She squeezed Mr. Cuddles the bear tightly, putting her mouth against his soft fuzzy body and let out a low squeal. She wanted to scream it from the highest mountain. She had been kissed! The only people to kiss her so far had been relatives. Her parents had sent them to bed shortly after the new year was rung in. Her father hadn't said anything about the kiss, but she could tell by the looks he was giving to both her and Peter, he wasn't happy. She lay there, thinking about how that kiss made her body tingle.

She heard movement from her parent's bedroom and a moment later, her father poked his head out of the curtain that was their bedroom door. He looked at her and she gave him a wave of her fingers, then his gaze swept around the room, as though he was searching for something. Or someone.

“William.” She heard her mother say. “You don't need to check up on her every ten minutes.”

Editing by Djkuaf. Thank you once again.

Post New Year fun with Tracy and Family

January 1st 1983

Tracy woke up and was slightly confused as to where she was for a moment. Then she remembered that she was on the pull out bed, in the living room. Her mind went over the events of the night before. She smiled as she recalled watching the different bands on the TV. Then her heart starting racing as she remembered the feeling of Peter kissing her.

She squeezed Mr. Cuddles the bear tightly, putting her mouth against his soft fuzzy body and let out a low squeal. She wanted to scream it from the highest mountain. The only people to kiss her so far had been relatives. Her parents had sent them to bed shortly after the new year was rung in. Her father hadn't said anything about the kiss, but she could tell by the looks he was giving to both her and Peter, he wasn't happy. She lay there, thinking about how that kiss made her body tingle.

She heard movement from her parent's bedroom and a moment later, her father poked his head out of the curtain that was their bedroom door. He looked at her and she gave him a wave of her fingers, then his gaze swept around the room, as though he was searching for something. Or someone.

“William.” She heard her mother say. “You don't need to check up on her every ten minutes.”

She raised an eyebrow, wondering what was going on as her father ducked his head back into his room.
From within the bedroom she could barely make out what they were saying. “Maggie, I was just making sure she was okay.”

Maggie chuckled softly. “Making sure she's okay, or alone?”

Tracy didn't listen to them anymore. She got up and headed to the bedroom, aware that as she walked across the floor, her father was watching her again. She shook her head, wondering what his problem was and made her way to the bathroom, stopping long enough to see Peter asleep on her bed. She decided against waking him, or kissing him while he slept, for fear her father would pop out of thin air. She headed to the bathroom, deciding that today, breakfast could wait till everyone was up.

~o~O~o~

While Tracy made breakfast, with Vance and Peter's help, William led his wife outside and shut the door. They walked to the side of the house away from the kitchen and he glared at her. “Okay, we have to do something. I walked into the kitchen and Peter was hugging Tracy. He stopped when he heard I was there.”

“Yeah. It's best to stop them before they get too far.” She agreed. “I know she won't go too far, but rumors can wreck a girl.”

“How? How do you know she won’t give in to his charms?” William asked.

“She doesn't want anyone to see her body the way it is. So her getting naked isn't going to happen.”

William arched an eyebrow. “Maggie, you can still have sex with your clothes on. We've proven that.”

“William, I doubt they're headed for the bedroom. It was just a kiss.” She watched as his jaw locked into place and she put a hand on his shoulder. “But there is a good side to waiting. In her condition, she needs to take it slow anyway.”

“Yeah and I know how teenage boys are. We need to talk to them.” He stated. “Before it gets too far out of hand. You know how one kiss can lead to more.”

Maggie sighed deeply she knew he was right. Plus as a father, he got to be more protective of his daughter. “Okay. I'll call his mother, because it's only fair if we're going to talk to him, she knows about it.”

“I'll deal with Peter. You talk to Tracy.” William said. “If you need help, I'll come in and help.”

“Okay, but what if you need help?” She asked.

“Oh, I won't need help.” He replied with a small smile.

“No shotguns.” She stated.

“I wasn't going to shoot him.” William said. “Just convince him.”

“No shotguns.” Maggie repeated. “Just talk to him, okay. Tact is better than force.”

He sighed, then it looked, for just a split second, that he was going to pout. He nodded and turned to the house. “Okay. After breakfast, then we split them up and talk to them. Then I want to put down some ground rules for both of them.”

~o~O~o~

Breakfast was over and Peter was at the kitchen table, looking at a pop music magazine that Tracy had bought on her shopping trip. She was pointing out all the bands that she wanted music from while he just sat there and smiled.

William walked up to the table and knocked on it to get their attention. “Hey Peter, I was wondering if I could talk with you for a moment.”

“Sure.” He got up and followed William. To the living room.

“We'll go outside. I want this to be private. So grab your coat.”

Peter grabbed his coat and put it on, then he followed William out into the cold morning. William started walking down the road and Peter jogged to catch up, then fell into step with him. After a few moments of silence, Peter had a feeling as to what the talk was going to be about. But before he could talk, William broke the uneasy silence.

“Peter. What do you think of my Daughter?” William looked at him for a moment while they walked, trying to judge his facial expressions.

Peter smiled brightly. “She's wonderful. She's friendly and happy. Ever since she started to be Tracy full time, she’s been fun to hang out with.”

“I can agree with that.” William said in a detached voice, showing neither anger or happiness. “What are your personal feelings about her. How do you feel about her.”

Peter stopped and thought about it for a moment, then he asked. “Are you asking if I like her? 'Cause my feelings and thoughts are the same thing, aren't they?”

William nodded. “Yes, do you like her as more than a friend?”

Peter lowered his gaze. He had been expecting the question. He nodded slowly and spoke quietly. “Yes Sir, I do.” He wasn't sure why he used that term for a man he had called Mr. Patterson for years, but at the moment, it felt right.

William wanted to smile at the respect in his words, but he stayed focused. “I thought so. Peter, you and I need to discuss that kiss that you two had last night.”

Peter lowered his head and quietly replied. “Yes, sir.”

“Now, I told Maggie that I wouldn't threaten you. God knows threatening you would just make you want her more. But I will warn you, you will treat my daughter with respect. I find out otherwise and I will end up in jail with Bruce, understand me?”

“Yes sir.” Peter nodded.

“I can't hate you. I try, mostly because it's a dad thing, but I can't. You came to my girl’s defense when Bruce attacked. Hell, you helped keep my mother from being hurt worse.” William held out his hand, in the offer of a handshake. Peter stared at it for a moment, not moving to take it. William wiggle the hand slightly, giving a sense of impatience. “Come on, I won't bite.”

Peter finally took the hand and William's clamped around his, tightly. Peter did his best to squeeze back, but he failed. The bigger man tugged him closer and looked down his nose at the boy. “You helped my family out, but God help you if you hurt that girl of mine, understand?”

“Yes sir.” He replied, trying not to wince in pain.

“Good. Now let’s go back to the house. We’ve got some rules for your two, okay?” He let go of Peter's hand and made sure he turned to walk with him.

~o~O~o~

Maggie watched from her chair in the living room as Peter left, then she got up and went to the kitchen table where Tracy was sitting. She quietly took a seat and waited for her daughter to look up. She watched as Tracy read through her magazine, not paying a bit of attention to her, so she decided to interrupt her. “Heck of a night last night, wasn't it?”

Tracy nodded. “I know! The Go-go's were so awesome and so were the other bands!”

“Yeah, they were pretty good.” Maggie nodded. “But I meant that kiss you got from Peter.”

Her cheek went red and she looked to the table, but her eyes drifted back to her mother. “It was great. I mean it was kinda weird, 'cause I don't think I've ever kissed anyone, but I liked it.”

“And your father saw it.” Maggie stated.

Tracy remember that Peter had just left with him and her mind began to picture a number of things that William could do to him. She started to get up and Maggie got up and stopped her. “Mama, he's gonna kill Peter.”

“No, he's not. But he is talking to him about that kiss.” Maggie stated. “We're talking to both of you.”

“He's not gonna hurt him, is he?” Tracy asked, tears filling her eyes. “He's the only friend I have here.”

“No, he won’t hurt him.” Maggie stated. Then she finished the statement in her head. ~At least I hope he doesn't.~

“Are you mad?”

“Well, I'm neither mad, nor happy. Your father's in the slightly upset category.” Maggie took her seat again and smiled at her daughter. “Sweetie, I know you're growing up, but we don't want you growing up too fast. Remember what we talked about on Christmas eve? How you didn't want anyone to see you naked?”

Tracy groaned. She didn't want the sex talk, once more in under a week. “Yeah, but it was just a kiss.”

Maggie nodded. “Yes it was 'just a kiss'. But your father and I know how 'just a kiss' can lead to 'just a little snuggle' and that leads to....” Her cheeks turned a bit red and she looked away for a moment. “Well, you know what that leads to. I have two examples so far.”

“Mama! I'm not going to have....” Tracy blushed. “You know...That!”

“Maybe, but baby, we got to be sure. Trust me, when a guy is looking you in the eye and telling you what you want to hear, your clothes just seemed to find their way to the floor. Trust me, I know this first hand. You get to the point where you need to feel them touching you.”

“MOM!” Tracy put her hands over her ears and looked away from her.

Maggie just waited patiently, till Tracy looked over and saw her mother was just sitting there, watching her. Tracy moved her hands slightly and Maggie smiled. “Now we can finish this conversation like two grown ups, or I can wait and get into the dirty details when Peter and your father are in here.”

Tracy took her hands down the rest of the way. “I'll be good.”

“Good. I know you say you won’t have sex, but I am also talking about your reputation. If you get known for kissing guys, or letting them feel you up, then the stories will get worse. You may give a guy a friendly peck on the cheek, but high school boys will insist you went all the way with them. I know it sucks, but women have it worse. If a guy sleeps around, he's a stud and all the guys want to be him. If a girl sleeps around, she's a slut and no one wants to know her.” Maggie put her hand on Tracy's. “And you don't have to do the deed, the stories can ruin you just as fast.”

“But Mama, it was just a kiss and Peter won’t brag.....” She paused for a moment, then, looking unsure, asked. “Will he?”

“I don't think so, but you never know.” Maggie answered. “But that's why you have to watch what you do.”

Tracy thought about it for a moment, then nodded. “I will.”

“Good. Plus, eleven is way too young to go kissing guys. If your brother can't date till sixteen, neither can you.” Maggie stated.

Tracy agreed. “Yes, Mama.” She knew it was hopeless to fight it now.

~o~O~o~

William opened up the door and let Peter walk in. He gestured to the couch. “Have a seat, young man.” William gestured to his wife and daughter. Tracy followed her mother into the living room and was about to sit on the couch, next to Peter when her Father held up a finger. “Sit apart and no holding hands.” He touched Maggie's arm and led her to the kitchen for a moment.

Tracy looked at him and dropped her eyes a bit. “Sorry you got in trouble.”

“No, I'm sorry I got you in trouble.”

“Daddy didn't hurt you, did he?” Tracy asked, eyes full of worry.

Peter shook his head. “No. He just talked.” He looked over as Tracy's parents entered the room.

They stopped by the coffee table and stood there. “Okay. We have a few ground rules to set down for you two.” Maggie stated. “First and foremost, there won't be anymore sleepovers. Sorry Peter, but it's not that we don't trust you, but if she starts going girl full time at school and word gets out that you spent the night, that will trash her reputation. It will make her look like a slut.”

Peter nodded and before they could speak she continued. “Second is that Peter can only be over here if we're here, or you're at your grandparents.”

“Mama. Nothing's gonna happen.” Tracy whined.

“Young lady, this is our house, these are our rules.” She replied. “We want you safe and both your father and I know how teen boys can be.” They both glared at Peter, then back at her. “We're not saying he can't come over at all, but if it's just you here, then the answer here is no.”

“Mooom.” Tracy whined, Peter put a hand on hers and shook his head.

“It's okay. I understand. I don't mind. Besides, we can hang out at school.” He said, this perked Tracy up, but only slightly.

“But.” William cut in. “It's not just Peter. It's any boy that isn't Vance.”

“What about him? Are you gonna make him keep girls away from here?” Tracy asked.

“Haven't had a problem with that, but yes. He can't have girl guests if we aren't home.” William said with a nod.

Maggie nodded in agreement with her husband. “We want you to be safe and yes, I know Peter will keep you safe, but we want to help keep any stories from starting. We're not mad, we're just looking out for you.”

“Yes Mama.” Tracy looked up for a moment. “Does this mean I can't have Sage and the others stay over if Vance is home? We know he likes her?”

“I....” Maggie looked at her husband and cocked her head. “She had a point.”

“We'll play that by ear, okay.” William stated. “Not fair to you if lose your friends because he likes one of them.”

“Thank you, Daddy.” She replied.

“I wanna stress, we're not mad at either of you.” Maggie started.

“Well....” William began to say, till Maggie brought her foot down on his.

“We are not mad. It's only natural that you want to explore the feelings you have. But please, be safe and think of the consequences.”

“Yes.” William stated. He looked at Peter. “All twelve gauges of them.”

Maggie looked at her husband and raised one eyebrow, but didn't scold him. She looked back to Peter. “We're not saying you can't come over anymore, we just want to be here, okay? My daughter is in a more delicate situation than most girls her age. Please, think of her, before you think with your libido.”

“Yes Ma'am.” He replied.

“Now, would you like to stay and watch some of the college games with William and Vance?” She asked. “Tracy made some salsa for it and we already have your mother’s okay.”

“I...I don't know.” He replied hesitantly.

“Come on, please?” Tracy pleaded. “It's good salsa and Daddy won't threaten you.”

“Peter, we've had our talk. As long as you don't go kissing Tracy, we've got no problem with you staying for a few games and maybe dinner.”

Tracy mouthed the word. “Please?” As she held up her hands as though she was praying.

“If it's not a problem.” He replied, feeling very uneasy.

“Come here.” She moved halfway around the table and held her arms out for him. He slowly got up and she hugged him. “I said we're not mad. Just take things slower, okay?”

“Yes Ma'am.” He said with a nod.

“You saved my mother-in-law and my daughter from harm. I'll be in your debt all my life for that. You're a good kid, just keep making good choices and nothing will change between us, okay?”

“Yes Ma'am.”

“Mrs. Patterson works, too. Ma'am makes me feel old.”

“Yes, Mrs. Patterson.” He said with a smile.

“Good.” She let go of him and held out her arms for her daughter. “Come here.” Tracy stood up and stepped into the hug. “the same goes for you, okay?”

“Yes, Mama.” She replied.

“There. All settled. Now I believe you two were looking at that magazine before we interrupted you.” William gave her a stern look but she raised one eyebrow, then led him to his chair. “Go on kids. You were reading before we interrupted you.”

Tracy looked from her parents, wondering if it were a ploy of some form, but she just shrugged and got up. “Come on.” She told Peter with a smile. “I got a few new tapes if you wanna hear them.”

“Sure.” He said as they got up.

“At the table.” William stated. “No listening to music in the bedroom.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

As they walked out of the room, William looked at his wife and whispered. “We're just going to go back to how it was?”

“Will, you know if we watch them every second, they will find a way to sneak off.” She whispered back, then smiled. “Besides, I want to make cookies.”

A grin spread across his lips as he knew the kids wouldn't be alone. “Have fun out there."

I just had to do that. The whole fun of Fathers and shotguns just can't be passed up.

“Troy, I told you before, if you need to talk to me, you can.” Mr. McCoy said.

“I know, sir.” Troy answered back.

“Are there problems at home? Problems with your brother, or parents?” The teacher asked, probing for a clue.

“No sir.” Troy looked up. “They've all been great, it's.....it's personal and I don't feel comfortable talking about it here.”

Mr. McCoy nodded slowly. “It has to do with your injuries after Thanksgiving, right?”

“In a way.” Troy answered. “But I don't want to talk about it.”

Big thanks to Djkauf for the Editing.

It's back to School time for Tracy. Or is it Troy?

January 3rd 1983

School had started up and Troy was once again in the funk that seemed to follow his boy side. Life was cruel. He had been having a hard time concentrating on class work. His eyes and mind began to wander to the clothes that the nearby girls were wearing. From the shoes, to their skirts, or pants with the colorful fringe on them. He had some of the skirts that some of the girls were wearing in his own closets. He even had a pair of the more popular shoes, but he couldn't wear them at the school. No, his life was hard enough. He knew if he came to school as himself, as Tracy, that he'd be fighting an uphill battle.

“Mr. Patterson?” A voice cut through his day dreaming. “Are you paying attention?”

“What?” He looked up, blinking a couple of times, while several classmates snickered at him.

“I asked if you could tell me what Harriet Tubman was famous for.” His teacher repeated.

Troy thought about it for a moment. It had been in one of the school work assignments he had read for while he was out. Then it dawned on him. “She was a slave, who freed slaves?”

Mr. McCoy was nodded slowly as he said it. He smiled and turned to the chalkboard and wrote that down. “Very good, Troy. Yes she was a slave. She was also a spy and a nurse. But she was known for her work in the underground railroad.”

Troy breathed a sigh of relief as the teacher turned his attention onto a different student, who was also suffering the same issues of not paying attention. The boy who sat behind him leaned forward and whispered. “Teacher’s pet.”

Troy ignored him and tried to force himself to focus on the lesson, which proved very hard. He was barely paying attention when the lunch bell rang. As everyone got up, he reached into his desk and pulled out the brown bag that held his lunch and stood up. He was halfway to the door when Mr. McCoy stopped him. “Troy, could I get a moment?”

Several of the kids passing him began to make the same noise. “OOOOHHHHH” But Troy ignored them.

He went over to the desk, slightly aware that someone was behind him. “Mary Beth, I need to speak to Troy for a moment, do you need something?”

“I was just going to wait for Troy.” She replied.

“Ah. Could you wait outside. And get the door on your way out.” He said.

“Okay.” She replied, and Troy could tell she wasn't happy. She slowly shuffled out the door, closing it as requested.

“So, Troy. What's wrong today? I've never seen you this absent minded in all the time I've known you.”

“Sorry, I've been a bit distracted.” He slumped his shoulders as he replied.

“Well after the events of the past month, I can't blame you. But I've caught your eyes and attention was all over the place. If this had been a test, I'd have to fail you for cheating.”

“I wouldn't cheat.” Troy softly replied. “I'm sorry I was looking around.”

“Troy, I told you before, if you need to talk to me, you can.” Mr. McCoy said.

“I know, sir.” Troy answered back.

“Are there problems at home? Problems with your brother, or parents?” The teacher asked, probing for a clue.

“No sir.” Troy looked up. “They've all been great, it's.....it's personal and I don't feel comfortable talking about it here.”

Mr. McCoy nodded slowly. “It has to do with your injuries after Thanksgiving, right?”

“In a way.” Troy answered. “But I don't want to talk about it.”

Mr. McCoy held up a hand in surrender. He knew some of the facts. Troy had stitches. They had been pulled out when he tripped and given where the blood had been on his arms and how he carried Troy, he knew it was the crotch area that was hurt. He wasn't sure of everything that could be wrong, but he began to think that there may be some truth in the rumors that had went around the school about body parts being removed. “Okay. I won't press the issue. But if you need to talk, just come see me, okay?”

“Okay sir.” Troy nodded.

“Now go eat and I'll see you back in here after lunch.”

Troy headed for the door and walked out. He wasn't surprised to find both Mary Beth and Peter waiting for him. “You didn't have to wait.” He said, looking to Mary Beth. She smiled and held up a brown bag.

“Thought I'd hang out with you today.” She stated.

“What about your friends?” He asked. “What will you tell them?”

“I told them you asked for help on some of the homework stuff that we had when you were hurt.”

“You didn't tell them where I was hurt, did you?” He asked.

“No.” Mary Beth replied. “I kept that a secret.”

“Good.” He breathed a sigh of relief.

“So what did Mr. McCoy want?” She asked.

“He wanted to know if everything was okay at home. He noticed I kept staring around.”

Mary Beth nodded. “Yeah, I saw that too. What were you looking at?”

Troy leaned in and whispered so just his two friends could hear. “Cynthia's shoes and her skirt. They're really pretty. I wished I could have worn mine. I got those shoes, but in blue.”

“I'm guessing you told Peter about me?” She asked. Troy nodded.

“I trust Peter with my life and now you have that trust, just because of what you know. But I told him how you found me in Livermore.” Troy stated. The three of them stopped by a bench near the library and sat down, Troy taking the middle.

“Hey, could I come over at some point and hang out?” Mary Beth asked. “I can bring Emily May, too.”

“I guess. You have my number.” Troy smiled at her.

“Cool. Maybe this weekend.”

~o~O~o~

Clark just watched as Troy sat there with Peter and Mary Beth. He knew he had to wait. Just pictures of Troy as a girl were one thing, but he wanted a couple of him dressed up at his house, that way he couldn't deny it. He wanted to ruin Troy, like he had ruined Bruce. His brother had a plan. Make the fun drag out. Ruin him at school. Pass the pictures around and then go beat him up. It was a simple enough plan.

“It's all that fag's fault Bruce is in jail.” He muttered, fighting back the urge to just walk over and beat Troy to a pulp. He stood by a tree, watching Troy, Peter and Mary Beth laughing and having a good time. It wasn't fair and he knew it. Troy got to have fun and his brother was locked away.

~o~O~o~

Rancho Las Positas Elementary, Livermore CA

Rachel waited for the class to clear out and she followed Brooke out onto the play ground. A few moments later, Sage came jogging up to them from her classroom. The weather was cloudy and it had been threatening to rain all day, but for the moment, it was just windy. The three girls went to a bench near the playground where Rachel and Sage took a seat.

“Oh man, I'm glad to be out of there.” Brooke said as she stretched in her chair.

“You're telling me.” Sage agreed with a nod. “So didn't want to come back today.”

“At least it's nice enough that the guys are playing basketball.” Rachel said as she watched some of the boys on the ball court. “Nothing beats cute boys.” None of them had noticed a couple of girls walking close to them.

“Oh look, like um, Orca thinks the guys would, like want her.” A thin girl with a trendy hair style remarked, using the Valley girl talk that had become very popular. “You're so grody, like gag me with a spoon.”

“Like grody to the max!” A second girl scoffed at Rachel. “Like barf me out.”

“Oh shut up, airhead.” Brooke snapped back.

“Like, make me, freak.” The girl towered over Brooke, who just sat there and raised one eyebrow.

“I don't make trash, I throw it out.” She replied back.

“Like, shut up gimp.” the first girl snapped at Brooke. “None of you will ever get a guy, I mean, like, look at you.”

“Totally, like oh my God, bag your face.” The other girl glared at her.

Sage put her hand on Brooke's shoulder. “Come on, let’s just go.”

“Yeah, like go. We don't need dweebs like you messing up out playground.”

Brooke started to roll towards the first girl when Rachel put a foot in front of her wheel to stop her. “Let's go. It's not worth it.”

“That's right lard ass.” One of the two girl quipped as Rachel took the handles of the wheelchair and pushed Brooke away. “Waddle away.”

Rachel began to let go of the wheelchair, but Sage grabbed her hand and held her there. “Not worth it.” She stated. “Let’s just go where the normal people are.”

~o~O~o~

Vance led Troy to the door of the house, then used his key and opened it up. Troy headed for their bedroom, stripping the moment he got inside. Vance was ready for this and he waited out of courtesy for his sister. Ten minutes passed and Tracy came walking out. The boy's clothes were gone, now replaced by a skirt and a pink T-shirt. She moved into the kitchen and began setting up dinner.

“Hey, I thought you were to take it easy?” Vance asked.

“I’m off the main restriction, I can do some stuff.” She replied. “I'm not doing a lot of bending and I sat all day in class. When recess hit, I didn't play at all, we just went to the library.”

“Oh, okay.” He said as he went to the living room and turned on the TV. Then he went and plopped down in his fathers chair.

“Hey, Vance?” Tracy came back out and leaned against the door frame for the kitchen. “Did Dad and Mom talk to you about New Years Eve?”

“You mean you and Peter kissing?” He asked, Tracy nodded. “Yeah. I'm to keep an eye on you, but I can't have girls over.” He stated.

“Dad wasn't too happy that he kissed me. How do you feel?” She asked.

“Not my lips.” He replied with a smile. “I don't mind, but if he attempts to do more, I will beat his ass for touching my kid sister.”

“You don't have to worry about that.” Tracy said as she went back into the kitchen. She raised her voice so he could hear. “I don't want him seeing my body like this anyway.”

“Still. It's in the big brother handbook.” Vance replied. “It's my job to defend your honor.”

Tracy walked back to the doorway and looked at him. A smile crossed her lips. “Thank you, Vance.”

“No problem, Sis.” He replied, making Tracy smile brighter.

~o~O~o~

[Livermore]
Sage had been sitting in the waiting room, working on a few bits of homework, while she listened to music on her walk-man. She was working on an English assignment, deeply engrossed in what she was doing. She wondered if she'd be able to get the chance to call Tracy that weekend, see how her New Years day went. All the parents decided that a call on the weekends was better then a call each day of the week. All of the girls reluctantly agreed to the deal, so all the girl were planning to be at one of the houses on Saturday. She was scribbling down a note of something to ask Tracy, when the Doctor walked over and tapped her shoulder.

She screamed and bounced in her seat, knocking her notebook out of her hands. Ivan held back a laugh as he gestured to the doors. “It's your turn young lady.”

“That's not funny.” She muttered.

“You're right. But I've been calling your name for a couple minutes now. Good thing I'm nice enough to get your attention.” He picked up her notebook and handed it to her. “Come on, you can finish your English work later.”

She took the offered book and stuck them in her backpack, then followed him to his office. “No mother?” He asked.

Sage shook her head, which he didn't see. “Nope. She took 'Romy to the doctor. She'll pick me up when I'm done here.”

“I see.” Ivan said as he shut the door behind her and went to take the chair he usually used. Sage sat on the couch, putting her pack next to her. “So, how was your holidays?”

“Good.” Sage replied. “Got a lot of clothes and music on Christmas. Plus having Tracy here for that week totally rocked.”

“Have you spoken to her since?” He asked.

“We called her on New Years Eve. The Go-Go's were playing on the TV and she loves them.”

“Good. It's nice that she has friends like you and the other girls to talk to.” The Doctor replied. “How are you handling being around her? With someone your age now, who is like you more than the other girls.”

“I'm good. Heck, I wish there was a way we could convince her parents to come up this way.”

“Well, they do have a life where they live.” He replied.

“Yeah, they do, but Tracy has to hide in the house. That sucks. She's so afraid that someone will find her and it will be all over.” Sage sighed. “It sucks 'cause we could bring her here and she'd have fun.”

“Well, life can't be all roses.” Ivan replied. “I mean you have to have issues still, right?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “No one knows about me, but there's some real bitches at school.”

“Not really a nice thing to call someone, now is it?” The Doctor asked.

“No, but it's true. They go out of their way to insult Rachel over her weight and Brooke because of her wheelchair.” Sage stated.

“Do they insult you too?”

“They have in the past, but Brooke seems to be a bigger target to them.”

Ivan nodded and scribbled down a note or two, then asked. “Are they aware about you?”

“No. Mostly they tease me because of my Mothers VW bus.”

“Kids do that. They find a weakness and go to town with it.” The Doctor leaned back in his chair. “So how did you deal with it?”

Sage chuckled. “Brooke and Rachel were about to fight, but I pulled them away.”

“Smart girl. Nothing good ever comes out of fighting.”

“I try.” Sage leaned back in her chair. “It's weird, for years Brooke was my biggest hater, and now she's one of the first to come to my defense.”

“Does something about that bother you?” He asked.

“Not really, I've just been thinking about it because when Tracy was here, she asked how we all met.”

Ivan nodded slowly. He knew the story well, after seeing Sage for many years now. “I see. So you told her and now you're thinking there's something more to Brooke's motives?”

“Not really. She's been there to back me up when problems come up. Heck, she was ready to kick Mary Beth's ass with us when they called Tracy, Troy, at the mall.”

“Could be she's seen the error of what she did.” Ivan said. “She has gotten to know you and you've done everything to show her that you're her friend. Maybe all she needed was to see how the other half lives.”

“Yeah, that may be it.” Sage agreed. “She was really awesome when Tracy was here, hell she let her stay at her place for a night, just the two of them.”

“See.” Ivan smiled at her. “But there's something bugging you, isn’t there?”

Sage rested her head on the back of the chair she was in and looked at the ceiling. “Yeah.” She finally agreed.

Ivan was quiet for a few moments, giving her the chance to tell him without him asking, but she remained quiet. “Well?” He asked. “what's wrong?”

“It's me. What if someone sees it?” Sage asked. “There's so much I know that Tracy doesn't, like how to tuck. Granted, it's not that big that I worry about it, but still. I have all this know how, and she doesn't, but I'm always afraid someone will find out.”

“Well that is a risk that will always be there, till you're ready for the operation, but I think you should wait till you’re fully grown.” He said. “And are you totally sure that this is the way you want to go?”

“I've known I'm a girl for the past few years now. I haven't gone out as a boy since like first grade I think.” Sage stated, then her eyes lit up and she gave him a slight smile. “So....now that I'm twelve, can we get me started on the hormones?”

“You know, I was wondering how long you'd wait.” Ivan chuckled.

~o~O~o~

[Patterson home]

That night Tracy lay on her bed, diary opened up in front of her and pen in hand. She considered what to write. There were several things she could write about. She knew she hadn't touched it since she had bought it in Sacramento and the Doctor she had seen had told her to write daily, so she decided to start. She took her time while she wrote, making sure the letters were nice and neat.

She didn't sign it, instead she just shut the book and rolled off her bed and tucked it into the drawer that her panties were in. She went back to her bed and flopped down, then she pulled the blankets over her. A few moments later, Vance came in and she wondered how long they would be sharing a room.

“You all changed? Or do I need to bug out of here?” He asked.

“Naw, I did that already.” She replied. “But thanks for asking.”

“No problem. You ready for bed?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Tracy replied. “Could you get the light?”

“Sure.” Vance turned off the lights, then climbed up to his bunk. “Night Sis.”

Next up, more fun with Tracy and crew.....and the storm is coming! Today's story was, like, totally gnarly and brought to you by, like, the words, like, Awesome and um, like grody.

But no voice could be heard on the other end, just heavy breathing. She listened for a moment, in case they had a mouth full of food or something, then hung the phone up. “Weird.” She stated and went back to her book. A few moments later, the phone rang again. She looked at it as she considered if she really wanted to pick it up. There was a good chance that her mother could be calling, she picked it up once more. “Hello? Patterson's residence.”

The person on the other end breathed heavily again. “Okay, this isn't funny.” Tracy said into the phone. "Either say something or don't call. So what do you want?”

It was quiet for a moment or two, then a voice spoke. It seemed to be a teen's voice, possibly older, one she didn't know. “I know.” Was all it said.

Thanks to Djkauf who did the editing

Back with more Tracy.

January 15th 1983

Tracy was glad the first two weeks of school was over. She had counted the days on the calender to see how long till Easter break. It would be her first big chance to get rid of Troy, for at least a week straight. She was moving faster, but was still waiting for the doctor's approval to go back to her Tai chi class.

She sat on the couch, wearing her nicest skirt as she read one of the books she got at Christmas, while she waited for Mary Beth and Emily May to show up. They had wanted to come the week before, but family obligations had gotten in the way, so they were making up for it. She had begged for her grandmother to let her put off her chores for a day, just so she could hang out with girls her age. She knew there would be more work the next day, but she didn't care. Sage and her other friends were set to call later in the afternoon, so she'd have all her friends to talk to.

She was halfway though a chapter when there was a knock at the door. Her brother was off helping her grandfather with Jerry Rivers and her father. Her mother was in the kitchen working on a jigsaw puzzle. So Tracy got up and went to the door and she opened it a crack. When she saw it was the two sisters, she opened the door wider and stepped out and hugged Emily May, then Mary Beth.

“Come on in!” Tracy said as she gestured to the door. “Can you stay long?”

“We got a couple hours.” Emily replied. “We couldn't tell Dad where we were going, so he thinks we're at the park.”

“Oh cool.” Tracy replied.

Maggie had got up from the kitchen table and went to the doorway. “Oh girls, I'm not sure if I feel comfortable with you lying to your parents to be here.”

“But if we told our Dad where we are, he'd ask questions. He won't like Tracy, I know that for sure.” Emily May said as she walked over to Maggie. “We want to hang out, but we can't tell him about Troy, or Tracy.”

“Please, Mom.” Tracy pleaded.

Maggie sighed. “Okay. For today I'll allow it. Next time we'll have to figure something else out, okay? If he finds out you've been lying, you could get in big trouble and I don't need any of that trouble.”

“Okay, Ma’am.” Emily May and Mary Beth both replied.

“Let me know when you need to take off and I can help get you home, if you want.” Maggie said as she went back to her puzzle.

“We will. Thank you, Ma'am.”

“Mrs. Patterson will be fine, girls.” Maggie said as she sat down. “Let me know if you get hungry, too.”

“We will, Mom.” Tracy smiled at her, then led the girls to her bedroom.

~o~O~o~

Clark had waited patiently. He didn't want to, but Bruce insisted that he needed proof of Troy in girls clothes at the Patterson house. So he had spent a couple days in the rain, walking over to Troy's house, till his determination had paid off. He was shocked to see Mary Beth and Emily May at the house. His mother knew the girl's father. And Clark knew, that their father would throw a fit with who they were hanging out with. Clark watched her closely, hands gripping the camera.

He managed to snap a couple of pictures before he decided that it was time to go home. He had fought the urge to just run over and beat Troy senseless. But he knew Troy's time was coming. The more he thought about Bruce's plan, the better it sounded. He needed the proof before the school would turn against him.

~o~O~o~

January 19h 1983

Tracy was enjoying the peace and quiet of an empty house. Her mother was working, which she normally didn't do on Friday, but she was offered the overtime and she took it. Her father was off at work and wouldn't be home for a little bit more. Vance was at a Basketball game for the school and Tracy had decided to just lie about the house and relax.

Dinner was already in the oven and she had the timers set so she didn't burn it. Now was just the waiting. She was halfway though a chapter when the phone rang, causing her to jump. She glared at the phone for scaring her, but it only rang again. She reached over and picked it up. “Patterson's.”

But no voice could be heard on the other end, just heavy breathing. She listened for a moment, in case they had a mouth full of food or something, then hung the phone up. “Weird.” She stated and went back to her book. A few moments later, the phone rang again. She looked at it as she considered if she really wanted to pick it up. There was a good chance that her mother could be calling, she picked it up once more. “Hello? Patterson's residence.”

The person on the other end breathed heavily again. “Okay, this isn't funny.” Tracy said into the phone. "Either say something or don't call. So what do you want?”

It was quiet for a moment or two, then a voice spoke. It seemed to be a teen's voice, possibly older, one she didn't know. “I know.” Was all it said.

“Um...” Tracy raised an eyebrow, wondering if it were just a prank. “That's nice.” Then she hung up. She watched the phone for a moment or two, but it didn't ring again. She sat back in the couch and just looked at the phone, wondering what it had been about.

Her contemplation was interrupted by two things. The sound of her mother pulling into the driveway and the sound of one of her timers going off in the kitchen.

As she was setting a pot on the stove to cook some vegetables, her mother came in. “Hello sweetie. How was school?”

“It was bad.” Tracy replied. She looked at her mother for a moment and sighed. “Why can't I just be me there?”

“Baby, I'd love to show off my daughter, but you know how people can be. Look at how Bruce acted. We don't need you getting attacked over being you.”

“I know. It just su...” she paused as she almost swore, her mother was looking straight at her with an eyebrow raised. “...stupid.” She continued. “It's all stupid.”

“Nice save.” Maggie replied. “I know it's not what you want, but sometimes we have to do things we hate to get the things we want.”

“Yeah.” Tracy agreed.

“Anything else happen today?” Maggie asked.

“Test for math and English.” Tracy looked up at her mother for a moment. “Plus got a weird call a few minutes ago. All they said was 'I know' and breathed really heavy.”

“Weird.” Maggie thought about what someone could know. "No other calls?”

“No.” Tracy replied.

In typical mother fashion, something gnawed at the back of her mind about the phone call. She wasn't sure what, but it seemed like something that could be unsafe for her child. “Tell you what, keep an eye out, if something seems fishy, don't hesitate to call your grandfather.”

“I will.”

“Good. Let me change and I'll help with dinner. Your father should be getting your brother anytime now.”

“Cool. Thanks, Mom.”

~o~O~o~

January 21st 1983

It was just after one in the afternoon, so the doctor's office was only partly busy, but once again, Maggie had parked behind the building and they used the back door to come in. Troy had been pulled from school early for his final check up from the doctor who oversaw his surgery. After that they had a three hour drive to Livermore to see the therapist.

Maggie had suggested that he do the same maneuver as last time. So a few moments earlier, after getting a clean bill of health, Troy had entered the public women's restroom in the office complex. But it was Tracy's heart that was pounding for the walk to the car. The fear of someone coming over to them and being someone who knew them was driving her crazy with fear.

Her mother unlocked the car and Tracy slid in and scrunched down so no one could see her. As Maggie started the car, she glanced at her daughter before putting the car in gear. “Three choices, kiddo. Burger King, Or McDonald’s. Or we eat somewhere in Marysville?”

“Marysville.” Tracy replied.

“Hey, they have that Ma and Pa place you like. Let's give that a try.” Maggie suggested.

Tracy's eyes lit up. “Please?” She quickly hopped into the backseat and switched out of her pants and into a skirt, then jumped into the passenger seat.

“Okay.” Maggie pulled out of the lot and onto the main road that lead to the highway. “I got you a change of clothes in the back. It's with my overnight bag too. I also pulled your diary. Hope that's okay.”

“Oh, I forgot about that.” Tracy sat up a bit as they passed through town. “So, are we just staying tonight down there?”

“For now, yeah. I know the girls are expecting you at Persephone's for the night.” Maggie replied.

“Cool.” Tracy reached behind her mothers seat and pulled open her backpack and grabbed one of her school books.

“Doing homework?” Maggie asked.

“Yep. I wanna spend all the time with my friends that I can.” Tracy answered.

“Sounds like a plan.” Maggie stated as she turned on the radio. “I'll warn you when we're near Paulie's burgers.”

“Cool, thanks Mom.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy was nose deep in her English book, waiting for her turn to see the doctor. She had torn through most of her homework on the drive down. There was just a few more pages to go and then she'd be finished. She needed to be finished, that way she didn't have to do it on the way home.

She was only partly away that someone had sat down on her other side. They had been sitting there for a few minutes now, but Tracy wanted to get the school work finished, so she ignored them. As the minutes passed, the person began to be more annoying. She knew this from the loud smacking they made as they chewed their gum and the heavy breathing they made through their nose.

Tracy still ignored it. She brought the schoolbook closer to her face and ground her teeth. But the smacking of gum got louder as the person next to her leaned over. Then a hand holding a piece of paper began moving across her line of site as she tried to read. Tracy whipped her head up and glared at the person next to her. “Please, can you leave me alone! I need to finish this!” She snapped.

Sage gave her a huge smile and she leaned closer and smacked her gum once more. “Sorry. Rachel dared me to do it.”

Tracy let out a squeal, then shoved her book out of her lap and jumped into Sage's arms. Rachel leaned around Sage and shook her head. “No, I didn't. I only said it would be funny if she did it.”

Tracy scrambled out of Sage's arms and to her feet, then she went and gave Rachel a hug. “What are you both doing here?” She looked around to see Rachel and Sage's mothers just coming into the office. Her own mother was in the process of picking up her daughter’s notebook before it got stepped on.

“Well, Mom figured we could be here for emotional support. Plus we talk to you on the weekends so we may help out, or something like that.” Sage said.

“Persephone called me yesterday.” Maggie said with a smile as she got up to trade hugs with the other mothers. “We're all banding together to help you out.”

Doctor Ivan, as the girls called him, walked over to them. “Mrs. Patterson.” He held out a hand to Maggie, who accepted it. Then he looked at Tracy. “Young Miss Patterson.” He held his hand out to her and she shook it as well.

Then he looked at Sage and raised an eyebrow. “Miss Miller? Or should I call you trouble today?”

“Just a little fun.” Sage said as she stood up. “Is it Tracy's turn?”

“It is, but I want to talk to her mother first, if that's okay.”

Maggie nodded. “Sure.”

“Could we come in?” Persephone asked. “We've been keeping tabs on the girls and their talks. We may have knowledge Maggie doesn't.”

“I'll call you in a few, okay?”

“That's fine.” Persephone said as she took the seat Maggie had vacated.

“Plus that gives someone the chance to finish her homework.” He said, smiling at Tracy. “And you can make sure they don't bug her too much.”

“Thanks.” Tracy replied as her mother handed her the notebook she had dropped.

~o~O~o~

Maggie followed the doctor back to his office and took the seat across from his. He sat down and smiled at her. “So, how have you been?”

The question took her by surprise. She was expecting to talk about her daughter and the past month, not herself. “I'm okay, I guess.”

“Just okay?” He reached over and picked up a notebook from his table and leaned forward and gave her his best disarming smile. “Bad holidays?”

“Been doing a lot of catching up on billing at work.” Maggie explained. “The holidays were okay. Both of the kids were really good.” Maggie replied.

“Trouble with the relations?”

Maggie chuckled. “Well there are a couple of them. Alex and Johnny. My eldest niece's kids. Man are they pains in the butt. Gave Troy a hard time. Good thing they never heard about Tracy.”

“How did she handle being Troy for the day?”

Maggie smiled. “That kinda fell apart. My other niece had her daughter there and she just blurted out about the clothes she found at Thanksgiving. So some of them know, not all of them.”

“I see.” Ivan scribbled another note down. “How did they take it?”

“Good. They hung out with Tracy a couple times before they left.”

“Very good. Any other difficulties from the holidays?”

“Other than money issues, not really.” Maggie replied. “Well, We had to give Tracy the talk because her friend and her shared a kiss on New Years Eve.”

“I see and how did that go?”

“Well, we actually gave her the talk twice in a week. We talked to the doctor and she brought up hormones, which Tracy wants to ask you about when she sees you. But I felt it was time for the big talk when we went to Sacramento.” Maggie cracked a little smile. “As for how it went, it was uncomfortable. I don't know how much to explain about one side of the fence or the other. I can tell her all about PMS, but it's pointless. And she needs to learn about certain body parts getting excited, before she's found out.”

“True. But how is your daughter acting around the friend she kissed? Are they close?” Ivan asked.

“Too close. Peter was the one who was there when she got attacked. I'm just afraid she's clinging to him because he shows interest in her as Tracy.” Maggie explained.

“Not an uncommon thing to do. What did you and your husband do about it?”

Maggie sighed. “We put down rules. Peter can't be there unless an adult is with her. But in the same aspect, Vance can't have girls there.”

“Fair. A little hard on Tracy if you’re gone and her friends all show up.” The Doctor replied.

“Well, that's something we got to work on, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.” Maggie looked up at him and debated on what all he should know, finally she decided on full disclosure. “She's also admitted to watching one of her girl friends change when she was here. She played it off at first and she's not sure what to think, but she may be trying to find herself, sexually.”

“Did she say if she liked it?” He asked.

Maggie nodded. “Yeah. She said she did, but nothing happened.”

He made a mental note this time to ask the young girl her thoughts on the matter, then he moved on. “Are there still problems going on with her wanting to be Tracy all the time?” He asked.

Maggie sighed and nodded. “Every morning is a fight now. I have to make sure she's dressing as Troy and it hurts. She wants to be herself at school and I have to look in those eyes of hers and tell her she has to go as something she hates. I have to almost shove her to those door and push Troy off to school. I heard from his teacher that his attention is all over the place. When he gets home he changes and Tracy comes back out and the moody child is gone.” She sighed and shook her head. “Is it wrong that I've almost just let Tracy go to school. I hate fighting with her. I just want her happy.”

“But you need her safe.” The doctor replied. “I can sympathize with her pain, but what you told me last time, letting her go as Tracy could open her up to trouble. People can be mean, but kids are worse.”

“I know, but I just want my baby happy.” Maggie stated. “I've done everything I can think of. New clothes, music, anything that makes my baby happy.”

He wrote down another note, then decided to revisit something she had said about money problems. “I understand. Maggie, is your daughter causing problems between you and your husband?”

“Like forcing us to fight? No, she hasn't done anything like that.”

“You mentioned money problems. The holidays are a time that everyone overextends themselves. I'm guessing that happened?” He asked, Maggie looked to the floor and nodded slowly. “Did you spend more on Tracy then you agreed on?”

Maggie knew it was pointless to lie or fight, so she came clean. “I spent equally on both kids. But after a doctor's appointment, I took Tracy to the Arden Fair mall and bought her some stuff that was on sale. William got mad because I spent more money. But she needed a purse. It's easier to hide her with things like that.”

“Is this the first time you two have argued about money?”

Maggie shook her head. “No, we've fought before. This is the first time the kids walked in while we fought.”

“How did they take it?” He asked.

“Tracy tired to stop us. Vance was hiding in the living room.”

Ivan wrote down another note, then looked up. “Fighting affects kids differently. Some hide, some confront it, and the rest ignore it. Tell me, has your husband hit you or the kids out of anger?”

Maggie shook her head, while keeping eye contact. “Never. In fact the only times he's spanked the kids, was when they were younger and did something wrong. But he hasn't lifted a hand or belt to them in years. And he's never hit me. If he did, I'd leave his ass in a heartbeat.”

“That's a good sign. A lot of women stay in abusive relationships and it just breeds hatred. Right now, Tracy needs love and so does Vance. I understand that you want to get all the nicest things for your daughter. I can see how happy you are that she's comfortable being out, but sometimes women forget their sons.”

Maggie nodded and looked up at him “I try not to. It's just so hard.” She let out a big sigh. “When I was pregnant with Tracy I had hoped for a girl. I prayed for a little girl. I begged God to let it be a girl. We had a boy, someone to learn about life from William. I wanted someone to teach all about being a woman. Then Troy came out and my hopes were dashed. Don't get me wrong, I loved Troy with all my heart, I had just wanted a girl so bad.”

Ivan nodded slowly and filled in the gaps. “Then Tracy came about?”

“Yeah.” Maggie agreed. “At first I was worried it was a phase, but the more she wants to be herself, the more I love it. She's that daughter I always wanted and I never knew it till just a few months ago.”

“Well it is good that you've accepted her as your daughter. Do you know how many people in her situation never look for help? Many of them hide who they are and try their best to conform. Others end their own lives. Tracy has the unique situation of having a very large support group. That's almost unheard of.”

Maggie smiled and shrugged. “I can't speak for the others, but she's hard to hate.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy was trying to read and talk to her friends when Ivan and her mother both came out. The older therapist came over and smiled at her. “Your turn, kiddo.” Tracy shut her book and slipped it into her bag as the doctor hooked a thumb to her friends. “They let you get any work done?”

“Some.” Tracy replied.

“Good. But I doubt you'll get much more done.” He smiled at the other two girls. “Isn't that right, Trouble?” He said to Sage.

“Hey, just because we got plans for an all night slumber party doesn't mean we can't help her with homework.”

“Right.” He replied, not at all convinced. “Good to see you got a plan.”

As Tracy stood up, Rachel spoke up. “Can we go in with her?”

“I'd like a few minutes with Tracy, then I'll bring in everyone.”

Tracy followed him into the room and she took the seat that she had taken the last time. He sat across from her and picked up his notepad. “Well young lady, have a good holiday?”

“It was good.” She nodded. “Except for the whole Troy thing.”

“Having to be Troy for the holiday?”

Tracy nodded again. “That and getting a lot of boy presents. Angie, that's my cousin's daughter, she had a bunch of stuff and I got jealous that I didn't get to have the pretty stuff.”

Ivan looked up from his notebook and smiled at her. “It does happen, but did you make a fuss?”

“No. Mom saw me and she helped pick out more stuff a couple days later. But Grandma and Grandpa brought me a dress,. They brought it over in the morning, before anyone went to their house.” Tracy's smile brightened and she sat up straight.

Ivan smiled and gave a slight nod. “That's good. Tell me about the New Years? Any thing good happen?”

“Well, The Go-Go's played on the television?” Tracy replied.

“I see. And you like them?”

“Yeah!” Tracy beamed again.

Ivan decided to cut to the point. “I heard from your mother that she had to give you the talk?”

Tracy slumped in her seat and stared at the floor. . “Yeah.” She grumbled. Once after the Doctor told me about hormones.....” Her head whipped up. “That reminds me. I need to ask you about getting me permission for hormones. The doctor says I need them.”

“We'll discuss that when your mother is here.” Ivan wrote a note to remind himself and he leaned back in his seat. “So about that talk you had? Pretty embarrassing stuff?”

Tracy nodded. “Yep.”

“It can be bad, but in your situation, you need to have it.” Ivan replied. “So why did your mother give you that talk? I hear it wasn't just about hormones.”

Tracy blushed and looked to the floor once more. “I....” Her voice became a whisper. “I kinda kissed a friend on new years day and I watched Brooke changing when I was up here.” A smile crossed her lips as she though back to the two occasions.

He raised an eyebrow. “I see. And how did kissing your friend at home feel?”

“It felt great.” Tracy let out a contented sigh, then she slumped in the chair. “But Mom and Dad said he can't be at the house when they aren't there.”

“They're your parents. It sucks when they make rules, but they make them to keep you safe.” Ivan replied.

“I know, it just sucks.”

“Tell me about the other friend.”

“Brooke?” She asked and he nodded. “She's a friend of Sage and Rachel. She's in a wheelchair, but a lot of fun. She plays basketball and was totally nice to me.”

“How did it feel to see her changing?”

Her cheeks went a shade darker. “Weird. I have always been interested in boys, but when I saw her naked, I couldn't look away.”

“Well, you may be finding yourself. You're young and there's a whole world out there that will surprise you. You may think you don't like something, but when you try it, you may love it.” Ivan stated. “That goes for every aspect of life.”

“You sound like my Dad when I was younger and hated green beans.”

“Universal truths are funny that way.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy walked out of the office next to her mother, her pack slung over her shoulder. She hadn't said much since to either of her friends as they walked towards Maggie's car. Maggie could tell that her daughter was annoyed and she knew why, but she figured she'd get her daughter talking to her, just in case she was wrong. “Penny for your thoughts?”

“It's just...” Tracy stopped and looked to her mother. “Is this guy going to work?”

“What do you mean?” Maggie asked.

“We have to see another therapist? Wasn't one good enough?”

Sage turned around and went to her friend. “If it makes you feel better, so do I.” She gave Tracy a small smile. “They have to do it.”

Persephone put her hand on the young girl. “It's like when a doctor gets a second one in for his opinion on a tricky surgery., They need to make sure that this is the best thing for you, or if it can cause more harm then good.”

“And Dad has to be here? He's working so much, what if he can't make it?” Tracy asked her mother.

“Ivan said he wants to talk to your father, but you weren't listening when he said it's not vital to you getting hormones. He also wants to talk to Vance. He's trying to see what type of people you have around you.” Maggie replied. “That's all. It's not some plan to make you be miserable.”

“Oh.” Tracy replied.

“Come on. Let's get your stuff so Persephone and Lynn can get you out of here.” Maggie led her to the car. She opened the backdoor then let her daughter remove her stuff. Maggie chuckled and held out a hand.

“What?” Tracy asked.

“Leave your pack with me. That way you won't forget it. Plus I doubt you'll be working hard tonight.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Tracy said as she handed over her backpack.”

“Be good, kiddo.”

Tracy hugged her mother and smiled. “I will, Mom.”

~o~O~o~

January 26th 1983

Wednesday morning had started off about the same as the prior two weeks had been. Troy was still wishing he could go as his real self. Every morning it was the same. From him being forced into boys clothes and shoved out the door to meet his school bus, to him shuffling his feet the entire way there and then the quiet ride to the school. In class, his eyes were once again wandering around the classroom. He struggled to keep his eyes on his own desk during a pop quiz, and he managed to do it, just barely.

He kept thinking about his visit to the therapist, and the appointment that was set in a week and a half with his full family and a second doctor. He was hesitant about talking to a second person, but everyone insisted it had to be done. Then there had been the night over with Tracy's friends. It wasn't like at Christmas. All the girls managed to fit into Rachel's bedroom. It had been a late night of watching TV and playing games. But after her long day, Tracy had fallen asleep before midnight. Now she had to wait another week and a half to see her friends again.

When the bell for lunch rang he grabbed the lunch sack he carried and followed Peter to a new spot, one near the play ground. “So how you holding up?” Peter asked as he pulled out his lunch.

Troy shrugged. “It sucks.” He replied. “I'd rather be in my nice clothes.”

“I bet.” He replied.

“I hate this, Peter.” Troy shook his head. “I found me and now I have to hide that because people are stupid.”

“Yep.” Peter nodded.

“You know how bad I want to just walk in here, in a skirt and a blouse?”

“Bad?” Peter asked.

“Bad.” Troy replied with a nod. “I have to hide at the house. If I go to my Grandma's place, I got to move quickly, or someone may see me. It just sucks.”

“Yep.” Peter agreed again.

Troy glanced at him for a moment and held back a chuckle. “Then there's my friend who can't say more then two words at a time.”

Peter smiled at him and nodded as he said. “Yep.”

“Oh you're funny.” Came Troy's sarcastic reply

“Yep.” He chuckled. “I am.”

He shook his head and started on his lunch. They watched as more of their classmates came out to the playground and the two passed the hour they had for lunch, just talking and enjoying each others company.

When lunch was almost over, they both stood up and began walking towards the classrooms. Troy stopped long enough to throw away his trash, then continued on to his classroom. As Peter walked on to his class, Troy went into his class, glad to see he was the first one there. As he went to his desk he saw a piece of paper sticking out of the edge of his backpack. He raised an eyebrow, knowing that he had closed it when he pulled his notebook out earlier.

He grabbed and pulled two pieces of paper. Each was a photo. His heart stopped as his eyes focused on a picture of him, dressed as Tracy in the clothes he wore at the Mall in Sacramento. The other clearly showed him at the door to his parent's house, hugging Emily May. He stared at the picture for a moment, his heart pounding in his chest. In the bottom of the one of him at the mall, in block letter was the words. “Nice dress, fag”

He stood there, mortified that someone knew. His breath began to pick up and he jumped when a hand touched his shoulder. He spun and begun to drop into a defensive posture, despite the fact he wasn't supposed to be fighting. He had to blink a couple of times when he saw that it was just Mary Beth.

“Troy?” She asked, stepping back from him. “What's wrong?”

“Did you do this?” He asked, voice wavering as he stood, holding out the picture.

She took it, frowned and shook her head. “No, I didn't.” She looked up at his face. “Where did you get it?”

“Someone put it in my pack.”

Mary Beth's eyebrows went up and she was stunned. “Your pack?”

“It wasn't you then?” Troy asked once more.

“No, it wasn't.” She answered back. As someone came in to the room, she shoved the picture back in his hands. “Put it away.” She whispered. He went to open up his desk and saw a few more of the same pictures in there.

“Oh Crap.” He said.

“Quick.” Mary Beth reached in and grabbed at them, then wadded them up. “Just sit down.” She shoved the pictures into his pack.

Troy did as she instructed. He just sat there, shaking. Each time someone would come into the room, he knew they were staring right at him. At least he swore that they were. As they sat down, he could feel each of them watching him. It was all over and he knew it. He wanted to run away, but his father had been working with him on how to not give it away. So he forced his fear down and tried to act like nothing was wrong.

~o~O~o~

The recess bell rang and Troy just sat in his seat, too scared to move. Mary Beth had held back and watched her friends leave the room. Mr. McCoy had noticed something had been going on since they all came back from lunch. So he decided to check up on his student. "What's wrong?"

Troy was too scared to tell him the truth. He knew someone knew, but he wasn't sure who. Th phone call he had received earlier in the week now made sense. He tried to think if it could have been the teacher, but decided that the voice sounded younger then that. He looked up and shook his head. "Not feeling well." Troy replied.

"Do you need to go to the nurse?" The teacher asked.

"No. I don't think she can do anything." Troy replied.

"Well...." He had left Troy in the room alone before, just after his first return to school. He would have stayed, but nature was dancing upon his bladder. "Tell you what, just sit here and put your head on the desk or something. If you feel worse when I get back, we'll send you to the nurses office."

"Okay." Troy answered.

Mr. McCoy's gaze switched to Mary Beth. "You going to stay with him?"

She took a seat next to Troy. "Sure, I'll hang out with him."

"Thank you." Mr. McCoy smiled at them and left the room.

After a few moments, Peter walked in and looked at him. “Hey, you wanna hang out by the swings?”

“No.” Troy replied, his voice almost a whisper.

“What's wrong?” Peter stopped by his desk and watched his friend who was busy staring at his hands.

“Can I show him?” Mary Beth asked Troy. The young boy nodded. Mary Beth dug into his pack and pulled out one of the pictures. "This was in his backpack and his desk."

Peter looked at it and then at Troy. “Did you tell anyone? Like the teacher or the Principal?”

“No. We found it after lunch.” Troy replied.

“So no idea who left it?”

“No.” Troy sat there, just staring at the desk. “I don't know if I should tell anyone. Mr. McCoy doesn't know. And I don't know what Mr. Harper can do.”

“At least tell your parents.” Peter stated. “Please tell them.”

“I will.” Troy replied.

Next up, the hits keep coming

A few steps out of the door Peter fell in step next to him. “Come on.” Peter commanded and put a hand on Troy's shoulder to guide him to the office. The bigger kid had been thinking about the pictures and what to do all through his past few lessons and he could only come up with one course of action. He knew it would be a fight to get Troy to go, but he was sure it was the right thing to do.

“Where are we...” Troy stated to say, till he realized where Peter was going. “Peter, I don't want to go to the office.”

Peter stopped and turned to face Troy. He lowered his voice so only Mary Beth and Troy could hear him. “You need to tell the principal. He knows about you, so you need to tell him that someone is trying to cause problems.”

“He's right, Troy. If Mr. Harper knows, then he should know about the picture.” Mary Beth stated in a whisper.

Big thanks to Djkauf for the editing

We pick up where we left off, Tracy in class, after the pictures have been left.

January 26th 1983

As the last bell for school rang, Troy waited for everyone to get up. He was still worried that whoever had left him the picture was in his own class. Mary Beth waited till all but Troy, the teacher and herself remained and she came over to him as he slowly stood up. Mr. McCoy came over as well. “You still not feeling well.”

“I'll be fine, it's nothing.” Troy said as he avoided the teacher’s gaze.

“Well, go home and take it easy.” Mr. McCoy said, not sure what to think. “No point in burning yourself out when you get home. Don't want to miss more school though.”

“Thank you sir.” Troy said as he grabbed his stuff and headed for the door.

A few steps out of the door Peter fell in step next to him. “Come on.” Peter commanded and put a hand on Troy's shoulder to guide him to the office. The bigger kid had been thinking about the pictures and what to do all through his past few lessons and he could only come up with one course of action. He knew it would be a fight to get Troy to go, but he was sure it was the right thing to do.

“Where are we...” Troy stated to say, till he realized where Peter was going. “Peter, I don't want to go to the office.”

Peter stopped and turned to face Troy. He lowered his voice so only Mary Beth and Troy could hear him. “You need to tell the principal. He knows about you, so you need to tell him that someone is trying to cause problems.”

“He's right, Troy. If Mr. Harper knows, then he should know about the picture.” Mary Beth stated in a whisper.

“What can he do about it?” Troy asked.

“Who knows, but I'm taking you there.” Peter looked down at Troy. “You know your mother would want you to go.”

“Peter, I don’t want more trouble.” Troy replied.

Peter just stared at him. “You got trouble already. You need to tell someone, and if you don't tell him, I will; then I'll make sure your mother knows too.”

“Peter....” Troy started to argue with him, but Mary Beth cut him off.

“I'll go with Peter and tell him. No matter what, We'll tell him. Please come with us.”

Troy looked at both of them and realized he was outnumbered. He sighed, but followed his friends as Peter led the way to the office. As they passed the seventh grade classes, which were getting out, Emily May saw her sister and came jogging over. “Hey, what's going on?” She asked as she saw the determined look on Peter's face.

Mary Beth leaned over and whispered in her ear. Her sister gasped and then looked at Troy. “You want me to find Vance?”

Before Troy could answer, Peter did. “Yes. Tell him we'll be in the office.”

“Peter.” Troy growled.

Peter stopped once more and glared at his friend. “If they are leaving you the pictures, they may be doing the same to Vance. I may not like him, but he should be told about what's going on.”

“He's right.” Emily May stated. “I'll go find him.”

“You can't.” Troy stated. “He's in Chico for that basketball tournament. They left already.”

“Crap.” Mary Beth replied. Peter started walking again and reached the doors to the offices and cafeteria. He pulled the door open for Troy and the two girls. Troy seemed to walk slower, but Mary Beth grabbed one arm and dragged him along.

“You tell him, or we do.” Emily May replied as they walked Troy into the principal's outer office.

“Can I help you?” The secretary asked as they came in.

“We need to speak to Mr. Harper.” Mary Beth said.

“I'm sorry, but he's in Chico at that Basketball tournament.” the old secretary replied. “Mr. Nelson is also the vice Principal, can he help?”

Peter looked at Troy who just shook his head and spoke up. “No, We'll speak to Mr. Harper tomorrow.” None of the kids at the school liked Mr. Nelson. He had a reputation for hating children, yet he worked with them. Troy didn't want his secret in any other hands, so he could wait.

“I'll make an appointment if you want? Tomorrow around lunchtime for your grades?”

“Yes.” Peter answered.

“Okay, Patterson, Lowery and Higgins.” The old woman said as she wrote. She looked up and smiled. “There, all good.”

“Thank you.” Troy said as he turned and headed for the door.

Peter caught him as he walked out of the hall that connected the offices and cafeteria. “You could have told Mr. Nelson.”

“No.” Troy said. “Mr. Harper knows about me, no one else does. I don't want that hassle.”

“He's right, Peter.” Emily May said. “Mr. Nelson isn't the nicest guy here.”

“Fine. But I'm making sure you get on that bus.” Peter stated.

“We'll ride with him.” Mary Beth stated.

“Yeah, but isn't your stop way before his?”

“Yeah, but we'll check up on him when we get home.” Emily May said.

“I'll see if my mother can drive me over there. At least then your father won’t want to kill me.”

~o~O~o~

The ride on the bus was uneventful, but nerve racking. Troy sat near the front, worried that whoever had left him the note was with him. Emily May and her Sister had stayed near him till their stop. Then Troy rode in silence till his stop. He shuffled off the bus and stopped every few steps, making sure that no one was following him to the house.

When he got home, he noticed his Grandparents were gone, and with his mother not due back for an hour or two, he was left all alone. He quickly entered his house and locked the door behind him, then he put the door chain on and set the dead bolt. After the picture he had received, his nerves were all on end. He put his backpack on the couch. He plopped down on the couched and began to cry lightly. His hands shook as he reached into the pack and pulled out the pictures that he had found in his pack and desk. He was going to change when he got home, at least that had been his plan that morning, but now that someone knew, it changed everything.

He screamed and jumped when the phone rang. He hadn't been expecting a call. He reached out and picked up the phone and held it to his ear, hoping that it was Sage, or Rachel and the girls, but he forgot it wasn't Friday and the chances of them calling were slim to none. “H-hello?” He tentatively asked.

“Hello, fag.” A voice grated over the line. It sounded young, but not one that he knew. “That's a nice dress you had on.”

His heart pounded as he sat there. His life was over and he knew it. “W-who is this?” He asked.

“Wouldn't you like to know.” The voice replied. “I told you that I knew.”

“Why are you doing this?”

“I'm going to have so much fun with you, fag.” The voice replied. “Maybe I should just come over there now and beat the shit out of you. Teach you your place in life.”

Troy slammed the phone down and he sat there, shaking. Seconds later it rang again and he looked at it. He began to pray that it was Sage this time, or his mother. He even hoped for Peter to call. “H-h-hello?” Her voice quavered with fear.

“I'm going to get you, Fag.” The voice replied. Tracy began to cry and slammed the receiver down, but her hands fumbled it and it dropped on the floor. Moments later there was a knock at the door. Tracy attempted to be quiet, but her tears wouldn't stop. Whoever it was knocked again.

Troy got up and looked for something to protect herself. Tears were starting to race down his cheek as the phone began to sound out the fact that it was off the hook. He went to the stove and picked up the ax that her father kept for chopping wood. If they came in the house, he wasn't giving up without a fight. He tired to steady his nerves and he called out as the person knocked a third time. “W-who is it?”

“It's Mary Beth and Emily May.” A female voice called out. “Can we come in?”

Troy dropped the ax and ran to the door. He opened it up and saw her two schoolmates there, then he launched himself into Emily's arms, sobbing against her shoulder.

“Whoa, what's wrong. Is this about those pictures?” Emily asked as she held Troy. Her crying friend nodded slightly. “Come on, let's get you in the house.”

“What happened?” Mary Beth asked, stopping to see the fallen ax on the floor. She heard the phone buzzing, so she went over and put in to the cradle. Seconds later the phone rang again and Troy began to cry harder. Mary Beth picked it up, watching her friend, as she spoke. “Hello?”

“Oh so the little fag has a friend. You know he's just a pathetic little fag in a dress, right?” The voice asked.

“Who is this?” Mary Beth asked.

“Ain't telling.” He replied.

“You put those pictures in his bag, didn't you?”

“What do you think?” The voice asked.

“Look fucker, just leave Troy alone, or I'll tear your nuts off and feed 'em to you.” The voice laughed, and Mary Beth hung up the phone. “This happened before?”

“Just a f-few m-minutes ago.” Troy sobbed out.

“Are your grandparents home?” Emily May asked.

“No.” Troy shook his head.

The phone rang again and Mary Beth reached down and grabbed the receiver. “Look you pathetic little fucker. You call Troy once more and I swear I will find you and bash your stupid skull in! You understand me?!?”

“Um?” A female voice spoke on the other end of the line. “What? Who is this? Is Tracy there?”

“No, you first!” Mary Beth snapped back. “Who the fuck is this?!?”

“It's Sage, is this Mary Beth?”

Mary Beth's attitude softened quickly. “Sage?” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh thank God. Yeah, it's Mary Beth.”

“What's going on there?” Sage asked. “I hear crying, is that Tracy?”

“I wish I knew. Emily and I just got here and some asshole called.” Mary Beth replied. “Tracy was crying when she opened up the door.”

“Could be a wrong number and he's just fucking with ya. Stay safe though.” Sage answered.

“Sage, he knows about Tracy.” Mary Beth stated. “Someone left pictures in her backpack and desk at school today. It's of Tracy. No one else saw them, but they were there.”

“Oh, Crap.” Sage was quiet for a moment, then Mary Beth could hear tapping on the other end. “Give me a minute.”

“Okay.” Mary Beth replied. She looked over to Tracy who was watching, but still crying into her sisters shoulder.

A moment or two later, a new voice came on the line. “Mary Beth, this is Persephone, Sage's mother. She just told me about the calls and pictures. Do me a favor and take Tracy to her grandparents they live in the trailer next door, okay. Then have them call Maggie.”

“Ma'am, she said they aren't home.” Mary Beth stated.

“Shit.” Persephone was quiet for a moment, then she spoke up, forcing her anger back. “What about her parents?”

“Hey, when is your Dad coming home? Or your mother?” Mary Beth asked.

“Dad's at that game in Chico with Vance. Mom's at work.”

“Ma'am, Her father's in Chico, with Vance at a school ball game, Her mother's at work.”

Through the phone, Mary Beth could hear the motherly concern of Persephone as she spoke. “Do me this favor. Lock the door and keep an eye on Tracy. I'll have Sage call in a few and we'll try to talk to Tracy, okay? I'll call Maggie at work and let her know what's up. If anyone knocks on the door, don't answer it, okay?”

“Yes Ma’am.”

~o~O~o~

Persephone hung up on the scared girls, wishing that she lived closer. She realized she was still standing as she began to pace while the phone rang. After three rings, someone picked it up. But when the voice spoke, it was an older woman, someone Persephone didn't know. “Wright cleaning services, how can I help you?”

“Um...hi...” Persephone started. “I was wondering if Maggie Patterson was in?”

“I'm Sorry, she's out of the office today, can I help you with something?”

“My name is Persephone Miller, I'm a friend of hers from the bay area. I need to get a message to her. I need her to call her house. I just talked to her youngest and there is a major problem going on there. So if you could get her the message when she gets in?”

“Problem at home? Well, she won't be back here for an hour or so. We're short-handed and she's taking a couple of the cleaning jobs to help out. But I'll leave a note for when she stops in.”

“Please and thank you.” Persephone replied.

“No problem at all.” The older woman stated.

~o~O~o~

Peter had tried calling Tracy's place a few times when he got home, but he got a busy signal or no answer. This worried him. His mother was at work still, so that left him home alone. He quickly scribbled a note saying where he went, then hopped on his bike and made the trek thought the rain to his friends house. He knew William would kill him for being there when no adults were around, but he didn't care. His friend was going to need him.

So twenty minutes later he was hopping off his bike, making sure to cast a quick glance to see if Troy's grandparent's were home. He saw no car, so he knocked. He listened closely and thought he heard someone on the other side. But not just one person, a couple of people. He knocked again and put his ear against the door.

“Troy? It's Peter, you home?” He called out. Then he lowered his voice and called again. “Tracy, it's me, you okay in there?”

The door opened up and Emily stood there. Behind her was Mary Beth. Troy was in his father's chair, talking on the phone. Peter could see the tracks of tears on his friends face, but he didn't want to interrupt the phone conversation. He looked at the older of the two sisters. “What happened? Why is he crying?”

“Who ever left the pictures called here before we showed up.” Emily May replied, shutting the door as Peter stepped in, then she locked it.

“Yeah. I talked to him. Total asshole. No idea who he is though.” Mary Beth stated.

“So it's a him.” Peter nodded slowly, thinking to himself. “Bet you it's Clark Millet.”

“But how did he get those pictures?” Emily May asked. “Someone had to know Tracy when she was Arden Fair mall. Plus they know where he lives, cause he took a picture of me hugging Tracy at that door.” she gestured to the front door.

“The Millet Family knows about the Patterson house. I've seen Bruce here a few times and he brought Clark once.” Peter said. He hooked a thumb towards Troy. “Who is he talking to? Or is he Tracy right now?”

“Troy still. He's too scared to go get dressed.” Mary Beth explained. “And it's Sage, Tracy's friend from the Bay Area. They called earlier cause she's seeing some doctor and had news for him. She called after I had hung up on the asshole. I tore her head off over the phone.”

Peter smiled. “Thank you, well for yelling at that guy, not for yelling at Sage.”

“Won't you get in trouble for being here?” Emily May asked. “Tracy told us about the rules that her mother and father put down.”

“Worth it.” Peter stated. “My friend got threatened. If someone were to come over and do something, I'd feel bad if I hadn't come over. Besides, right now, her safety is higher priority.”

“Are her Grandparents home yet?”

“Didn't see them.” Peter replied. “But we'll hear them then they pull up.”

“Good. I don't know how long we can stay. Dad will want us home around dinner time.” Mary Beth said.

“Take off when you have to. I'll stay here.”

~o~O~o~

Troy had just hung up the phone with Sage when the phone rang again. He yelped and jumped in his seat. Emily May and Mary Beth had already left, so Peter went over and picked up the phone, to save his friend from any hassles. “Patterson's house, can I help you?”

“Um..Hello...Peter?” Maggie’s voice came from the other end of the line. “First of all, what are you doing there with no Adults.”

“There's been a problem or two. Someone put pictures of Tracy in a skirt in Troy's backpack and desk, at school and they were calling the house, threatening him...her.”

“Oh God. Is she...” Maggie started to reach that panicky mother mode fast, but Peter cut her off.

“She's okay, just jumpy. But Tracy is scared, so it's Troy right now.” Peter explained.

“Put my child on, please.”

“It's your Mom.” Peter handed his friend the phone and then went to look out the window to see if the Grandparent's had gotten home yet. Troy spoke up, voice still shaking.

“Hello?”

“Hey, I'm not back in town yet, I took some of the cleaning contracts today because we're short handed. I got a call from Persephone telling me to call home, but the line has been busy.” Maggie stated.

“Sorry. Sage was talking to me while I calmed down.” Troy replied.

“What happened?” Maggie asked.

“Someone put pictures of me in a skirt in my backpack. It was when we went to the mall in Sacramento.”

“Damn.” Maggie muttered. She knew there was a slight chance of people seeing her daughter, but she never figured that she'd be caught that far out of town. “Peter said someone called?”

“Yeah. They kept calling, then Mary Beth and Emily May showed up and Sage called.”

Maggie sighed, knowing it would be a bit longer till she got home. “Okay, have your grandparents gotten home yet?”

“I don't know...Peter, are they home yet?”

“No... wait. Yeah, looks like he's pulling in.” Peter replied.

“They just got home.”

“Okay, go next door. Stay there till I get home, okay? Take Peter if you want and tell your Grandfather everything.”

~o~O~o~

Maggie only knocked once as she got to the door of her in-law's house, then she stepped inside. She looked at her father-in-law who gestured to the kitchen. “Modine and Tracy are cooking some dinner.”

“Thanks.” Maggie rushed into the kitchen. Maggie knew what her youngest was wearing was Troy's clothes, but it didn't matter to her. This was her daughter, there was no doubt about that. When Tracy saw her mother, the two rushed into each others arms. Maggie kissed the top of her daughters head and held her for a moment. “You okay?”

“No.” Tracy shook her head. “Better, but not okay.”

“Did you tell anyone?”

Tracy shook her head. “Mary Beth and Emily May know, so does Peter.”

“Can I see the pictures? Did you bring them over here?”

She went to the kitchen table where her backpack sat. It had been Peter's idea to take the pack, along with the pictures, so the grandparents knew what happened. Tracy knew if she didn't show her mother, her grandmother would. So the young girl pulled out the two pictures and handed them to her mother.

“I meant your teacher. Did he see it, or Mr. Harper?” Maggie asked.

“No.” Tracy shook her head. “I didn't tell Mr. McCoy, and Mr. Harper is at that basketball game in Chico.”

“I'll get a hold of him tonight, or at the school tomorrow.”

“We got an appointment set up.” Tracy said. “Peter did that.”

“Good. Remind me to thank him for staying, too.” Maggie then focused on the pictures and she had to bite her tongue from uttering something bad. She could see the stores of the Arden Fair mall behind her daughter. The thought that someone followed them there chilled her to the bone, but she didn't want her daughter to see the fear.

Modine seemed to pick up on it. She moved from the stove and put a hand on her Daughter in law. “Are William and Vance going to be home for dinner?”

“No, they're eating out.” Maggie replied though gritted teeth. She wanted to find the person who had taken the pictures and beat him, or her, within an inch of their life.

“Then relax. We've got enough for two more. No point in being at the house alone right now.”

~o~O~o~

Maggie and Tracy had waited for William and Vance to get home before they went home themselves. They were met at the door by William who arched one eyebrow and looked from his wife, who looked very angry, to his scared child. “What's wrong? Started to worry when no one was here.”

“I forgot to leave a note, but we need to talk.” Maggie gestured to Tracy to sit on the couch.

“Did something happen today?” William asked. “Was Peter here?”

“He was, but this is bigger then that and I agree that this time he should have been here.” Maggie went to the kitchen and called down the hall to her kids room. “Vance, we need you in the living room.”

“Okay, Mom.” A voice called back. As she went to the couch where her daughter sat, she held out a hand and Tracy handed over her backpack. Maggie fished out the pictures as Vance entered the room.

Maggie handed the two pictures to her husband. “These were left in Tracy's backpack and desk during lunch today.”

The blood drained slightly from William's face as he stared at the pictures. He knew one was taken at the house, but the second one puzzled him. “Where was this one taken at?”

“Arden Fair mall.” Maggie replied.

“So that day after her appointment?”

Maggie nodded. “Has to be. That was the skirt she had on that day.”

“Damn.” William looked at his daughter. “Who put them in your bag?”

“Don't know.” She replied back. By this point, Vance was moving towards his father and craning his neck to see the pictures.

“What are they?” He asked.

William sighed, then handed the pictures to Vance. “Did you tell your teacher? Or the Principal?”

“No. Mr. McCoy doesn’t know.”

“Mr. Harper was at the basketball game with us.” Vance supplied. “Nice dress fag?” He repeated the words on the picture in a questioning tone. “And they left them for you?”

“Yeah.” Tracy nodded.

“After they left them, did anyone talk to you differently?” William asked.

“I don't know. I...I was afraid that everyone knew already.” Tracy said.

“Who all knows about these?”

“Peter, Mary Beth and Emily May.” Tracy replied.

William looked at her for a moment, working over the last two names. “Mary and Emily....OH, those girls that came over last week.”

Tracy nodded. “Yeah. They came over after school, so did Peter.”

William slumped his shoulders and glared at his daughter. “Now I told you about having Peter here with no adults.”

Maggie cut him off, holding up a hand to stop any fatherly tirades. “William, whoever left the pictures started calling the house.”

“Here?” He asked.

“Yeah.” Tracy nodded again.

Before William could make a comment, Maggie jumped in. “I'm glad Peter was here and if this keeps up, I'd rather there be people here when she gets home.”

William was going to argue it, but he saw the wisdom behind her thought. “Tell me everything.” He said as he sat in his chair. Tracy started, telling him everything that she recalled from school, then going on to when she got home and the calls she received. She watched as he gripped his chair in anger, his knuckles going white as he focused on a point by the door.

Maggie took over, filling in the parts she knew, which wasn't much. When they were done, Vance had taken a seat by his sister and both parents were in their chairs. William tapped his fingers on the arm rest of his chair. “New rules for you two.” He said soft voice. “When you get home, if we are not home, go next door. That is for both of you.”

“Both of us? I didn't get anything...” Vance started to say, but his father cut his off.

“I want you together. This may be nothing, but after that Bruce asshole attacked Tracy once, I won't take chances with either of my children.” William rocked in his chair a few times, then he stopped and leaned forward. “Tracy, this isn't your fault. We knew someone could find you, but I hoped it wouldn't be this soon.” He held out his arms. “Come here.”

She slowly got up and went to him. He pulled her into a hug and held her tightly. “You said you got a meeting tomorrow?”

Tracy nodded. “Yeah Lunch time.”

“Good. I'll let work know I need to be there.” William stated.

“Thank you, Daddy.”

“No problem, Princess.”

Tracy looked up at him. “But do I have to go tomorrow? School I mean. What if that person leaves another picture.”

William sighed and looked at his wife. “I don't know. There's not much we can do. Either way you have to go to school.” He stated.

“But Dad.” She started to stand as she whined.

“No buts. You have to go to school, there's a law about that.” William said. “Just act like nothing is wrong.”

“There's always home schooling.” Maggie offered. “You know how kids can be. We let her go back, and they'll tear her apart.”

“Maggie, who'd teach her? We need the money your job pulls in.”

Maggie nodded at him. “Yeah, but Your Mom could do it.”

“Grandma?” Tracy's face lit up. “Could we do that?”

“Stop.” William held out a hand. “We'll ask tomorrow. I'll discuss it with your mother and grandmother too. We have to get her okay on that as well, if the school system would allow her to do it.”

Tracy slumped her shoulders and leaned against her father. “Okay.” She replied.

~o~O~o~

Morning hit and Tracy lay in bed for a few extra minutes. She could hear her mother talking to her father, but she couldn't make out what they were saying. Vance was already in the shower when she stood up and moved into the kitchen. Her mother was at the table, drinking coffee. Her father looked up for a moment, then back at his own cup.

“Do I have to go?” Tracy pleaded as she stood by the table.

Maggie nodded her head slightly. “You need to get ready to go. I tried to call the school, but no one answered yet. I'll try before the bus is to get here. But you may need to go. We'll figure things out when we go in for the meeting.”

“Fine.” Tracy grumbled. As she turned to leave, her father reached out and grabbed her hand.

“Baby, we want you safe, but if you miss too much school, they can hold you back, or get the law involved.”

“Daaad.” She started to whine.

William stood up and glared down at his daughter. He hated being the bad guy, but she had to go, at least he thought she should. “Tracy. You're going to get ready to go, get dressed, as Troy and get ready for school. We'll find a better alternative today, but for now, you have to go.”

“Can’t I just stay home?”

“William, living room, please?” Maggie said as she stood up and standing between the two of them.

“Fine.” He said as he stood up, then he looked at his youngest. “But you still need to get dressed.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Tracy stated as she slowly walked to her bedroom.

William followed his wife to the living room and she just shook her head. “William, sending her there may be a bad idea. I'll try and call in sick for her, but in her current state, you really think sending her to school while someone is leaving pictures of her there is a wise idea?”

“Maggie, if we can't get the home schooling started, she's going to have to return.”

“But right now, we send that child there, she'll be more worried about who is going to do what, that she won’t watch the teacher.”

William sighed, but he saw the logic in her argument. “Fine, call the school. Let them know she's sick or something and I'll meet you there for the meeting.”

~o~O~o~

Clark watched the clock from his seat, a grin on his face. He barely watched the teacher as he sat there, planning his next move. Lunch was coming soon and he had to follow the plan. Halfway though a science lesson, he held up his hand and the teacher stopped and looked at him. “Yes, Clark?”

“I gotta go to the bathroom.” He began bouncing in the seat.”

The teacher looked to the clock, then at Clark. “Lunch is only forty minutes away, are you sure it can't wait?”

“No.” Clark said in a half grunt, half groan that all kids seem to make when they desperately need a bathroom.

“Okay. The teacher sighed and went to his desk and grabbed a piece of wood that served as the classes hall pass. “There and straight back.” He stated.

“Thank you sir.” Clark jumped up, grabbed his coat that hung on the back of his seat and threw it on, then he went to the teacher and got the pass. He kept up the strained look on his face till he was out of the class. He passed by Troy's room and saw that Troy's desk was empty. He felt slightly cheated, but his plan was still going to continue. He walked towards the bathroom, then stopped and looked around. Once he was sure no teachers were watching him, he went on to the seventh grade classes.

He went to the door of the next class that Vance would had and he peeked in, making sure that no teachers were in there, then he quickly slipped in and began pulling several pictures out of his coat pocket. He placed a few of them on the desks nearest the door, then he slipped back out and went to the next room, where Emily May had her next class. He looked in once again and when he was sure the teacher wasn't in there, he slipped in and left a few pictures on the desk nearest the door, these had a shot that he didn’t leave with Troy, It showed a good view of Tracy and Emily May.

He hopped out of the classroom, then made his way back to his classroom, proud of a job well done. But it wasn't over. He had one more set to give out that would wait till lunch. He wanted to do it on a day that Troy was at school, but he couldn't wait.

~o~O~o~

Emily May went to her class and found her teacher holding a stack of what looked like papers. She started to go to her desk when the teacher called out to her. “Emily, could I speak to you for a moment?”

Emily went over to his desk. “Yes, Mr. Walkley?”

“Emily, I found something and I need you to run these to the principal’s office.”

“Me? Why me?” She asked.

“I found these on a few of the desks. Someone left these for the kids. I need you to get these to Mr. Harper.” He gestured for her to move closer and he showed her the pictures that he had found in his room.

Her jaw dropped open as she saw a clear shot of her and Tracy. The words at the bottom were in black ink. “Emily May's little fag friend, Troy Patterson.”

She put a hand over her mouth and gasped. “Oh, Crap.”

“Now you see why I want you to take them.” He stated and handed her the hall pass. “Go now, tell the Mrs. Olsen that you can only give these to Mr. Harper.”

“Yes, Sir.” Emily May turned and almost sprinted out of the class as the last of the student's trickled in.

~o~O~o~

Vance walked into his class, wondering if he should have asked for the period off to be in the office with his brother. He had been wondering who the person who had called the house was. He knew if he had heard the voice, he could have figured out who it was.

He wondered if it was Clark. Bruce's brother seemed to be the only person who had a growing hatred for his brother. Vance knew it wasn't Troy's fault, but no one would ever convince Clark that. His pondering was interrupted by someone who burst into laughter. One of them stepped closer to him “OH my God and you live with that?” Vance looked up and saw several people holding pictures in their hands, but he couldn't see what they were of.

A short woman walked in and cleared her throat. “I do believe you all still know how to find your seats?”

Vance wondered what they were talking about, but he slowly headed to his seat. The little lady began her prepared lesson on the Korean War and Vance did his best to pay attention.

It was about ten minutes into the lesson when a boy who sat behind him passed him snickered. “So do you have your own dress too?” He asked in a whisper.

Vance looked back and growled, in a hushed tone. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“You know...” The boy turned the picture of Tracy so Vance could see it.

Vance's eyes popped open as he looked at the picture. He reached out and snagged the photo before the other boy could pull it away. The words at the bottom were printed in black block letters. “Troy Patterson, Vance's faggot brother.”

He didn't realize he was halfway out of his seat and grabbing his backpack, till the teacher spoke up. “Vance, can you take your seat please?”

“Ma'am, I need to go to the office.” He replied.

“You could have gone during lunch. I'm sure whatever it is can wait till the next break.”

“But Ma'am...” Vance started to plead.

“Vance Patterson.” She said through clinched teeth. “You just had forty five minutes to take care of any personal business. If you don't take your seat, we'll be seeing the principal about detention.”

“Mrs. Burns, it can't wait.” Vance said.

“Seat now!” She raised her voice which caused the kids in her room to fall silent. Vance knew his parents would be in the office by this point and with the new picture, he knew he had to let the principal know about it right away. He didn’t want detention, but he had to show the pictures to Mr. Harper.

“Ma'am, I have something the Principal needs to see.” Vance replied.

“Vance, it can wait. Take your seat now.” She growled at him.

He looked at the picture in his hand, then at the teacher. He was still unsure of Tracy at times. There were up points and he couldn't deny that his sibling was happier as Tracy. These pictures were setting out to destroy what happiness she had found and he began to understand the true meaning of being the older brother. He was to protect her and he was damned in the teacher was going to stop him.

“No, it can't.” He replied and started walking to the door.

“Mr. Patterson! Take your seat now, or it's detention for a week!”

“Fine.” He replied and kept walking to the door.

She glared at her class. “None of you move a muscle, I will be right back."

Yep, another To be continued.

Thanks to Djkauf for the editing

We join in on the day Tracy has her meeting with the Principal. A look in at Sage, Brooke and Rachel too.

Meanwhile....
Rancho Las Positas Elementary, Livermore CA

It was lunchtime and Sage walked with Brooke and Rachel up to the cafeteria. Brooke had come to school later then the rest of them, mostly because of a doctor’s appointment. She sped up to Sage and tried to stop her for a moment. “Hey, Rachel said you had news for us. Something about Tracy?”

Rachel looked to her friend when she heard no answer and she saw Sage walking with her eyes on the ground in front of her and clearly deep in thought. She tapped the redhead on the shoulder and asked as her friend made eye contact. “You okay?”

Sage looked at them and realized that she had been focused on her thoughts the whole way up. “No.”

Brooke stopped and turned to face her. “What's wrong? Not those drugs from the doctor, is it?”

“The hormones? No. The doctor wanted to wait a couple more years, in case I start making my own female hormones.” Sage shook her head. “I called Tracy last night to tell her that I was got them yesterday and I got bad news.”

Brooke gave her a big grin and chuckled. “Vance is moving down here and living with your parents?”

Sage looked at her, then thought about it. She shook her head and sighed. “Worse then that, if you can believe it.”

“Her parent's won’t let her be Tracy anymore?” Rachel asked.

“Nope.” Sage replied as they got into the long lunch line. She turned to face then and whispered. “Someone saw her and took pictures. They left them for her in her desk and backpack, plus they called her house and threatened her.”

“Oh, shit.” Brooke replied as her smile faded away.

“I'll tell you what I know when we get a table, okay?” Sage said as she turned back around. Less then ten minutes later, they were huddled together, away from everyone else at the table and Sage gave then a fast rundown on what she knew.

As she finished, she sat upright and Rachel shook her head. “They don't know who did it, do they?”

“She didn't know the voice.” Sage replied.

“They making her go back to school today?” Brooke asked.

“No clue. But she said they had an appointment to see the Principal. He knows about her, so hopefully things can get worked out.”

“Thank God Mary Beth and her sister went there.” Rachel added. “Peter too.”

“That won’t end well.” Brooke said with a forced smile. “Her dad finds out he was there with no adults and he'll roast Peter alive.”

“Man. It would be so much easier if she lived down here. A lot more schools to pick from.” Rachel stated. "Plus friends who care about her."

“I know, I just hope she stays safe.” Sage replied. “I asked Mom if we could go up this weekend, but we have plans.”

“Maybe we should ask our Moms for next weekend?” Brooke smiled wide. “Like go on Friday after school, there is that staff development day on Monday, so we could have the full weekend.”

“I'll ask; you all ask.” Rachel said with a smile and a nod.

“Groovy. I'll see if Casey and Stacey can get away too.” Sage said.

~o~O~o~

Northern California

Troy followed his mother into the main office of the school and he took a seat at the bench. Maggie went to the receptionist’s desk. “I believe my son has an appointment with Mr. Harper today?”

The older lady looked at her schedule book, then back up at Maggie. “Ah, yes. You're a few minutes early. He's got someone inside right now, but he'll see you in a few.” She looked to Troy. “Are Mr. Lowery and the Higgins’s girls coming too?”

“Maybe?” Troy shrugged. He knew it was almost lunchtime for the fourth, fifth and sixth grades, the cafeteria was currently empty. The bell had rung a few minutes earlier, calling the end of the middle school's classes lunch period. They sat there for a few minutes and a second bell rang, this was for Troy's grades lunch period.

William walked through the door and smiled at his son and wife. “Are we early?” He asked.

Maggie nodded. “Yeah.” She replied as he sat down.

“Good.” William sat down on the other side of his child.

Emily May came into the office, her pack and purse still over her shoulder and the pictures in her hand. She went to the desk and looked at the older woman. “I was sent here by Mr. Walkley to give something to Mr. Harper.”

“Well, he's got the Pattersons next. I can give it to him now if you want.” She offered.

“Oh.” Emily May glanced over her shoulder and saw Troy and his parents and she smiled at them. “I'll wait.”

The older woman smiled as she went back to her work and Emily May went to Troy. A moment later, the door opened up and Mary Beth came in, followed by Peter. They stopped and stood near Troy and his parent's. “Emily, why are you here? I thought you had a class?”

“This is why.” She stated and showed all of them the pictures. “Mr. Walkley found them in his classroom.”

“Crap.” William muttered. Maggie held back a curse and Troy just slumped in his seat. He could see the writing on the wall now.

The door to the office opened up and a student that Troy didn't know came out with his mother and Mr. Harper. He paid little attention as they made a little small talk, then the mother and child left. Mr. Harper moved to the Patterson's and held out a hand for William. “Mr. Patterson, it's good to see you.”

“Thank you for seeing us.” William gave him a smile as he stood up and shook the hand.

“Maggie.” Mr. Harper held out a hand to her.

“Hello. Sorry to intrude on you like this.” Maggie stated.

"Nonsense, it's my job to be here to talk to the parents." Then he looked to Emily May. “Shouldn't you be in class young lady?”

“Um...I'm with Troy, I have something that concerns why he's here today.” She replied as she held up her hall pass. “Mr. Walkley gave me permission to come here.”

“Well then...” He went to the swinging gate door that kept the kids from getting behind the desk and held it open for the group. “Come on back.”

Troy got up and followed his mother, father and friends into the principal’s office. When they got in, Troy stayed standing, with his friends, while his parents took the two chairs.

Mr. Harper looked at Troy, then at Maggie. “I thought Troy was sick today?” He asked.

“The reason I called in for him today is why we're here.” Maggie stated. She reached into her purse and pulled out the pictures and passed them over. “Troy found these in his desk yesterday.”

“And my backpack.” Troy added.

“Oh my.” Mr. Harper said as he looked over the pictures. He bit his tongue so he didn't swear in front of the children. “I think I understand.”

“No, you don't.” William replied. “Yesterday, when Troy got home, Someone started calling the house and threatening him.”

“Do you know who it is?” Mr. Harper asked.

“No.” Troy's voice was strained, as he fought the urge to burst into tears. Mary Beth put an arm around him.

“I went there after school with my sister.” Mary Beth cut in. “I answered one of the calls too. It's an older boy, but I don't know the voice.”

“And has he called back since?”

“I don't know. When I got home, Troy was at his grandparent’s house.” Maggie stated. “We went home and unplugged the phone till this morning.”

“I see. When were these left for you?”

“Lunch yesterday.” Troy replied.

“I went into the classroom and saw Troy holding them.” Mary Beth added.

“Sir?” Emily May cut in. “Mr. Walkley found these in his room just a few minutes ago and had me bring them to you.”

Mr. Harper took the stack of pictures, then flipped thought them, till he saw enough to realize they were all the same thing. He looked to Troy and asked. “Has anyone threatened you, face to face?”

“Over the phone doesn't count?” William asked, a bit of anger in his voice.

“I'm thinking that if someone threatened him face to face, they may have been the person who left the pictures.” The Principal replied.

Troy shook his head. “No one said anything to me the past few days about that.” He gestured to the pictures. “they just threatened to kick my as...butt over the phone.”

“There was Clark.” Peter piped up. “Before Troy got hurt here at the school,Clark was telling people that Bruce saw him in a dress.”

“But do we have proof that Clark left these pictures?” Mr. Harper asked.

“Does it matter?” William asked.

“Without knowing who left them, I really can't punish them.” Mr. Harper said. “We can't watch just one child all the time. I'm not sure how much we could do here without knowing who the guilty party is.”

“So what can we do then?” William asked with an annoyed tone. “Send my child back into a hostile environment?”

Maggie put a hand on her husband’s shoulder to try and calm him down. Then she glanced at Mr. Harper. “Could we possibly put Troy into home schooling?”

Mr. Harper leaned back in his chair and looked from Maggie to William, then at Troy, then finally back to Maggie. “That is a possibility, and it may be the best idea, but don't you both work?”

“We do, but can anyone do the teaching?” Maggie asked. “If so, we could have my mother-in-law teach him.”

Before he could answer Maggie, there was a knock at the door. He turned over all the pictures, then called out. “Yes?”

The door opened slightly and his secretary poked her head in. “I don't mean to interrupt you, but I have Mrs. Burns and Vance Patterson all out here.

Mr. Harper raised an eyebrow, but got up and headed to the main office. As he stepped out, he was immediately assaulted verbally by the short Mrs. Burns. “Mr. Harper, I need to get back to my class, but I need Mr. Patterson here put on detention for getting out of his seat and leaving the class after I told him to sit down.”

“Sir, I had to come here.” Vance said, pleading with his eyes. “It's about Troy.”

“What about Troy?” Mr. Harper asked.

Vance leaned forward and whispered. “The pictures from yesterday.” He hoped that his parents had already covered the pictures. Then he passed the picture he had pulled from the other boy over to Mr. Harper, image down, so neither the teacher, or the secretary could see what it was.

Mr. Harper looked at it as Mrs. Burns sighed. “I don't care what this is about, he left my room after I told him to get in his seat. He needs to be punished for insubordination.”

Mr. Harper ignore the little woman and he looked at Vance. “Where was this? Who had it?”

“In her room. Some of the other kids have them and were teasing me about it.” Vance replied.

“No one teased him.” She snapped back.

Mr. Harper looked at her and she backed down. He looked to the picture once more, then at her and made a snap decision. “Janice, I need you to get back to your class. I'll be there in a few minutes. Don't let any of them leave until I get there, understood?”

“Fine, and what about him?” She pointed at Vance.

“He has his reasons for coming here I will deal with him for that.” Mr. Harper replied. As she was about to speak again, he held out a hand and stopped her. “I'll discuss it with you, but right now, I have some other business to attend to. So please, return to your class and I'll be there shortly.”

She huffed out an angry breath, then stormed out of the office. Mr. Harper watched the teacher leave, then he put a hand on Vance's shoulder. “I'll discuss your situation with Mrs. Burns later. But for now, come on back, your parents are here.”

Vance followed the principal back and when Maggie saw him, she raised an eyebrow.

“Before you say anything, I had Vance come back here because of these.” He handed the picture that Vance had given him. He looked to Emily May, then wrote out a quick hall pass, forgetting she already had one. “I'm going to send you back to class. Tell Mr. Walkley that if he finds more of these pictures, to send them to me straight away.”

Emily May gave Troy a quick hug, then took her two hall passes and left. Mr. Harper focused on Peter and Mary Beth. “I'd like to discuss Troy's options with his parents. That you for coming here for him, but you two need to get going, or you'll miss out on lunch.”

Peter looked to Troy who just nodded. “Call me when school is over. I want to know what happened.”

As Peter started to turn. William got up and put a hand on Peter's shoulder, stopping him. “One moment, Peter.” He had wanted to do this away from the others, but he didn't want to any of the kids wondering what was going on. He held out his hand, in the offer of a hand shake. “I want to thank you for staying with Troy yesterday. Thank you for making sure nothing happened.”

“Um...” Peter was stunned as he looked at the offered hand, then he slowly gripped it. “No problem. I would have kicked myself if I hadn't gone over there.”

“Thank you. We may change the rules again and I'll let you know, personally, okay?”

“Okay.” Peter smiled slightly. “Thank you sir.”

“Now get going. Go get some lunch.” William said with a smile.

Peter left the room, after giving Troy a smile, then Mary Beth hugged her friend once more, then William offered her a handshake as well. “That goes for you as well. And give my thanks to your sister for coming over as well.”

“I will sir. I'm just glad nothing happened.”

William nodded. “That makes two of us, little lady.”

William took his seat as Mary Beth left, then he looked at his wife, who was looking at the pictures Troy's teacher had brought in. The anger rose in him once more. The decision was made, he knew that now. When he spoke, he forced his voice to remain calm. “How do we get Troy into Home schooling?”

“Normally there’s a couple of days to get it approved, but I can call in a favor.” Mr. Harper stated.

“Do we need anything special to teach him? Like any teaching degrees?” Maggie asked.

“Not that I'm aware of, but there will be tests, run by the school district. I'm sorry, but for those, Troy will have to show up, but given the circumstances, I'm sure we can have those held in here, or in the teacher’s lounge.” Mr. Harper watched as Troy slumped his shoulders. “Hey, tests will be a part of life.”

“I know.”

Mr. Harper looked to the clock, then he stood up. “Now if you don't mind, I need to go to Mrs. Burn's class before it lets out. I'll only be a few minutes. I want to make sure that no more of the pictures are there. Vance, You can stay in here and we'll discuss any punishments for leaving the class when I return.”

“Okay.” He replied as he felt both his parents look at him.

When the Principal had left the room, William turned to fully face his eldest. “Punishments?” He asked.

Vance sighed and gestured to the pictures. “Someone was teasing me, then he showed me the picture. I grabbed it and came to tell Mr. Harper, 'cause I knew you two would be here. I thought he should know that new pictures had been left.

“That doesn't explain the punishment part of it.” William stated.

Vance nodded. “I got up and Mrs. Burns got mad and told me to sit down, but I didn't 'cause this is important. So I asked for permission to go to the office, but she wouldn't let me, so I left the room.”

William took it all in and nodded slowly. “Well, you did what you felt was right. True, you disobeyed a teacher, but something like this was important. But next time, you could have waited till after the class. Then you could have brought the picture up.”

Vance lowered his gaze. “Yes Dad. I'm sorry.”

“Don't be. You did what you did to protect family, right?” William asked and his son nodded. “Well then, that's all I needed to hear.”

“You Okay?” Maggie asked as she looked to her youngest.

“No.” Troy shook his head. “This whole thing sucks.”

Maggie pointed a finger at him, but only half-heartedly scolded him. “Language.”

“Sorry, it's just, why can't Tracy come to school?” He asked. “And now someone is putting pictures all around school.”

“It's okay. We're going to home-school you. This won't even be an issue anymore.” Maggie gave him her best smile.

“I hope so.” He answered back.

~o~O~o~

Mr. Harper walked into Mrs. Burn’s class and stood to the side, then cleared his throat to catch her attention. “Janice, could I have a moment of your class time?”

“Sure.” She replied, not at all happy that he interrupted her. After all, this was her class, her kingdom. How could she rule over it if people kept compromising her authority.

“Listen up, class.” Mr. Harper spoke loud enough to be heard by all. “I know there are pictures in this class of another student at this school. The administration of this school will be treating these pictures as a threat to that child, any siblings of said child and any friends mentioned in the pictures. If you have one, hold your hand up and I will come collect them.”

Not a hand went up in the room. “Do I need to threaten with a class-wide detention because no one wants to come forward? I'd also like to mention that anyone in sports will be barred from playing if they are found in possession of those pictures.”

As he said it, a couple of hands went up and Mr. Harper moved forward to collect the photos. “Thank you. Any one else?” He asked, then waited a few minutes as no one else moved. “Okay. Like I said, those photo's are being treated as threatening material. Any student caught with them will be suspended for at least three days, if not longer. Any of you in extracurricular activities will be barred from participating to the end of the school year. If you find any photos with threatening messages on them, bring them to the office, straight away.”

Curiosity got to Mrs. Burns as Mr. Harper went to the door. “Continue reading and I will be right back in.” She went outside and shut the door behind her. A quick couple of steps helped her catch up to the principal. “What is all this about?” She asked.

Mr. Harper stopped and turned to face her. He knew he was going to send out a note to all teachers. They would be instrumental in finding the culprit. “Someone is passing pictures of Vance Patterson’s brother around with threatening notes aimed at Troy and at least three other students.”

“Troy...? Is he the kid that got hurt in December? The one that Millet kid attacked?” Mrs. Burns asked.

“The same.” Mr. Harper replied.

Then she put the easy pieces of the puzzle together. “That's why Vance said he had to leave, he had to tell you.”

“Correct. I've got his parents in my office right now.” Mr. Harper replied.

“What are these pictures of?” Mrs. Burns asked.

Mr. Harper thought about it for a moment. He knew that two teachers now knew. And if he was to put out a note to all of them to stop the photos, knowing what they were looking for could help. He turned the picture over and showed her.

She raised an eyebrow and shrugged. “It's a young girl. Why target Vance?”

“No.” Mr. Harper replied. “That's Troy."

Her tone changed and when she spoke, there was disbelief and a hint of disgust in her voice. “Wait, he wears girl’s clothes?”

He sighed. He knew there were a few backward thinking members of his staff and as long as they kept their opinion to themselves and their actions didn't harm a child, there was little he could do. But Mr. Harper could tell by her face that she wasn't happy to be a part of this. “Janice, for all we know, it was taken at Halloween. And what he wears isn't our problem. The fact that someone is openly threatening not one, but at least three children and they are leaving the pictures at the school, that makes it out concern.”

She read the words at the bottom, then looked at him and shook her head. “That isn't a threat. It's just pointing out that Troy wears girl’s clothes.”

“He received a phone call while at home yesterday and they threatened to attack him.” Mr. Harper replied. “He got the pictures here at the school, so did two other students. That makes it our problem and something I have to report to the sheriff's office.”

“I see.”

“I'll be holding a staff meeting after school, but for now, you need to get back to your class and I need to go to the office.” Mr. Harper turned to leave, then he stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Janice, our personal feelings have no place in this. So if you see a picture or any threatening notes, then bring them to me.”

She huffed out a breath and turned back to her classroom door. She knew he was right, but in defending the little boy, she hated that. If he wanted to prance around like a girl, it was her belief that he should fight his own fights. “Fine.” She stated as she opened it up and stepped in.

~o~O~o~

Mr. Harper was almost back to the office when Mr. McCoy came running up. "Alvin!" He shouted. The Principal turned and raised an eyebrow. Mr. McCoy took a moment to catch his breath. "S-sorry, out of shape."

"What's wrong?" Mr. Harper asked him.

"I just went to my room to grab some papers to grade while I ate, I totally forgot them when the bell for lunch rang, but when I went into the class, someone had left these on one of the desks." He looked around to make sure no kids were watching, then he handed over a few pictures, each with the words "Troy Patterson is a dress wearing fag." written in black ink at the bottom.

"On a desk?" Mr. Harper raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Troy's desk, actually." Rodney replied. "Is this why he was sick today? He seemed out of it after lunch yesterday."

"I shouldn't answer that, but yes. He's received phone calls too, threatening ones last night. This isn't the only pictures around. Vance, his brother, got one from another student in a different class and Mr. Walkley found some in his class, each targeting Troy and other students that Troy knows."

"Crap." Mr. McCoy muttered.

"Yeah. There will be a meeting after school, I'll announce it shortly, but for now, if you see any of those pictures, bring them to right away."

"Okay. I'll keep an eye out." Mr. McCoy replied.

"Thank you Rodney." Mr. Harper said before he turned and went back to the office. He stopped at the secretary’s desk long enough to make an announcement to all teachers about the meeting over the PA system, then he went to his office, while his secretary gave him a bewildered look. He went in and nodded at the Patterson family as he took his seat. “There were a few more pictures.” He stated as he looked up. “So you all know, I'll be holding a staff meeting after school today and I need to get everyone on board about collecting those pictures. One more thing. The pictures were left here and you have been threatened, at least I see it that way. I'm sorry for any inconvenience, but I need to notify the sheriff’s department.”

“Do you have to?” Troy asked, his voice was strained with fear. He didn't want this becoming bigger then it was.

“Troy, if people found out that I didn't inform the cops when a student was harassed both here and at home, I could lose my job. And with the notes going to your brother and the Higgins girl, I have to tell someone. I'll do my best to keep you out of it, okay.”

Troy didn't look up. He began staring at his feet. “Okay.” he stated, not believing him at all.

“Okay. Now as for home schooling. Will this be just Troy, or Vance too.” Mr. Harper looked to Vance, then Maggie.

Maggie looked to her eldest and then at her husband. “It would be safer, I mean he's getting the notes too.”

“Can I still play sports?” Vance asked.

“I don't think so.” Mr. Harper replied. “I believe that you need to be a student at the school, but I can look into it.”

“Vance, I know you like sports, but this may be safer.” Maggie said as she leaned over and put a hand on his shoulder.

“But Mom, I like being on the team.”

William cut her off before she could continue. “Maggie, what if the pictures stop after Troy leaves? We could leave Vance in for now, so Mom only has to worry about teaching one kid, then if things get worse, we can pull Vance.”

“Could we?” Vance asked, his eyes shining with hope. “I don't wont to leave the basketball team and baseball is starting soon. Plus there's soccer.”

Maggie thought about it for a moment or two, then she looked to her husband and nodded slightly. “Okay.” She stated, but held up one finger. “But one problem and he gets pulled, understand?”

“Deal.” William agreed.

Mr. Harper waited for the couple to finish, then he smiled and leaned forward in his chair, reaching for his Rolodex with the important numbers for the school district. “Now that that is settled, I'll get a hold of the district office. We can have someone come over and start the paperwork.”

William leaned over to Maggie and whispered into her ear. She shrugged and looked to Mr. Harper. “Do we both need to be here? He needs to get back to work and if it's paperwork, I tend to deal with that.”

“That should be fine. We only need one of you here for the paperwork.” The Principal looked to the clock, then to Vance. “Your class should be letting out soon, so at the bell, go ahead and take off. I'll take over your detention from Mrs. Burns and we'll discuss it later, okay?”

“Okay.” Vance replied and he smiled at his brother. “See you at home, lucky bum.”

“Later, Vance.” Troy replied.

William stood and both he and his eldest left the room. Maggie patted the seat and looked to Troy. “May as well get comfortable.” She replied.

There will be more, I just don't want to overwhelm people with large chapters

Troy leaned back and watched the scenery pass by. After a couple of miles, he spoke up without looking at his mother. “Mom, is it wrong?” He asked, then he slowly turned his head to face her.

“Is what wrong?” Maggie asked as she drove.

“Being Tracy, I mean. All of this, these pictures, the phone calls....should I just stop?”

“Baby, like your grandmother said, you should never let anyone make your choices for you.” Maggie patted her child’s knee. “And if you stop being yourself because of some asshole and his pictures, then you're letting him make a choice for you.” She turned onto their road and kept driving.

Once again, Big thanks to Djkauf for the editing
More of the fallout from the pictures.

:Continued

Vance was headed out of the bathroom that was by the offices as the bell sounded, ending what would have been his current class. He knew he had five minutes to get to his next class. As he passed it, he could see the lunchroom had emptied a few minutes earlier and he knew Peter and Mary Beth would be back in their classes by now.

He was almost to his next class when one of the boys from that he had seen in Mrs. Burn's class stopped in his path. He sneered at Vance and in a mocking voice, one that kids use in the first grade as though their opponent was a baby, he spoke so everyone could hear him. “Did wittle baby have to tell the principal? 'Fraid we'd hurt your fagot brother?”

“So, do you wear dresses with your fag brother?” Another asked.

“You share a room with him, don't you?” A third asked. “So the two of you sleep together?”

“Just drop it.” Vance said as he tried to move around them, but they moved and stayed in his path.

“What's wrong, you want in here? This is a no fag room. You sleep with one, so that makes you one.” The first boy said as he shoved against Vance's chest, causing him to take a step or two back.

“Alright, back off now before I kick all of your asses.” Vance puffed out his chest and readied himself for a fight, but he didn't get the chance to defend himself, or his family.

A shadow fell over all of them as Mr. Walkley stood there. “Boys, you can come into the room. I don't intend on holding class in the doorway.” It was his way of defusing the situation. They knew he was watching and he knew yelling at them would get no where, so he defused it with humor. “I doubt we could all fit in one doorway.” He gave then a smile and stepped out of the way, but he made sure they all noticed that he was still standing nearby. Vance stood his ground as the other two boys glared at him, knowing that they were blaming him for this as well. When it was clear, Mr. Walkley looked to Vance and nodded slightly. “You have any troubles, just come see me. I may not know what's going on with your brother, but I abhor fighting.”

“Thank you, sir.” Vance said in an almost whisper as he went to his desk. He kept his eyes down, waiting for that stray foot to try and trip him.

~o~O~o~

The bell rang, signaling the last recess of the day and Troy looked to his mother. The lady from the main office had been delayed a bit and was finally there, finishing the papers to get Troy into home schooling. “Mom, could I go to Mr. McCoy's room and get my stuff out of my desk?”

She looked to Mr. Harper who was helping Maggie finish up the last of the paperwork. “We're done here.” He stated. “But, Troy, are you sure you want to go in there?” This caused the lady from the school board office to raise an eyebrow and cast an inquisitive look to the Principal.

“Can I ask what happened?” She asked.

“There's been some threatening notes and pictures being sent to Troy and his family and friends here at the school.” Mr. Harper explained.

“Maybe it will blow over in a little while?”

Mr. Harper shook his head slightly, staying away from the truth of the conversation. “There have been phone calls, too. Bad ones, so his parents want to keep him away from here and near them.”

“Oh. That's why the home-schooling?” The lady asked.

Maggie spoke up with a nod. “Yes. We feel it is the best and safest.”

“Well, you got to do what you can when the kids are in danger.” The lady replied. “What are they threatening him over.”

Maggie looked to Troy, then frowned at the other woman. “That's personal. I'd rather not go into it with someone I don't know. No offense, it's just not something I want to share with everyone.”

She nodded. “Okay, I can respect that. God knows if someone threatened my children, I'd want to keep them safe too.”

“Thank you.” Maggie said. She looked to her son and put a hand on his shoulder. “Tell you what. I'll go get your stuff.” Maggie said with a smile. Then she looked to Mr. Harper. “If you don't mind me leaving Troy here for a moment.”

“Not at all.”

“Are we done?” Maggie shifter her gaze to the other woman.

“Yep. As of now, Troy is home-schooled. We'll get a hold of you for when the testing will take place and here....” She pulled out a paper from a satchel. “This is the subjects that he needs to be focusing on. If there's any questions, you can always call the school board office and ask for me. I'll let you know what is required.” She pulled out another piece of paper. “These are listings of places that you can get school books from. They sell the teachers copies too.”

“Thank you.” Maggie offered her hand to the other woman, who shook it.

“Not a problem. You two have a wonderful afternoon and I'll talk to you later.”

Maggie stood as the other woman left the office and she patted Troy on the shoulder. “I'll be right back, kiddo.”

~o~O~o~

Maggie was headed to the room while recess was still in full swing. She went straight to her son’s class and looked inside, knocking on the door frame when she saw the teacher was inside at his desk. “Can I come in?”

Rodney looked up and tired to place the face of the woman. He had seen her around a month or so earlier and he gestured her inside. “Maggie, right? Troy's mother?”

“Yes.” She nodded while she came in.

Rodney had expected to see one of the Pattersons. He wasn't sure which it would be, but as Maggie came closer, he thought it seemed logical that it was the mother. ~Dad's probably at work in the mill.~ He thought to himself. He recalled an English lesson where the kids each wrote down what their parents did. He knew between the two of them, Maggie had the more flexible schedule. “I'm going to guess this is about those pictures we found?”

“In a way, yes.” Maggie said with a nod.

“I must admit, I only found them an hour ago, I didn't expect to see you this soon.” He said as he leaned back in his chair.

“To be honest, we were already here.” Maggie forced a smile. “But I didn't hear that you had found them.”

“Yeah, I caught Alvin at lunch time.” Rodney replied. “I felt he needed to see them.”

“Thank you.” Maggie’s smile got warmer as she felt a wave of relief pass through her. Here was a teacher and he wasn't preaching to her about her son or the pictures.

“So, what can I help you with?” He asked.

“I need to clean out Troy's stuff from his desk.” Maggie stated.

“Is he moving classes?”

Maggie shook her head. “No, we're putting him in home-schooling. Those pictures you seen were just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Trouble from another direction?” Rodney asked. He knew about the phone calls, but he wasn't going to let on that he knew.

Maggie was hesitant for a moment, then she nodded. “Yes. There was some threatening phone calls yesterday.”

“So this is why he wasn't feeling good after lunch yesterday.” Rodney got up and went over to Troy's desk with Maggie. As Maggie opened it up and began to pull out the non-school owned stuff, Rodney sat on the top of a desk nearby. “Maggie, can I ask a question? I'll understand if I'm out of place. Trust me when I say I'm not judging, I just want to understand what I saw in those pictures.”

Maggie stopped pulling out her son’s stuff and placing it in her purse long enough to look at his teacher. “It depends on the question.” She replied. “I may answer, but if it's personal, I need you to understand.”

“Totally.” Rodney stated. He got up and went to the door, then shut it, giving them some privacy. “I've been thinking for a while that something was wrong with your son. Like maybe there was abuse at home or something, but he always insisted that nothing was wrong. He's been quiet and kept to himself, unless Peter was around, then after he came back after Christmas, he lightened up around Mary Beth too.”

He went to the corner of his desk and sat down, facing her. “When I saw the girl in that picture, I had a hard time believing it was Troy, mostly from the huge smile on her face, but I finally saw him in the eyes. Then I got to thinking. That wasn't taken around here, Chico's mall doesn't have that store that you stood in front of. Plus there was an ad in a window for a New Year’s sale, so it had to be after Christmas. So this wasn't a Halloween costume, was it?”

Maggie didn't respond, she went back to cleaning out her child's desk. “Maggie, I know this is hard, but believe me when I say, I won't judge him. This has the scientist in me curious.”

Maggie sighed and looked up. She knew rumors would start to fly and Mr. McCoy was asking questions, that was a good start. She took the leap of faith and answered. “No, it's not a costume.”

“Troy picked that out himself?” He asked, not sure how to proceed with the questions.

Maggie nodded. “He did.”

“I see. So those pictures? Was that the first time he dressed like a girl in public? He seemed so unafraid and normal people would have seemed timid or withdrawn.”

“No.” Maggie answered. “She spent a week in Livermore with friends her age as a girl. That was before Christmas.”

“Interesting.” Mr. McCoy sat up straight on the end of the desk and cocked his head to the side, trying to recall something from a month ago. “So the stories about Bruce? The ones of Troy in a dress?”

Maggie shut the desk and shook her head. “I'd rather not talk about that. That day isn't a good topic for me.”

“I can respect that.” He said. The bell signaling the end of recess rang and Maggie jumped slightly. Mr. McCoy got up, offering his hand to her. He had more questions, but he knew the students would start coming in and he didn't want to let them overhear anything. “Well, In case I don't see you, or your youngest again, It's been good knowing you.”

Maggie hesitated a moment, then she shook the offered hand. “Thank you. You may see him again. Something about monthly tests.”

“Ah yes. Well, maybe I'll see him then.”

“Possibly.” Maggie said as the door opened up and a few students trickled in. “Thank you again, Rodney.”

“Not a problem Maggie. Tell Troy I said hi.”

Maggie stopped by the door, long enough to let some of the kids in. “I will.” When she was outside, a small girl stepped in her way. Mary Beth stepped up and hugged her, then whispered.

“Tell Tracy we'll try to see her soon”

Maggie nodded and gave the girl a quick hug back. “I will.”

~o~O~o~

Maggie pulled out of the school's parking lot. Troy looked at her, as they drove home. “Do you have to go to work?”

“I was going to use some sick-time, but I figured I'd just take an hour off for the meeting. I'll drop you off at home and go back to work, then on the way home, I'll buy those books.”

“Oh, cool” Troy leaned back and watched the scenery pass by. After a couple of miles, he spoke up without looking at his mother. “Mom, is it wrong?” He asked, then he slowly turned his head to face her.

“Is what wrong?” Maggie asked as she drove.

“Being Tracy, I mean. All of this, these pictures....should I just stop?”

“Baby, like your grandmother said, you should never let anyone make your choices for you.” Maggie patted her child’s knee. “And if you stop being yourself because of some asshole and his pictures, then you're letting him or her make a choice for you.” She turned onto their road and kept driving.

Troy's jaw dropped as his mother swore. It took him a moment or two to gather his mind up and shake his head, before he responded. “But what if people find out?”

“People know.” Maggie replied. “Who knows how many people saw those pictures.”

“But what if more people find out, like in town?”

“I don't know. I do know that being yourself makes you happy and to me that's all that matters. If we force you to be Troy, just because of some closed minded idiots, then we're no better then they are.”

Troy leaned back in his seat and thought for a few moments. “So you want me to keep being Tracy?”

Maggie sighed and pulled the car off the road and into their driveway. “Baby, only you can choose to be Tracy. This isn't about what you think is best for the family. This is about what's best for you. We all get affected by choices the others make, but you can't live your life trying to keep us safe, or everyone else happy. You have to live for yourself.”

“So, I...” He leaned back in his seat and shook his head. “I don't know what to do.”

“Baby, no one needs an answer today. I'll take you to your grandmother’s, then I got to go to work. While you're there, think about it. You have time.” She turned off the car and opened up the door. “Now do you want to change, or are you good like that?”

“I'm good like this.” Troy replied after a few moments. “I'm...I'm a bit nervous. After those pictures, I'm afraid someone else will see me.”

“Okay. No one's pushing you. Let's get you to your grandparents and then I'll see you later.”

“Okay Mom.” Troy replied, then he leaned over and hugged her. “Thank you.

“For what?”

Troy smiled at her. “For being you.”

~o~O~o~

Emily May and her sister got off the bus and walked down the driveway to their house. Mary Beth had kept quiet ever since she had went back to class. Emily May threw an arm around her sister and pulled her close. “Hey, what's wrong?”

Mary Beth sighed and leaned into her sister as they walked. “I just feel bad for Tracy. I wish I could tell who that voice was, but I can't.”

“I feel bad too. It's funny, for the past few years, I always wondered why Troy seemed so dead to the world. I mean he smiled and played, but nothing like how Tracy was.” Emily May stated.

“Yeah. And Tracy is a cute girl, isn't she.”

Emily May nodded. “No one would know those pictures were of, if, if Troy's name wasn't written on each one.”

Mary Beth made a fist and growled. “I find out who did that and I'll smash his nuts flat.”

Emily May raised an eyebrow, then chuckled. “Flat?” She asked as they got to the door. She reached to pull it open, but it was already moving. As she saw her father, she smiled at him and let go of her sister. “Hey, Dad.”

“Don't hey Dad me. I want you two in the living-room and I want you there now.” He turned and stormed away and the two sisters just looked at each other, unsure what was going on. They slowly made their way into the living-room and their dad just pointed at the couch. “Sit, I have a few questions for you both.”

The sisters gave each other a strange look, but sat down. Their father pulled out an envelope and produced a picture from it and turn it to face them. Both girls could see the now familiar picture of Tracy and Emily hugging. Once again, black ink was used on the bottom. “This is a boy in a dress, not a girl.”

As they looked up at their father, they could see he wasn't happy. “I got this in the mail today. Care to explain where you went a couple weeks ago? The last time you wore that outfit was when you went to see that friend a week or two ago.”

“We were visiting a friend.” Emily May stated.

“I know that.” He said through clinched teeth. “Is there anything I need to know? Like is that friend really a fag in a dress?” He fought to keep his anger in check. He swore he had raised his daughters better then this.

“Dad, it's not like that.” Emily replied. “Tracy is a girl.”

“Then what does this mean?” He pointed to the words at the bottom of the picture.

“It's...well.” Emily started, looking for the right words.

“Is this a boy, in a dress?

“Not exactly.” Mary Beth replied.

Their father clinched his teeth together and glared at her. “What the fuck does that mean? Is this a boy or not.”

“No.” Mary Beth started to answer, but then she amended. “Well, kind of but not totally.”

The big man grunted out an angry breath and turned away from them for a moment. “Let me make this simple for you two.” He turned and faced them. “Does the person in this picture have boy parts? And you better tell me the truth, I will know if you lie to me. And you both know what happens if you lie to me”

Emily May looked at her sister and they both lowered their heads. “Yes.” The older sister stated.

“So it's a fag in a dress.”

“Dad, he was born a boy, but he should have been a girl.” Emily blurted out.

Their father took in a deep breath and held it as he glared at his two children. Then he let it out and spoke, mostly to himself. “I knew I should have never let you go to your Aunt's house. I don't need that kind of element around my daughters.”

Mary Beth began speaking, mouthing engaging as quickly as it could. “Dad, there's nothing wrong with Tracy....”

“STOP!” He held a hand up and bore his gaze onto his youngest. “First of all, it's a boy, so don't call it a girl. Secondly, you have any idea what could have happened. For all you know, that fag could have raped you. He's probably using the dresses to get close to girls his age so he can attack you.”

“Dad, it's not like that!” Emily snapped. “He won’t do that!”

Their father pointed a finger at her, jamming it in her face and growled. “You don't know that. Perverts like that strike at those they call friends.”

“Dad! He won’t do that. He can't do that!”

“You don't know that!” Their father yelled. “As of now, that freak is off limits, understand me?” Neither daughter replied at first, instead they slumped in their seats and looked to the floor. They knew it was pointless to argue with him when he was in a mood. “UNDERSTAND?”

“Yes, Daddy.” Mary Beth replied.

“You both are grounded for the next two weeks for lying to me when you left that day. When you get to go to your friend’s houses, I will be calling them to make sure you're there.” He crumpled up the picture and threw it to a trash can, instead of going in, it hit the side and fell to the floor. Their father glared at it, the stomped over and picked it up, a sour look on his face as he touched the picture, as though he'd catch something. Then he dropped it in the can. As he stood up and looked at them, he pointed a finger at one child for a moment, then the other. “I don't want you anywhere around him at school, understand?”

Both girls kept their gaze on the floor and replied. “Yes, Daddy.”

“Good. Now get on your homework. You'll both have extra chores for lying to me as well.” With that he left the room, leaving the two sisters to sit in silence.

~o~O~o~

Mr. Harper walked into the staff lunchroom as the teachers assembled. He held onto one each of the pictures they had taken from students, so he could give the teachers an idea what was going on. He knew there would be more like Mrs. Burns, but he was hoping for more like Mr. McCoy and Mr. Walkley. It was packed, but he didn't want to do this twice. He stopped near the door and cleared his throat to catch all the teachers attentions. “Thank you all for staying late. I know a lot of you have things to do, but this will only take a few moments, then you're all free to finish up your days.”

He looked around the room as he held a breath for a moment, then he released it and started talking. “Yesterday at lunch a student had pictures left in his desk and backpack while he was at lunch. This afternoon, several more pictures were found, this time aimed at a sibling of said child and a friend. I also found out that the child has received threatening phone calls at home. So, because of the fact he received the pictures while on school grounds, I had to inform the county sheriffs. Plus, with other children included, my hands are tied.” He took a moment to catch his breath as he scanned the room. So far the only angry one he saw was Ms. Burns.

“I am tasking all of you, that if you find any of these pictures, you need to bring them to the office right-away.”

One of the teachers in the back raised a hand and asked. “What are these pictures of?”

Before Mr. Harper could reply, Mrs. Burns spat. “A boy in a dress.”

Alvin glared at her and raised an eyebrow. “Janice.” He warned and let it drop there. He looked back to the room and handed the pictures to the teachers closest to them. “They are of a boy in a dress, but let me stress something right now. Our personal feelings on this matter Do. Not. Matter.” He stressed each word as he looked around the room. “If we decide that because this child's clothing choices, we don't have to do anything, I can think of at least four people who would suffer from antagonism because of it. This is in our hands and we will deal with it."

“Troy Patterson?” One of the eighth grade teachers asked as she looked at the pictures. “Is this that kid that got attacked in November?”

“The same.” Mr. Harper replied.

Another teacher pipped up. “Wasn't there a rumor about him in a dress back then? Maybe this is why he got attacked?”

“Before we go off on speculation, I don't know. That is a matter for the courts, not us. All that concerns us is that a student in this school is leaving these pictures, which I, and the school board will be treating as threatening, on school property.”

“Why should we do this?” Janice Burns asked. “He made this mess by prancing around in a skirt in public, why should we have to protect him?”

Mr. Harper sighed and shook his head. “Because, it's not just him that has been threatened.”

“Well if they knew about his....” Her lips curled and when she spoke, her voice dripped of distastes. “perversion, then they should have stopped hanging out with him. Why should we protect everyone he knows?”

Mr. Harper glared at her and she seemed to shrink in her seat. “Because, Janice, just because they know him, doesn't mean they control him. If we go with your thinking, each kid he talks to, or is friendly to is a target and we shouldn't lift a finger to help them. So that puts his whole classroom in danger, all of his grade and most of the school. That puts anyone he talks to on the list. And the last time I checked, we're here to give the children a safe place to get a good education. If we start ignoring certain children, we may as well start looking for a new job.”

He looked around the room and held up his hand. As he spoke, he ticked off the reasons with his fingers. “Fact one, At no point has Troy Patterson came into the school and broken our dress policy. We don't have one, other then torn clothes, very dirty clothes and lewd or nasty phrases on shirts. And he's never broken that rule.”

A second finger went up. “Troy, and at least one of the students who received these pictures are what would be considered a model student. Good grades and causes very little trouble.”

“What about that fight in November?” Mr. Carter asked. He recalled it well, having been the teacher to break it up. “I recall Troy and his brother fighting with Bruce and that Frankie kid.”

“If you recall, Bruce was caught stealing and he attacked Troy, who ran and ran into his brother.” Mr. Harper answered. “You caught the end of Troy defending himself.” He waited a moment, then held up a third finger. “Third, what he does hasn't affected his health, or his welfare so I can't call the social services. And I do believe that he is actively seeing a therapist due to the attack in November.”

“Fourth, no matter what we believe, we are not here to teach the children our personal morals. They get right and wrong speech at home. We're here to enforce the rules of the school and give each child the best Education that we can.

Mr. Carter tapped a finger on the table, then pointed at a picture. “That’s why he got attacked, isn't it?”

Mr. Harper shrugged. “I don't know that and speculation won’t really matter at this point.”

“Wait...Doesn't Bruce have a younger brother?” Mr. Carter asked.

“Clark, yes.” The principal nodded.

“Could he be the one spreading the pictures?”

Mr. Harper shrugged. “I'm not sure, and honestly, that's a matter for the cops now. Our job is simple. Give a good education and make sure those pictures stay out of the hands of the students.”

“Okay.” Mr. Carter nodded. “What about Troy. Will he still be attending classes? I mean we can't watch one child all the time.”

“And we won't have to.” Mr. Harper answered. “As of this afternoon, Troy Patterson has been moved to home-schooling. Until they can figure out who is calling the house and threatening him, his parent's aren't taking the chance that he'll be attacked again, not so soon after the last one.”

“So then why the meeting?” Janice asked. “If the....child.” She spoke the word and her face showed her growing distaste for Troy and his fetish. “no longer goes here, why worry?”

“Because, there are at least four children left that are connected to him, two of which have been threatened already. Until it either dies off on its own, or we catch who's doing it, we're collecting pictures.”

“Which four kids?” Mr. McCoy asked.

“Vance Patterson is staying in the school. Only Troy is leaving. And as you can see from that one picture, Emily May Higgins has been targeted. With that, her sister Mary Beth will most likely become a target and then there's Peter Lowery.”

Mr. McCoy chuckled. “Can't forget Peter, Those two are inseparable.”

“Precisely. So, until this ends, we have a responsibility to keep all children, even those who are friends with children we may not agree with, safe.” Mr. Harper looked around the room once more. “Any questions?”

“I'll be guessing that we're keeping this quiet” A small teacher in the back asked.

“As quiet as we can. We don't need the person responsible knowing we're watching.” Mr. Harper replied.

~o~O~o~

It was six in the evening and Tracy sat at the table with her parents, grandparents and brother. They had done one big meal together to go over with Tracy's grandparents what had happened during the meeting. When Maggie finished, Modine spoke up. “So, Monday through Thursday, we have Tracy from morning until you get home and Vance when he gets home from school?”

“Please?” Maggie asked.

“Maggie, I agreed to do the teaching for Tracy. I knew she'd be over here, so it's not a problem. Same goes for Vance.” Modine replied. “I'd rather they be safe, than trust that nothing will happen.”

“Thank you Mom.” Maggie replied.

“Do we have anything to teach her with? Any rules to follow?”

Maggie opened up a bag that sat in front of her and pulled out its contents. “This has the list of what she needs to know for the testing at the school.”

Modine looked it over and nodded slowly. “Okay, I can do this.”

“Thank you. You're a lifesaver with this.”

“Dear, it's not a problem. She needs her education and the schools out. I'm glad to help.

Honest, It'll pass this day soon.

Emily May looked to Mary Beth and shrugged. Both girl pulled their blankets up to cover themselves and Mary Beth called out. “Come on in, Wally.”

The boy walked in. He was Emily's twin, but looked nothing like her. His hair was a light blonde and he stood half a foot taller then she did. He was also their father's favorite, but that was because he was the only boy. He stopped just inside the door and let it shut lightly. “I was, um...I was wondering, is it true?” He asked.

“Is what true?” Emily May asked.

“There were some pictures around the school and some kids were talking, plus I heard Dad telling mom that a picture was sent here.” Wally leaned against the door. “They said they were of Vance Patterson's brother, right? Wearing a dress?”

Thanks to Djkauf for the editing

More of Tracy's life, post pictures. Also the return of Wally, Emily's brother mentioned just once!

Robert Hallmark walked into the living room of his parents’ split level ranch home. It had been an eventful day for him, full of questioning his beliefs and he decided to go to two of the four people who had never led him astray in his life. He was sure he'd talk to the third before the night was through and he'd see the preacher on Sunday, he always did. He wasn't sure if his brother cared though. Scotty always seemed to do what he wanted, which usually angered his parents, but Robert did his best to be the good son. That usually got him beat up by his foul-mouthed brother. And no one ever spoke of his sister anymore. Robert did his best to never mention her, no matter how much he missed her. He knew she had chosen to live in sin, at least that was what his mother told him, and according to his mother, if he were to talk to her, that would fill him with sin.

The house was tidy, not a scrap out of place. The walls had a fresh coat of white paint and the floors had new carpet. There was a TV. In the living room, just under a cross and near the picture of Jesus, but it was rarely on when him or his brother were home. Only long enough for the weather on the local TV station, and a weekly TV broadcast from a church in Texas. His parents kept him from watching too much TV, claiming it was a road to perversion and rotted his brain. Although his brother would often have it on, when he thought the parents were away.

He stopped in front of them and took a deep breath, not wanting to disturb them from their reading. He let the breath out and looked to the floor, shame began to fill him for having touched the picture in the first place. “Mom, Dad? Can I talk to you?”

His father put down his book and smiled at the boy. “Sure, son. What's wrong?”

“Someone was passing around pictures at school today of another student and....I'm confused as what I should do. I don’t know how to react to the student in the picture, because I'm pretty sure he's wrong for doing what they took the picture of, even though he's been nothing but nice to me.”

“It wasn't a dirty picture, was it?” His mother asked in a scolding tone. “Because if it was, then you should never look at one of those.”

“I...I don't know Mom.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a picture that someone had handed him on the playground at lunchtime. He remembered when Troy had gone to their church. He only rarely seen Troy on the playground, usually just at lunch time. He only vaguely recalled the Pattersons leaving the church, but he was to young to recall why.

His mother reached over and took the picture. She read the top and bottom. In large print, it read. “Troy Patterson.” At the bottom, in the same block lettering it read “Dress wearing fag!” He wasn't sure when his brother had shown up, but Scotty's voice filled the room as he spoke loudly.

“Is that of Troy? I heard he had his penis cut off and someone caught him touching Bruce's own pe....”

SCOTTY!” His mother roared, cutting of his rambling. “You know we don't allow that potty talk here.”

“Okay, what's the picture of?” Lionel asked. She showed the picture to her husband and he looked at it for a moment, then at her and shrugged. “It's a little girl?” He replied. “Why claim that's....what was it? Troy?”

“Patterson....didn't they go to church with us a few years back?” Molly sat in her chair, still holding the picture. “Mandy? Maggie....Yeah, Maggie and William.”

Her husband looked to her and bit his lower lip as he tried to recall. “Yeah. Them and two kids. Vincent?”

“Vance and Troy.” Scotty pipped up. This got him a glare from his parents, mostly for interrupting them, but he just stood there.

“Is this Troy?” She asked, no intending it to anyone in the room.

“I think it is. I heard other pictures were left all over school.” Robert replied. “Plus, Troy was out of school today.”

Scotty moved over and looked at the picture and nodded. “That's him.”

His mother looked up and raised an eyebrow. “How do you know?”

“Back in November, some kid named Bruce went to his house and beat him up. I heard it was 'cause he found Bruce stealing from classrooms at lunchtime. Then later he got tripped. And Troy's been growing his hair out. He...heck, it looks like that when he's at school sometimes." He said, pointing to the picture. "I've even seem him playing with it, kinda like the girls at school do. Plus, that's Mrs. Patterson, don't you remember? I seen her with Vance in the office in November and she was walking through the school today.”

“Really.” Molly forced herself to not smile. She had not seen Maggie in years, but as she looked at the other woman, she recalled her face. She knew she had two bad children, but to left them run as wild as Troy was...She had never allowed that. It had happened with her daughter, but she fought it all the way, but when all was lost, she kicked her daughter out.

“Yeah, one of the stories that went around was that Bruce found him in a dress and tried to beat him up.” Scotty shrugged. “Guess he was in one.”

Molly folded up the picture and looked to her sons. “Robert, you were right to bring this to us. She looked to her husband, who shrugged and let her take control of the situation. “From now on, I don't want either of you to have any contact with the Patterson boys. If their mother lets them go into public, dressing like a girl, which is completely against God's rules...” She added, pointing at her youngest son to make a point. “then who knows what type of little perverts they raised. I want you two safe and away from bad influences like them.”

“Mom, they're not bad.” Scotty replied. “I also heard that Troy got hurt, protecting his mother and grandmother.”

“Scotty.” Her tone took a sharp edge and she glared at him. “No contact at all.”

“Fine, whatever.” He muttered. He turned walked out of the room.

“Well....” Molly leaned back in her seat and drummed her fingers on the chair, as she wondered if she should punish Scotty for his attitude. “Robert, promise me you won't be anywhere around those two boys.”

“I promise, Mom.”

“Good, now go make sure the trash is out and you can have a couple of cookies, okay?”

“Okay.”

“And Robert, remember to mention this tonight when you pray. God is very specific about this in the bible.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Robert said as he turned and left the room.

~o~O~o~

Emily May and Mary Beth lay in their beds in the quiet room. They had both gone to bed early, to avoid their father. Both girls lay in their beds, neither one could sleep. They could hear him fire up his car and take off, on his way for his usual graveyard shift at the cannery. They knew their mother would be in bed already, having to get into the nearby old folks home early for her own shift, leaving the kids at home in the morning.

“I so want to find out who did this.” Mary Beth stated.

“You and me both.” Emily May replied. “At least you weren't mentioned directly in the pictures.”

“Yeah.”

Neither girl had been aware that their conversation was being overheard, till a light tapping at their door caught their attention. Both girls went very quiet, till they heard their brother, Wally on the other side of the door. “Emily May? Mary Beth, can I come in for a moment?”

Emily May looked to Mary Beth and shrugged. Both girl pulled their blankets up to cover themselves and Mary Beth called out. “Come on in, Wally.”

The boy walked in. He was Emily's twin, but looked nothing like her. His hair was a light blonde and he stood half a foot taller then she did. He was also their father's favorite, but that was because he was the only boy. He stopped just inside the door and let it shut lightly. “I was, um...I was wondering, is it true?” He asked.

“Is what true?” Emily May asked.

“There were some pictures around the school and some kids were talking, plus I heard Dad telling mom that a picture was sent here.” Wally leaned against the door. “They said they were of Vance Patterson's brother, right? Wearing a dress?”

“You saw one of them?” Emily May asked as she sat up in bed.

“Yeah.” He nodded.

“Which one?”

“Is it true?” He asked.

“Which picture did you see?” Emily May asked again.

“I only saw a brief glimpse of one of you hugging a girl.” He looked to his elder sister, a sad expression on his face. “Is that really Vance's brother?”

It wasn't her place to answer that, but the rumors would be flying, she knew that much. So she decided to feel out the situation. She knew her father spent a lot of time with him, so her fear was that Wally would turn out to be as closed-minded as their father. “What do you think?”

He shrugged. “I don't know. I mean I only say a glimpse, but it looked like a little girl.” He leaned against the door. “But after Bruce attacked him, there were rumors about him in a dress. I heard he tried to say it was a lie, but now with those pictures, I don't know what to think.”

“What did you think of him after Bruce attacked him?” Emily May asked.

“I heard some when people asked Vance about it. He protected his mom and Granny, that was pretty cool.” Wally replied.

“He hurt himself badly when he did that. He could have just stayed on the ground and let them hurt her, but he got up and fought.”Emily May stated.

“How hurt was he?” Wally asked.

“I can't really say.” Emily May said.

“You don't know?” Wally asked. He looked at Mary Beth who looked down at her hands. “What about you? Do you know? I know he's in your class.”

“We can't say, because it's none of our business.” Emily May said. “But knowing he hurt himself to save his grandmother from Bruce attacking her. What do you think of that? Do you think he's weak?”

“No. I saw him walking around the school when he got back, before he got tripped. He must have been hurt bad.”

“Wally, it's worse then that. He dreams of that fight almost nightly. It wasn't just a fight. Bruce did a lot more to him.” Emily May said. “Now, do you think he's a bad guy? Like he'll attack people or girls?”

Wally thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “I don't know, but I doubt it.”

“Trust me, I doubt he'd hurt anyone without a great reason, and that's to protect people he loves.”

“So is he the one in that dress?”

Emily May sighed. She knew the whole school would know. With Troy leaving the school that would be all the proof that whoever had left the pictures would need to prove Troy was in a dress. “It was him.”

Instead of yelling, or ranting, Wally stunned both of his sisters with a question. “Why?”

“Why what?” Emily May asked.

“Why does he do it then?”

Emily May bit her lip, considering how to explain it. “You know what Aunt June does, right? Well the doctor that she works for?”

Wally bit his lower lip for a moment and shrugged. “He's a shrink, right?”

“Kinda.” Emily May answered. “He actually helps people who were born wrong.”

“Wrong?” Wally asked.

“Say someone was born as a boy, but the soul says female. He sees people like that. Or the people who have both sets of privates. I heard he even sees people who like people of the same sex.”

Wally nodded slowly as it sunk in. He knew his fathers stand on the subject, but he didn't feel that way at all. “So, Troy should have been a girl? Or he has both sets of private parts?”

“He should have been born a girl.” Emily answered. “In fact he's seen the Ivan guy that Aunt June works for.”

“So, does he go by Troy when he's a girl?”

“No, her name's Tracy.” Emily May answered.

“Oh.” Wally said, then he stood straight, “Wait, the same Tracy you spent time with in Dublin? Along with those other girls you told Mom about?”

“Yeah.” Emily Amy answered. They had gone over their trip when they returned home at dinner one night, including telling about a sleepover with a group of girls their age.

His mind quickly raced over the past couple of months and he tapped a finger in the air. “So, those girls were up here in December and around Troy. So they know about Troy?”

“Yeah. That's how we found Troy. We bumped into them and their other friends at a mall.”

“Wow.” Wally stated. “So, they don't mind that he was...born the way he was?”

"She." Emily replied.

“What?” He asked.

“You're in on the secret too, now, so learn the rules. It's not he, not if he's in girl mode. He, him, his and Troy are all the wrong words, it's rude.” Emily said, paraphrasing Rachel and Sage from a month earlier.

“Okay. I can do that. But what rules do you mean?” Wally asked.

Emily May smiled. “Simple. Treat Tracy with respect. She's not a bad person. She's just different.”

“Just like all of us.” Mary Beth added.

“So...” Wally went back and leaned against the wall. “What about Vance? Does he know? I mean does he dress in skirts and stuff?”

“He knows, but he doesn't wear the girls clothes.” Emily May answered. “Would it matter if he did? I know you're on the basketball team with him. If he did that, would you not want to be around him?”

“I guess not.” Wally replied. He was silent for a few moments, his eyes found a piece of the carpet very interesting. When he spoke, his voice got quiet, for fear that their parents would hear them. “Would you two have been this comfortable around me if I was different?”

“You saying you should have been a girl?” Emily May moved to the edge of her bed.

“No, nothing like that. But what if, I was different? What if I, you know, liked boys or something?”

“Do you?” Emily May asked.

“No.” He quickly answered, a look of fear crossed his moonlit face. “I was just asking, you know, like what if.”

“Wally, if you were gay, I wouldn't mind, not at all. You're still the same person, no matter who you love.” Emily May replied.

“I wouldn't mind either.” Mary Beth stated.

“But Dad's always saying how gay people are evil and will hurt you.” Wally said.

“Yep.” Emily Nodded. “And just how many have really hurt him?” She let the question hang for a moment then continued. “It's easy to fear what you don't know. Those girls we hung out with, two of them get picked on for who they are. One's in a wheelchair because of an accident, but she was super cool. There's another who was born with some weird birth thingy and can’t hear. But she was pretty cool, even though her sister had to talk for her.”

“Dad hates black people too, Leon's on the basketball team, isn't he nice?” Mary Beth asked.

Wally was silent again, then he nodded. “Yeah, he is, isn't he.”

“See, if we just follow Dad's advice, we'll miss out on some really nice people in life.” Emily May stated. “Had we gone with Dad's way of thinking, we wouldn't be friends with one of the toughest girls we know.”

“I guess.” Wally shrugged.

“We should get to sleep though, before Mom hears us and wakes up.”

“Yeah.” Wally stood up again and grabbed the door handle. As he started to open the door, he paused and looked back at his sisters. “Thanks.”

“You're welcome, Wally.” Emily May said as she lay back in her bed. “Night.”

Emily watched her brother leave, then when she thought the cost was clear she looked to Mary Beth. She dropped her voice to a whisper. "Did you catch that? What he said I mean."

"I think so...." Mary Beth rolled over to Face her sister better. "Is Wally gay?"

"I don't know..." Emily May chuckled at the though of her parent's two eldest kids gay. "But the same rules apply for him as them do Tracy, understand?"

"Yes." Mary Beth groaned out. "I won't tease him or tell anyone."

"Good. Also we let him deal with this on his own. With Dad breathing down his neck, he can't be himself if he is."

Mary Beth just lay there for a moment, then asked. "Why do people hate others? Why can't we all just get along?"

"I don't know. I just don't know." Emily May answered.

~o~O~o~

Maggie couldn't remember when she had started reading her old bible again. She knew it had been sometime in the past couple of months, ever since her concerns about her youngest wearing her clothes had been confirmed. She hadn't poured all her free-time into reading it, but she knew she had picked it up a bit more each night as the months had progressed. She knew why she did it. Everything that she had been told when she was raised said what her youngest was doing was wrong. She wanted to support her child, after all, having a happy kid was better then having to deal with the loss of the child, when they couldn't cope with depression of not being able to be who they really were and took their life.

She found herself in the book of Deuteronomy. And as she pored over the book, for what seem to be the tenth time that month, she began to let other parts of the book settle in. She wasn't focused on the parts of the bible that told her Tracy was evil and God hated her. She kept re-reading the parts, from the same book about things most people never recalled. She knew most people tended to throw the more commonly known stuff around, but some of the other stuff, less than a page away tended to get ignored.

Maggie put her bible down and was silent for a moment. She could hear snoring coming from both her bedroom and her children's. She got up and out of her chair, and slowly went to her knees to pray. It had been so long since she had done so, but tonight, after the events of the past few days, she felt it was needed. She kept her voice a whisper, as to not disturb her family.

“Lord, I know it's been a long time since I've taken the time to speak to you. It's been an even longer time since I've visited a church. I know I've gone astray from the teaching that was instilled in me as a girl. I haven't seen the insides of a church in years, not because of me, or William. We tried to stay at the last one, but when we saw all those people turn on those two ladies.....”

She trailed off and tried to rally her thoughts into something a bit more to the point. “Lord, I need help. I don't know what to do with my youngest. Everything I was taught, tells me that she...he is wrong for what he does, but is he truly evil? He hasn't broken the ten commandments, well except for lying, but who hasn't done that. He honors his parents, we've rarely had problems from him. He's good to the people around him. He's polite and friendly. He's just not right as a boy.”

She stopped for a moment more, trying, and still failing to control her thoughts. “Lord, I need to know how to help my child, I need strength. I need answers. Everything I read tells me he's an abomination, but in the same books I have read, tells me that other people I know are worthy of that title. Please Lord, grant me the strength to help my child. I want her happy.” She paused for a moment, then spoke one more word. “Amen”

~o~O~o~

Friday morning hit and Tracy's first instinct was to get up and get dressed for school. She rolled out of bed and was almost to the door, Troy's clothes in hand when she stopped. She saw the books her mother bought on the bookcase. Then she remembered that she was now being home-schooled. She turned and was considering going back to bed when a thought crossed her mind. She made a quick stop to answer the call of nature, then she headed to the kitchen.

~I don't have to go, but I can at least be nice to them.~ She thought as she opened up the fridge and grabbed the eggs and bacon. She had the coffee going and was working on the eggs as her father came into the kitchen. Without being asked, she sat a plate of eggs and bacon on the table for him. “Eat, I'll get your coffee.”

He looked to his youngest. He knew it was Tracy, even though she wasn't wearing her usual sleepwear. “Honey, you don't have to do that. I can get my own coffee.”

“I know Daddy, I just want to be helpful. I don't have to go to school, so I may as well do something useful.”

He reached over and hugged his youngest. “Baby, you do your chores each week, you cook on the nights that your mother isn't home. You're useful.”

“I know, but....” Tracy sighed and leaned into her father. “I feel guilty for everything that happened, you know, with school and everything.”

“Baby, you had nothing to do with that.” William said. “No one would know that someone would take pictures of you in Sacramento.

“I know, I still feel guilty.” Tracy replied.

“There's nothing you could have done, so don't feel guilty.” William put a finger under her chin and gently moved her head so she looked right at him. “If you had posed for those pictures, and I mean went to whoever had spread these around and asked him to take them, then you'd be to blame. But this was taken without your consent. So this. Isn't. Your. Fault.” He stressed each word, then smiled at her. “Understand?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“So, no nightgown?” He asked as he let go of her so he could sit down.

“No. I'm still afraid that someone will see.”

Her father nodded. “I can understand. You're not having the best of luck, are you?”

Tracy shook her head and didn't answer at first. Then she looked over to her father, as tears seemed to form in her eyes from nowhere. “Why would someone do this?” She asked. “Why would someone go out of their way to ruin my life?”

“Baby, some people are just assholes. There's no sugarcoating it. Some people get off on ruining someone's life.”

A tear ran down her face as she looked to her father, with pleading eyes, hoping for a good answer. “Why?”

“Some people hurt others to make themselves feel better.” William reached out and touched his daughters hand. “they use any weakness in a person and exploit it to make them feel better about their own faults. Others do it to get some sort of power over you.”

“Power?” Tracy asked, wiping at her eyes.

“Yeah. It's like feeling like royalty, or a God. They think they can crush you under their heel. It makes them feel bigger then you.” William leaned closer to his youngest and smiled. “Everybody does it to some extent in their lives.”

“I haven't done it.....” Tracy started to say, then she looked at her father, who arched one eyebrow. “Have I?”

“Baby, we've all done it. Sometimes it's something you say to someone in the heat of an argument.” He squeezed her hand. “It's when you regret what you said, that's good. You don't continually lord yourself over someone. Heck, when Vance was in that dress, you had every chance to make fun of him, but you didn't.” As though he heard the cue of his name, they heard Vance get up and head for the bathroom. The sounds of the shower starting could be heard through the walls.

“But when he saw me in mine...” Tracy started to say, letting her mind catch up. “He did.”

“At first, but now he's totally okay with it.” He father stated.

“He is?”

William chuckled. “You still share a room and he lets you get dressed alone. I'd say that's understanding. He hasn't made fun of you since your grandmother punished him. He's actually getting better around the house. He's a better man for what he had to do, at least I think so.”

A moment later, Maggie came into the room and went to the coffee maker. “Up early?” She looked to her daughter.

“I just thought I'd make breakfast for Vance and Dad.” Tracy smiled. “You want some?”

“Sure. I'd love some. You do that, I'll get the toast.” Maggie moved to the toaster and dropped in two slices of bread.

“So what wild plans do you two ladies have today?” William asked.

“Well, we are going to your mothers and laying out a school plan for Tracy. Maybe find out where she is in stuff.”

“Good. Now will you be keeping up the cleaning on the weekend? Or have you thought about tying it into when you're at Mom's doing schoolwork?”

“I hadn't....you think I should?” Tracy asked.

Her father nodded. “Baby, you'll be over there, four days a week with school work and here for one day. Why lose your only two days off. Find a way to make cleaning and schoolwork mix, that way you can be home when Sage and the girls call. Plus that way you can stay here on the weekend. Do a couple chores on Friday and you're set.”

A few moments later, they heard someone walking down the hall, stopping at the kids room for just a moment, then the steps came closer and Vance stepped into the kitchen. He was on autopilot as he went to the cupboard and began pulling a box of cereal out of the cupboard when his mother tapped him on the shoulder. “You want that? We got eggs and bacon.”

Vance turned around, still looking like he had just woken up. “Sure.” He said with a small grin as he saw the eggs.

Tracy made a quick plate and set it at the table in her usual seat. “There, I'll eat when you're done.”

“Thanks.” Vance perked up a bit.

“So, since your mother is going to be home on Fridays, you can come here on Friday afternoons.” William told his eldest as Vance shoveled food into his mouth. “But Monday through Thursday, you need to go to your grandparents’ house after school.”

“What about dinner?” Tracy asked. “I was cooking dinner early so it's ready when you get home.”

“An hour won't kill us. I'd rather you be safe, than have warm food at five. Or you can ask Dad to come over with you.”

“Okay.” Tracy said with a nod.

William looked up at the clock. “Crap, I need to get going.” He took a few quick bites and grabbed his plate, taking it to the trash can. After putting it in the sink, he stopped at his wife and gave her a kiss, then he hugged his daughter. He patted Vance on the shoulder. “You be good.” Then he headed for the front door.

“Now remember Vance, any problems and just let me know.” Maggie stated. “I don't need you getting hassled over this too.”

“I'll be fine, mom.” Vance replied between mouthfuls of food.

“So you say, but I'm a mom, it's my job to worry.” Maggie stated. “But eat up, you don't want to miss the bus.”

~o~O~o~

Vance was quiet as he rode the bus. Ahead of him he could see Emily May and Mary Beth turn ever now and then to look at him and give a smile of hope. He saw their brother sitting near them, watching the scenery pass by. Some of hte others on the front of the bus kept turning to stare at him, but he did his best to ignore him. Behind him he could hear people laughing at something and the occasional wad of paper would pass by him. Then something slightly wet hit him near the ear. He took in a deep breath and held it for a moment, not wanting to give whoever the satisfaction of knowing they were actually bugging him.

After a few seconds, he reached up and wiped off the back of his ear, only to have it hit once more by another spit wad. Then the kicking started. At first it was nothing, but the closer the school got, the harder the kid behind him kicked the seat. To counter this, Vance leaned forward. After a few moments of them kicking the seat, but not hitting his back, they stopped, then one leaned over the seat and flicked his ear as hard as he could.

“Whats wrong, your fag brother miss the bus?” one of the boys behind him said with a snicker.

“He couldn't find a pretty dress for school?” Another said with a chuckle.

The bus pulled to a stop and he stood up, before he could get into the isle, one of the boys behind him, shoved past him and thrust an arm out, pushing him back into his seat.

Vance waited till they were mostly off the bus, then he got up and followed them off the bus. He had only taken a few steps when he found his right foot hitting something solid and he fell, face first to the sidewalk. He landing on his hands and they exploded in a flurry of pain. He fought back the urge to swear. He was getting back up when he felt someone push his side, sending him to the ground again. Several kids began laughing and the laughter was stopped by a voice. “That's enough!”

“Bobby Anderson, it seems to me like you have a problem with tripping people.” The teachers voice seemed to get an edge to it. “Office, now. I'll be there in a few minutes.”

“But I didn't do anything.” The boy replied, keeping a straight face, like he had a month earlier when he tripped an injured Troy. “He fell on his own.”

“After getting tripped by your foot, then you shoved him back down. Office, now.” The teacher pointed and waited for the student to comply. After a few moments, Bobby slowly walked away.

The teacher came walking over to Vance and offered him a hand. “Let me help you, Mr. Patterson. “

Vance took it and looked at the person as he stood up. “Mr. McCoy?” He said, looking at Troy's now former teacher.

“How's your hands. You fell kinda hard.”

Vance turned his hands over and saw his palms were a bright red, where some of the skin had been removed. “They hurt.”

“Go wash them. If it's bad, go to the nurses office.” Mr. McCoy smiled at him. “May need you to talk to the principal, but for now, take care of those hands.”

“Yes, Sir.” Vance said. He started walking towards one of the closer bathrooms and some of the nearby kids began teasing him.

“Awww, look at the little baby.”

“Gonna cry baby?”

“Bet he misses his little sister.”

“Both of 'em are fags, look how he's dressed.!”

“Matt, you've got the same thing on.”

Vance ignored them and went for the nearest bathroom he could get to, wading though the crowd of taunting students and keeping his eyes to the ground, in case someone else tired to trip him.

~o~O~o~

Clark watched with glee as Vance walked though the cat-calls and laughter. The plan was going well. He still didn't see Troy and that only meant that he had quit school, or was hiding, either way, it was still a victory. Clark walked on towards the cafeteria, hoping for a chance to find Peter and ruin his day. He knew his cousins would be there. He knew he could take Peter, after all, Peter was just a retard, but he knew it was best to travel with muscle. As he passed by a bathroom, the door opened up and a pair of hands reached out and latched onto his shoulders, then yanked him inside, letting the door shut behind them.

He was spun around, then slammed into a wall, knocking the breath out of his. The hands switched from his shoulders, to his coat. He looked up to see Peter staring daggers at him, then with a grunt, Peter lifted him off the ground, turning his hips so Clark couldn't kick anything important. When he spoke, it was an almost growl as he pressed against Clark's chest, causing him to wince in pain. “Did you put those pictures in Troy's pack?”

“What...what pictures.” Clark groaned out.

Peter pulled him away from the wall a few inches, then he slammed him against it again. “You know which pictures!”

“You mean the ones proving he's a fag?” Clark asked, managing to sneer at his tormentor. “That wasn't me, but I saw some yesterday. What's it to you? You his boyfriend?”

Peter froze as the door opened up. He began to lower Clark, till Vance stepped in. “What the hell?” Vance asked, stunned at the sight. “What are you doing?” He asked Peter.

“Vance, watch the door. Clark and I are having a talk about pictures.” Peter dropped Clark to his feet, then pined him against the wall, with an arm across his throat. The other boy began to squirm as Peter patted at his pockets. “Where are they?”

“What?” Clark began to try and escape, which proved pointless.

“The fucking pictures!” Peter growled.

“I ain't got 'em!” Clark stated.

Vance took a step towards Peter, wishing to trade spots with him, but instead he put a hand on his shoulder. “Hey, he ain't worth it.”

Peter glared at Vance, then after a few moments, he let Clark go, then quickly grabbed at his coat again. “I find out it was you and I beat the shit out of you, got it.”

“Fuck you, retard. My cousins and I will beat you stupid.”

Peter looked above Clark and smiled, then he lifted him up, catching a part of Clark's coat on a corner of the bathroom stall. Vance put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. “It's not worth it. No point in us getting in trouble over Clark.”

“But what about the pictures?” Peter growled at Vance.

“Peter, I know you're pissed, so am I. But trust me, this isn't a good idea.” Vance replied. He leaned closer and lowered his voice to a whisper. “If you won’t do this for me, do it for her okay?”

Peter held on to Clark for a moment more, then he pulled the tiny kid off the corner of the stall and pulled him in close and glared at him. “I'm watching you. I think for one moment you did this, I will beat the shit out of you and your cousins.” Before Clark could respond, Peter dropped him to his feet, then gave him a push and headed for the door.

Vance gave his hands a quick rinse, then wiped them off on his shirt as he stepped into the hallway. “Why the hell did you stop me?” Peter growled as he faced off with Vance.

“You think Tracy wants you getting in trouble over Clark?” Vance asked in a hushed tone. “We don't know it's him and until we do, just remember that anything we do to him, he may throw towards my family.”

Peter was silent for a moment and he thought about it. Vance was right. After the trouble with Bruce, Clark had become an annoyance to Tracy. He could only imagine it being worse. “Fine.” He grumbled.

Emily May walked up, and stopped by the two boys that looked almost ready to fight. “Hey Vance. I need you to pass a note on to Tra..Troy for me.” She took a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handed it over.

“What is it?” Vance asked as he jammed it in his pocket.

“Just a note, but it's personal for her, so don't read it, okay?” Emily stated. Then she sighed and slumped her shoulders. “Whoever sent that picture sent it to the house, too. Dad got it in the mail and he says we can't talk to Tracy again. Ever.”

“Why?” Vance asked.

“Cause Dad hates gay people and he insists that Tracy is doing this just to get us comfortable, then she'll rape us.”

“That's horse Shit.” Vance said. “Any idea who sent it?”

“No. Dad didn't say. He was pissed at the picture, the one of me hugging her.”

“Did you get the picture? We could give that to Mr. Harper.” Vance said. “The Sheriff’s office is involved. They could do something. I mean isn't the mail protected by the FBI or something?”

“No...damn. I wasn't thinking about it.” Emily May said. "I'll check the trashcan when I get home today." She looked up to Vance, half looking like she was about to pout. She could see her brother down the hall with Mary Beth and a few of their friends. “Vance, there's more. Wally was asking about Tracy and Troy yesterday. He heard about the pictures and doesn’t know what to think.”

“It can't get much worse. Will he try to start shit with her?”

“I don't think so.” She thought about the conversation the night before and the questions about her own twin that was starting to pop up in her mind. “I think he's okay.”

“Good. I'll make sure she gets this.” Vance said, putting the letter into his pocket.

“Now he's hassling Emily and Mary Beth, can I kick Clark's ass now?” Peter asked.

Vance sighed. “When we find out it was Clark, you get to kick his ass, after Tracy gets her turn.”

“Deal.” Peter forced a smile. “Although, after her, there won’t be much left to kick.”

More on the way as the effects of the pictures pick up speed.

Conner nodded, then he pulled Tracy into a hug. “Sorry about the wrong name.”

“It's okay.” Tracy answered as she hugged him back.

“Is this permanent?” Conner asked. “The boy’s clothes, I mean.”

“I don't know. I'm just so afraid.” Tracy replied. “I don't want it to be.”

“Well, hopefully you'll get over that fear. I want to see my pretty granddaughter smile again.”

Edited by Djkauf

More of Tracy, post pictures and Vance too

January 28th 1983

Molly Hallmark waited for her husband and children to leave the house before she turned down her television, and went to the phone. Despite what she told her kids about TV rotting the mind, she couldn't live without her soap operas. She just had to tell someone the juicy news she had and she had a couple hours before her stories started. In her mind, more people needed to know. The more that knew, the more people could help root out the evil perversion that lived in their community. She knew it needed to be done, to help keep the other kids safe from the freaks who were against God’s plan. She dialed, then waited as the phone rang. She heard the click and a voice answered. “Olsens, June speaking.”

“June, it's Molly. You will never believe what I found out last night.” Alice kept her smile away, only barely. “Do you remember Maggie Patterson? She and her husband William went to the church for a few years, then they left when those lesbians left?”

June thought about it for a moment, then she spoke. “Yes, I remember, should be about forty now, two kids, which I'd say....around ten and twelve?”

“The same. Robert found a picture at school of them yesterday and brought it home.” She fought to keep from shouting it into the phone. After all, it wasn't her children that were the filthy little perverts at least not the two who lived at home.

“A picture of what?”

“Of Troy, the youngest, wearing a dress. In public.” Molly replied. “The best part is that his mother was right there with him so she knows. I don’t think it was a Halloween costume either. Looks like the stores were advertising New Years sales.”

“Didn't I read something about them in the paper a month ago?” June asked. Molly could hear tapping on the other end of the phone and she was sure she had interrupted the woman doing a crossword puzzle. “I swear I saw something about Troy, his mother and grandmother being attacked, because I remember I almost called them to see how they were doing.”

“Scotty said something about that. I guess he found some kid stealing, or that's what Troy claimed. Claims the boy went to beat him up for tattling.” Molly smiled big, even though the other woman didn't see it. “But June, I think maybe that boy knew about Troy's...clothing perversion.”

“Possible.” The other woman scoffed. “I can't believe she lets him do it.”

“And in public.” Molly stated. “I don't know about you, but I don't want that kind of person around my children. Scotty may be a wild child, but he doesn't need that kind of temptation and perversion around him.”

“Well, I don't have any kids Troy's age anymore...” June stated.

“But you have a granddaughter. I think they'll be at the same high school in a couple of years.” Molly said. “June, think of little Cindy, you want that kind of person around her? You don't know what's in his mind. He may try to attack her dressed like that.”

“Maybe.” The older woman said. “It's isn't right, either way.”

“And if he's doing that, he's not right, in the head I mean.”

“True. Maybe we should talk to Maggie about it. She should have a stronger hand in dealing with her children.”

“My thoughts excitably.” Molly replied.

“Should we tell Pastor Stevens?”

“We'll talk to her first. We send over Pastor Stevens and she may not listen at all. At least we can talk with her, mothers to mother. Honestly, I don't care what her children do, but if she allows that kind of perversion from her son, I don't want that type of person in my community.” Molly said. “Think of what could happen. What if more freaks come here? June, this used to be a nice, quiet town.”

“Yeah. Just tell me when. The sooner we make this happen, the safer this town can be for the rest of us.”

“Let me call a few people. I think a unified front is best.”

“Okay, just tell me when.”

~o~O~o~

It was just after eight in the morning when Maggie and her youngest knocked on the door to her in-laws house. The door opened slightly and Conner looked out. When he saw then he smiled, and held the door open for them to come in. “Maggie. Tr...” He trailed off as he looked at his grandchild. He wasn't sure which name to go with. There was the child he had come to know as Tracy, but dressed as Troy. No smile could be seen and he watched as the child nervously looked over his shoulder as a car went down the road. “Troy?” He guessed

“No, She's Tracy.” Maggie said as she let Tracy go in. “But after those pictures, she's worried to go outside as herself.

Conner nodded, then he pulled Tracy into a hug. “Sorry about the wrong name.”

“It's okay.” Tracy answered as she hugged him back.

“Is this permanent?” Conner asked. “The boy’s clothes, I mean.”

“I don't know. I'm just so afraid.” Tracy replied. “I don't want it to be.”

“Well, hopefully you'll get over that fear. I want to see my pretty granddaughter smile again.”

Tracy looked up and gave him a warm smile. “Maybe.”

“Well, like I have always said.” Modine said as she came into the living-room. “You can't let others dictate your life. I know it's tough, but those pictures are out there already, so people know. So you should let yourself have some happiness. It's better then being miserable for the rest of your life.”

“I know, Grandma.” Tracy said.

“But enough of that. Let's get these lesson plans into place, okay?” Modine smiled at them. “And maybe if we get them done fast enough, we can whip up a little lunch for the four of us. Think my Granddaughter can help me with that?”

Tracy's smile brightened slightly. “Yeah. I can help.”

~o~O~o~

It was almost lunch where there was a knock at the door. The lesson plans had been set and Tracy had done some of her weekly cleaning. She was planning on doing the rest after lunch. But for now they were focused on making lunch for themselves and Conner. “I got it.” Conner said from the sink, where he was filling up a glass of water. The three women just kept about their work on lunch till they heard Conner open the door, then ask. “Afternoon Officer, can I help you?” this caused Maggie to turn and look towards the living-room. Tracy just stood there, a worried look crossed her face.

Modine headed for the living-room as Tracy and Maggie heard the officer speak. “Hello, I'm Deputy Kline. I'm looking for a Maggie or William Patterson. My records show they live next door, but no one seems to be home. I noticed the name on your mail box and figured you're family.”

“William is my son. Can I ask what this is about?” Conner asked.

“We're following up on a report filed by the Principal at Palermo Elementary school. I can't really say more then that.”

Tracy watched her mother move towards the living-room and she found herself following, but stopping just before she got to where the deputy could see her.

“Is this about the pictures?” Maggie asked.

“Ah, Mrs. Patterson.” The deputy's voice seemed to take on a cheerful tone.

“Do I know you..” She trailed off for a moment, then it came to her. “That's right, at the school, after the attack.” Maggie said. “If this is about the pictures, my in-law's know already.”

Tracy peeked around the door and watched as he seemed to relax a bit. As he made eye contact wit her she pulled her head back and just stood there, afraid that for some reason he'd blame it all on her, even though she was presenting as Troy. She went to the kitchen and stood near the stove, keeping her back to them.

“Please come in.” Modine said. “You want something to drink? Water? Coffee?”

“Well, I shouldn't be here long, but thank you for the offer.” He replied as they led him into the kitchen.

“So how can I help you?” Maggie asked.

He almost answered, till Troy turned around, his hair whipping around him in an almost girlish fashion. “Shouldn't he be in school?” The officer asked.

“He's in home schooling now.” Maggie stated. “Our eldest wanted to stay in for the sports.”

“Ah.” The deputy said As Modine and Conner took a seat, he took one as well. Maggie gestured to her youngest to come over and pulled out a chair. She waited till he was seated, then put an arm around his shoulders. The Deputy waited till all of them were seated. “We were contacted yesterday afternoon by Alvin Harper, the Principal at your son's school about some pictures and he told us that there had been threats made at the home as well?”

“Correct.” Maggie replied.

“And they're tied into the pictures that were left at the school?”

“Did you see those?” Troy blurted out, a look of fear crossing his face. If it had not been for his mothers arm, he would have bolted.

“Yes, I saw them. I was the one who spoke to Mr. Harper yesterday afternoon.” The deputy replied. He looked to the young child and held up a hand to stop any questions. “I'm not here to judge. I know some of the other guys may have their own thoughts on the subject, but if you're not breaking a law, I don't care.”

“Oh.” Tracy said.

“Thank you.” Maggie replied. “We didn't want this to get out, but with pictures left all over the school, it's hard to keep it a secret.”

“I can understand.” The deputy said with a nod. “Since it's just been at the school, we're thinking that it's from one of the students there. Did you recognize the voice as anyone you've gone to school with?”

Tracy shook her head. “No. It sounded older. It was a guy, but like he was older then me.”

“So it could be an older brother, or cousin maybe....” The deputy thought out loud. He wrote down a quick note and asked for a run down of what had been said.

“Well, so far he said he was going to come to the house and beat me up and show me my place.” Tracy replied. “He called three times on Wednesday, I only picked up twice, a friend answered the third call.”

“And the friend’s name?” The deputy asked.

“Mary Beth Higgins. She and her sister, Emily May came over after school to see how I was doing.”

“Higgins? She also received one of the pictures, I believe.” He wrote down another note. “Have you received any calls since?”

Maggie shrugged. “We may have, but after I heard what happened, we unplugged the phone till Thursday morning. Yesterday there were a few calls that I got, but no one said a word.”

“Okay. Have there been any other threats? Like at school or around the property?”

“Not yet.” Maggie answered.

“Do you think this is related to the incident in December?” He asked. “Have you received any threats about that?”

Tracy thought about it for a moment, then shook her head. “Just from Bruce's brother Clark. He was telling everyone that I had been in a dress when Bruce attacked me.”

“What's his last name?”

“Millet.” Tracy replied.

“Okay, we'll look into it.” The deputy said. “As for the phone calls, I can offer three suggestions. The first is to ignore them.”

“That will be hard.” Maggie replied.

“Yeah. The second is to get an unlisted number and change your phone number.” The Deputy continued.

“That would help, but that leaves the kid who is doing this out there.”

“We'll do what we can, but finding this kid may prove hard, that leaves the third option, we tap your phone.”

“Would that work?” Maggie asked.

“It could, but it would be more intrusive to your family.” The Deputy said. “But we'd need to get approval before we could do it. I do think changing the number and making it unlisted may be your best bet. They may give up when they can't call anymore.”

“Honestly, I want this asshole caught.” Maggie said. The use of her language made Tracy give her mother a shocked look.

“I can understand. I'll keep in touch and see what we can dig up.”

“Are you going to question that Clark kid?” Maggie asked.

“Yes, he's on the list now. I also need to talk to the Higgins girl, just to see if she's had any threats.”

“Good.” Maggie said. “Those girls don't need any troubles from this. None of us do.”

~o~O~o~

Emily May and Mary Beth walked down the driveway to their house. Neither had really spoken since they had got off the bus. Emily May swore she felt all eyes on her as they headed home and she was now glad that they had a couple of days away from the other kids. As they reached the front door a squad car came down their driveway. Emily May looked to her sister, who was just as confused as she was. When it came to a stop, the Deputy got out and smiled at the two girls. “Afternoon ladies. Is one of you Emily May Higgins?”

“I am.” Emily May replied. “Am I in trouble?”

“No, not at all.” Deputy Kline said. “But need to ask you a few questions. Is one of your parents home?”

“I...I don't know. I can check though.” Emily turned to the door and tired it. It swung open and she walked in. “Mom? Dad? Are you home? There's a cop who has a few questions out here.”

Their mother walked out of the kitchen, while she heard her father coming from the living-room. He glared at his daughters for a moment, then glanced to the deputy and then back to his eldest daughter. He walked past her and stopped at the door, which was still slightly open. Emily May grabbed her sister and whispered into her ear as her father began talking.

“What's the matter? Did my daughters do something?”

“Not at all sir. I'm following up on a report from the principal of your daughters school.” He said. “Yesterday she received pictures with a threatening note aimed at her, and I need to ask her a few questions about it.”

“This isn’t about the boy in the dress, is it?”

“It's about a series of pictures that have been left at the school. The school is treating them as a threat and your daughter was mentioned in one, as was two other kids. They are of a child in a dress, but I can't say much more then that.” Deputy Kline replied.

“Look, she's not his friend anymore. I wont let my daughters hang out with that type of person.” He began to close the door, but the deputy caught it.

Deputy Kline could see he was dealing with a closed-minded person, just like some of the other deputys, like the ones who passed on the case. So he decided to hit the father where it would do the most good, his children. “Mr. Higgins, you may not want your daughter hanging out with that type of person, but someone is threatening her along with him, so any information I can get from your daughter can help catch the person doing this and hopefully keep your children safe.”

Mr. Higgins thought about it for a moment. His wife stopped at his side and put a hand on his arm. “Let her talk. If she's being drawn into this, I'd rather they catch the guy before they hurt my daughter.”

“Fine.” He said. “Emily, tell him what you know. I'm going back to my show.” He turned and headed into the living room as Mary Beth came back to her sister. Together Mary Beth stood with her sister and Mother.

“Emily, I heard you received those pictures in a class of yours, correct?”

“Yes sir. Mr. Walkley's class. Someone had left them on a desk.” Emily May replied.

Deputy Kline looked to Mary Beth. “Has anyone left you a picture?”

“No.” Mary Beth replied.

“Girls, has anyone threatened you, or made threats towards Troy Patterson that you know of?”

“No, not that I've seen.” Emily May replied.

“Clark Millet was going around saying Troy was in a dress, before Troy got hurt the second time.” Mary Beth stated.

“He was hurt a second time?” The Deputy asked.

Mary Beth nodded quickly. “Yeah, someone tripped him, just before Christmas break. He fell and tore out stitches and hurt his wrist again.”

“I see.” He wrote down a quick note. “No other then that, no one has threatened you?”

“No.” Both girls replied.

“Now, I heard that you were at Troy's house when he received a call and one of you answered it.”

“I did.” Mary Beth answered.

“Can I ask what the person said and do you know the voice.”

Mary Beth shook her head. “I don't know the voice. But he said that Troy was just a fag in a dress and I asked who he was and why he did it and he just laughed.”

“I see. And is that all?”

Mary Beth blushed. “Well, I kinda got mad and slammed the phone down before he could say anything else.”

“Okay. Well I may be back if more questions come up. Till then keep your eyes open, okay?” The Deputy said.

“Umm...Sir?” Mary Beth said. She held out her hands and showed him the picture that their father had thrown away the day before, along with the envelope. “Dad got this in the mail yesterday.”

The Deputy smoothed out the picture, then he nodded, mostly for himself. He glanced at the envelope and sighed. “Thank you girls. Like I said, I may be in contact again, till then, be safe.”

“We will sir.” Both girls said in unison.

~o~O~o~

Vance made his way from his last class to the locker room to get ready for one of the last few basketball practices he'd have that school year. He wasn't the last of the players in, but he was noticed as he came in. Players in varying states of dress all got up, except one, and they all began grumbling and moving away from Vance as fast as they could. Vance sighed and rolled his eyes. Wally Higgins stayed where he was in the middle of a bench, still tying his sneakers.

“Look out, he'll try to touch you while you're changing.” One of the boys called out.

“Hey, Vance, do you wear panties like your sister?” Another asked.

“That ain’t his sister, it's his fag brother!” A third chimed in. Vance ignored them and went to his locker, worked the combo on the lock and tossed his pack in and pulled out his gym clothes and placed them on the same bench Wally sat on. As he pulled off his shirt, one of the boys spoke again.

“Better move Wally, he's gonna butt-fuck ya.” The first boy stated.

Wally finished tying his shoes and stood up. “says the guys who are naked and huddled in a corner together.” He stood up and quickly looked away. He was still unsure of the feelings he felt, but he knew that now wasn't the time to explore them.

This caused the boys to spread out, but none of them got close to Vance. He looked over as he began to strip out of his jeans. He stopped , raised an eyebrow and asked. “You all going to change? Or are you just getting off by watching me strip?” He moved so he was blocked by his locker door and stripped the rest of the way out of his clothes, then he pulled on his gym clothes.

A few of the boys hadn't moved yet and the coach walked in. He sighed as he looked at the assembled boys. “What are you waiting for? Practice starts in five minutes.” Wally walked past the coach as Vance pulled on his shirt, then locked his locker door.

“They all think Vance is going to attack them.” Wally said with a shake of his head as he headed outside. Vance began tying his shoes as the coach sighed, then shook his head.

“I don't care what you think. Vance is a member of this team, A member who helped us win the past few games, so instead of acting like little children and playing the cootie game, get dressed and get your backsides in the gym.” He turned to head out the door, pulling a bag out basketballs out of a closet “Patterson, take these to the gym.” He turned to the rest of the boys. “Last five of you there are running an extra ten laps, got it?”

Vance took the bag and threw it over his shoulder, then he did his best to chase after Wally who was almost to the office doors that led to the cafeteria. Normally he would have walked with some of the others, but he decided to go on his own this time. As he got close he smiled at Emily's twin. “Thanks.” He said and the two boys went in and headed to what served as a cafeteria and a gym. Wally just smiled in reply. Vance put the bag of balls down and opened it up and pulled one out. “Here.” He said, passing the ball to Wally, who caught it, then started practicing his dribbling.

After the team had come in the drills began and Vance gave it his best. Halfway though the practice, the trouble started. While running down the court, working on his dribbling, one of the other boys tripped him, causing him to hit the floor and skid.

Vance was barely able to keep from getting up and punching the kid. He got up and was running down the court when a pair of hands hit his back causing him to stumble. Once he got going again, someone else slammed into his side, causing him to stumble again. A few minutes later, another foot tripped him, this time a whistle sounded in the room and everyone froze. “That's it! Everyone take a knee, now!” The coach called out as he stormed over.

“Okay, I have had enough of the tripping and shoving. I don't know what your problem is, but it needs to end today. We got one more game to play and I want to go out with a win.” He began to pace back and forth as he scolded them. “I want to know what happened to my team? We're sixteen and three. Where is that great teamwork that we've practiced all season long? Anyone?”

No one spoke up again and not a head moved. “Boys, I don't care what pictures you saw around this school. I don't care what rumors you've heard about other students. When you're on my court, I want teamwork. Remember, there is no I in team. To win our last game, we have to give it our all. We start falling apart now and we may as well just stay home next week. Is that what you want? To show the school that none of you can truly work together? Or are you willing to get over your problems and start giving me you all on this court?”

This time he got a few nods of the head. “I don't know what you have against Patterson. He's been on this team since tryouts. Without his playing, I doubt we would have won our last two games. Face it, the last game, it was his last second throw that caught us the winning points. None of you had a problem with him then.”

The coach took a few steps, then he turned and paced back the other way. “This is a winning team and you should be proud of yourselves, all of you. But I find it hard to be proud of you when you act like first graders with the name calling and pushing. You're all teenagers. Almost adults, so start acting like it. Ten laps of the gym....Plus an extra ten from the people who got here last.” No one moved at first, then he gestured to the walls. “GO!”

~o~O~o~

Maggie and Tracy were back in their own kitchen, getting ready to make dinner for Vance and William. They still had an hour before her father was due to get off work and Vance was catching a ride with him after the team practice, but they wanted to have a nice, big meal when they got there. So they had started after they got back from her grandparents. Tracy still wasn't happy that the Sheriffs department had seen the pictures, nor did she expect much help from them.

Their work was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. Maggie patted her daughter on the shoulder. “I'll get it, you call if you need help.” Her mother didn't have to say what they were both thinking. They were both thinking someone had decided to pick on Vance and she was finally getting the phone-call.

“Patterson's.” She heard her mother say into the phone. Tracy looked at a clock on a shelf near the stove and realized it wasn't about her brother when her mother spoke. “Hello Mom!” As Maggie spoke this caught her daughter’s attention. She turned to look out into the living-room, but she couldn't see her mother in her seat. Her other grandparents rarely called. Her mother’s parents lived several states away, somewhere in the state of Wyoming. She could still recall a visit to their farm when she had been seven. But they normally only called around Birthdays and the major holidays.

She peeked her head out and looked at her mother, raising an eyebrow. “It's okay, I'll be in there in a bit.” Maggie said. “No, not you Mom. We're making dinner. No, Well Vance is at school still, but we had to take Tra...” Maggie had grown so used to having a daughter, that the word Tracy seemed to come faster to her lips then Troy did. She had been forcing herself to remember, but she still made the slip. As Tracy's eyes went wide, Maggie covered herself. “Troy out of school. I'm Sorry Mom, I'm trying to do several things at once.”

Tracy stood there, unsure if her grandmother bought it, so she waited, listening to the conversation as her heart pounded in her chest. “No, we're not sure if it has to do with the attack. Someone started to call the house with threatening messages and they are leaving pictures in several classrooms all aimed at Troy or his friends. We talked to the Sheriff earlier today, but I'm not sure what all they can do for us.”

Tracy slowly stepped back into the kitchen, now afraid of what would happen from her other grandparents. She knew her paternal Grandmother had been okay, but it had taken her being attacked to change her grandfathers opinion. She just wasn't sure how the other Grandparents would react.

Tracy began working on the food prep, doing her best to ignore her mother, for fear she'd hear another slip. After a few minutes she heard her mother hang up the phone and come back into the kitchen. Tracy scowled at her.

“I can't believe you slipped like that!” Tracy snapped.

“Baby, I'm sorry, but I doubt your Grandmother caught it. She never questioned me so don't worry.”

Tears filled into her eyes as she began to stick out her lower lip. “Mom, it isn't the first time. You slipped in front of Mr. Harper, too. Why do you do that?”

“Tracy, I don't mean to. I have a hard time not calling you Tracy.” Maggie moved to her daughter, then she pulled the child into a hug. “I don't mean to keep slipping, but it's so hard not to tell people about my polite, pretty daughter.”

“I just...what if they hate me? I already got some asshole calling me, what if they hate me worse then Grandpa did?”

“Language, young lady.” Maggie scolded. “But we don't have to tell them.”

Tracy was quiet for a moment and she went back to making dinner, finally she stopped and looked at her mother. “What did they want?”

“Well, it looks like that vacation they had planned this summer is being changed. Your Grandfather wanted to retire early, so they are getting out of Wyoming while the snow isn't bad. They may stay a week or two, then go visit your aunt Alice in LA. Then they'll go see your uncle Dan in Arizona.”

“So I gotta be Troy for as long as they are here?

“Well, Mom said they're bringing their camper, so you should be fine at night.”

“But it's a week of boy’s clothes.” Tracy whined.

“I still got to talk to your father, but if I say no, they may wonder what's going on here.”

~o~O~o~

Vance sat at the table after dinner and dishes, working on his homework. He reached into his pack for a notebook and came across the note that he had moved from his pocket during the day. He looked at it, then recalled his talk with Emily May. He looked up to see his mother and sister at the counter, working on making cookies.

“Hey Tracy?” he said. She looked over at him and smiled.

“No, the cookies aren't done yet.” She said without looking up.

Vance chuckled and then shook his head. “No not that, I mean I still want a cookie, but I got this for you today.”

Tracy took a step closer, looking at the envelope he held. When she spoke, her voice had a wary tone to it. “What is it?”

“It's a letter from Emily May and her sister.”

“Oh.” Tracy bounded over and snatched the envelope from him, then she tore it open and began reading the note.

Dear Tracy.

I'm not sure how to break this to you, but our father found out about you. The person who left you those pictures, sent one to my house with a note that the girl in the picture was a boy. So we've been grounded for going over to your house. Mary Beth is fuming about it. She wants to know who it is so she can kick his butt.

Dad thinks you're doing this and being our friend, just so you can rape us. I know, as does Mary Beth, that he's stupid, but Dad hates everything. He's going to be calling each house we go to, when he lets us, so getting over to your place may be a bit hard.

This isn't the end of our friendship. My dad can take a flying leap. We are still your friends, we'll just need to figure out how to meet up again. But this is why I don't want him knowing about me. I'm afraid of what he'd do if he found his daughter liked girls and not boys.

Well, I hope to figure out a way to see you soon. We both loved being at your place the other day and want to do it again.

Love, your friends
Emily May and Mary Beth

P.S.

Mary Beth had a great idea. Ask Vance if he'd mind us sending letters through him, it's one way to keep in touch.

Tracy folded the letter as frustration welled up in her and she blurted out, before her vocal filter could catch it. “God Fucking Dammit!”

“Tracy.” Maggie scolded. “I don't allow that type of language in this house. I'll let it slide this time, but you're not too old to wash your mouth out with soap.”

Tracy blushed from embarrassment. “Sorry ,Mom, it's just this letter.”

“What's it say?” Maggie asked.

“Whoever took those pictures sent one to Emily May's dad. He won’t let them come over here, cause he thinks I'm going to rape them.”

“That's...Total bullshit.” Maggie said as she rinsed her hands in the sink, then she dried them off and took the letter from her daughter and read it.

Vance stopped his homework again and looked up. “I told her to get that picture and take it to Mr. Harper. He may be able to do something else. Isn't the mail watched by the FBI?”

Maggie looked at him, raised an eyebrow, then smiled and nodded. “I think it is. Hopefully she can get it to him.” Once she read the letter, she gave it back to Tracy. “I'm sorry he's doing this to you sweetheart.”

“It just su... .” She stopped and looked at her mother who began to raise both eyebrows. “I hate it I mean. What did I ever do to the person who took those pictures?”

“I don't know, Baby.” Maggie gave Tracy a quick hug, then went back to mixing the cookie dough. “I'm sorry it's being done though.”

Tracy read the letter again, then sat in her seat and smiled at Vance. “Vance? You know you're the greatest big brother ever, right?” William walked past his two children and stopped long enough at the bowl of cookie dough and pulled out a bit of the uncooked dough and popped it in his mouth. As he reached for a second bite, Maggie playfully smacked at his hand.

“I am?” Vance asked.

“And I love you lots, too.”

Vance began to study her features, trying to figure out what she was getting at. William laughed. “Watch it boy, she's buttering you up.”

“Daddy.” Tracy said in that whiny voice, then she smiled at Vance. “If I give you letters for Emily May And Mary Beth, could you give them to them? And maybe bring theirs to me?”

“Sure I guess.” He said with a shrug.

William laughed again. “What's wrong with you boy, barter for something.”

“Oh, yeah....” Vance looked to the cookies that his mother was making. “I want the first cookies out of the oven.” William chuckled and shook his head.

“Okay.” Tracy agreed, knowing full well that each of them would have some of the first batch.

“Then, yeah, I'll take your letters to them.”

“Thank you Vance.” Tracy said.

As William headed back to the living-room, he put a hand on his sons shoulder. “Son, we need to teach you have to wheel and deal with women.”

Maggie patted her shoulder. “You want to write out a note now, or wait till tomorrow so we can do the cookies together?”

“I'll help with the cookies.” Tracy said with a smile. “I'll write a letter before bed, so I don’t forget.”

~o~O~o~

The cookies were done and Tracy was ready for bed, wearing a nightgown for the first time since the pictures came out. She was still scared, but she realized that no one would see her this late at night, and she missed the feel of it. She sat at the table, pen in hand, trying to think of the best way to respond to her friends. A part of her was hurt that they couldn't come over anymore, but she knew it wasn't their fault. She knew many people would hate her for what she was. She tapped her pen against her notepad a couple of times, then she started to write.

Dear Emily May and Mary Beth,

Thank you for the note. Vance says he'll run the letters back and forth for us. I'm glad too, you two are the only girls I am friendly with here in town. I wish that Sage and the others lived up here, but what can you do? I am sorry about your father. I wish he wasn't a jerk, but once again, what can we do.

We talked to a Sheriff’s deputy today, he doesn't seem hopeful, so Mom is thinking of changing our phone number and making it unlisted. If she does, I'll have Vance tell you the number.

Tell Mary Beth that I'll miss being in class with her. I wish this hadn't happened. But I really wish I could be myself and people would just let me be.

Well, before I get mad, again, I'm going stop writing. I hope to see you both soon.

Love, your friend Tracy

She put her pen down and read the letter again, then once more. As she was tearing the paper out of the notebook, she heard someone walking into the kitchen. She stopped and looked up to see her father smiling at her. “You okay in here?”

“Yeah, Daddy.” She replied.

“I'm sorry about your friends. I know there's some small minded idiots out there, but to take away two of your friends, it hurts.” William said.

“Yeah.” She agreed again, this time nodding. “It hurts, but I don't want them in trouble.”

“They're probably hurting too.” William put a hand on her shoulder. “But you never know what tomorrow will bring. Their father may let them come over again.”

“I hope so, or it's going to get lonely here.” Tracy shook her head. “I wish that we lived closer to Rachel and Sage too.”

“I know. If I had my way, you'd have an army of friends and never be lonely again. But I don't have that magic wand to wave.”

“I know Daddy.” Tracy wrapped her arms around him. “It just....I hate this. What did I do to this person? I haven't hurt anyone by wearing what I want?”

As she leaned her head against him, he could hear her start to sniffle. “I know baby. Like I said before, some people get off on hurting others. It's not you, but them.”

“It's them, but I still get the nasty end of the stick.” Tracy stated, making sure to leave the swear words out.

“I know.” He patted her back. “While I got you talking, are you going to be okay if your Grandparents are here for a few days?”

“I don't know Daddy.” Tracy replied. “I'd have to be Troy while they're here. I guess I could still be in my nightgowns at night, but what if they see me? What if they hate me like Grandpa Conner did?”

“We won't know that till they get here.” William stated. “Are you wanting to let them meet Tracy”

“Maybe?” Tracy shrugged. “What if we wait and I show them Tracy before they leave?”

“That's a possibility.” William nodded. “Why don't you get to bed and we can think about it over the weekend when we've rested, okay?”

“Okay.” Tracy stood up and hugged her father once again. “Thank you Daddy.”

“For what sweetheart?”

“For being the best Daddy ever.” Tracy said with a grin.

Yay, Friday the 28th is over!!! Now to move the story on again. Will more of the brown stuff decorate the fan? Or is life going to look up now?

“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.

“Mama?” Tracy's voice cut through her solitude and Maggie fought from giving a shriek of fright, as she jumped in her seat. When she looked up she noticed Tracy had managed to make it all the way to her chair without being heard.

“What's wrong, Tracy?”

“I had a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep.” Tracy stated. “Not after today. Not after those ladies came here, or that call.”

“I'm sorry. You want to try some warm tea or milk?”

“No...I....” Tracy swallowed as she looked down at her feet. “Mama? Am I an abomination?”

Edited by Djkauf with some input and advice from Rev. Anam Chara

It's time for a bit of character building. A glimpse into how the Patterson's see religion and One of Maggie's darkest secrets. I have the rating up a bit due to subject matter.

William had gone to bed, as had her children, or so she thought. That left Maggie some time to sit and read from her bible again. She kept replaying the days events over in her mind, mostly her encounter with Molly Hallmark. She knew she had crossed the lines by getting mad at Molly. She feared how it would come back to bite them in the backside.

Instead of looking for scripture that concerned her daughter, this time she focused on forgiveness. She wasn't aware that she was reading aloud, even if it was softly. “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may for one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”

“Mama?” Tracy's voice cut through her solitude and Maggie fought from giving a shriek of fright, as she jumped in her seat. When she looked up she noticed Tracy had managed to make it all the way to her chair without being heard.

“What's wrong, Tracy?”

“I had a bad dream and couldn't go back to sleep.” Tracy stated. “Not after today. Not after those ladies came here, or that call.”

“I'm sorry. You want to try some warm tea or milk?”

“No...I....” Tracy swallowed as she looked down at her feet. “Mama? Am I an abomination?”

“What?” Maggie asked. “Why would you ask that?”

“That bible verse that Mrs. Hallmark quoted. About men in woman’s clothes being an abomination.”

“Baby, it also said that women who wear men’s clothes are just as bad. Do you think I'm an abomination, too?”

“Why would you be?” Tracy asked as she looked up.

“I wear pants at times. I've had short hair once that looked almost masculine before.” Maggie stated as she reached out and pulled her daughter towards her, letting Tracy sit on one knee. “Tracy, the bible says a lot of things. But like your Grandmother said, we're all sinners. I feel that in the end, it's how you've acted all your life that counts. The most important one to me is this, Judging lest ye be judged? I don't recall where it is in the bible, but basically it says that before you judge someone, take the time to look at yourself.” She flipped though different bookmarks she had in place and began reading. “Ah here it is. Matthew Seven.” She adjusted her daughter and began reading.

“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: And with what measure ye mete, it shall be measure to ye again.” Maggie held her place with a finger, but she looked to her daughter. “There's more, but I want to stop there right now. To me, that means that if you go and judge people with compassion, when it's time for the Lord to judge you, he shall have compassion in his heart when he judges you.”

“So...if you're nice, he'll be nice?”

“Yes. A simple but good way to look at it.” Maggie looked back at her bible. “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thine brothers eye, but consider not the beam that is in thine own eye. Or how will thou say to thy brother, 'let me pull the mote from thine eye': And, behold a beam is in thine own eye. Thou Hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then thou shall see clearly to cast out the mote from Thine Brothers eye.”

Maggie looked back at her daughter. “The idea here, is that you should realize that you are not perfect, neither is the other person, we've all made mistakes, everyone of us. So when you find someone and you start to judge their actions, remember the mistakes you made in your life before you pass a judgment on them.”

“I also think that the less time you spend worrying about other peoples problems, the more time you have to work on your own shortcomings.” Maggie stated. “But like I said a moment ago I also feel that when you're given the chance to judge someone, if you do it with compassion, when it comes time for you to meet God, he'll judge your actions with compassion as well. Yet if you're cruel, and look down on people as you judge them and you refuse to believe that there's any good in them, the Lord shall judge you just as harsh. I feel that the bible is a book of compassion, not hatred.”

“So, I should be nice, but what if someone is judging me?”

“The bible says to love your enemies and to pray for those who persecute you.” Maggie replied. “So when someone is judging you, let them and pray for them later. If they believe something so deeply, there's little hope that you can change their mind.”

“Like Mrs. Hallmark?” Tracy Asked.

“Yeah. Like her.” Maggie agreed, then she sighed. “And that was my fault for letting her in here, but if we hadn't, I think she could have been a lot worse and honestly, I am not expecting her to play nicely.”

Tracy didn't want to think of how Mrs. Hallmark could be if she got mean, instead she let out a long breath and went back to her original question. “So, I'm not an abomination?”

“Tracy, the bible was written thousands of years ago. People were a bit stricter with how they viewed things. In the same book that she was quoting, there are parts that state a man with damaged private parts can not enter the congregation of the Lord. Or people whose parents are not married can not enter the church. Or that virgins must marry the first person they sleep with and people can't re-marry. There's another book that states all people with anything wrong, be it in their sight, or body, like say a hunchback, or a blind-man can't enter the church.”

“So, people born with stuff, like Casey....she couldn't go to church? Or even Brooke with her wheelchair?”

“I think some of that is a bit outdated though. I want to say that some of it was meant for people who were the religious leaders, at least that's what I heard. There are a lot of rules in there and if people followed them to the letter, the world would be very different.”

“How?”

“Well, being stoned to death was a big thing back then. Children who didn't listen? Women who sold their body for sex, thieves, they all got treated about the same, with rocks. And women weren't supposed to be a part of it all. We were to be quiet and let the men run the world.”

“So, I should have been stoned for wearing a skirt?”

“Maybe not. I did say you have the soul of a girl. The more I see you as yourself, the more I'm convinced that you are a girl.” She held up a finger to help her make her point. “So if you have the soul of a girl...and the lord can see what you truly are on the inside...and he sees a young girl inside you...And you wear men's clothes.....” She waited for her child to connect the points of logic.

“Then I'm an abomination, if I wear men's clothes?” Tracy answered, her smile getting wide as she did.

Maggie kissed Tracy's cheek, proud of her daughter once more. “That's how I'm seeing it. See, there's other things, stuff that Molly must have never looked at. The bible says to love thy neighbor.” Maggie sighed. “That's where I messed up. I went on the attack, I didn't forgive them for anything they did or said about you and the family. Instead I met their anger with anger and that was wrong of me.” Maggie pulled her daughter in and hugged her. “But tonight, just before I go to bed, I'll pray, like I do every night and pray that the Lord forgive me for my actions today.”

“And he'll forgive you for that?”

“That’s my belief, it's how I was raised. I feel bad for what I did and I want to make peace with it.”

“So if some of it seems outdated, what parts do we follow?” Tracy asked.

“I'd say the ten commandments are still the best guideline for how people should act. And there's not a one of us that can claim they didn't break one of the ten commandments. But it's when you ask for forgiveness and you truly mean it, the Lord can look into your heart and he can forgive you of all your sins.”

“Have I sinned?”

“We all have. Remember the bit about he who has not sinned. Like your Grandmother said, no man is without sin. According to the Ten Commandments, each time you don't listen to your father and I, that's a sin. Each time you steal, even if it's something small, it's a sin.”

“Wow, Vance is in trouble, isn't he.” Tracy said with a chuckle.

“Maybe. But as long as he asks for forgiveness and truly feels repentant, then the Lord will grant the forgiveness.”

Tracy was quiet for a few moments, till she looked up at her mother and asked. “Mama, have you ever broken one of the ten Commandments? Other than lying?”

Maggie opened up her bible and began flipping to where the Ten Commandments were, in a back index. “When you get older, the more ten commandments you tend to come across. I can honestly say, I've never killed anyone.” She gave a little smile. Her daughter smiled and looked at the bible and began reading. “But I have lied and when I was younger, like Vance and you, I had troubles listening to my parents too.” She let that sink into her daughters head as they read the commandments. Then Tracy looked up at her.

“Images, that's like the golden cow that the Jews had, right? From that book in the bible when the Jews left Egypt?” Tracy asked, remembering the stories from the bible from years earlier when she had been to a church.

“Correct. God didn't want them to worship any other God. It goes with the commandment about not having any other God before him, so he passed down a law that said no other idols should be worshiped.”

“What about the sabbath? Have we broken that?”

“Well, you don't work, but in a sense one could claim you have by cleaning your grandmothers house on Sundays.”

“So when Dad has had to work on Sundays, it's breaking that commandment?”

“Yeah. He does it to help put food on the table, but if we were to follow the bible by the letter, then he's a sinner for working on Sunday.”

“And taking the Lord's name in vain?” Tracy looked at her mother for a moment. “Do I do that?”

“When you're mad and you swear, using the Lord's name, that is taking it in vain.”

Tracy read some more, then looked at her mother again. “What does false witness mean? I always thought it was that you shouldn't lie?”

“Hmmm, you're right.” Maggie thought about it for a moment and nodded at the wisdom of the statement. “Well, false witness could mean like when someone asks you something. Like....Ah yes, like when Mr. Harper asked you what you saw at the school when Bruce stole? Well if you had said he stole something, but he hadn't, that's false witness. Or if you had said that he hadn't stolen, when he had, that's also false witness. I believe it means to not gossip about others too.”

“Oh.” Tracy said. She looked at the page once more. “What's covet?”

“That means you want something, and it belongs to someone else.” Maggie held up a finger. “But don't get this confused with theft. You may covet something, but that doesn't mean you have stolen it. But if you did, then it's two sins you have caused. But now there are parts of the bible that say that if you covet it, then in your heart, you have already stolen it”

“I think I've done that, the covet thing I mean.”

“We all have, even me.” Maggie stated. “For kids, it may be a new bike that someone has, or a pair of pretty shoes that some girl has and you wish you could have it for yourself, or for younger kids, it's that cookie that you really want, but the kid across the table from you has it. For adults it's even bigger. Men who want a younger, cute girl, are coveting. When someone wants their neighbors car, or house or like a boat, that's coveting.

“But the bible says to not covet your neighbors stuff....so is it okay to covet things that belong to someone who is not a neighbor? Like if they live across town?”

“I would say no. When this was written, there were a lot less people in the world and cities were smaller. So I feel that it means you shouldn't want anything owned by your neighbors.” Maggie replied. “It also says that you should you should treat your neighbor as you want to be treated. So does that mean you can be mean to people across town? Or should you treat them with the respect that you want to be given.”

“So neighbor could be like anyone then.” Tracy said as she took the answer and thought about how she had spoken to Molly about giving her respect.

“I think neighbor refers to everyone that isn't you. Plus it says neighbor, but it doesn't say the man across the street, next door, or across town or even in another country, so I would consider neighbor as everyone.”

“So, we should be nice to everyone in the world?”

Maggie nodded. “Yes. You should always strive to be a kind person and treat everyone like you want to be treated.”

“Why are some people mean then? Like Bruce and that guy who calls?”

“Some people don't have any love in their hearts, so they lash out at the ones who have it. You're a special girl. You got support from both your dad and I, your Grandparents and your brother. Plus you have a group of friends and their parents. Some people don't have that, so instead of trying to be a friend, they lash out because they feel you are rubbing it in their face, or that you think you're better then they are, even if you don't think that.”

“Oh.” Tracy was quite as she processed that as well and she began reading from the bible. “What's adultery?” She asked.

“That's where a man or a wife sleeps with someone that they are not married to.”

“Oh.” Tracy was quiet as she looked at the page, then she looked up to her mother. “So, covet and adultery can be together too? Like stealing and coveting and lying and false witness? If you want your neighbor’s wife and you sleep with her, that's adultery and coveting? Right?”

“Right.” Maggie said with a proud smile. She knew her children were smart, but this was helping to cement that feeling. Then her moment was shattered with a simple question.

Tracy looked to her Mother. “Mama? You said you coveted stuff.....Have you ever committed adultery?” The question had left her lips before her mind could stop her.

The question had blindsided Maggie and her jaw dropped slightly. She was quiet for a few moments till Tracy asked the question again, having seen the surprised look on her mother’s face. A part of her guessed that she had found out something her mother thought was hidden as shame and guilt crossed her mothers face and Maggie began to look away. “Mama, you...you did, didn't you?”

Maggie wanted to lie, but she was afraid that the young girl would find out and ruin the trust the two of them had. Plus what would that teach her daughter about the bible, if her own mother lied to her while telling her lying was a sin. The next sentence she said to her daughter was one of the hardest she had to say, but she felt that she needed to hear it. “I did, once about nine months after Vance had been born. It was while your father was away in Viet Nam.” Maggie couldn't look her daughter in the eye.

Tracy moved on her mothers knee, but didn't get up fully. “You had sex with someone that wasn't Dad? Does he know?”

Maggie nodded sadly, still not looking to her daughter. “He knows.”

Tracy slowly stood up, taking a step away, but watching her mother. Her voice filled with a surge of emotions, mostly shock and a sense of being unsure of things. She knew she had been born after the war, but now a question came to her mind. To her it was now a very big question. “Is Dad really my Dad?” She knew that he was, at least she hoped he was, but after years of her brother telling her she was adopted, that fear came racing back at her.

“Yes.” Maggie replied. She sighed and just agreed with herself to tell Tracy the full story. “Tracy, this was nine months after Vance was born. Your father had been shipped out almost a week after Vance's birth. You were born about nine months after he returned to the states, so yes, William is your father.”

“Why Mama? Didn't you love Daddy?”

“I do love him and I did at the time too, but he had been gone and I was lonely....” She sighed. She knew her daughter wasn't old enough to understand how distance can cause the pain of loneliness to exasperate. She reached out and gently touched Tracy's hand, then she folded her fingers around it. “Baby, I hadn't seen your father in nine months. I was living alone trying to raise Vance on what little money your grandparents could send me, along with your father’s pay from the military. I never set out to hurt your father. But there was a man who lived in the same apartment building and he was always kind to me and good with Vance. While your father was away, he would come over and work on the place, because the maintenance man was always taking his time around there.”

Tracy stayed very still. A part of her was still shocked that her mother had slept with someone that wasn't her father. A smaller part still wondered if William was her father.

Maggie swallowed hard and continued. “He was handsome and I'll admit it, I had a crush on him. I coveted him.” Maggie said, using the bible for her daughter as a reference. “I went to his house one night to cook him a meal, in thanks for the work he had done for me around the apartment.”

Tracy could see tears start to fall from her mother's eye and a part of her felt guilty for asking a question that hurt her mother so badly. Maggie took a free hand and wiped the tears away. “But honestly, I went there for other reasons. We had a nice meal and he had some wine. I had been drinking since I had gotten there. I was trying to quiet the thoughts running through my mind. I couldn't help but see the man as a means to an end. He was someone who was willing to give me something I needed. The touch of a man, the chance to be held by strong arms and given the release that I so desperately needed.”

“One thing led to another and he eventually led me to the bed. I lay there, naked on this man's bed and guilt and shame began to well up in me because I was cheating on my husband. Before we went all the way, I ended up running from his bedroom, and running back to my apartment. Once I got inside the guilt and shame over whelmed me and I ended up on the living room floor, clutching a picture of your father and crying myself to sleep.” Maggie sniffled. “The next morning your Grandma Bernice came home with Vance and she found me curled up on the floor, still still naked and holding your fathers picture and feeling like a worthless whore for what I had done.”

Tracy processed what her mother had said, but her mind caught something that didn't seem like it fit. “You....you said before you went all the way....so....if you didn't do anything, why feel guilty?”

“Tracy, I know you've read the books your father has. There are things more then just normal intercourse. There's other things you can do and....” Maggie looked away from her daughter as the feelings of that day twelve years earlier came back to haunt her. Tracy just watched as her mother sat there, still holding her hand and crying.

“Tracy, I'm not proud of what I did. And honestly I'll never be over it. But I love your father and you two kids. I wouldn't want my life to be any different. I've never strayed again. Each time I've seen a guy who is handsome, I just remember I have the greatest man in the world in my life and that he and I have the two best children in the world. I'm sorry if this makes me seem worse to you. I never should have done it, but I was tempted and I sinned. I've begged the Lord plenty of times to forgive me, as I asked your father too.” Maggie looked at her daughter. “I never meant to hurt him and in a way, I hurt you, so can you forgive me?”

Tracy realized how bad her mother was hurting, so she leaned forward and put her arms around her mother. “I'm sorry Mama, I shouldn't have asked that.” She held on tight and whispered in her ear. “I can forgive you.”

“It's okay. I just... it's not my proudest moment.” Maggie replied. pulling her daughter in tight.

Her father came out of the bedroom, where he had been listening and he put a hand on Tracy's shoulder. Tracy felt the hand and she looked up at him. He didn't smile, he just stood there with the same sad expression that her mother wore. “Tracy, you have to understand, war changes people on both sides. It's happened for years.”

“How?”

William was quiet for a moment, then he dropped to a knee by his daughter and wife. “You remember the song that came out this past July? 'War is hell on the home front too?' The country song?”

“Yeah.” Tracy nodded.

“Did you ever understand it?” William asked. “What the song is really saying?”

“It's about a boy who stays with a woman and....” She blushed a bright red. “Sleeps with her?”

“Yeah. But it's about how a woman gets lonely while her husband was off at war. She didn't want to cheat on her husband, that's why she tipped over his picture, but she needed to be held and he wasn't there.” Her father. He decided to try the talk from a different angle. “Baby, you like Peter, right?”

Tracy nodded, even though she knew that her father knew how she felt about Peter. “Yeah.”

“You missed not seeing him at school the past couple of days, right?”

“Yeah, I don't miss school, but I liked spending time with him.”

“Do you love him?” Her father asked.

Tracy blushed and looked to the floor. “Yeah. I think so, maybe?” She finally answered.

“Baby, when you get older, and if you're still with him, that love will get bigger. There will be a physical side to love as well, and a lot of people, men and women both, feel the need to be touched, held and loved, not just in word, but in deed.”

“You mean sex.”

“Yeah.” William put an arm around his daughter. “And it's hard when you're separated from the person you love for a couple of years.” When his daughter didn't respond, he continued. “Baby, there's a reason I forgave your mother.

“What was it?”

“She wasn't the only one who strayed.” William stated.

“You slept with someone else too?”

William went to his chair and sat down, then he held his arms out and Tracy slowly walked over and sat on his knee. “Baby, I had been in 'Nam for more then a year when I went on leave. While there I went past a whore house and I'll admit it, I was lonely for the touch of a woman. I'm not proud that I went in, or that I paid for it, but when the girl came in, I couldn't bring myself to touch her. I ended up just talking to her. I must have told her all about your mother and Vance and our plans for when I returned from the war, but she had no idea what I said, at least I don't think she did. But do you know why I didn't do anything?”

“No, why didn't you?”

“Your Mother. I couldn't stand to hurt the woman of my dreams.” He stated. “I felt so bad for what I did that I left the brothel and just started walking the streets. I think I walked all night, because I don't recall going to a hotel. The next day I found myself at a little shop and I found the best present for her. You know her jewelry box, the fancy jade colored one? I bought that the next morning.”

“When did she find out and when did you find out about her?” Tracy asked.

“I had to tell him.” Maggie said as she moved to her daughter. “The guilt welled up in me so bad that I couldn't look him in the eyes when he got back. So one day, about a week after he got home from the hospital, I sent Vance off with my parents and told him everything that happened.”

“Was he mad?” Tracy asked as she looked to her mother.

“Yeah, I was.” William answered, causing Tracy to look his way. “We had a nasty fight that night. But I started to call her a no-good whore, when I saw that jewelery box and I couldn’t find the words anymore. I left the house for a couple of hours to cool off and came back to find your mother, holding my picture and lying on the couch and sobbing. So I told her my story. She wasn't much happier, but we both realized that we had temptation and we walked away from what was in front of us so we could be true to the one we loved.”

“And you made up, right?” Tracy asked, not realizing how stupid the question was since they were still together.

“Yeah.” William answered. “I realized that I wanted your mother more than anything and I was willing to fight to keep her. It wasn't easy, but we worked through our problems together.”

“I felt the same. Your father means the world to me and damned if I was going to lose him for something we both did. But the best part is how he made up to me and what happened afterward.”

“How did you make up with her?” Tracy asked.

“I had her parents watch Vance one more night, then I had her put on her nicest dress, and we started the evening at the best restaurant I could afford, then we went to the movies and caught a couple of romantic movies. There were a couple of war movies out, but I wanted that evening to be about your mother and she loves the romantic comidies.”

“I loved every minute of it.” Maggie stated. “We would have gone dancing, but he was still in his leg cast from the war.”

William smiled at the memory of that night. “Then we came home and...well I've always thought the best part of fighting was the making up afterward.”

“What do you mean? Make up how?”

Maggie smiled and put a hand on her child's shoulder. “Well about nine months after that night, you were born.”

Tracy blushed as she realized what they meant. “Oh.”

William hugged her and Maggie moved over and dropped to a knee and wrapped her arms around both her husband and daughter. William kissed Tracy's cheek, then he looked in her eyes to get her attention. “Baby, You need to realize that we all make mistakes, so don't hate your mother for things that happened. No one is perfect and we don't expect you to be either. We try to do what's right and best for you. Like your Grandmother said earlier, we are all sinners, but it's asking for forgiveness that can save you.”

“Mom said that too.”

“You should listen to your Mom, she's a smart woman, so's your Grandma.” William said with a nod to his wife. “But that's what she meant by the Judging not thing. We've both sinned, so we try to not lord over other people. We've both asked the Lord for forgiveness and we've asked it from each other. I have to say, I am glad I stayed with your mother. I am proud to have two wonderful children that I love dearly.” William kissed her cheek again. “You make us both proud. So does Vance.”

“He's right.” Maggie said with a grin. “You both make us proud, we don't say that much, but it's true.”

“I try my best.” Tracy said.

“As long as you give it your all and do your best to be a decent person to everyone, what more could we ask.” William said.

“Thank you.”

“Now get back to bed. Don't worry about the guy on the phone or Mrs. Hallmark.” Maggie said. “Unless you need that warm milk.”

“Nah. I'll be fine.” Tracy stated.

“Good night baby.” Maggie said as she kissed her daughters cheek, then stood up.

“Night Mama.”

“Night Sweetie.” William said, then he kissed her other cheek. “Try to get some sleep. We can always talk in the morning.”

“Okay. Thanks Daddy.”

Now keep in mind, Maggie's view on religion is about how mine was before I left the church. I know it's a bit simple, but that's how she sees stuff. I felt the need to do this to work on Maggie's...and William's characters a bit more.

Sunday had passed without much excitement. The phone was ignored for most of the day, unless William was the one to answer it. Tracy had finished up her cleaning of the house the day before and was at the kitchen table with her mother, going over all the jewelery in her mother's jewelery box. Each piece she pulled out came with the story of how she got it.

“This necklace...I remember this one.” Maggie smiled as she held up a very thin gold chain. “This was the first piece of jewelery that your father gave to me. I think it was at our sixth month anniversary.”

“Really?” Tracy asked as she looked at it.

“Yeah. He was so nervous.” Maggie chuckled. “And this....” She sighed as her hands pulled out a bracelet made with silver chains. “This was one of the pieces he got me on our wedding day.”

Editing by Djkauf

More of Tracy and the pictures from hell!!!

January 29th 1983

Bruce sat in an office that the County therapist used at the detention center when he had to come in to deal with the hardest of cases. It was part of the county’s idea to help show the kids where they were messing up in their lives. This was one of the few times that Kenny and Frankie were separated from him. He had been seeing the man since a week after he got put in there. Of his friends, he was the one who wouldn't shut up in the arraignment and gladly admitted to attacking Troy. He tried to insist that he was innocent, even though he had admitted to the attack. His court appointed attorney managed to get him to take a plea bargain; as had Kenny and Frankie.

He wasn't at the top of the food chain when they had got in there. In fact, he wasn't ready for the welcome he got the first day. When all the guards seemed to turn their back, he wound up on the wrong end of several fists. So had Kenny and Frankie. The third day, when their attackers came for them, Bruce, Kenny and Frankie were ready and in front of many of the kids in the yard, Bruce beat the leader senseless, with the aid of piece of the bed he had removed and hid under his shirt.

Once the lead boy was on the ground, he began to taunt him, calling him Troy, which confused the other boys. Then he tried to do to the other boy, what he tried to do to Troy. He had stripped his would be attackers pants off and was about to undo his own when the guards came and broke it up. He had spent a week in a solitary cell to cool down, then he was let back into the main population. Two months had passed and the bruises had gone away, but his anger at Troy Patterson hadn't.

After his first time of fighting back, many of the others left him alone. He got it in his mind that to keep the fear, he had to make regular attacks on some of the newer kids and some of the bigger kids. He had attacked one of the new kids and that landed him in the office he was in now.

Recently, a boy, a couple years younger than had come in for car theft and Bruce put his sights on the boy. He was chunky, but bigger then Troy Patterson was, his hair was a bit shorter too. But he was close enough to looking like Troy for Bruce. But that didn't stop Bruce from catching him in a dark part of the facility and forcing himself on the boy. They later found the unconscious boy, beaten and raped. They didn't have proof it was him yet, but they had him at the top of the suspect list.

He hadn't heard from his brother in a few days, or any of the rest of his family. He didn't expect to hear from his mother. She didn't understand how the world worked. He knew if he listened to her, he would have been going to the church services that the state provided for them. He would have confessed his sins.

He wasn't sure what Clark would think about him keeping the fear the way he did. The people who called him the fag didn't understand that Bruce had to do it to keep people afraid of him.

“Bruce, pay attention.” The counselor said. “I asked you if you feel any remorse for your actions? Do you enjoy being in solitary?”

“No, but it's the price I pay to keep people afraid.” Bruce snarled.

“Do you at least understand that this is all your own doing? Your attack on Troy Patterson is what caused you to be put here.”

Bruce shifted quickly in his seat, leaning towards the counselor and causing the guard that was in the room for the counselors protection to move towards him. “That little faggot snitch had it coming. No one rats me out.”

“So you still claim to be the innocent one? Do you at least admit that stealing at the school was wrong.”

“What was wrong was me getting caught by a little dress wearing faggot.”

“Bruce, violence is what got you put in here. It's why we have to see each other every week. Can't you take responsibility for any of your actions?”

“None of this is my fucking fault you idiot. If it hadn't been for the little fag, I would have never been put here.”

“Okay.” The counselor said with a sigh. “We're done, you won’t listen.” He stood up and motioned to the guard. "He's all your’s."

"Later, Pansy." Bruce called as the man walked out of the room.

~o~O~o~

Clark lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling, wondering what his next move would be. He knew he wouldn't have started this if Bruce hadn't asked him. He also knew that it really was all Troy's fault. If he hadn't ratted out his brother to the principal, then Bruce would have never gone to his house and he would have never been arrested. He thought about how he pulled his cousins into the plan, using Stan and Hank to spread pictures around the school and he had Billy call Troy's house.

With the pictures at his cousin's house, he was sure he was safe from the cops. He had kept the negatives, just so he could make more pictures if he needed to, but he had that hidden, taped to the bottom of the frame of his bed.

He wanted to just go to Troy's place and show him his place. It wasn't the fact that he wore dresses, that just made him a weak sissy, and he knew that everyone knew a sissy couldn't fight. No, his biggest issue was his brother Bruce. He missed his brother. Bruce had been there when their mother was off at work. He had been there when his father took off a few years back. And now, because of Troy, Bruce was gone.

He sighed lightly as he lay there. He knew Bruce's actions had hurt their mother, and Clark was torn in loyalty between his mom who he knew loved him, but she seemed to work far too much and his brother who had been there in the hard times.

He rolled over onto his side and stared at the bed that his brother had used, until his arrest. He couldn't help the tears. He was alone and it hurt him. He just wanted his brother back.

~o~O~o~

January 30th 1983

Sunday had passed without much excitement. The phone was ignored for most of the day, unless William was the one to answer it. Tracy had finished up her cleaning of the house the day before and was at the kitchen table with her mother, going over all the jewelery in her mother's jewelery box. Each piece she pulled out came with the story of how she got it.

“This necklace...I remember this one.” Maggie smiled as she held up a very thin gold chain. “This was the first piece of jewelery that your father gave to me. I think it was at our sixth month anniversary.”

“Really?” Tracy asked as she looked at it.

“Yeah. He was so nervous.” Maggie chuckled. “And this....” She sighed as her hands pulled out a bracelet made with silver chains. “This was one of the pieces he got me on our wedding day.”

“What about that?” Tracy pointed to another necklace.

“That one....” Maggie smiled again. “That was a gift from your Aunt Shelly on my wedding day.”

“Ah....these are yours.” Maggie said as she pulled out a pair of earrings with very small diamonds on them. “They were given to me by my Grandmother, something else for my daughter to have when she got old enough.”

“Are those diamonds?”

“Yes. These may not be large, but this is something that isn't meant for normal everyday wear.” Maggie stated. “In fact, when we get your ears pierced, you can wear these with that pink dress you have.”

“Cool.” Tracy said as she put the earrings in her jewelry box. “What about that?” Tracy asked, pointing to a necklace with two stones on pendants on it.

“This is mine. This is actually a gift from your father and these two birthstones are actually for you and your brother. He bought it just after you were born.”

“Cool.” Tracy said.

“And when you get older, you can do the same thing.”

"But Mama, I can't have children." Tracy reminded her.

"Baby, you can always adopt. Never say never." Maggie stated.

~o~O~o~

January 31st 1983

Monday morning William pulled into the mill in silent contemplation. His drive to work every day gave him time to think, and today was no exception. He thought about the few days before and about the current situation with his youngest. He was willing to call Tracy being home-schooled a victory, a small one, but still a victory. Granted, it was Troy who would have to go to the school for tests, but at least she got out of the main population of the school. They still didn't know who had the pictures, and while that was important, he was trying to not dwell on it.

He knew worrying about it would only piss him off. At least the teachers would be working to pick up the pictures. He got out of his car, and fell in step with a few of the other workers. He headed to the office and grabbed his time-card. As he punched it in the time-clock, his boss Steven walked up and cocked his head slightly. “Everything work out okay with the schools last week?”

“Kind of.” William sighed. “Someone has been threatening Troy and we decided to pull him out of school and home-school him.”

“Really? This about that kid who attacked him?”

William shrugged as he headed to the room that housed the lockers that held his safety gear. “Who knows. Someone left threatening pictures for him at the school. Then someone called him at the house and threatened to murder him, my wife and my other son. Now we're part of an ongoing police investigation.”

“Shit....” Steven blinked a few times and he shook his head. “Maybe homeschooling is for the best. Teachers can't watch him all the time, plus that would ostracize him from everyone. Your parents live close, so someone can watch him and keep him safe.”

“Yeah.” William nodded. “Poor kid, he did the right thing and all he gets is shit on for it. How's that for a life lesson.” He didn't want to get into the real story. This was one that Steven knew and it helped gain support for Troy.

“Sad, but true.” Steven agreed. They had reached the office and he stopped. “Well, I need to get to the office and get some paperwork done, be seeing ya.” Steven clapped a hand on William's shoulder, then he headed inside

William went to his locker and undid the lock that kept his stuff safe. As he opened it up a piece of paper fell from the little slots in the door to the floor. He bent over to pick it up. As his eyes focused on the now familiar picture of Tracy and Maggie, he read the note at the bottom that was in a different handwriting. “Daddy's little faggot.”

William closed his eyes and crumpled the picture in his hands, then he pulled his safety gear and tossed the picture back into the locked and slammed it shut. As he put the lock back on, he looked in both directions to see if anyone was paying attention to him, but most of the people were gathering their own gear.

~It didn't happen.~ He told himself. He thought back on the conversation he had Friday with his youngest and he made the decision. ~I won't give whoever did that the satisfaction.~

He was three steps away from his locker when he stopped and began to wonder. ~Who the hell did that? They have to have a kid who goes to school with mine.~ He began thinking of all the people who had children and as he made his way to the forklift, he shortened it to the few people he knew that had kids who went to Troy's school. ~Can't be the lady in the office, I would have heard from her by now.~ Then a thought occurred to him. ~I figure this out and we find out who's threatening him.~ He smiled to himself as he fired up the machine.

~We figure out who it is and we send that information to the school and the sheriff’s office, problem over.~ William thought. It was that simple to him. An easy fix for a problem like that. He knew he'd lean on his wife for what to do. But he didn't want to make things worse and tell her he had gotten the picture. ~Last thing they need to worry about is more people knowing. I'll tell them if it gets worse.~ He thought to himself as he drove through the mill.

~o~O~o~

Peter walked from the bus stop and was headed for the cafeteria for something else to eat when he began to hear kids around him snicker. He did his best to ignore them, till a boy from his class stepped in his way. “So, your little girlfriend stopped going to school?”

“What are you talking about, Jason?” Peter asked, keeping his tone neutral.

Jason showed him the now famous picture of Tracy and Maggie at the mall, this time the words read. “Troy Patterson, Peter Lowery's fag girlfriend.”

“PETER IS DATING A FAG IN A DRESS!” Jason yelled out, causing most of the kids nearby to look, point and laugh. Peter made a quick step forward and snagged the paper out of Jason's hand. He was about to head for the office when a voice stopped him.

“I'll take that young man.” Mr. Walkley said, holding his hand out. Peter handed the picture over and Jason blurted out.

“He was passing these out, I saw him!”

The teacher read the picture, then gave Jason a look that said he wasn't believing him. “Right.....And he was implicating himself?” Mr. Walkley said with a shake of his head. “No, I'm not going to buy that. Not when I saw you ram the picture in his face. So let’s go up to the office Mr. Case and we can discuss where you got this picture.”

“Do I need to go, too?” Peter asked.

“May be best. Sorry if you miss breakfast, but we need to clear this up.”

Ten minutes later, Peter sat in the chair in the principal’s office with Jason in another chair. He sat there, shaking his head as Jason tried to claim that Peter had spread the pictures around. Finally when the Principal threatened him with the possibility of going to jail for having evidence in a crime, the boy broke down and admitted he found the pictures on Friday but had wanted to tease Peter.

After his parents were called and he was sent to the main part of the office, Mr. Harper looked to Peter. “So you know, you're not in trouble. But could you let me warn the Pattersons?”

“Yes sir.” Peter said with a nod. “I won't tell them. Are you going to tell the cops?”

“I can just call. But now you're involved and I should let your mother know. Have you told her about any of this?” Mr. Harper asked.

“Yes. She knows all about the pictures.” Peter said. “Mom will be pissed that I'm being threatened. But there's nothing we can do.”

“Unfortunately.” Mr. Harper agreed.

“Can I go to breakfast now?” Peter asked.

“Go on. If we need you again, we'll call you back up here.”

~o~O~o~

Febuary 1st 1983

Maggie was back at her desk on Tuesday and was thankful she didn't have much to do, but the downfall was in her boredom, she got to think and her thoughts focused on Tracy's problems. She was aware that one more child had been pulled into the mess with the pictures, but she wasn't shocked that it was Peter, to her the shocking part was that he had been left out till now. Her solitude was disturbed when the mailman came in. “Hello, Maggie. Got anything going out?”

“No Henry. We got the bills taken care of last week. Give me two more weeks and it'll get heavy again.”

He looked at the desk and laughed. “Well, warn me and I'll be sure to wear my weight belt then.” He handed her a stack of envelopes and turned and left the building.

Maggie began flipping through the mail, till one envelope caught her eye. She raised an eyebrow as she read the hand-written words on it and shook her head. She could tell it was the work of a child, one who didn't bother to use the proper spelling of the company name.

Right Cleanin
Office person.....very important!

Maggie set the other mail aside and grabbed a letter opener. She wasn’t the boss of the company, but she was usually the only one in the office, so it fell into her job to open it. She opened up the envelope and reached in to pull out a folded piece of paper.

Her blood began to boil when she saw the picture. Once more she saw the picture of her and Tracy from their trip to Arden Fair Mall. At the Bottom in black ink, was the words “Mrs. Patterson's son is a dress wearing fag.”

She slammed her hand down on the desk and let out a frustrated scream, followed by a string of words that a lady should never say in public. When she calmed down, she sat, looking at the photo. After a few moments, she decided what needed to be done. She reached over an picked up the phone-book and and quickly flipped through it for the government section.

She got the number she wanted and dialed the phone, then waited. A few moments later a voice come over the phone. “Butte county Sheriff’s department, how may I help you?”

“Yes, This is Maggie Patterson, I need to speak to Deputy Kline about an on-going case involving my child Troy Patterson.”

“One moment.”

As she sat there, she flipped through the mail and found one more letter, with the same writing, this time sent to the owner. She opened this one up to find yet another picture, also proclaiming her son wore dresses. Maggie sat there, waiting for the person to come back on the phone and trying not to scream in frustration.

~o~O~o~

Maggie was still sitting at her desk, talking to Deputy Kline when the door flew open and her boss rushed in. “Maggie? Something happen?” Chris asked worriedly, as he looked from Maggie to the deputy and back.

“It's not a problem, just a piece of threatening mail that I opened up.”

“Someone sent threatening mail against us?” He asked, arching an eyebrow in confusion.

“No, this is aimed at my children. I'll explain it in a minute.” She replied. She didn't want to cover it at all but she had said too much. She had hoped the Deputy would have been gone by the time anyone had shown up, but that was out of her control now. So instead of dealing with him, she looked to the Deputy. “Deputy Kline, do you need anything else?”

“No. I got all the information. Like the last time, if you have more problems, call me so we can keep up on this.” He put on his hat. “I'll check up on this Molly Hallmark connection too. You may be right and it may be nothing, but one can never tell.”

“Thank you. Could I keep one of these? So William knows what's going on?” Maggie asked. “You got one of them and I doubt this is the end of them.”

“Go ahead, we’ve already got a stack of them and I can collect that one later if we need it.” The Deputy replied.

“Thank you.” Maggie said She watched the deputy leave the building and then she could feel Chris looking at her.

“So....what's going on. I'm going to guess that this has something to do with you pulling Troy out of school?” He asked as he settled into a seat.

Maggie nodded. “Yes, but it actually stems back to that first attack and him getting suspended.”

“You know how he was attacked by the kid he caught stealing, right?” She said and Chris nodded. “That boy hurt him bad in that fight, all three of them did. Well after that fight, we found out he wouldn't have a chance at a normal life as a male. I never told you what happened, but his testicles were destroyed in the attack and there was a bit of tissue damage to the penis.”

She took a deep breath and handed him the picture that had been addressed to him that she had opened. He had given her permission to open his mail years back, mostly because he was always working all over and it was easier if she just did it. “This was taken of me and my youngest, without our knowledge, at the Arden Fair Mall after one of his doctors appointments. You may as well see it, in case more get sent and I'm not here.”

Chris pulled it out and studied the picture for a moment, then he looked at Maggie. “This is Troy?”

Maggie nodded. “Yeah.”

“Without the charming little message and the fact you just said it's him, I'd never know. But then, I haven't seen Troy in a year or so, so I wouldn’t have known.” Chris handed her the picture back. “So, why the dress?”

“My baby doesn't have the chance at a normal....” Maggie stopped and shook her head. She felt bad for lying to a man who had given her a job when no one else was hiring at the time. She had been there almost as long as William had been at his job. “No that's not totally true.” Maggie got up and went to the door and locked it. “Sorry, I don't want anyone walking in on something that doesn't concern them. It's personal and concerns my family and no one else. Hell, Troy would flip if he heard you're about to find out.”

“Okay, I can understand that. If it's bad don't tell me then.”

“No Chris. If someone is sending letters here, you need to know so you are ready in-case your wife works the desk and opens one.” Maggie went back to her seat and sat down. “I'll understand if you want to fire me afterward too, this isn't something a lot of people can deal with.” Maggie took a deep breath while Chris just watched her. “This is hard for me, so let me finish before you ask questions, okay?”

“Okay.” Chris said with a nod.

Finally Maggie collected herself and she began the tale. “I had always thought Troy was wearing my clothes, certain things would be out of place after I had gone to the store, or into town for something. But it only happened when he was home alone. Finally in August My mother-in-law and I came up with a plan and when I took Vance to a friends house, Modine came over to the house and found him in one of my skirts.”

“We allowed him to do it, 'cause face it, he had been doing it for a while, maybe years by this point. If we tired to stop him, we would have just made it so he wanted to do it more. So on weekends that Conner, my Father-in-law, was out of town, Troy stayed with Modine and became Tracy. One day I asked him why he did it and he said it was a release. Troy got picked on by Vance all the time, hell Vance could beat him up and never get in trouble cause William always took Vance's side. So When Troy became Tracy, in her mind it was just Tracy, me and her grandmother. There was no angry father, no angry grandfather and no pesky brother.”

She paused a moment to see if Chris looked angry, but she couldn't read his emotions. “One day Peter, Troy’s friend since the first grade showed up. He found Tracy and was totally okay with it. He pointed out that Tracy hated being Troy, even if she didn't know it. It took me a few days to realize he was right. When Troy was out, he was quiet and moody and he hated sports, except his Tai Chi. He did his chores, but when Tracy is there, she is bright, energetic, full of life. She took up cleaning both my house and her grandparents house. She's been cooking for the house when she can.”

“Well, Vance found out about Tracy and he went to tell his friends. Modine had been ready for this and she put Vance into a dress for three weeks.”

“Petticoat punishment.” Chris stated.

Maggie nodded. “Yeah. William laughed at him the first night he saw it, then Conner did. It was Tracy who asked her grandmother to end Vance's punishment. But not before Vance's friends Bruce and Frankie had seen him in the dress and been told about Tracy in hers. They started to taunt him at school. “One day, while going back to his class, Troy passed by the seventh grade classes and caught Bruce and Frankie stealing in a class. He ran and ran into Vance, which is where they got suspended for those three days over Thanksgiving. It was then that Vance and Troy or Tracy began getting closer.”

“So his old friends attacked him?” Chris asked, despite having been asked to wait.

“Yeah.” She replied. “Now you know about Troy getting attacked on the property, but you don't know about the trip to Livermore.”

“After Thanksgiving, you did seem preoccupied at times. And I'd see you looking at pictures on your desk when you thought you were alone.”

“Please, I'll get to it.” Maggie stated.

“Sorry.” Chris blushed from embarrassment.

“When we went to Livermore the day after Thanksgiving, Tracy was the one who got in the car with me and Vance. William found out about Tracy on Thanksgiving and he wasn't sure what to do. But he let me take control. I had told my friend Shelly, who I have known since I was in school and she said Tracy was welcome to stay in her house. But when we got to Tracy, the town, she changed back into Troy. I could tell the difference immediately. Troy was in a funk all the way to Shelly’s place. Finally Shelly had to tell him she knew and didn't mind seeing her god-daughter.”

“About an hour later, Tracy came down the steps and then she met two girls around her age. Tracy spent the night, well two nights, with them and they treated her as a normal girl. Or course one of them was also born differently.”

“How so?”

“She has both male and female parts, but she lives as a girl.”

“Oh, I think I saw something about that once on the TV.”

“Please, let me finish.” Maggie held up the hand to stop him and she continued. “When we left, Those two girls had totally accepted her as Tracy and invited her to stay with them in Livermore before Christmas, but the day before Troy was to return to school, Bruce and Frankie came back to the house and attacked. I told you some of the fight, but not all of it.”

Maggie steadied her nerves, to keep from crying over what was a dark day in her families history. “They didn't find Troy on the property. Tracy had gone for a walk in the fields, wearing a skirt and blouse. When Bruce found her, he tried to rape my baby. He cut her top off and was cutting off the skirt with a knife when one of the boys decided to leave and Bruce attacked him. Tracy fought back, kicking Bruce where it hurts and hitting the other two boys. She ran and almost made it to the house when they got in front of her. She ended up at my mother-in-law's house.”

“Now before I continue, I must tell you this. After Thanksgiving, Conner, My Father-in-law found Tracy's clothes in his house and he was mad, he wanted to beat the gay out of Troy, but Modine kicked him out of the house.” She paused for a moment to check Chris's face again, but there was still no anger. “Okay, back to Bruce. The three boys left caught Tracy behind my mother-in-law's house and began beating on him. In that fight, they destroyed his testicles. Modine came out to protect him and she's almost sixty with osteoporosis. She got hurt by Bruce and That caused my Tracy to get up, despite how bad they had hurt her. If you've ever been hit there, you know the pain. She managed to get up and fight, that's when Peter, Conner, William and I came into the yard. Vance took care of a boy who tried to run. By that point, any chance of a normal life for Troy was gone. It was that fight that brought Conner closer to Tracy, his granddaughter.”

Maggie had pulled a Kleenex out of her purse and dabbed at her eyes. “I see.” Chris replied. “So his chance of being a normal male is gone, so this is the only other choice to a normal life?”

“There's actually more.” Maggie stated. “When she was in Livermore before Christmas, I took her to a therapist and he told me that she has something called Gender dysphoria.” Chris gave her a strange look that meant he had no idea what that was. “Basically, She's a girl, but she was born in a boys body. So, after that attack and that visit, she's been Tracy full time at home. Plus when we went to the Arden Fair mall, which is where that photo was taken.”

“Does she go to school as Tracy?”

“No, Troy went and near the time we pulled him, each day was a fight to get Troy out the door.”

“What about that?” He gestured to the picture.

“We figured that Sacramento was safe, but we were wrong.” Maggie stated. “Now whoever took those is calling the house and threatening to rape and kill both her and me, plus we pulled her out of school because they left pictures all over the school and there's no way she'd avoid the teasing.”

“How many people know?”

“A lot. There were a lot of pictures at the school and we don't know how many more made it home with kids. But people that know the full story, that's the family, friends down south and now you.” We've already been visited by people from a church we haven't gone to in years and they've already informed us that they don't want Tracy in their town.”

“Their town? I forgot it was owned by one church.” Chris said with a scoff. “What do the others knows? Like the church people?”

“The kids at school know that he's wearing dresses. As for the Church ladies, we weren't able to tell them much. They came to hate him and won’t listen to reason. Kept insisting that it's against God's will.”

“Because he talks to them nightly, telling them that hatred is just fine.” Came Chris's sarcastic reply

“Who knows, with these ladies, they may just think that they ARE God.”

“Some people just can't read the good book and see the whole picture. It's not a tool of hate. According to it, we're all sinners. The people who hate are worse than the rest in my book.” Chris said. “I know I've sinned, but I know it's not my job to judge anyone.”

Maggie was silent for a few moments, then she asked, in an almost hushed tone. “So does this mean I'm not fired?”

“For what? You have a child that is going through something you can't control. Why fire you. Besides, I wouldn't have a decent reason. As far as I care, your job is still yours. And as for Troy...or Tracy, I don't care what he or she does, I can't fire you over her work ethic. Besides you said she cleans both your house and your in-law’s houses, so she has a better work ethic then some of my employees” He smiled at his little joke. “That child is special. She's put others safety before hers. She's been good to you. So the only thing I have to say is when you get home, give that special daughter of yours a big hug, okay?”

“I can do that.”

“Thank you for telling me. It must have been difficult.” Chris said.

“You have no idea..”

~o~O~o~

William and Vance were already seated at the table as Maggie and Tracy put a pan of meatloaf on the table, then she followed it with a wire basket that held eight baked potatoes wrapped in tinfoil. Maggie had been quiet since she got home. She had stayed near Tracy the whole time the girl was in the kitchen, as though something was going to happen to her as she made dinner. When the ladies went to take their seats, Maggie had Tracy take the one by the wall so she was trapped in a corner, stuck against the wall and with her back to the stove so Tracy couldn't run.

After a few moments, Maggie put her fork down and spoke. “I have some bad news from my work today.”

“What happened?” William asked.

“A letter came in the mail to work. It was another picture. There was one sent to Chris and one to the office boss. I opened them both, like I do all the mail and I had to call the Sheriff.”

“Not your work too.” Tracy whined. She let the fork drop from her fingers as she sat back in the chair.

“There's more.” Maggie stated. “As I gave the deputy the pictures and my report, Chris came in and started asking questions.”

William put his fork down and leaned back. Only Vance kept eating. “What did he ask?”

“He wanted to know what happened. I told him about the pictures being sent around.” Maggie stopped and turned to face her daughter as best as she could. “Tracy, I told Chris everything.”

“WHAT?!?” Tracy almost screamed. The she dropped her head to the table with a thud in an overly dramatic fashion.

“Calm down, young lady!” Maggie snapped. She waited a moment then held up one finger to keep her daughter quiet as Tracy looked at her. “He knows and he doesn't care. He's still on your side. In fact I told him about the ladies from the church and he got pissed about them too. I was afraid he'd fire me if he found a picture on a day I don't work.”

“And he really doesn't care?” William asked.

“He said it's not his place to judge, but as long as Tracy is a good kid, that's all that matters.” Maggie was about to turn back when she stopped. “Oh he said to give you something.”

“What?” Tracy warily asked.

“This.” Maggie said as she leaned over and hugged her.

“So he doesn't mind this?” She gestured to herself.

Maggie shook her head. “It's what’s inside that counts.”

Tracy looked at her plate, then at her mother. “Cool.”

“I told him though, just in case someone opened up the letters on my days off. He needed to know someone was mailing them and what was inside.”

That made sense to Tracy and she nodded. “Okay. So you’re not in trouble?”

“Not at all.” Maggie picked up her fork and began picking at her food. She decided to change the subject to save her child from stress.

“Good.” Tracy replied.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, till Maggie looked at her and smiled, hoping to take her mind off of things. “You know, I was also doing some thinking about groceries and stuff and with you home more, I want you to go shopping with me. You cook it, you may as well learn how to pick the good stuff at the store.”

“But I've gone with you before.” Tracy stated.

“Tracy, when you've gone in the past, you've been moping around and not really paying attention. This time I want my daughter to go and pay attention to what to get and what not to get.”

“You mean...go like this in town?”

“We could go to Chico or Gridley if you want, but yes, you need to learn how to pick out foods, it's something you'll need when you live on your own.” Maggie stated. “Besides, we can go to a store we rarely go to in Oroville. There are four of them. We just pick the one we rarely go to and we're fine. We go during school time and no kids would be there and not that many Adults know about you, I think.”

“Okay. I think I can do that.” Tracy hesitantly replied.

Maggie looked to William. “Oh, I changed the phone number yesterday and they said it should be permanent, so later I'll call your mother and have her call the new number, to make sure.”

“Good.”

“Then tonight, if it's changed, you...” She looked to her daughter. “can call your friends and give then the new information after your Tai chi class tonight, okay?”

“Cool.” Tracy said with a smile.

~o~O~o~

It was Troy who got out of his mothers car and walked over to the school where he practiced his tai chi. Maggie was about to put the car in gear when the teacher came out and flagged her down, stopping Troy at the door.

Maggie got out of the car and walked over, confusion on her face. “Is something wrong?” She asked as she got close to the teacher.

“We...We, um...There's a slight problem concerning your son Troy.” The man said. He seemed to be very uncomfortable as he talked to them. “I'm not sure what's going on, but we have received complaints from at least twenty of the students that attend here stating that they wont keep coming here if Troy continues to be a student.”

“What? Why?” Maggie asked, but Troy just slumped his shoulders.

“They said they can't be around someone like Troy, so they threatened to leave my school.” The man replied, obviously worried about the outcome of the conversation. “Honestly, I can't afford to lose twenty students over one. Plus Troy has been gone for almost two months. I'm sure you understand.”

“This is bullshit.” Maggie stated.

“I'm sorry Ma'am, but I got to look out for my bottom line.”

“Can you at least tell me why you're targeting my child?”

It was at this point that Troy stopped listening and just walked back to the car and climbed in. It took Maggie a couple of minutes till she joined him, rammed the key in the ignition and slammed the car into reverse, backed out of the spot, then dropped it in drive and chirped the wheels on her way out of the lot.

It took a block for Maggie to tell her child what she had learned. “I think a student here got a picture too.”

Troy's blood boiled and he began punching the door and dashboard, while screaming out every profanity he knew as they stopped at a red light. When he stopped Maggie looked at him.

“Fell better?”

“No.” Troy grumbled. “This person is ruining my life.” He grabbed the seat handle and dropped backwards, till he was lying down. “My life is over.”

“It's not over. It's just that Troy's is over and when you go home, the need to dress as him will be going away. This is the start for Tracy's life. That was Troy's school. That was Troy's stupid, pigheaded, arrogant, pencil-dicked teacher. The next school you find will be Tracy's school, with Tracy's instructors, understand?”

“Yeah.” Troy replied. “But it still sucks.”

Yeah, it does.” Maggie agreed.

~o~O~o~

Tracy had been given special permission to make her phone calls that evening to her friends. She just had to watch how much time she spent on the phone. She had already called Sage, Stacey and Rachel. She had just dialed the number and less then two rings later, she heard the other end get picked up. “I got it, Mom!” A voice called out. Then, much softer, “Han residence, Brooke speaking.”

“Hello Brooke, it's Tracy.”

“Hey Tracy! Nothing bad happen has it?”

“Well kinda, but the main reason I'm calling is that we got a new phone number.”

“Oh, Awesome, so that asshole can't call anymore.” Brooke stated. Behind her Tracy could hear an adult scolding Brooke for her language.

“Yeah.” Tracy replied, then she quickly rattled off the new number.

“So, what else happened?”

“Well whoever did it, also sent a picture to Mom's work.” Tracy replied. “We still don't know who.”

“Man, this would be so much better if you lived here.” Brooke stated.

“Yeah.” Tracy agreed. “After those ladies came by on Saturday, it's just going downhill.” After her run in with Molly, Tracy had made one more call to her friends, mostly to calm down again.

“What ladies?” Brooke asked. “I had to leave Sage's for a training thing after we called you the first time.”

“Church ladies came over and told my parents that I'm evil and I'm going to rape all the kids in town.”

“That's stupid.” Brooke said, then her voice dropped to a whisper. “I mean I slept next to you, almost naked, and you didn't touch me once.”

“Yeah, on her way out she insisted that I don't belong in her town.”

“That's one thing I can agree on her with.” Brooke replied.

Tracy felt an invisible slap hit her face, as though Brooke truly did hate people like her and Sage. “What the hell does that mean?!?” Tracy snapped into the phone, this caused Maggie to give her a look that Tracy almost ignored.

“I mean you don't belong there. You belong here, with your friends.”

Tracy blushed from the embarrassment. “Oh. I'm sorry, I thought you agreed with them.”

“No. Not at all.” Brooke stated. Then there were sounds of movement and Brooke asked. “Hey, it's almost seven thirty, what are you doing at home? I thought you had your Tai Chi from seven to eight on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“I...I don't go anymore.” Tracy almost whispered back. But Brooke heard it clearly.

“You quit? Why?”

“Someone found out and he told the other kids of the school. They all threatened to quit. They are not in my tai chi class but they take a different class there, but the teacher couldn't stand to lose twenty students at once, not over one student, so the teacher asked if I would look for a new school. He even pointed out that I haven't been there in almost two months. He knows I was hurt, but he didn't care.”

“I'm sorry, Tracy.”

“It's okay.” Tracy replied. “Just sucks.” Maggie shot her another look, but when she seen the depressed look on her daughter’s face, she let the swearing slide again.

“Hey, I could always talk to my Grandfather. He may be able to teach you? Or Grandmother could.”

“But you live down there.” Tracy stated the obvious. “I would only see him a few hours each month.”

“True, but that's better then nothing.”

“Maybe....” Tracy sighed. “Brooke, can I call you back on the weekend?”

“No.” Brooke said. “Remember, we're coming up for the weekend?”

“Oh yeah. Well, I just want to go to bed, and I need to get off the phone to save some money.”

“I'll see you on Friday. Hug Mr. Cuddles for me.”

“I will, Thanks Brooke.”

~o~O~o~

William headed to the bedroom with his wife. The kids were already asleep and He had one last thing to show her before he went to sleep as well. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out the folded picture that he had found in his locker at work and handed it to her. “I didn't want to worry her at dinner.”

She looked at it and then at him. “Where was it left at?”

“My locker at work.” William replied.

“Today?”

William shook his head. “Yesterday....” He held up a hand to stop her from launching into a tirade about hiding it. “I didn't say anything because I'm watching the people at work, to see if anyone is acting strange, plus I'm trying to recall who all has children that go to Vance's school. Then we can call the cops.”

“Any ideas?” Maggie asked.

“Well I know of a couple people, but one of them is in Idaho for his father's funeral and he's been there since Thursday. In fact he should be back tomorrow. The other is a lady who works the office and she's a huge gossip. If this had been her, she would have just asked me face to face, not gone into the locker room, plus I get to work before her and leave after her and she don't work weekends. So I think she's clear. But it may not be a parent. It could be a brother or something.”

“Yeah...” Maggie nodded her head. “Next time you need to say something sooner. I could have told the deputy today.”

“I didn't know you were getting letters there.” William replied.

“The part that makes me laugh is how they addressed it. They sent it to right cleaning. Spelled like you would spell right hand and it was labeled for the Office Boss. They must not know I check all the mail there.”

“Was it the same Deputy?” William asked. “Was it Kline?”

“Yeah, it was him. He didn't have any information yet, but he said to call him if something else comes up.”

“For now let’s keep quiet on the one from my work. I want to see if someone slips.” William said. “I will call him directly if I get another.

“Okay. I'm not wild about it, but okay...” Maggie said with a nod. “But for now, get some sleep. I want to get a little reading in.”

And the ball keeps rolling. Poor Tracy, at some point, things should look up.

“No. I'm following up on an investigation and I need to ask you a few questions.”

“What investigation?” Molly asked, wondering what juicy information she could get out of the conversation.

“I'm here concerning threats being mailed mail to the work place of Maggie Patterson and called to her house.”

Molly's blood began to boil and she rolled her eyes. “What did that little freak and his family claim!?!” She yelled.

“Ma'am, please stay calm.” The Deputy held up a hand to stop her tirade. “I was informed that you were at their residence over the weekend and threatened them.”

Big thanks to Djkauf for the Editing

More of the saga of Tracy Patterson

February 2nd 1983

Wednesday morning started off as any other for Molly Hallmark. Getting up, and making sure her sons and husband got off to school and work, then she went to the living room to wait for her soap operas, waiting till all were gone, before she turned on the T.V. The early morning news shows were almost over where there was a knock at the door. She got up and went to open the door. When she saw the Sheriff, she began to think that something had happened to her children.

“Pardon me Ma'am, I'm Deputy Kline with the Butte County Sheriff’s office. Are you Molly Hallmark?”

“Yes, can I ask what this is about? Nothing happened at the school, did it?”

“No. I'm following up on an investigation and I need to ask you a few questions.”

“What investigation?” Molly asked, wondering what juicy information she could get out of the conversation.

“I'm here concerning threats being mailed mail to the work place of Maggie Patterson and called to her house.”

Molly's blood began to boil and she rolled her eyes. “What did that little freak and his family claim!?!” She yelled.

“Ma'am, please stay calm.” The Deputy held up a hand to stop her tirade. “I was informed that you were at their residence over the weekend and threatened them.”

“I'm sorry, but as per the bible, that little freak is sinning and I don't want to risk my children being attacked by him when he decides he wants to hurt someone. But I never threatened him.”

“Do you have proof that he wants to hurt someone?” Deputy Kline asked.

“What? What proof would I need?!? He wears dresses! He's wearing girls clothes! There's got to be something wrong in his head to make him think that's okay! And instead of making sure he's not hurting people, you come to my house and harass me?”

“Ma'am, I'm here because there is an open investigation going on because Troy Patterson and his mother, plus three other people have received threatening calls and pictures about someone wanting to rape and kill them.” He noticed a look of surprise cross her face, for she had no idea. Then it faded back to a mask of anger. “We were informed that you left their place the other day, threatening them on the way out. That makes it part of the investigation now. What Troy Patterson does is his own thing, till he hurts someone, which he has not. And I can't arrest him until he commits a crime, which, as I just stated, he has not.”

“It's only a matter of time. You should know how those people are? They want you to think they're just fine, then they start with the kids, touching them and raping them. He'll be just like the rest of the freaks. They never know when to stop, always claiming to be your friend....”

“And do you have proof that he's raped anyone?” Deputy Kline asked.

“Well no, but...”

Kline held up a hand and interrupted her. “Do you have proof that he has tried to rape anyone, or touched them in a lewd manner?”

“Well no, but....”

Deputy Kline interrupted her again before she could continue. “Ma'am, If I were you, I wouldn't go spreading it around that he is a rapist. If the Pattersons heard you, or got wind that you were spreading these lies, they could sue for Defamation of character and slander and there is a great chance they could win.”

“They could sue me, when they have the abomination?!?”

Deputy Kline nodded. “Yes. If you're telling people that the child is a rapist and he isn't, then yes, they could sue you for defamation of character, slander and if you write it down, libel. You're damaging his reputation and doing it vindictively. But I'm not here about legal advice, I need to ask you about what happened at the Patterson house on the weekend.”

She huffed out a breath and glared at him. “What about it?”

“First of all, were you there on Saturday the twenty-ninth?” Deputy Kline asked. “And were you with June Olsen, Wendy Hurt and Kimberly Caborn?

“Yes, I went there, but we didn't do anything to the little freak.”

He kept going, not bothering to stop her ranting about her thoughts on the child. He wasn't sure why she had the hatred for the child, in his couple of meetings with Troy, he thought the child was a nice kid, and polite too. “While you were there, did you engage in a debate over Troy Patterson with his mother, about him, a verbal debate that grew heated, but stayed verbal?”

“Yes.” She growled. “But I have my reasons!”

Deputy Kline kept asking questions, not letting her go off on anther rant. “And did you repeatedly claim that Troy Patterson was going to attack children in the town and rape them?”

“Yes! How do we know he isn't!?!”

“Ma'am, please, keep calm. I just got a couple more questions.” Deputy Kline looked to his notebook. “When you were told to leave, did you threaten Troy Patterson, Maggie Patterson, Modine Patterson or William Patterson in any way?”

“No.” Molly replied.

“No? You didn't tell them that you wouldn't rest till the, how was it put, 'that abomination was out of your town' Then you threatened to run them out of town or make them wish they had left?”

Molly shook her head. A part of her wanted to deny it, but the logical part told her that if someone was threatening them, she was the biggest culprit at the moment. “Well I said that, but I wasn't going to attack them! I just want that thing out of my town! I can't believe that you would come here and pester me when that thing is allowed to run around with the chance to hurt children!”

“Ma'am, please, stay calm.” Deptuy Kline said again. “Have you mailed any pictures with threats, or phoned the Pattersons at all and keep in mind, we can pull your phone records.”

“No. My son brought home a picture, but I didn't send any to anyone.” Molly replied through clinched teeth. “Nor have I called those people.”

“Could I please have the picture. We need it for the records.”

“I threw it out already, the trash was picked up on Friday.” It was a lie, but he didn't need to know that.

Deputy Kline was sure that was the truth and he knew the more he pushed for answers, the madder she would get and that wouldn't get him anywhere. “Okay. I would advise you to keep your distance from the Patterson's. They could take anything you do as having hostile intent and you could end up in legal trouble.”

“Fine. I'll leave that little freak alone.” Molly grumbled. Deputy Kline didn't believe her, but he was sure she wasn't a party to the pictures. He also knew that until she did something, there wasn't much he could do.

~o~O~o~

February 4th 1983

William walked into the lunch-room at the mill to find it very packed. This wasn't out of the ordinary. But this time everyone seemed to be watching him as he walked up to the end of the line. He could hear the snickers behind him, but he did his best to ignore them. He had no idea what the big joke was as he grabbed his food and put it on his tray. Then he saw a picture, hanging where the cashier was. It was a copy of the picture that had been left in Tracy's backpack. The same one that had been passed out to almost everyone at school. The picture of his daughter Tracy, wearing her skirt and hanging out with her mother at the mall. At the top of the picture was the child's name. “Troy Patterson” Written in permanent marker, with an arrow pointing to his child. At the bottom of the picture was written “Daddy's little faggot.” Once again he could tell that the writing wasn't the same as the one Tracy got at school, but it was same writing as what he found in his locker.

“I didn't do that.” The tiny woman who worked at the lunch line said, in a timid voice.

“You didn't stop it either.” William replied as he reached over and yanked on the picture, tearing it away from the tape that held it. “Who did it?” He asked, as he barely managed to keep his voice calm.

“I...I didn't see.” She replied, but one look at William's face told her he wasn't buying it. “Please, don't get me involved in this.” She said.

“Too late for that, isn't it.” William stated, then he turned around to glare at his fellow workers. He took a deep breath as he faced the entire room. He knew there were several people watching him now, more than before. Kids at the school he could understand, but when his co-workers getting in on what was a school yard stunt, that pissed him off. He raised his voice so he could be heard in the room, without difficulty. The logical part of him screamed to not say a word and let the cops handle it, but this was his child they were messing with and he had enough. Plus this way, he could get an idea of who was in the room with him. “Okay, I don't know which of you assholes put this up, but it's not funny.” He glared around the room.

“None of you realized how stupid this makes you all look. Picking on an eleven year old? Really? Are we all in grade school here? This makes you feel like men? Throwing insults at someone twenty years younger then you? This child has seen more trouble and pain in eleven years than a lot of you have seen your whole lives. And you all feel you're better then him. The pictures being passed around the school I can see, but here? At a place of work where grownups are? It's pathetic. You're all worse then a bunch of little preschoolers.” William growled as he walked out of the room.

Billy waited for William to leave before he got up from his table and headed for the bathroom. He couldn't help but smile after William's little speech. He knew there was no way in hell that anyone could catch him. He figured the cashier was threatened well enough so she wouldn't talk. He was glad that Clark had involved him in the plan to get even with the Pattersons. He had no more than stepped into the bathroom when he felt someone shove him into a wall.

He spun around to see his father, the man who had helped him to get the job at the mill, in an attempt to get his son to clean up his act. His father held him against the wall with an arm over his throat. “Alright, you little prick. I want to know if you had anything to do with that.” The older man growled.

“With what?” Billy asked, trying to get away from his father.

“You know what. Did you leave that picture of William's kid?” Larry asked, adding pressure to the arm. “I know you were pissed when Bruce got arrested.”

“That little faggot gets what he deserves.” Billy replied. “No one fucks with my family. But I didn't leave no picture.”

“If I find you're lying, I will take you to the jail and shove your ass into a cell on my own, got it?”

Billy shoved at his father and he managed to separate the two of them. “I didn't do it! Jesus, I think you'd support your own fucking family before some snitch.”

“I'd support my family if he wasn't a drug using, waste of life.” Larry replied. “Hanging out with your hoodlum friends and where's that gonna get ya? A nice cell by Bruce for doing something stupid.” Larry shook his head. “I don't know why I even bother with you.” Then he turned and walked out of the bathroom, leaving Billy to rub at his throat and glare at the back of his head.

~o~O~o~

William made his way to the office and went inside. “I need to make a call.” He said, looking to Steven who was inside.

“Go a head. Nothing wrong I hope?”

“Well, yeah, there is.” He said. “I need to call the Sheriff’s Department about the ongoing investigation about the threats my youngest is getting. Someone is leaving the threats here now and the Sheriffs need all the leads they can get.”

“Wait, someone left a threat here?”

“Two so far, the first was on Monday, someone left it in my locker. The newest one was hanging in the lunch-room for everyone to see.”

“How are they threatening your child? If we know, we can stop this.”

“We can stop this by finding the man threatening to rape and murder my family. We can have the man who is mailing threats to my wife's work jailed so the rest of the world can be a bit safer.” William snapped back. Then he took a deep breath to calm down and weighed his options. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Steven and the rest of management saw a picture, he was sure that there would be more, until the man was caught. On the other hand, if he told Steven, he had the chance of stopping wild speculation. So he took a leap of faith. “Remember his attack?”

“Yeah. You still thinking this is connected?”

“Yeah. I know it is.” William said. “Remember what I told you, about his surgeries?”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“I never told you the whole story, mostly for Troy's sake.” Instead of going with the truth, William was hoping a well crafted lie would help stop questions. He sighed and showed the picture to Steven. “After his surgeries and the one that followed him being tripped at school, the doctors agreed that the chances of Troy ever having a normal life as a man are gone, so they are having him become a girl.”

“Wait...what?” Steven asked, blinking a couple of times as he looked at the picture. “That's your son?”

“Yes, my son, soon to be daughter.” William stated. “There's not a lot of choice. Trust me, I looked. I begged. I've screamed at God to find a way." Steven had no idea that William had been behind it for months now and William was okay with that. "See, He could get the hormones, but most of what a man has down there is gone. Destroyed by three teenage monsters. Had he stayed in school, by the time he had to take Physical Education, someone would find out when he would have to take a shower and the teasing would be bad. Not that having threats against your life is better, but right now, it's only an asshole or two.”

“I don't know William, calling the cops to come down here, some of the others could say you're making it a hostile work environment.”

Anger flared up in William for a moment and he tried to rein it in before he went off on a rant. When he did speak, it was through clinched teeth. “Really? How about me? I could claim that right now. I have to put up with someone threatening to rape and murder my wife and youngest, plus murder my oldest and myself and I can't say anything? Well the Cops already know, so the last thing I'm going to do is just sit on this and get arrested for hiding evidence from them. I'm not just sitting idly by, when the target of the threats are my family.” He glared at Steven. “So either let me make the report and not get in trouble with the law for hiding evidence, or stop me and you can have it on your head when someone rapes and kills my family.”

Steven backed away from the phone as he thought about how it would be to be in the same situation. “Go ahead.”

“Thank you.” William said as politely as he could, which wasn't that much, while he picked up the phone.

~o~O~o~

Maggie was at her chair, reading, while Tracy was at her in-laws, cleaning so she could have the weekend off to hang out with her friends. She stopped as the phone started to ring and she picked it up.

“Hello?” She said into the phone. She knew only a handful of people had the new number, but she still wasn't saying her last name over the phone, just in case the man had found the new number.

“Hey Maggie, it's me.” She heard her husband’s voice say. She could hear something in it, something that didn't sit right with her.

“What happened?” She asked.

“Someone left a picture in the lunch-room. I called the cops already and they should be here shortly to investigate it.”

“Dammit.” Maggie muttered. “William, I know we said one more attack, but I really feel that moving is the best idea right now.”

“Yeah. I think I agree with you.”

“We get a hold of Shelly after the girls leave. I don't want to worry her.”

“Okay. I'll try calling Shelly later.” Maggie said. “But I agree. I don't want to worry Tracy. She's finally happy for once this week and I don't want to ruin this.”

“Okay. I'll be home after the game tonight.” William stated.

“Love you and stay sharp. We can still catch this asshole.”

“I know Babe. I know.” William replied.

~o~O~o~

By time his shift was almost over, the story had swept the mill, and the fact that the cops had shown up didn't help matters, but William didn't care anymore. He was aware that a new crew was working already as he had parked the forklift and many of them had heard the story of the picture and his rant. So as he walked past one of the machines, headed for the locker-room, some of the younger guys decided to taunt him.

“Hey, how's your little queer son?” One of the younger guys at the mill asked William in a taunting tone.

“Better not tease him, he may go tell the cops.” A second man, barely old enough to vote added, in a mocking, baby like tone. William just arched an eyebrow and stood there, not saying a word.

“Well. How is it to have a little fag for a son? What's wrong, not man enough to smack the little fairy in line? Teach him what it is to be a man?”

“Yeah, but maybe he gets off on that stuff. Maybe it's Will's fault that the boy wears dresses.” Another man added. “Maybe Will likes to dress up his son, gets off on a fantasy of touching little girls.”

The three men laughed and William just stood his ground, not saying a word. “Maybe he dresses up with his son!?!” More laughter erupted and it still got no response from William. He just committed their names and faces to memory.

“Well say something! Not going to defend your little faggot son?!?” The second man shouted at William who finally replied while pointing at the machine the man was to be watching as the manager for his area was running over to them.

“Your machine is backed up.” William forced a smile as a few boards hit the ground. He didn't feel like smiling, in fact he wanted to introduce the their faces to his fist. But this was better. He didn't need to be fired, or arrested for defending his daughter, not till the bad guy was caught. “Good luck catching up with the rest of the line.” Then he turned and walked away, while many of the people who were watching began laughing at the pile up the other two had caused. Boards began hitting the ground, causing more people to look.

~o~O~o~

William was headed out of the mill when he heard the sound of someone running in what sounded like tap shoes. “William!” A voice called out. He stopped and turned to see Susan who worked in the main office trying to run over to him in high heels. “William, can I speak to you?” She asked as she got closer.

He sighed, not wanting to get into a conversation with one of the biggest gossips in the mill. “What is it? I'm running late, my son has a ball game I want to catch.”

“Me too, My Ronnie is playing tonight, too.” She said. “Is what I heard right?” Susan asked as she dropped her voice into conspiratorial type whisper. “The other day my Son came home and said he saw a picture of your son in a dress and now I hear that the cops had to come here today and investigate a picture of the same thing. Is it all true?”

He knew the information was out there now and it was hopeless to fight it. “There are pictures out there, but someone is using them to intimidate my child and they're threatening to rape and murder my wife and children. The cops are looking into it and now that someone has put one up here, they have to investigate.”

“And they sent them to the school too?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it's not my son. I'd blister his butt if he threatened to kill people.” She leaned in closer. “You have any idea who did it? I mean how did they get it here? Maybe the kid has parents that work here?”

“I don't know, I've been wracking my brain to figure it out.”

“Well I know Leroy has a daughter and a son that goes to the same school, but he has been gone till today. There are a couple others, but both of them haven't worked yesterday or today.”

“Yeah, I ruled him and you out already.” William said with a nod.

“Hmmm. I can try and come up with a few names over the weekend, if you want. But what if it is like a family friend? Be harder to find him if the man isn't related.”

The suggestion stopped William. He hadn't thought about that. “Crap. I never thought about that.”

“I'll keep an eye out for you, okay?”

“T-thank you Susan.” He replied. He wasn't ready for that, not from a notorious gossip. But any help was appreciated.

~o~O~o~

William walked into the school and headed for the office. He found just Mr. Harper inside. He shut the door as he caught the Principal's attention. “Alvin, could I speak to you for a moment?”

“What's wrong Mr. Patterson?”

“Well you may not know it, but someone sent one of the pictures to Maggie's work on Tuesday. On Monday I had a picture left in my locker at work, but today there was one hanging in the lunch room for everyone to see.”

“Oh shit.” The Principal muttered. “William, have you and Maggie thought about getting Troy out of town?” Mr. Harper asked.

“Yeah. We're sending him to his God-parents. I feel we're at the start of this and it's going to get worse.”

“Things tend to get worse before they get better.”

William nodded. “Yeah. That's what scares me.”

“I can understand.”

“Alvin, I need to know, do you know many people that have children that go here and work at the mill?”

“Off hand? Not many. But give me the weekend and I may be able to come up with a few names.”

“Could you? That could really help us catch the guy responsible, before he follows through on his threats.”

“There's been more?” Alvin asked and William nodded.

He lowered his voice and leaned in close. “He's threatened to not only attack Troy, but to attack and rape both Maggie and Troy, then kill Maggie and make Troy watch, then kill Vance and myself and then finally kill Troy.”

“Oh dear God, that's barbaric.” Alvin said as he turned a shade of green.

“I know, that's why I want this guy strung up as fast as possible. Before he follows through with his threat.”

“Tell you what. I'll start looking through the records now and see If I can come up with anything. I'll try and have a few names for you before the game is over, okay?”

“Well, I can mark a couple off the list.” William reached out and picked up a pad and a pencil. He quickly wrote the names of the people he and Susan had ruled out. “I know these people are innocent, just because they were out of town, at least I think they're innocent. But we got them on the list already.”

“Okay. I can work with this.” Alvin said.

“Thank you Alvin. Thank you very much.”

~o~O~o~

Persephone was in the lead with her VW bus, which was filled with five teens, plus her youngest in the passenger seat, one wheel chair and five sleeping bags. The girls had been singing with the radio since they had left Sacramento and each of them seemed to bounce in their seat, each time they pulled off one highway and onto another. She signaled way before her turn for the truck behind her and slowed down, then pulled off the tiny highway and began driving past farms. She gave a quick look in the mirror to make sure that Harvey had turned with her.

“She live close to here?” Brooke said, trying to look out the window, but not seeing much due to the darkness.

“About ten miles, we have to pass by the school Tracy went to, up till last week.” Persephone said.

Stacey sat by on of the windows in the back seat, trying to peer out into the darkening night sky. “Are those....trees? I thought these were farms, like cows and stuff.”

“There are cows in the area, but most of these farms have olive orchards.” Persephone replied.

“Do her parents own cows?” Stacey asked. “Can we milk one of them?”

“No, they don't own cows. Maggie said they used to, but they got rid of them a while back.” Persephone said.

“Their neighbor has cows though.” Sage said with a huge smile. “And Tracy isn't hurt, so we can walk down and see them.”

“Maybe, but remember young lady, unlike you, she can't go as Tracy everywhere.” Persephone replied.

“Yeah.” Sage agreed. “I know, kinda wish she was.”

“So does she, but remember, this is a different world up here. Pace is slower and people are more.....” Persephone was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out the right words.”Rigid in their beliefs.”

“Hey, maybe we can get Emily May and Mary Beth to come over too?” Stacey suggested.

“No chance.” Sage replied with a shake of her head. “Whoever sent the pictures, sent one to their dad and Tracy said they can't see her ever again.”

“That jerk sent one to them? Why?”Stacey asked.

“Simple, whoever must have known about their father and how he feels.” Sage answered. “They've also targeted Vance and Emily at the school and Peter too.”

“Damn. So they are trying to take away her friends?” Stacey guessed.

“Yeah, I think so.” Sage answered. “But it's not stopping Emily May and Mary Beth. I guess they've been sending a letter a day to Tracy. And Peter doesn't care about the pictures either.”

“Darn it, It would have been cool to get all of us together.” Stacey grumbled. “I mean we only met them once, but I've mailed them a couple of times and they seemed cool.”

“Yeah, I've sent a couple letters too.” Sage said, a couple of the other girls nodded in agreement.

“Girls?” Persephone called out. She pointed to the drivers side of the van. “Coming up on the left side is the school that Tracy went to and Vance still goes to.”

As they passed it, they noticed all the cars there. “Wow, it's small.” Brooke said.

“Why is everyone there?” Stacey asked.

“Basketball game. Tracy said Vance had one today. Last one of the season I think.” Rachel said.

“We're pulling a prank on Vance when he gets home, too.” Sage grinned.

Persephone looked in the rear-view mirror and looked at her daughter, who only saw her mothers face, slightly lit by the dashboard. “I don't know about this. You know my feelings on playing with someone’s feelings young lady.”

“It wasn't my idea.” Sage said. “Even his parents are in on this. His Dad's keeping him away from the house for a bit so we can set it up.”

“Okay, what's the prank?” Persephone asked. Rachel began to giggle, then she laid out the plan. Persephone did her best to not let a smile cross her face. “Okay, I'll allow this, but you need to realize that this boy has feelings for you and at some point, you need to let him down, gently.”

“Tell him the truth?” Sage asked.

“That may help. God knows no one likes the 'lets be friends' talk.” Her mother stated. “He's good with Tracy, he shouldn't have issues with you.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy and Maggie were alone in the house, both of them in the living room with the TV off. Each of them had a book and were taking advantage of the quiet house to get a little reading done. Maggie sat in her chair and Tracy sat on the couch, leaning against the arm of the couch, with her legs curled under her. Vance was at his last game of the season and William had gone to watch him. Every few moments, Tracy would look to the clock, then turn her head, move the curtain and peek out the window. After about the tenth time in just as many minutes, Maggie waited till she went to do it again.

“A watched pot never boils.” She said in her wise mother voice, not looking away from her book.

“I know” Tracy whined. “but I want them here now.”

“I know baby, but you got to remember, two of the girls go to different schools. They had to go into Fremont to get Casey. That's half an hour away from Livermore, if not more because of Traffic.” Maggie reminded her. “Plus they had to get clothes and stuff like that.”

“I know, but I just want them up here.” Tracy whined. “The day's almost over, plus Vance should be home soon.”

“Oh yeah.” Maggie said with a devilish grin, having heard about the joke. “Now you didn't tell him, did you that they were coming up?”

“No.” Tracy smiled back.

“Good, this is going to be worth it.” Maggie smiled.

“Who all is coming?”

Maggie put down her book and began counting off the people, on her fingers. “Well, Persephone and the girls, including Andromeda, plus Harvey and Lok and Moonglow.”

“Lok is coming up? Harvey too?”

“Yeah, Karen had plans, so Lok decided to come up last moment. And Harvey had a couple vacation days and I guess Lilian had work going on.”

“Oh.” Tracy said. “Well, at least Lok's coming, you'll like him, he's pretty cool. You said Mooney's coming?” Tracy asked.

“Yeah, I guess Harvey is taking this trip as a reason to test out a new trailer he bought for hunting season. So him, Moonglow and Lok will be testing the beds, and Persephone and Andromeda will be next door.”

Tracy was about to respond when she heard the unmistakable sound of a VW motor coming down the road and getting louder. A few moments later was the sound of tires hitting the driveway. She whipped around and looked through the curtains once more and saw a truck pulling a trailer stop near their driveway. She got up and went to the door, and threw it open to see a second vehicle already in front of the house.

“Wait!” Maggie said as her daughter started to go outside. She got up and rushed over, to her daughter. “Let's make sure it's the right people before we rush into the darkness.” The porchlight had been left on, but at night, in the country, that only helped just so much.

Maggie stopped behind her daughter, looking at Persephone's van in front of their house. “I think that's...” A light came on in the van and she saw, Persephone and the girls all waving, then one of them went for the door and she could hear Persephone telling them to wait a moment. Maggie heard the sounds of someone walking from the truck and she looked over to see Harvey, Lok and Mooney all coming towards her.

“Maggie?” Persephone rolled down her window and pointed to the driveway by her in-laws. “Want me to park over there?”

“Yeah, Next to Conner's car will be fine. He knows about it.”

“Okay.” She was about to put it into gear when she turned and spoke to the girls. “Sit down, you can wait two more minutes.”

Tracy started to walk along the fence line of the houses till she reached where Persephone was pulling in.

As soon as Persephone had the van in park, the side door flew open and four of the five preteen girls jumped out. Sage held back long enough to get Brooke's wheelchair. Tracy found herself swarmed by Casey, Stacey and Rachel. A moment later, Andromeda came running up and hugged her too, then she looked up and then around. “Can I pet cows?”

“We don't have any cows. We have olive trees.”

“Can I have an olive?!?”

“No, we picked those already, plus they got to be treated. They taste nasty raw. We mostly have oil olives here.”

The girl frowned, then her attitude picked up again. “Gowie said you have big birds”

“The turkeys.” Sage clarified.

“Oh. Well we don't have them, they're wild. They live in our field, but they sleep at night, so we can't look for them until tomorrow.”

The little girl stuck out her lip and began to pout. “Oh.”

“Hey, if we're up early enough them, we may get to see deer back there too.” Tracy told the little girl with a smile.

“Hey, could we take her to see the cows tomorrow? You think your neighbor would be okay with that?” Sage asked.

“Um....” Tracy started, then she stopped, trying to figure out how to tell her friend about the cows and the extra meat in a locker for them down town. “Mrs. Scott doesn’t have those anymore.” From behind her she heard her Grandparent's door open up. They had left their porch light on for the new arrivals. She waved at her grandparents as both of them came out and down the steps.

“She don't? What happened?” Sage asked.

“They got out while I was with you all. She....um....got rid of them.”

“Oh, darn it. I wanted to pet a cow.”

“The neighbor around the corner has goats, we could see about looking at those.”

“Goats are cool too I guess.” Sage replied sounding a bit down.

“They got sheep too.” Tracy said.

“Sheep are cute.” Rachel said as Conner led Modine over to the girls.

“Oh, hey, you all met my Grandma back before Christmas.” Tracy said. “This is my Grandpa Conner.”

“Girls.” Conner looked at the girls and only Brooke caught the look on Conner's face and just for a split second, one that said he wasn't comfortable, but Brooke didn't say anything. She was used to people hating her because of her wheelchair.

“Grandpa, you remember Rachel and Sage, right?” Tracy asked.

“Yes I do. It's good to see you girls again. You too, Persephone.” Conner replied. He looked to Tracy. “I guess your brother will be tripping on his tongue again?”

“Yep.” Tracy giggled. “We have a plan too.” She quickly laid out the joke and he laughed.

“That's just mean young lady. Mean, mean mean....I approve.” Conner said with a smile. “So who are these other girls?”

“This is Sage's sister, Andromeda.” Tracy said, putting a hand on the little girls head. “And these are Stacey and Casey, they're Sage's cousins. Their father is over there. And this girl is Brooke, her Grandpa Lok is over there too. Plus Sage's brother is up here too.” Brooke wasn't sure, but she swore she saw the uncomfortable look on Conner's face once more, but it faded just as fast, so she just ignored it and prepared to have fun with her friend.

“It's good to meet you all.” Conner said, then he gently touched his wife’s shoulder. “I'll go see if they need help with that trailer.”

“Okay.” Modine said as she leaned out to hug Persephone. “It's good to see you again.”

“You too, Modine.” She put a hand on her youngest. “This is Andromeda, she's going to be with me. The guys are testing out Harvey's new trailer.”

“I thought one of the other mothers was coming.”

Persephone shook her head. “Lynn, Karen and Lilian either had stuff to do or wanted a break, so did Carl, my Husband.

“Come on, let's grab your stuff and get inside, before Vance gets home.” Tracy said, walking ot the side door of the bus.

~o~O~o~

The front room was filled with preteen girls again, as they set up the prank they had for Vance. They knew the time was getting close, so Moony, 'Romy, Harvey and Lok were all outside, hiding in the trailer, or at Tracy's grandparents place. Sage stood in the center of the room, wearing just the bottoms to a two piece swimsuit that was close to her skin tone and a long shirt.

The girls giggled as Sage stood there. “Okay, why am I all alone in this?”

In her silliest voice she could do, Rachel replied. “Because he LOVES you.” Then she began making kissing noises.

“Keep it up funny girl.” Sage threatened with a grin. “I'll make you kiss him this time. This was partly your idea.”

“I'd join you, but getting dressed in a hurry in this chair doesn't happen.” Brooke replied.

"Come on, I can't do this alone. Think of the fun if we all snap his brain."

Rachel sighed. "Okay, I'll help you. But you owe me big."

~o~O~o~

“Whose trailer?” Vance asked as they got out of the car. He saw the Truck and the van at his grandparents place. “Think Grandma and Grandpa are here already?”

“Who knows, let's go in and find out?” William said as he shut off the motor

He let his son lead the way and he had to chuckle when the door opened and his son stopped at the sight that was in front of him. William looked down to his feet as he laughed.

Vance's jaw dropped as he saw the mostly naked backsides of Sage, Stacey, Casey and Rachel. But his eyes didn't see the seams of the swim suit on Sage, nor could he see the one on Stacey, not that he was looking too hard at her. Then one of them shrieked and all four of the mostly naked girls darted out of the room, two headed for the kitchen before ducking down the hall, and Casey and Stacey went for his parents room.

Vance stood there for a moment while William fought the urge to burst into laughter. “Sage....Sage was naked?”

“Yep, So was Rachel, Stacey and Casey. They were comparing bodies to show Tracy what she had to look forward to.” Brooke stated.

“They were naked.... in our house?” Vance asked again as William pushed him into the house.

“Yep.” Tracy said.

“Where are they now?”

“Maybe getting dressed in our room.” Tracy replied. That was followed by Sage's voice.

“Tracy, can you bring my clothes in here? Rachel's too, we're in your room.”

“I can do it.”Vance said as his smile grew.

"Tracy? Can you bring my clothes in here? Casey's too?" Stacey's voice called out from her parents bedroom.

"Hey, you take theirs and I'll take Sage's." Vance offered.

“Nah, she asked me.” Tracy said with a grin.

“I don't mind. I promise I won’t look.” Vance said.

“Now that is a load of bullshit.” William said with a chuckle as he finally looked up.

“Please Tracy...We're getting cold here.” Sage said with a whine in her voice.

“Tell you what, cover Vance's eyes and we'll come out and just grab it fast.” Rachel said. “Sage can wrap up in a towel and come out.”

“Okay girls, I'll cover his eyes” William put his hands over Vance's eyes and the boy tried to move the hands.

He heard the pitter patter of Sage hurrying to the room, then he heard her gasp. “Crud, the towel fell.”

Vance pried the hand away from his eyes and he focused on Sage, who stood there, facing him, but wearing a two piece swim suit. “But.....”

“Sorry, I had to.” Sage said with a devilish grin.” She grabbed her clothes, plus Stacey's, Casey's and Rachel's, then skipped off to William and Maggie's room, pushing through the curtains, giggling as she went. They could hear Rachel moving through the house, by way of the doors in the bathroom.

“They were really naked in the house?” He asked, trying to picture the scene in his mind of the four mostly naked girls in his mind.

“Yep, well mostly naked.” Tracy said as she went to move into the bedroom.

“Give them a minute.” Maggie told her. “It wont kill you to wait.”

“But they're my friends...”

“And they're changing, so give them a little privacy.” Maggie said.

“Okay.” Tracy grumbled. Brooke rolled over and grabbed her hand.

“Hey, you still got me to bug.”

“Yeah.” Tracy nodded.

“Wait, so Sage is here? For like the night?”

“Well she's not going right back home.” Tracy replied.

“Sage, Rachel, Brooke, Stacey and Casey are staying the next couple of nights.” Maggie stated. “Stacey and Casey go home with their father, Officer Parker on Sunday and the rest leave with Lok and Moonglow on Monday.”

“Moonglow is here?”

“Yep.” Tracy said. “He's outside with Mister Parker and Lok.”

"Lok?" William asked. Brooke noticed something on William's face, a look of sadness. Like with Conner, she figured it was because of her chair.

"Yeah, My Grandfather." Brooke said with a smile, ignoring William's strange look. "He's a Kung Fu master."

William thought about that for a moment and how they had pronounced his name. Each time he heard the name, it sounded like Lock. He blinked a couple of times. "He's Master Lok? Like the padlock company?"

Brooke giggled. "Yep. Mom always jokes that he could change his name, so he could be Master Card."

Next up, more fun with Tracy and the girls

“I know telling you to go straight to bed is pointless, so just keep it down, and don't stay up too late. okay?”

"Thanks, Daddy." Tracy said with a smile.

"Just be good, okay? Or I’ll let Vance sleep in here with you girls."

"Daddy!" Tracy playfully whined.

"Sage would never get to sleep." Rachel said with a giggle.

Editing by Djkauf

Another look in on Tracy and friends.

February 4th 1983

Mooney, Harvey, and Lok had all come in to hang out with William and Vance, to know them better; Persephone and Romy had come over, as had Tracy's grandparents. The guys were busy watching the Dukes of Hazzard, and talking about sports and anything else that caught their fancy. The ladies all went to the kitchen to take over the kitchen table and a couple of the folding chairs, too. As much as Tracy wanted to watch the TV, her friends were more important.

Her grandmother suggested a board game, something that they could play, but still talk with each other. As they had done at Sage's house in December, one of them took Romy as a team mate, while Persephone, Maggie and Modine just watched. Maggie had brought out a kid favorite, Chutes and Ladders, and the girls each took up a place at the table.

So Tracy ended up with Romy in her lap as they played the game. Half an hour had passed as they started on a second round, while Maggie had been talking with Persephone when Modine caught their attention with a wave of her hand. She pointed to the table where Tracy sat, the little girl slowly falling asleep in her arms. Romy's head was bobbing slightly as she fought to stay awake. Each time the girl shifted her weight, Tracy moved with her, letting the girl rest against her chest. Maggie was impressed that Tracy juggled her attention between the game and holding the child as though she had always dealt with children.

Tracy's leg was slowly losing feeling, but she didn't want to upset the girl by putting her down and making her think she wasn't invited to play anymore.

"Tracy, do you want me to take her?" Persephone quietly asked.

"Naw, she's not that heavy, unless it's time for her to go to bed."

"In another half an hour, but I don't want her to get in the way of your fun", Persephone said.

"I'm not tired", The little girl mumbled.

"I don't mind. I don't have a baby sister, so this is kinda cool, like practice, if I ever do have a baby sister."

Maggie arched an eyebrow, but decided to not question her daughter about the statement. Instead, she came up with a plan for the girls. "I have an idea for when this is done." Maggie said, making the girls to all look at her, except for Casey, who had to look around and figure out what was going on.

"What's that?" Tracy asked.

"Would you like to see something really cool tonight?" Maggie asked. "Before Romy goes to bed."

"Sure, what is it?" Sage replied.

"We can show you the stars" Maggie replied. "You can't see them that well in Livermore, but you can out here. It’s a clear night, so we should be able to see some of them."

"We could go now, if the girls don't mind, and then we could go put Romy to bed." Persephone suggested.

The girls all looked around the table and each of them nodded. “Sure.” Tracy finally said. They all stood up after Persephone took her daughter, and they got a strange look from the guys as they passed the TV.

“We're gonna go look at the stars.” Maggie said.

“Oh. Have fun.” William replied. Then he looked at the guys. “Unless you want to see them too.”

“Sure.” Moony replied.

Harvey just nodded. He quickly explained to his slightly confused deaf daughter what was going on and she nodded.

“I think I'm going to go home and get ready for bed.” Modine said and her husband got up an grabbed his flashlight. "We'll see you all tomorrow."

They all stepped outside and Maggie led everyone outside with a flashlight, past Harvey's trailer, and behind the house. She shut off the light and the girls stood there. “Now just wait a few minutes for your eyes to adjust to this.” She said. “And you'll be able to see the night sky.”

They stood there in the darkness. Several minutes passed and in the cold February night, as their eyes slowly got used to the darkness, they could make out the tiny pin pricks of light in the sky. Just a few, then the longer they stood there, the more seemed to show up.

“Wow.....are all of those stars?” Sage asked. "It's like a blur, like someone smeared their finger across the sky."

“Yep.” Maggie replied. “You should see it in August when the Perseid meteor shower happens. That's a wonderful show.”

“Kinda makes you feel small.” Rachel stated.

“Yeah.” Stacey replied.

“See, this is why you should go camping, Rachel.” Sage said. “Just imagine, lying on the ground, watching the stars overhead.”

“With the bugs that eat you alive? No thank you.” Rachel replied.

"Come on now. Camping isn't all bad." Harvey said. "It can be quite fun. There is more to life than the mall."

"For you, maybe." Rachel replied with a chuckle. "But then you don't shop much."

"True. I leave the shopping to my girls."

Persephone shifted her youngest and sighed. "Well, I think this is bed time for me. Romy's starting to snore."

Maggie chuckled lightly. "Well come on girls. Let's get you all inside. We'll see you tomorrow morning, Persephone."

~o~O~o~

It was just past ten at night when William got up as Maggie shut off the TV and he went to the fireplace. Moony had decided to hang out with Vance at the last minute, so he ended up in Tracy's bed, instead of the trailer. After their quick venture in star watching, the girls had played another game, picking something a bit more complex. Persephone had already gone next door with Romy. The pull out bed had been made and Brooke was already laying down on it. Rachel had also taken the pullout. Other sleeping bags were littered around the room, including Tracy's.

William looked at the collective preteens. “Okay girls, I'd like to keep a little path in here to get through. I'll put another log in the fireplace, but don't put anymore in. It'll get a bit cool tonight, but just stay in the sleeping bags, okay?”

Five of the girls nodded, then Stacey relayed the message to Casey.

“I know telling you to go straight to bed is pointless, so just keep it down, and don't stay up too late. okay?”

"Thanks, Daddy." Tracy said with a smile.

"Just be good, okay? Or I’ll let Vance sleep in here with you girls."

"Daddy!" Tracy playfully whined.

"Sage would never get to sleep." Rachel said with a giggle.

Once William had gone to his room, Sage rolled over in her sleeping bag and smiled up at them, the light from the fireplace reflecting in her eyes and on her face. “So wanna tell ghost stories?”

"Creepy." Rachel said with a snicker. "Could you not have the firelight on your face when you do that?"

"Let's tell the story about the cute redhead who keeps being followed by the brother of a friend of hers." Stacey said as she began to laugh. She moved the pillow to her face and laughed into that.

"Yeah yeah, he saw your naked backside too." Sage reminded her.

"I was wearing panties and a bra." Stacey stuck out her tongue. "Not like you, miss naked butt."

"I was not totally naked."

"Bet he didn't see it that way." Rachel said with a giggle.

“Bet she's gonna be a great dream for him tonight.” Brooke said with a chuckle.

“Please, I don't want to think what he's doing in his room with the dreams of Sage.” Tracy said. “Worries me when I'm in the room with him.”

“I can understand.” Sage replied. “Being the only other one of us with a brother....”

“I'm just glad you all made it up here.” Tracy butted in, to stop the talk of brothers.

“Hey, it's kinda cool up here. Like camping in a cabin.” Stacey said. “Besides, you needed us to visit, you were going crazy on your own.”

Tracy nodded in agreement.

“Let's not talk about the sad stuff.” Sage said. “I want tonight to be fun.”

“Yeah, like Christmas time.” Tracy said in agreement.

“I still can't believe how quiet it is out here.” Stacey said. “Does anyone drive down this road?”

“Some.” Tracy said. “The ones who use it as a race track.”

"A race track?" Stacey asked.

"There's a big dip past my grandparents place and people love to speed through that, but the corner of the road is a sharp turn and if you miss it, you end up in the ravine." Tracy explained.

"Oh." Came Stacey's reply.

“Must be boring to live here all the time.” Rachel said. "When we were up in December it seemed like it could be boring."

“It can be.”

“I couldn't live here.” Brooke stated. “My wheelchair couldn't take it.”

"I can't live here, there's no mall. Rachel stated.

-break

Vance got up in his usual post slumber daze and he wandered into the kitchen when he paused in his tracks. At the stove, like usual, was his sister, but the other girls he had forgotten about were there, all of them still in nightgowns that fell past their knees. His mother was at the table with Brooke, both of them buttering pancakes. The girls looked at him. He noticed Tracy's eyes go wide and her jaw dropped. Rachel looked and began giggling.

The other girls turned to look and Stacey caught Casey's attention. “Um, Vance, maybe you should try today with pants?” Sage said with a giggle.

“Wha?” He sleepily muttered.

“Vance, you should put pajama bottoms, instead of just boxers, when the girls are spending the night." His mother stated. “It's the proper thing to do.”

He looked down and the shock seemed to wake him up a bit. He turned and headed for his bedroom as the girls all began to giggle. Rachel snickered as she tried to whisper. “Looks like someone had a good dream last night.” They all burst into laughter, except for Maggie who just shook her head.

Stacey began fighting the laughter. “Wanna b-bet it was about a n-n-nake Sage.”

“Oh, Be quiet.” Sage said in a playful tone.

Brooke reached over and pinched her butt. “It's that cute butt of hers.”

Sage squirmed away from Brooke and tried to look mad, but failed. “Stop!”

Rachel flipped up the back of Sage's nightgown, just slightly. “He'll like it better this way.”

“I swear I'll get in your packs and let him have the pick of your panties.” Sage glared at her cousin and friends and each of them backed down as they saw the expression on her face showing they were about to go too far. “Please drop it now.” Sage said through clinched teeth.

“Okay.” Rachel said as she pulled Sage into a hug, which Stacey joined. Brooke just squeezed her hand.

“You all okay?” Tracy asked.

“We will be.” Rachel said. “Just don't want hard feelings.” She said to Sage, who just leaned into the hug for a moment, then they broke it off and Sage went back to work at the stove with Tracy, making her wonder what was going on.

~o~O~o~

After Lok and the other adults had eaten, he walked up to Tracy's parents “William, Maggie, I would like to talk for a moment, outside, please.”

“Sure, nothing wrog, is there?” Maggie asked.

“No, I just wanted to talk about Tracy's classes in Tai Chi.” Lok said.

“Okay.” William said as he stood up.

As they all left the house, they stopped near the street. Lok turned to talk to them. “Brooke told me about her last teacher. How he made her quit. That is not the sign of a good teacher.”

“Yeah.” Maggie scoffed. “I wanted to smack the jerk.”

“Does Tracy enjoy it? The classes I mean?”

“Yeah. She practiced whenever she could.” Maggie said with a nod.

“What if I provide a solution?” Lok said with a smile. "We could let her become a student of my school."

“You would teach her?” Maggie asked.

“No. Jaio would. At our school, Jaio teaches Chen style of Tai Chi. I teach Wing Chan and a couple of other styles. But Jaio would be willing to take her as a student. We know she is a good girl and that is the kind of student we want. Not ones who make demands of the teacher.”

“Maybe we should offer it to her?” Maggie asked William.

“Yeah.” He said with a nod. “She does seem to enjoy it.

Maggie looked to Lok. “There is something that Tracy and the other parents don't know yet, but William and I agree that if there is another attack, we will send Tracy to live with Shelly and Frank. I will give two weeks notice and then William will follow with Vance.”

Lok nodded in agreement to the soundness of the plan, but then he asked. “Have you thought that it may not get better?”

“Yeah.” William said with a sad nod. “I went to bed thinking that sending her with Persephone may be our best bet. Ever since they started leaving pictures at my work, I think the writing is on the wall. But we wanted her to have a weekend with her friends, before we worry her.”

“Then I shall let you tell her that.” Lok stated. "But I want to offer to teach her."

“Thank you.” William replied. “But I'm not sure how we'll afford the classes.”

“Perhaps we can find a solution together.”

~o~O~o~

Breakfast was over as Sage waited till most of the girls had used the bathroom when she grabbed Tracy and led her to her bedroom. “Pants, grab a pair now.”

Tracy did as she was told, then Sage led her to the bathroom and locked both the door that led to Tracy's parents room and to the hall that led to the kitchen. “Um....what's going on?”

“You asked me about tucking at Christmas. I said I'd show you sometime. Today became sometime.” Sage replied. She handed something to Tracy, then she turned away. “Strip. You can leave your shirt on, but take the rest off. That thing I gave you is a gaff and it is now your best friend.”

“Um, okay?” Tracy said as she slowly shed out of her clothes. She tapped Sage on the shoulder. “How does this work?

Without turning around, Sage replied. “Okay, take your thing and lay it against the skin between your legs then pull the gaff on the rest of the way. It's going to squish it a bit You may need to adjust yourself too. The gaff goes under your panties. When you get your panties on, tell me.”

It took several minutes till Tracy could summon the courage to pull on the gaff thing and did as Sage had instructed. Finally she bit her lip. “Okay, panties are on.”

Sage turned around, making sure to keep her eyes locked on Tracy's. She took a couple of breaths and brought up the will to look down. She knew how much she hated people, even if they were doctors seeing her in less then this, even the joke they had played on Vance the night before had been hard for her to pull off. Rachel had begged her to do it, and in the end she had only agreed to it because it seemed funny. She had almost lost it though as her friends had kept pinching and exposing her but, but she knew they meant no harm.

She knew what Tracy was feeling and she was trying to make it as painless as possible. She slowly lowered her eyes and she took a step back and a grin passed over her lips as she looked, then she looked Tracy in the eyes again. “Very good for a first time. Maybe a little adjusting, but that's something you get better at with time. I'll wait at the door as you put on the pants.”

“Cool.” Tracy was blushing. She was glad when Sage stepped away. Tracy put on the pants and zipped them up.. Then she grabbed a tiny mirror and held it out so she could see how she looked. She smiled when she couldn't see a bulge, no matter how small it was to begin with. "Hey Sage?" She called out

"Yeah?"

Tracy stayed where she was, but decided to question the use of the gaff. "Is this what you use? Like when you go swimming?"

Sage blushed but she didn't go back to Tracy, letting her have her privacy. "Yeah, I use something like that too, but mine isn't that big, so my gaff is smaller."

"Oh, cool. At least I know it works." Tracy went to Sage and she tapped her on the shoulder. “Done.”

“Well? Can we turn you into a jeans girl?”

“I still like my skirts.” Tracy said, then she hugged Sage. “But thank you.” She whispered.

“You're welcome. There are other tricks, like tape and stuff like that to hold it in place, but that gaff is for the best. Easier to go to the bathroom I think.”

“Plus if we're outside, I'd rather be in jeans, just in case someone sees me.”

“I can understand that.” Sage replied. “Man I wish you lived by us.”

"Me too." Tracy said with a nod of her head.

~o~O~o~

The girls walked behind Tracy's parents house and they stood in silence. Brooke and Casey stood near the end of the foot path as Tracy pointed out the flock of wild turkeys that were busy looking for food just about thirty feet from the house. “See.” Tracy said in a whisper, as she pointed the birds out to Romy. “Turkeys.”

“I wanna pet 'em.” The little girl said, then she took off running towards the birds.

“Romy!” Sage started after her, but just after two steps, the large birds all turned and took several steps, then began to flap their wings and the flock took off towards the trees that lined the back part of the property.

Sage slowed down, then she just stopped and stood there, All the other girls had the same expression, their jaws hung open. All but Tracy. Sage looked at Tracy. “They fly?”

Tracy nodded. “Yep.”

“Turkeys can FLY?!?” Sage asked again. They heard Modine laughing from her back porch and looked over to see her out watching the large birds as well. Tracy began to lead them over to her. Casey began pushing Brooke over, taking the nicest path she could.

“Wild turkeys can. The ones you have on farms for Thanksgiving can’t cause they get too fat from eating the feed.” Tracy clarified. “But these turkeys can fly and they do it well. In fact I heard they sleep in the trees.”

“Hey.” Rachel said as she pointed to the field. “Is that a deer?”

Off in the distance at the edge of the trees stood not one, but three deer. All of them had been grazing, but were currently looking around for trouble because of the flying turkeys. Tracy nodded. “Yep. That's a deer.”

“Where? I wanna see!” 'Romy began jumping up and down. Sage picked her up and placed her on her hip, then pointed.

“They're big.” 'Romy stated. “I wanna see sheep!”

“We'll see them when we get back. Mom wants to show you all the lake.” Tracy said as they stopped at Modine's fence.

“Cool.” Sage said.

“Hey, Grandma.”

“Tracy, Girls? Having fun making the turkeys fly away?”

“They've never seen wild turkeys.” Tracy stated. “And later we'll take them to see the Turner's sheep after we go to the dam.”

“That's nice.”

“Maybe Mister Hollister will have his horses out too?” Tracy thought aloud.

“I could call them and see if you could go look at them. Be more polite then, calling them to the fence.”

"Could you?"

Modine nodded. "For my Granddaughter I could."

~o~O~o~

Lok had waited for Tracy and the girls to come back in from looking at the turkeys. Her parents were already there, waiting for them. Persephone and Harvey were there as well. “Tracy, could we talk to you for a minute?” Maggie asked. Tracy began to worry that she was in trouble for something.

“You want us to leave?” Sage asked, not sure what was happening.

“Actually, you can stay.” William asked. “There's a few things we want to cover.” As the girls all came out, William nodded to Lok. “She's all yours.”

“Tracy, your parents told me about you losing your Tai Chi class.”

"Yeah." Tracy said, her happy mood completely going away.

“Tell me Tracy, were you happy with the last school?

"Well it was okay, I guess. I mean I didn't want to quit, but if he's gonna be a jerk, then I'd rather not go there....."

"And in not supporting you, your teacher has dishonored himself as a teacher."

"He said he couldn't afford to lose twenty students because of one, something about his bottom line."

"Money should not be the reason to keep a student. You keep a student because he or she brings honor to your school. You keep a student because that person pushes him or herself to be the best they can. Students who make demands of their teacher and order him around, those are not the type of students I would keep. Those are not the type of person that makes for a good learning environment." Lok looked staright at her and smiled. “I keep students like you. Ones who honor their family, and friends.”

"Like...like me?” Tracy asked, sounding more then confused. Then it hit her. “I could really be your student?"

"Yes. Jaio teaches the Tai Chi in my school and I teach a couple other styles. She is more then willing to teach you.”

“But I don't live down there, how could I learn when I only see you once a month?” Tracy asked.

William decided to make a spur of the moment choice and he hoped his wife wouldn't kill him later for not consulting her. Since the picture in his locker and the lunchroom, he guessed that a bigger storm was coming. He knew what Tracy heard over the phone was just a threat, but one that someone could easily accomplish and he refused to watch his wife or children die from his inaction. “What if you lived down there?”

“Lived down there?” Tracy repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Tracy, your mother and I have made an agreement that we would send you to your Aunt's to live if someone attacked you again. But I think your mother can agree with me, that we'd rather have you safe, so we're going to send you down there after this weekend.”

“I totally agree. In fact, Shelly agrees to it too. ” Maggie said and all the girls erupted into a roar of happy screams. The smile returned to Tracy’s face and it almost lit up the room.

“We'll help you pack!” Sage said as they stood and began to pull Tracy up.

“Girls.” William said, trying to get them under control as they began to drag Tracy to her room. “GIRLS!!!” William shouted, loud enough to catch their attention. “We'd like to finish before you do anything else.” The girls all came back into the room and stood there.

“Tracy, you'd be going without your father or me.” Maggie said. “At least for the first couple of weeks, so I can give my two weeks notice to Chris, this way I can get my sick time and vacation pay.”

“Alone?” Tracy asked, her happiness now gone, replaced with fear.

“For just a couple of weeks. Then I move down too.” Maggie replied

“What about Vance and Dad?”

“Vance goes with you. Your father will stay so he can sell the property. Or work something out. Once the school year is over for.” Maggie stated and her father nodded. “Unless they can catch this guy, then Vance will stay so he can stay in sports.”

Tracy thought about it, then looked to Lok, the happiness on her face sliding away slightly as she thought about what her father said the weekend before about moving and money. “I don't know if I can be a student though. If we move, money may be tight.”

“Could I have a few days to think of a suitable offer to help you?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Then I shall talk to your parents and you should have fun.”

“When we go to the dam, we'll stop by a store and get some boxes to pack your stuff.” William said. “Your mother can call Shelly and warn her you’re coming.”

Tracy went over and hugged both of her parents. “Thank you.” She said.

~o~O~o~

The girls all piled into Persephone's bus. Harvey took his Suburban, filled with the other adults, plus Vance, Jerry and Moony and they all headed through the nearest town and to the dam that sat to the east.

Persephone pulled her VW bus to a stop at the top of the dam. Only a few people were out, mostly those jogging on the dam. On the lake, only a few people were out fishing.

“Wow”, Sage said as she stepped out of the VW bus and pushed her glasses up her nose. “That's a huge lake.”

“Yeah, but if you think that's big, you should see the side of the dam. Check this out.” Tracy said and she waited for a car to pass before she led her friends to the other side of the dam, with a great view of the valley around the town.

“wow.” Stacey said as she looked over the edge. “What's that? Like a power plant?” She said, pointing to the base of the dam.

“Yeah, there's a huge plant under us. It generates power for as far south as Sacramento I think.

“Whoa, look at the water running over there.” Rachel pointed off towards the other end of the dam. “What's that, like a river?”

“That's the spillway.” William stated. “For when the dam gets too full, they open that up and close off the road over there. “Open it too much and it floods to the south, so they have to watch how much they open it.”

“This is like the largest Earth dam in America, or something big, I forget what it was though. My class got to go there for a school trip this year, but that was when I was hurt and I had to stay home. We did get to see the Fish hatchery too.” Tracy stated.

“Fish hatchery?” Brooke asked.

“Yeah, it's over that way.” Tracy pointed off in the distance. “Each year the salmon swim back to spawn and this place makes sure some of them get the chance. It's cool because there is a viewing window there and you can see them swim by. I saw a fish that was longer then Romy is tall.”

“Damn, but my Dad would love to fish near there.” Stacey said.

“You can't. During that time of the year, they limit how close you can fish.”

“Man, Salmon would be nice.” Harvey said with a grin. “And if they all go at once, would have been easy to get some.”

“Yeah, the river goes black from the amount of fish in it.” Tracy said.

“Holy carp.” Harvey replied, using a very bad fish joke. “Just dip the net in the water and no need for bait.”

“Hey, is that mountain over that way really flat?” Sage asked, pointing off in the distance.

Tracy nodded. “There's like two or three mountains there. It's called Table Mountain. There was a volcano or something there thousands of years ago and when it blew, the mountain was flattened on top. It's cool in the spring, wild flowers grow all over.”

“Why is there a big O on the side? I saw it when we were riding up here.” Sage asked.

“O for Oroville, the town nearby the mountain.” Tracy stated. “I heard students of a local school put it up there in the Sixties.”

“How close is the nearest mall?” Rachel asked. “Think we could go to that?”

“It's in Chico, the North Valley Plaza. That's like over half an hour away.”

Rachel groaned. “Darn it.”

“It's not a good mall. It's kinda boring. The Peach Tree Mall in Marysville is just as bad.” Tracy looked at Rachel and shrugged. “At least compared to the Malls around you, it's bad.”

“We'll consider it.” Maggie said. “But I would feel bad if we spend all of Persephone's gas to get there.”

Figured on a bit of fluff, got to have a bit of fun with the girls.

“Well, you wanted to go to the mall in Chico, so we're going to the North Valley Plaza and maybe to downtown and wander around near Chico State and grab a fast lunch before we go to the big toy store and come home.”

“Wait, like near the University? CSUC?” Brooke asked.

“You know about the University?” Maggie was shocked, none of them seemed to know anything about the area, till now.

“Yeah, there's a wheelchair race up here in a few weeks and I was thinking of entering for the junior races. Is the College near the downtown area?” Brooke stated.

“Yes, it's actually part of downtown.” Maggie replied.

“Could we see a bit of it?”

Editing by Djkuaf

Picking up from where the last one left off, our young ladies enjoy the countryside and progress is made!

February 5th 1983

Larry O'Brien had his suspicions about his son. He knew Billy had been close to his cousins Bruce and Clark. He also suspected that his hair-brained son would have something to do with the picture that had been left at work. He headed across the property to the barn that served as a garage. He had wanted to check it out sooner, but he had promised his wife a nice breakfast, which turned into a shopping trip. He was glad to see his son wasn't home, so that gave him a few minutes to work.

He stepped in and groped for a light switch. There was the usual smell of pot, but it didn't seem fresh this time. He hated them using his property for their drug use. It was just another reason that he was going to use to kick Billy to the streets, no matter how much it hurt his wife to alienate his only son. After a quick search of the barn, his suspicions were confirmed when he found a picture, the same one that had been left in the cafeteria at work. This one had X's over Troy's eyes, knives drawn by the child’s throat and in black ink, the note at the bottom this time read “Die Fag, die!” He turned the picture away in disgust at the pictures and words and lewd pictures drawn over Troy's mother. He looked down and several of the pictures seemed to be drawn on the same way.

“Dammit.” He muttered, then he turned and ran out of the shed and into the house. He was old school, he knew that. He recalled that if someone had been weak, or seemed weak when he was younger, they would beat him up, now he was more of a live and let live person, the war helped see to that. But with the friends his son kept, he thought that murder was a good possibility and that wasn't acceptable by even his older standards. He knew Billy had been pissed when Bruce had been arrested and had made several comments about the snitch needing to be killed but he thought it was Billy just blowing off steam. Now he knew otherwise.

He slid to a stop by the phone and grabbed the phone book. It only took him a few moments to find the number he was after. “Come on.” He said as the phone rang. But after two rings, the operator came on the line. “The number you're trying to reach is no longer in service. Please check the numb...” He put the phone down and then picked it up again. After two rings he got the same answer.

Then he noticed the number above it, with an address right next to William's. He said a silent prayer, in the hopes that Billy hadn't headed there and he tried that one. A few moments later, he heard. “Patterson residence, this is Modine.”

He tried to hold his worry in as he spoke, but he couldn't “Ma'am, you don't know me, but I'm looking for William Patterson, he works at the local mill. I tried the number in the phone-book, but it doesn’t work anymore. Are you related to him? I only ask because your address is next to his.”

“I'm his mother. Can I ask who this is?”

“My name is Larry O’Brien. I work with him at the mill and I got important news for him about the picture he had at work. Can I speak to him please? It’s important.”

“One moment, he's outside.” The old lady replied. The line was silent for several minutes. “Come on...come on.” He started to impatiently say under his breath. “Hurry up, dammit.” Then he heard the phone pick up.

“This is William, is this Larry?”

“Yes, it is, William.”

When he spoke, William found it hard to keep the anger out of his voice. “What do you mean by you have information about those pictures”

“Look, after your speech at work, I noticed my deadbeat son was laughing with one of his friends. I went to the barn we use here as a garage and I found more of those pictures.”

“So your lazy ass, deadbeat son threatened my wife and child?!?” William growled. “He's the one who threatened to rape and murder my wife and children?!?”

“He what?!?” Larry was stunned, he had no clue how bad the threats were.

“That son of a bitch has been calling here and threatening to rape and murder my wife and youngest, then to kill my oldest and me.” William stated, unable to hide the anger in his voice. “That's why I called the cops on Friday!”

“I didn't know.....William, there was a picture of your kid and wife, with all sorts of stuff written on it, none....none of it's good. There's a stack of them. I'm going to call the cops and show them this crap.”

“So why call me? Why not just call the cops?”

“In case he comes that way. I want you to know who left it for you. I'm not” Larry replied. “He's at work, but god knows how his mind works.”

“Okay.” William let out a breath to try and calm himself. He rubbed at his temple with his free hand. “Look, call the Sheriff's department and ask for Deputy Keith Kline, he's been in charge of the investigation so far. Tell them it concerns the Patterson case.”

“I can do that.”

“And Larry? Thanks for the call.” William said. His wife and daughter were headed to the Mall in Chico and he didn't expect to see them back any time soon. But he knew he had to tell them the news when they got home. One main battle in the war was over, but that still left Molly. He was sure that he was doing the right thing by sending his daughter away. He was also aware that Maggie had called Shelly before they left for the mall, to make sure they were ready to get Tracy at the end of the weekend.

But a part of William wasn't ready to relax, not until the fat lady had sung and his family was safe from the town. He just had to stay vigilant until then.

~o~O~o~

“So where are we going?” Rachel asked as Persephone pulled Harvey's truck onto the main highway. She had taken his Suburban because she could get all the girls and Maggie into the vehicle without a problem

“Well, you wanted to go to the mall in Chico, so we're going to the North Valley Plaza and maybe to downtown and wander around near Chico State and grab a fast lunch before we go to the big toy store and come home.”

“Wait, like near the University?” Brooke asked.

“You know about the University?” Maggie was shocked, none of them seemed to know anything about the area, till now.

“Yeah, there's a wheelchair race up here in a few weeks and I was thinking of entering for the junior races. Is the College near the downtown area?” Brooke stated.

“Yes, it's actually part of downtown.” Maggie replied.

“Could we see a bit of it?”

“We'll see. I think we can get near it, but I'd like to stay out of the main part of the campus, the roads are a bit confusing.”

“Okay.” Brooke said.

The truck sped along the highway and Maggie pointed to the mountains. “Sage, there's the mountains you asked about earlier.”

“Wicked! They are flat.” Sage said as she leaned over Stacey to see out the window.

“Yeah and on the back side of them is the backside of the lake where we were. It's actually very big.”

“Cool!” Sage said as they began passing fields of sheep and cows.

“Hey! Another lake!” Stacey said, causing all the girls to look her way.

“That's the Forebay. It's kinda a run off that was turned into a swimming area and the spot past that is saved for boats.”

“And on the way back, I'll take you past the Afterbay, it's where the water from here goes.”

“So it's all safe for swimming? Safer than by the Dam?” Brooke asked.

“Yeah.”

“Oh man, we should come up here for the summer and go swimming. Beats being inside in a pool.”

“You can swim?” Tracy asked. “I thought your legs didn't work?”

“Tracy!” Maggie snapped. “That's not a polite question.”

“It's okay, Mrs. Patterson I get a lot of people who are shocked that I do so much. Heck, I think I'm more active in the wheelchair then I was before the accident.” Brooke replied as she held Tracy's hand to show she wasn't mad. “I swim, not as fast as a lot of people, but I can swim. It really helps with my back, too.”

“We need to teach Tracy how to swim.” Sage said. “That way when Summer hits, we can take her with us to swimming pools and stuff.”

“I....” Tracy looked to the floorboards. “I don't know.”

Sage leaned over and whispered. “We can get a smaller Gaff for you. We got ways to hide you from people. Please, let us help you out.”

“Can I think about it?” Tracy asked.

“Sure. We got a few months.”

~o~O~o~

Frank and Shelly were busy working on the smaller of the two guest bedrooms that they had, preparing it for Tracy's arrival. Frank had been using the closet as a catch-all and now he was paying for that by having to empty out all the boxes of books and magazines he had stored in there.

“Did Maggie say when they'd bring her here?” He asked.

“No, just that she may come with Persephone and the girls.” Shelly was busy cleaning the windows on the inside. The room was usually spotless, but she wanted it to look her best when her Godchild came to stay, no matter how short of a stay it would be.

“And they're moving as soon as they can?”

“Yeah, expect Maggie in a couple of weeks And Vance and William in June, unless something happens and they send Vance, too.” Shelly replied. “I hope you don't mind that I offered Tracy a place.”

Frank shook his head. “Not at all. If this guy is threatening to kill her, plus a group of crazy people trying to run them out of town, I'd rather be ready now. Besides, like you told her, I want living God-children not dead ones.”

“There will have to be a few changes around here. Like no more eating out all the time.”

“It wont kill us to eat at home. Besides, we may save a little money that way.” Franks said in agreement. “We also got to be ready to be part of the sleepover circuit.”

“Yeah.” Shelly nodded. “I was thinking, what if we help William and Maggie get a home when they get down here?”

“You mean buy them one? We have the money, I can't see why not....”

Shelly shook her head and hands to stop him. “No, William wouldn’t go for that. He's too proud. But what if we could help get the down payment and he just payed us back later?”

“Maybe. We'll have to pitch him the idea when we see them next. I wouldn't want someone just handing me stuff either. I'd rather work for it and earn it the hard way.” Frank said.

“Well, then we'll see if one of them come's up with Persephone and we'll play it by ear.”

~o~O~o~

Moonglow, Vance and Jerry Rivers had left the house when they got back, leaving the girls to go to the mall in Harvey's bigger Truck. Moony had borrowed Troy's bike and the three of them sped off towards the little farming town. Conner had given the boys the day off so they could show Moony around the small town they lived near and the different farms. Vance and Jerry led Moony thought their school, which didn't have any gates to speak of.

“I can't believe your school is so small. I thought Rachel and Sage were just kidding around when they said it was tiny.” Moony said as they raced through. “Mine is like twice this size and it's just sixth, seventh and eighth grades.”

“You're in a bigger town.” Jerry replied. “This isn't the smallest school I've been to in the past few years, but it's close.”

After they got to the main street, the one Moony had been on the night before, the boys stopped and Vance pointed to a mini mart across the street. “Hey, want a soda and a candy bar? My treat.”

“Yeah.” Moony replied.

The three boys waited for a break in the traffic and then they headed to the little Ma and Pa store that sold everything from candy and soda to veggies and meat. They left their bikes leaned against the store's front wall, next to another bike and the three boys headed inside.

Moony followed Vance's lead to the back cooler and each boy reached in and pulled out a glass bottle.

“They got a bottle opener here?” Moony asked.

“Yeah, it's by the door, we'll show you on the way out.” Vance replied.

They went to the candy isle and saw Peter there, grabbing a couple of candy bars. The bigger kid looked up and smiled when he saw Vance. “Hey Vance.” Then his mood soured a bit. “Jerry.” He wasn't sure how to treat Jerry, after the attack on Tracy two months earlier. He knew Tracy seemed to trust him, but a part of him still hated the boy.

“Hey Peter. Headed over to my place?”

“Yeah. I figured the afternoon would be better.”

“Yeah, they're in Chico right now, so they should be home later.” He turned to his riding companions. “This is Peter, Tracy's friend.” Mooney nodded in acknowledgment.

“Yeah, I was grabbing some of her favorite candy. Not sure what those friends of hers like.” Peter said

Mooney began counting off with his free hand what each of the girls liked. “Sage likes lemon-heads, Romy likes chocolate of any type, Rachel is all about anything cinnamon, Stacey likes Hershey bars, Casey loves Baby Ruth bars and Brooke likes lifesavers the five fruit one.”

“How do you know that?”

“Peter, this is Moo..” Vance started to say.

Before he could say the name, Moony cut him off. “Marcus or Moony will do.”

“Hey Marcus.” Peter said with a smile, deciding to stay away from the nickname, till he knew the boy better.

Vance hooked a thumb at Moony. “This is Sage's brother. You remember Sage from the start of December, right?”

“Yeah, that red-head you kept drooling over?” Peter asked with a grin, Vance blushed.

“Yeah, that would be her.” Moony said with a chuckle. “You should have seen what they did to him last night.”

“What?” Peter asked with a huge grin on his face.

Moony quickly told them about Sage and the girls running around mostly naked and Peter began to laugh. “It was awesome. When he first went into the house, I thought his jaw would hit the floor.”

“It wasn't that bad.” Vance said, even though he had began to blush.

“They had on swim suits that were mostly skin tones, but the look of shock on his face... At least I think they had them on, would be a bit weird looking at my cousins and sister.”

“That's awesome, so they got him good?” Peter chuckled.

“You should have seen it first hand. I was watching from the side of the house. Funniest thing ever.”

“So you decided to come up with the girls, too?” Peter asked.

“Dad's out of town for the weekend doing something work related and there was no one in town to leave me with, so Mom said I had to come. Besides, we're breaking in my uncle’s trailer. Got to get it ready for the summer.”

“He camp a lot?”

“He tries when he's not working and cause all he has is daughters, I get to go with him.” Moony said with a grin. “He's taken me hunting too. Plus I've been with him on his job a couple of times.”

“Job? What does he do?”

“He's Highway Patrol.”

“You've done a ride along with Highway Patrol?” Peter said in amazement.

“Yeah. They didn't let him do much, because I was with him, but I still got to turn on the siren and we went on a few calls, but only as back up.”

They all went up and paid for their candy and sodas, then as they started to head outside, each of the boys stopped at the door and showed Moony the bottle opener that was attached to the wall, with a trash can under it. As they opened up the bottles, Peter caught each cap. The four boys all went outside and they leaned against the wall by their bikes, watching the main street while they drank their sodas.

“I love a cold soda in a bottle.” Vance said. So much better then in a can.”

“I heard they want to put them into plastic bottles.” Moony stated.

“Plastic? Would they still have the bottle caps? That's the best part, in my mind.” Peter said. “I got an uncle who collects them and he gives me a nickel for each one, a quarter if it’s something he don't have.

“Who knows. Honestly, how would it taste.” Moony asked. “I mean some canned soda just tastes funny to me.”

“It's better in a fountain.” Jerry said. “Like at Seven eleven.”

This caused the other three boys to nod and reply. “Yeah.”

“I like the Slurpee's” Vance stated. Again the boys all agreed.

“I like ice cream from those machines at the buffets. The soft serve stuff?” Peter leaned against the wall. “I also love it when you get to pick the toppings. My mom hates it cause I fill half the bowl with sprinkles.”

“Well they do put it there to be ate.” Moony stated.

~o~O~o~

Maggie walked along side her daughter as the girls all left the restaurant in the downtown part of Chico. They had already gone to the mall and to see some of the stores in downtown Chico, including the toy-store. Plus there had been a quick trip into the College campus. All this time she had noticed that her daughter hadn't smiled much. A part of her wondered if it was because she was in Troy's clothes, or if she was just worried about being in public.

She pulled her daughter away from the group as they got close to Harvey's truck and she put a hand on Tracy's shoulder. “You okay Sweetie?”

“Just thinking.” Tracy replied.

“About? You've been awful quiet.”

Tracy sighed and shrugged. “The move and how much I'd miss you. Then there's a bunch of questions, like can I go to school as Tracy, can I get the hormones if you're not there. And leaving here without you just feels wrong.”

“Maybe I can go. I should anyway, just to make sure we get everything in order. In fact, what if I take a couple days off and take you down on Monday and we see if we can get all the questions answered before I leave? Would that work?”

“Yeah.” Tracy said with a nod of her head. “You and Dad aren't mad at me for this, are you?”

“Tracy, no one knew that someone would see us. I don't blame you and neither does your father.”

“I just keep thinking that all of this is my fault.”

Maggie pulled her daughter into a hug. “Stop. Stop blaming yourself. You didn't take those pictures and you didn't make Bruce attack you. Stop taking the blame for everyone, okay? You are my good girl and not some little trouble maker.”

~o~O~o~

Keith Kline got out of his squad car along with another Deputy and they walked up to the house, but before they could knock, Larry opened up the door and stepped out. It had been a couple of hours since he called and he was getting worried that they wouldn't get there before his son did and the evidence would disappear. The Deputy removed his hat. “Larry O'Brien?”

“Yeah. Are you Deputy Kline?”

“Yes. This is Deputy Larson. You said you had information about the Patterson case?”

“Follow me.” Larry led them across the property to the barn. “We use this barn mostly as storage and a place to work on the vehicles out of the weather. It's my barn but my son has been using it to work on a motor for the cars.”

“Do we have your approval to search the barn?”

“But if the son uses it, isn't it the son’s property?” Deputy Larson asked.

“This is my garage, I let my son use it sometimes, mostly to keep his motor he's working on out of the rain. Other then that, ninety percent of the things in there are mine, except the pictures I found and any drugs you come across. I can't stand drug use.”

“Shared space, he can invite us in to look around.” Keith said. “Plus it's his property and he is the main user of it, so yeah, he can invite us in.”

“I will warn you, you're gonna smell pot. I don't smoke and I hate that he does it here, but it's not mine.”

“Noted.” Deputy Kline said.

Larry opened the door and led them in and over to where he found the pictures. “There they are. I just found them an hour or two ago. If William hadn't said something at work yesterday, I would have never known or thought to look for these.”

“You looked for these?” Deputy Kline asked, sounding slightly skeptical.

“William Patterson told us all off in the lunch-room and I saw my son laughing with his friends and I figured that he was stupid enough to do something stupid.”

“Like what? How would you know that he had something to do about this?”

“See, he has a cousin that goes to school with the Patterson boys. Clark Millet. He's the brother of the kid that attacked the Patterson family in December.” Larry stated. Deputy Kline nodded slowly. He knew in his gut that Clark had been lying, but he needed more then gut instinct to get a warrant. “Well, back in December, Billy kept saying how someone should kill the snitch, meaning William's youngest. He wanted to hurt the boy himself, but I just figured he was being stupid and blowing off steam. So after William yelled at everyone, and mentioned the pictures at the school, I noticed that Billy was mocking him. Call it a gut feeling, but I figured he was connected somehow.”

“Where is your son now?”

“If he really went, he's at work, if not, who knows?” Larry replied.

“If he comes home, call our dispatch and we'll come back for him. But we'll try to get him at his job.”

~o~O~o~

Persephone had pulled up, parking Harvey's truck near his trailer. As the girls started to unload, another truck hauling a trailer pulled up by the house and came to a stop. Sage was busy pulling Brooke's wheelchair out of the back, as Rachel pulled the couple of bags of things they had bought out as well.

“Okay. That's weird. Wonder if they're lost.” Maggie said. Then her eyes went to the license plate. She knew the Wyoming License plate from the picture of the man on the horse and she mental kicked herself for forgetting. “Oh crap. I completely forgot.”

“You know them?” Persephone asked.

Maggie nodded, trying to think of how to handle the situation. “Yeah. Those are my parents.”

Mwa hahaha! A cliff hanger! And with all the parts come screaming together into one massive train-wreck! How will the girls keep Tracy a secret? Will the Grandparents find out? Will Maggie and her family be disowned? Will Billy get caught before he causes any troubles? What about Clark and where is he? How will the writer keep all this going and not go mad in the process? How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?

Thanks, once again to DJkauf for the Edits.

After a month long wait, the continuation of Through the years.

How shall things go down? Billy's involvement is known, Clark is still out there, Molly Hallmark is still out there, and now her Grandparents are out there. Things are slowly shaping her future, but will it be a good one and will our young Tracy make it to see twelve years old?

:: Continued::

Persephone had pulled up, parking Harvey's truck near his trailer. As the girls started to unload, a another truck hauling a trailer pulled up by the house and came to a stop. Sage was busy pulling Brooke's wheelchair out of the back, as Rachel pulled out the couple of bags of things they had bought as well.

“Okay. That's weird. Wonder if they're lost.” Maggie said. Then her eyes went to the license plate. She knew the Wyoming License plate with the picture of the man on the horse and she mentally kicked herself for forgetting. “Oh crap. I completely forgot.”

“You know them?” Persephone asked.

Maggie nodded, trying to think of how to handle the situation. “Yeah. Those are my parents. They wanted out of Wyoming for the winter and I said they could come out. We've been so busy with everything that I forgot.”

“Grandma and Grandpa?” Tracy asked as she watched the drivers door open and her grandfather got out of the truck. She could hear the passenger side door open as well.

“Yep.” Maggie turned to face the girls and lowered her voice. “Girls, until I get the chance to talk to my parents, please don't call Tracy by her name. It's Troy, at least until I can break this to them. Understand?” Each of them nodded and she watched any happiness that Tracy had just melt away like ice in the sun.

“You going to need any help?” Persephone asked.

“Maybe, but I may have to do this alone, or my mom will think I'm ganging up on her. I'll have to play it by ear.”

Maggie walked over to her parents. “Mom, Dad.” She hugged each of them. “I've been so busy, I totally forgot you were due up this week.”

“I hope we're not intruding. We didn't expect to see anyone else here.” Her father said.

“Just some friends of the kids, up from the Bay Area, and their families.” Maggie said, carefully watching what she said.

“Do you want us to leave? We could head to Los Angeles and see your sister first.”

“No Dad, you're welcome here, We just need to put your trailer elsewhere. Harvey will be taking off tomorrow night with two of the girls.”

“Do you think Conner will mind us parking over there?”

“Tell you what, give me a few minutes and I'll move my car. We can put your trailer in front of the house for the next day or two.”

“Okay.”

Tracy watched as her mother moved her car and by time her grandfather was pulling in, her Dad had come over and was standing next to her. “You going to be okay?”

“I guess.” Tracy said. “Mom said she'll try to talk to Grandma, but who knows.”

William nodded. “Your Grandmother can be a bit stubborn. So let your mother work on the hows and whys and you just focus on fun with your friends. Just remember, you've only got a few days to worry about it, then you go to Shelly's”

“Yeah.” Tracy smiled at him. “You're right.”

“Of Course.”

~o~O~o~

Clark was at the home of his cousins, Stan and Hank when he heard something that made him stop the card came they were playing. It had just been a mention of his cousin and an arrest at his place of work. Clark's mind began working and the only reason he could come up with was that Troy had done something. So he decided to figure out if he was wrong.

Clark dialed his Uncle Larry's home and after a couple of rings, the phone was picked up. “O’Brien's, how can I help you?”

“Uncle Larry? It's Clark. Did Billy just get arrested?”

“Yes, he did. Clark.” Larry replied.

“Why?” Clark asked.

“I think you may know why, Clark. Sending threats through the mail is a crime, plus threatening four people over the phone and breaking his probation by carrying a knife and having drugs in his possession.”

“But he didn't send those.” Clark replied without thinking. “It's not his fault, it's the fag’s fault.”

Larry decided to test the theory he had of the pictures’ origins. “Tell me the truth boy, are you the one he got those pictures from?”

“He didn't do anything wrong. It's all the fag's fault.” Clark stated again.

He heard the old man on the other end of the phone sigh. “Clark, you know they'll catch you. Don't do anything stupid. You broke a federal law. If you mailed those threats you could look at some major jail time.”

Clark heard his Uncle still talking as he hung up the phone. He looked to his cousins. “They arrested Billy because of those pictures. Little fag called the cops on him.” It wasn't what he had been told, but it was what he believed. “I say we go over there and beat the shit out of the little fag. His brother too.”

“What if the retard is there?”

“Then we kick all three of their asses.” Clark stated.

~o~O~o~

Deputies Kline and Olsen had received the warrant, although he had to push and bend the facts to get the D.A. to go along with putting the search warrant out on an eleven year old's stuff. An hour later and they were already in Clark Millet’s bedroom. They had left a third Deputy to deal with Clark's distraught mother as they searched the boys room. They had been at it for half an hour and hadn't found anything of importance until Kate Olsen let out a whistle. “Found something.” She said.

Keith Kline looked over and saw her holding a couple of negatives and a picture with Tracy and her mother on it. He took the negative and held it up to the light and smiled. “We got him.”

After searching the boys room and finding more evidence, namely four envelopes, already filled out, two for Maggie's work, one for the Patterson home and one for Troy's grandparents, they put it all into evidence baggies and went to his mother in the kitchen. “Ma'am, where is your son, Clark?”

“He's off with his cousins, Stan and Hank.” She replied, then she slouched in her seat, aware that her only other son had messed up. “Why? What did he do this time?”

“Ma'am. Someone has been leaving threatening pictures for another student at your Son's school. We found the negatives for those pictures in your son's room. People have implicated your son as well.” Deputy Kline held up a hand to stop her from talking. “Ma'am, we're not arresting you, but I must advise you to not say anything till you can get a lawyer for both you and your son, is that understood?”

“I....I understand, but answer me one question. This child he threatened, is this the same boy that Bruce attacked back in December?”

“I can't say, Ma'am.” Deputy Kline said. But she got the answer from his face.

Mrs. Millet guessed she was right from his response. “I should have known. I should have known that Bruce would talk him into something stupid. I tried my best with him, but he never listened. He could never take the blame for his actions....”

“Ma'am, I need you to stay quiet. Don't implicate yourself until you get a lawyer, okay?”

~o~O~o~

Molly had the house to herself as she sat at the kitchen table, trying to find a way to deal with the Patterson problem. She knew the kind of person that Troy would become. She knew the loathsome, vile pervert he was shaping up to be. At least she thought she did. Dressing and acting like he was a girl, it was wrong, she knew it. Anyone who read a bible knew it. It was no different than a person from her past. As she sat there, glaring at the picture of Tracy and Maggie at the store, she began to think of her childhood. Of the good friend she lost the summer she turned fourteen.

Molly knew she would have never done it. Nothing that vile. Even her parents had told her it wasn't her fault. They had spent months explaining how her old friend Cathy and the devil had tricked Molly into thinking the feelings she felt for the other girl were real. And it had felt that way. Each kiss her old friend had given her, each embrace. Each touch when they were at the lake, the feel of her fingers against her skin. At the time, none of it felt bad, but once her parents had explained how she had sinned, and how the Devil made her do it. They told her how people like that would only prey on the weak and the trusting. They told her how her friend Cathy was just getting her to lower her defenses so she could hurt her. Her parents insisted that's what those people did. Thanks to the conditioning from her parents, Molly realized how perverted and dangerous queers and dykes could be. Ever since then, she had done her best to shun and expose Gays and Dykes. Each time she felt an urge for another woman, she knew it was the devil and that woman trying to lure her into sin. She knew how they could sway someone and she guessed that Troy would be a thousand times worse.

She guessed the girl’s clothes were used to lure someone into a false sense of security, to feel that they had nothing to fear from him. Then he could attack them. Molly had to get him out of the town, before he set his sights on Robert, or Scotty. Or worse yet, an unsuspecting girl who he befriended. She could see a path of broken lives starting to form, all by the hands of one little freak.

She had to save the children of the town from the perversion that was Troy Patterson, and she would do it any way she could.

~o~O~o~

Clark walked towards Tracy and her friends, his cousins staying behind him. “Hey Fag!”

Tracy turned around to see Clark, his two cousins and Bobby Anderson walking towards them. She was still wearing Troy's pants and one of Troy's shirts, but she figured Clark wouldn't let it drop if she pointed that out. So instead, in her nicest tone of voice, she told him. “Go away Clark.”

“Fag, you fucked up by by having my cousin arrested. Now I'm gonna kick your ass.”

“I didn't have anyone arrested. If someone got arrested, then it's his own fault, just like your brother.” She looked over her shoulder to Sage, 'Romy, Rachel and Brooke. “Get inside, lock the door. Stacey, go get my Dad.” She walked with Rachel and the others, but kept her back to her friends . Stacey took off, Casey started following her.

Peter had been hanging out with Mooney, Vance and Jerry still, but the boys saw Sage and Rachel helping Brooke up the step to the house and they jogged over. Clark kept advancing, gesturing to his cousins and Bobby to stand back. “Gonna kick your ass till your mom can't recognize you.”

“Clark, why are you here? Why are you doing this?”

“Because you got Bruce arrested. And now you had Billy arrested, claiming he sent those pictures. All of this has been my doing. The pictures. I even had my cousin call you on the phone. And it worked. Now you don't even have Emily and Mary Beth to be your friends. Made you so scared you won’t even go to school. Maybe I should tell your little girlfriends what time of little dress wearing freak you are. By the time I'm done no one will want to be your friend. ” He said.

“Clark, just go away. This isn't going to end the way you want it to.” She stated.

“You in the hospital for getting Bruce arrested? Yes it will.” He growled, then he started his attack. He rushed her and Tracy waited till the last second, then she twisted her body as Clark's fist hit her, then she brought her arm up, catching his in the crook of her elbow. She twisted back, almost instantly and slammed her left hand against his chest. As he started to stumble, she let go of his arm, letting him hit the ground. She was aware that the door had shut and her friends were safely inside.

“Get him!” Clark commanded. Stan and Hank moved forward, but were cut off by Peter and Vance. Mooney and Jerry moved to help Tracy.

Bobby came running at Tracy, but she blocked his first punch, ducked under his second punch and sent a blow to his gut. The bigger teen staggered back, gasping for breath. In this span of time, Clark was back on his feet.

“I got this guys. ” She said to Mooney and Jerry as they stood by her side. “Peter, Vance, let them go.” Tracy glared at Clark. “I want you to take your friend and cousins, and get off the property. I want you to get the hell out of my life before I get mad and beat the shit out of you, understand?”

“I ain't scared of you.” Clark said as he mustered up as much bravado as he could.

“Clark, just go. Don't push your luck, this isn't worth it.” In the distance, she could hear sirens, but she was focused on the fight, so she didn't hear them clearly. “I don't want to fight you.”

“Scared? You should be.” He tried to muster his bravado again and he puffed out his chest.

He ran at her again, this time she blocked his punch, gripped his wrist, then simply slapped his face. “I mean it Clark, back off now!”

“A slap?!? Bruce said you fought like a girl. Said you kicked his nuts! Lets see how you like it!” Clark's foot got past Tracy's defense and connected with Tracy's crotch, but it didn't have the intended result. She felt pain, but nothing like Bruce had done to her. She grimaced, but held her ground. Clark stared at her in surprise for a moment, then he decided to try it again. Clark kicked a second time and Tracy caught his foot and lifted it up and began walking him to a spot in the driveway.

“Is it my turn now?!? Can I kick your crotch two times, as hard as I can?” She asked as she forced him to hop backwards. He failed to keep the surprise and fear from his face. He was sure he'd put Troy down with that kick. “You can't even kick me hard enough to hurt me, and you think you have a chance of beating me? You and Bobby can't even take me together. I'm being nice right now Clark. Stop this stupidity.” She pulled up and kicked out with a foot, connecting with his one leg that was touching the ground, sending him to his ass once more. Moony and Jerry stood between her and Bobby, so there was no sneak attacks. “Did your brother tell you how after they hurt me, I stood up and kept fighting all three of them?

“He said you were on the ground crying like a baby!” Clark started to move, trying to get to his feet quickly. She moved over and shoved her foot down on his chest and added some weight.

“Of course he said that. How dare the truth come out. Clark, I just want to hang out with my friends and my grandparents and forget you even exist. So I'm gonna take my foot away and go inside, but I swear to God, you get up and I will put you down so hard your kids will feel it.” To show she wasn't kidding, she pulled her foot back an inch, then shoved hard on his gut, causing him to grunt. “I want you to leave and take your little friends with you.” She now heard the sirens a bit clearer. “Maybe they won't catch you before you get off the property.”

Bobby Anderson heard the sirens and he began to pale. He turned and started sprinting down the road, ducking into the trees to avoid being caught. By this point, Stacey, and Casey were watching from the safety of the fenced in yard that Modine and Conner had. Harvey had been jogging over with Maggie and William. The front door was open and Sage, Brooke and Rachel watched from the house. Lok stood in the yard with Persephone, Modine and Conner. Harvey was about to run after Billy when Maggie caught his arm. “No stay here, just in case. Let him run.”

Tracy lifted her foot up and took a could of steps back, then she waited to see what Clark would do. “This ain't over Fag!” Clark snarled. His anger prevented him from thinking straight. He got to his feet and rushed Tracy, but Jerry stepped in his way and with one good punch, he knocked Clark off his feet.

“Thanks, Jerry.” Tracy said as she pushed her way in front of Jerry as the cruisers slid to a halt in front of the house. “You lose, Clark. And it's not my fault this time.” Clark started to get up, in his anger he failed to comprehend that the police had arrived. He started to stalk towards Tracy, till a voice boomed out.

“Freeze!” The Familiar voice of Deputy Kline shouted.

Tracy put her hands in the air, till the Deputy motioned that she could lower them. “You okay?” Deputy Kline asked.

“Yeah.” Tracy replied. “He barely touched me.”

“Deputy Kline, we want to press charges against that boy and his friends for trespassing, and assault.” William stated.

“We'll add that to the charges he's already facing for sending threats through the mail.”

~o~O~o~

Her parents talked to the deputy for a few more minutes and Tracy tuned them out. With Clark gone, she guessed they only had one last worry, Molly Hallmark. That made it easier to be ready for a possible attack. After a few minutes, the deputy left and her parents came over to her. By this point, Bernice and Marion had come out of their trailer, and the girls had come out of the house.

“So does this mean I have to stay?” Tracy asked as the cop car left the property.

“No. I still think it's better to get you out of town.” William replied. “After how Molly treated those ladies a few years back, I think we'd be playing with fire to stay.”

“I agree.” Maggie said. “The therapist is there, and the girls.”

“So can I stay then?” Vance asked his parents. The teasing would die down, at least he hoped it would, but he was ready to join the baseball team if he could. “Till the end of the school year? Clark's gone and he knows Bobby is just a blow hard and the coach let me on the soccer team.”

“It may be best.” Maggie replied. “That way you two can start packing when school is almost finished.”

As Tracy was led inside by her friends, Bernice came over to Maggie. Their nap had been interrupted but the sudden fight and now her curiosity was running wild.

“So what was that all about?” Maggie’s mother asked.

Maggie led her parents away from Tracy and William, so Tracy could relax and not have to live the past again.“You remember back in December when Troy was attacked and he defended Modine from the group of boys he caught stealing?”

“Yeah, I remember you telling me about it, why?” Her mother replied.

“That boy who Troy just smacked around is the younger brother of the main attacker and he's been sending threats to Troy at School, that's why we had him home-schooled, but they also sent them to a girl he knows and Troy's friend at school plus he mailed threats to my work and someone left them at William's work. We found out that the man who sent them to William's work was the one who had threatened to come over here and rape and murder Troy and myself and kill Vance and William.”

“Good God, why did he say that?”

Maggie sighed. “He's a fool? Also he is the older cousin to Troy's attacker.”

“So he was calling because of his cousin. I see.” Bernice said with the nod of her head. “Why the fag remarks?”

Maggie almost spilled the beans, but she looked away and shrugged. “Who knows. This kid is trying everything he can to turn people against Troy and it's working. We're taking Troy out of here because some of the stories that boy was spreading have made their way to a group of church ladies we knew when we went to church.”

“What type of stories?”

Maggie sighed. “Mostly that Troy will rape and murder all the kids in town. But the woman insists that Troy is gay, thanks to some pictures and she is mounting a personal campaign against my family.”

“And there's no way to talk to them?”

“No.” Maggie stated. “And we tried. Molly Hallmark is a force of nature, and she's already ran other people out of town.”

“Ran them....what is this? The old West?”

“Honestly Mom, I don't know. I just know I want Troy out of here and in June, Vance and William will come down and join us. Gives me a couple months to find a home.”

“I'm sorry you have to move. I always thought you liked it here.” Bernice stated. “But let us know if you need help. We could always come out to help move ya.”

“I may hold you to that.” Maggie said, giving her mother a smile. But for now, I want to check up on Troy, okay?”

“Okay.”

~o~O~o~

Lok waited till just after dinner to pull Tracy from her friends just once more. “For someone with just a few years of training, you fight decently, even if he had no skill at all.”

“You're not mad that I fought, are you?”

“I said before, even a hare bites when cornered.” Lok replied. They walked around the backside of Modine's home and they stopped at Modine's porch, where Tracy took a seat on the second to bottom step. Lok leaned against the porch. “You did try to send him away, several times. He refused to take that option. You were headed to safety yourself and you made me proud by making sure that Brooke, Sage, her sister, and Rachel got into the house safely.”

“They're my friends. I can't let them get hurt. Not over me.”

“It takes a big person to defend people instead of thinking only of themselves. You have done it before, by protecting your grandmother. And now your friends.” Lok said with a smile. “You are a good person for doing that.”

“Thanks.”

“And when we get you to Livermore, I want to take you to Jaio for a refresher course and see where in her class you can fit.”

“Thank you.” Tracy said with a smile.

~o~O~o~

Bernice was walking down the hall to the bathroom of her daughters home, while Maggie was busy at her mother in law's place, as were William, the boys and all the girls. Bernice had wanted to come over to get a shower and head to bed, mostly because she was tired from the days drive and the lack of a nap that afternoon, due to the fight that had happened on the property. Normally she was used to going to bed at nine in the evening and her body was still used to the time in Wyoming which was only an hour ahead. But it had been a long day for her and sleep was needed.

She noticed something in the closet belonging to her two grandsons, just out of the corner of her eyes as she passed the bedroom door and She stopped, backed up a step and leaned inside. There hanging in the closet were several skirts, blouses and a couple of dresses and a stack of boxes, stuffed inside the closet.

Bernice stepped inside and took a closer look at them. She gently moved one of the blouses to get a look at the size. Something wasn't adding up right. She could see some boys clothes, but more than half of the bar in the closet was filled with girls clothes. She waited a moment and listened to see if her daughter or anyone else had come over. She knew this was none of her concern, but the nosy side of her decided to investigate something. On the floor by the dresser were five packs, two of them had the names of two of the girls that were next door. “Why would they hang up their stuff.....” She asked aloud. “And why are all of Troy's friends girls?”

On the dresser was a picture of the same five girls that were at the property, plus Modine, Maggie and a third girl. Something compelled Bernice to take a closer look at the picture. And as she stared at the unnamed child, she realized she was staring at her youngest grandson, in a dress and with pigtails. Things started to fell into place. She had thought that Maggie said something a week or two earlier, like calling her child a different name. And she swore the bigger girl named Rachel had whispered the name Tracy. And they had all heard the little six year old call Troy something that started with Trace, but the redhead had spoken over her sister. Then there was the fag comment from the punk who had attacked earlier.

“He wears girls clothes?” Bernice said, unaware she was speaking aloud. “why...what would compel....” She trailed off as she heard the sound of the gate to Modine's property. She glanced out the window to the boys room and saw Maggie, Persephone and the girls coming towards the house. She did a quick look around the room, just to make sure nothing was out of place, then she slipped out of the room and into the bathroom. She knew she should talk to her daughter, but she had to get Maggie alone.

~o~O~o~

Casey and Stacey were busy with Brooke, packing up the books in the bookcase. Tracy had showed them where her books were and where Vance's was. Rachel and Sage were taking the time to neatly fold all of her stuff as they pulled it out of the closet and put it in a box. 'Romy sat on the bed, holding Tracy's bear, as Persephone and Maggie talked in the kitchen.

Tracy was glad they had waited, so her grandmother didn't have the chance to see what was really in there, but she knew that she had to wear Troy's pajamas, in case her grandparents came in early the next morning. It would be too hard to hide her nightgown. Tracy focused on the dresser, making sure to leave her boy clothes in there so she had things to wear the next day or two. Her Grandparents were already in bed in their trailer for the evening and Vance was up watching TV, leaving the girls the chance to get things done.

“I still can't believe how good you fight.” Rachel stated.

“I may not be that good.” Tracy replied. “Clark just can't fight at all.”

“True.” Sage said with a giggle. “'Romy could have beat him.”

The little girl nodded and giggled back and balled up her tiny fist. Tracy chuckled and Brooke shook her head. “Don't sell yourself short. You were as good as some of the students at my Grandparents’ school.” Brooke stated.

Tracy leaned her back against the dresser. “I guess. I'm just glad that he's gone. Too bad he already screwed up any chance of Emily May and Mary Beth coming over.”

“Yeah.” Sage nodded in agreement.

“Hey, we should write some letters for them.” Rachel said, her eyes twinkling. “So they knew we were here and wanted to hang out.”

“I got some paper.” Tracy said, pointing to the dresser. “The binder with the pink cover, we could use that. Each of us could send a letter to them and Vance can give it to them on Monday.”

“Cool, but after we're done, okay?” Sage suggested. “May as well finish this now, while you got the help.”

~o~O~o~

Her husband lay next to her, already fast asleep, but Bernice lay there, still thinking about the picture she had seen in her grandchildren's room, and the clothes. She knew that Maggie knew, but she wasn't sure how she should approach it. She was also sure that William knew, just from having the clothes in the house and Conner seemed nicer to Troy, but Modine wasn't positive if he knew or not. She wasn't sure if Marion knew, or cared. He seemed to be the laid back one of the two of them. Every part of her told her it was wrong. Boys were boys. Sure, she knew her other daughter, Margret's sister had slept with women, she had found that out ages before and she knew that's why she had never remarried after her husband passed away. She was sure that there was another woman in the picture, but that was a lot different than dressing up as the opposite sex.

Bernice lay there, unsure of how to handle this. It wasn't her home, but she was sure that she could help steer Troy back onto the right path. Then she recalled something from the past few months and she quietly whispered. “That's why.” The pieces fell into place and Bernice knew she had to talk to Maggie, for the sake of her daughter and grandchild. Before Troy left for Livermore.

Two problems down, now how shall the Grandmother act? What of Molly Hallmark? What of Maggie's past? Will William's work treat him differently after Billy's arrest? So many questions.....

“I'm tired of hiding. I hate these clothes. I hate Troy.”

Tracy got up and began pulling off the shirt she had on, pulling it over her shoulders. Sage stood with her. “Stacey, get the door. Rachel, get a skirt from the closet and a matching blouse.” Sage asked their friends in hushed tones. Sage stopped her before she could completely remove her pants.

“Okay.” Rachel nodded.

Sage pulled Tracy into a hug. “So can I assume that Troy just said his final goodbye?”

Thanks to Djakuf for the edits

The story continues, the next day, Sunday. Soon this weekend shall be over.

Also keeping the rating where it is for the subject matter with William's story

February 6th 1983

Bernice had wanted to talk to Maggie all morning, but either her children and the girls who were visiting, were near by her, or Maggie was running stuff to and from Modine's house. Finally she caught her on the way back to her house. She had no clue where the girls had gone to. She knew her husband was sleeping in the trailer. William was with the Chinese guy and the other parent and they were somewhere looking at the farm work Conner was doing. Persephone was with her youngest daughter, hanging out with Modine. She she took her chance, while she had it. As Maggie reached the front door, Bernice came around her trailer.

“Margret, could we talk inside for a moment?”

“Sure Mom.” Maggie said, not wanting to correct her on the use of the name just yet. She hated the name Margret. Hated it with a passion. But it was never wise to antagonize her mother and with a possible week to the visit, she wanted it to go as smoothly as possible. And her mother loved the name Margret and the Maggie/ Margret fight had been going on since Maggie was a teen. She led her mother inside and her mom pointed to the chairs.

Bernice waited till they both were seated in the e-z-chairs before she started. “Margret, When I was headed to the shower last night, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye in your kids room and I have to know, Why is there a bunch of girls clothes in your boy's room? Those girls couldn't have brought that many clothes. And if they did, why are they hung up in your child’s closet and why are there girl’s panties in the dresser, along with a couple of nightgowns?”

Maggie felt outrage first and she snapped at her mother, instead of trying to remain calm. “You searched their room?!? Why?!?”

“I saw the clothes hanging in the closet last night and I was understandably curious about the dresses in the closet. I may have searched a bit too much. But after seeing the clothes, I feel I have a right to know what's going on with my grandchildren. I need to know they are safe. But I thought about it all night, Margret, I figured it out why this is going on and this can't be healthy for him. Just because of his surgery, that doesn’t make him a girl. You're not helping. Someone had to buy him those clothes Maggie, and you shouldn't have done that, He's your son, and doing this and living in the past like you tend to do, you'll mess up his mind.”

“Mom, don't call me Margret, I hate that name, call me Maggie, you know that.” And in that phrase, Bernice knew she had angered her daughter. The logical part of her knew that the chance for a good, healthy, productive talk was gone. This was how many of their fights had started before. Maggie had always let her mother get her way, till the name was invoked. But both women had a temper and when angered, they didn't like to give up. Maggie's eyes locked onto her mother, but she stayed in her seat. “And I am not living in the past!””

“Maggie.” Her mother sighed, using her daughter’s preferred name. “What he's doing isn't healthy and you're not helping. I know you've wanted a daughter, even since Alyson died, but forcing your son to be a girl isn't healthy for either of you.”

“This isn't me living out what could have happened, Mother!” Maggie snapped. “Tracy has been to several professionals and they all say the same thing. That my youngest is a girl, trapped in a boy’s body. They're even thinking of giving her hormones for girls.”

“Marg...Maggie, this isn't healthy. Troy is a boy, not a girl.”

“Mother, It's Tracy now. Professionals have checked her out. They say this is the best for her.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy had been in the house with her friends the whole time, in the bedroom finishing up on the packing she had to do. They had all gone quiet when she had heard her mother and Grandmother talking. She wanted to curl up on her bed, but she had grown sick of hiding. Even being in the boy’s clothes for just the past couple of days was making her angry and depressed. Now her Grandmother didn't want her to continue in the life she wanted.

She sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the boxes of clothes they had packed already. “I'm tired of this.” Troy whispered.

“What?” Sage asked in a whisper.

“I'm tired of hiding. I hate these clothes. I hate Troy.”

Tracy got up and began pulling off the shirt he had on, pulling it over his shoulders. Sage stood with her. “Stacey, get the door. Rachel, get a skirt from the closet and a matching blouse.” Sage asked their friends in hushed tones. Sage stopped her before she could completely remove her pants.

“Okay.” Rachel nodded.

Sage pulled Tracy into a hug. “So can I assume that Troy just said his final goodbye?”

“Yeah.” She nodded. “She's going to meet the real me and I don't care what she thinks.”

“Come on then, We'll help you get ready.” Sage grabbed a blanket off her bed and held it up to give Tracy the privacy she needed. Rachel went to the boxes and dug out a nice skirt and top.

~o~O~o~

While the two women were arguing, Tracy walked into the living-room, wearing one of her nicest skirts and shirts, tears were still going down her cheek, but she held her head high. The girls had done a quick job in turning her hair into a feminine style. Three steps into the living room she got worried and bolted for her mothers chair. Maggie saw her at the last moment and moved as Tracy hopped up into Maggie's lap. She leaned her head against her mothers chest, who was stunned at first at the arrival of her daughter. But after a moment she began to stroke her daughter’s hair and she looked at her mother.

“Mom, meet Tracy, your Granddaughter and face it, she's staying, whether you like it or not.” Maggie said, having calmed down some, since her daughter came out. “The first little while I thought it was a stage. I thought she wouldn't go as far as she did, but honestly, this little girl is here to stay.”

“Maggie, Troy is a boy and this can't be healthy for his mind.”

“Mom, Troy is a depressed little boy, who has told me that if he has to live one more day as Troy, he'll take his own life. You've seen him mope around since you've gotten here, he was absolutely miserable.” Tracy nodded as she looked at her grandmother. “Mom, this isn't a snub at you or Dad, this is who my child is.”

Maggie sighed and looked to the clock, then to her daughter. She knew her anger wasn't helping the cause. She knew she needed help. So changed subjects to give her some thinking time. “Baby, it's almost lunch time, would you help me make lunch for us and your Grandparents, and your friends?”

“It's okay, we can always get something later.” Her mother said, trying to end the conversation. “We got stuff in the trailer.”

“Mom, I want to talk. I need to talk.” Maggie hugged her daughter. “We need to talk, okay? Running away from this won't make it go away. You've found out, you may as well hear how it got this far.”

“Okay.”

Maggie went to Sage and whispered into her ear. The redhead nodded then left the house, sprinting for Modine's place.

~o~O~o~

Vance, Jerry and Mooney were off on bikes again, while Conner walked around, showing William, Lok and Harvey his idea place for a garden. Conner knew he was favoring Harvey as he talked and guilt was digging at him. It wasn't that he hated Lok, but his time in World War two had helped him become leery of Asians, or at least that was the lie he hid behind. He knew he had been cold to the man's crippled granddaughter, too.

They stopped in one corner of the yard and Conner's conscience finally got the best of him and he knew he should do something. He had been thinking about how he felt for treating Tracy, and now here he was, doing it again. He turned to Lok, then he held out a hand to Lok. “Sir, I'm sorry. I've been a jerk to you. It may not seem that way, but I'm been ignoring you, or just giving you a bad attitude and that's wrong of me.” He said.

“Think nothing of it.” Lok said, shaking his hand.

“I've always been negative towards most Asians, because of events in World War two.” Conner stated. “But that's no excuse for treating anyone badly. If William and Maggie are okay with you, that should be good enough for me. And hiding behind the War is an excuse. William was in Vietnam and he doesn't have a problem.”

“Sometimes hatred blinds us, and it is rarely ever a logical hate.”

“Yeah. I almost lost out on a granddaughter and a wife from my own stupidity.” Conner said with a nod.

“And how did it change?” Lok asked.

“Well, Modine kicked me out of the house when Tracy came back from Livermore after Thanksgiving. It wasn't till her attack that I realized that I was being stupid. I thought she was a weak person, a worthless queer, until I watched her take on three kids, all bigger then her, to defend my Modine. I'm not sure what it was, there was a quality in her that impressed me. She could have run, but instead, she defended her grandmother, while injured.”

“She is a special child.” Lok Agreed.

“And she was the reason that I've been getting better. I should have never been rude to you these past few days. Your Granddaughter either.”

“She is not the reason. She is just the one who set you on the right path. She may have helped you see the error of your ways and now you can see your regret, you are changing your attitude. I would say that unlike those who never learn to accept those who are different, you are on your way.” Lok replied with a smile. “As for my Brooke, she is used to people treating her badly, not from her skin, but because of her legs. Yet she rarely lets it get to her.”

Conner gave a nod. “But I would still like to apologize to her as well.”

William sighed. “I'll admit that I have no problem with you, but your granddaughter....” He trailed off for a moment. “She reminds me of what could have been. I've been a bit cold with her.”

“What do you mean?” Lok asked.

“When I was in Vietnam, one of the camps I was stationed at was near a small village. There was an orphanage on the outskirts. And a lot of us soldiers would go over and give the kids things like candy, shirts and stuff like that. I was stationed there for about six months and there was this small girl, maybe a year and a half old. She had the greatest little smile. I had actually talked to my CO to get the paperwork started to see if Maggie and I could adopt her. See, Maggie had wanted a daughter and although she wouldn't have been ours, we could have loved her all the same.”

William steeled himself for the next part of the story. It was the part that hit him with regret and anger and was the reason that he rarely spoke of it. “At the time, the Johnny Cash song “A boy named Sue” was out and I thought Susan was a great name, so that's what I called her. We had some of the red tape finished and the CO was just going to alter some paperwork so we could claim she was really my daughter and get her out of the county. But it never happened.”

William leaned against one of the many olive trees. “A battalion of North Vietnamese stormed the town and by time we managed to push them back, we found they had hit the orphanage.” Tears began to drop down William's cheeks. “Any child that had anything American was murdered. The girls were treated worse.” He didn't have to say anything about what worse was, each of the men there knew what could happen to women in wartime. “I had never wanted to hurt another human being like that in my life, not until Tracy's attack and attempted rape by Bruce, but when I found that little broken girl, my little angel, I wanted to hunt every last one of those bastards down and give them the eye for an eye treatment. She wasn't even two years old. I can't even listen to that song anymore, because all I can see is that little girls face.”

William looked to Lok. “I don't hate Brooke, but seeing her in person and hanging out with Tracy made me think about how things could have been. She makes me wonder what type of child Susan would have been. She would be about thirteen by now.”

“War has a way of changing a man's principles and hurting those who may not wish to be involved.” Lok said. “But to defend the defenseless, that is the sign of a good person, and something your daughter gets from you.”

“I think she gets some of it from her mother, too.” William admitted.

“Either way, she is a special child and to have wanted to get a child out of a bad situation, you are a good man.”

“Thanks.” William replied.

~o~O~o~

Twenty minutes later, after lunch had been prepared, Maggie sent her daughter to the trailer out front to wake her father from his nap. She was glad that Persephone was there, so someone could help her explain what was going on. She had one chance at this and hopefully she wouldn't anger her mother in the process. Again.

Tracy was fighting the nerves as she went to the door of the trailer and knocked. She knew her mother and grandmother were watching from the kitchen window, but she was still worried about letting herself be know to her grandfather like this. Also she was outside, in her girls clothes and the last time she wandered the property like that, it didn't end well. She could hear movement inside the trailer and a moment or two the door opened and her Grandfather looked out at her and smiled. “Hello young lady, how can I help you?”

“I...um...uh...” Tracy bit her lower lip for a moment and lowered her head, welling up the courage and then she blurted out what she was told to say. “They said it's lunch time inside and I was to let you know.”

“Okay. Well let them know I'll be right there.” He said with a smile. He was too tired to realize that he was hearing his own grandchild.

Tracy nodded and went back in the house where she saw her mother and Grandmother both standing there at the window over the stove. Maggie was closing it to keep the heat in the house. Maggie was smiling, but Bernice had a shocked look on her face. Tracy helped her friends in setting up the table.

Marion went to the kitchen, nodding to his wife and daughter, who were the only ones in the room. He looked back into the living room, then down the hall towards half bath. Finally he looked to his daughter. “Maggie?”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Who was that little girl who knocked at the door? She another friend of Troy's? I didn't see her in that group of girls before, but she did seem familiar.”

Maggie smiled and shook her head. “Tracy, come out please.” Tracy emerged from her bedroom, her friends all waited in there to see what would happen. This time she had started to shake unsure of what her grandfather would do. As she got close, Maggie put a hand on her shoulder. “Dad, I'd like you to meet Tracy, your granddaughter.”

“Granddaughter? You adopted another child?” He asked. “Where's she been the past day?”

“Not adopted Dad, and she's been here the past few days.” Maggie stated. “ In fact, Tracy has been here all along, even back in Wyoming a few years back.”

He turned and studied the child, not picking up on what she meant at first. He recalled the visit, when Maggie had driven Vance and Troy out for a month long visit. He recalled the visit well, then his lips pulled back in a smile as he saw the necklace his mother-in-law had given Maggie when she was eleven. “Troy?”

“No Grandpa.” Tracy said as she shook her head. “It's not Troy anymore, it's Tracy now.”

His emotions hovered around confusion then he seemed to think about something and finally he reached out and hugged the girl. “Well Tracy, you are quite pretty. I do believe you said that lunch was ready?”

“How can you be so calm about this?” Bernice asked her husband in dismay, as he held out a chair for his Wife. As she took it, he moved and held one out for Persephone, then he held out of for his daughter. The girls went to a card table sitting nearby.

“Well Bernice, first of all, I'm hungry. Secondly, where has hatred of something or someone got anyone in the past? And last, this isn't our house, so what can I really do about it? But honestly I'm surprised that you're surprised.” He stated as Maggie sat down, then he went to his own seat. “Face facts, even when they were in Wyoming, Troy wasn't the most boyish kid there. That's what Maggie meant by Tracy had been the one there? Isn't it?” He asked, looking to his daughter.

“Right. I think this has been happening for a long time, we just never noticed it till last August.” Maggie replied.

Marion looked to his wife. “Let me ask you a question. When they were at the house in Wyoming, who did Troy spend more time with?”

Bernice was quiet for a moment, then she remembered. “With Maggie and me.” Bernice finally said.

“I tried to take Troy hunting, but he was interested in flowers and butterflys. I just thought it was his age showing through. I guess I was wrong.” He looked to his daughter. “Care to clue me in on this Maggie?”

“I would love to. I've made Mom wait, it's only fair you hear it too. Actually, Persephone can help too, because she's dealing with the same thing.” Maggie replied, gesturing to Persephone. “Conner and Modine know already, and so does Shelly and Frank and yes this has something to do with why Tracy is home-schooled and being moved to Livermore, But let me get the whole story out before you ask questions.”

Tracy tried to focus on her food as her mother began the story, starting with her suspicions that Tracy had been wearing her clothes for a couple of years. She covered how Modine had found her in August and the deal that allowed Tracy to visit on the weekends. She went over the story of Vance and Troy's suspension from school, then the trip to Livermore, meeting with Sage and Rachel and William's acceptance.

As she began the story of Bruce's attack, the little girl began to cry lightly, causing Sage to put an arm around her. But Maggie kept going, making sure to not leave nothing out. She let Persephone tell of Tracy's visit to her friends before Christmas. The girls only barely managed to keep from talking about the visit. Maggie took control of the conversation back and finally finished with the pictures and the threats and their upcoming move to Livermore, her daughter had regained her control of her emotions.

When she had finished, Maggie got up and left the room for a few minutes, but neither grandparent spoke, leaving a strange silence in the room. When Maggie returned, she had two pictures. She handed them to her mother and gestured to her father to look as well. “This one was from last fourth of July. This was in Livermore, just after Thanksgiving. Notice anything?”

“Just that he's in girls clothes in one?” Maggie's mother offered.

“No Bernice, It's the smile.” Marion stated. “Right there.”

“Yeah. The smile is almost always on my daughters lips.” Maggie picked up the other picture. “These girls here are Tracy's friends and they accept her as a girl.” Without being asked, all the girls began nodded. “The parents of the girls accept Tracy as a girl. My baby stayed there for a week and there were no problems at all.”

“None?” Marion asked.

“None at all.” Persephone replied. “She was at my house two nights and my sisters as well. None of the parents had a problem with Tracy. See, these girls have dealt with this before.” Persephone stated, she gestured to Sage. “See my eldest girl was born with both sets of parts and I refused to let the doctors cut her up because they felt like Gods. So none of them have a problem with Sage and none have a problem with Tracy.”

“You should take him to a psychologist or something.” Bernice suggested.

“We have and he is supporting Tracy. We see him once a month. The next appointment is in two weeks and that will have a second therapist there to get approval for hormones. If you want to go I will give you the address. Although we may see him when we move Tracy down this week.” Maggie replied. “He's the doctor she went to see in December while she visited her friends.”

“Then you should get a second opinion.”

“Doctor Ivan is a good Doctor. He's been super cool to me all this time.” Sage stated.

“Mom, a professional has seen Tracy. Even the Doctor who preformed the Orchiectomy helped and offered Tracy the chance to see a Therapist to make sure what to do. She could have just forced us to pump testosterone into her, but she gave Tracy the choice.”

“What about the bible. Maggie, this is against what it says in the bible. Maybe you should all go to Church?” Her mother said. Tracy rolled her eyes but decided to just finish her lunch.

“See that's the argument that those crazy ladies from the church are using. They claim that wearing these clothes will make Tracy want to rape and kill the kids in the town. To be honest, I have been thinking of going to a church when we move to the Bay Area, but honestly Mom, the bible says a lot of things and contradicts itself, a lot. I've seen you wearing pants and short hair, the same verse that the church ladies used against her can work both ways. If you want to go with a biblical stand point, what about Judge not? Or love thy neighbor like you wish to be loved? There are a lot of things in the bible, but should we follow them all? Should I take Vance out back and stone him to death for the times he's lied to me? Should I be stoned to death for anytime I may have ever taken the Lord's name in vain?” She held up her sandwich. “This is ham, that's a no-no in the first part of the bible. I've eaten shell fish before, the house doesn't have battlements on it. Face it Mom, the first part of the bible has a list of rules that people barely pay attention to.” She gave her mother a look that only she, her parents and her daughter understood her next statement. “Should those people who cheat on a spouse be put to death? This is a good child and there's nothing wrong with her, just a birth defect.”

Her mother thought about that and was silent for a minute or two. “I don't know Margret....this just seems wrong.” Bernice finally said.

Maggie leveled a steady look at her mother. Without looking away she addressed her father and daughter. “Tracy, could you and your Grandfather please go outside for a moment. Girls, could you go with them? Please, take your sandwiches, but my mother and I need to have a talk. Tracy nodded and everyone grabbed their food and headed for the door.

Once the door had shut, Maggie got up and moved to the other side of the table. She looked at her mother, not in anger, but just a firm look. “Mother, I don't claim to know what's going on in Tracy's head. Yes, I enjoy having a daughter. Yes a part of me would rather have Tracy then Troy because the girl is much more open and friendly, plus she's more confident. She's proven herself as a good daughter and as a great grandchild when she risked her health and defended Modine while injured. The same injuries have made sure that she will never have children, or a normal male life, ever.”

“Mom, it's simple. Tracy is here to stay. You have three options. First is you can get up and leave, writing off this family as a total loss and never have any contact with us ever again. And let me tell you, that one will rip my heart out and crush my child, but don't you dare stand between my child and her happiness. The second choice is that you refuse to accept it but let her live her life and never bring it up in a derogatory way and enjoy the rest of your visit. The last is that you can accept that this is what Tracy wants and it's what the Doctors, trained professionals, think is best for her and learn to love your Granddaughter. She has five friends who totally accept her as a girl, one of them knows what she is going through because she is dealing with it too. I know this isn't normal, but what is?”

“I can almost bet you that right now Dad and her friends are trying to console her and get her to stop crying because she wanted you two to meet her and she was worried that this would happen. So she was ready to hide in the guise of Troy, just to keep you from getting mad because she is tired of being attacked for what she is. She was willing to forgo her happiness, just to keep you happy, so don't even think she's being selfish in this.” Maggie stood up and pushed her chair in. “I'll give you a few minutes to think about it, but I think my daughter needs me.”

Maggie made it to the doorway when she stopped. “Honestly, she needs her Grandmother, too. All girls should know their Grandmothers, but only go to her if you have no problem with my daughter.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy, her friends and her Grandfather all left the house and started walking past the house and towards the field and the barn. Marion reached over and put an arm around her shoulders. “Tracy, I'm sorry. I know your grandmother can be a bit old fashioned and stubborn. It's supposed to be the man who doesn't understand, but like I said, I'm not too shocked. I have a few questions, and if it's okay I would love to talk, but we don't have to.”

“You don't hate me, do you?” She asked.

He smiled and shook his head. “Tracy, if I hated you, would we be talking?”

“I....I guess not.” Tracy replied.

“Can I ask, is this permanent? I mean will you be getting that surgery that the woman in New York got?”

“Who's that?”

“I forget her name, but she is basically a woman in a man's body, or she was, then she got a surgery and is now a woman.”

“Christine Jorgensen.” Sage answered.

“Yeah, her.” He nodded. “So are you going to do that? Become all woman?”

“I think....I don't know.” Tracy shrugged. “I mean I want to. There's been a couple of times, while making dinner, when no one is in the house with me, I've looked at a knife in my hand and just thought about how easy it would be to just cut it off.”

“Cut what off? Your....” He let the question hang, but pointed below her waist line.

“Yeah.” She said with a nod. Rachel and Sage gasped and she felt another arm wrap around her waist. “But I'm just too afraid of messing up, so I haven't done it.”

“Good.” Marion put a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. “Baby, you ever feel like that again, promise me you'll talk to someone. There's so much that could go wrong. You cut off your..... thing and you could bleed to death before anyone can get to you. There's a major vein in that.”

“But I hate the damn thing.” Tracy said. Marion began to blush at the topic. It wasn't a conversation he had ever though he'd have with a grandchild. “I want to just rip the stupid thing off.”

“I can see that.” He pulled her in and hugged her tightly. When he let her go, he kissed her cheek. “Come on, tell me about these girls you've befriended. They must be special if they are this protective of you.”

“They are.” Tracy said as she looked at her friends. “And each of them is awesome in their own right. Brooke is an athlete, even though she's in the wheelchair. Casey can't hear, but she loves to draw, Rachel loves to sing, Stacey is super cool and Sage helps me out when I talk to her.”

“That's good.” Marion said. “I'm glad she had friends like you girls. Everyone needs friends in life to enjoy the trip with.”

“Thanks.” The girls replied.

“So, does this mean you like boys?” Marion asked his granddaughter.

“I like one boy.” Tracy answered, not wanting to tell her friends about her thoughts of Brooke stripping. “I'm not sure if it's just boys I like.”

“Well, you are eleven, so let things work themselves out and you can pick later. Like when you're sixteen and your mother lets you date.”

“Mom said I had to wait till I was thirty.” Tracy chuckled. “They were already trying to keep Peter away from me when I am home.”

“A typical parent thing to do when it comes to a daughter.” Marion said. He heard footsteps so he turned and saw his daughter. “Everything okay?”

“I just wanted to make sure my baby was okay.”

“As good as gold.” Her father said. “In fact we've been talking.”

~o~O~o~

Persephone went into the house after Maggie had left and she found Bernice at the table. “Mrs. Richter, I know you have no reason to listen to me, but please, hear me out. I know the pains of having a child like Tracy.” Persephone took a seat across from her. “There is nothing wrong with Tracy. The child you knew is still there. The lessons of right and wrong are still there. This change wont make Tracy into some kind of crazy ax murderer. She is a scared little girl, who got put in the wrong body.”

“It just seems wrong. Boys should be boys.” Bernice stated, but she was having a hard time figuring out what was right and wrong. “Not dressing up as a little girl.”

“My eldest, the redhead has both sets of parts. She has a penis and a vagina. How normal is that?” Persephone asked. “Sure, the Penis isn't that large, and the Vagina is partly closed off, but tell me how she would fit into the whole boys are boys and girls are girls. Please, I've often wondered if I was wrong for pulling her away from that Doctor who just wanted to choose what she was going to be.”

“I....don't know.” Bernice thought about it for a moment then looked at Persephone. “She really has both parts?”

“Yeah. And she's starting hormones because her body isn't producing them like it should.” Persephone stated. “She has been a boy and a girl. She hasn't lived like a boy in ages now. But in her heart, she's a girl. The same goes for Tracy. I've had a group of five girls staying at my house now, about once a month for little over three years. Tracy is just like they are. She's not a boy in a dress. In fact I've never seen any boy mannerisms in her at all. Have you? Ones that are natural, not forced?”

“You know....for once I am at a loss of what to do.” Bernice shook her head slowly. “Maggie gave me three options. Leave and never speak to them again, tolerate it or love Tracy, but I really don't know what to do.”

“Well, what do you want to do? If you leave, will you ever return? If the answer is no, can you say goodbye to your daughter and her family for the rest of their lives? And are you willing to take them away from your husband too? Ma'am, have you ever used the argument that it's what’s on the inside of a person that you should judge?” Persephone watched as Bernice nodded. “We all have, but this is one of those moments where you see that statement in action. You're seeing Troy the boy and refusing to see Tracy the girl. Sure, if Tracy were to strip, you would see a young boy standing there, but you watched her walk out of the house. You watched her make lunch. Did you see a boy there? Or a scared little girl who is worried that she just caused her Grandmother to hate her mother and her family for the rest of their lives.”

“I'm....I'm not used to this.”

“I know. Girls like Tracy can have that effect on you, but it doesn't mean they are bad children.” Persephone stated.

I'm almost finished with that one weekend. Then Tracy can move onto the Polka festival.....wait, no, that can't be right.
On a personal note, the story that William tells of the girl in Vietnam actually happened to my Father. There was an orphanage he had actually talked to Mom, through letters, about adopting a girl that he had named Sue, but the Vietnamese army came in and killed a lot of the people in the town, including the children at the orphanage.

There will be at least one or two more posts that cover this weekend, then we move on again.

Thanks to Djkauf for the edits

Continuing once more, this time we say goodbye to an old friend.

Also, due to not wanting to give away the good parts, there is no teaser this time.

More of Tracy, the Girls, The Parents and the rest.

They had decided to walk to the Turners farm and see the sheep while they were out. Tracy had worried about being seen in a skirt at first, but then she remembered how much she wanted to just get rid of Troy. A part of her hoped that no one would know her, so she decided to just blend in with her friends. It was when they were on their way back that Tracy decided to ask a question that had been bugging her since she heard her mother arguing with her grandmother. “Mom?” Tracy stopped and looked at her. “Who is Alyson?”

Maggie sighed. She had guessed that Tracy had heard, since she had been in the house when the argument started. The was another part of her past that she tried to hide from. Unlike her infidelity, this wasn't something she was ashamed of, instead this was something that tore her heart out every time she thought about it. She had decided to stop hiding things from her daughter. Her father looked at her, then patted her shoulder. “We'll give you two some space. Come on girls, let's go back and look for the turkeys.”

“Thank you, Dad.” Maggie said and they watched him lead the girls away. Maggie was quiet for a few minutes, as she tried to get the strength to talk about her past again. She led Tracy over to a tree that had a low hanging branch that stuck mostly straight out. She helped her daughter up onto the perch and then leaned against the tree. “When I was just fifteen, I met a guy that I thought was the one. This was a couple of years before I met your father.”

Maggie shut her eyes for a moment, not wishing to look at her daughter who was no doubt rethinking her thoughts about her mother once more. “He told me all the things I wanted to hear. I melted each time he looked me in the eyes. I just loved how he made me feel, but I always stopped him before we got too far. I used to sneak out of the house to see him and that drove mom crazy. Then one night we had gone off to a popular make-out spot. Things got hot....and as much as I wanted to, I couldn't say no.”

“Did he rape you?”

Maggie sighed.“No. By time we we were undressed I was willing. But then it was over so fast that it wasn't worth the problems that happened after that.”

“Like what problems? Grandma?”

Maggie opened up her eyes and saw her daughter was still watching her. “The next day at school he had spread around the rumor of how easy I was.”

“Easy how?” Tracy said.

“Easy means a girl will let anyone have sex with her.”

“He told lies? That's not right.”

“Yeah, but that's how guys are.” Maggie said. “But things went downhill from there. About six weeks later I started to get sick. After two weeks of that, I managed to get the nerve up to tell my mother what had happened. After a really heated argument, She took me into the doctor and we learned I was pregnant.”

“Alyson?” Tracy asked. Maggie nodded.

“Yeah. We ended up moving to LA after we found I was pregnant. I was going to start my junior year of high school when school started, and the baby was due to be born in the end of August. See back then, unwed teen mothers were usually shunned, so we moved to save me from that.” Maggie had began to cry and Tracy hopped off the branch and put her arms around her mother. “In the middle of July, a month and a half early, I went into premature labor....there were problems....She...when she was born....” Maggie began to cry harder.

“It's okay, Mama.” Tracy said as she held her mother. She had begun to shed her own tears. “It's okay. You don't have to say anymore.”

“You...you deserve to know....” Maggie said as she managed to stop the sobbing. They stood there for several minutes, as daughter held mother. Finally Maggie continued her story. “When she was born she had a birth defect....There was a problem with...with her lungs...” Maggie's sobs came back as she sagged to her knees from the weight of the old torment. “I n-n-never even got to h-hold my little girl.”

Tracy held on to her mother as the two of them ended up on their knees in the grass. Neither of them said a word for several minutes. Maggie rested her head against her daughters shoulders and just cried, while Tracy held her head and just tried to soothe her.

“Mama, it's okay.” Tracy said after almost five minutes had passed. “I'm sorry she didn't make it. I would have loved an older sister.”

“I bet you would have made a wonderful little sister.”

“Mom, is this what you meant by you knew how people would treat me if they thought Peter and I did something?” The last words brought a deep blush to Tracy’s cheeks.

Her mother let out a sniffle as the wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yes. I was labeled a whore to that school. I was the reason we had to leave. Hell, my sister hated me because of it, but things worked out in the end. I found your Father in LA.” Maggie began to stand up, then she helped her daughter up and brushed off her knees. “Tracy?”

“Yeah Mama?”

“I know this is like two massive secrets I've dropped on you in the last month and I got to know....do you love me any less?”

Tracy thought about it for half a second, then she wrapped her arms around her mother again. “No Mama. I still love you. Like Dad said the other time, we all make mistakes, right? And If I can't forgive, what type of person am I?”

Maggie wiped at the tears running from her eyes, but she gave her daughter a proud smile. “What did I do to deserve a great daughter like you?”

“Lucky, I guess.” Tracy said, smiling back, then the smile faded. “But what if Grandma is still mad?”

“Honestly, if she can't accept you, then it's her loss. You shouldn't live your life to make someone else happy.” Maggie replied, wiping at the last of the tears on her cheek. “But for now let's go catch up with your grandfather so he knows we're okay.” She held out her hand and Tracy took it, then the two ladies headed back to the house. They saw Marion pointing out birds flying off in the distance to the girls.

They stopped by them and Marion looked, taking quick stock of them. “You both okay?”

“Yeah. Just skeletons from the past.” Maggie replied. They started walking towards the house. Then only to find that the truck her parents owned was gone. Tracy began to cry again. Persephone was walking over to where they were

“None of that now.” Persephone said.

“She left?” Tracy asked, looking from her mother, to Grandfather to Persephone. “She hates me?”

“Tracy, I can't answer that, but she said she had some things to think about and she will be back.” Persephone said.

Marion nodded slowly. “I've known your Grandmother long enough to say we need to let her think about this. Trying to push her into liking you will just make her hate you. So please, don't concern yourself about the hows and whys. Just come in and we can talk if you want.”

But Tracy didn't hear him, she was more focused on her grandmothers absence. Tears started to fall once more and before either of them could stop her, she bolted for the house. Maggie shook her head. “Dammit. This is my fault.”

“No. You know how your mother can be.”

Maggie looked at him, then gestured to the house. “Dad, I basically told her to either like Tracy, deal with it quietly, or leave. This is my fault.”

“She told me that.” Persephone admitted. “But I talked to her after you all left. I think I gave her some food for thought.”

Her father was quite for a moment, then he nodded again. “But you were in the right. This is your house, and as guests, we should be respectful to the people who live here. But I think she needs to come to a decision on her own. Besides, she won't leave the trailer here, and I hope she won't leave me here.” He tried to joke, but it fell flat.

“Girls, can you go check up on Tracy, please?” Maggie asked. The girls nodded and headed for the house.

~o~O~o~

Bernice pulled her truck to a stop in a parking lot that overlooked the river. She had been driving for more then two hours and her mind was busy going over everything she knew. Her grandchild, the next to the eldest, was dressing as a girl. Everything she knew said it was wrong. But she kept thinking about Persephone's child and how if one child could be born differently, why couldn't two?

She started to think of the past and how the little boy was when he was a child. She slowly recalled each time that she had been around him. Each time she realized something. What her husband said was right. Troy had always hung out with them, and rarely with her husband. Then she began to think of little Troy and how at one point, she had noticed his girlish actions. Or how easily he had gotten along with his cousins who were both girls.

Bernice turned off the motor and she leaned back in her seat, just starting out of the windshield. She wasn't sure what she should do. She knew that if she left, she could ruin her marriage, by forcing her husband to lose contact with one of his daughters. She could crush her daughter at the same time and just acting nice for the sake of being nice never worked out. She had to figure it out. She needed an answer and she needed it soon.

~o~O~o~

Tracy and her friends followed Stacey and Casey to their father's truck. He had offered to take her stuff, but the arrival of her Grandparents meant that she was going to stay, to at least see her Grandfather, since her Grandmother left. Plus, Maggie wanted to be the one who took her daughter down.

“Thanks for coming up.” Tracy said as she hugged Stacey. “It was good seeing you.”

“Hey, don't sound like this is goodbye. Remember, we'll see you in a few days.” Stacey said “Maybe not the day you get there, but next weekend, We got plans.”

Rachel smiled. “I think Stacey asked her dad to use their place.”

“Yep.” Stacey replied. “You'll love it. We got a surprise or two there.”

“Thursday you’re mine, though.” Brooke stated with a smile. “I think Grandfather wants to take you to the school and see how good you skills are and what class you'll be in.”

“Yeah, your Grandmother will be my teacher, at least that's what he said.”

“Yeah, she does the Tai Chi, he's more of Wing chun.”

Stacey tapped Tracy's arm to get her attention. “You give those letters to Vance?”

“Yep. He put them in his pack and he'll give them to Mary Beth and Emily May tomorrow at school.” Tracy answered.

“Good.” Stacey answered. Casey came over and simply hugged Tracy, then Harvey stopped by them, after checking up in the trailer. “Well, little lady, I'll see you in a few days, along with the rest of these trouble makers.”

Tracy hugged Harvey, aware that her parents had come over to them. She watched as her friends climbed into the back seat of the truck, and Mooney who had school the next morning got in the passenger seat She gave one last wave as Harvey pulled out. The girls all started walking to the house.

~o~O~o~

An hour after their friends had left for home, Tracy was at a card table playing a board game with her friends. Her father headed out to get more wood for the fireplace and Marion was with Conner and Lok looking over tools in the sheds with Vance. She had told Peter she was leaving, but he was busy till later that afternoon.

“Hey.” Sage said as they watched William walk out of the house. She had seen him give Brooke a sad look, this being the second one she had seen, and she finally wanted to know what was going on. She was unaware that William was only on the side of the house, going over to the shed to grab firewood, and could hear then through the thin windows of the house. “Tracy? Is your Dad okay with us being here?”

“Yeah, why?” Tracy asked.

“It's weird, but he keeps giving Brooke strange looks.”

“Looks like how?”

“It could just be my wheelchair.” Brooke said.

Sage nodded slightly. “That could be, he does seem to look sad when he looks at you.”

“I saw that too.” Brooke stated. “But then I get the 'Oh the poor little crippled girl' look so much that I just try to ignore it.”

William had gone and grabbed an armload of wood and when he came into the house, the girls had all gone quiet as he gently put the wood down. When he stood up he had convinced himself to let the girls know his secret, “Brooke, Girls, I heard you all through the window a few minutes ago and....well, you're right Sage. I have been a bit strained around Brooke.” He went to his chair and sat down.

“You have seemed a bit sad.” Brooke answered.

“There's a reason to that. It's nothing that any of you girls did. In fact having a house full of kids has turned out to be rather fun. But there's a sad story involved with why I've been sad.” William said. “I was in Vietnam for the war and almost adopted a young baby there in Nineteen seventy. But as we got the paperwork settled, a group of enemy soldiers attacked the city that held the orphanage she lived in. In the attack she was killed.” He purposely gave them a watered down version of the story, not wanting to tell them the whole story and upsetting them. “Another month or two and I would have adopted that child and sent to her Maggie to live a good life. The reason this concerns you is that she would be about your age about now.”

“Oh.” Brooke said and now the sad looks from him made sense. “So I'm reminding you of her?”

He nodded. “Yes. You're reminding me of that wonderful little angel. It's nothing you did, nor do you need to change anything. Just keep being yourself and I'm sorry if I made you feel bad the past few days.”

“It's....” Brooke thought about something for a moment, then she looked up at him. “I kinda know the feelings. Mom told me my father died in 'Nam. He was in the Marines. He was an orphan so we never knew his parents, and his adoptive parents have died years ago. Plus when I got hurt...well, see my mom had a son and a daughter, not just a daughter.” Brooke stated. “My Uncle Lu was driving the car and Li, my brother, was in the front seat when we were hit. I was the only one who lived.”

“I'm sorry, I didn't know.” William said. Tracy had been surprised by the news too, having never heard Brooke tell the whole story of the accident.

“Mom and I don't talk about it much. It still hurts after all these years.”

“I can understand. I don't talk about it much either. I mean, Maggie knows, but the kids didn't, not till now.” William stated and Tracy wondered if he knew about Alyson.

Brooke gave him a little, sad smile. “Mr. Patterson, if she had lived, she would have had a wonderful father.” Brooke held her arms out, waiting for a hug. William got up and complied and as he let her go, the young girl looked up at him. “To be honest, if I could pick a father for me, I'd want a cool guy, like you.”

“Thank you, Brooke.” William said. “I'll let you girls get back to hanging out. I want to get some more wood in here for tonight.”

~o~O~o~

Maggie picked up the phone and dialed Chris's home number and waited for him to pick up. The more she thought about it, the more things she figured she had to do with Tracy and the faster she did it, the quicker she could be home and working on getting moved herself.

“Chris Wright, Can I help you?”

“Chris, it's Maggie and I need to talk to you.”

“Problems? You normally don't call on a Sunday.” Chris stated.

“You remember how I said I was going to be sending my youngest away if things kept happening and move ourselves?” Maggie asked, but she didn't wait for an answer. “We've caught the guilty parties, but the Church lady is still out there, so we're thinking she's going to stop at nothing. So I'm going to work on Monday, but can I get Tuesday through Friday off, then work my final two weeks?”

Chris sighed. He had been hopeful that she could stay, mostly because of how nice the family was, but he knew that this was how the world could work. “Okay. You sure you don't want tomorrow off?”

“Let me think about it, okay?” Maggie replied.

“Maggie, take it off. You've got things going on. Just take the week off and come back the next week, okay? If you got to move the kids, then that means getting stuff taken care of legally, like school and making sure the new place can take her to the hospital.”

“Good point. Thank you Chris.”

“You're welcome and good luck in whatever goes on.”

“The way things are going, I just may need that luck.” Maggie said with a forced chuckle.

“I'll see you next week Maggie.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy and her friends all headed over to her grandmothers place. She had stayed in her skirt and nice shirt, instead of changing for the fifty foot walk. When they got to the porch, she was slightly confused to see Lok, her father, her Grandfather Marion and her Grandfather Conner standing on the porch, watching them. When they stopped, Lok spoke up. “Girls, could I ask you to go inside? Mister Patterson would like to speak to Brooke for a moment.” The girls shrugged and all went up the steps, followed by Marion and William.

Conner stepped off the porch and dropped to one knee by Brooke. “Young lady, I don't know if you've noticed, but in the past couple of days, I've been rude to both you and your grandfather. Not openly, but I have ignored you and been treating you badly. I have apologized to him already and I want to apologize to you as well.”

Brooke shook his hand. She wasn't sure if he had a story like William's, but she was now understandably curious. “I get it all the time. People judge me from the chair, not who I am.”

Conner let go of her hand. “No. It's not the chair. I will admit, seeing you in that chair and hearing from Modine and Persephone what sports you do is nothing short of amazing. What I mean is my own stupid small minded bigotry. I've always been harsh on Asians and I used to blame it on the war, but the fact was I was just a hate filled man. I hated Tracy when I heard about the dresses, till I watched her defend her grandmother. And I needed to see that lesson again, that I shouldn't hate someone for how they look. You are a good kid. Persephone says you are a gifted student and a great athlete, and Tracy says you’re a great person and that's all that should matter.”

“Thanks.” Brooke said. “But it's okay. I know how some people can hate others for no reason at all.”

“But it's still wrong.” Conner said. “And hiding behind excuses is also wrong. So can you find it in your heart to forgive me?”

“Yeah. No harm, no foul.” She stated. “You want to be nice, then we can be nice.”

“Thanks.” He bent down and gently hugged her. “Now would you like a hand up the steps?”

“Yes please.” She said. Without being asked, she turned her chair around and waited for him and her grandfather to lift her up the stairs.

“Maybe we could talk about some of the sports you do.” Conner said as they put her chair down. “I hear you play basketball.”

“I do. We were near the top of our age group this year. Next year we want to be number one.” Brooke stated.

“That's a good goal to keep. No shame in trying to do the best you can. But I must admit, I've never heard of someone in a wheelchair playing basketball.”

“Oh? Well, then I should tell you everything I can do.” Brooke said with a chuckle. “Prepare to be surprised.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy stood on the porch, her hands in her pockets to keep them warm from the winter wind that was blowing. Peter had come over to hang out for a few hours, and she had wanted to say goodbye to him one last time. Of course she knew her friends and her parents were watching. She knew her father was behind the door, waiting for them to kiss. He was waiting for his mother to get done talking with her parents, before the two friends were separated for good.

"I'm sorry I have to leave." She told him, doing her best to not cry.

"It's better this way." Peter replied. "That crazy lady is still out there, plus how many people took pictures home. I can understand why your parents are doing this. I don't like it, but I can understand it."

"Yeah." Tracy said and she leaned against him. He put his arms around her as she looked up. "You can always have Vance send letters to me."

"I could. I don't write much, but for you I can."

"Thanks. And thanks for being cool about this."

Peter smiled at her. "Tracy, I want you safe, that's all that matters." With that, he bent down and kissed her on the lips. At that exact moment, the door handle wiggled slightly and they broke off the embrace.

"Dad." She muttered.

"I know." The door opened up and Peter's mother came out, wished Tracy good luck and went to the car. She was aware her father was out there with them now. Peter hugged her once more as his mother started her car.

"You need to get going. You got school tomorrow."

"It isn't the same without you." Peter said. "But I'll manage." He turned and headed to his mothers car, afraid to try another kiss with her father on the porch. Tracy watched as Peter rode away, going out of his life for what she figured would be forever. As that thought hit her, she began to cry and William pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sure he feels the same way Baby. No one ever likes to leave a friend."

~o~O~o~

Marion was starting to worry about his wife. It was just past nine in the evening, California time. She had yet to return from her soul searching. He breathed a sigh of relief as he heard his truck pull up. It took a few minutes for her to get out and come around the trailer, then climb in. She noticed him sitting at the tiny little table by the door, a glass of water in his hand. He waited till she was in before he spoke. “You okay?”

Bernice nodded her head. “Yeah. I just needed to think. You know how I get.”

“I know. You still angry?” He asked she she pulled off her shirt and slipped into her night clothes.

She shook her head. “No. Is Maggie?”

“No. She's not sure how to do this, though. She is regretting giving you an ultimatum.” Marion stated.

“But she is right for defending on her children.” Bernice said. “I recall giving one to my grandmother after Maggie got pregnant.”

“Your family has been quick to anger, and you recall how long it took to get your grandmother to talk to you again after that?”

“Almost ten years, and then that was just a few months before her death. So many things I could have said in that time.” Bernice sat on the edge of the bed, to face him better. “Troy was never here, was he?”

“The more I think about it, the more I have to say no.” He got up, and began changing for bed.

“Yeah.” Bernice nodded as she pulled back the covers and lay down. “I've been thinking and I just can't remember him ever being a boy. Every memory I can recall, he seems so girly.”

“Same here.” Marion admitted.

“And Maggie.....I should have never thrown Alyson in her face like that. I know how much that hurts her.”

“She hurts, but a hurt like that never goes away, we both know that.” Marion said.

“I'm going to talk to them in the morning.” Bernice stated. “First thing.”

“Good.” Marion said. “They may be up now, if you wanted to go in.”

“I should, but letting Maggie calm down is as important as me calming down.”

“Well, I won’t push you.” He stated. “Get some sleep and we'll talk to them in the morning.”

“Okay. Night, Marion.”

“Night, Bernice.”

~o~O~o~

Maggie was up and in the kitchen as she saw her mother slip into her trailer, unaware that she was being watched. When Bernice hadn't returned home that evening, Tracy went into a fit of crying again. As the door of the trailer shut, Maggie shook her head, aware that Tracy was looking out the living-room window and she started to cry again.

“Dammit Mom.” Maggie whispered. “Of all the times to be pig-headed.” She muttered, before moving to the living-room to try and soothe her child.

~o~O~o~

A couple of hours had passed since she had returned to her daughters farm and Bernice couldn't sleep. She lay in her bed, thinking about her grandchild in the house, and of the past. Finally she figured she had to do something. She had to apologize. She got up and grabbed a robe from the time closet in the trailer and headed out of the door and to her daughter’s home.

Bernice stepped into the house as quietly as she could. To save from filling up their septic tank on the trailer, William and Maggie had allowed them to use their bathroom anytime they wanted, which meant the front door was unlocked. Two night lights were plugged in to illuminate the living-room, just slightly, one near the kitchen and one near Maggie and William's bedroom. She could make out the wheelchair by the pullout bed and the form of the Chinese girl lying there, plus one other figure, the redhead. Two other forms were huddled together, using two sleeping bags, zipped together. She went to that one and dropped to one knee and she studied the two faces, unaware that the Chinese girl and redhead were now both watching her.

Bernice touched Tracy's cheek and the girl woke up, flinching slightly. Then her eyes looked around as she startled to see the person standing there. “Grandma?” Tracy asked. Bernice put a finger over her mouth to signal her granddaughter to be quiet for a moment. She was now aware that the other girl, the bigger of them, was also awake.

When Bernice spoke, it was in a whisper, but in the silence of the house, the girls all heard it. “Tracy, you must think I'm a mean, vicious woman. But I was wrong. I've been thinking and even when I got back here, I couldn't stop thinking. The truth was always there. The times you'd place with your cousins, Cheryl and Heidi, the times you hung out with your Aunt and Mother, and your cousins and myself. Or that time in Wyoming. You really are a girl. It's been there all this time, hasn't it. And if a girl like your friend can have parts of both sexes, why can't a girl be born as a boy?”

Bernice bent down and kissed Tracy's cheek and as she pulled back, Tracy moved out of the sleeping bag, showing a long light colored nightgown. She sat up and held her arms out and Bernice took the hint. She hugged her granddaughter for several seconds. As she stood up she whispered again. “We can talk more in the morning, I just had to say that I'm sorry now.”

“Thank you.” Tracy replied.

“Now, get back to sleep young lady. And sorry for waking you too, young lady.” Bernice stated. Rachel just nodded and put her head back on the pillow and waited to Tracy to slide back into the sleeping bag.

It was when Bernice looked up, she noticed that Maggie was standing at the door to her bedroom, smiling. She walked over to her mother and hugged her. “Thank you Mom.” She whispered. “I hoped you'd come around.”

“We can talk in the morning too. Right now I need to powder my nose and get back to sleep.”

“Okay.” Maggie said, hugging her mother just once more. “And thank you for proving me wrong.”

Almost done with that weekend. So close......

“Dad? Do you mind?” Maggie asked her father.

“Not at all. We talked about it this morning. I can help Conner around the property and she can help make sure that everything is in order down there.”

“Also, I haven't seen Shelly in almost ten years.” Bernice admitted. “I've missed her being around all the time, like when we lived in Castro Valley, when you were Tracy's age.”

Big thanks to Djkauf for the edits

A big one this time. Tracy on the day of her departure. William at work. And a surprise visit from Molly Hallmark

Monday morning came and found Tracy in the kitchen once again. Sage and Rachel were waiting on a shower and Brooke had showered the night before. Maggie was up early taking a turn in the shower. Her grandparents were up too, being used to an early start to their day, and wanting to give William and Vance a send off to work and school. Bernice was helping Tracy, who was busy making breakfast for William and Vance. Marion was in the seat that Vance normally took, so Vance and William could sit at the end of the table and get out the door in time for their days.

Bernice put a plate of eggs at William's spot at the table as he came in. Sage simply pointed to the chair as she brought over a cup of coffee. “You are my guest, young lady. You don't have to serve me.” William said. “That goes the same for you, Mom.”

“I know, but I'm just helping Tracy.” Sage replied.

“Yeah Daddy. After this we're going to load the car.” Tracy said.

“And I wanted to spend a little time with my Granddaughter, is that so wrong?” Bernice said as she held the plate as Tracy put some eggs on it for her grandfather and William stopped for a moment, unsure of what had happened while he slept.

“Um.....”

“It's all been apologized for, William.” His mother-in-law said. “And now I am trying to make up for lost time and get to know my granddaughter.”

“I see.” William nodded as he picked up a fork, as his son came staggering out of the bathroom, hair a mess from his night, as he headed to the bedroom. He was still in partial zombie mode as he went to the bathroom. Lok was just stepping into the house, after working on his early morning routine for half an hour.

“Come on in. have a bite to eat.” William gestured to the table. “I thought you slept in Tracy's bed?”

“I did, but I get up at five in the morning every morning and work out, but because the house is not mine, I waited till six, then I went outside to do my usual routine.”

“I see.” William said. A plate was placed in front of Lok, who gave his thanks to the girls, then he moved to the spot by the wall.

Maggie came in, surprised to see the kitchen full. “Maybe I'll go enjoy my coffee in the living-room.”

Maggie, could I go with you?” Bernice asked. “To Livermore, I mean. I have all these years worth of catching up I need to do with my Granddaughter and if you take her down there today, I won't get it. Plus who knows when I'll ever make it to the Bay area.”

“Dad? Do you mind?” Maggie asked her father.

“Not at all. We talked about it this morning. I can help Conner around the property and she can help make sure that everything is in order down there.”

“Also, I haven't seen Shelly in almost ten years.” Bernice admitted. “I've missed her being around all the time, like when we lived in Castro Valley.”

“Has it been that long?” Maggie asked

“It was for Vance's second or third birthday.” Bernice said.

Maggie nodded slowly. “It has been a while.”

William looked at the clock and he started to stand up. “Well, breakfast was good. Thank you young ladies. And you too, Mom.” William went to each of the girls and hugged them. He pulled a bag out of the refrigerator, then he turned to his daughter. “See me to the door?” Tracy nodded.

Tracy walked to the front door with her father and he stopped, turned and dropped to one knee. “Five months little girl. That's how long till I'm down there.”

“Five months.” Tracy repeated. “Five long months.” She couldn't stop the tears from forming around her eyes. William pulled her in close for a hug.

“I know, baby.” William said as he wiped at his own tears. “I wish you didn't have to go like this.”

“I wish you didn't need to stay.” Tracy answered.

“I know.”

Tracy touched the paper bag with his lunch. “I made you a special lunch for today. I used some of the roast from last night for a sandwich.”

“I'm gonna miss you little girl. You spoil me way too much.”

“I'll miss you more, Daddy.” Tracy replied.

“I doubt it.” He kissed her cheek, then stood up, not wanting to leave for work, but he didn't want to get in trouble for being late.

“Call me on the weekends?” Tracy asked.

“Every weekend.” William agreed.

“Have a good day at work, Daddy. See you when.....” She trailed off. Maggie came over and hugged her husband, then they both pulled Tracy into the one last embrace. William let them go, aware that his wife and youngest were walking out of the house with him.

Tracy stood on the porch, in her pajamas as her father went to his car and slowly pulled out. She leaned into her mother and began to cry. Maggie took her back into the kitchen, to make sure Vance left in time.

~o~O~o~

Tracy went to the door with Vance, still teared up from her fathers departure. “Got the letters?”

“Yeah. I'll give them to Emily May when I get off the bus.” Vance replied.

Without warning, Tracy hugged him. “See you in five months.”

“Yeah, see you then.”

“Have a good day Vance.”

“Don't have all the fun without me.” Vance said.

“I won't.” Tracy replied.

Maggie touched his shoulder. “You need to get going. Have fun and go to your grandparents when you get home. Grandpa will be over there helping out and my Mom is coming with me, so you and your Dad will be eating there, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Be good and see you in a week.”

“Okay, Mom.” Vance hugged his mother, then he left to start his day of school.”

~o~O~o~

It was almost eight in the morning when Modine and Conner had come over to help load the vehicles. Modine watched as the girls and the both of Tracy's grandfathers and Lok, loaded the two vehicles. Most of her larger boxes were put into Persephone's van, which was only going to hold Persephone, Andromeda and Lok and Brooke's wheelchair. The girls were staying with Tracy, putting Brooke in the middle of the front bench seat and to help out on space, Conner had loaned them his Cadillac. Tracy had wanted to wear a skirt, but Rachel and Sage both pointed out the possibility of getting it dirty or ruined, or her legs scratched up while moving stuff, so she went with the only pants she had, Troy’s, and a light blue shirt.

Tracy walked up to Modine and she gently hugged the older woman. “I'm gonna miss you.” The girl said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

“There's always Christmas and Thanksgiving. Plus Easter is coming fast.” Modine replied.

“If I can come up for those. I mean I can ask.” Tracy said

“Also, I can take her down there to visit.” Conner said as he walked over to them. Tracy looked up and she saw the tracks of tears in his eyes. She knew her grandmother would cry, but she didn't expect it from her grandfather. She gave him a hug and he held her for several seconds. “This isn't good bye, it's just going to be a longer trip to come see us.”

“Yeah.” Tracy said as she started to cry again.

“Come on. Let's get you in the car.” Conner said and he led Modine and Tracy to his vehicle. “Girls, it was good seeing you and anytime you want to return, just let us know.” He turned to Lok and held out a hand. “Sir, it was good meeting you and your granddaughter. Anytime you need to escape the big city, we'll be glad for the company.”

“Thank you.” Lok replied.

Modine watched as they helped Brooke into the car, then loaded her wheelchair into the van. Each of the girls slid into the backseat and all of them waved as Maggie pulled out. Conner waited with his wife and Tracy's other grandfather, for a few moments, till they had gone. Modine dabbed at her eye with a handkerchief.

~o~O~o~

Vance got off the bus and he was doing his best to not cry. It hadn't occurred to him till that morning, how much he'd miss his sister. As he waited for Emily May and Mary Beth to get off the bus, Peter came over to him. “You okay?” Peter asked as he looked over Vance.

“Yeah. Just can't believe it's come to this.”

Peter nodded as the Higgins children departed the bus. “I know.”

Vance stopped Emily May as she and her siblings got close and he reached into his pack and pulled out a stack of letters. Emily pulled out one of her own, as did her sister. “These are from Tracy and her friends. They were up for the weekend.”

“Brooke, Sage, Rachel and Stacey?” Mary Beth asked.

“And the quiet girl.” Vance added.

“Casey, she's the deaf one.” Emily May replied.

“Yeah. Her.” Vance agreed.

“Who ever sent that picture ruined everything. I’d so love to kick his ass.” Mary Beth muttered.

“That would be Clark Millet.” Vance stated. “And Tracy did a good enough job on Saturday when he came to the house. She beat the stuffing out of him and Bobby Anderson at the same time.”

“So it was Clark? Who made the phone calls? That wasn't his voice.” Mary Beth leaned forward, wanting all the information.

“That was his cousin, A guy who worked with my Dad.” Vance replied. “But there's more. Mom and Dad have decided to send Tracy away for her own good. She leaves for Livermore today. I'll gladly send the letters back and forth, but in June, Dad and I are moving, too. Mom is leaving in a few weeks.”

Both of the girls stood there, unsure what to do. Emily finally spoke up. “Has she left yet?”

“She was to leave this morning, so who knows. I'd say yes, though.”

“Dammit. Clark ruined everything.”

“Yeah.” Vance nodded. “But at least he's in jail, where he belongs.”

“Him and that waste of a brother.” Peter added.

~o~O~o~

Tracy was busy picking out a candy-bar and a soda, not at all paying attention to the people in the store. She knew Sage, Brooke, Andromeda and Rachel were in there with her. Their mothers were busy washing windows to the vehicles.

Sage giggled as she picked up some candy and went over to Tracy. Rachel and Brooke were already at the counter, waiting on them. Andromeda came bounding over and she hugged Tracy, but didn't say a name. She held up a candy bar and a soda. “This okay?”

“Get away from her you freak!” Molly shouted as she ran over to where Tracy and the Miller girls were. She grabbed Sage and pulled her hard away from Tracy, but let her go, causing Sage to take a couple of stumbling steps and crash into the candy rack. Then she yanked 'Romy away who started screaming as the woman touched her. The six year old hit the floor, landing on her butt, and quickly began backing away from them, crying as she did.

“It was only a matter of time, you freak! I know you couldn't be trusted!” Molly screamed as she brought a backhand across Tracy's face. “Maybe you'll learn your lesson this time!” Tracy had been so stunned by her arrival that she missed blocking the first hit, but she managed to duck the second blow. The older woman's hand gripped her arm, then she swung again. “Freaks like you can't be trusted! Freaks like you should be locked away! And that one's still just a baby!!!” Tracy covered her face with her free arm and dropped to the floor as the store attendant and a couple of the people in the store tried to pull Molly away from Tracy.

Molly slapped at one man, catching him across the nose, then a hand clamped onto her shoulder and dug in, while another bore a finger into the wrist of the hand that held Tracy. The scared child looked up to see her Grandmother standing there. As Molly let go, Bernice gave her a simple shove away from the girls. Molly staggered, hit the floor and then scrambled to her feet. “Leave me alone! Someone has to stop that freak!”

Bernice walked over, glaring daggers at Molly. She pushed the woman away from her grandchild and her eyes closed to slits. “I don't know who you are, but no one attacks my grandchildren with me around.” She balled up her fists as Sage went over to Tracy, and Molly started to move to stop her,

“That little freak was touching those girls! You want the little freak to rape those little girls?!?”

“Bitch, that child you’re calling a freak is my grandchild and those girls are friends of the family.” Bernice took a step closer and Tracy could see the difference in the two women. Her grandmother had always seemed larger than life, at about six foot three and well into the two hundred pound range, most of it muscle from doing manual labor. She towered over the skinny five foot five Molly. “Insult my family again and you're asking to have your stupid ass beat senseless.”

Persephone had come in, and she went to over to the kids and picked up Tracy and pulled both her and Sage away from the two women. 'Romy came running over to them. “Don't let the freak near that little girl! He's gonna hurt her!”

Andromeda buried her head against her mother, but by this point Rachel and Brooke had come over and Rachel was holding Tracy, as was Sage. Brooke sat in front of them, waiting to see what would happen.

“NO!!! GET AWAY FROM HIM!!!” Molly tried to fake Bernice out by acting like she was going to go on the bigger woman's left side. She lunged to the right, and as she got even with Bernice, the bigger woman caught her shoulder, then she turned in a circle, letting go of Molly so she went stumbling towards the doors, “What did I tell you about touching my family?!?”

Molly stopped at the door of the store, only to find Maggie, who had a scowl to match her mother’s in front of one of the double doors and Lok in front of the other one, the only one to look passive in the entire store, yet somehow that just made him look dangerous. Several of the patrons stood around, making sure she had no where to run and Molly began screaming at them. “Don't defend the rapist! Did any of you see how he touched her?!?” She pointed to where Sage was now holding Tracy, both children too afraid to cry. “Let go of the freak! None of our children are safe from this child!!! He's like the rest of them! You think he's innocent, but he's a monster waiting to strike!!! It's only a matter of time before he tricks that girl into thinking he's harmless, then he rapes her!!! All his kind are like that!! Every last one of them!!!”

A pair of sheriff’s officers came into the store, both of them touching a gun with one hand. Molly saw them and by this point she was visibly unhinged. “Arrest that freak!!! It was assaulting that girl here in the store and he'll rape the others too!!!” When the officers hadn't moved she gestured to Tracy. “No one is safe!!! That child is a murdering rapist!!! He'll trick them all and rape them before killing them!!! It tricks them to get in close!!! We're all in danger!!!”

As Molly was pulled to the ground, Maggie moved to her daughter and pulled her into a hug. “Look. She allows it! That woman is guilty, too!!!” Lok had moved to where the girls were and stood next to Bernice, blocking Molly's view of the girls. Maggie and Persephone did their best to calm down Tracy and Sage, who had both found the ability to cry again. Rachel and Brooke stayed close to them, which caused another rant from Molly.

~o~O~o~

After Molly was finally shoved into a car, she kept ranting and screaming at the store, one of the two deputies came over, as another squad car pulled in. “Ma'am, can we ask you what happened?” One of the Deputies said to Bernice. “We saw you touching her.”

“My grandchild was on the ground and she was hitting and kicking him. I did grab her, but it was to push her away from my grandchild. Then I got between him and her, nothing more then that. But when she tried to rush my grandson and Persephone's children, I simply grabbed her and turned. I wasn't letting her near those kids again.”

The deputy nodded, having heard the same version of the story now at least six times. “Okay, and you have no idea who she is?”

“I don't, but I'm here from Wyoming. I'm only helping my daughter take my grandchild to live in Livermore. That's why we stopped here for fuel.”

“I see. “Mrs. Patterson, do you know her? She's claiming this is all your doing.”

“I know her, but I had nothing to do with this. I only needed gas in my car.” Maggie stated. “She's Molly Hallmark and if you ask Deputy Kline, he knows that we have already received one threat from Mrs. Hallmark. She threatened to run us out of town, no matter what.”

As if on cue, Deputy Kline came walking over. “Ask me what?” He asked, then he saw Tracy and Maggie. “Mrs. Patterson.” And Maggie prepared to tell the events of what had happened one more time.

~o~O~o~

William was about to climb back on his forklift, after his break and start working again, when Steven walked over to him. “William, a moment please.”

“What's up?” William asked.

“I need you to come with me to Mr. Bailey's office. He wants to talk to you about Friday and the absence of Billy O'Brien.”

William nodded and he got a feeling deep in his gut. “I want my Union rep and I want him here now.” he stated.

~o~O~o~

“Mrs. Patterson, Mrs. Richter, we need to ask if you want to press charges.”

“I think my husband will agree, we want to press charges against Molly Hallmark.” Maggie stated. “She crossed the line by striking my child.”

“I want to press charges against her for shoving my girl into the candy rack.” Persephone gestured to Sage.
And for pushing my other girl.” Sage lifted her shirt slightly to show the red mark, from where she had been shoved into the rack.

“Here is the number of the report. Go to a hospital and get that examined and use the Police report if there's trouble with the doctor.”

“Is there a way we can speed it up?” Maggie asked. “Persephone needs to get the other two girls with us back home before their parents worry.”

“Hey.” The familiar voice of Deputy Kline sounded off. “I'll go with them and see about getting them in and out quickly.”

Bernice looked to the first of the deputies. “Is she going to be in jail? Because I still have a grandchild here and if she's openly threatening my daughter’s family, I want to make sure my eldest Grandchild will be safe from her mental instabilities.”

“Actually with her ranting, and attacking the other girls, we may just take her to County Mental Health.” the Deputy replied. “But I would also suggest a Restraining Order, with both of your names on it.”

“Could she get one to cover her husband and other child?” Bernice asked.

“Yeah. It's really simple. You can go and file for a temporary one, or you can go down with a lawyer and he can do the work for you.”

“Thank you. We'll do that.”

“What about you Ma'am, do you want one on her?”

“Well, I live in Livermore, but.....my address is on the police report....to be safe I'll get one for Sage and Andromeda.”

~o~O~o~

Twenty minutes later, they were sitting at the hospital. The ER wasn't too busy and the girls were taken in to be seen rather quickly. Keith had stayed with them to get pictures of any bruising and possible wounds for the police report.

Maggie went to the nurses station and for the line of people to go away. “Could I borrow your phone. It's a local number, I just need to call my in-laws so they know what's going on and to get my son from the school bus, and my husband who works at the wood mill, so he knows what happened.”

“No problem.” The nurse at the counter said and gestured to where the phone was. Maggie walked around the counter to where the phone was.

She waited for it to ring and when someone picked up she started speaking. “My Name is Maggie Patterson. I need to get a message to my husband, his name is William, he drives a forklift.

Susan nodded, which was lost to Maggie. “I know him. What’s the message.”

“Tell him this. Our youngest and I were just attacked, by the lady who has been threatening us and she is headed to jail. Tell him it was the woman we expected it to be, he'll know who I mean. Also tell him that Sage and Andromeda were involved in the attack and both Persephone and I are headed to the hospital to get the kids checked out so there is a medical report for the lawsuit that we will press against the attacker. Then we'll leave town as planned and to call Shelly's tonight.”

“He'll understand this?”

“Yes, he will.” Maggie stated.

“Ma'am, I'm Susan. The other day he kinda filled me in on what's going on. I shouldn't tell you this, but he's currently getting chewed out because of problem on Friday and that call he made to the cops.”

“Damn it.” Maggie muttered.

“Mrs. Patterson, I'll slip in and try to help.

“Thank you.” Maggie said.

~o~O~o~

Inside the office, the conversation was going the way that William had expected it to. The one thing he had going on for him was that Larry O'Brien was his Union steward. “Mr. Patterson, it's simple. You called the police on a fellow worker and that creates a hostile work environment.”

“Excuse me, but I called the cops because some...

The Manager didn't let him finish. “You created a hostile work environment. We can't have that type of employee here.”

William stood up and glared at the tiny man in the nice suit. “I called because someone had been calling and sending threatening pictures to my family, plus three other children. I called because someone has been threatening to rape and murder my family, all of which is on a police report. This man, who did work here, said he would murder and rape my wife, while I and my youngest would be forced to watch, then he threatened to kill me, my other child and rape and murder my youngest. I called because there is an open investigation going on and if I didn't, that's withholding evidence and I'd rather not go to prison over that, and you can't make me break the law, it's in the employee handbook.”

“Mr. Bailey, none of your complaints against Mr. Patterson hold water. Trying to claim he is making a hostile work environment is a load of crap. Are you saying that if another manager threatened to rape and kill your family, you wouldn't feel like it's a hostile work environment when you saw pictures of your family with threats on them?” Larry asked. “Because if you try to follow through with that line of thinking, I wouldn't be shocked if the press caught wind of that. For him, this was a hostile environment when someone began threatening him last week, both here and at home. I hear they had to change their phone number and pull their children out of school because of the threats.” He was glad William had quickly filled him in on the events of the past few weekends, even is William didn't want to because it had been his son who started the whole problem.

The head manager thought for a moment and looked over a piece of paper, looking for anything he could find to make a point. “What about his absences? Didn't he take sick time with just a days notice?”

“Yes, I did.” William replied. At this point Larry also looked at the paper and shook his head.

“And if you look at the files, that was the first sick time he had taken in well over ten years. You try to fire him for that, you need to fire everyone in this mill who has taken any sick time over the past ten years with just a days notice. While I may not agree with William at times, he has been here for ten years, with no write ups. He's always on time and he has offered to cover for people when they have had family matters like funerals and weddings. This man is a model employee, better then a lot of the new guys out there.”

“How about the fact that he caused a huge mess on the floor on Friday and refused to clean it up?”

“You realize that William drives the forklifts, not works the line. Also he had clocked out by that point and you've fired people for working off the clock. Plus, it's not his fault that those three people were not paying attention to their station. Is it his job to observe every station in this mill? He didn't force them to antagonize him, and harass him, which made it a hostile workplace for William.” Larry arched an eyebrow. “Are you going to threaten any of them, or is it just him?”

“They haven't called the cops on anyone.”

“Mister Bailey, what he did was give information to the cops concerning an open case, one that has since been closed by the arrest of two people. One that could end up as a federal crime for sending threats through the mail. Or would you rather this man's family would have been murdered and raped? Is that the kind of boss you are? Or how about the fact that numerous laws were being broken? You don't care about that either? You believe that the criminal's should be allowed to just run free?”

“I never said that!”

“And as the father of the man who was threatening to rape and murder an eleven year old and a thirteen year old, I have to say I back William for his actions. I pity anyone who openly threatens my wife to my face.”

There was a knock at the door and a second later, Susan stepped in. “Mr. Bailey, I'm sorry to intrude, but I have an important message for William concerning his wife and youngest.” Before the man could object, she looked to William. “Your wife just called and said that they are at the hospital, getting your youngest and two kids named Sage and and Andromeda checked out. She said to say that the woman who was still attempting to attack your family caught them at a gas station and assaulted your son and the other two kids in full view of several people at the gas station, but she's currently headed to jail. The attacker, not your wife, that is. Maggie said not to worry. Troy is fine, just a little bruised and same with Sage and Andromeda. The cops just wanted a doctor's exam for the arrest record of the woman who assaulted them.” Susan stopped and took a quick breath. “She also said not to worry and call Shelly's tonight. She said you'd understand what that meant.”

“Yeah. I do.”

“Who is Shelly?” Mr. Bailey asked, now curious.

“Not that it matters to you, but she is the Godmother to my children. That's where my youngest is moving to. The plan was to get him out of town before anyone could make good on the threat to rape and murder him and my wife.” William stated, then he added. “At least it was just an attack, too bad the other children were involved. One of them is only six years old.”

“See Mr. Bailey. You're coming down on William and all he was doing was trying to protect his children. Would you rather people who are guilty of attacking innocent children are allowed to be set free, is that the face you want people associating with this company? Or would you want a man who is willing to protect his children, stand up for what he believes in to be the face the public sees when they think of us?”

“Okay, okay.” Mr. Bailey held up his hands in defeat. He could see the press nightmare that could happen from a story like this. “He's not fired.”

“And there's no other measures being taken against him? No write ups for not helping while off the clock?” Larry asked.

“None. Just don't go calling the cops on other workers.....”

“Mr. Bailey, you can't openly ask that members of your crew break the law like that. If someone sees a crime being committed, should they refuse to call, just because the guilty party works here? That's not the side of the company the public wants to see.”

“Fine, fine. There's no problems, no write ups. Just get back to work, the both of you and we'll treat this like it never happened, okay?”

William looked to the steward, then back at Mr. Bailey. “I'll treat it as though nothing happened, as long as I am not punished at a later date for any of this.”

Larry waited, watching Mister Bailey. “Nothing will happen because of the events of this past weekend.”

“Good. Now can I get back my forklift and finish out my shift?”

“Yes, go ahead.”

Susan walked out first, followed by William and Larry. William stopped at Susan's desk for a quick moment to thank her, then he walked with Larry to the main part of the mill.

“A friendly word of advice, watch your ass.” Larry said to William as they walked through the offices. “I may not totally understand what is going on with your family, and I am really pissed that my stupid son had the gall to threaten to rape and kill your family, but watch yourself. I wouldn't put it past Bailey to try and find anything he can to fire you. Just keep your nose to the grindstone, like normally. Treat this like nothing happened. Let the other a-holes insult you, just don't give into the bait for a fight, okay?”

“Okay.” William nodded slowly.

“And I am really sorry for everything that has happened.”

“Me too. Because of the pictures that some kid passed out, my son and wife are moving away from here. I'm moving in June to be with them.”

“I wouldn't announce that too loud.” Larry advised.

“I wont. They'll get my two week, when I'm ready.”

“Hey, one last thing. My son really messed up big, but if you sue him, you won't get anything from him. Everything he owned is actually in my name. So if you got the chance, I would like to make you an offer.”

“What kind of offer.”

“Well, lets get back to work, we'll discuss it later, okay?”

“Okay.”

~o~O~o~

While an x-ray was being run on both Sage and Andromeda, making sure nothing had been broken when she hit the rack, Bernice went to her daughter. “Maggie?”

“Yeah Mom?”

“Was that one of the church ladies? The ones you talked about yesterday?” Bernice asked.

“Yeah. That was the head one.” Maggie nodded.

“Is she usually that.....crazy?”

Maggie sighed. “I don't know. But as I think about it, she was quite rabid when preaching against a pair of women who lived together, just to save money. I never saw her attack them though.”

“You know, it reminds me of Mr. Lutz from Castro Valley. Remember him? Was fine till he saw someone holding a bag from a produce stand and then he claimed there was a body in it. Insisted that the mob was controlling all the produce stores and trying to kill off all the Irish people.”

“I remember him.....” Maggie thought about it for a moment. “Didn't he end up carted off to a mental institution?”

“Yeah. Schizophrenia I think.” Bernice stated.

“I wouldn't put that past Molly. She was ranting there at the end.”

“I'm just glad no one got hurt too bad. The little girl is fine, as are Sage and Tracy.”

Maggie nodded. “And I'll have Lance help me get a restraining order when we get down there.”

“Good.” Bernice said with a nod. “If anything, it should help keep her away.”

“One can hope.” Maggie agreed.

~o~O~o~

Three hours after they had left home they were finally reaching the highway to leave Oroville. It had taken an hour to calm Andromeda down. Tracy was still a bit jumpy, but once they hit the main highway, she began to relax. “Okay girls. Persephone agrees with me. We'll be stopping in Marysville for lunch. Can you two eat?” Maggie asked, looking in the mirror at Tracy and Sage.

“Yeah.” Both of them said with a nod.

“You both going to be okay?”

“I'm a little shook up.” Tracy admitted. “I had no idea she was even there.”

“Yeah. I was gonna see if you were ready and next thing I knew I was being thrown away from you.”

“And that crazy talk.” Rachel said. “She has no idea who you really are, does she? I mean you've slept in all of our arms and you never did anything to us.”

“Oh, Rachel, so you know, I had William's mother call your mother so she knows what happened and why we're running late.”

“Cool.” Rachel said.

“Hey, could we listen to the radio?” Brooke asked. Maggie shrugged.

“Sure, could help calm some nerves I guess. But not too loud.”

Brooke reached out and began fiddling with the radio. “Hey Sage, think we can pull KSJO?”

“No chance. It's out of San Jose and there's a bunch of mountains between us. Try for KFOG.”

“K Fog?” Bernice asked.

“San Francisco station with killer rock.” Brooke replied.

“I doubt it.” Bernice said. “That would be almost as far as San Jose.”

“Hey, go to Ninety nine point nine. That's modern stuff.” Tracy stated. “It's what I went to the last couple of times that Mom and I went down.”

Brooke began turning the knob and the car filled with the sounds of John Cougar's song Jack and Diane. The girls began clapping along with the musicians on the recording and Bernice chuckled lightly. Rachel began singing with the song. “Now this takes me back.”

“What?” Brooke asked.

“This takes me to the time when Marg...Maggie and her sister were about eleven and Elvis was all the rage.”

“Wait for Men at Work.” Maggie stated. “There's a flute part that will get stuck in your head for ages.”

“Men at Work rocks!” Sage exclaimed from the backseat. “So does Billy Joel.”

“Maggie, I remember having the song Only the lonely stuck in my head for months, but back then I always thought he was singing Tony Bologna.”

Maggie began snickering, then she started laughing. This caused the girls to start up. A simple truth helped lighten the mood that Molly had put on their day.

Believe it or not, Molly's turn in this story may just be starting. As for her ranting, a story of her past shall be told at some point. I actually looked up a lot of things before I finished this part. I promise her mental meltdown has a reason behind it

Tracy looked around the room. The room was big enough to fit two twin sized beds in it, plus a desk, thin, but tall dresser, bookcase and a bean-bag chair. Tracy pondered moving things around for a moment, but then decided against it. “I don't want to change your house all around.”

Frank got down on one knee and looked her in the eyes. “Tracy, this is your house, till your parents get here. You want to nail the beds to the ceiling, we'll do it. I don't know if it will hold, but we'll do it.” She giggled at the thought of a bed on the ceiling.

Thanks to Djkauf for the editing

Away from Oroville, free at least. Here is a short chapter, with a few guest stars.

ratings and warning are up for assualt on a minor, but fear not, it's not Tracy this time.

Maggie pulled around to the front of the townhouse and directed her mother as to which door to go to. Tracy slipped out of the car and stretched, Rachel and Sage got out as well. Tracy went to the truck and waited by it so she could get some of her bags. Maggie came over and put a hand on her shoulder. “Wait baby. Till we know they're here.” To her side, Persephone pulled up, blocking a driveway that had a for sale sign on it. Lok got out and grabbed the wheelchair for Brooke.

As if on on cue, the door opened and Shelly leaned out and hugged Bernice. “Bernice?!? It's good to see you! It's been way to long!!”

“Yes, it has.” Bernice replied, having to bend down to hug Shelly.

“She got her stuff in the car?”

“Yeah.” Bernice said, but we got another driveway blocked, so we should hurry.”

“Hey, they're here.” Shelly said into the door. Tracy watched as Stacey and Casey bolted out of the house, followed by her Uncle Frank, Lilian, Jaio, Karen Carl, Sage's father and Rachel's parents all came out to help.

Lance looked in the trunk, then at Persephone's van. “I say we form a line. We can get it all inside, then do the line on the stairwell, so no one is going up and down the stairs a bunch of times. When the car is empty, we move it to the back lot and start on the bus.”

“Sounds good to me.” Maggie stated.

The unloading began, starting with a line that took the stuff into the house. They took a break when all the boxes where inside and both vehicles moved to the back lot. Frank took that moment to lead Tracy to the bedroom door. “Now since this is going to be your room for the next few months, do you want to change this around?” Frank asked Tracy. “The other bed can stay in here, in case one of the girls wants to come over, or when Vance comes down. But since you may be here for a couple of months, we want you comfortable.”

Tracy looked around the room. The room was big enough to fit two twin sized beds in it, plus a desk, thin, but tall dresser, bookcase and a bean-bag chair. Tracy pondered moving things around for a moment, but then decided against it. “I don't want to change your house all around.”

Frank got down on one knee and looked her in the eyes. “Tracy, this is your house, till your parents get here. You want to nail the beds to the ceiling, we'll do it. I don't know if it will hold, but we'll do it.” She giggled at the thought of a bed on the ceiling.

“I'd need a seat belt to go to bed.”

“Yes, you would.” Frank agreed.

“I like where it is. I like how that bed gets the morning sun in the winter, and that one gets it in the summer.”

“Well then, lets get a line started. I want you in here, this way you know where you want what.”

“Okay.”

~o~O~o~

As the girls all worked on unpacking Tracy's stuff, and Frank and Lok took off to gather up pizza for dinner, Maggie had introduced her mother to everyone and gave the quick explanation of who was related to who, then she and Bernice pulled Lance to the side. She had already called Ivan to see if he had a problem with an addition to the people who came with her to the meeting.

“I'm guessing that Shelly told you I needed to talk to you?”

“Yeah. Something about an attack? Not sure how that involves me though.” Lance stated.

“It's like this. We stopped for gas and Tracy went in to pay, but she was in Troy's clothes. Well while inside, the woman who is giving us problems started to verbally abuse her, then she grabbed at Tracy and began screaming at her and she totally lost it. She also shoved both 'Romy and Sage. Sage was thrown into a candy rack. The cop said I could get a restraining order and I would like to hire your services to do that, if you could.”

“I'll guess you want William and Vance on it too?”

“Yes.” Maggie said in agreement. “See, I'm afraid that she'll turn her attack to the rest of the family. We watched her run two women out of town and ruined their lives. We may be moving, but we don’t want to rush it. And I sure don't want to give her a reason to go after William and Vance after I move.”

“Well, we can go up there and file a temporary restraining order, one that blankets the whole family. That will cover you till the actual court date to get the permanent one filed.

Would you be able to go with us to Oroville to get the paperwork done? Maybe like Wednesday or Thursday when we leave?”

“I can look, if I can't, I can send someone in my place to do it.”

“Okay.” Maggie said with a nod. “Actually, I have a list of things that Mom and I have been thinking over that I want to run past you. Could I ask you if you're available at nine tomorrow morning? I have an appointment with Tracy's therapist then and we can go over the list because I think I want both of you there for it, in case I miss something. Stuff like power of attorney and school and things like that.”

Lance went to a briefcase by the door and he pulled out a schedule. “Sure, I'm free tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, thank you, Lance.”

“No problem. I'm glad to help.” He determined to give Maggie a lesser fee, even though he knew Shelly had already informed him she would pay for any legal advice Tracy needed. “Maybe we should call the girls down. Pizza should be here soon.”

~o~O~o~

Molly sat on the couch in the doctor's office at the mental health facility in Chico. She could hear the man talking, but she had tuned him out. The only thing on her mind was how everyone had protected the little freak. How that woman allowed the little freak to touch those little girls. Her blood boiled when she thought about it and she felt sick to her stomach, thinking of the lewd things that Troy was no doubt doing to those girls at that very minute.

She had to find a way out of the place she was in and she had to find a way to make sure that Troy wouldn't hurt any other children. As she sat there, a plan began to form and she smiled inwardly at how simple it was. She just needed to get out of where she was first, then the little freak would pay for hurting those girls.

~o~O~o~

William got home after his stressful day and he headed into the house. His in-law's trailer was there, but as he tried the front door, he found it locked. He pulled out his key, unlocked the door and stepped in. He had grown used to the smell of dinner being cooked greeting him at the door when he got home, but this was the first day, since Tracy got better, that it was absent. He looked to the kitchen, hoping to see his wife, or his daughter, but there was no usual talking at the stove. No small talk at the table while dinner finished. Even Vance was absent.

He went to Maggie's chair and he eased into the seat, then reached over to her phone-book and looked up Shelly's phone number. He dialed and waited.

“Coopers, Shelly speaking.”

“Shelly, it's William. Maggie said to call there and get the full story of what happened.”

“Ah, just a moment.” Shelly said. “Mags, it's William,”

A moment later he heard something touch the phone, then his wife’s voice came over the line. “William?”

“Yeah. You all okay?” He asked.

“Yeah. We made the rest of the trip hassle free. The girls are here and helped unload Tracy's stuff.”

“Sage and 'Romy?”

“They're shook up, but doing better, now.” Maggie stated.

“Good. Have you thought about a restraining order or something, in case Molly gets out?” William asked.

“Actually, I have talked to Lance and he said he would try to follow us up on Thursday, if he can, if not he'll send someone to do that. We can take care of it then and tomorrow he'll meet us at the therapist and help set things up for Tracy down here.”

“Good.” William said. “How is Tracy?”

“Right now? She's upstairs with all the girls, and they are unpacking her stuff as quickly as they can.” Maggie said with a chuckle. “I think they don't want tonight to end, but they all got school tomorrow. Speaking of days, what happened with work?”

William sighed. “They threatened and in the end I made them see my side of the fight, with Larry O’Brien, he's my union steward.”

“Good. As long as you didn't lose your job.”

“Not yet, but I wouldn't put it past them to find little things to write me up over, so I got to keep my nose clean till June.”

“Okay. So be ready for the ax to fall?” Maggie asked.

“Yeah, just in case.” William stated.

“Okay.”

"Hey, see what Lance thinks of this." William said. Then he laid out a plan that Larry had offered to him. "When you get the chance, see if he thinks if it’s good. Maybe Frank, too. Actually I could use Frank because he knows about that kind of thing."

"Tell you what, I'll talk to them. Maybe if Lance goes up on Thursday or Friday, we can have Frank come too."

"That could work." William agreed.

There was a thundering of feet in the background and William could hear the sound of the children getting closer to the phone. Then it was muffled as though Maggie was covering the phone, then she asked. “William, you want to speak to your daughter?”

“Sure. I got a couple of minutes before I need to go to Mom's for dinner.”

“Daddy?” Tracy asked over the phone. “You enjoy your lunch?”

“Yes I did, young lady.”

“Good. I made it special for you.” Tracy said.

“Are you doing okay?” William asked.

“You mean because of Mrs. Hallmark?” Tracy guessed. “I'm okay. I mean I was shaking earlier, but now that I'm here, I'm fine.”

“That's all that matters. At least she didn't hurt you or the Miller girls.”

“Nope.” Tracy agreed. He heard the sound of the door opening an the girls got loud. “Hey Dad, Dinner's here can I let you go and call back this weekend?”

“Yeah. Be good, baby girl. Love ya.”

“You want to talk to Mom?”

“Nah.” William replied. “Let her relax too, just tell her I love you both and be safe.”

“Will do, Daddy.” Tracy replied. “Love you, bye.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy was curled up on the big couch, her legs under her, but her nightgown stretched to cover her knees. She was turned so she leaned into her grandmothers side . Her mother was on her other side and Shelly was sitting on the tiny love seat They had settled on Little House on the Prairie, for the entertainment of the night. Frank had to get up early for work the next morning, so he was in bed already. Bernice was staying up, just to get every chance she could to hang out with her newest granddaughter. The days events had worn on to the little girl and she found it hard to keep her eyes open. From getting up early and then the attack at the store, she had already been mentally exhausted.

She was glad it was over. She just had to wait three weeks and her mother would be there for her full time. Then five months and she could get her whole family back, and then they would find a place near her friends. She wasn't aware of it, but her head had been bobbing for several minutes and she tried to pay attention when her mother, Grandmother and Godmother talked at the commercials, but that was getting hard too.

Bernice leaned slightly forward and chuckled. “I think we lost her.”

Maggie leaned over and nodded. “Poor kid has had a big day.”

“I'll get her to bed. I'm getting tired too.” Bernice said as she moved an arm and shook her grandchild. “Tracy? Come on sweetie. Let's get you upstairs.”

Tracy lifted her head and nodded slightly. “We'll see you two ladies in the morning.” Bernice said as she helped her granddaughter to her feet, then followed the tired preteen up the stairs, making sure she didn't fall. When they reached the top of the stairs, Bernice guided Tracy into the bathroom, to avoid any problems in the night. A few minutes later she made sure the young girl made it to her new bedroom.

When Tracy reached the bed, she flopped onto it, in a most unladylike way, and Bernice was thankful she had pulled the covers back already. She leaned down and kissed Tracy's cheek as she pulled the covers up on the exhausted little child. “Good night Sweetie. Grandma loves you.”

Bernice walked to the door and shut off the light-switch, which served as a nightlight. There was barely any light coming in through the window, but she could still make out the form of her granddaughter. Bernice watched the little girl for a few moments. Many thoughts were in her mind. She wondered if her husband would come this way, after they left Oroville, just for a visit. She considered a visit here, after they visited her other daughter in L.A.

She sighed, then stepped out of the room and gently shut the door, so Tracy could get a good night’s sleep, free from worry and away from the people who had tried to hurt her too many times.

~o~O~o~

Bruce wasn't aware when he lost his reign of power, but he knew it had happened quickly and around the time his brother was admitted into the jail. He was doing his best to make sure nothing happened to Clark, and the news of who Clark was spread around the detention center fast. Now Bruce was faced with the teen who would disrupt his hold over the younger kids. And he was losing fast. The other boy slammed his fist into Bruce's face. Then he did it four more times. The fact he had started the fight off by cracking a piece of a bed-frame over Bruce's jaw helped him in the fight.

Bruce staggered back and the boy didn't hesitate, he followed, pummeling the bully's face. The other kid had played it smart and managed to get Bruce's friends away from him, leaving just his brother by his side. Then he blindsided Bruce as he walked towards the cells.

The pummeling went on for several minutes, as two guys held Clark and made him watch, two more stood on either side of them, to make sure Clark didn't go anywhere. The big teen never seemed to tire as he struck Bruce in the face and gut. Finally Bruce hit the ground and the teen caught him with a kick to the side, then another. Finally he flipped Bruce over, as though he weighed nothing.

“You think it's funny picking on people? Think you're a big man for raping my little brother?!? He think you're tough for putting him in the hospital?” The Teen hissed into Bruce's ear. “Guess you're gonna learn what it feels like to fuck with the wrong person.” He looked at his friends. “The little twit is all yours.”

Bruce watched with his one open eye as the four boys mobbed his brother, stripping him naked in the tiny cell. Clark began to sob as they forced him to his knees. “Now you get to see what's it's like to be raped.” The boy began to pull down Bruce’s pants and someone sat on his back to pin him down. “You have a lot of people waiting outside, so get ready for a long night.”

He was sore and numb, but he could feel it as the boy assaulted him from behind, and not with anything made of flesh. And one thought circled in his head as it happened.

~All the fag’s fault!~

I wanted to end with Bruce and Clark, just so people know that the brothers are both together and doing.....well not doing too well. But Tracy is now in Livermore. Her haters are in Butte County and they are slowly festering in hate.

“Good. It's good to know someone has your back in a fight. It's also nice that you made sure your friends got to safety. That's the sign of a good person, willing to put themselves in danger to help others.” Ivan said. “Now about your Grandmother. Was she okay with you as Tracy?”

“I don't know.” Tracy said. She shrugged and shook her head. “She wouldn't listen She kept saying I should see a new therapist and go to church and stop wearing the clothes, but Grandpa, her husband, said I was always this way. He recalled me as a kid in Wyoming when we visited and said I was girly then.”

“And obviously your Grandmother has come to terms?”

Tracy nodded again. “Yeah. She came in Sunday night and woke me up to say she was sorry for being a big mean person and she loved me. The next morning she helped me with breakfast and asked to come down here with Mom and me.”

Edited by Djkauf

Her first day away from Oroville. The fun of setting up a new life begins.

February 8th 1983

Tracy woke up before the sun had peeked over the mountains that morning. There was a little light in the room and it took her a moment to remember what had happened as she lay on her back and realized that she wasn't in the bunk-bed that she had slept in for several years now. She rolled over and saw her mother, sleeping peacefully in the twin bed and then she remembered the move. She smiled as she sat up, moving as quietly as she could. The clock on the end table said it was ten to six in the morning. She thought about sleeping a bit more, but she wanted to get up and use the bathroom.

She tiptoed out the room, opening the door as quietly as she could and went to where the bathroom was. But as she touched the handle, she heard the sound of running water. Her mind took a moment, till she realized it was her uncle, getting ready for his work day. She let out a breath and headed for the stairwell.

There were several night lights on the stairwell and she was surprised that there were a few in the living room that was shared with the dining space. She turned, passed through the kitchen and went to the half bath. On her way past, she noticed the coffee pot was already going.

Several minutes later, she was back in the kitchen and looking in the refrigerator. If she was home, it would have been full of choices for what to make for breakfast. But this fridge was empty. There was a half gallon of orange juice, a gallon of milk, and a few left overs, but not much else. The only thing it was missing was the tumbleweed.

Tracy shut the door and turned to face the cupboards where she knew Shelly kept the cereal. She had received full rights to eat whatever was in the house and her stomach was making itself known.

She was working on a bowl of cereal when her Uncle Frank came down the steps. She got up and went to the coffee pot, and poured him a cup. She placed it on the counter as he stepped into the kitchen.

“Couldn't sleep anymore?”

“No. I had to go to the bathroom, too.”

“Ah. Your Mom and Grandmother still sleeping?” Frank asked her.

“Mom is, not too sure about Grandma.” Tracy answered as she went back to her bowl of cereal.

“Got a busy day today?” Frank asked.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “Not really sure what all I got to do, but mom said something about Doctor Ivan's and a doctor's appointment that they managed to set up at the last minute. We're thinking about changing my name, too.”

“Good. And the bed, was it comfortable?”

“Yeah.” Tracy nodded again.

“Thinking of what you want in the house for food?” Frank asked.

Tracy's face lit up and she put her spoon down. “Yep. I got a bunch of recipes. You'll love 'em!”

“I'm sure we will.” Frank looked up at her, then at a clock. “Do yourself a favor and get a shower when you’re done eating. That way you don't have to wait for everyone else, okay? Your Aunt Shelly wont be up for another half an hour, if she keeps her normal schedule.

“Okay.”

“And be good, but remember, this is your home now. Just clean up any messes you make, and if you don't know where something is, ask.”

Tracy nodded. “Okay.”

~o~O~o~

A couple hours had passed and Tracy's day started with her first appointment, the therapist. Her mother had already seen Ivan and Lance was just arriving as Tracy was called back, leaving her Grandmother, Godmother and Mother to talk with Lance and Persephone. Tracy found herself on the couch again with a stern looking Dr. Ivan. As he sat down his look softened. “I want you to know, I heard about the attack. I also heard about the lady who assaulted you and the pictures.” He almost unleashed his stern voice on her, but he knew it would do more harm then good. “The next time anyone does anything like spreading pictures around, or attacking you, or those ladies trying to persecute you, I want to know right away, okay?”

Tracy hung her head like a child who was in trouble. “Okay.”

“Hey.” He leaned forward and with one finger, he lifted her chin so he could kind of see her eyes. “None of that. I only told you that because I could have helped. Heck, had I known about the pictures, I would have advised you on how to proceed. But I want you to tell me what you did, okay?”

“Not much really. I mean my friend, Peter, he made me go to the office, so did the nieces of the lady up front. See, someone put the pictures in my backpack. Peter wanted to talk to the principal, but he was gone to a basketball game. Peter set up a meeting for the next day.” Tracy sighed and slumped on the couch. “When I got home, Mary Beth and Emily May had come over, but just before they got there, someone called and started being mean on the phone.”

“Mean how? What did he say?”

“That he was going to beat up my family and kill me.” Tracy replied. “Mary Beth yelled at him and then hung up on him. The next day we told the principal what happened and I got into home schooling.”

“Did the calls stop?” Ivan asked, knowing the answer already.

“They got worse.” Tracy said, wiping at her eyes.

“What did he say Tracy?”

She sighed, doing her best to not cry. “He said he was going to rape Mom, then rape me and kill mom in front of me, then kill Vance and Dad before raping me and killing me.” Tears went down her cheek and Ivan handed her a tissue.

“Were you the only one to get a picture? Did they threaten anyone else?”

Tracy nodded. “They threatened Emily May and Mary Beth. Plus there were ones left for Peter and Vance.”

“I see. How did the other woman come into all of this?” Ivan asked.

“Her son, I think, one of them had to have taken a picture home.” Tracy said. “See, both of them go to my school.”

“I see. And did she call?”

Tracy shook her head. “No, she came over and I was wearing Troy's clothes because I was so worried that someone was going to come and kill us. Well Mom was talking to her and the woman insisted that I was going to rape all her children and every kid in town and then she used the bible to claim I was evil, before finally leaving.”

Ivan scribbled down a couple of notes. “Was that the last contact you had with her, until the gas station?”

“Yeah. She came up because Sage was hugging me and she shoved Sage into a candy rack and she pushed 'Romy, then started hitting me, until my Grandma threw her backwards.”

“Your Grandma Bernice? The one in the waiting room?” Ivan asked.

“Yeah.” Tracy nodded. “She wanted to get to know me better after what she said on Sunday when she found my clothes.”

“We’ll come back to this, but I want to work on what happened with the people and the pictures.”

Tracy sat up a little. “Well, Mom changed the phone number, so the calls stopped, but the kid who started the pictures sent one to a kid who went to the school where I learned Tai chi and all the people threatened to quit. Mom was pretty mad at that. She also got a letter at work and had to tell her boss, but he doesn't care, he still likes me. Dad got one too. I heard mom talking to him the day my friends all came up. I guess they put it in the lunch-room with my name on it and he got mad and yelled at all of them. But that helped.”

“Helped?”

Tracy nodded and leaned forward, no longer crying. “See one guy figured out that his son was the guy who was calling. I guess there were pictures at his house and the guy called Dad, but called the cops on his own son. Then we found out that it was all Clark Millet. He's the brother of the boy who attacked me in December. And after Billy got arrested, Clark came to the house and was going to beat up on me, but I had Rachel and Sage get Brooke into the house and had Stacey go get her father, who's a cop, and my Dad. Clark wouldn't leave, so I had to fight him. I didn't want to, but he wouldn't leave.”

“And he got arrested after that?”

“Yeah.” Tracy nodded. “And Vance, Peter, Jerry and Mooney all helped me.”

“Good. It's good to know someone has your back in a fight. It's also nice that you made sure your friends got to safety. That's the sign of a good person, willing to put themselves in danger to help others.” Ivan said. “Now about your Grandmother. Was she okay with you as Tracy?”

“I don't know.” Tracy said. She shrugged and shook her head. “She wouldn't listen She kept saying I should see a new therapist and go to church and stop wearing the clothes, but Grandpa, her husband, said I was always this way. He recalled me as a kid in Wyoming when we visited and said I was girly then.”

“And obviously your Grandmother has come to terms?”

Tracy nodded again. “Yeah. She came in Sunday night and woke me up to say she was sorry for being a big mean person and she loved me. The next morning she helped me with breakfast and asked to come down here with Mom and me.”

“It's good that she came around. Sometimes family can be the worst.” Ivan stated. “So, is that all that's happened? Are there any pressing issues on your mind?”

Tracy smiled and her eyes lit up. “Hormones?”

“Well, I was not expecting you till the eighteenth.” Ivan said and her shoulders slumped. “But your Mom called me on Sunday and said you were coming down and she wanted to have an appointment, so the other therapist is actually here today and we'll be bringing him in here in a few, then your mom said she wanted to put all our heads together and come up with a good plan for you.”

“Awesome!” Tracy said, almost bouncing out of her seat.

“So I take it there's nothing on your mind?”

Tracy sat down again. “Well, just that Mom is going to be away for two weeks, but Aunt Shelly is here, so that is good.”

“Well, just remember, she's not leaving you because of anything you did. Being able to move slowly is a good thing. Quick moves can strap a budget and that's never good.”

“Yeah, she said she wants to be down here as soon as possible, so she can look for a job. Then Dad and Vance come down in June.”

“Good. I bet they won't be able to wait either.” Ivan said. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder, meaning that they will both miss you.”

“Even Vance?”

“Even your brother.” Ivan agreed.

~o~O~o~

Tracy had met with the other man, who had questioned her alone, then with Ivan in the room. She liked him as well. He had more of a sense of humor, but he did his best to be a professional. They had yet to give her an answer on getting the hormones, but the meeting wasn't over yet. Her Grandmother, Godmother and Mother had come in, along with Persephone and Lance and all of them, including the second therapist were going over different problems that could arise. “I think a big step here is to change her name.” Maggie stated. “Don't we need to just go to the court house and request it?”

Lance shook his head. “No. To change her name, you'll need to follow a few steps. First is we go to the courts and we start the paperwork now and we can do that in a matter of minutes. In fact we can head over to the courthouse when we leave here, if you want. Once that's in, we have to post something in the paper once a week for four weeks and we have the court date to get the change legal. After that we can work on her birth certificate. And either you or William will have to be present at the court hearing to get it done and I advise having Ivan there too, plus getting a new doctor to agree with him that she's no longer a he would be a good start too. But I will drive you to the courthouse myself, after the meeting here.”

“Maggie, I already gave you the name of Sage's doctor. He may help.” Persephone offered. “That's who she's getting the shots from.”

“He's the one we called yesterday?”

“Yes, he is expecting us afterward. Either way, Tracy needs a doctor who can sympathize with her current state.” Persephone said.

“What about school? I don't think she could be Tracy at the school if her legal name is Troy.” Maggie groaned. “Troy would have to go till the end of the year and what about the next school year? Too many kids would know Troy by that point.”

“Then we work on getting her into home schooling in this district. It beats driving three hours so she can take a test.” Shelly stated. “I don't work, so I can take care of teaching her, and then when school starts in August, she goes as Tracy. Frank can work with her in math and science.”

“That may be the best bet.” Lance said with a nod. “And Frank does know his math and science, but what do you expect from a man who works in a laboratory. He's helped my girls when they need it.”

“Good.” Maggie nodded.

“About that woman in the gas station. Are you planning to sue that woman?” Lance asked.

“Honestly, the less contact I have with that bitch Hallmark, the better.”

“I can understand. I also don't know how well that case would work out. She could always say she thought she saw Tracy touch Sage and Sage told her to stop. But you have the advantage of several customers and with her shoving Sage and Andromeda, that makes it in your favor.”

Bernice leaned forward in her chair. “Well, Maggie, suing her would show you're not going to take her crap. You're already having charges pressed, so why not. I'm not usually one to push a personal law suit, but she attacked your child and Persephone's. She needs to be smacked down or she may get back up and come back at you. Also what about that little sawed off punk Tracy slapped around and the man who threatened you?”

“Well, we're looking into that, but Billy has nothing, neither does Clark's mother, I'd bet. Not sure how well a suit against Hallmark would do. But William did say in his call that he had a possible solution from Larry, Billy's father. If you can come up with us to file the restraining order, then he wants to run it by you and Frank.”

“Frank? Okay, now you got my curiosity piqued.”

“Billy O'Brien has old cars. A lot of them and he knows that Frank is in that car club, so he wants to see if Frank can come up and take a look at them and see what they are worth.”

“But to get that, you would have to sue Billy, and then it would only be a monetary amount.” Lance replied.

“No. See, Larry, Billy's father is the man who has bought those cars, he also has all the titles in his name, not Billy's. So that makes him the owner, correct?” Maggie asked. “I'm not a lawyer, but Billy's name shows nowhere on the pinks.”

“But Mom?” Tracy asked, trying to break into the conversation. “Doesn't a lot of this depend on me getting hormones? What if I can't? I don't want to go back to being Troy. I'd rather die first. I finally get to be the girl I am and not hide it.”

Allan leaned over tapped Tracy on the shoulder and as she turned to face him, he handed Tracy a piece of paper that looked like a prescription, but she didn't read it too closely. “What's this?”

“That's a listing of the vitamins you should start taking because of the lack of hormones in your body.” Allan replied. He pulled off a second piece of paper and gave it to Maggie. “This is for the blood test and hormones. You'll need to have blood drawn first though, then it's a wait to get the results.”

“How long will I need to wait?” Tracy asked, her face a mixture of happiness and sadness, just because of a possible wait.

“Maybe a week or so.” Allan replied. “They have to test the blood. That's about a good week’s wait, plus then you can have the appointment to get the hormones at the time you see Ivan next. You still are seeing him on the eighteenth, right?”

Tracy looked to her mother. “Are we?”

“Yes, this was an emergency meeting, but I kept that appointment too,”

“Cool.” Tracy said, looking to her prescriptions and she smiled.

~o~O~o~

Sage waited by the usual tree for Rachel and Brooke. The weather was a drizzle, which meant no hanging out on the playground at lunch. Instead the three girls made their way to the cafeteria. They waited in line for their food, then they went to find a table that was mostly empty. Brooke took her normal spot at the end of the table, and Rachel and Sage took a spot on either side.

“I can't believe she's finally here.” Rachel said with a grin.

“Be better when she's going to school with us next school year.” Sage added.

“At least she got away from that crazy woman. I still can't believe they she attacked all three of you in that store like that.” Rachel said, shaking her head in disbelief.

“I know. She just appeared out of nowhere and was almost foaming at the mouth. If that was anything like what the guy on the phone was doing I feel sorry for Tracy.” Sage said. “I had no idea what was going on, till she screamed. The next thing I know, I'm landing into a rack of Hershey bars.”

“And pushing 'Romy like that. I thought your mother would have torn her in two.”

“Mom only fights if she has to, but she saw that Tracy's grandma had it under control.”

“Think Tracy will come over after we get home from school?” Brooke asked.

“I don't know. I know they had a lot of stuff they wanted to do today.” Rachel replied. “They had the two doctors appointments, the court thing to change her name, shopping and Tracy's grandmother wanted to get to know her better.”

“Ah. Well I guess there's always tomorrow.” Brooke replied.

“She's at your grandfather’s school tomorrow, but I think that's in the evening.” Rachel stated. “Not sure if they talked to the school today or tomorrow.”

“How do you know this?” Sage asked.

“I was downstairs using that bathroom at Uncle Franks place. I overheard them.” Rachel replied with a grin. “You were in the bathroom, so I had to go downstairs.”

“Oh.”

“So cool, she gets to see Grandfather’s school. I think she will like it.” Brooke said with a light head nod.

“And know what else?” Rachel asked.

“What?” Both Sage and Brooke replied.

“Not this weekend, but next week, she's staying at my house from Monday till the weekend, well except for church. I guess she's coming over after Uncle Frank gets out of work on Monday.” Rachel smiled brightly.

“Why?” Sage asked.

“Aunt Shelly and Uncle Frank are taking off to Reno for their wedding anniversary. So she needs a place to stay and Mom offered to take her, but I'm not sure what she'll do in the afternoon and mornings...Other then that, she'll be at my place.”

“Cool. I guess the sleep over is at your place then?” Brooke asked and Rachel nodded. She looked up and sighed. “Sucks that she can't be here though.”

“She's here in spirit.” Sage replied. “Trust me, if she's at the doctors, I think she would rather be with all of us. I can't imagine she's having a good day at all. Doctor Ivan is going to be mad that she hasn't called him and Doctor Addams has to check her out, all the way.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy danced out of the therapists office that morning. Her mother watched as she danced and skipped all the way to Shelly's van and she waited for them to get over and unlock the doors. Lance came over to her and patted her shoulder. “One problem down. Next up, we start a name change; after that is the school district, then your doctor. So I have to ask, does Tracy have a middle name?”

“Kristin.” Tracy replied. “Mom told me months ago that it was the name I would have had if the hospital had been right and said I was a girl.”

“You spell that K-r-i-s-t-i-n?” Lance asked.

“Yeah.” Tracy quickly nodded, not questioning how he knew this already. “So what all do we need to do?”

“Well, we have to fill out a couple of forms. Once those are done, we pay a fee and file it, then we find out which newspapers we can put an ad in and for the next four weeks we make sure that ad is placed, then in a month we can have a court date to change your name legally.”

“What type of ad?” Tracy asked.

“Well, it says that as of a certain date, you shall no longer be Troy Patterson, but you will be Tracy.”

“Oh. Sounds easy. So do we go to the courthouse now?”

“Well, do you have the paperwork all filled out?”

“Uh....no.” Tracy began to slump her shoulders.

“Good thing then, that I did it before I got to the appointment. Your mother told me your middle name last night.” He reached into his briefcase, which he had put on the trunk of his car and pulled out several pieces of paper. Tracy looked it over then up at him.

“So we can go now?”

“Why not. It's only a few miles away from here.”

~o~O~o~

The court paperwork had been started, as had the newspaper ads and Persephone had showed them the way to Sage's doctor. They decided to try the homeschooling trip the next day, so they didn't totally wear out themselves with all the paperwork. Persephone had work to get to, so after showing them the way to the doctor, she headed back for Livermore.

Tracy was in a chair between her Godmother and her Grandmother as her mother went to the receptionist with the finished paperwork for her. Maggie still had Wiliam's health insurance, but Shelly was ready to back her up monetarily if the insurance denied her.

“Mom?” Tracy asked leaning over as her mother came back from filling out the papers. “What name did you put down.”

“I put down Tracy, but there is a note that your name isn't legally changed yet.” Maggie whispered back.

They waited for almost half an hour, till a nurse came out and announced. “Patterson? Tracy Patterson?”

Tracy, her mother and Godmother all stood up, leaving Bernice in the waiting room, and followed the nurse as she went into the tiny exam room, She knew that Sage went to this man and he was well aware of Sage's condition. She had heard her mother talking to Persephone, who had already talked to the doctor about her issue as well.

“Alright young lady.” The nurse said. “I just need to get a few things from you.” The woman seemed to be in her thirties and very friendly. “I need to get your height and weight for the record. So slip out of your shoes and step on over here.” Tracy slipped out of her shoes and went over to the dual purpose scale and she stood up tall as the woman pulled out the measuring rod to check her height. “That's a pretty skirt you have on.”

“Thank you.” Tracy said with a blush. “It was one that a friend of mine gave me. She had a few she can't wear, because she grew out of them.”

“It's good to have friends like that.” She read the information for a moment, then said. “Hmm. Four foot eight. A little short, for eleven, but still good.” Tracy moved as she put the bar back in place and began moving the weights. After a few moments, she looked up. “Eighty five pounds.”

“Okay, sit up on the edge of the bed and just relax. I need to check your blood pressure.” The nurse said as she pulled out the black cuff. Tracy rolled back her sleeve once she was settled on the bed. Once she had the readings, the nurse wrote it down. “A little high, but that happens when seeing a new doctor.” The Nurse went over and pulled a gown out of a small cupboard. “Okay Young lady, I want you to go and take off your skirt, shirt and a bra if your wearing it. You can keep your panties on, but the doctor may remove them so he can fully check you out, okay? If you want, you put your clothes on that little ledge over by the spare chair.” She pointed to a little ledge that seemed to serve no purpose, till now. “And the Doctor shall see you in a bit, okay.”

“Okay.”

Tracy looked at the gown, then up at her mother. Maggie could see the frustration in her daughter. The fear that the doctor would deny her and the shame that she had to show her body once more. “Sorry Baby, but this needs to happen and the sooner the better for you, okay? We'll step out and let you undress in private.”

“Okay.” Tracy said as her mother and Godmother went to the door and stepped out, then shut it. Armed with just the gown they gave her and she quickly stripped out of her skirt and her shirt, her eyes stayed on the door, even though she knew her mother was on the other side, keeping it shut.

“Okay, Mama.” Tracy called out and the door opened up and her mother and Shelly came in. Tracy went over and sat on the edge of the exam table. “I'm getting tired of doctor's beds.”

“I know Tracy, but this is important. Either way, you need hormones in your system. There was a knock at teh door and Shelly moved to open it, slightly so she could see out.

“Hello. I am Doctor Addams.” The doctor said as he walked into the room. He was an older man, Tracy guessed somewhere in his forties. His hair was already gray in places and he seemed to have a warm friendly smile. “I see we have a large support group for you.”

“I'm Tracy's mother, but I live north of here by about three hours. Shelly is Tracy's godmother, she'll be watching Tracy for the next two weeks, till I move down here. She also has my approval to bring her here, in case of problems.”

“I see.” The Doctor replied. “Will her presence make the young lady uncomfortable?”

Tracy blushed and Maggie shook her head. “Doctor Addams, Tracy is barely comfortable with her body when she's clothed. But she knows this is important to get her to where she wants to be.”

“Well tell you what. I'll step outside. We made sure he knew me and I will have the note to get Tracy seen in case of trouble.” Shelly said. She touched Tracy's hand. “Just be good and your Grandma and I will see you when you're done, okay?”

“Tracy nodded slowly. “Okay.”

Once Shelly was gone the Doctor pulled a stool over and sat in front of Tracy. “Now I want to do a few tests on you. The normal things. Breathe while I listen with the stethoscope, then an eye test. After that I'll walk you through each step of the tests I need to do, okay?”

Tracy nodded as the man started her with an eye test. Once he was sure she wasn't blind, he moved around the table and put the ice cold stethoscope on her back, making her gasp. “Sorry, I try to warm it up, but cold metal always feels like it is freezing to the bare skin.”

He pulled out the little hammer and tested her reflexes. Tracy sat through each test, slowly getting comfortable with the man. When he had exhausted all the normal check up requirements, he stood up and looked at Tracy. “Now is the hard part. I Need to run a few tests with your gown down. I have to check on development of your upper body, then I will have you remove your underwear.” He watched as Tracy's shoulders slumped and she sighed. “Sorry Tracy, but I need to give you a once over before I totally allow hormones. We want to do things right, not open the gates for more problems. Besides, you will be getting no less then I give to any girl your age. Understand? This is your health and your body, you have to do these check ups so your mother doesn't lose you way too early.”

"He is right, Tracy. I recall my check up at your age and it was rather embarrassing, but I'm glad it was done. I'd hate to lose you from something we could have caught." Maggie told her with a soft smile.

“Okay.” Tracy replied, but she couldn't look him in the eyes as she pulled the gown over her shoulders. The doctor did a few tests, lightly touching her body, but she didn't watch. She could feel his hands slightly lifting at where her chest was, but all she did was try to ignore it and hope he finished soon. With each test he did, he told her what he would do, and why. But that did little to help her fears of being seen like this.

“Very good. Now I'll let you get dressed. I'll wait outside while you do. We have a couple of things to cover before I have your blood pulled.”

“Okay.” Tracy answered, covering herself with the gown.

“I'll wait out in the hall.” He opened the door wide enough to slip out, but not reveal Tracy to anyone in the hall. Maggie grabbed Tracy's clothes and handed them to her, then she turned around and waited the few minutes for Tracy to dress. After that she called the Doctor back in; he was walking back down the hall as she opened the door.

The Doctor went to his stool and sat down, with Tracy on the edge of the bed and Maggie on a chair. “Mrs. Patterson, I have a question. In the attack that took Tracy's testicles, were both of them destroyed?”

“No.” Maggie shook her head. “See, when Tracy was born there was issues with one and the doctor's at the military base she was born at removed it when she was maybe one and a half, possibly two?”

“I see, so she had just the one for the past few years?”

“Yeah. And in the attack, the doctors told me that they were basically flattened from the stomping.” Maggie replied and the doctor got a bit green.

“Hmmm...” He said once he regained himself.

“Hmmm what?” Maggie asked.

“Were his testicles ever checked out by other doctors?”

“I....I don't recall. I was usually the ones with them at the doctor's, but, see my husband was in the Army, so we would take the kids to the local Air Force Base, but we only had a few appointments over the years. The kids were both really healthy, never had any problems.” Maggie slumped her shoulders and lowered her head, but lifted her gaze to see the doctor. “I messed up big, didn't I? I took her to the doctor for an appointment at five and six, even at eight. The one when Tracy turned ten felt rushed to me. But we haven't gone each year.”

“Honestly, a lot of people don't. The people with no insurance see me even less.

“Now Tracy, one thing that worries me is your weight. I'm not trying to make fun of you, but when men get castrated, they tend to put on weight. You're already over the average for your age group, not by much, just about ten pounds.” He turned on the stool to face her better. “Do you eat when you feel sad?”

“No. Not really.” Tracy replied.

“I'll admit that Tracy has always been a bit over the average. Maggie stated. One of the biggest problems is when we have dinner, there is usually a lot and Tracy and Vance, my eldest, both take decent amounts.”

“I see, this is something I would like to keep an eye on. Also, has your chest seemed like it’s growing? Keep in mind this is the first time I've met you, so I don't know. Have you ever had itching on your chest?”

“No.” Tracy replied. “Well, a little I guess, I just figured it was the clothes, see we started using a new laundry detergent. I just never thought about asking mom. They did seem a bit bigger over the past couple of month though. Like I don't have to pad the training bra as much to fill it out.”

“Is this normal?” Maggie asked.

“Well, you see, men and women both have estrogen and testosterone. In losing the supply of testosterone, whatever estrogen Tracy's body was making became the only hormone in her body so that could be helping to start Tracy on the path to breast growth. Keep in mind there may be some testosterone being made from glands, but nothing like what a boy of the age of eleven would have. And now all that is left is the glands making the estrogen.”

“They're growing?” Tracy asked, her eyes lighting up as she focused on the news of her boobs.

“If you were a normal twelve year old girl, I would say yes. It looks as though you are on the start of puberty. Being as you've taking a different route to get there, I have to guess. But I've seen this type of growth in young girls before.”

“But I could get boo...breasts this way?” She asked, her cheeks going a bright red.

“You could, but keep in mind, what your body produces is very little, so that's why it may have taken two months to get a slight growth, also the full dose of hormones will help in other things, like helping your hips grow out, and helping with bone structure, making sure your hair is fine and lady like.”

“So what all do we need to do to get the hormones going?”

“Well, I'll have the nurse come in, draw some blood and then we wait to see where her hormone levels are and in a week or two we have Tracy come in and we'll cover everything that we've come up with and give her a shot.”

“Good.”

“Well then, you be good, young lady, and I will see you next time.”

~o~O~o~

“So where to now?” Bernice asked. “The school?”

“We wanted to hold off on the school till tomorrow, that way Lance and Persephone could be there, just in case.” Maggie stated.

“Well, we haven't shopped yet.” Shelly admitted. “We were waiting to see what Tracy would eat, so we thought we could take her to the store. I was going to take care of it after all these appointments.”

“I got an idea.” Maggie said. “What if we took her. Mom wants to spend more time with her and I've wanted to show her the finer points of shopping. Plus I'd like to buy the groceries, for all you're doing for us.”

“Maggie, I won't take your money like that.”

“Then you'll take mine.” Bernice said.

“Bernice, I won't do that to you, either.” Shelly stated.

“Shelly, you're taking in my daughter for at least two weeks, then you get me. We're going to be a drain on your budget, so let me at least make one payment now.” Maggie said. Shelly thought about how she would feel in that situation and she nodded.

“Okay. Let's compromise. I'll let you get the groceries, but I'm buying lunch for the four of us.” Shelly stated. “And I won't take no for an answer. We can take my van. The groceries can fit in the back.”

“Okay.” Maggie agreed.

“Besides, after Tracy's morning, I'm sure she needs a bite to eat.” Shelly said and Tracy just nodded.

“Tell you what then, lets get lunch first, it's almost one, then we go shopping.”

“Okay. I know a store near the house.”

This isn't really a cliff hanger, but where I had it at was at almost 27 pages on my usual writing program, so I felt the need to break it up, also I think the other half needed work.

All is well. The wheels are turning, slowly, but it's still a turn

And yes, at the line "Tracy danced out of the therapists office", I did picture an eleven year old girl doing the "snoopy dance" out of pure joy.

“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

“I wish she didn't have to go. I wish she could move with me.” Tracy said, leaning her head against the window and just staring blankly at the passing scenery.

“I can bet that she wants the same thing.” Lilian said as they turned into a large sprawling campus. Tracy started looking around and saw several buildings and groups of kids, all ranging from six to eighteen walking around different parts of the campus.

Editing by Djkauf and secondary editing by Stanman63

More of Tracy and family.

February 11th 1983

Tracy sat in the front seat of the car as they navigated the city streets of Fremont, she wasn't feeling up to looking out the window too much, but she did anyway. She could only think of her mother driving out of her life and each time she thought about that, she began to cry.

As she stopped crying for what felt like the twentieth time in the past half hour, Lilian reached over and gave her knee a pat. “I know it hurts now Tracy, but soon your mother will be here and everything will look up. You still have your friends and if you want to talk, I'm willing to listen,” Lilian said as they drove to Casey's school.

“I wish she didn't have to go. I wish she could move with me,” Tracy said, leaning her head against the window and just staring blankly at the passing scenery.

“I can bet that she wants the same thing,” Lilian said as they turned into a large sprawling campus. Tracy started looking around and saw several buildings and groups of kids, all ranging from six to eighteen walking around different parts of the campus.

She looked around and she saw everyone using sign language. She knew she had to learn it at some point, if she was going to be around Casey more. Lilian turned once more and then stopped at a parking lot near a building with an office sign, ”Want to come in?”

“No. I'll just get in the backseat now.” Tracy said as they pulled in to a parking spot.

“You don't have to,” Lilian said. “But if you want to, I won’t argue.”

“Casey should be up front, it's your car, she's your daughter, ”Tracy said as she opened the door and transferred her bag to the backseat. Lilian watched her for a moment, then headed for the office. About ten minutes later, Lilian came out, with Casey next to her. Casey was wearing a coat with the school colors on it and she had a backpack. Her big art book was held under her arm.

Casey opened up the door to the passenger side of the back seat and she smiled at Tracy, then climbed in, scooted over, tossed her stuff into the front passenger seat, then hugged her friend.

Casey started to sign and Tracy shook her head, “I don't understand.” She said.

Before Lilian started the car, she turned to face Casey and got her attention. A quick conversation took place before Lilian looked to Tracy, “She says she is sorry your mom is gone. She hopes you feel better.”

“Oh,” Tracy said. “Tell her thank you.”

Lilian passed on the message, then signed again and Casey nodded, “Next stop Dublin.” Lilian stated as she pulled out of the parking spot and headed out of the school.

“Um,” Tracy finally broke the silence when they reached a highway that didn't look like she remembered. Plus the signs for Berkeley and Oakland made her question where they were headed. “Where are we going?”

“Casey has a doctor's appointment, then I'll get Stacey from school and after that we'll go grab the girls and take you to your class tonight.”

“But isn't Dublin behind us? Like near Livermore?”

“It is, but Casey likes the trip up the Nimitz Freeway. So when I pick her up at school, we go home this way, unless I hear a bad traffic report.”

“The Nimitz?” Tracy asked.

“Interstate eight eighty.”

“Is that the one that goes through Livermore?” Tracy asked. She looked over and saw that Casey was watching the passenger scenery, a lot of which was blocked by some walls on the side of the highway.

“No, that's five eighty,” Lilian explained. “And we took that earlier and will be on it in a little bit. We also took six eighty too.”

Tracy thought about it for a moment, then asked, “Is there a seven eighty? Kinda weird they skipped that one.”

“It's over by Benicia and Vallejo,” Lilian said with a nod of her head. “They do exist. There's even a Two, three and four eighty and a nine eighty, but that all over the Bay Area.”

“Oh. And they all connect to interstate eighty?” Tracy asked.

Lilian didn't mind the questions, it was keeping her from crying. To her it felt weird to be holding a conversation out loud as they left Casey's school for the deaf, but she was glad to keep Tracy from thinking about Maggie.

“In one way or another. Sometimes it's just a bridge or something like that.”

“We took an interstate eighty to Wyoming a few years ago. Wonder why they named it the same,” Tracy pondered aloud.

“Simple. It's the same highway.” Lilian replied, “The west end is in San Francisco and if I remember right, the east end is in New Jersey, on the other side of the county.”

“Wow. That's got to be a long drive,” Tracy said.

“It can be. Just imagine how long that trip would have taken back one hundred years ago? It could have been months and that's from the Mississippi river to California,” Lilian stated and Tracy recalled covering the westward expansion in school. “But now I'd say it would be about a week, maybe five days from coast to coast.”

“Wow,” Tracy said.

“And that's not traveling more then say twelve hours a day. So think of how hard the big rig drivers have it.”

“Being on the road all the time must be hard.”

“It can be. My father used to do that, but he stopped a few years back. And we've traveled by car to Vermont, to see my brother and that took almost a week to get there. But then we cheated and cut through Canada at Michigan.”

“Was it fun? The trip I mean?” Tracy asked.

“It had its moments,” Lilian answered. “But I'd do it again.”

Tracy had started watching the passing scenery with Casey and holding the conversation and her worries about her mother leaving were put on hold for a little while.

~o~O~o~

Lance walked with Frank, Carl, Persephone, Maggie and Bernice out of the courthouse. The Miller's had decided to follow the others up, even if it was just for a few hours, so they could make sure that charges were filed for the assault on Andromeda and Sage. “Well that's done. You've got the temporary one and we'll have to be here for the permanent one in ten days. Keep in mind though, if the Hallmark woman has been released from mental health, she can appear and even if she isn't, she can still appear, but under guard.”

“Can you make it up here for that?”

“Yeah, I'll call the office and leave a note that I need that day for travel.”

“Thank you, Lance.”

“Yes, Thank you.” Carl replied.

“What about the girls? Will they need to be here?” Persephone asked.

“I would say yes, just in case. Sage and Andromeda at least. It couldn't hurt to get Brooke and Rachel involved too.” Lance said. “Also, I would like to bring in Bart Rogers, he's more of my criminal lawyer for our firm, I deal mostly with family law.”

“Okay.”

“And this will help in winning the case against her for attacking the girls?” Carl asked.

“It should. Plus the reports from all the witnesses won't hurt. But for now, lets see if William is off work and if he can show us these things he wants Frank and me to see.”

“Could I tag along?” Carl asked. “Old cars are kind of a hobby to me. Nothing I can get into financially, but still cool to look at.”

Lance nodded. “Sure, Persephone, you mind?”

“Go ahead.” She said, then she kissed her husband. “See you at Maggie's later.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy stayed in the backseat with Casey as they pulled into the lane where Parents picked up their children at the school in Dublin. Tracy looked around and saw a bunch of people her age and she wondered what it would be like to be in a school and treated like one of the girls.

As they neared the main part of the sidewalk, Stacey came running over, one hand on her skirt to keep it from flipping up in the afternoon wind. She looked in the car and saw Casey and Tracy in the backseat and Casey's stuff in the front seat, so she pushed her stuff over the seat and climbed into the back, making Casey move to the middle of the seat. Lilian chuckled, knowing it was bound to happen. She waited as they moved through the line till they reached the main drive.

As Lilian pulled out from school that Stacey went to, they had only gone a mile or two when she heard the quick chirp of a squad-car's siren. Tracy whipped her head back and saw a car behind them. Lilian was pulling over as quickly as she could, then she put her car into park. Tracy looked to Stacy and asked. “Is she in trouble?”

“Naw, it's Dad. He does this if he sees her, may be telling her something important.”

A moment later, Harvey walked up, wearing his uniform. He smiled at the girls and bent down at the window. “Excuse me Ma'am, you know how fast you were going back there?”

Lilian grinned at her husband. “Well, I had to get you to pull me over somehow. How else would I give you my phone number.” She teased back.

“But you might be married, Ma'am. What would your husband think?”

“You're right, Officer. I am married to the most handsomest, sweetest, perfect man.” Lilian didn't lean out and kiss him. She knew if people saw that it could cause problems for the department. Instead she lightly touched his hand. “And he knows how to keep a smile on my face in every room of the house.”

“Ewwww.” Stacey said with a smile. “Yuck!”

“Says you, young lady.” Harvey said with a grin, he looked back to his wife.. “So do I need to bring anything home?”

“Well, we're having French bread pizza, so I think we're all taken care of there. I bought soda and chips, so we should be fine.”

“Okay. I'll be off at five and barring any problems, I should be home by five.” Harvey stated.

“Well Tracy has that class at five, so we'll be home after that.”

“Well, then, maybe I'll meet you there. But next time, watch that speed, or I'll have to frisk ya.”

“Promises, promises.” Lilian said with a smile.

~o~O~o~

Larry led William, Lance, Carl and Frank over to the garage where Billy's cars were. William had managed one week at work and he was surprised that he hadn't quit be cause it seemed to be open season on him at the mill. But he knew he had to hang tough till it was time to leave.

Larry stopped by one of the cars and turned to face them. “I don't want this shit on my property. I know he's an adult, so you could sue him, but honestly, he owns nothing. All the titles are in my name. All of them, including the junkers.”

Frank looked at William, Carl and his brother in law. “Guys, there's got to be at least a hundred thousand dollars here, just in cars and parts. I have an idea on how to deal with this though. Honestly, I wouldn't want to lose my chance at cars like these.”

“What's your idea?” Lance asked.

“We see if he'll sell the part cars. There's some good parts on some of these and you get a few hundred bucks here and there. That engine in the barn, well over six hundred dollars easy, if not more. But for that, he may need to put a lien on it. It's tricked out. I know people in my car club with a lot of spare cash that would jump at some of this stuff. Some of these cars are still usable, either for parts, or a couple of these frames look good enough to rebuild from the ground up. But I want the first chance at that car.” He pointed to a Seventy one Trans am “and that one over there.” He pointed to a Sixties Chevy Nova.

“Frank, Shelly will kill you if you get another car.” Lance said to his brother in law.

“It's not for me.”

“Then why get it?” Lance asked.

“I want to buy one of these, at a fair price to give to Tracy as something she can have and hold over that assholes head. Honestly, if I thought I could fix these, all of these, I'd try to get one for each girl. Be a good lesson in how to take care of a vehicle.”

“I don't know if I want my daughter having a muscle car, when she gets older that is.”

“Well William, we can always hold on to it and sell it later.” Frank said. “When it's tricked out, they can pull a pretty penny from a collector.”

“He is right.” Lance said. “Old cars are really popular right now.”

“He does have a point.” Carl stated. “While it may not be the same as an investment portfolio, a car in good condition can get you a decent sum. I heard of a guy in Livermore who restored a nineteen nineteen ford and someone offered him a hundred thousand dollars for it.”

“Damn.” William exclaimed. “That's crazy.”

“Well, let's see what he'll take, then we can see if he'd allow my car club to come take a look.” Frank said. “We could probably get Tracy a decent savings account started with what he sells here, but to be fair, if he bought this, we should think about a kickback to him on it, or at least see who paid for it.”

“Good point. No reason he should get screwed for something his kid did.” Carl said. “And as for savings for the kid, let me have a day or two and I can give you some good ideas on how to invest it and maybe get her a nice sum for college.” He looked to William. “But in the end, it is your call.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy followed Stacey into the house, dropping her backpack near a couch in the living-room. Stacey motioned for her to follow and as they went through the kitchen, she could hear a dog whining and barking and the sounds of claws on plastic.

“Duke!” Stacey called out as they entered the back room. Tracy looked in a large kennel and saw a large puppy, with some black on its face but the rest was brown. “Wanna go outside?” Stacey asked and the dog wagged its tail, and the back of its body, too.

“Come on,” Stacey grabbed a leash from a nearby hook, then she grabbed a scoop with a plastic bag on it. “Here, hold this for a moment.”

Tracy took the scoop, wondering what it was for as Stacey opened up the door to the cage like kennel and the ball of fur exploded out. It ran in a tight circle around the two girls, then stopped and sniffed at Tracy's bare ankles, then licked at them, making her jump and back away. The puppy then spun in another circle and finally Stacey caught it and put the collar on. She took the item from Tracy and gestured to the back door. “Wanna walk him with me?”

“Sure. Never been near a lot of dogs.”

“We'll take him down the street,” Stacey asked as they headed out into the backyard, past a large shed and around to a gate. They went to the road and walked down the sidewalk.

The little puppy darted back and forth along the sidewalk, sniffing at anything and everything and Tracy had to laugh as it looked like the tiny dog was pulling Stacey off balance. “What is he?”

“German Shepherd. Dad got him for us for Christmas. Says he'll be a big guard dog.” Stacey replied. “Duke's Mom is actually a police dog.”

“Neat. Do you have to take him someplace special?” Tracy asked, but Stacey could hear she wasn't too excited.

Stacey shook her head. “No, but we do have to pick up the poop, which is gross, but Dad says if we want him, we have to do it.”

As the puppy stopped to mark a bit of the sidewalk, Stacey looked to Tracy, then she hugged her.

“What was that for?” Tracy asked.

“You looked sad,” Stacey replied. “Missing your folks?”

“Yeah. I didn't want Mom to leave. But she says she'll be back soon.”

“She will.” Stacey said. “Two weeks.”

Tracy shrugged and shook her head as they started walking again. “What if she doesn't? What if she realizes I was more trouble then I'm worth?”

“She will be back,” Stacey said. “I know she will.”

“What if she thinks she can do better? What if all this is too much for her?”

“Tracy,” Stacey turned to face her and the puppy did its best to try and pull her along. “Your mom will be back. I know she will.”

~o~O~o~

“You know you don't have to buy me dinner,” Lance said as Maggie and William guided him towards a family restaurant in town. Behind them was Frank, Vance and both sets of Grandparents.

“We can get our own, too,” Carl said. “We didn't have to stay, we could have taken off. I'm sure our kids are driving Lilian and Lynn up the wall by now.”

“Lance, you did take time to drive up here to work for us, so making sure you get a good meal before you leave only seems fair. It's better then fast food on the way home,” Maggie said. “And Carl, you and Persephone were nice to my daughter in December, we can extend that hospitality to you as well.”

“Lance, Carl, they won't take no for an answer,” Frank added.

Maggie smiled at him, “Thank you for helping today, Lance. And thank you for watching her next week.”

“Next week?” William asked.

“Frank and Shelly will be out of town for their wedding anniversary. They're going to Reno from Monday to Thursday, for the cheaper rates. So Tracy is staying with Lance and Lynn and Rachel,” Maggie stated.

“Yeah, Rachel is looking forward to it. Not sure if the others will be over, but Rachel already has a ton of plans.”

“So, what of that Larry guy? Will he go for the idea of doing a sale to the car club?” Frank asked.

“He's open to the idea. Not too wild about that many people on his property, but if it gets the cars off of it, he'll do it,” William replied. “And I asked him about a possible cut and he said it wasn't necessary.”

“Good, but you should still think about it,” Lance said with a nod of his head.

“Yeah, I am. He may have to pay a little to get the lien on the engine, so we can chip in for that.”

“I can let the club know when I get home today. I'll have to let Shelly know my plans for those two cars, too.”

“Good.” William said. “But for now, let's get something to eat. I'm starved.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy felt very nervous. First of all, her friends were now in Jaio and Lok's school, there to watch her. Secondly, she was new here and knew no one. She was in her uniform from her old school, but it didn't have the name of the school on it. She just noticed that all the students were in green. She walked over to Jaio and bowed, “Shifu?

“Tracy?”

“Do I need a new uniform for the next class?”

“We can work on getting you one. Your old school had a different system, so I will allow it for now, but we can get you one ordered tonight, after class.”

“But I don't have money to buy it.”

Jaio nodded slowly, “We will take that out of the work you're doing for us around our house, okay?”

“Okay.” Tracy replied, having recalled the deal she made with Lok and Jaio about helping clean around their house and the school, in turn they would give her parents a discounted rate for her instruction and teach her Chinese and teach her to cook in a Chinese style.

“Now, relax and go find a spot. We shall start soon.”

Tracy turned and saw all of the class was now paying attention to her. She fought the fear to just run for the door. Instead she went to a part of the mat where no one was, but she wasn't alone for long. A girl walked up to her and began speaking, in Chinese, and Tracy just stood there, confused till the girl stopped.

“Um....what?” Tracy asked.

When the the girl, who looked to be a bit younger then her, spoke. It was in very choppy English, “You do not speak Mandarin?”

“No. I only speak English.”

“Oh. You know class is in Mandarin?”

“Yeah, but Shifu Jaio said she'll teach in both, for me, til Brooke can teach me.”

“Oh. That is good. Have you studied long?”

“Almost four years when I was seven, almost eight.”

“I am Min, My brother Ronald is in Shifu Lok's Wing Chan class.”

“Ronald?” Tracy asked, confused as to why the boy had a normal American name, but she thought about it and Brooke seemed like a normal American name as well. But the other girl seemed to know what she was thinking.

“He is my adopted brother. His parents adopted me as a young girl and now I live here.”

“Oh, cool.”

“Yes it is cool.” Min said. At that point, Jaio got everyone's attention and the girls stopped talking.

~o~O~o~

Tracy gave a bow as she walked off the mat and went to her friends. “That was so cool,” Stacey said.

“No wonder Clark couldn't handle you in a fight,” Rachel said.

“Honestly, I didn't want to fight Clark,” Tracy said. “I just wanted him to leave. I didn't want to fight anyone.”

“And that is a good thing,” Lok said as he walked over to them. “Those who can, but show restraint are usually rare. No good ever comes from fighting.”

“He has a point,” Harvey said.

Tracy was shocked to see him there, she had never seen him come in.

“Fights always end up with a sore loser. Like with Bruce,” he said to Tracy. “But sometimes you don't get a chance to walk away. I've had to arrest too many people who were too emotionally involved in something and anger led them to a pointless fight.”

“Very true.”

“Shifu Lok, Shifu Jaio said I need to discuss a new uniform.”

“Well, you are her student. But we can always talk with her in a few minutes, when the class leaves.”

~o~O~o~

Sage couldn't help but giggle as she led Tracy to the bathroom that Stacey shared with her sister. Dinner was over and Tracy had taken a shower earlier in the evening, after getting there from her tai chi class. She was very confused with Sage cleared the girls out of her room and handed Tracy a robe with the simple instructions to put it on.

Sage led the way into the bathroom and began pulling a couple of things out of the cupboard under the sink then she went to the tub. Sage looked to Tracy, who was just in a borrowed robe and smiled.

“I just took a shower.” Tracy said as Sage began working the water.

“You ever take a bath?”

“Not since I was a little kid.” Tracy replied. “All we had was a shower.”

“You've been all tensed up for the past few days. Plus that class, you haven't worked out like that in a while. Baths always help me relax.” Sage said as she opened up a bottle that Stacey told her about and held it under Tracy's nose. “Like it?”

Tracy sniffed in and she could smell the strong scent of flowers. “Yeah.”

“The water too hot?” Sage asked.

Tracy stuck a hand in and shook her head. “No, it's good. Maybe a bit cold. Are you sure this is okay?”

“Okay, we'll make it warmer, that way you're not freezing in five minutes.” Sage fiddled with the knobs and then added the bubble bath. “Yeah, I asked Stacey and she agreed. You're gonna love this.”

“I am?”

“Oh yeah. I love to relax in the bath.” Sage said as the bathtub filled.

“Sage?” Tracy asked as her friend opened up the door to leave. “Could....could we talk a little?”

“Sure. Anything wrong?”

“Well, not really, I just haven't had the chance to talk to you much, and you know what I'm going through the best.”

“True. We're usually with the others” Sage agreed.

“It's been so hard on me.” Tracy said as she looked over to her friend and once she was sure that Sage wasn't watching her, she slipped out of her robe and quickly stepped a foot in the water. Sage leaned over and turned the dimmer switch down, leaving the room only partly lit.

“I can only bet.”

“You know, sometimes it feels like the whole world is against me.” Tracy stated as she began to drop into the water, moving slowly so she didn't burn herself. “I had people wanting me to be Troy and I'm not happy about that, then I wanted to be Tracy and the whole town hated that. Sometimes I felt like two people. Like it was two of me against the world.”

“But now you're Tracy all the time. You even got the Doctors to agree with you.”

“But now it's just me and no parents against the world.” Tracy sat all the way down and forced herself not to yelp out from the heat of the water. Sage cast quick glance over and when she was sure Tracy was covered, she sat on a stool with her back against the wall.

“But you're not alone. You have me, and Sage. Plus Brooke, Stacey and Casey and our parents. Your Aunt Shelly and Uncle Frank love you too.” Tracy moved some of the bubbles to cover her chest.

“But I don't have my mom. Is it stupid? I've been away from her for a total of what, two, maybe three days and I just wanna crawl into bed and bawl my.....” Tracy began to cry and Sage got off her stool and moved it closer. When she sat down again, she put an arm over Tracy’s.

“First time away from your parents? I mean for an extended time, other than Christmas?”

“Yeah,” Tracy replied. “Christmas was the first time.”

“You never went to a summer camp or anything like that?” Sage asked.

“No. Never went to a camp,” Tracy stated. “And at Christmas you all kept me busy.”

Sage nodded as she finally understood. “And it was only a few days, this is weeks, isn't it?”

“Who knows,” Tracy replied. “She said two weeks, but...what if she decides that I was too much hassle? What if they just wanted me out of their life?” Tracy began to cry harder. “I ruined everything.”

“You didn't ruin anything,” Sage said. “Your mother will come back. I'm sure of that. Your dad misses you too, I'd bet.”

“But what if they don't come back?” Tracy asked.

“Tracy, don't think like that. I know she'll come back. Your mom is just that great of a person. Did she want to leave you today?”

“Well...” Tracy thought about it and shook her head. “No. She kept watching over her shoulder as my Grandma drove the car.”

“See, then that should be proof. She didn't want to let you go either. I bet she'll find a way to see you before the two weeks is up.”

I think she said she'll be at the doctor's for my check up and at Doctor Ivan's for that meeting on the twenty first too.”

Sage smiled at her, “See, and I bet she'll be there, waiting to walk in with you, like always.”

~o~O~o~

After her very relaxing bath, and the shower to get the soap off, Tracy had pulled on her night clothes and then she followed Sage to the living-room, where the others were watching MTV. At first she couldn't get into the videos, then after a few songs, she was bouncing along with the rest of them.

“Tracy? Could I talk to you for a moment?” Harvey asked as he stepped out of the kitchen.

“Um, sure,” Tracy got up and followed him back into the kitchen. She wanted to stay and watch the rest of the Billy Joel video that was playing, but she didn't want to make Harvey mad. She was a little worried to see both Harvey and Lilian in the kitchen, standing there looking at her and her mind began to think of a thousand things they could tell her. She began to worry that they would tell her that her mother either didn't want her, or had died on the trip home.

“Tracy,” Harvey dropped to one knee and he pulled the girl in for a hug. “I know things are hard for you, but until your mother is down here, I want you to treat this like your house too.”

“That goes for both of us,” Lilian said. “We know things are going to be rough, till Maggie gets here, so we're here for you. We know it's not the same, but we're still here..”

“Now I know you're feeling blue and you know what picks up my girls when they're down?” Harvey asked, Tracy shook her head.

“Root-beer floats. Would you like one?”

She shrugged, then nodded.

“Good. I like a decisive person,” Harvey joked. “I'll make you one. “Lil, could you bring the girls in?”

“Sure thing.”

~o~O~o~

Tracy woke up on on Saturday morning aware that someone held her in their arms. In from of her was the unmistakable mop of red hair that belonged to Sage. She leaned into who ever it was and just lay there. The person who held her held a bit tighter and she could feel them moving slightly. Finally she heard Rachel whisper, “Feeling better?”

Tracy nodded. Then she gently turned, taking her time so she wouldn't wake Sage, who was mostly awake anyway, “Did I have a bad dream?”

“You were crying in the night. So we decided to move closer and I undid your sleeping bag. You were out of it at the time.”

“Everyone still asleep?” Tracy asked.

“No. Stacey got up and took Duke out a few minutes ago. Casey and Brooke are still asleep, though. I think Sage is almost awake,” Tracy couldn't see it, but Sage nodded and opened up her eyes.

The back door opened and Tracy could hear the sounds of Stacey coming in and the sounds of paws on the tiled floor of the backroom.

The ball of fluff came running into the living-room and he darted for Brooke who was the closest to the kitchen. “Gah!” Brooke exclaimed as he started licking her face, she managed to push him away and the dog changed targets and went racing for Sage, who ducked down into her sleeping bag.

“Duke!” Rachel called out. “Here boy!”

Tracy wasn't sure where the dog was, till there was a nose next to her ear and he began to lick her cheek. “Duke!” Stacey said as she came into the living-room. “Come here boy.”

Tracy rolled back over and watched as Stacey tried to pull the dog back to the kitchen, “Is he always like that?”

“Well...” Rachel said with a chuckle. “We are on the floor, that puts us in his level.”

“Dad never let us have a dog,” Tracy said. “Wonder if he would, well, when we get a place here.”

“Who knows.” Rachel replied as they got up.

“So, um, what are we doing today?”

“Mall,” Rachel said with a grin. “And this time, there should be no sudden surprises to scare you.”

“Cool.”

~o~O~o~

The mall was busy, but not as busy as it had been the week before Christmas. Tracy walked along with her friends and Lilian, while the girls moved from clothing store to clothing store. She didn't look much, just at a few things here and there.

As they girls went into a store, Rachel led Tracy over to a rack of earrings, “Hey, you should see about getting some earrings. All the girls our age have them.”

“Mom said she was thinking about it,” Tracy replied. “I mean she has a few sets that belonged to her Grandma and I get them, but I have to wait for something, I don't remember what though.”

“Well, you can always ask when she moves down here,” Rachel pulled her a bit closer. “Hey, what do you want to do this week? Anything fun?”

“Well, I got my class on Tuesday and Friday. Plus I got my appointments on Friday too. Other than that, I don't know,” Tracy answered. “I thought your mom works?”

“She does, so for some of the time, you'll be with Brooke's grandma. She said she wanted to teach you some stuff, so it works out, but you're staying at our house till Aunt Shelly and Uncle Frank get home.”

“Cool,” Tracy said, mustering the best smile she could.

“Come on, let’s go check out the music store. Maybe that will cheer you up.” Rachel said, hooking her arm around Tracy's to lead her to the door of the shop.

And there you go. The meaning behind two against the world. One child being forced to be two people and pitting against all the jerks of the world. Of course, this may not be it at all :)

Up next Valentine's day, 1983

Tracy smiled. “So I can do it?”

“Yes. Let's start now. Also we're thinking of taking you out to a nice dinner tonight, okay? For Valentine’s Day.”

“Okay. That was what Uncle Frank was talking about?”

“Yes, it was. So a nice dress for dinner if you want, or a good skirt and blouse, nothing too fancy, just a nice one will do.”

Edited by Djkauf

Valentines day, 1983

February 14th 1983

Tracy woke up to the sun peeking though the window of her bedroom at her Godparent's house in Livermore. She had only been in town for a couple of days, since her mother and Grandmother left on Friday and the feeling of loneliness was growing each day. The fear of never seeing her mother again kept growing as well. She didn't want to leave her friends on Sunday, but she knew they had school and she didn't, at least not one that she had to leave the house for. So she looked forward to that evening, when she got to go to Rachel's for the week.

She got up and headed downstairs, making sure to just head to the half bath near the kitchen. When she was done, she pulled out some cereal and started her morning with a cold breakfast. She didn't have the desire to make anything that morning, other than something simple. Her Aunt soon joined her while her Uncle Frank was in the kitchen, getting a final cup of coffee before work.

“Happy Valentine’s day.” Frank said, as he came out of the kitchen. He stopped long enough to kiss his wife on the cheek. “Hey Shelly, isn't today that ladies garden club thing you had?”

Shelly looked over at the calender and she groaned. “Yes.”

“What club thingy?” Tracy asked.

“I promised a ladies garden club that I'm a part of to be at Valentine’s luncheon today at noon and I said I'd bring a dish too.”

“Oh.” Tracy said. “Um, I can stay here if you need.”

“Give me a moment Tracy, maybe you can come with me.” Shelly said as she held up a finger as she got up and went to the phone.

“I'd take her babe, but you know I'm all over the place at work.”

“I can stay here, you do have MTV.” Tracy said again. “I could read and stuff too.”

“I know, but this can be good to get you out and meet people. There are some ladies there you may enjoy talking to. Lots of recipe swapping goes on at times.” That seemed to perk her up, slightly. Shelly went to the phone and dialed as Tracy sat there, trying to pick at her food. “Chloe, It's Shelly. I should be able to make it, I just have a question to ask. My Godchild is currently living with me and she's here today. Yes, she's here now. Eleven, almost twelve. Could I? Please? Thank you. And what do I need to bring? A salad? Is anyone else bringing a salad? Lucy? Okay, I'll see what she is doing. Okay. What about a desert? Do we need something in that department? Paula? Isn't she in Nebraska this week. I swear there was a wedding going on? Tell you what, let me put my head together with my Goddaughter and we can work on a desert too, but it will be a back up, okay? Beth almost always brings in a dessert, so a little extra won’t hurt us.”

Shelly hung up the phone after a few more minutes and then looked to her Goddaughter. “Tracy, we need to get to the store and buy a salad and a desert from the deli for the luncheon.”

“When is it?” Tracy asked.

“Noon.”

Tracy looked at the clock, and saw it was almost seven in the morning, then she looked to the kitchen where she thought of the different foods that had been bought a few days earlier. The thought of cooking something made the pain of missing her parents go away, just a bit. “Could we make something?”

“I'm not much of a cook, Tracy.” Shelly admitted.

“Grandma Modine taught me a couple neat salad ideas and I wrote the directions down. I also know a few deserts I was going to make for you and Uncle Frank as a thank you.”

“Okay, get the directions and we'll see if there is time.”

Tracy hopped out of her seat and raced for the stairs, taking them two at a time. A few minutes later she came running down the steps, almost sliding down several steps at one point, with a notebook under one arm. She ran up to her aunt and opened the notebook. “Here. Chicken pasta salad, or a ham cubed salad, both have pasta. And the other one is here. Chocolate caramel bars.” Tracy flipped the pages to a section marked with a paperclip and a front page that proclaimed it the deserts section.

“Well on that note, ladies, I will see you both later. Remember, be ready to go by four thirty okay?”

“Okay.” Shelly replied, leaving Tracy to wonder what was going on. She looked over the ingredients of all three items and nodded slowly. “We have all of this?”

“Yes. I was going to make the salad for you, Mom and Grandma, but I never got the chance and we had that left over chicken breast from last night. Plus there's the ham from two nights ago. I wanted to make the caramel bars for Uncle Frank, because he loves candy.”

“Looks like the most cooking is about fifty minutes, not to mention the pasta. Give it a couple hours to cool and we can shower.”

Tracy smiled. “So I can do it?”

“Yes. Let's start now. Also we're thinking of taking you out to a nice dinner tonight, okay? For Valentine’s Day.”

“Okay. That was what Uncle Frank was talking about?”

“Yes, it was. So a nice dress for dinner if you want, or a good skirt and blouse, nothing too fancy, just a nice one will do.”

~o~O~o~

It was just turning noon as they pulled up at a gated driveway with a side parking lot. They went to the parking lot and Shelly pulled in. Shelly got out of the van and went to the sliding backdoor as Tracy got out. She stopped to make sure Tracy's dress looked okay. It wasn't her nice pink one, but a nice one Rachel had passed on to her. “Now this is a ladies gardening club. They may go on about their plants, just be polite and let them talk. One of the ladies loves her roses and they're almost as important as her children and grandchildren.” Shelly pulled the van door open and reached in and grabbed the dessert and handed it to Tracy. “There are some unwritten rules to parties like this, but when you take some food, don't fill the plate and eat what you take. Take small portions, in case it's not too good or you don't like the taste, that way you don't look like you're wasting food, okay? If Beth is here, I'll bet she brought a dessert too, and you should try it, just to be courteous, she'll do the same for yours. If there's another salad, try it. If you were to eat just what you brought then you'd look like a snob. Ready?”

“Sure.” Tracy said and they headed to a small gate that led into the community. As they passed by the homes, Tracy looked around and was amazed by the size of the homes. “Wow.” She managed to say. There weren't many nice cars in the driveways, so she figured that they were off doing whatever rich folks did.

“Wow indeed. Maybe we can see if Chloe would let us take a tour of her home. Normally, we have the luncheons in the clubhouse. We hold them at noon so the women that work and want to come, can and since it's Valentine’s day, she won't do a dinner at night. Chloe feels that is for the couples only.” Shelly said as they stopped at the clubhouse. See the house at the end with the two empty lots on either side?”

Tracy looked down and saw a monstrous home there. “Yeah.”

“That's Chloe's home. She's the club’s president this year.”

“Wow.” Tracy said again. As they reached the door to the clubhouse, someone who was going in, held the door for them. They navigated a hall, then entered into a large room, almost twice as big as Tracy's last classroom, but it was full of older ladies.

Tracy stood there, as her short Godmother deftly navigated the partly crowded room. A woman about her mother’s age came over and smiled at her. “You must be Shelly's godchild. You are a pretty one, aren't you.” Tracy only nodded in agreement. “And shy. So adorable. Come on sweetie, bring that to the main table, I'll show you the way.”

The lady turned as they got to the main table and that was when Shelly realized she had left Tracy behind. “Sorry Tracy. I'm used to just moving through the crowd.”

“It's okay.”

“Here, Sweetie.” The woman who had taken her over said. “Lets put this right over here. What did you bring?” She asked, this time looking to Shelly as she placed the desert on the table.

“Ask Tracy, she's the one who made these.” Shelly replied, forgetting that the child was not used to situations like this and she only realized when she saw Tracy blush from embarrassment of being put on the spot.

The other lady noticed her discomfort. “Tracy, no one will hurt you here. You'll find we're quite friendly.”

“I'm sorry, Tracy. I'm used to these women and I forgot how scary things can get for the first time in a large crowd.” Shelly said.

“It's okay.” Tracy replied. “Just, you know, with everything that has gone on.”

Shelly nodded. “I know.”

“Something bad?” The woman who was with them asked.

Shelly decided to go with a watered down version for Tracy's sake. She knew too much would lead to questions, but too little would also lead to questions. “Nothing that is her fault. She's staying with Frank and me. There were problems in her hometown and someone was threatening Tracy and her mother, so Tracy's parents sent her to live with us till they get to move down here and get her a better life. Maggie is due down in a couple of weeks and William and their son are due down in June.”

“Someone threatened her?” The woman looked shocked. “Someone threatened this sweet little girl?”

“Yes, see back in November, Tracy caught a boy stealing at school, they had a fight and Tracy and the boy got suspended from school. The day before Tracy was to return to school, the boy attacked her and her grandmother, who has osteoporosis and Tracy managed to defend her grandmother till her mother and father got there. Since then, the boy's brother has tried to attack Tracy on several occasions. And there's a cousin that tried stuff, so Tracy came to us, for her safety.”

“I see. And with that and the move, you’re missing your parents and scared?” The woman asked as she looked to Tracy. Tracy nodded in agreement. “Well Tracy, you are safe in here. This is a room filled with mama and grandma lions. We even have a couple of Great grandma lions in here. No one will hurt you at all.” She gave her a warm, motherly smile. “I'm Chloe. Can you trust me?”

Tracy looked up at her, and nodded. The woman leaned over and gave Tracy's shoulder a friendly pat. “Now, let's see what delicious dishes you made us?”

Tracy uncovered the salad and as she showed off her dishes, she got a bit of courage built up, along with some pride. “This is a pasta salad, with chicken breast, it also has tomatoes, some onions come cucumbers, and an Italian dressing. We made another salad, which is pasta as well. It also has cucumbers onions, tomatoes, but this has cubed ham and ranch dressing.”

“Both sound very good, Tracy. I'll have to try them.”

“Thank you.” Tracy politely replied.

“Now what was in the cake pan.”

Tracy smiled a bit. Of the dishes, it was her favorite. “That's chocolate caramel bars. It has the chocolate and caramel. It's my grandmother’s recipe and it is really chewy.”

“Oh that sounds yummy.” A woman who was standing behind Tracy said. Tracy had been unaware to the woman's arrival and she jumped. “Oh, I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to scare you like that.”

“I just didn't know you were there.” Tracy admitted as she turned to look at her.

“Well, I do tend to sneak up on good food.” The woman joked. Tracy took a quick look at her and noticed that she was rather chunky. “In fact, I've never met a lot of food I hated.”

Tracy giggled. “Me too.” She knew she wasn't thin, and she did her best to watch what she ate, but here was a woman who seemed to not be uptight about being big, like some of the people that Tracy had seen back home.

“Tracy, I'm Bethany.” Beth held out a hand, which Tracy gently shook.

“Hello, Ma'am.”

Bethany shook her head. “Tracy, You can call me Bethany, or Beth, if you want, I won't mind.”

Tracy shook her head. “My mother always told me to use an adult’s proper name, not their first name. She said it's a sign of respect.”

“Maggie is quite firm on that.” Shelly added. “She is doing her best to raise Tracy to be a very polite young lady.”

“I see. From the looks of the food, I would say she is also a wonderful cook.” Beth said.

“From what Maggie told me, she is. Tracy's paternal grandmother and her mother have been teaching her to cook since August, and she's learning rather quickly. I hear she is getting to be really good on her own.” Shelly boasted. “In fact, for the past few months, she was doing the cooking for her house, so her parents had dinner when they came home. When Tracy visited in November, she was making eggs for us, not scrambled, but over easy for Frank. I could never do over easy.”

“Really. That's impressive. Not many people can do over easy. Well then I will have to sample some of those salads and those bars your brought with you.” Beth smiled at Tracy. “I'm actually responsible for the pecan blondies over there. But then I cheat.” She leaned a bit closer. “I am part owner to bakery with a deli in the downtown area.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I mainly watch the bakery side of things. Doughnuts, cakes, cookies, other confections and pastries. My brother works the deli. Sandwiches and soups and stuff like that. Our mother and Grandmother run the office and help in the kitchen. Shelly knows it well. It's Big Mama's bakery and deli. I wanted to call it Big Mama's buns, but my friends said that would be a bit dirty.”

“Beth, now do you want a big shock?” Shelly asked.

“What?” The larger woman asked.

“Do you recall Margret Richter? Her parents were Bernice and Marion and they lived in Castro Valley, just across the street from my house.” Shelly smiled.

Beth was quiet for a moment as she thought back into her past, then she nodded slowly. “Margret....yeah. Brown hair, had a sister and a younger brother, her father worked at the airport in 'Frisco. He worked with my Uncle, if I remember right. Her mother did all sorts of jobs. She was about average in height, I think, but hre mother was a giant. And Margret preferred Maggie, right?”

Shelly nodded. “Yes, she still does. Tracy is Maggie's youngest. She's Bernice's second of four grandchildren. She is also my Goddaughter.”

“Oh my God. Maggie's daughter?” The woman studied Tracy's face and pulled up a mental image of Maggie as a child. “She kind of reminds me of Maggie when we were kids. In the eyes, I think.”

“Tracy, Beth went to school with your mother and I, in Castro Valley when we were younger. Till we hit high school, then Beth moved with her parents to Livermore, that was before your mother moved to Los Angles. Her mother and Grandmother actually started Big Mama's, Beth and her brother got partial ownership they got out of high school.”

“Really?”

“Really.” Beth said. “I've always loved cooking and my brother is good in the kitchen and, so he runs the deli counter.”

“Wow, that sounds neat.”

“It can be. You should stop by sometime and I'll introduce you to him and my mother, if she's there.” Beth said with a smile. “And when your mother moves here, tell her I'd like to see her again, it's been far too many years.”

~o~O~o~

The luncheon had been going on for more then forty five minutes and several women had shown up from different places of work and a few had taken off already. Some of the people who worked at the clubhouse had also stopped by to mingle. Tracy had listened to many people talking and had been introduced to a lot of the people in the club, but she wanted a break, so she sat in a corner. Betty seemed to gravitate towards Tracy. She could see Tracy still looked a bit nervous. “Don't be shy young lady. No one will hurt you here.”

Tracy looked at the older woman, who had to be older then both her grandmothers and she still felt a little out of place. “I just don't want to get in the way of the conversations.”

“Well then, what if we have one of our own?” The old woman asked. “I'm Betty and I heard your Godmother talking earlier. You're from farmland north of here?”

Tracy nodded. “Yeah, we lived in a farming area. We used to have cows, pigs and chickens, but the cows kept getting out, so mom had dad get rid of them. Dad got tired of the chickens and pigs But we did have fifteen acres of olive trees. Plus we also had one fig tree, three apple trees and three pomegranate trees, oh and three pecan trees.”

“Olive trees? Oil or eating?”

“Oil.” Tracy stated. “I remember trying one as a kid and it tasted nasty.”

“They have to cure them first, well the eating ones that it.” Betty replied. “I'm actually from farm lands, too. When I was really young, I lived in Ohio, then in the great depression, we moved to California and we worked any type of field that we could. That's how we traveled, moving from state to state.”

“Wow.” Tracy exclaimed.

“It was a hard life at times. Living on the road. Working enough to buy gas and get to the next town, then you did it all over again, but when the second war broke out, things had just started looking up. I remember my father went off to war and I was so young, but so scared we'd never see him again. He was stationed in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. But he came back and life looked up after that.”

Tracy listened politely as the woman told her story and how she had seen the bay area bloom between the forties and sixties. She kept listening as Betty told her how she was unable to have children, then of the early death of her husband, which left her all alone. Tracy slowly found comfort in listening to her and wondered how good a grandparent Betty would have been. She was unaware that the luncheon was slowly reaching its end.

~o~O~o~

When the luncheon was over and the dishes were placed back in Shelly's vehicle, Chloe took Tracy and Shelly to her home to give a brief tour. As they got closer to it, Tracy was impressed with the size of the outside of it. A two car garage, with extra wide doors. A large fifth wheel by the side of the home. The front lawn was almost perfect. Not a weed in sight and the shrubs she had were pruned to a square shape. To either side of the house was a large lot, about the size of the lot the home they were in front of sat on. It was mostly dirt, but there were bags of fertilizer, some potted trees and other plants that were year round.

“See that lot?” Shelly pointed to one of the empty lots Tracy was looking at. “Chloe's husband bought that and the one on the other side, this way they could have more space. She has plans on making a large garden that you can start walking through in one yard, cross through her front yard and end in that one. They're thinking of bird baths and other decorations. I guess their neighbors wanted to fight it, till she pointed out that it meant no neighbor on that side of their home and less people in the community. Plus it will be a community type thing, but she has the biggest say in what will be planted and where.”

“Neat.” Tracy said as they headed up the sidewalk to the home and Chloe let them in. The first thing Tracy saw was the high ceiling. Off to her left was a living-room, that seemed to have more space it in then her parents whole home. The carpet looked new and she didn't want to go in.

“Sweetie, take off your shoes.” Chloe said. “We do that to keep the carpet clean and fresh.”

“Oh, okay.” Tracy said as she bent down and undid the laces on her shoes. When she was out of them, Chloe led them through the living-room and then into a dining room that was almost as big as her parents’ living-room, with a pair of long tables stretching through the room. “Is that one table?”

“No, it's actually two of the same style. See, I have a huge family and we do all the holiday meals here.”

“How big?” Tracy asked, looking at the numerous chairs at the table.

“Six brothers, two sisters and several nieces and nephews and that's just my side of the family. My husband has three sisters and all nieces so far. Lets just say at Christmas time, that table is full and we have a second table for the younger children.”

Tracy wasn't sure how to reply. The woodwork on the tables and chairs was impressive and a part of her felt bad for the children. She knew they wanted to be at the adult table at her family meals. She could only just imagine if her Dad had more brothers and sisters. She then pictured several tables, spread out through her grandmother’s home, with some people being forced to eat in the living room. She had to force herself to keep from laughing at the thought of people eating Christmas dinner, sitting on the beds in the guest room.

“And this is my kitchen. My personal workspace.” Chloe said as she led them into a room that seemed to be just slightly smaller than the living-room. In the middle of the room sat a long island, with a row of chairs pushed under a lip of the counter top. On the top was a sink, and a block of knives. Chloe went off to the side, where a table was surrounded by a bunch of windows. Tracy guessed it was what people called the breakfast nook. A large, six burner stove was on the main counter, along with a grill, that looked like an indoor barbeque. And a refrigerator that seemed to dwarf the one in her parents’ home. An over was just under the mammoth stove-top, but what confused the girl, was a second oven, stuck into what could have been cupboard space.

“Wow.” Tracy said, looking around.

“It's a nice kitchen, I know. I had it designed to my liking. I love to cook at the holidays and when you are feeding almost forty people, you need to be able to cook a lot of food.”

“Why do you have two ovens?” Tracy asked as she looked around the island and saw a cutting board, resting in a cubby hole, just under the island.

“Tracy, I have nine children. Three of them are adopted, but they are still my children. So when Christmas time comes around, I have to be able to feed over forty people.”

“This room is so huge.” Tracy said, gesturing to the area where a table sat for smaller family meals. “I think my parents’ living room and bedroom could fit in the space of this kitchen and that sun room.”

Chloe knew at this point, the wrong words could make her seem like a snob, which was a lesson she tried to teach her children, so she went with the truth. “See Tracy, I also had the house built this big, mostly to house my twelve children.”

“Twelve?!?” Tracy was shocked. She had heard of big families, but after it being just her and her brother, she couldn't imagine having seven siblings.

“What can I say. I just love big families.” Chloe said with a smile. “Seven are mine, but then we adopted the other five and we had to get a bigger home.”

“Wow.” Tracy said, now in awe of the woman and her giant kitchen.

~o~O~o~

An hour and a half later, a very tired Tracy walked back to the van. She had not been ready for the rounds of going from woman to woman and telling her story, or being doted on by all the ladies her grandmother’s age, or in the age range of great-grandmothers. She wasn't ready for the almost hour long tour of the nice home. She was impressed at the house, but mostly in awe of the kitchen and how much space it had.

Her salads had gone over well, with just a little bit left over. Her dessert was gone, although she had managed to try a couple of Beth's blondies and some of the tiny sandwiches. She was still a little hungry too, something Shelly seemed to know.

“You want to grab something to eat? You didn't seem to get much.”

“Everyone kept talking to me. And the sandwiches are so tiny.” Tracy replied.

Shelly nodded as she unlocked the van's passenger door. “It happens. Luncheons seem to be like grazing for humans. I don't think I've ever left one and been full.”

“So, it's a gardening club, what do they do?”

Shelly had to stop and think about the answer and the best way to describe it. She unlocked her door and both ladies got into the van, but Shelly didn't start it right away. “Well, they get together, talk about their plants, they share ideas and during the year they have garden tours.”

“Garden tours?” Tracy asked.

Shelly nodded once again. There was so much she knew she had to show Tracy. Livermore was a bigger world then she was used to and she hoped that they could point her into the direction of greatness by time she got old enough. “That's where we go to a garden, either one worked on by city parks, or a member of the club and we take a tour.”

“And that's all?”

“Well, we do have monthly meetings. Third Monday of every month. In those we talk about plants, new gardening ideas, show pictures of gardens and a whole bunch of other things.”

“Cool.” Tracy said as Shelly started the van.

Shelly put it into gear and began pulling out. “Is this something you'd like to think about? They just don't talk about growing flowers. You will find that some of the ladies have very nice vegetable gardens. They have been known to trade vegetables before. Plus recipes do get traded at some of the meetings.”

“Could....could I think about it?”

“Sure. Now I want to know, would you like to try out Big Mama's? It's only a few minutes from here. We could get a sandwich at the deli and that could tide us over to dinner.”

“Okay.”

Five minutes later Shelly was pulling into the lot behind a line of stores that lined the main street through downtown. As Tracy got out, she noticed Beth a few cars over, who looked at them and laughed. “Hey Lady! Are you following me?”

“No. I just wanted to show Tracy the downtown and maybe get a small bite to eat to tide us over till dinner tonight.”

“Hey, Mark is here. Tracy, could I take in some of your salads, so he can try them?”

“Well, there's a little of the one with chicken left.”

“Could I let him try it? I did manage to smuggle one of your chocolate bars too, so he could give it a try.”

“Sure. You won't get in trouble for taking it in there, will you?” Tracy asked, pointing to a sign that told them of no outside food or drinks would be allowed.

“I'm a co owner and I can just say we've got to try a recipe that we may ask to buy from you.” Beth said. “So, yes, we can take it in.”

Beth led Tracy and Shelly though a small door with the name of the deli on it. As they walked down a long thin hall, they passed a bathroom, and a door marked for bakery staff only. She led them all the way through to the front of the deli. “Hey, Mark.”

Tracy looked over and she saw a big man, not tall, but plump, with dark hair, slicked back and covered by a hairnet. “Beth. Shelly.”

“Is Mom here?”

“Yeah, she's trying out a couple of new ideas she had, she and Grandma are in the back.”

“Good. This is going to blow her mind.”

“What?” Mark asked.

“Remember when we were kids and lived in Castro Valley, down the road from Shelly?”

“Yeah, what about it?” He asked. He looked over at the young girl who looked like someone from his past but he couldn't put a name to the face.

“Remember the Richter family? They lived across from Shelly? Bernice and Marion? They had two daughters, Margret, Alice and Dan?”

“Yeah. I remember them. She liked to be called Maggie, right? Dan was a pain in the ass, too.”

“Yep. This is Maggie's daughter, Tracy. Shelly's goddaughter.”

“Little Maggie's girl?” Mark said as he came around the counter. Tracy was glad the place was mostly empty, due to all the extra attention. “Wow, she kinda looks like her, doesn't she?”

“That's what I thought. And what's better, is she's a good little cook.” Beth held out the bowl. “This is a pasta salad with chicken. Give it a try. We'll let Mom and Grandma try some too, if Tracy don't mind?”

“I don't.”

“Here, come on and lets put you at the counter. That get's you closer to the kitchen.”

Mark went into the back and a few minutes later, two more woman had come out and Tracy's identity was revealed once more. Then they started tasting the salads. “This is nice. A nice, simple salad, with chicken and not overbearing on the dressing. How quickly did you make this?”

“Half an hour? I made a lot of pasta and split it between two salads.”

“Now try this. This is a chocolate and caramel bar, made with German chocolate cake.”

He took a bite, then he made the sound of a very contented man. “Now those are good.” He stated. Tracy smiled proudly.

“Could we possibly get the recipe from you?” Beth's mother asked as she tried one of the bars.

“I...um...well, it's not mine.”

Shelly saved Tracy from the decision. “The recipes are her grandmother’s, so we'd have to ask Modine the next time we talk to her, but I promise we'll ask.”

“Thank you. We'd even give her credit with the name.”

~o~O~o~

It was just past five in the evening and Tracy sat in the backseat of Frank's daily driver. She knew that her godparents were taking her to a nice place to eat, but her confusion began to grow when they headed East and out of Livermore. It got worse as they passed through the town of Tracy. Finally, ten miles out of Tracy, the town, Tracy, the girl, decided to question their destination.

“Um....Uncle Frank? I thought we were going out to eat? Why'd we leave town?”

Instead of answering, he turned up the radio a bit more and he began to act like he couldn't hear her, but smiling while he did it. Shelly playfully tapped him in the arm and gave him a halfhearted glare. He sighed and looked in the mirror. “We've heard of a nice restaurant out of town and I like to take your Aunt out to new places on Valentines day. Since you're here too, we decided a nice meal out at a classy place. I'll warn you, it's going to be a nice place, not like fast food or anything like that.”

“Oh, okay.” Tracy replied and she decided to just pay attention to the passing scenery. The trip seemed to fly by and she didn't realize that they had pulled into Sacramento, until she saw the downtown area with the old Train museum. A few moments later, they were pulling into a somewhat packed parking lot. Frank found a parking spot and turned the car off.

Frank got out and Shelly held up a hand and looked over her shoulder as Tracy was about to open her car door. “Wait, young lady. Let the gentlemen open your door.”

She watched her Uncle open up her Aunt's door, then she realized someone had opened her door. She sat and stared as her father held out a hand to help her out of the car. He stood there in a nice dress shirt and a tie. “Daddy!!!” She exclaimed as she rushed out of the car, in a very unladylike maneuver and hugged her father.

“Hello, young lady.” William said as he hugged his daughter, then kissed her forehead.

“Do I get a hug?” Maggie asked as she walked up to them. She was in a dress, something she rarely wore.

“Mom!” Tracy launched herself into her mothers arms. Vance walked over and Tracy gave out one last hug.

“You act like you haven't seen us in a week or so.” William said with a smile.

“Well, I haven't seen you in a week or so, Dad.” Tracy replied.

“Come on, let's go get inside.” William said, then he looked to his daughter. “So did you have a good day today?”

“Yeah. Aunt Shelly took me to a lunch thing where some garden club was meeting and I got to take a salad I made and my chocolate caramel bars.”

“Sounds like a busy day.”

“Busy and fun.” Tracy said with a happy smile. She reached out and took her father’s hand, letting Vance walk with their mother. “But this is the best part of the day, so far.”

~o~O~o~

William hadn’t realized just how much he had missed Tracy, till dinner. It had taken a trade with another forklift driver just to get him out of the door at work to make it in time. His schedule seemed to be changing on a daily basis. But he knew he could do it. He had to last till June, for his family.

But for the time being, he was glad to be sitting around a table with all of them again. Sure, Shelly and Frank were there too, but he made sure that he had both children on either side of him, just to remind himself why he had to endure. They had extended the offer to his parents and in-laws, but the four of them decided to have a quiet meal in Oroville.

Tracy had already gone over everything that had happened while Maggie and Bernice had been there and now she was busy going over the events of the weekend and her Tai Chi class and talking almost non-stop. “And they got the coolest little puppy. It's a German Shepherd or something like that. We got to walk it outside, we got to clean up after it, which is nasty, but it's a cute puppy. He woke up Brooke and Rachel by licking their faces the next morning and then he danced all over my sleeping bag. And I got to see something called a Nimitz freeway when we got Casey from school. It's a big school, everyone uses sign language there. I guess they have students that live there. Could you imagine living at school? That would be weird and what happened is you want to leave for the day and oh yeah, Brooke will teach me Mandarin, that's like Chinese, so I can stay in Shifu Jaio's class and they showed me a catalog of uniforms and we ordered one, I have to help around their house to pay for it, which is cool, cause Shifu Lok is teaching me how to stir fry on Tuesday, after class.”

William just shook his head when she finally stopped. “How do you do that?”

“What?” Tracy asked, now confused.

“You've been talking for almost five minutes straight. You don't breathe anymore?” William smiled at her, so she knew he was just joke, but she slumped her shoulders.

“I was just telling you everything that happened.” She said, looking like a child who had been scolded. “I just thought you'd want to hear.”

William moved over in his seat and he put an arm around her and pulled her close. “I wasn't making fun of you. I was just impressed that you could do it. I've missed this. Sitting at the table and talking to my beautiful daughter. I care a lot about you and if it makes you happy, then talk and. And soon, we'll be able to do this more often, all of us around the table in our own home in the bay area.”

~o~O~o~

Halfway back to Livermore, Tracy fell asleep in the backseat. Frank looked in his rear-view mirror and shook his head. “Poor kid, tired herself out again. At least Maggie will be down here in a couple of weeks.”

“And we know Rachel won’t give her much rest tonight.” Shelly stated.

“Yeah. Poor kid will probably fall asleep in the middle of a movie or something.” Frank said with a chuckle. “Are you sending her school stuff with her?”

“Yeah. Lynn and Jaio will try and help her out as much as they can while we're gone.”

“Good.” Frank nodded. “And when we get back, I'll take over the math. I'm good with it, that and science.”

“Thank you, Frank.” Shelly said and she put her hand over his.

~o~O~o~

Monday February 14th 1983 evening

Frank had stopped at their house long enough to get everyone's bags for the next few days, then they headed over to Lance's house. Tracy was met at the door by Rachel and her mother, and while the adults talked, Rachel dragged Tracy up to her room.

“Hey, you never met Mittens, did you?” Rachel said as she gestured to her bedroom. Across the hall was another room, with the door closed and loud music coming through it.

“Mittens?” Tracy asked as they entered the room, Tracy’s bed was already made, but a calico kitten was sleeping on the pillow.

“Meet Mittens. Mittens the kitten. We got her for Christmas. She likes my room and Jamie is doing homework, and Mittens attacks her as she writes.” Tracy was about to comment on not seeing her, but then she remembered being at Sage and Brooke's homes during her visit in January.

Tracy sat on the bed and the tiny kitten came over and sniffed at her. “Scratch behind her ears, she loves it.”

Tracy put down her pack and scratched the kitten's ears, making it purr loudly. The kitten then proceeded to climb into her lap and lay down. “Well, clearly you pass that test. She must love you.”

“Is she as wild as Stacey's dog?”

“Well, don't have any strings dangling down and you should be fine.” Rachel said with a nod of her head. “But she loves some of her cat toys. We can play if you want.”

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“You wanna go watch some MTV, if Dad isn't watching TV?”

“Sure, I guess.”

“Wanna get in your night clothes?” Rachel asked.

“Nah, I can wait.”

A little more fluff. Next up, back to the lives of Tracy and Maggie and how well they cope apart from each other

“Molly? Assaulted....she assaulted a child?” Lionel asked, now very confused. He leaned back in his seat, stunned. The only time she had ever struck a child was when Scotty wouldn't mind her. Then he remembered the day his daughter had left, he knew Molly had slapped her a couple of times, but that was at home and not some stranger. “What happened?”

“Well, we have some questions and we need some answers to fill in the blanks.” Deputy Cooley said.

“Okay. I answer what I can.”

The deputy opened up a small note pad. “First of all, has your wife had any contact with a woman named Maggie Patterson, or her child, Troy?”

Edited by Djkauf

This time I focus on Molly Hallmark,and her children. Tracy shall be back next post.

February 7th 1983

Lionel Hallmark sat at the desk in his office, working over the accounts and making sure everything was up to date. His work was interrupted when someone knocked at his office door. He looked up to see a secretary for his department standing there and two Sheriff’s deputies behind her. A mix of confusion and fear began to dance in his mind. He could only expect that there had been a problem and Molly had been hurt while doing her errands, or problems at school and the boys were hurt. He knew if it concerned his eldest, the daughter his wife refused to talk to or about, his brother would have called him. He waved at the secretary and she opened up the door..

“Mr. Hallmark? These officers want to talk to you.”

“Send them in.” He said, standing up.

“Mr. Hallmark? I'm Deputy Cooley of the Butte County Sheriff’s department. This is Deputy Combs. We're here concerning your wife, Molly Hallmark.”

“Oh God.” He whispered. His mind went into overdrive and he fell back into his seat. He had never received a visit from any law officer that wasn't a bad one, so his mind went for the worst. “Was there a wreck? Did she get hurt somewhere? Is she at the hospital?”

“Mr. Hallmark, please, slow down. I assure you there was no accident or anything like that. I can tell you that there was an altercation between your wife and a trio of children. When we got on the scene, your wife had just assaulted three children and we had to arrest her.”

“Molly? Assaulted....she assaulted a child?” Lionel asked, now very confused. He leaned back in his seat, stunned. The only time she had ever struck a child was when Scotty wouldn't mind her. Then he remembered the day his daughter had left, he knew Molly had slapped her a couple of times, but that was at home and not some stranger. “What happened?”

“Well, we have some questions and we need some answers to fill in the blanks.” Deputy Cooley said.

“Okay. I answer what I can.”

The deputy opened up a small note pad. “First of all, has your wife had any contact with a woman named Maggie Patterson, or her child, Troy?”

Lionel slumped his shoulders. He mentally kicked himself for not stopping her. He knew she could get bothered by gays and the way she had been ranting on the phone to her friends about Troy should have worried him, but he figured it would blow over. He didn't want to lie, for fear of going to jail, so he went with the truth. “Yes. My son brought home a picture of Troy about two weeks ago and Molly wasn't happy with it. I know she went to the Patterson home with ladies from the church to make sure that Troy wasn't a threat to other children in the town, but she told me that Maggie threw her out and was quite combative.”

“Picture?” The younger of the officers asked.

“Yeah, someone took pictures of the Pattersons and it's gotten bad.” The older of the two looked at Mr. Hallmark. “The picture you had was just the tip of the iceberg. Someone was sending them to the Patterson's work place and to the home, plus they left them at the school and sent them to different homes, all with threats on them. Are you aware that at least four people have gone on record saying that on that day your wife went to their home, she threatened to run the Patterson family out of town, no matter what?”

Lionel raised his eyebrows in surprise as he sank into his seat. “No. She never told me that.” He began to think of how worked up she had been four years earlier and he could only see troubles ahead for Maggie and her family.

“Mr. Hallmark, do you know a Billy O'Brien?”

Lionel thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. “No, the name doesn't sound familiar.”

“You may not be aware of this, but your wife has been questioned once before, by a different deputy. We will have to make sure there is no connection between your family and the O'Brien's and Millett's, because there have been previous threats towards the Patterson family over these pictures.”

Lionel shook his head in dismay. He wasn't sure what to do, if he could do anything. “Tell me, how badly did she hurt the children?”

“Well, one of our deputies is with them now, but it looked like bruises mostly and a big scare, but when she tried to separate the children, one was thrown into a candy rack and her sister was shoved to the floor. The younger of the two girls is almost six years old. From what your wife insisted, Troy was molesting those girls, but they were in a busy gas station and no one there saw Troy or those girls acting improperly. In fact several of the people only knew there were kids in the store, when your wife attacked them.”

“Is she in jail now? Can I post her bail or anything?”

“We have deputies taking her to County Mental health to make sure that she is sound because she was ranting and screaming at the child.”

“Would I be able to see her?” He asked.

Deputy Combs looked to his partner, who had dealt with the mental health facility more then he had. Deputy Cooley shook his head. “Maybe not. Usually the group in Chico wants a day or two to interview the patients and make sure that intimate family will not cause an outburst.” He pulled out a card and handed it to Mr. Hallmark. “But call that number. I have no doubt they will want to talk to you as well. You may know something that could help with her time there. You could try calling today, but I'm not sure when they'll be able to interview her.”

“Are there any charges being filed?”

Deputy Cooley nodded. “Yes. Because of the ages and the fact that your wife made two attempts to get to Troy Patterson, plus shoving the girl into the candy rack, both of the parents are pressing assault charges.”

“Does that mean jail time?”

“It could. You would have to talk to the District Attorney to figure out what could happen.”

“Okay. I'll see about contacting our lawyer for her.”

~o~O~o~

Lionel had made a quick call and made sure that the usual babysitter could go to the house and make sure the boys didn't get into trouble. He had no way of leaving work two hours early. Then he looked up the number for the Butte County Mental health in Chico. It only took a ring or two for someone to pick up the phone.

“Excuse me, My name is Lionel Hallmark and I was calling about my wife, Molly Hallmark. I hear she was taken there earlier this afternoon?”

“Ah, one moment please.” The voice said. After a moment or two, he heard someone pick up the phone.

“Hello, I am Doctor Knowles, is this Lionel Hallmark?”

“It is.” He replied. “I heard my wife was taken there?”

“Yes Sir. She is here right now, but we haven't had a chance to interview her yet.” The doctor replied.

“So when is the soonest I can see her?” Lionel asked.

“Give us a day. We have a seventy-two hour observation period and I would like to calm her down. If you can bring over some clothes, maybe we can have you visit her tomorrow.”

Lionel nodded then wrote out a quick note to take clothes. “You'll allow street clothes?”

“Yes, as long as it's not vulgar or suggestive.”

“No, none of her clothes are like that. Jewelry?”

“No, no jewelry is allowed except earrings, but even then, we try to keep our patients from wearing those. We do have what she was wearing in our safe, so there isn't a theft problem.”

Lionel nodded again and noted the jewelry rule. “Can I bring our children with us?”

“I'd like to observe just you with her first. With her attacking children, I need to make sure that all children, even your own, are safe.”

Again he made another note and a part of him wondered how he could get to Chico and not take the boys, or how to keep this from them. “Okay. Could I go there after work tomorrow? I do work until five.”

“Well, our normal visiting hours end at six, but we may extend it for you, just this once.” The Doctor said. “I also would like to speak to you. Sometimes the loved ones can bring in an interesting perspective that we don't get from the patient.”

“Okay. Well, I'll see about leaving work early then. That way I can get to the house....” Lionel paused and then asked. “Should I tell the boys?”

“I can't answer that, but I can say they could resent you if you hide this for too long. You could tell then she is under some stress and in currently not feeling well, which may be an accurate statement. But for now, you could tell them she is in a hospital. That is also true.”

“Okay. Thank you Doctor.”

~o~O~o~

Lionel got to the house and found his kids sitting at the table, while the girl from down the road cooked dinner. “Dad!” Robbie exclaimed as he shot out of his chair and ran over to hug his father. “Where is Mom? Is she sick or something?

“Your mom isn't feeling well right now...” He paused for a moment, and decided to go with what the doctor suggested. “She's at a hospital, getting some rest.”

Robbie interrupted his father before he could continue. “Can we go see her?”

Lionel shook his head. “Not yet. The doctors want her to relax a little bit, before she has visitors.”

“Oh.” Robbie said and he seemed to deflate a bit. Lionel felt bad about not telling him the whole truth, but even he didn't know the whole truth.

He went to his room and changed, headed back to the kitchen. He was quiet through dinner, then he had the boys do the dishes as he walked Marcy to the door. As they stepped out. The teen turned to him and asked. “Why did she do it?”

“What?” Came the intelligent response from Mr. Hallmark.

“My Dad was at the store. He said Mrs. Hallmark was yelling and screaming that some little kid was raping two girls in public. Said she was crazy and trying to attack anyone who got in the way.”

“I don't know, Marcy.” Lionel honestly replied. “I really don't know, but can you keep this a secret? Till we figure out what happened? The boys don't need to know this. And could you ask your father to not say anything? I don't need the boys being picked on at school for this.”

“I'll tell him. He's not one for gossip anyway, he only told me when you called to watch the boys.”

“Okay. Well you get home and I do need your help tomorrow too, okay?”

“Sure. I don't mind watching the boys.”

~o~O~o~

February 8th 1983

Scotty and Robbie broke off from the other kids that got off at their bus stop as they reached their gated driveway. The two boys waved to their neighbor, who was sitting on her porch, watching the kids return from school, like she always did. Robbie picked up the newspaper that sat in the paper box, then he pulled out the mail from the mail box and the two boys headed to the house.

“I wonder if we can see Mom today.”

“Who knows.” Scotty replied. “Maybe, maybe not.”

“I'm gonna change.” Robbie said as he put the paper and mail on the counter and he headed off for the bedroom. Scotty picked up the paper and began rummaging though it for the comic section. The boys knew that they had to get to it before their father, or the paper would disappear and they'd never get to see the funny pages.

Scotty looked at the front page article about an attack at a local gas station. He was about to flip the paper to the comics section when he caught a name that made him stop. He straightened out the paper and read it again. “Molly Hallmark.” He started at the top of the article and read down, seeing how she was arrested for assaulting a minor in public.

“Can I have the comics, please?” He heard his brother ask as the younger boy walked down the hall and Scotty quickly folded the paper to hide the article and handed his brother the comics section. He wasn't sure why he hid it, but now his mind was really starting to question what was going on.

~o~O~o~

Scotty had been trying to catch his father alone, as Lionel rounded up some clothes for his wife, but Robbie stayed in the room. Even when the babysitter called them for dinner, the younger boy stayed, till Lionel sent them to the kitchen. Scotty held back and waited for his Dad to step out of the house, and he followed.

“Dad?” Scotty asked as he followed his Dad to the car, holding the newspaper under his arm. “Where is mom, really?”

“I told you, she's in the hospital because she isn't feeling well.” Lionel said. He was about to get in the car and he paused. Scotty had never been on the best of terms with his mother, he was a daddy's boy. So he wondered where the concern came from. “Why?”

Scotty opened up the newspaper and unfolded it to show his father the article. “I saw this in the paper today. “ His dad scanned the story then he shook his head.

“Oh no.” Lionel uttered. He was sure the calls would start coming in from all the people in church, wondering what happened. “Has Robbie seen this? You know how much he adores your mother.”

“No. I...I hid it from him and just let him take the comic section.” Scotty replied.

“Okay. I'll let you know.” Lionel sighed. “I am taking clothes to your mother, but for right now, she's not in county jail. She's being checked out at county mental health.”

“The funny farm?”

Lionel nodded, but didn't correct his son. “Yeah. I was given permission to see her today, and the doctor wanted to talk to me.”

“What about us?”

Lionel shrugged. “We'll see. For now, they want to limit the amount of time she has with children. But do me a favor and make sure that Robbie doesn't find out. When I get home, I'll talk to both of you tonight, I promise.”

“Dad, why did she do it?” Scotty asked. “I mean it says she attacked a kid in public, possibly two. Why?”

“I don't know. But I'll find out.” Lionel said. “But for now, go get some dinner and I'll tell Robbie when I get home.”

~o~O~o~

Lionel stopped at the door, with the suitcase in hand. After ringing the bell, a man came over and used a two way system to find out who he was. He was let in, but they went to a desk first and the people opened up the suitcase, and checked through it, informing him they had to make sure that it was just clothes and not something that could be made into a weapon.

A moment or two later, a Doctor came over and held out a hand. “Mister Hallmark?”

“Yes...Doctor Knowles?” He asked as he shook the Doctor's hand.

“Yes. No doubt you wish to see your wife, but could I speak to you first. She's currently having dinner in the main cafeteria.”

“Has this been a problem before?” The Doctor asked. “An open conflict with people in public? I was informed she was yelling that the child would rape other kids?”

“No, that I recall. I mean she has spanked the boys, but only when they did something really bad. She's never....” He said, then trailed off as he recalled the ladies at the church. “Wait. There was a pair of ladies that went to church with us and Molly was a little on edge and did her best to get them to leave. But to be honest, I just thought they lived together. I didn't know if there was any relationship going on.”

“Could you explain that for me? What happened?”

“There were two women who went to our church about four or five years ago. They had both separated from their husbands and moved in together. I thought they were just living together to save money on bills. But Molly insisted that they were closer than that and living in sin. She was quite vocal against them and she did her best to get them to leave the church. She kept saying the children were in danger. Last I knew the ladies left town, but I don't know where they went to. But she never openly beat someone.”

“She was put in here for assaulting a child, but to be honest, she hasn't given me much information to work on. I can see her trying her best to not get mad, but it is still there.”

Lionel leaned back and shook his head. “From what I heard, I know the child she attacked. See, there was a picture that went around our son's school and Molly saw it. To say the least, Molly has never liked Gay and lesbians.”

"What was the picture of?”

“It was of a boy who used to go to our church and that family left when Molly helped run the two ladies out. But the boy was in a dress. I don't understand why she did anything. It was just a boy in a dress. We haven't even talked to that family in years...well, I haven't.”

“What do you mean by that?” The Doctor asked.

“Well, my son brought the picture home and showed it to Molly and me. Molly took control of the situation and told Robbie and Scotty to never talk to the boy or his brother again. But then I heard that she went to the Patterson house that Saturday and from what Molly Said, Maggie was hostile and threw her out of the house. But to be honest, I'm starting to second guess a lot of what Molly has said. I mean if someone came to our house and wanted to complain about Robbie, I know Molly would get upset.”

“Sure. Most mothers are very protective of their young.”

“But what I was told by the cops is that she threatened to run them out of town or make them wish they had left.”

“Okay, that does help. Anything else?”

“Not that I know of.” Lionel said with a shrug.

“Okay. Well, if you remember something, please, call me. But for now, let me get your wife.”

“Okay.” Lionel said. He waited in the room for a couple of minutes, till the door opened up and Molly stepped in. She gasped when she saw him.

Molly jogged to her husband, who was unsure of his feelings for her as of right now. He had been told what had happened at the gas station and he wasn't sure what had forced her to attack the child. He knew she was a bit high strung when it came to gays on TV, but he had never seen his wife attack a child. She had spanked Scotty and Robbie when they got out of line, but never someone else's child. He still embraced her as she fell against his chest.

“Oh Lionel, this is all a big misunderstanding. Tell the Doctor and see if I can go home. Please?”

“I can't.” He replied. “I asked and they said you have to be here seventy two hours, by law.”

“This isn't fair!” Molly exclaimed. “I didn't do anything wrong! I know what I saw!”

“Molly, relax. You have to calm down.” Lionel instructed. “They are not here to keep you a captive. But you have to be honest and talk to them.”

“Lionel, I just want to go home. This isn't my fault.”

He decided to change the topic, or she would keep begging him. “I did manage to bring you some clean clothes.”

“Oh thank you. These are in a good need of cleaning.” She said as he handed her the suitcase. “Do the boys know?”

“Well...” Lionel decided to lie and not get her worked up. “Not that I know. I only told them that you're in a hospital and in need of peace and quiet to get better.”

“I miss them.” She said. “I could barely get to sleep last night. I missed tucking them into bed.”

“Well, maybe we can get you out of here soon.” Lionel said. He didn't want to bring up the possible trial that would happen.

~o~O~o~

Lionel came into the house and he found his eldest at the kitchen table, doing some homework, while his youngest was reading from his bible. He stopped near Marcy and slipped her the pay for her babysitting and walked her to the door, then he went into the kitchen, where both of his children were at.

“Robbie, I need to talk to you about some things that are happening, Scotty found out already, but I want him in here.”

Lionel wasn't sure how to break this to his son. To Robbie, there was no greater person on the planet then his mother, aside from God. “Yesterday, while your mother was doing her errands, there was an incident at a gas station. Your mother has been under some stress the past couple of weeks and she got mad at someone and there was a fight. Your mother was arrested but she's not in jail.”

“But....but you said she was in the hospital....”

“She is in a hospital, son. They had to take your mother to the Mental health hospital in Chico. They think she's been under a lot of stress.” Lionel said. “Now don't go thinking that she doesn't love you, because she asked when she could see you, both of you. But I can't take you there until the doctors say it's okay. If I can, would you want to see her?”

Robbie thought about it for a moment, then nodded his head, so did his brother. “Yeah. So....she still loves us?”

“Yes, in fact she asked how you two were.”

“She did?” Robbie asked.

“Yes, she did.” His father replied. “I'll let you know the day I can take you there, but we can't go until the Doctor says it's okay.”

“Okay.” Robbie said. He was hurt. He missed his mother already and to know she wasn't even in town, that hurt him too, but he was sure his father was telling the truth. “Dad, did she do it? You said she fought someone?”

“We're not sure what happened. So until I find out from the police, I don't want to guess. I know it's in the paper, and kids at school may say something, but until they do, just go about your business.

“Can I see the paper?” Robbie asked. “Please?”

Lionel wanted to say no, but his sons had a right to know what other children would know. He handed the paper to his son, who read it, out loud an with help from his brother. When he stopped, he looked to his dad. “It says children, there were more than one?”

“Yes. There were three kids involved.” Lionel stated.

“Did they attack mom, or something like that?” Robbie asked.

“I don't know, son. I'm just not sure.”

Scotty cut off his brother from asking more questions. "Dad, who was it?"

Lionel sighed and decided to just tell them all of it. "It was Troy Patterson. I don't know the name of the other two kids, but your mother attacked Troy."

"Troy? From the picture?" Robbie asked, and his father nodded.

"Yes, that Troy."

"Did she attack him because he was wearing a dress?"

Lionel shrugged. "I just don't know."

"Can we see her?"

"I'll see about tomorrow, okay?" Lionel said.

~o~O~o~

The phone rang and Lionel leaned over in his seat and picked up. The usual joy was out of his voice, as he had received several calls asking if what they read in the papers was true. “Hallmark's.”

“Lionel, this is June, is it true? That story in the paper?”

“I'm afraid so, June. She was arrested yesterday.”

“Is she getting bail? Should I go to the jail and see how she's doing?”

He knew June was his wife's best friend even though there was an age difference of almost thirty years. He also knew that June had contacts though the county, including a son who was a judge, and Godparent to his Robbie and Scotty. So he decided to come clean, hoping that June had an answer to the questions he had. “June, she is in Chico, at the Mental Health. They took her because, from what the cops told me, she was ranting and trying to get at the child.”

“So it was a child....do you know who?” June asked. A part of her had guessed it already and she wasn't sure she wanted confirmation.

“It was Troy Patterson. But she also hurt two other kids, friends of Troy's.”

“Troy? Maggie Patterson's child?” June asked.

“The same. From what I heard, she saw Troy with two girls, one of them was six, the other twelve and she got mad when the girls hugged him and she threw one girl into a candy rack and shoved the other girl backwards, but neither was hurt too badly.”

“And Troy?”

“From what I heard, a few blows to the head, but he blocked them, till Troy's grandma stepped in and stopped Molly from hitting him.”

“Modine? She's so frail...”

“I just know what the officers told me.”

“How long is she going to be in mental health?”

Lionel shrugged, which she couldn't see, be he leaned back in his seat. “Who knows. The doctor knows she is hiding something and telling him what he wants to hear. They can hold her for seventy two hours, then after that is her arraignment.”

“Do you need help with bail?”

“June, I don't know if I want to. I mean she attacked three children in public, in full view of almost ten people. Do I want her around the boys? You know how mad Scotty makes her. What if something he does makes Molly slip?”

“But those are her boys, they are her life.”

“June, she attacked three children in public.” Lionel was about to continue, when he stopped and had to question one thing. “June, I need to know. When she left the Patterson home a couple of weeks ago, did she threaten the Pattersons? The Deputies said they have it on record that she threatened to run them out of town. Is she doing the same thing she did to those two woman a couple of years ago?” June was silent for several seconds and Lionel had to get her talking. “June, this is my wife we're talking about. Robbie's already broken up that it's in the paper that she hurt someone. He's starting to question everything she has ever told him. Please tell me. Did she threaten Maggie's family?”

After another moment of silence, June finally answered, in almost a whisper. “Yes. She did.”

“Why June? You've know her and her family for sometime. Why attack some child over wearing girls clothes?” Lionel asked, trying to find some reasoning as to his wife's hatred of gays. “Why is she doing this again? Four years ago, she got so involved in getting those women to leave the church while claiming she was trying to save the children of the town. Why is she doing this? Now that she attacked a child, how long till CPS comes to check on the boys?”

“I don't know, Lionel. I never thought she would have done that.”

“I visited her tonight.” Lionel admitted. “She wouldn't talk about it much, she just kept saying they got it all wrong. That she was protecting those girls. That's the same thing she said a few years back.” He added. “June, is this just the start?”

“I....I don't know.” She said. “I really don't know.”

~o~O~o~

February 9th 1983

“Now I want you to promise to be on your best behavior. No making fun of anyone, no pointing and try to keep to ourselves. We may have to talk to the doctor before or after we speak with your mother, okay. Can you two be good?”

Both of his boys nodded, so he pointed for the door. Robbie had a few pieces of paper with him, just notes to his mother on how much he missed her. Scotty had a letter as well, written at his father’s request.

Lionel pressed the call button and a man in white clothing came over and pressed the button that opened up the two way communication. “Yes?”

“I'm here to see Molly Hallmark? I'm her husband Lionel, these are our children, Scotty and Robbie. Doctor Knowles said it was okay to bring them.”

“Just one moment.” The man said. He went away from the door, but returned a few moments later and pressed a button that caused a loud clicking sound. “Step on in.” His voice called through the speakers. Lionel; opened the door and gestured for his kids to walk through, as the man turned to keep an eye on the people inside the main room that attached to the entryway.

“I'll take you to the visitation room. The doctor wants to speak to you all, then we'll bring your wife in. She's currently at dinner, so this gives you a few minutes to talk.”

~o~O~o~

Lionel had told the boys to not mention the attack, or ask when she was leaving. He didn't want risk her losing her temper and attacking the boys, or making her depressed. The visit went well and when they reached the end, She took the time to hug each of them and sent them on their way, while wishing she was going with them.

They were on their way out of the facility when Scotty asked his father. "Dad, did she really do it?"

"I don't know."

"Will she come back home?" He asked.

"I want her to come home." Robbie replied.

"Boys, it's all up to the courts. With what she did, she has to answer for hurting those children." Lionel said. "I know you love and miss your mother, but there are reasons we have laws in this county.

Scotty now wanted to talk to Vance to see if he knew what happened, but he was afraid that Vance would get mad at him for what his mother did. As they climbed in the car, he let his brother take the front seat. He leaned back and decided that he would talk to him, the next chance he had.

Tune in next time when we pick up with Tracy where we left off.