“Tracy, it won't make you feel better, but they know about Sage as well.” Persephone said.

“Tracy, it's something they need to know about.” Lance stated.

“And the whole thing about using the bathroom in the nurses office?”

“What if another girl sees you without a skirt and panties?” Lance asked. “You’re a girl, in your head and your heart, but until we get your body to agree with them, you have to do things differently. You don't want someone spreading stories about you again, do you?”

Editing by Djkauf

Back to Tracy in Livermore and look in on William, too

Wednesday February 9th 1983

Maggie had an arm around her daughter’s shoulder as they left the offices for the school district. They had taken Lance and Persephone along with them, in case of problems. “Well, that's one more thing taken care of.”

“Yeah. And next year I can go with Sage and Rachel and Brooke.” Tracy smiled back at her.

“Yeah.”

Tracy looked up at her mother. “I just wish we didn't have to tell the superintendent guy about my....you know.”

“Tracy, it won't make you feel better, but they know about Sage as well.” Persephone said.

“Tracy, it's something they need to know about.” Lance stated.

“And the whole thing about using the bathroom in the nurses office?”

“What if another girl sees you without a skirt and panties?” Lance asked. “You’re a girl, in your head and your heart, but until we get your body to agree with them, you have to do things differently. You don't want someone spreading stories about you again, do you?”

“No.” Tracy said.

“Well, then you need to do things carefully.” Lance smiled at her. Not a mean smile, but one that helped to calm her down a bit. “No point in messing every thing up again. Also, if you got hurt and someone saw your birth defect, then we'd have a world of hurt and the school could try and force you to attend as a boy and the secret would be out again.”

“Yeah.” Tracy agreed.

“Come on, lets get you out of here. Lance and Persephone have their own lives to get to.” Maggie said as she gently patted Tracy's shoulder. She looked up to their guides. “Thank you both. Lance, please let me know how much the last two days has come up to, I may have to make payments, but it will be paid. And I'll find a way to make this up to you as well Persephone.”

“Maggie, I don't want to take your money. This was nothing.” Lance started to say.

“Lance, you took time out of work to do this. You're also helping me with the restraining order, so I will pay. I don't take charity.”

“Okay. Then I'll get an itemized list over to Shelly's tonight or tomorrow.”

“We'll come up with a plan and let Lynn know.” Shelly said.

~o~O~o~

Maggie had driven Tracy and her mother to the downtown area of Dublin, where Lok's school was located. It was almost four in the afternoon. They found a public parking spot and Maggie got out and fed the meter, enough for a few hours, then they headed towards the main road, where they were met by Brooke's Grandmother. She beckoned for them to follow.

Tracy carried a backpack over one shoulder, with her tai chi outfit in it. She walked in front of her mother and Grandmother, who were both looking around the downtown area that had changed from the last time had been there, years earlier. Jaio led them to a plain glass door, with small lobby on the other side and large windows on either sides. They entered one door and was faced two more. One on their left and one on the right. Jaio pointed to the door on the left. “That is Lok's acupuncture and massage business.”

“Okay.”

“This is our school. We could have come in the back way, but I wanted to show you the front entrance.” Jaio waved though the window to the lady who sat at a short desk in the other part of their shop. Then she unlocked the studio's door and went in. She gestured to a bathroom. “You can change in there. You can put your bag in the office in the back.”

“Will the class be showing up soon?” Tracy asked.

“Today it's about you. There will be a class of Lok's, but not for more than an hour. So for now, just you and I” Jaio replied. “I need to run you through all the forms and see what you know so I know where to start you, okay? And if you want to take a refresher course I'd be glad to work with you on some of the forms at the house.”

“Tracy, so you can focus, your grandmother and I will check out the downtown area, okay?”

“Okay, Mom.” Tracy said as she headed for the bathroom.

Jaio came over to them. “There is a diner at the end of the street. There's also a book store down there, too. Give me about one hour with her. I need to see her progress so far so I know where to put her and Lok wishes to practice with her as well.”

“Okay. We can do that.”

A few minutes later Tracy came out of the bathroom, her street clothes were now in her pack and she wore her jet black uniform Her hair was pulled into a ponytail. She looked down and realized her toenails were still painted. She bit her lower lip and ignored it.

She reached the edge of the mat and gave a slight bow, then she walked over and stopped near Jaio. The older woman was stretching. She gestured to Tracy. “Join me, please.”

Tracy started to do the stretches she had learned at her old class, making sure she was as flexible as she could be. She could feel what the lack of exercise over the past few months had done to her.

Once she was finished, she stood up and bowed to Jaio. “We will start with what you know, work our way through the forms and then move on to where you feel over your head, okay. If you don't know something, just tell me. But a question, how long had you studied.”

“Almost four years. It will be four years in a month or two.”

“Have you ever touched a weapon?”

“Never. I've seen the forms with swords and just one form with the staff and another with that sword looking thing on the staff.” Tracy pointed to where a kwandao rested on the wall. “And I had never seen someone use a fan, not till I was at your place over Christmas.”

“Okay. Well, I want to see where you are, so come child, let’s test you out. From there we'll see about weapons, but I want to know about the basic forms first.”

~o~O~o~

A long, grueling hour later, Tracy was feeling the exhaustion. She hadn't worked out like that in ages. She had done every form she knew, with Jaio stopping her at the end of each one to teach her the right way to hold her hands or move her feet, but luckily, it wasn't many times.

“Well, you’ve got the different forms down.”

Lok stepped onto the mat, wearing a suit that looked like it was taken from a Bruce Lee movie. He stopped near the two women and bowed. “Tracy.”

“Shifu Lok.” Tracy said as she bowed back.

“How far along is she?” He asked his wife.

“I'd say the intermediate at least. Maybe a class or two to recall what has been forgotten, or taught incorrectly, but I am confident in my new student’s spot in that class.”

Tracy smiled brightly. She was back in a class and she liked Lok and Jaio so that was two up sides to it. “Good.” Lok said. “Tracy, I want to work on actual physical combat with you.”

“Really?”

“Yes. While you have been doing Tai Chi for a while now and from what I understand a lot of that has been solo, you need more of a hands on training. You handled yourself decently in that fight, but a part of you seemed untested, you hesitated. I want you to be ready to respond should the same happen again. Also every girl should know how to defend against an attacker.”

~o~O~o~

While Lok was going over the moves he had shown Tracy, Bernice and Maggie stepped into his school and they went over to a group of chairs that lined one wall.

They were aware of several kids coming in as Lok kept having Tracy attack him. As he blocked each punch, he would reverse the situation and he would attack her. When he was finished, they bowed, then he went over to Jaio, and had her take Tracy back to her mother as Lok started speaking to his students, in Chinese.

“Tracy, we have something to ask of you.” Jaio said as she came over with Tracy and her mother. “We need you to open your mind to something else.”

“Else? Like what?” Tracy asked, worried.

“In my intermediate and advance classes, many of my students are of Chinese descent, or have studied with me for some time, so I teach in Chinese. I can teach in both languages, but would you like to learn Chinese, just so you can follow the class? Brooke speaks it as well.”

“I heard learning a language as a kid makes it easier.” Bernice stated.

“Also, in learning it, Brooke can teach you to read it, making it easier to copy our family recipes.” Jaio said and Tracy's eyes lit up.

“I'll do it.”

“Being bilingual helps when you go for a job later in life too.” Maggie added.

“Really?” Tracy asked.

“Yeah.” Her mother nodded. “With the huge Chinese community in the Bay Area, it could serve you well.”

“Spanish wouldn't be a bad third language either.” Bernice added.

Jaio smiled. “Now go home, relax and on this Friday, we have our first class at five. I know you want to spend time with the girls, but we can take you to where ever they are after the class.”

“Okay.” Tracy nodded.

“You have a wonderful evening, unless you want to stay?”

Tracy looked past her at the class that was starting to warm up. Then she remembered her mother and Grandmother were with her. “I would, but Grandma and Mom leave tomorrow. So I want to have some time with them.”

“I understand. Time with one's family is always important. You go, and have a peaceful evening.”

“Tracy, we're not leaving till Friday.” Maggie said, putting a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “So if you want to watch, you can.”

Tracy thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “No. I can watch some other time. Besides, I'm tired.”

“Then we'll go.” Maggie said with a smile. “Thank you for everything, Jaio.”

“You are most welcome."

"I do have something on my mind though..." Maggie said as she pulled Jaio to the side, leaving Tracy to wonder what was going on.

~o~O~o~

They had no more than got on the highway that the sounds of snoring were heard from the backseat. Maggie chuckled and shook her head. “That poor kid is so exhausted from everything.”

“She has had a busy two days so far.” Bernice said as they drove back to Livermore. “Any plans for tomorrow?”

“Just spending time with Tracy. That and dinner at Lok's. That's what Jaio and I discussed before we left. We're going to work on a plan for Tracy to work off her lessons. Lance and I agree that Friday is the best day to go to court.”

“Makes sense, then the lawyer can file the paperwork and Frank can see what William was telling you about.” Bernice said, looking out the window. “It's funny how much you can miss this area. I mean it's no Castro Valley, but the whole Bay Area just has a certain feel to it. Like it's alive.”

“Yeah.” Maggie nodded. “Hey, maybe we could do that? Take Shelly and Tracy and show her where we all lived back in the sixties.”

“I wonder if Russell’s father's nursery is still up there. And that produce stand his family owned.”

Maggie smiled. “One way to find out. Let's talk to Shelly when we get home. But I'd like to keep Tracy awake for a while tonight. We don't need her getting up at three am or something crazy like that.”

“Yeah.” Bernice said as she looked out the window. “Has it been easy?”

“What? Moving my baby away from me?”

“No. I know that has to be hard. I mean meeting Tracy and helping her find who she was.” Bernice stated. “I'm not sure if I could have done it.”

“Well it was simple Mom, I either did it, or Tracy would have found a way to kill herself. She said as much at the first meeting I had with Ivan.”

“She feels this deeply?” Bernice asked.

“Yeah. You've watched her, does her actions scream out boy? Does anything she does make you think it's a boy in a skirt?” Maggie asked. looking at her mother only for a moment.

“No. It's just....well, I've never met anyone like Tracy before.” Bernice replied.

Maggie shook her head. The sun hadn't even started to set and Tracy's snores were getting louder in the back seat. “Actually Mom, Persephone told me that lots of people are like Tracy and many of them hide who they are, to protect themselves. Many get married, have kids and live long, sad lives. Others kill themselves.”

“And those girls have no issues at all. That is amazing.” Bernice said, shaking her head in shock of the situation.

Maggie nodded and smiled. “And they all love her. Heck, we've had to force Tracy to only call them on the weekends, or they'd be on the phone, long distance every day of the week.”

“So, one of the fathers is a lawyer and another is a cop. What do the other fathers do?”

“Well Carl, that's Sage's father, he works with money, investing mostly. Which is kinda funny, because they live in a trailer. Persephone said he's saving so all three kids have a college education.”

“Always a good plan.” Bernice said with a nod of her head. “And the Chinese girl? What does her father do?”

“According to Tracy, he died in Vietnam. I guess there was a brother too, but he died in the same car crash that took Brooke's legs.” Maggie said.

“That poor girl.” Bernice replied in a soft, almost whisper.

Maggie held up a finger. “Don't ever do that around her. Brooke is tired of people treating her like she's fragile. Heck, she fences, races and plays basketball.”

“Wow.” Bernice said. “You hear about that, but I've never meet someone who actually did it.”

“I know. I'm just glad she has them. The next two weeks will be hard on Tracy.” Maggie sighed. “I don't want my baby to go away, Mom, but I won’t let her get hurt again. Not like last time.”

“Maggie, it's just a week or two, then you move as well.”

“I know. It's just going to be a very long week or two.”

“I know, Maggie.” Bernice put a hand on her daughter’s shoulder. “But it will feel just as bad for your daughter as well.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy sat in the back of Shelly's van as it drove west on Five eighty. She looked out the window at the passing scenery. “Where are we going?” Tracy asked again. She had heard them before, but she was still confused why.

“Castro Valley.” Shelly replied. “To the street where your mother and I were raised.”

“Oh.”

“And maybe we'll see a few other things, but that depends on how the traffic is.”

“Have you and William ever taken her to see the wood sculptures near the Bay?”

“Well the kids always fought when we go that way. They would argue for miles on who would get the seat that was near the bay.” MAggie said, then she chuckled.

A few moments later, Shelly began pulling off the highway. “Welcome to Castro Valley.”

Tracy sat up and watched as Shelly drove through the residential part of the town, and after almost ten minutes, Tracy heard her mother gasp and she looked up as they turned onto a street.

“Oh my God. None of the houses seem to have changed.” Bernice mused.

Shelly found an empty spot on the street and she pulled over. The four of them all got out of the van and Maggie smiled as she tapped her daughters shoulder. “That house right there, the brown one. I lived in that from three till I was fifteen.”

“I still remember the floor plan.” Bernice said.

“And Tracy, the white one is where I grew up.” Shelly added.

Tracy stood there as Shelly and her mother and Grandmother all began trying to remember names of neighbors, her Grandmother gasped. “Oh, it can't be.”

“Who? What?” Maggie asked, turning to look.

“Betty Jo” Bernice headed in the woman's direction. As she got close, she called out, to a woman who was busy moving lawn stuff in her front yard. “Betty Jo? Betty Jo Bialosky?!?”

“Yes?” The older woman said as she stood up and turned around. “Do I know.....” She went quiet as she realized who she was looking at. “Richter? Bernice Richter? Is that you?”

“Yes, it is.” Bernice said with a big smile. She stopped at the edge of the property.

“Wow, I never thought I'd see you in this neighborhood again. What's it been, twenty years?”

“Something like that.” Bernice said. “But to be honest, we're actually showing the old neighborhood to my granddaughter.”

“Granddaughter? From what child? Margret, Alice or Dan?”

Bernice gestured for them to come the rest of the way over. “Well, you remember Maggie, my eldest, this is Tracy, her youngest.”

“Margret. You look good. And you have a pretty daughter.”

“Thank you.” Maggie said.

“Thank you.” Tracy shyly replied.

“And you recall Shelly Hines? But it's Shelly Cooper now.”

“Yes, I do. Hello, Shelly.” Betty Jo looked back to Bernice. “Are you all moving back this way?”

“No. I'm not. Marion and I live in Wyoming now, we're helping out his mother, but Maggie is looking at moving to Livermore.”

“Are you still in L.A?”

Maggie shook her head. “No we moved from L.A. When my kids were still young. I wanted out of there, so we moved with my husbands family to farm land, north of here.”

“I see.” The woman brushed the dirt off her hands. “Where are my manners? Would you like to come in and have a cup of tea or something?”

~o~O~o~

The day had been a good day for Tracy. She had spent the entire afternoon with her Mother and Grandmother driving around the Bay Area. After Castro Valley, they had made the short strip to Berkeley to have lunch near the Lawrence Labs and they were treated to a surprise visit by Tracy's Uncle Frank.

Tracy found herself, along with her mother, Godmother and Grandmother at Brooke's place that afternoon at just after four. Lok opened up the door as they came up the walkway. “Come on in. Tracy, the girls are in the living room.”

“Girls?”

“Yes, Sage, Andromeda and Rachel, with Jaime, her sister.”

“Why are you all here?” Tracy asked as she came into the living room, where her friend's plus Jamie, Rachel's sister and 'Romy were, playing a video game on the TV. Tracy went over to the couch and sat down.

“We're here because dad wanted to talk to your mother about tomorrow. I guess he's headed up there with her and your grandma.” Rachel said. Mom is in the kitchen with Brooke's mom and Dad is still at work, he's getting papers together.”

Sage smiled as Tracy's face lit up. “I'm just here because Mom wants to go to the court thing tomorrow, too. Dad should be here soon with Mooney. Stacey and Casey couldn't make it. Their Mom and Dad had a bowling league tonight and they're with a sitter.”

“And I'm here because I live here.” Brooke said with a chuckle. “But I know Grandpa wants to talk to you and your mother, plus he wants you to see him in the kitchen. He said he wanted to show you a recipe and wanted to know if you would help with dinner.”

“I....” Tracy wanted to go, but her friends were in there playing games. She bit her lip and looked at the kitchen door.

“Hey, you and I can go.” Sage said. “I always wanted to learn to cook.”

“Um....sure.”

“Besides, you're down here now. No point in missing out on something you want, just because you can hang out with us. There's always time for that.” Sage stated.

~o~O~o~

William got out of his car at home and stretched his back. The lights were all off in his house, so he went up and unlocked the door anyway, wanting to get out of his work clothes before dinner. He had waited till exactly when his shift was to end to clock out. He had made sure he had clocked in that morning on time. He knew they were watching him hard. He had stopped eating in the cafeteria, and was bringing sandwiches from home. Nothing fancy, just enough to get him by for lunch.

Vance had been very reserved the past couple of days as well. He was sure the fact Tracy was gone was getting to him, even if he wouldn't admit it. The house was too quiet at night and to be honest, he was starting to miss the dinners that were on the table as he got home. He also missed his wife, but he knew she would be back soon.

One thing he was sure of, this was going to be a strain on all of them. War taught him how much it hurts to be away from those he loved, now it was his daughter’s turn, he only hoped that she was strong enough to last the two weeks till Maggie got down there. It wasn't long but with everything that Tracy had been through so far, it was still going to be tough.

William began pulling off his work clothes and he reached over and made a note on a calendar, to remind himself to call Tracy that weekend. He had the tools to talk to her and he refused to let his girl think he didn't care.

~o~O~o~

Her stuff had been all packed away and put up and as much as it felt like a home to her, something was wrong. She knew what it was though. She looked over to the other bed and saw her mother's suitcase on it. She knew this was the day her mother was going to leave her and a part of her was still worried that she would never come back. So Tracy vowed to spend every last moment with her that she could, till her mother and grandmother left, and she had.

Now it was time for them to leave. She heard movement in the other guest room and Tracy got up and grabbed her mother's suitcase, then headed for the bedroom door. There were few words exchanged between them as she followed her mother and grandmother down the stairwell, then out the door and to Conner's car. Tracy handed off her mother’s suit case, then waited as her mother loaded it into the car. Behind them, Frank came out with a bag of snacks for the ride down. It was his plan to ride with them to Lance's office, then with Lance up to Oroville.

Maggie turned and dropped to one knee, then pulled her daughter in for a hug. “Two weeks. Two weeks and I'll be down here, okay?”

“Okay.” Tracy replied, her voice cracking and tears now falling down her cheeks.

Bernice didn't force Maggie out of the way, instead, she hugged both her daughter and granddaughter. “You be good and I'll see if your Grandfather will come this way so we can visit before we return to Wyoming in the spring.”

“Okay.” Tracy said again.

“Come on Maggie. We need to get going if we want to catch up to Lance.”

“Yeah.” Maggie said as she cried herself. She kissed her daughter’s cheek, then slowly let her go and stood up. “I'll call you this weekend at Harvey's, okay? And you be good for everyone.”

“Okay.” Tracy repeated once more.

Her mother, Godfather and Grandmother all climbed in the car and her emotions threatened to make her sob uncontrollably, but she did her best to hold back the tears as her Grandmother started the car, then put it in gear. Maggie knew there was no way she could drive, not in the state she was in for leaving her youngest so far away from where she would be. As the car went backwards, Tracy realized that this was the last time she'd see her parents for a while. Then a thousand thoughts ran though her mind, many of them ending with her never seeing her parents again.

They almost reached the turn in the parking lot, halfway to the street and Tracy took off in a dead sprint, running along the sidewalk that led to a different spot at the main street, a spot they'd have to drive past. “TRACY!” Shelly yelled. But she kept running. Tracy reached the main road about the time her mother and Grandmother were almost to that spot. Tears were already streaking down her face as she waved goodbye to them. She could see her mother, turning in her seat to wave back, but her Grandmother just waved, and kept driving, knowing full well if they stopped, it would be even harder to leave her.

She was about to run after the car when they stopped for a stop sign, but the road was clear and Bernice made the turn and headed for the highway. Tracy sank to her knees and began crying as her mother drove out of her life, for what she feared would be the last time.

Shelly can jogging over and went to her side. “Come on, let's get you inside.”

“I'll never see them again.” Tracy managed to say as she was helped to her feet.

“You know that isn't true.” Shelly said said. “Just two weeks till you see your mother again. Two short weeks.” She made sure that Tracy went with her to the house. “Do you still want to go tonight to hang out with the girls? Maybe with them you can take your mind off of things for the night.”

Tracy nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, then let's get you inside. Lilian called earlier and said she could pick you up, if you want. She has to take Casey to the doctor for an annual check up.”

“Okay.” Tracy replied, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve.

And now she's alone. More of our little girl coming soon