but she was usually the only one in the office, so it fell into her job to open it. She opened up the envelope and reached in to pull out a folded piece of paper.

Her blood began to boil when she saw the picture. Once more she saw the picture of her and Tracy from their trip to Arden Fair Mall. At the Bottom in black ink, was the words “Mrs. Patterson's son is a dress wearing fag.”

She slammed her hand down on the desk and let out a frustrated scream, followed by a string of words that a lady should never say in public. When she calmed down, she sat, looking at the photo. After a few moments, she decided what needed to be done. She reached over an picked up the phone-book and and quickly flipped through it for the government section.

She got the number she wanted and dialed the phone, then waited. A few moments later a voice come over the phone. “Butte county Sheriff’s department, how may I help you?”

“Yes, This is Maggie Patterson, I need to speak to Deputy Kline about an on-going case involving my child Troy Patterson.”

“One moment.”

As she sat there, she flipped through the mail and found one more letter, with the same writing, this time sent to the owner. She opened this one up to find yet another picture, also proclaiming her son wore dresses. Maggie sat there, waiting for the person to come back on the phone and trying not to scream in frustration.

~o~O~o~

Maggie was still sitting at her desk, talking to Deputy Kline when the door flew open and her boss rushed in. “Maggie? Something happen?” Chris asked worriedly, as he looked from Maggie to the deputy and back.

“It's not a problem, just a piece of threatening mail that I opened up.”

“Someone sent threatening mail against us?” He asked, arching an eyebrow in confusion.

“No, this is aimed at my children. I'll explain it in a minute.” She replied. She didn't want to cover it at all but she had said too much. She had hoped the Deputy would have been gone by the time anyone had shown up, but that was out of her control now. So instead of dealing with him, she looked to the Deputy. “Deputy Kline, do you need anything else?”

“No. I got all the information. Like the last time, if you have more problems, call me so we can keep up on this.” He put on his hat. “I'll check up on this Molly Hallmark connection too. You may be right and it may be nothing, but one can never tell.”

“Thank you. Could I keep one of these? So William knows what's going on?” Maggie asked. “You got one of them and I doubt this is the end of them.”

“Go ahead, we’ve already got a stack of them and I can collect that one later if we need it.” The Deputy replied.

“Thank you.” Maggie said She watched the deputy leave the building and then she could feel Chris looking at her.

“So....what's going on. I'm going to guess that this has something to do with you pulling Troy out of school?” He asked as he settled into a seat.

Maggie nodded. “Yes, but it actually stems back to that first attack and him getting suspended.”

“You know how he was attacked by the kid he caught stealing, right?” She said and Chris nodded. “That boy hurt him bad in that fight, all three of them did. Well after that fight, we found out he wouldn't have a chance at a normal life as a male. I never told you what happened, but his testicles were destroyed in the attack and there was a bit of tissue damage to the penis.”

She took a deep breath and handed him the picture that had been addressed to him that she had opened. He had given her permission to open his mail years back, mostly because he was always working all over and it was easier if she just did it. “This was taken of me and my youngest, without our knowledge, at the Arden Fair Mall after one of his doctors appointments. You may as well see it, in case more get sent and I'm not here.”

Chris pulled it out and studied the picture for a moment, then he looked at Maggie. “This is Troy?”

Maggie nodded. “Yeah.”

“Without the charming little message and the fact you just said it's him, I'd never know. But then, I haven't seen Troy in a year or so, so I wouldn’t have known.” Chris handed her the picture back. “So, why the dress?”

“My baby doesn't have the chance at a normal....” Maggie stopped and shook her head. She felt bad for lying to a man who had given her a job when no one else was hiring at the time. She had been there almost as long as William had been at his job. “No that's not totally true.” Maggie got up and went to the door and locked it. “Sorry, I don't want anyone walking in on something that doesn't concern them. It's personal and concerns my family and no one else. Hell, Troy would flip if he heard you're about to find out.”

“Okay, I can understand that. If it's bad don't tell me then.”

“No Chris. If someone is sending letters here, you need to know so you are ready in-case your wife works the desk and opens one.” Maggie went back to her seat and sat down. “I'll understand if you want to fire me afterward too, this isn't something a lot of people can deal with.” Maggie took a deep breath while Chris just watched her. “This is hard for me, so let me finish before you ask questions, okay?”

“Okay.” Chris said with a nod.

Finally Maggie collected herself and she began the tale. “I had always thought Troy was wearing my clothes, certain things would be out of place after I had gone to the store, or into town for something. But it only happened when he was home alone. Finally in August My mother-in-law and I came up with a plan and when I took Vance to a friends house, Modine came over to the house and found him in one of my skirts.”

“We allowed him to do it, 'cause face it, he had been doing it for a while, maybe years by this point. If we tired to stop him, we would have just made it so he wanted to do it more. So on weekends that Conner, my Father-in-law, was out of town, Troy stayed with Modine and became Tracy. One day I asked him why he did it and he said it was a release. Troy got picked on by Vance all the time, hell Vance could beat him up and never get in trouble cause William always took Vance's side. So When Troy became Tracy, in her mind it was just Tracy, me and her grandmother. There was no angry father, no angry grandfather and no pesky brother.”

She paused a moment to see if Chris looked angry, but she couldn't read his emotions. “One day Peter, Troy’s friend since the first grade showed up. He found Tracy and was totally okay with it. He pointed out that Tracy hated being Troy, even if she didn't know it. It took me a few days to realize he was right. When Troy was out, he was quiet and moody and he hated sports, except his Tai Chi. He did his chores, but when Tracy is there, she is bright, energetic, full of life. She took up cleaning both my house and her grandparents house. She's been cooking for the house when she can.”

“Well, Vance found out about Tracy and he went to tell his friends. Modine had been ready for this and she put Vance into a dress for three weeks.”

“Petticoat punishment.” Chris stated.

Maggie nodded. “Yeah. William laughed at him the first night he saw it, then Conner did. It was Tracy who asked her grandmother to end Vance's punishment. But not before Vance's friends Bruce and Frankie had seen him in the dress and been told about Tracy in hers. They started to taunt him at school. “One day, while going back to his class, Troy passed by the seventh grade classes and caught Bruce and Frankie stealing in a class. He ran and ran into Vance, which is where they got suspended for those three days over Thanksgiving. It was then that Vance and Troy or Tracy began getting closer.”

“So his old friends attacked him?” Chris asked, despite having been asked to wait.

“Yeah.” She replied. “Now you know about Troy getting attacked on the property, but you don't know about the trip to Livermore.”

“After Thanksgiving, you did seem preoccupied at times. And I'd see you looking at pictures on your desk when you thought you were alone.”

“Please, I'll get to it.” Maggie stated.

“Sorry.” Chris blushed from embarrassment.

“When we went to Livermore the day after Thanksgiving, Tracy was the one who got in the car with me and Vance. William found out about Tracy on Thanksgiving and he wasn't sure what to do. But he let me take control. I had told my friend Shelly, who I have known since I was in school and she said Tracy was welcome to stay in her house. But when we got to Tracy, the town, she changed back into Troy. I could tell the difference immediately. Troy was in a funk all the way to Shelly’s place. Finally Shelly had to tell him she knew and didn't mind seeing her god-daughter.”

“About an hour later, Tracy came down the steps and then she met two girls around her age. Tracy spent the night, well two nights, with them and they treated her as a normal girl. Or course one of them was also born differently.”

“How so?”

“She has both male and female parts, but she lives as a girl.”

“Oh, I think I saw something about that once on the TV.”

“Please, let me finish.” Maggie held up the hand to stop him and she continued. “When we left, Those two girls had totally accepted her as Tracy and invited her to stay with them in Livermore before Christmas, but the day before Troy was to return to school, Bruce and Frankie came back to the house and attacked. I told you some of the fight, but not all of it.”

Maggie steadied her nerves, to keep from crying over what was a dark day in her families history. “They didn't find Troy on the property. Tracy had gone for a walk in the fields, wearing a skirt and blouse. When Bruce found her, he tried to rape my baby. He cut her top off and was cutting off the skirt with a knife when one of the boys decided to leave and Bruce attacked him. Tracy fought back, kicking Bruce where it hurts and hitting the other two boys. She ran and almost made it to the house when they got in front of her. She ended up at my mother-in-law's house.”

“Now before I continue, I must tell you this. After Thanksgiving, Conner, My Father-in-law found Tracy's clothes in his house and he was mad, he wanted to beat the gay out of Troy, but Modine kicked him out of the house.” She paused for a moment to check Chris's face again, but there was still no anger. “Okay, back to Bruce. The three boys left caught Tracy behind my mother-in-law's house and began beating on him. In that fight, they destroyed his testicles. Modine came out to protect him and she's almost sixty with osteoporosis. She got hurt by Bruce and That caused my Tracy to get up, despite how bad they had hurt her. If you've ever been hit there, you know the pain. She managed to get up and fight, that's when Peter, Conner, William and I came into the yard. Vance took care of a boy who tried to run. By that point, any chance of a normal life for Troy was gone. It was that fight that brought Conner closer to Tracy, his granddaughter.”

Maggie had pulled a Kleenex out of her purse and dabbed at her eyes. “I see.” Chris replied. “So his chance of being a normal male is gone, so this is the only other choice to a normal life?”

“There's actually more.” Maggie stated. “When she was in Livermore before Christmas, I took her to a therapist and he told me that she has something called Gender dysphoria.” Chris gave her a strange look that meant he had no idea what that was. “Basically, She's a girl, but she was born in a boys body. So, after that attack and that visit, she's been Tracy full time at home. Plus when we went to the Arden Fair mall, which is where that photo was taken.”

“Does she go to school as Tracy?”

“No, Troy went and near the time we pulled him, each day was a fight to get Troy out the door.”

“What about that?” He gestured to the picture.

“We figured that Sacramento was safe, but we were wrong.” Maggie stated. “Now whoever took those is calling the house and threatening to rape and kill both her and me, plus we pulled her out of school because they left pictures all over the school and there's no way she'd avoid the teasing.”

“How many people know?”

“A lot. There were a lot of pictures at the school and we don't know how many more made it home with kids. But people that know the full story, that's the family, friends down south and now you.” We've already been visited by people from a church we haven't gone to in years and they've already informed us that they don't want Tracy in their town.”

“Their town? I forgot it was owned by one church.” Chris said with a scoff. “What do the others knows? Like the church people?”

“The kids at school know that he's wearing dresses. As for the Church ladies, we weren't able to tell them much. They came to hate him and won’t listen to reason. Kept insisting that it's against God's will.”

“Because he talks to them nightly, telling them that hatred is just fine.” Came Chris's sarcastic reply

“Who knows, with these ladies, they may just think that they ARE God.”

“Some people just can't read the good book and see the whole picture. It's not a tool of hate. According to it, we're all sinners. The people who hate are worse than the rest in my book.” Chris said. “I know I've sinned, but I know it's not my job to judge anyone.”

Maggie was silent for a few moments, then she asked, in an almost hushed tone. “So does this mean I'm not fired?”

“For what? You have a child that is going through something you can't control. Why fire you. Besides, I wouldn't have a decent reason. As far as I care, your job is still yours. And as for Troy...or Tracy, I don't care what he or she does, I can't fire you over her work ethic. Besides you said she cleans both your house and your in-law’s houses, so she has a better work ethic then some of my employees” He smiled at his little joke. “That child is special. She's put others safety before hers. She's been good to you. So the only thing I have to say is when you get home, give that special daughter of yours a big hug, okay?”

“I can do that.”

“Thank you for telling me. It must have been difficult.” Chris said.

“You have no idea..”

~o~O~o~

William and Vance were already seated at the table as Maggie and Tracy put a pan of meatloaf on the table, then she followed it with a wire basket that held eight baked potatoes wrapped in tinfoil. Maggie had been quiet since she got home. She had stayed near Tracy the whole time the girl was in the kitchen, as though something was going to happen to her as she made dinner. When the ladies went to take their seats, Maggie had Tracy take the one by the wall so she was trapped in a corner, stuck against the wall and with her back to the stove so Tracy couldn't run.

After a few moments, Maggie put her fork down and spoke. “I have some bad news from my work today.”

“What happened?” William asked.

“A letter came in the mail to work. It was another picture. There was one sent to Chris and one to the office boss. I opened them both, like I do all the mail and I had to call the Sheriff.”

“Not your work too.” Tracy whined. She let the fork drop from her fingers as she sat back in the chair.

“There's more.” Maggie stated. “As I gave the deputy the pictures and my report, Chris came in and started asking questions.”

William put his fork down and leaned back. Only Vance kept eating. “What did he ask?”

“He wanted to know what happened. I told him about the pictures being sent around.” Maggie stopped and turned to face her daughter as best as she could. “Tracy, I told Chris everything.”

“WHAT?!?” Tracy almost screamed. The she dropped her head to the table with a thud in an overly dramatic fashion.

“Calm down, young lady!” Maggie snapped. She waited a moment then held up one finger to keep her daughter quiet as Tracy looked at her. “He knows and he doesn't care. He's still on your side. In fact I told him about the ladies from the church and he got pissed about them too. I was afraid he'd fire me if he found a picture on a day I don't work.”

“And he really doesn't care?” William asked.

“He said it's not his place to judge, but as long as Tracy is a good kid, that's all that matters.” Maggie was about to turn back when she stopped. “Oh he said to give you something.”

“What?” Tracy warily asked.

“This.” Maggie said as she leaned over and hugged her.

“So he doesn't mind this?” She gestured to herself.

Maggie shook her head. “It's what’s inside that counts.”

Tracy looked at her plate, then at her mother. “Cool.”

“I told him though, just in case someone opened up the letters on my days off. He needed to know someone was mailing them and what was inside.”

That made sense to Tracy and she nodded. “Okay. So you’re not in trouble?”

“Not at all.” Maggie picked up her fork and began picking at her food. She decided to change the subject to save her child from stress.

“Good.” Tracy replied.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, till Maggie looked at her and smiled, hoping to take her mind off of things. “You know, I was also doing some thinking about groceries and stuff and with you home more, I want you to go shopping with me. You cook it, you may as well learn how to pick the good stuff at the store.”

“But I've gone with you before.” Tracy stated.

“Tracy, when you've gone in the past, you've been moping around and not really paying attention. This time I want my daughter to go and pay attention to what to get and what not to get.”

“You mean...go like this in town?”

“We could go to Chico or Gridley if you want, but yes, you need to learn how to pick out foods, it's something you'll need when you live on your own.” Maggie stated. “Besides, we can go to a store we rarely go to in Oroville. There are four of them. We just pick the one we rarely go to and we're fine. We go during school time and no kids would be there and not that many Adults know about you, I think.”

“Okay. I think I can do that.” Tracy hesitantly replied.

Maggie looked to William. “Oh, I changed the phone number yesterday and they said it should be permanent, so later I'll call your mother and have her call the new number, to make sure.”

“Good.”

“Then tonight, if it's changed, you...” She looked to her daughter. “can call your friends and give then the new information after your Tai chi class tonight, okay?”

“Cool.” Tracy said with a smile.

~o~O~o~

It was Troy who got out of his mothers car and walked over to the school where he practiced his tai chi. Maggie was about to put the car in gear when the teacher came out and flagged her down, stopping Troy at the door.

Maggie got out of the car and walked over, confusion on her face. “Is something wrong?” She asked as she got close to the teacher.

“We...We, um...There's a slight problem concerning your son Troy.” The man said. He seemed to be very uncomfortable as he talked to them. “I'm not sure what's going on, but we have received complaints from at least twenty of the students that attend here stating that they wont keep coming here if Troy continues to be a student.”

“What? Why?” Maggie asked, but Troy just slumped his shoulders.

“They said they can't be around someone like Troy, so they threatened to leave my school.” The man replied, obviously worried about the outcome of the conversation. “Honestly, I can't afford to lose twenty students over one. Plus Troy has been gone for almost two months. I'm sure you understand.”

“This is bullshit.” Maggie stated.

“I'm sorry Ma'am, but I got to look out for my bottom line.”

“Can you at least tell me why you're targeting my child?”

It was at this point that Troy stopped listening and just walked back to the car and climbed in. It took Maggie a couple of minutes till she joined him, rammed the key in the ignition and slammed the car into reverse, backed out of the spot, then dropped it in drive and chirped the wheels on her way out of the lot.

It took a block for Maggie to tell her child what she had learned. “I think a student here got a picture too.”

Troy's blood boiled and he began punching the door and dashboard, while screaming out every profanity he knew as they stopped at a red light. When he stopped Maggie looked at him.

“Fell better?”

“No.” Troy grumbled. “This person is ruining my life.” He grabbed the seat handle and dropped backwards, till he was lying down. “My life is over.”

“It's not over. It's just that Troy's is over and when you go home, the need to dress as him will be going away. This is the start for Tracy's life. That was Troy's school. That was Troy's stupid, pigheaded, arrogant, pencil-dicked teacher. The next school you find will be Tracy's school, with Tracy's instructors, understand?”

“Yeah.” Troy replied. “But it still sucks.”

Yeah, it does.” Maggie agreed.

~o~O~o~

Tracy had been given special permission to make her phone calls that evening to her friends. She just had to watch how much time she spent on the phone. She had already called Sage, Stacey and Rachel. She had just dialed the number and less then two rings later, she heard the other end get picked up. “I got it, Mom!” A voice called out. Then, much softer, “Han residence, Brooke speaking.”

“Hello Brooke, it's Tracy.”

“Hey Tracy! Nothing bad happen has it?”

“Well kinda, but the main reason I'm calling is that we got a new phone number.”

“Oh, Awesome, so that asshole can't call anymore.” Brooke stated. Behind her Tracy could hear an adult scolding Brooke for her language.

“Yeah.” Tracy replied, then she quickly rattled off the new number.

“So, what else happened?”

“Well whoever did it, also sent a picture to Mom's work.” Tracy replied. “We still don't know who.”

“Man, this would be so much better if you lived here.” Brooke stated.

“Yeah.” Tracy agreed. “After those ladies came by on Saturday, it's just going downhill.” After her run in with Molly, Tracy had made one more call to her friends, mostly to calm down again.

“What ladies?” Brooke asked. “I had to leave Sage's for a training thing after we called you the first time.”

“Church ladies came over and told my parents that I'm evil and I'm going to rape all the kids in town.”

“That's stupid.” Brooke said, then her voice dropped to a whisper. “I mean I slept next to you, almost naked, and you didn't touch me once.”

“Yeah, on her way out she insisted that I don't belong in her town.”

“That's one thing I can agree on her with.” Brooke replied.

Tracy felt an invisible slap hit her face, as though Brooke truly did hate people like her and Sage. “What the hell does that mean?!?” Tracy snapped into the phone, this caused Maggie to give her a look that Tracy almost ignored.

“I mean you don't belong there. You belong here, with your friends.”

Tracy blushed from the embarrassment. “Oh. I'm sorry, I thought you agreed with them.”

“No. Not at all.” Brooke stated. Then there were sounds of movement and Brooke asked. “Hey, it's almost seven thirty, what are you doing at home? I thought you had your Tai Chi from seven to eight on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“I...I don't go anymore.” Tracy almost whispered back. But Brooke heard it clearly.

“You quit? Why?”

“Someone found out and he told the other kids of the school. They all threatened to quit. They are not in my tai chi class but they take a different class there, but the teacher couldn't stand to lose twenty students at once, not over one student, so the teacher asked if I would look for a new school. He even pointed out that I haven't been there in almost two months. He knows I was hurt, but he didn't care.”

“I'm sorry, Tracy.”

“It's okay.” Tracy replied. “Just sucks.” Maggie shot her another look, but when she seen the depressed look on her daughter’s face, she let the swearing slide again.

“Hey, I could always talk to my Grandfather. He may be able to teach you? Or Grandmother could.”

“But you live down there.” Tracy stated the obvious. “I would only see him a few hours each month.”

“True, but that's better then nothing.”

“Maybe....” Tracy sighed. “Brooke, can I call you back on the weekend?”

“No.” Brooke said. “Remember, we're coming up for the weekend?”

“Oh yeah. Well, I just want to go to bed, and I need to get off the phone to save some money.”

“I'll see you on Friday. Hug Mr. Cuddles for me.”

“I will, Thanks Brooke.”

~o~O~o~

William headed to the bedroom with his wife. The kids were already asleep and He had one last thing to show her before he went to sleep as well. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the folded picture that he had found in his locker at work and handed it to her. “I didn't want to worry her at dinner.”

She looked at it and then at him. “Where was it left at?”

“My locker at work.” William replied.

“Today?”

William shook his head. “Yesterday....” He held up a hand to stop her from launching into a tirade about hiding it. “I didn't say anything because I'm watching the people at work, to see if anyone is acting strange, plus I'm trying to recall who all has children that go to Vance's school. Then we can call the cops.”

“Any ideas?” Maggie asked.

“Well I know of a couple people, but one of them is in Idaho for his father's funeral and he's been there since Thursday. In fact he should be back tomorrow. The other is a lady who works the office and she's a huge gossip. If this had been her, she would have just asked me face to face, not gone into the locker room, plus I get to work before her and leave after her and she don't work weekends. So I think she's clear. But it may not be a parent. It could be a brother or something.”

“Yeah...” Maggie nodded her head. “Next time you need to say something sooner. I could have told the deputy today.”

“I didn't know you were getting letters there.” William replied.

“The part that makes me laugh is how they addressed it. They sent it to right cleaning. Spelled like you would spell right hand and it was labeled for the Office Boss. They must not know I check all the mail there.”

“Was it the same Deputy?” William asked. “Was it Kline?”

“Yeah, it was him. He didn't have any information yet, but he said to call him if something else comes up.”

“For now let’s keep quiet on the one from my work. I want to see if someone slips.” William said. “I will call him directly if I get another.

“Okay. I'm not wild about it, but okay...” Maggie said with a nod. “But for now, get some sleep. I want to get a little reading in.”

And the ball keeps rolling. Poor Tracy, at some point, things should look up.