Chapter 4

It was supposed to be a day of fun at the skateboard park.

The gang of five usually had the park to themselves. It wasn't really a place where jocks showed up.

That's why Jade thought she could be herself when her friends came by the house to ask her to come along.

She wasn't dressed too girly, just a ponytail, makeup and her middriff showing. She could be sort of a goth-punk chick. Her friends didn't care.

They were dressed about like she was, well except not the guys, they weren't dressed girly at least. And it started off fun.

That was until a few jocks showed.

"I didn't think they liked skateboarding," Paul said.

"I didn't either," Raven replied.

"Let's just mind our own business," Jade said. "And hope they mind theres."

No such luck. They heard laughter. At their expense.

"What are you creeps laughing at?" Paul shouted.

"Four freaks and a queer," one of the boys shouted back. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Come on Paul, just walk away," Jade said pulling his arm.

"Yeah, listen to the queer, or is it fairy?" another boy shouted.

It was too much for Paul. He lit into one of the boys. Spencer tried to pull him off, but another boy grabbed Spencer.

It was more than Jade could bear. She tried to grab one of the boys on top of Paul. But he turned around and grabbed Jade by the hair.

"How about a little kiss, you sweet fairy!" the boy teased.

"Not on your life, you creep," Jade replied, then put a move on him she learned in self-defense. She flipped him, which drew laughter from the other boys taunting them.

Another one of the embarrassed boys friends tried to come to his aid. The other girls tried to help Jade, but they were pushed away. Raven received a slap in the mouth.

Paul and Spencer were being held as two boys grabbed Jade and held her for their friend who had been embarrassed. Paul and Spencer could not get free. The boy punched Jade in the gut and then in the face.

That was the last thing Jade remembered.

****

"Don't you think things might be a little easier if you went back to being a boy?" Jade's mother told her as she wiped her head.

"I'm not a boy," Jade said groggily from the hospital bed.

She had a black eye, a few bruised ribs and a swollen lip. She had a little lump on her head and suffered a concussion, which was the reason the hospital was keeping over night for observation.

Her mother hugged her tight.

"I guess you don't like choosing the easy route," she told her daughter.

Just then a nurse came in.

"You charts look okay," the nurse said. "If all goes well, the doctor says you'll be out in the morning. You're one brave little girl from what I've been told."

Jade rolled her eyes and told her thanks.

Just then, a familiar face walked into the room. Detective Amy Lawrence was one of the lead investigators on the kidnapping a few years back.

"How's it going Detective Benson? Where's Detective Stabler?" Jade said jokingly about the show Law & Order SVU.

"Don't you know, Detective Stabler is no longer on the show," Detective Lawrence replied. "And wow, I'll say you sure have changed since the last time we talked."

"You'll have to excuse my daughter's sarcasm, Detective Lawrence," Jade's mother said.

"Oh, that's okay," the detective said. "I'm sure she's been through a lot. I'll have to admit, I was a little surprised to hear a transgendered teen was beaten, and that she was a boy who was a victim in a case I once worked."

"It's a long story," Jade's mother told her.

"I understand," Detective Lawrence said. "When Jade gets released, I'd really like to talk to her about what happened. Would you mind stopping by in a couple of days. We're treating this like a hate crime."

Jade nodded her head yes, although what happened at the skate park was still a little blurry in her mind.

Shortly after Detective Lawrence left the room, Raven and Spencer dropped by for a visit.

"That's a new look for you," Raven said of the blue, somewhat frilly and silky nightgown Jade wore.

"Oh I know," Jade replied. "I swear it's growing on me. One of the nurses gave it to me to wear instead of the hospital gown."

Raven and Spencer told her what happened at the skate park after Jade blacked out. People at a nearby store witnessed the fight. They called the police.

The police broke up the fight, but no one was arrested. Two of the boys were on the football team.

"They threatened to tell the police that Paul started the fight," Spencer said. "But Detective Lawrence told them they could face arrest because of what they did to you."

"They'll still probably get away with it," Jade said.

Raven told Jade she was transported to the hospital. She told Jade that they were a little surprised to find that Jade was a boy physically.

"But they've treated you as a girl the whole time you've been here," Jade's mother said.

*****

Jade felt like a scientific experiment. One more CAT scan to make sure her head was okay. Joan, her therapist, was waiting when they returned.

She talked with Jade a little bit about what happened at the skate park.

"You know you're going to have to expect things like this to happen if...." Joan said.

"If I continue to be a girl," Jade said. "Joan, Mom, Jade is not a different personality or an alter ego. Jade is who I am. Jade is who I choose to be. I am a girl. I'm not a boy."

They talked about the next step. They talked about hormone blockers. Joan recommended a therapist who had more experience in dealing with gender varient children.

"If you are in this for the long haul, then I am, sweetie," her mother told her.

Jade hugged her Mom.

Shortly after Joan left, Lincoln slowly walked into the room with two women. Jade was a little embarrassed by her appearance. She whispered to her mom she wished she had makeup on.

"These are my Moms," he said, introducing the women to Jade and her mother. They had actually met Jade when Jade was Jacob.

"We know all about the type of harrasment you went through," said Faith, the woman Jade knew to be Lincoln's biological mom, although they made little distinction in their relationship. Lincoln regarded both as his parents.

They invited Jade and her mother to dinner when she got out of the hospital.

"We know you've been through a hard time and probably won't be in the mood to make anything, or even go out," said Lincoln's other mother, Sue.

"Thanks, we appreciate it," Jade's mother said. "We'll probably take you up on the offer."

"We were out of town," Lincoln said. "Or else I would have been there. If I had been there, maybe they wouldn't have done something to you."

"Oh, they probably would," Jade said. "Paul and Spencer tried to protect me, but there were too many of them. They would have probably beaten you up, too. Be glad you weren't there."

Lincoln pulled out a bag from behind his back.

Jade smiled as she pulled out a Hello Kitty T-shirt and a stuffed Hello Kitty doll.

"I saw them at the store and thought it was you," Lincoln said.

Jade gave Lincoln a hug.

"Oh yes, I love it," she whispered. "You do know what I like."