“Come here, Baby.” Maggie said with a warm smile. Tracy came in, wearing a skirt for the first time since the pictures had been passed out. She walked over and Maggie put an arm around her. “I noticed something in my Jewelry box today and I felt you needed to see it too.”

“I swear, I haven't been in your jewelry.” Tracy said with a worried look on her face.

“I believe you. I'm not saying you were, but it's time I showed you something.” Maggie held out her hand and showed Tracy the necklace. “This is yours.”

“It's mine?” Tracy shook her head slightly. “I only got the necklace from Peter and the few things you bought me at Christmas.”

Thanks to both Djkauf for the Editing and Rev. Anam Chara for help with the religious stuff
Tracy's back and the heat is still on.

January 29th 1983

Clark made his way down the driveway to a house set off of the main road. The front yard looked like a graveyard for cars. Several junkers of the same year and model sat around, in various states of dismantlement. Near the house was another car of the same year and model, but this one was in pristine shape.

Clark fought the urge to trace his finger along the frame, he knew the owner wouldn't care for it. Instead he went to the door and knocked. A few moments later a person who looked around twenty answered the door and grunted by way of acknowledgment. Clark smiled and adjusted the pack that hung on one shoulder. “Hey Billy, can I come in?”

“Yeah.” The older teen grunted, then he stepped to the side and let Clark pass. “What you need?”

“I need to leave these with you for a while.” Clark said and handed the pack to him.

“What is it?”

“Those pictures.” Clark said with a smile. “I got a few more done, but I want to send some to his parents.”

“The Fag's parents?” The teen asked. Clark nodded. “Well, I can get the dad's to him, how you doing his mom?”

“I mailed it to her work.” Clark gave him a smug smile. “I'd send one to the house, but I think it's stupid idea. But I've given one to a kid who goes to his Kung Fu school, he's getting all the kids to threaten to quit.”

“'Kay, but why bring 'em here?”

Clark grunted. “Little faggot called the cops. Told them I was threatening him before Christmas. I got nervous and want them out of the house.”

“I can hold 'em.” He said with a nod. “Need the pack?”

“For school, yeah.”

“Kay.” Billy took the pack and headed out of the house and across the yard to a giant barn that acted as a garage and storage shed that Billy's father used at times He opened the door and ushered Clark in, then he stepped in and turned on the lights to his makeshift garage. He always enjoyed being in Billy's garage, from the posters of the women in swimsuits, to the centerfolds from the nudie magazines that Billy had carefully pulled out and placed on the walls, to the pictures of muscle cars. The only thing about the garage he hated was the thick smoke smell that hung in the air. He knew it wasn't from normal cigarettes, like his grandmother smoked, but from pot. He watched as Billy tipped the pack over and spilled the contents out onto a cot that lay in one corner. Then he tossed the pack back to Clark.

“You better get goin'. If they watching you, they may follow you or somethin'.”

“Okay, Thanks Billy.”

“Hey, no problem. Bruce is family, anything to teach that little faggot snitch his place, I'm up for it, just don't tell Dad, he won’t understand.”

“Yeah. See ya Billy.” Clark said as he headed to the door.

~o~O~o~

Breakfast was already over and Vance had headed out the door to help his Grandfather and Jerry Rivers in cleaning up the barn. Maggie could hear her daughter, in the living-room running the vacuum cleaner. She decided that wearing a nightgown all day wasn't going to cut it so after breakfast she had gone to get in her clothes. As she sat at the edge of the bed she looked at the top of her dresser and her eyes stopped at the jewelry box that William had sent her from when he visited Japan, while on leave, during his tour of Duty in Viet Nam.

It wasn't her plan to wear jewelry that day, but something compelled her to open it up. She looked at the assortment of jewelry that lay inside and she began to hear her Grandmother’s words from when she was a little girl.

~This is for you Maggie. And when you have a daughter and you think she's old enough, you can pass it along to her. When she has children, she can pass it to her daughter, or granddaughter.~

She picked up the piece, a simple silver necklace and a smile crossed her lips as she remember the day she received it. She only barely noticed the vacuum shut off so she called out. “Tracy? Can you come in here please?”

A few moments later, Tracy poked her head though the curtain that served as the bedroom door. “You called?”

“Come here, Baby.” Maggie said with a warm smile. Tracy came in, wearing a skirt for the first time since the pictures had been passed out. She walked over and Maggie put an arm around her. “I noticed something in my Jewelry box today and I felt you needed to see it too.”

“I swear, I haven't been in your jewelry.” Tracy said with a worried look on her face.

“I believe you. I'm not saying you were, but it's time I showed you something.” Maggie held out her hand and showed Tracy the necklace. “This is yours.”

“It's mine?” Tracy shook her head slightly. “I only got the necklace from Peter and the few things you bought me at Christmas.”

“When I was your age this was the first piece of jewelry I ever got.” Maggie turned to face her daughter a bit better. “My Grandmother told me that if and when I had a daughter, when she got old enough, I was to give it to her. I feel you're old enough now, so it's yours.” Maggie placed the necklace into her daughters hand.

Tracy ran a finger along it, but she was slightly confused. “She gave it to you to give it away?”

“It's a mother thing. Every mother has jewelry that they want to give to their daughters. It's a way of passing on the story of your family.”

Tracy looked at her. “So...this is mine? No joke?”

Maggie gently put her hand over the necklace. “It's no joke. This is all yours. In fact I may have a couple more things to send your way.”

Tracy's eyes lit up as she leaned forward to look at the jewelry box. “Really?”

“Really. I need to go through it and maybe some night, you and I can do that.” Maggie put an arm around her daughter and pulled her close. “See it was my job to pass this down to my daughter, but when I thought I only had boys, I had forgotten about it. I was set to give it to any granddaughters I may have been blessed with.” She kissed Tracy's cheek. “I never realized till this past summer that I had a daughter all along.”

Tracy blushed brightly. Maggie cocked her head slightly, then looked at each of Tracy's ear. “That's something else we need to do for you.”

“What?”

Maggie ran a finger over Tracy’s ear. “Earrings. Almost all girls your age have them. I got a few of those in here too, for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Maggie replied. “We'll have to look into getting your ears pierced when we go to your next appointment down south, if you want.”

“I want t....” Tracy's train of thought stopped as she realized that with both ears pierced she couldn't hide very well. “Can I think about it?”

“Yes. We're not taking you right now, so you got a couple of weeks to think.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Tracy said, then she looked at the necklace. “And thanks for this too.” She grabbed it with both hands and held it to her neck, then looked in a mirror, just to see how she looked. “This is pretty.”

“Yes it is, just like my daughter.”

~o~O~o~

With her cleaning done, Tracy had curled up on the couch with a book. She had made a promise to herself that she wasn't leaving the house. The chores at her grandparents were finished and she had the whole weekend to herself, other than some cleaning in her parent’s house. The phone-calls hadn't stopped, but her parents were taking them all now, making the kids who called afraid to say anything.
So when the phone rang, she only looked up from her book for a second, as her father picked it up. “Hello.” He said with forced cheer into the phone. She watched as he listened, then he smiled and handed it to her. “It's for you kiddo. It's Sage and the girls.”

Tracy's smile lit up and she reached over and took the phone from her father. “Hi!!!”

“Well you sound happy. We just thought we'd see how school went yesterday. We would have called yesterday, but everyone had something going on.” Sage stated.

“It didn't happen.” Tracy replied. “I'm being home-schooled now.”

“Home-schooled?” Sage repeated back. Tracy knew it wasn't for her sake, but the other girls on the other end of the phone. “That's good. Any more phone calls?”

“Yeah.” Tracy agreed. “Mom and Dad got a couple of them this morning. “They didn't say anything, though.”

“That sucks, at least you don’t have to deal with them anymore at school.” Sage stated.

“I still have tests that I have to go to school for.” Tracy replied. “But the Principal will keep me in the staff lunchroom for the tests so I don't have to deal with people.”

“Oh. Well, that's a small step forward.” Sage stated. There was talking in the background, then she spoke up. “Hey, we were thinking here. What if we all come up on this coming Friday? We can hang out and stuff. There's a staff day on Monday, so we don't have school and Mom said we had to ask your parents.”

“I can ask my parents.” Tracy asked. “Let me see if we got plans.”

“Sure.” Sage answered. “It would be all of us. Stacey and Casey got school on Monday though so they'd leave Sunday night.”

Tracy held the phone away from her ear and looked from one parent to the other. “Mom, can Sage, Rachel and the others come up on Friday? Please?” She held the phone between her hands as she began to look like she was begging. “Pretty please?”

Maggie thought about it for a moment. “I don't see why not. William? You got any problems with that?”

“How many people? I mean the five girls could fit out here. Add parents and that's a lot of space?” William replied in a questioning tone.

“Here, Can I have the phone?” Maggie asked.

“Sure.” Tracy handed her the phone and sat back.

“Sage, it's Maggie. I'd like to talk to your mother.” Tracy sat back as her mother went into mom mode and set up the plans. After a few moments she looked to Tracy as she hung up the phone. “I'm going to talk to your grandparents, Persephone will have Sage call back in a few, okay?”

After Maggie had made her calls, Tracy waited for the phone to ring. When it did she launched herself over the end of the couch before her father could move. “Tracy wait, I'll get...” Was all he said before she picked it up and spoke in an excited voice.

“Hi Sage, what did they say!”

“Awww, was the fag expecting a call?” The now familiar and hated voice said. “I'm going to teach you a lesson for what you did fag. I heard you called the cops, fag. You sent them to the wrong house, didn't you? Maybe you'll get smart and not call them this time. Maybe I'll come over there now and teach your whole family a lesson. I ain't afraid of your dad. I'll beat the shit out of him and your stupid brother too. Maybe I'll make them watch as I beat the shit out of you and your mama too. But I'll have my fun with you two first. Wanna hear what's going to happen to you? Of course you do.”

Tracy's eyes filled with tears as the voice continued. She had just wanted one day without a threat, or being reminded of the threat. She wanted to be herself. She was afraid, but a part of her was getting tired of hiding. The stress of the past few days welled up. She wanted to hang up, but her hand refused to work. She wanted it to stop, but the man continued. “I'll come over there and show you what happens to little fags who wear dresses, then I'll teach your mama a lesson for letting you do it. Maybe I'll make you watch. You wanna be a girl so bad, we'll show teach you what's it's like to be a woman.”

Maggie had seen the look on her daughters face and had leaned in and listened to the man on the other end of the phone. In one quick motion, she grabbed the phone from her daughter and held it to her mouth, as she produced a small silver whistle from the nearby end table. She sucked in a quick breath, then blew the whistle as hard as she could into the phone.

Tracy and William winced in pain and they both jammed the ends of their index fingers into their ears and turned away from the whistle. When Maggie stopped, she held the phone back to her ear and growled. “Look you stupid fuck. You may not be aware of this, but this phone is being listened to by the sheriff’s department. They can trace this and find you. You set foot on this property and I swear, I will kill you if you hurt my child before they can stop you.” She slammed the phone down with a primal scream of frustration. She looked to her daughter who was starting to cry.

William looked to her as she scooped Tracy into a hug. “Was that necessary?”

“Maybe not, but it sure as fuck felt good!” Maggie said as Tracy sobbed into her chest.

“Did you have to blow the whistle?”

“No. But that little fucker will think twice before he calls here again.”

“That's true.” William replied with a shake of his head.

“I know you keep saying money is tight, but that number gets changed on Monday.”

“Okay.” He replied.

Maggie didn't stop. “And we're getting an unlisted number.”

“Maggie, that cost more each...”

“Fuck the money William!” She snapped. “You want your daughter to grow up in fear of the phone? Do you? Maybe you'd like to know what he was saying before I blew the whistle.” She glared at him, but he only lowered his gaze. “He was going into great detail of what he planned to do when he comes over here, not just to Tracy, but to me as well. She already lives that hell because of Bruce, you want it to happen again? Do you want both of us to live that? Do you William?!?”

William nodded in defeat. “Okay. Monday it changes?”

“I'll call.” Maggie said, just then the phone started to ring. William reached out and picked it up, before Maggie could.

“Look you fucker, I swear I will kill you if you touch my family?!?” He snapped into the phone. His facial features softened and he released a sigh of relief. “Sorry Sage. No, I'm not mad at you, we just got another call.” He was silent for a moment, then he nodded. “Yeah, Maggie heard it too...From what Maggie said, it was bad...I'll ask.” He covered the receiver with the palm of his hand and looked to Tracy, who was cradled in Maggie's arms. “It's Sage again, you wanna talk?” Tracy nodded her head and held out her hand. William handed her the phone and he got up, headed to the kitchen.

“Hello?” Tracy asked between sniffles.

“Hey, you okay?” Sage asked in a concerned tone.

“No.” Tracy replied, her voice cracking from the fear and frustration.

“It's gonna be okay.” Sage said.

“No it's not.” Tracy sobbed out. “The cops can't stop it.”

“I'm so sorry.” Sage said. “Damn I wish you lived here.”

“I just want people to leave me alone.” Another sob shook her body and Maggie just held her tightly.
“I am tired of the hiding and the threats. I just want to be me.”

“That's it, we're definitely coming up next week.” Sage said. Tracy could hear talking in the background and a bunch of whispering. “Can my mom talk to yours?”

“I guess.” Tracy said, then she handed the phone to her mother. “Persephone wants to talk.”

Maggie took the phone. “Hello?” She was quiet for a second, then she nodded. “Yeah, another one. Bad, like real bad...Wait a moment.” She tapped her daughter on the shoulder. “Baby, can you go to your room for a moment, I don't want to upset you anymore.”

Tracy didn't want to leave her mother and William saw it. He came back to his daughter and put a hand out for her. “Come on, let's look at those books of yours and you can tell me what ones you need next.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Tracy said slowly slid off of her mothers lap. She didn't want to leave the safety of her mother, but she knew what her mom was about to say.

The two of them walked through the kitchen and to Tracy's room. They stopped at the bookcase and Tracy stood there, then William pulled her into a hug. “I'm sorry this asshole is still out there baby.”

“I just wanna be me, Daddy.”

“You mean be Tracy all the time?” He asked. She nodded.

“I'm getting tired of this, Daddy. These phone-calls, the pictures. I just want to be me, but I'm afraid. I've already had to fight Vance and Grandpa. Why do I got to fight the world.”

William held her tight. “Baby, if this is what you want, then we're behind you. I know I've not been the best about it, but I love you and you got my support now.”

“Can we move?” She asked, her eyes filled with tears and the scene tugged at William's heart. “I know money's tight, but we could move to Livermore. Sage is there and no one knows us there.”

“I don't know baby.” He answered.

“Daddy, I'm tired of the calls. I just want to be me. Everyone knows about it, but I still got to hide. I don't want to hide.”

William sighed as he hugged his daughter tighter. “I'll....I'll talk it over with your mother.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” It wasn't the answer she wanted, but it was better then nothing.

~o~O~o~

Tracy sat at the couch, with her grandmother. Modine had come over after the second phone call, when Conner, Vance and Jerry had gone into town for shopping. Together the two of them went over the J.C. Penny catalog, looking for new clothes for Tracy. She had finally calmed down from the threatening call she had taken earlier.

William was busy watching a winter sporting event on TV, while Maggie was reading in her chair. None of them had noticed that she had picked up her bible and was reading from that. There was a knock at the door and Maggie looked to William as she got up. “I got it.” She went to the door and placed herself to open the door far enough to step out, but not let who-ever it was to see Tracy.

Maggie opened the door to see a group of faces she hadn't seen in years. At the front of the group was Molly Hallmark. To her side was June Olsen. Two other women stood behind them, Wendy Hurt in jeans and wearing an almost masculine haircut and the last was Kimberly Caborn. She had recalled seeing the young girl go into high-school, just a few years earlier. “Hello. Can I help you?” Maggie said as she recognized the woman on her doorstep. The last time she had seen three of these women, they had been working on getting the two ladies out of the church they used to attend.

“Hello Maggie, We were wondering if we could talk to you and your husband for a minute.”

“I suppose so, can I ask what this is about?” Maggie asked, even though she had a good idea what it was.

“My boys told me of some nasty rumors going around the school and we just wanted to see if there was any truth to them.”

“What rumors are those?” Maggie asked warily.

“They said Troy was found in a dress? They also said he had been attacked here on the farm, so was your mother in law. Plus someone was passing pictures around last week.” Molly said. “We felt we needed to come over and talk to you and find out what happened.”

June spoke up, giving Maggie her best comforting smile. “I was planning on stopping by when your mother-in-law and son were attacked, but you know how busy the holidays get.”

Maggie was about to send them on their way, recalling their treatment of the two ladies that had left the church before she took her family out and several bible verses that she had read over the past few months sprang to mind. She focused on one in particular, 'Love your enemies and pray for those that persecute you.' She sighed. “One moment.” She said, then she stepped in and closed the door.

She went over to her husband and filled him in on who it was. She leaned in close so only her family could hear her and she whispered. “Will, it may be dumb, but if we can talk to them, maybe we won’t have to deal with the problems they raised for those ladies. Besides, it's not like they can run us out of the church.”

“I don't know, Maggie.” He whispered back. “Didn't work too well for those ladies.”

“Will, it may be for the best. God only knows what trouble they can cause us if we make them mad.” Maggie whispered back.

“Remember how they went all over and cost those ladies their jobs? Do we want to make them mad? We send them away and I promise that's what will happen.”

“How do we know this won't blow up in our face?” William asked.

Modine leaned over and whispered. “I think you should do it. Tell them what happened and show them Troy's side.”

“How?” Maggie asked.

“If they ask, tell them about Troy, tell them about the injuries, They don't need to know that this was happening before the attack.” Modine said. “They also don't need to know he's still got one last bit of maleness on him. Make it sound like this was the only logical choice.”

“Isn't lying bad?” Tracy asked.

“Yes, it is. But is it lying if you leave it to their imagination?” Modine replied.

Maggie put a hand on Tracy's shoulder. “Baby, go to your room if you want, but honestly, I think them meeting you may be the best bet.”

“Should I put on my boy clothes?” Tracy asked.

Maggie shrugged. “Wear what you think is best, okay? I trust you and you got my support for whatever you choose.”

Tracy got up and ran to the kitchen, then headed towards the bedroom she shared with her brother.

Maggie went to the door an opened it up. “Come on in.” She said as she held the door open wide enough to let the four women come in. “William, could you grab a couple of chairs?”

“Yeah.” He said as he got up from his chair. On his way to the kitchen, he shut off the TV.

“Modine.” June said as she stepped in. “It's good to see you. I see you weren't hurt too bad in December.”

“Well, I was, but it's been almost two months.”

“So, what about Troy has you worried?” Maggie asked as William brought two chairs in, then he went and got the last two from the kitchen.

“Well to be honest, it's the fact that he was seen in girls clothes in public.” Molly stated.

“And this worries you, why?” Maggie asked.

“Honestly, we're worried for the kids in town. How do we know there's not something wrong in your son's head that makes him want to dress like that? Something could cause him to be out of sorts and attack people for no reason. Plus, think of Troy's soul.” Molly pulled a bible out of her purse and flipped to a bookmarked place. “It's in the bible, Maggie. It's from Deuteronomy, chapter twenty two, verse five. No man should wear a woman's clothes.” She looked up from her bible and looked at Maggie. “We're not here to pass judgment, we're here as mothers, looking out for the welfare of the town and it's children.”

“And yet you’re passing judgment on my child's mental state?” Maggie asked. “I promise you there are no mental issues with my children, either one of them.”

“Maggie, we're worried about the safety of our own children. As a mother you can understand how important it is to see your kids stay safe, can't you?” Molly said, pleading as best as she could.

“Honestly, we have no idea what's going on in your son's mind to convince him to dress like that, but whatever it is, it can't be good. And I'd rather not have someone who's that unstable in school with my boys.”

“I'd hate to tell you, but there were unstable people in that school for the past couple of years. Three of them attacked my family just two months ago and someone else there is now calling my house and threatening us all over again, this time they are threatening to rape and kill me and Troy. So if you can find that unstable person, then not only will my children be safe, but your boys will be safe too and you'll have my gratitude, but trust me, that person isn't in this house....or at least they don't live here.”

“Maggie, just how safe are we from someone who dresses up as the opposite sex and acts like he's something he's not?”

“Tell me, how much danger was there from those two ladies you ran out of the church?” Maggie asked. “As I recall, you used the same argument about keeping the town safe when you ran those two women out of the church and set about destroying any chance they had of keeping work in this town.”

“Maggie, you know the type of people those kinda of women attract. Or what about the people your son will attract?”

“Honestly, I don't. Do you? Did you even talk to them? Or did you just hate them because they lived together?” Maggie glared at Molly. “And so far, all my child has attracted is people who have tried to kill him, persecute him and others who think they know how his life should run or what is in his head.”

Molly held up her bible. “Maggie, it's in the bible. Gays and lesbians are wrong. It also says that men should not wear women's clothes!”

“That bit about men wearing women's clothing, it goes both ways. You missed the first part of the verse.” Maggie flipped her bible to the page and read loudly. “The woman shall not wear that which pertain unto a man, neither shall a man wear a woman's garment, for these are an abomination to the lord. “

“And your child wears girls clothing!”

“WHAT DO YOU CALL THAT!” Maggie screamed at her as she pointed to Wendy Hurt. “She's wearing pants! If a man can't wear a dress, then why can a woman wear a man's pants. How about that masculine haircut that she has.”

“Times have changed Maggie. Women can wear pants.” Molly replied.

“Can she?!?” Maggie held up the bible to Molly's face. “It's in the bible that she can't! You come into my home, call my child an abomination, then one of you sits there breaking the same verse that you claim he is? If I recall, you used to wear pants a lot too.”

“Well, it's not the same!” Molly said.

Maggie arched an eyebrow. “Why isn't it?!? Could it be that your argument would be over?!?” William stayed in his seat, aware that both women were getting worked up, but he knew better then to get in the middle of a cat fight. “You want to quote Deuteronomy, how about this, just three verses after the one you used on Troy.”

Maggie's temper flared as she snapped at Molly. “When thou buildest a new house, thou shalt make a battlement for thy roof, that thou bring not blood upon thine house, if any man fall from thence!” Maggie looked up from the bible and glared at Molly. “That's a nice house you had built several years ago. Where's your battlements?”

“What?” Molly stammered.

“Battlements. Parapets, that lip on a roof so people don't fall off? It's in the bible, why don't you have any on your house?”

“Well, some of those parts were written thousands of years ago and aren't a part of God’s law.” Molly smugly replied.

“So you feel you can pick and choose what to throw at me, just so it suits your needs? This was all written thousands of years ago, just not certain parts!” She got up and went to Molly, then pointed to Molly's bible, just an inch or so away from where Molly had quoted from. “It's three verses away, that means it may have been written moments before!”

“Stop fighting.” A timid voice called from the kitchen. But neither woman heard it. Modine looked up and saw a shadow on the floor that crossed the doorway.

Molly didn't stop, but she stumbled in her verbal fight, but her mind went back to what she saw as the most likely event. “What if your child attacks one of our children, or grandchildren?!? That would involve us!”

“And yet you're here, threatening my child when he hasn't done anything to any of your kids or Grand-kids?!?”

“It's only a matter of time!”

“STOP FIGHTING!!!” A child’s voice screamed from the kitchen. A moment later Tracy stepped out, still in her skirt and blouse. Her hair was now in pigtails and she looked around the room. She looked angry, but on the verge of tears. “STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU!!! JUST STOP!!!”

All the women looked at her in surprise. If they had not seen the picture and been told who it was, none of them would have thought she wasn't a preteen girl. Molly recovered the fastest of all the women. “I have never been yelled at by a child!” She glared at Maggie. “Clearly you need to work on the commandment about honoring adults!”

“It’s honor thy father and mother.” Tracy replied, her hands shaking in fear and anger. Her eyes narrowed as she kept her focus on Molly. She wanted to run, but a part of her pictured Molly as the person who kept calling and she wanted to unleash all of frustration. “You're not my mother, or my father. I honor them as best as I can. All I have to do for you is treat you with respect, if you do the same for me.”

“It also says that little boys can't be little girls!” Molly snarled. Maggie got up and stood by her daughter.

Tracy kept glaring at Molly. “There's a reason I do this and no, it's not your concern.”

“As long as you go to school with my children, it's my concern!”

“NO IT'S NOT!” Tracy screamed. She stood there, her breath had spread up and her fists were balled so tight, the knuckles had gone white. “I'm home-schooled now! It's not your problem!”

“As long as you're in this town, It's my concern!” Molly tried to step around Maggie, but she was blocked.

“THIS ISN'T JUST YOUR TOWN!!!” Tracy screamed once more. “YOU DON'T OWN IT ALL!!!”

“This is against the Lord!” Molly roared.

“Maybe, but isn't that between God and Me?” Tracy asked.

“I'm not trying to judge you, Molly. And I'll be praying tonight for what I did, but you come in here, passing judgment on my child without knowing why she did what she did? How about looking a bit more into the bible. First Samuel sixteen seven.” Maggie held her bible up to read it. “But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance, or height of stature, for I have rejected him. For the lord sees not as man sees. Man looks on the outward appearance, The Lord looks at the heart.'” Maggie closed her bible with one hand and pointed at her youngest, who stood behind her. “That means it's not what's on the outside that counts, but the inside.”

Tracy stood there as Maggie continued, gesturing to her daughter once more. “That child of mine has a heart of gold. He gave up his health to defend his grandmother. He risked his life and now, because of what happened, she, not he, now has two options, one is killing herself and you know that's a sin. The other is to take what happiness she can get from the life that she was offered. There's almost nothing male body wise on him anymore, so stop comparing my daughter to your sons. After all, how do you know that this isn't part of the Lord's plan to test my child. I can tell you that that child of mine has the soul of a little girl, not a boy. There's been nothing boyish about him for years, so what if she was breaking that verse you love so much by dressing as a boy all these years!”

Modine took a sip from her cup of tea then cleared her throat. “I've always found Saint Paul's words to be quite true.” The older woman stated. “Look at Romans three, verse twenty three.” Modine took another sip of tea as Tracy quietly walked over to her.

Maggie began flipping pages to get to the mentioned verse. She read it as Molly Hallmark did and she smiled. Then she read it aloud for the other women. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.”

“Well in the bible Jesus says that the devil can quote scripture!” Molly retorted.

“AND IT'S ABOUT TIME SHE LEFT MY HOUSE!!!” Maggie roared. “You want people to live to what the bible says, then you better start in your own family. Don't bring your hate into my house. What happened to Love thy neighbor? What happened to Judge not lest ye be judged? I tired to be nice and I humbly apologize for judging you, but it's hard when you don't know the full story and you come down here, threatening my family like those people who had been calling, threatening my child! Now get out of my house!”

Maggie stood there, pointing at the door and slowly the four women stood up. She watched as they slowly filed out. Molly stopped at the door and glared at Maggie. “This isn't over. I wont rest as long as that abomination is in my town. I will find a way to run you out town or make you wish you had!”

William had stood by this point and had stood next to his wife and child. “Can I hold you to that? We already got an open case with the sheriff’s department for the threats that we've received against Troy's, Maggie's, Vance's and one other girl's life. Plus someone has called and threatened to kill both her and Maggie. I'm sure they'd love to talk to you about threatening the same child. Maybe they can question you about the threats and those pictures. You have kids who went to school with Troy, that could implicate them in this.” He gave her a big smile and Molly's eyes went wide, then she rushed outside.

As they heard the cars pull away, Modine began to chuckle. Slowly the chuckle became louder. This caused Tracy and her parents to look questioningly at her grandmother. “Um....Mom?” William asked. “You okay?”

“Sorry, it always cracks me up when people use that quote.”

“What quote?” William asked.

“And the Devil can quote scripture.” Modine chuckled again. “The full quote is, The Devil can quote scripture for his own purposes. An evil soul producing holy witness is like a villain with a smiling cheek.”

Maggie arched an eyebrow and shook her head slowly. “Why does that seem familiar?”

“It should be. It's From the Shakespeare play, Merchant of Venice.” Modine smiled brightly as she looked to her granddaughter and held out her arms to hug Tracy. The young girl leaned into the hug as Modine spoke again. “There's another famous quote from Shakespeare that I feel relates to you.”

“Really? What is it?” Tracy asked.

“It's from Hamlet.” She pulled her granddaughter in close. “This above all, to thine own self be true and it must follow, as night follow day, thou canst not be false to any man.”

Tracy was quiet for a moment, then she bit her lip and shook her head. “What does that mean?”

“I think it means that you need to be honest to yourself.” Modine said. “For you, I think it means this. Dressing up like Troy, isn't being true to yourself. You've found yourself in Tracy. When you dress as Troy, you're not being true to the girl that you are. So if you can't be true to yourself, how can you be true to others.”

Tracy stood there in the embrace, trying to figure out what she meant, finally she looked at her grandmother. “So, each time I'm Troy, I'm a liar?”

“Let me ask you this, if clothes didn't matter, should I call you Tracy or Troy?”

“Tracy.” The young child replied with a smile. “I've always been Tracy.”

“Then why has Tracy tried to pass herself off as Troy.” Modine asked. “You remember when Vance used to lie all the time?” Tracy nodded. “You could never tell if he was telling the truth or not, right?”

“No, sometimes I still wonder if he lies to me.” Tracy stated.

“See, he wasn't true to himself, so he wasn't true to anyone else and now you can't believe him.” Modine brushed some of the long hair out of the child’s face. “How can I trust you if you go and lie to people saying you're a boy named Troy, if you don't believe it yourself?”

“I have a question.” Maggie asked as she dropped to a knee to see her daughter’s face better. “Is this permanent now? I mean you just stepped out against people who oppose you, dressed like an eleven year old girl.”

Tracy nodded. “While you talked, I realized how sick I am of the hiding. I don't want to be Troy, ever again.”

“Well, some hiding may be worth it, but we'll trust your judgment on when you want to hide.” Maggie hugged her daughter and kissed her cheek.

~o~O~o~

That evening Tracy sat at the table and waited for her father and brother to go outside and get more firewood. Once she was sure her Dad was outside, she put down her book that she had been reading and looked to her mother who was making a cake. “Mom, can we move?”

“What, Baby?”

“Can we move?” Tracy asked again. “Out of town, to somewhere safe. Livermore is safe, Sage hasn't had any troubles there.”

“Baby, you're worried about the man calling, aren't you?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah and those church ladies.”

“I know.” Maggie said with a nod of her head. “I can talk to your father about it, but we'd be on hard times.”

“I know money's tight. I know that, but down there I could go to school as a girl. Sage does it, why can't I?” Tracy pleaded. “Mom, what if those ladies mess with your jobs and you lose them? What if word of those pictures gets out and Dad loses his job? Then we're no better off.”

Maggie had to nod and agree to the wisdom in her words. “Yeah. I'll talk to him tonight, before he goes to bed, okay?”

“Thank you Mom. I know it would be tough, but we can make it, I know we can.” Tracy got up and hugged her mother. "I'm gonna take a shower, but can I help with icing the cake later?"

"Sure sweetheart." Maggie said with a smile. She watched her daughter head to the bathroom before she went to the living-room to get to the phone. Maggie heard the shower start up and she knew that Vance and William were still stacking wood outside so she decided to look into Tracy's request. She picked up the phone and dialed. A few moments later there was the sound of someone picking it up, followed by her friends voice.

“Coopers, Shelly speaking.”

“Shell, it's Mags.”

“Maggie! How are you? How's the kids?” She could hear the shorter woman moving around and then Shelly sounded confused. “Something wrong? Or is there a new appointment coming up and you need a place to stay.”

“No, no appointment, but I got a situation I need to pass by you.” Maggie said. She quickly laid out what was happening, including the pictures and the calls and the church ladies.

Shelly gave a forced chuckle. “That daughter of yours just isn't having a good year, is she?”

“No.” Maggie replied. “Look, William doesn't know I'm calling you, but I want to cover my bases early.”

“What do you need? I'm sure we can help you no matter what.” Shelly said.

Maggie leaned back in her seat. “I want to know if it gets worse and someone attacks her, can we please send her down to you? I don't want her growing up in fear of the phone and school. And I know you would keep her safe.”

“One moment.” Shelly said, then Maggie heard her friend tell the story to Frank. A moment later Shelly spoke up again. “Okay, Frank says yes. You need to send her away, send her to us. I mean we are her Godparents after all. We can get together with Persephone, Karen and Lynn and look to getting her in school with the girls.”

Maggie couldn't help but give a smile of Triumph at how things were working out. Shelly wasn't really an Aunt to the kids, but she had been Maggie's best friend when she went to school in the Bay Area as a child. That friendship had faultered when Maggie was forced to move as a girl, but when she refound Shelly, it flourished as they got older, so much that Maggie asked her to be the Godparents of both Vance and Tracy. But the kids had referred to them as Aunt and Uncle for years, and the Coopers loved it. “We may do that. I think this is going to happen either way, but if you were to hold her for us, that gives us a chance to move later, in the case of an attack.”

“What about Vance?” Shelly asked.

“For now he's in school, but if it gets bad, I'll send him too, if you don't mind.”

“Maggie, I'd rather have living nephews and nieces, then just memories of their funerals.”

“Thank you Shelly.”

“Anytime and next time call us sooner.”

“I will. I'll call you if we have to send her down at all.”

“I want to be the second call.”

“Second call?”

“Yeah, call the cops, then call me.” Shelly stated.

~o~O~o~

Maggie walked into her bedroom with her husband. As far as she knew, her children were both sleeping in their room. She pulled the curtain that served as their door shut and sat on the edge of the bed. “So, I thought I'd tell you what Tracy asked me today, when you were outside getting firewood.”

He sighed and looked at her. “Let me guess, she wants to move?”

“Yeah.” Maggie said with a nod. “She wants to move bad and honestly, I think she may be right. I think I screwed up by letting those ladies in today, but if we hadn't, it could have been worse. Either way, they'll be trouble. Then there's the asshole who is calling.”

“Yeah. What all did he tell her?”

“Basically that he's going to rape and kill me, and he'll make her watch as he does it, then he'll rape her. Then he'll kill you and Vance and rape her once more then finally kill her.” Maggie stated.

William sat down and took several breaths to calm himself. “Maggie, money is already tight. I just don't know how we could do it. I don't like this anymore then you, we're barely breaking even on the bills.”

“Well, we could always send her to Shelly and Frank. They could watch her and she'd be safe down there. And then I could move and finally you could move. Besides, what if those ladies cost us our jobs? Money would really be tight when we’re unemployed and they go all over town saying we're morally corrupt..”

“We'd need to send them money, to help pay for her. It wouldn't be fair to them to just leave her in their care for free.”

“Would it be cheaper to have to bury her and me, or her and Vance because someone decides to follow through with his sick threat?” Maggie asked.

“Maggie, that's not a fair question.”

“William, I know money is tight, but promise me, one more attack on her, here or in town and we send her someplace safe.” Maggie said, hugging him and doing her best to melt his heart. And it worked.

“Okay. Okay. One bit of trouble and we send her down. But we should talk to Shelly and Frank first.”

“Did that when she took her shower.” Maggie said with a smile. “Shelly said yes, if it comes to it we can send both kids.”

“If that happens, we'll owe then more then we can ever pay back.”

“I know, but she's claiming as their God-parent, she'd rather help raise them then help bury them.”

“Okay. One more attack, or if Molly gets worse, then she's gone and we'll look into Vance going too.”

“Thank you, William.” Maggie said, then she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

Now I would like to state, I know not all Church going people are like this, but the part of Molly is actually pulled from my Childhood and the thing of the two ladies being run from the church because they thought they were lesbians and would attack the kids in the church did happen.

My Dad actually stood up for them (the two ladies who lived together that is) and it became open season on him, in which several of the people against the two ladies who lived together insisted that he, my father, molested their children in a youth group meeting, but the kids denied it. Finally my dad told them if they had proof to tell the cops and if they kept it up he would sue them, then we left the church. From what I heard later, we were the only ones who left during that time.