Susan led the way to the front door of the District office. Mom followed, and then us three girls with Doctors Franklin and Phillips bringing up the rear. The two police officers stood on each side of the door. I heard a car coming in fast and looked over to see another cruiser pull in.

“Mrs. Richardson, we were instructed to not allow you in the building.” One of the officers said. Susan looked at the officer.

“Officer,” She peered at his name badge; “Jacobson, Do you have a restraining order that has been filed by the school district, preventing any of the members of this group from entering the building?” I glanced over at the car that had stopped behind the other two cruisers.

“No, Ma’am. We received a call from a complainant that said to not allow you access to this building.” Officer Jacobson said. Mom obviously didn’t know either of these officers. I glanced over at the car that had stopped and saw Lieutenant Chang getting out of car. Mom heard the door shut and glanced over at Lieutenant Chang.

“Jacobson. Let them in. We don’t have grounds to stop them. Complainant isn’t in this building, she’s at the high school. I have Mullin talking to her now.” Jacobson stepped aside. Susan placed her hand on the door handle to open the door.

“Jackie,” Lieutenant Chang said, walking up to her. “What the hell is going on?” Mom looked at the Lieutenant, and then at Dr. Franklin who shook her head no.

“I’ll call you later, John, I can’t get into it right now.” John Chang looked from Jackie to Dr. Franklin.

“All Right, if you need any thing, call. You have the entire department looking after you guys.” Mom smiled.

“Thanks, John.” Mom followed Susan through the door.

#

“You cant just bar people from buildings because you don’t like what they are doing.” Officer Mullin said to Joyce Paskly. “Are you aware that you could get arrested for misuse of the public safety system, interference of police business, and probably some other stuff that the prosecutor would know of that I don’t? Joyce, you are done, you have cost your self your job...” Officer Mullin let the thought trail off. Joyce looked at him.

“I’m not allowed to file a complaint because I don’t want that child in my school dressed that way, I have to accept it and go on? That’s bull shit, Officer, and you know it.” Joyce swept her arm across her desk, knocking the papers and monitor for the computer to the floor. It hit the carpet and the case cracked exposing the wiring inside. “You’re right, I should probably clean out my desk. I have probably lost my job.”

“And added a few criminal charges to the mix. You’ve screwed up today Joyce...” Officer Mullin left the room.

#

The seven of us walked up to the receptionists desk, Mom letting Susan do all the talking.

“We would like to see Mr. Gallagh, The Superintendent of the Takoma County School Board.” The Receptionist just looked at Susan.

“Do you have an appointment?” She asked. I briefly wondered how many people tried to come see the Superintendent with out an appointment.

“No, But I did just call and talk to his Administrative Assistant, Joy Phelps, who said that we could see him.” The receptionist picked up her phone and dialed a number.

“Joy did you just speak to a...” She looked at Susan.

“Susan Richardson” Susan said. I felt Katie take my hand and give it a squeeze. We were no longer playing in the minor leagues. I looked around the lobby of the District office. It was a rather drab area, with only a few fake plants.

“Susan Richardson?” I heard the receptionist ask. I glanced at her. “Meet Mr. Gallagh in the conference room on the second floor, Ok, Thanks.” She hung up the phone. “Go up the stairs to door, go through it and the conference room will be on your right.

”Thank you.“ Susan said with a smile. It was the first time that I had seen her smile since we left the school. Neither one of the mothers were very happy about the way that this was turning out. Susan turned and walked up the carpeted stairs, at the top of the stair case there was an oak door, which Susan opened and walked through, with the rest of us following. She kept walking until she got to the conference room, which she entered without knocking. Inside the room, was the Superintendent, and three other people. I wasn’t sure who the other people were but I hazarded a guess and figured that they were probably the legal team.

”Mrs. Richardson,“ Mr. Gallagh said. ”I am Dave Gallagh, Superintendent, and this is our legal team. Joe Jamski, Sally Courtright, and Thomas Jones.“ Susan shook every ones hands.

”I’m Susan Richardson, This is Jackie Smith, her son and daughter,“ she motioned to me first, ”Josh, who is now going by Morgan. and Jennifer. My daughter Katie, and Morgan’s Doctors, Julie Franklin and Robert Phillips.“ I watched the faces of the legal team when Susan had introduced me. The three of them shared a knowing glance.

”Have a seat.“ Mr. Gallagh said. We all sat at the table opposite from Mr. Gallagh, and the school district’s legal team ”I understand that this has something to do with the Johnson ruling.“ It had been Mr. Gallagh and this legal team that Susan and four other lawyers from her firm had taken on, and won.

”Yes, it does.“ Susan said, pulling some papers out of her bag. ”This morning, Jackie Smith, her son and daughter, and my own daughter went to see Mrs. Paskly at the high school with documentation from Morgan’s doctors stating that she is going to be attending school as Morgan. The resistance that Jackie Smith met this morning is very similar to what Mr. and Mrs. Johnson faced two years ago. I’m not sure how long Mrs. Paskly has been in the district, but I do know that she had absolutely no clue what we were talking about. Even after being presented with both the opinions of the judges, and the changes to policies in the school district, she still refused to allow Morgan to enter into the population of the school, even going as far as trying to get the School Resource Officer to arrest both of Jackie’s children and my daughter on Truancy charges, even though they were in the school.“ Susan paused. ”Mrs. Paskly was also informed by Morgan’s doctors that if she were to continue attending school as Josh, that it would probably end in Josh committing suicide. Mrs Paskly then went on to defame Dr. Franklin as a half rate Psychologist, and said that if Josh did commit suicide, then it would only be Jackie’s fault. I had hoped to not have to sit here like we did two years ago, but here we are. I could file another civil suit against the district on behalf of Jackie Smith, and given the precedent set by the Johnson case, we’d win. That case was bad publicity on the district, and this one would be even worse. The staff at the high school was shaken up pretty well by the last one. I think that Joyce Paskly has realized that she has probably already lost her job over this. She called the police and tried to get them to bar us entrance into the district office. I want to know what you’re going to do about her?“ Susan looked at the four people on the opposite side of the table.

”The Doctors orders are enough for Morgan to attend as Morgan, regardless of what the principal says.“ Sally Courtright said, ”She can’t stop that, regardless of the Johnson ruling.“

”You’re right. I remember sitting through the assemblies after the ruling. Mrs. Paskly said that I would get laughed at, called gay and a faggot, would get beaten up. What she didn’t realize was that I had taken the lead role in a play that the school had put on. I was a girl for that role. I walked among my classmates for pretty close to a month wearing skirts and dresses. The girls treated me as one of them, and the one boy, out of all of the boys in the school who did try something, was quickly quashed by some others, and then dealt with according to the disciplinary rules of the school district. The high school is pretty tight knit, and I would have had more than my sister and Katie to watch my back.“ I paused. ”Mrs Paskly seemed to think that I would fail, but, I’m not the kind of person to just give up when the going gets tough, and if I’m right, I won’t back down.“

”Then why is she trying?“ Mr. Gallagh said. ”I can see that you are the kind of person that won’t just stop because someone wants you to, Morgan. I can also see that you know that you are in the right here, and that is why you are sitting across from me, rather than at home crying.“ Mr. Gallagh smiled at me. ”What was the play?“ I was slightly taken aback by the question, not expecting it.

”The Wizard of Oz, I played Dorothy.“ Sally Courtright’s mouth dropped.

”You were Dorothy?“ She asked. ”I had no idea, and to be honest, if I didn’t know what was going on, I would think that you were a girl right now.“

”Yes, I was Dorothy, and I loved every minute of it. I would do it again, and as a matter of fact, I am. This is a play, and the whole world is my stage. Do you guys know what my goal in life is?“ I asked. The four of them stared at me, not knowing. ”My goal in life is to help people like me.“

”My next question,“ Susan said. ”Is are we going to resolve this here and now, or am I going to have to file these papers with the Takoma County Municipal Court Clerk?“