It was one hundred and fifty feet from the roof of the old factory to the ground, and s/he was standing twenty feet from the edge of the roof. The professional-looking makeup s/he applied was not ruined, it and tears running down her cheeks. S/he had spent months learning how to properly apply her makeup until it looked as though it was a professional job. S/he worked just as hard learning how to style her hair, gaining another professional-looking job.

S/he was wearing a flower print dress, with a white base, matching bra and panties in a pale pink, nude pantyhose, and kitten heel shoes which complimented the dress. A beautiful woman’s watch was on her left wrist, and a small heart dangled from the bracelet on her right wrist; it matched the necklace she wore. She had chosen everything carefully, three hours ago. It is now two hours after her parents unexpectedly came home to find Tammy Walker and not their son, sixteen-year-old son Matt Walker.

It was two hours ago her mother had to hold her father back to keep him from beating the hell out of their son. Once her father realized what he had intended, he backed off, but her mother was next to have a go at her son. The almost physical attack by her father, the verbal attack by her mother was too much to bear. She grabbed her purse and car keys, ran out of the house, got in her car, and left. Never telling anyone where she was going, or planned to do. S/he’d had enough. S/he’d tried telling her parents for the last three years s/he was a girl pretending to be a boy. But they didn’t listen. The first time s/he told her parents, her father backhanded her so hard she flew into a wall. “No child of mine will be a queer,” he yelled, as he dragged her up the stairs and literally threw her into her bedroom.

S/he had enough, more than enough, s/he thought. S/he was weary of it all, tired beyond sleep. And it was now time to rest. S/he tried to take a step towards the edge of the old factory roof, but her leg refused to obey. S/he tried the other leg, but it too refused her command. She started crying harder now, as she looked up and screamed, “WHY? WHY NOT?” S/he put her face into her hands and wailed. Was she wailing because of what s/he wanted to do but wasn’t allowed? Or because of the rejection by her parents? Her crying continued.

S/he was concentrating so much on herself at that moment, that she couldn’t hear her name being called. S/he couldn’t hear her name being called when the voice was closer. S/he was shocked when her name was hollered directly behind her, causing her to stop crying but the tears still flowed.

“Tammy, please, turn around, look at us,” said the voice of her father, a voice she knew well. He called her Tammy, her own father. He had called him queer at first. S/he didn’t realize her legs were working again until s/he had turned to face her father, and mother. S/he suddenly realized what s/he’d done and looked down at her legs. ‘Why now?’ s/he thought to herself.

“Tammy, we were wrong. We didn’t understand. Please, PLEASE, forgive us. Please come home with us, Tammy. We’ll get you all the help you need to be who you truly are. Tammy, please?” S/he saw tears running down her father’s face, pleading with her to come home. Her mother’s eyes were also red, she too had been crying.

Tammy had a sudden thought. S/he never told her parents, or anyone else, where s/he was going, or what s/he planned. S/he gave her parents a quizzical look and asked, “How did you find me? I didn’t tell anyone where I was going,” and in a small voice, “or what I planned to do.”

Her mother told her, “We received a phone call, Tammy. The caller told us where you were,” and she choked up when she said, “and what you were planning to do. Oh, please, Tammy, come home with us.”

Her parents could see that Tammy was thinking, before she asked, “Who would’ve called you on your cell phone to tell you about me here? I never told anyone.” Her dad shook his head and said, “It wasn’t on our cell phones, Tammy. It was on our landline phone.” It took Tammy a few moments to realize what her dad just said. Now she was even more confused as she said, “But daddy, you had that phone disconnected three months ago. No one could call you on that phone.”

Her father smiled at her and replied, “You’re right Tammy. I did have that phone disconnected three months ago, and no one should have been able to call us. But someone did.”

Tammy started crying again. This time, being overjoyed that her parents had come for her and wanted her home with them, she ran to them, the three hugged, before walking, arms around each other, back to the same stairs Tammy had used to get onto the roof. Her legs were working perfectly again.