The Life and Times of Kelly Anderson

Written by Kristine Roland
Edited by Joni W

Part 10 - This is the Sequel to Jason's Story.

Kelly and her friends celebrate her birthday at the lake, as her friends enjoy their day at 'Camp Kelly.' How is Carol dealing with being back with her father?

Author's Note: My sincere thanks to Joni W for all her efforts!

Chapter 23

"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Joan shouted, as she ran off of the end of the dock and jumped in the lake. The rest of Kelly’s friends followed her rapidly. As they all surfaced they came up laughing, splashing at each other and generally having a good time.

Kelly climbed out of the water and sat on the dock looking out at her friends. She smiled as she looked at Joan in her one-piece suit, and thought about the final acceptance it represented from Joan's mother. She looked over to where the adults were sitting. Over by the fire pit, plenty of chairs and tables had been set up, where they would be eating dinner later. Right now there were various snacks and coolers with drinks, soda, juices and flavored waters for the teens, and one cooler was filled with beer for the adults.

Sitting with her own parents, she saw Joan's mother and father, as well as Deb's parents. Samantha's mother and both Julie's Mom and Dad were there. Kathy's mom had brought Sue and Meghan, so their parents were not here.

Samantha climbed out of the water and sat next to her. "Kelly this is great. Thanks for inviting me."

"You're welcome. Believe me, I was thrilled when my folks said it was ok. I know it’s a bit of a drive to get here, I hope your Mom didn't mind too much."

"Not at all, she was looking forward to it too. She would love to have a place like this."

"We love it. We spend a couple weeks up here at the start of the summer and then we will come up for a few weekends throughout the summer, till we have to close it up for the winter. Last year we didn't get much time up here after the beginning, because of everything else that was going on with me."

Julie and Sue climbed out and Julie said, "I'm gonna get some sun." She grabbed a beach chair and lay down with a towel over her eyes. Sue grabbed a beach ball and threw it towards Joan. Joan laughed and hit it towards Kathy, and Sue dove back in the water.

Kelly looked at Joan and said, "It's great to see Joan so happy. I can't wait to hear about her talk with her dad. It obviously went well."

Samantha smiled and said, "Yeah, me too. It's nice when it happens that way."

Kelly said, "I just wish Carol could be here."

Samantha said, "Me too. I'm worried about her. I got an I/M from her last night and she seems really depressed. Her father is really pushing her to 'be a man.' I just hope she doesn't get hurt."

"Me too. It's frustrating, I just wish there was something we could do to help her. But there really isn't anything other than being there for her when she needs us."

They sat silently for a few minutes, just watching the girls batting the beach ball around as they thought about Carol.

Samantha broke the silence by saying, "Oh… by the way, I loved the sign you put up to greet us as we came up the drive. Camp Kelly, huh. I almost peed myself, I laughed so hard."

"Well you said you missed going to camp, so I thought we would make that the theme of the party."

"Mom didn't understand what was so funny and even when I explained it, she just looked at me like I was crazy. Oh well, nothing new in that… So we need to come up with a camp song."

"A camp song?"

Samantha said, "Yeah, a camp song… Gotta have one to sing at the camp fire."

"I'll leave that to you."

"Ok, let me get some paper and a pencil from my purse." Samantha ran into the house and came back with a notepad and a pencil. She sat at the table on the dock and went to work.

Kelly got up to go grab something to drink. As she came closer to where the adults were sitting and talking, she could hear her father talking to Joan's dad, "No, it's not easy. I do miss my son at times, but I love my daughter just as much. And really, Jason's not really gone, he was always Kelly, I just didn't realize it. The important thing to me is, that she is happy and safe. That's really my biggest worry. There are really crazy people out there and some of them can be pretty violent. When Kelly was outed last year, we got death threats and a lot of nasty messages left on our answering machine. So yeah, I worry about her safety."

Joan's father said, "What kind of life can they have? They are always going to have to worry about being found out, even if they have the operation and don't have to be afraid of being 'caught' that way, there will still be records of the past that can come back and haunt them. I love my son and I accept what the doctor's are telling us about the dangers of suppressing this in them. I recognize that those idiots that were on that Firefly show are quacks, but I can't help mourn the loss of my son."

Joan's mother squeezed her father's hand and shook her head in agreement. "It is hard, I fought against it, as you know. I started taking him… I mean her, oh… damn you know what I mean… to the TransTeen group meetings, hoping to get support and find a way to get him over this. I almost pulled out when I realized that the group wasn't going to do that. Sharon, it was your story about the other child from your town that was pulled out and then killed himself, that kept me from doing it."

Deb's mother, Sharon said, "I know Betty, and believe me we all understand. None of us wished for our kids to be transgendered."

"When I picked up Ji… I mean Joan from Kelly's slumber party… that is when I really saw the girl in her and I realized she wasn't going to go away. She was just so alive that day, and I had never seen that in my son." Joan's mother started to cry, and her father put his arm around her.

"I'm sorry that you did not come to me sooner, honey. You shouldn't have had to deal with this on your own for so long."

"I know, I should have told you as soon as I found out, but you were so proud when Jimmy was born. You loved having a son, and I was hoping that you wouldn't have to face losing him."

Kelly spoke up, "Excuse me… I'm sorry, I did not mean to eavesdrop on your conversation, I was just coming for some soda. But if you'll forgive me, I'd like to say something about that. Jimmy isn't going to go away, even if he becomes Joan full time at some point. It took me a while to figure this one out for myself too, in fact I really had a hard time giving up my name to truly become Kelly. I eventually figured out that the only real difference was how I wanted to be perceived, and that is I am a girl. But I still like everything I liked as Jason, I love fishing with my dad, playing ball. Going for hikes and camping, all those supposed guy things. Has my relationship with my mom and dad changed as a result? Yes, I guess it has in some ways. I can share things with my mother that I always wanted to, but couldn't as Jason. There are some differences in the way fathers and daughters interact, versus fathers and sons, but I still enjoy doing the things with my dad that we always did. I haven't given up any of them and frankly when we go fishing, or camping, or whatever, I don't really notice much of a change."

Her father said, "I agree. Oh, when we are camping, we do take turns getting changed in the tent now, which we wouldn't have done before, but for the most part, Kelly is right. Once I got over it, it ceased to be different." He then added with a grin, "Although Kelly, I do miss the opportunity to tease my son about girls… It's not quite the same, since you are one now."

Julie's father in mock anger said, "Hey, that's my daughter you would be talking about… hmmm… hadn't thought about that, I'll have to take advantage of that, since I can tease my daughter about girls."

Julie's mother smacked him playfully and said, "Ken!"

Kelly laughed and said, "Dad… If you really are feeling cheated, I suspect I can handle it. I can let that part of Jason out occasionally for you. Just keep it in good taste," she added with a wink.

She then turned back to Joan's parents and said, "Joan has told us that she really enjoys doing the 'guy' things with you, and she is really hoping not to lose that as well. She loves you both; believe me, it's not easy on us either. We worry about being a disappointment and fear of rejection. She expected that she was going to have to come today as Jimmy and I can see how happy she is to be here as Joan. The best thing you can do for her is to continue to love her, and make her feel that she is accepted for who she is. That's what she needs right now and I think you are both doing a very good job of that."

With that she grabbed a diet soda and excused herself, as she headed back to the lake.

In keeping with the camp theme, they had various activities planned through the day. Mr. Anderson fired up The Kristine and took the girls out on a tour of the lake, then he let those that wanted to try water-skiing, to try it. After the girls had enough, he then took the parents out. The girls watched from the dock as their parents tried water-skiing.

Samantha said, "Oh my God, I didn't know my mother could water ski? Look at her go!"

A little bit later, it was Deb's father's turn, he got up for a second and then went head over heals quickly. Deb said, "Ouch… that had to hurt." She let out a sigh of relief when she saw him grab the rope for another try. "I guess he couldn't be too badly hurt… except maybe his pride."

It took him a couple of tries, but he did finally get up and stay up. He raised one arm in triumph.

Joan's father was next; he got it on his second try.

When they came back to the dock, they got off laughing and thanked Kelly's father for the lessons.

Samantha said to her Mom, "When did you learn to water ski, Mom?"

"Oh, years ago, I used to go up to a lake like this when I was your age. Some friends had a place, and they had a boat too."

"Cool, I didn't know that."

After everyone had a snack and a drink, the girls challenged the parents to a volleyball game. Deb and Kathy turned out to be the best spikers on the girl’s team So, as they played, the girls worked hard to set up one of them. On the parent’s side, Julie and Joan's fathers were the best.

The game was fairly even, going back and forth, but in the end the girls pulled it out and won on a fake, as Deb pretended to go for it, but Kathy actually took it and spiked it in the opposite direction, at the last moment.

After the volleyball game, everyone helped with the barbeque dinner. There were hot dogs, hamburgers and Italian sausage. There were some pork ribs, chicken and shrimp. There was also fresh bass, that Kelly and her father had caught and cleaned that morning. There was fruit salad, a couple of different kinds of potato salad, and all the toppings and fixings you could want.

The fresh air and activity had everyone hungry and they made a good dent in the pile of food that had been prepared.

Deb's mom, said, "Oh, I don't think I've eaten like that since I was a kid. Everything was wonderful, especially the bass."

While cleaning up, Kelly had a chance to ask Meghan, "How are things going at home with your parents?"

Meghan said, "Good. Dad is doing ok at his job, not what he wants to do, but at least its money. Mom is still looking, but is helping out my Gram and Grampa that best she can. Everyone is glad to have me home. I missed them. I can't tell you how much I appreciate being given the opportunity to stay with you and your family and they are great, but I do wish I could stay with my own parents."

Kelly said, "I know. And you are definitely welcome as long as you need. I have to tell you, I enjoyed having a little sister, and I miss our nightly chat sessions."

Meghan gave her a quick hug and they got back to cleaning.

As it was starting to get dark, Kelly's father lit the campfire and the citronella candles around the fire pit. Everyone sat around the fire and Kathy's mother got out her guitar. She played and everyone sang along. Songs like Country Roads and Yesterday.

While she was taking a break, Kelly asked Samantha if she had written her camp song. Samantha blushed and said, "Yeah, though it's not very good."

Kelly, "Come on, we have to hear it, then."

Samantha said, "Alright. I couldn't get that song from the movie Meatballs out of my head. Have you ever seen that one? It's an old movie, but my Dad loves it. Anyway, I ended up taking it and reworking the words."

The adults all chuckled, as they knew the movie. Some of the kids nodded as they had seen it on a DVD, somewhere along the line.

Kelly said, "Ok… I've seen the movie, so I know the song, so let's hear your version of it."

Samantha blushed and sang:

We are the girls of TG Camp Kelly
Where Genetic Girls mix with girl Wanna-be's
We're gonna laugh and sing and fool around,
We're estrogen bound
We are the Camp Kelly girls

Everyone laughed, and Kelly said, "Ok, so that's the Camp Kelly song, we all have to sing."

They started slowly; even the fathers got into it, and sang it through, each time speeding it up, over and over a dozen times, till everyone just broke out in laughter.

Julie laughed, and said, "Well top 20 it's not, but that was fun."

Kathy's mom picked up the guitar and played another round of songs.

Then she started in on Happy Birthday and Kelly saw that her mother had slipped away and was coming out to the table with a cake with the candles lit. After they finished the song, she went over to the cake, and made her wish. She knew exactly what to wish for, and to herself she thought, let Carol be able to join us here next year.

They all had some birthday cake. Her mother had also brought out marshmallows, graham crackers and chocolate bars. The girls settled down to making Smore's.

Not much longer after that, the party came to an end. It was a long drive back home for Kelly's guests and she and her parents thanked them all for coming, as they were packing up. Julie gave her parents an especially big hug, as they got into their car leaving Julie to stay with Kelly for the next week.

When everyone had left, Kelly thanked her parents for the party, and they finished cleaning up, what little was left, and went in to bed.

Chapter 24

Kelly glanced at the caller id on her cell phone, as she answered it and said, "Hi Deb, what's up?"

"Carol is in the hospital." Deb told her.

"What happened, is she going to be ok," Kelly asked?

"Her bastard father beat the crap out of her. Last night, her father got drunk and caught her on the computer logged in as Carol to her I/M service. She was chatting with a couple of people from the TransTeen group. He apparently completely lost it. She has a couple of broken ribs, a broken arm and her face is one big bruise."

"Oh my god. Is she going to be alright? Can we go see her?"

"Her mom told my mother that she will be ok, no organ damage, thank God. Her father has been arrested; it will be on the news tonight. In fact, Beth Ann from BNN is doing a story on it. Right now it's a bit muddy; her mother still does not have custody, she is currently a ward of the state. Her mom's lawyers are filing all kinds of motions to have the court re-appoint her as guardian. She asked us not to go to the hospital yet, but of course she said it was fine to send a note or flowers to make sure Carol knows we are here for her."

"Of course we are!"

Kelly wrote down the information on where Carol was being treated, and then said, "Thanks for letting me know Deb. I'll see you next week at the group."

Kelly went into the kitchen and said, "Mom. I just got a call from Deb. Carol, from the group, is in the hospital. Her father beat her up."

"Damn. Her mother was really afraid of that, is Carol going to be ok?"

"She apparently has a couple of broken ribs, a broken arm and a bunch of bruises on her face, but her mother says she is going to be ok, there was no organ damage. Can we send some flowers or something to her room? Deb says we can't go visit her yet."

"Yes of course we can. Do you have the information on where to send them?"

"Right here," Kelly said and handed the slip of paper to her mother.

"I'll take care of it. Anything specific you want the card to say?"

"Um... How about, Get well soon, umm.. I don't know Mom… what should I say. I want to tell her I'm here for her, that I wanted to come see her, but how do you say that in a few words?"

"Don't try. Send her a letter or an e-mail if she has access, and tell her those things."

"Ok, then just say 'Get well soon, love Kelly.' I will send her a note too."

Chapter 25

Kelly spent most of the rest of the day worrying about Carol. She had to try to put it out of her mind while she was working in the serving line that evening, serving dinner at the church soup kitchen. She had to try to keep a positive mindset and a smile on her face. She could not help herself though, as she looked out at the people sitting at the tables and saw Mrs. Moran and her son, to get angry at the kind of bigotry, which led to a father hurting his child.

She had to wipe tears from her eyes, and said, "Kathy… please can you take over here for me."

"Sure Kelly... go ahead." Kathy took the spoon from her and gave her a smile.

Kelly went into the back room and found a quiet out of the way corner to sit down and try to get a handle on her emotions. "Damn!" She said as she pounded her clenched fist into a box of baked beans. Then she simply could not hold it back any more, she hugged herself tightly and began to sob.

A few minutes later, Julie came looking for her, finding her crying she rushed over, put her arms around her and said, "Kelly, what's wrong?"

"How could he do that to her? His own child? I just don't understand, Julie. Why was I so lucky? How can people be so hurtful? He beat the hell out of her! She is lucky to be alive. How many of those people out there would like to do that to me? Brad and his father would have. Hell, Brad's father abused him. Why, damn it, why?"

Julie held onto her and said, "I don't know Kelly. I don't know what to tell you."

Kelly laughed, "Hell, I wished that Carol would be able to join us next year at my party, maybe I caused it. Maybe that's my wish being granted."

Julie looked at her and said, "Ok, now you are being a bit egocentric, don't you think? You know as well as I do that birthday wishes are just for fun, you did not make this happen."

"I know Julie… I'm kidding."

Minister Goodman came in and said, "You alright, Kelly? I heard about your friend, I'm sorry. It's horrible. Thank God she will be ok, but she is going to need lots of support. Being attacked like that is bad enough, but when it comes from your own father… well…"

"She should never have been put back into his care. That Judge should be removed from the bench. He ignored all of the evidence, because he is prejudiced against transgendered people."

"Well Julie, there will probably be a call for just that, as this comes out. It will certainly be reviewed, I wish I could say that it was likely, but the judicial review system tends to watch out for their own. They may have no choice on this one though. They are susceptible to political pressure at times," Minister Goodman said.

"I hope so, Minister. I'll be alright, I just had to get away and let this out, but I'll be back in a minute. I just need to clean up, I'm sure I look horrible, and I need to be cheerful when I'm on the line."

"Well… take the time you need, it's slowing down out there now any way. If you don't need me though, I'll go back and keep things moving."

"Go ahead, I'll be fine."

Minister Goodman left them alone. Julie and Kelly went to the ladies room to wash up.

While they were in there, Courtney came into the ladies room. "Oh damn, the dyke and it. What are you doing in here? This is a ladies room. Aren't you supposed to use the 'it' room? I should call the police."

Julie turned on her and said, "Not tonight Courtney. Let it be."

Courtney said, "Why should I? This isn't school property; you can't get me expelled for what happens here. I still owe you for that suspension, you bitch."

Kelly said, "Why thank you, Courtney, you just acknowledged I'm female at least. We may be making progress with you after all."

"You are not female, you aren't male either, you’re an 'it,' and that is all you will ever be."

Julie stepped in front of her, and said, "Courtney, this may be a restroom, but it's in a church. I know that I was raised better then to fight in church, so do what you have to do, we will finish up in here, and let it go. We at least have respect for our host. Minister Goodman takes a dim view of intolerance as you know."

Courtney was about to say something, when the door opened and some other ladies from the church came in, so she said, "Fine." She went into a stall and shut the door.

Julie and Kelly finished cleaning up and went back to the serving line.

Chapter 26

Kelly, her mother and Julie stood outside the door to Carol's hospital room. They had received the all clear from Carol's mom that it was ok for them to come and visit. She nodded at the uniformed police officer, that was sitting beside the door. He asked their names, checked a list and waved them in.

Kelly reached for the doorknob and hesitated.

Her mom said, "Go ahead Kelly, it's going to be alright."

She turned the knob and opened the door and went on in. She held back a gasp as she saw her friend Carol. Her face was blotched with dark purplish blue bruises. She had a cast on one of her arms, and her chest was bandaged tightly.

Kelly forced a smile onto her face as she walked in. Carol looked over and when she saw who it was she got a smile, and said, "Kelly! Thanks for coming. Hi Julie and Mrs. Anderson, thank you too. The flowers were beautiful by the way. And I really appreciated the notes that all three of you sent to me."

Kelly said, "Carol, there was no question of our coming, as soon as we were told it was ok. We'd have been here sooner if it were allowed."

"I know, Kelly. Grab a seat; it's good to see you."

They all found seats around Carol's bed. Kelly asked, "So what is going on? You're mother did not have time to fill us in when she called to let us know we could come and visit. Are you going back into her care or is that still up in the air?"

"Well, the judge that had our case, and put me back with my father, is on leave pending an investigation by the judicial review board. A new judge has been put on the case for now, and he has awarded temporary custody to my mother. He has not overturned any of the decisions regarding the treatment of my transgendered needs at this point, but he did authorize visits from my friends, including those of you from the group. He said, regardless of the ultimate outcome of that decision, right now I needed the support of my friends, whoever they are."

Julie said, "Well, we are glad of that."

Kelly and her mother agreed.

Carol replied, "So am I. I thought I might never see any of you again, especially that night." She shuddered.

Kelly said, "I'm so sorry, hon. You don't have to talk about it unless you want to."

Carol said, "No, its ok. I was on the computer, chatting with Samantha and Joan. My father came in and was drunk, and I didn't get it closed down fast enough. He saw that I was logged in as Carol, and he went ballistic. He started shouting at me, 'I told you that was over. I'm going to make a man of you if it’s the last thing I do.' I tried to get away, and he grabbed my arm and spun me around. I think that's when he broke it, because I was trying to twist to get away and heard it pop. I started to cry and he hit me saying that 'boys don't cry' when I didn't stop he hit me a few more times in the face, then he threw me aside and I hit the side of the desk."

Kelly, Mrs. Anderson and Julie all listened in horror.

Carol said, "He went into the kitchen mumbling about something, and I heard him fall down. He apparently passed out from what I've been told. I crawled over to the phone and dialed 911, before I passed out from the pain. When I woke up the paramedics were rushing me to the hospital. After I got out of the emergency room, the police were there and asked me what had happened. I told them, and they said my father had been arrested, and that I should try to get some sleep. Someone from family services would come see me in the morning. I told them that I wanted to see my mother, and they said that she was still under a court order to visit only with supervision and that they were working on getting that arranged. That she would be coming to see me soon. When she did get here the next morning she was ready to chew nails, because she had not been allowed in before."

Carol smiled wryly, "I prayed to God that he get me out of my father's care, this isn't quite what I had in mind though."

Kelly asked, "Oh my God, Carol, I am so sorry this happened to you? Are you ok? I mean I know you aren't, but are you going to be?"

Carol said, "It hurts like hell, fortunately I'm not up to laughing much, because that is really painful, because of the broken ribs, but it's my face that really hurts. I don't think even Michele could do much with it right now."

Mrs. Anderson said, "It will heal though, Carol. And once we get the legal stuff cleared up, I'm sure that Michele would love to work with you again."

Carol said, "I hope so, Mrs. Anderson. It seems like a long way away. The lawyers are more optimistic about it now, but they can't guarantee anything. I half expect my dad to pull another damn rabbit out of his hat and find a way to explain this and get me back in his custody."

Mrs. Anderson said, "God forbid."

With that they changed the subject. Carol said, "I hear you had a great birthday party at your summer house on the lake, Kelly. Wish I could have been there. Deb stopped by and was telling me all about it."

Kelly choked up a bit, but said, "Yes, it was great. I hope you can be with us next year."

Carol said, "Me too, that would be great."

They continued to talk for a while about various things, until the nurse came in and told them that visiting hours were over and that they were going to have to let Carol get some rest.

Kelly raised her eyebrows when the nurse said "Carol," and the nurse noticing said, "I call people what they want to be called."

Kelly smiled, shook her head yes and said, "Good for you."

They said their goodbyes to Carol, and promised to come back again, as soon as they could.