Charlie-16

Chapter 16

I looked it up and there’s not a lot on the internet that I can find about transgendered surfers. Okay well there is and the thing that I’m finding the most is about MTF trans-surfers.

Mind you I mostly tried just the normal web searches and stuff but professionally or even semi-pro I haven’t really seem anyone pop up in my searches.

So I talk it over a bit with Sable and the guys on the basketball team and the coach. It’s the coach that made me make the decision.

“Charlie there’s got to be someone to do this. I know you’ve had enough regular attention with your change but in everything there has to be someone to do it first.”

“I know but really? Me?”

“Why not you? You’re a decent basketball player you’re breaking the barriers there and you’re a decent student too and you’re young. And let me tell you this young man gender aside you start getting older and the competitive sport world closes really fast. You might just be able to get enough money off of this to actually get somewhere in college and some to set aside.”

“Okay that has its appeal sir but still it’s daunting as heck.”

“It should but personally Charlie you should do this for yourself and other kids like you.”

“What would have you done when you first picked up a board and found out there was a guy just like you out there showing that he can do stuff just as well as you are now.”

That’s what ultimately won me over with this whole thing. I would’ve had some one to not just look up to while going through this but there would have been someone out there that I could look to, not up to but just to and say.

Maybe I can make it through to the other side.

I picked up the phone after talking it over with everyone and I made the call into Runaway Surf.

Donovan Hart answered and we hammered out the details and since I’m just starting out I’m able to work around my school activities a lot easier.

Okay I wasn’t expecting to be poked and prodded and sports medicine tested so much and to have a diet plan set up for me in my training. Up four in the morning every morning to go in or rather out to the beach and train.

Even when the water’s crappy and it’s been cold out I’m training. Running in the surf and wet sand every day. Swimming and swimming and more swimming even when it’s rough out and especially when it’s rough out because when you wipe out in competition you need to get back up and on the board as fast as you can because once that air horn goes off you only have so long on the clock to get as many waves as you can or do as many tricks are you can.

Trunk muscle exercises which means endless sit ups and crunches but some yoga too and pilates. Trunk muscles are important because as much as your legs are part of the whole staying on more of your control actually comes from your trunk.

And skateboarding…okay that was cool I’m getting paid to surf and skateboard and even getting coached in both by real professionals in both of these things.

But about two weeks in I’m really not seeing Sable that much except for at school. And it really has sucked and it’s been getting to me and where usually it’s hard to phase her too much after everything she’s been through I could tell it was, it is getting to her too. I’m getting ready to go to the beach for my way too early morning training session and was making my morning energy shake with milk, almond milk, whey powder, vanilla bean and three eggs and a banana when I hear a knock on my door?

Sable’s there wet from the rains no make up at all and she was shivering there in the cold.

“Sable what…? Come in here, what happened?”

“I miss you! I know it’s just me being stupid and like it’s from us getting together so fast but I miss you Charlie,” She’s shaking and crying and sobbing and I pull her into a hug.

“God I missed you too I’ve been thinking that this might not be worth it if we’re not together.”

“No….” She sobs and buries her face into my chest and sniffle-sobs into my shirt. “I don’t want to be one of those girls, I want to see you have this1 God I’m just such a mess!”

“Yeah you a mess but you’re my mess girl and I love every quirky little thing about you and I miss you like crazy.”

“You do!?” She sobby-whiny smiles at me.

“Hell yes, I love you.” I pull her in and hold her close and kiss her really long and deeply.

She’s trembling really hard too, more than from how cold she is. I pull her into the kitchen with me. “This was really bad huh?”

She just sniffles messily and is nodding into my chest. I kiss her on the top of her head. “You’ve got the shakes.”

(Sniffle.) “Yeah…..”

“Okay what helps?”

(Sniffle.) “You…”

I smile at that. “Okay and thank you but you’re jonsing aren’t you?”

She nods again into my chest. “So what helps?”

“I don’t want to get into using something else to fight this and use it as a crutch.”

“Okay, okay so…here.” I bring her over beside the stove and I crank the elements on and the oven itself and I go and get her the blanket from the sofa and wrap her up and I kiss her and then I put on some tea. Dad makes this tea that he drinks when he’s hung over that is really strong and it’s a quart of water and three tea bags of Orange Peko and one of Darjeeling and you boil the heck out of it. I open a can of milk, yeah it’s canned milk and I get two tall mugs and pour some of the milk in one but enough for two mugs and once the tea is good and strong I pour it in the other and them I pour it from one mug to the other to mix it.

It’s some East Indian or Asian thing that he picked up somewhere and it’s not bad actually and it actually needs the canned milk because it just doesn’t taste right any other way but the tea has to be like walk on it strong. I just mix it back and forth long enough for it to be cooled enough to drink.

I pass her the mug and I take mine and get another kitchen chair and park it next to hers and slip into the blanket and pull her close to me. I sip the tea with her and hold her and kiss her between our drinks.

“Better?”

“Yes, a lot…thanks Charlie if you hadn’t been here I might have go looking….”

“Maybe…but you’re stronger than that Sable, if you never got here while I was here you’d just have to call me and I’d be there.”

“I don’t want to wreck this for you.”

“I’d have done fine without this honey, you’ll come before any damned job.”

“Really?”

“Always.”

We kiss some more and I take her hand and I wrap it around the necklace she gave me and she squeezes it and I keep her hand there as Dad comes down and makes himself some of the tea and he refills ours and he starts getting things to make breakfast.

He says as he’s making stuff. “Charlie call your crew and tell them you’re taking a sick day I’ll call the school.”

“Uhm…okay…”

He’s digging leftovers out of the fridge and looks at Sable. “So you own your trailer right?”

“Yeah, it’s part of the things I won in my settlement.”

“And you and Charlie have been kind of totally missing each other with this surfing thing and it’s getting hard?”

She looks down. “Yessir.”

“Okay, problem solved.”

“Sir?”

“It’s not sir it’s Dad by now okay? And since you own the trailer we trade off with Charlie’s brother. He moves into your place and he gets to have some practice for living on his own before university and you move in here with us and you and Charlie can live together here with some adult supervision instead of him just spending every free moment at you place which hasn’t been a lot lately.”

I look at him as I come back from making my calls. “You know I’m not sleeping over just to sleep over there dad.”

He rolls his eyes and looks at me as he’s tossing the brown rice from last night into a buttered frying pan and spreading it out. “And your room is above the garage. Charlie you’re both in a relationship and yes it’s less that what a regular parent might deal with but you aren’t in regular circumstances. This will keep you too together and we can keep an eye on the two of you and run interference if we have to.”

He turns and looks at the both of us. “Sable needs to be somewhere emotionally stable and frankly Charlie she good for you. She’s been able to calm you down and help you get centered better than we could and better than the shrinks could.”

“I know…” I blush and smile and I slip back into the blanket and slip my arms around her and I hold her tightly…

“Good and don’t forget it either. I’m your father and you’re my son and that means if you act like a butthead I get to give you a good swift kick when you need it.”

“Okay dad…”

He looks at us and adds some other stuff from the fridge to a mixing bowl, ham, baby spinach, some cheese that he’s just tearing off and he’s cutting last nights green beans with a pair of scissors into the bowl when he looks at Sable.

“An you young lady. You’re part of our lives which means that there’s no more going it alone. You call us, talk to us day or night okay?”

“Okay sir.”

“Okay…we’ll work on the sir bit but okay.”

He adds eggs and the rest of the canned milk and he makes this rice take on the whole Spanish frittata thing.

I stayed home with her all day and we planned out everything. Mom was all for it and my brother was over the moon happy and stuff and Libby well Libby actually surprised me by looking good and long at us and more at Sable and hunched her shoulders and sort of growled. “Fine whatever.” Which for her was actually kind of nice seeing how I was actually expecting her to take a complete shit-fit over this.

And Mom, mom was more than cool with it which sort of had me thinking that her and Dad were talking things of like all the what-if’s before hand.

We actually took a day of it and we relaxed enough to wind down and then we started moving things. Sable left most of her furnishings for my brother and dad made up a lease saying that he could live there rent free and utility free but any extras or groceries he’d have to pay for out of his own pocket and made him put his car’s slip up against any and all damages to the trailer, property or furnishings.

I actually saw his party plans evaporate in his eyes.

Mom took Libby shopping mostly for stuff that my brother would need and likely to talk as well and they brought take out home for supper.

It was actually beyond awesome when Sable and I settled in together and curled up together after a long day in out bed.

I think we’re going to be alright, more than alright and now it’s just training until next month when the season officially starts and keeping my school up.

But having my girlfriend here, living with me.

I don’t have to miss her, she won’t have to miss me and there’s something good about knowing that if stuff comes up my parents are going to sort of be a peer couple for us.

And I guess all that’s going to be left is to do the best that I can with this surfing thing and hopefully make enough money for college and a car but more importantly a ring.

I’m going to marry this girl if she’ll let me.

*** End of Charlie…Book one.

I’d like to thank everyone who has read and enjoyed this story up to this point and have taken the time to read and comment your time and attention was deeply appreciated.

*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.