Images 28

Chapter 28

It takes me awhile to get a hold of myself. All the adrenaline is starting to wind out of me and I’m starting to feel all my hurts. The welts from the paintballs, the tackling and the all out fighting. My arms and my hands are killing me. Angie comes over from somewhere with things of ice for my and some pills for the pain. She looks me in the eyes and fresh tears spill out of hers and she hugs me. “Oh God Jenna, thank you, thank you, thank you…I knew some of the kids were having issues with Hunter but…Oh thank you honey.”

“I had to…Hunter’s.” I hug Hunter who was right there looking haunted in Angie’s shadow she clings to me and puts her face right into my ribs. It hurts a bit but it’s worth it.
“Hunter’s my little sister…I’d do anything for her.” Hunter hugs me a bit harder and Taylor’s lips are on the back of my neck kissing me as he holds me but I feel the smile forming on them on my skin. It’s amazing how something like that will just make all the hurt worth it.

Angie’s crying still and she takes one of the ice packs and puts in on my cheek. There’s this look on her face and in her eyes that should’ve been there with Natalie. I’ve been riding the edge of saying this for awhile now. I’ve wanted to but… I smile a bit or try to with a split lip. “Thanks Mom.” That makes her cry all the more and pushes me over the edge too and the three of us girls are all crying together and Taylor’s holding all three of us.

It’s awhile like that as we sit in a glassed in side office away from Troy and the too little assholes. I can’t believe him! That he’d be that flipping insecure about me and his place in the limelight that he started up the website? I mean I know that he was one of the ones that turned on me but that. That was just…Honestly, I’m drawing a blank. It’s one of those times that words just fail me at the sheer dumbfuckery of it all.

Angie’s sticking close but she’s in and out of the room checking on Daddy, oh yeah today he’s my daddy and he’s raising holy hell about what Troy’s done and what he and the Coach have done along with stuff about the website and then Troy’s dad’s there and in Daddy’s face yelling about me being a fag and practically sexually assaulting his son while I was on the team by being in the changing rooms and that fags should be segregated from real god fearing people.

I’m actually okay.
I mean I’m upset.
But I’m not all that upset.

I’ve been living under this umbrella or this dark cloud of their bullshit for so long I think it actually lost the impact it had before.

It’s just listening to them go on and on. I just sort of tune it out until Hunter comes in and hugs me around the waist and she’s crying and shaking. Me like I said, I think I’m okay. Hunter this is huge and scary.

“Hey, its okay Hunter, we’re not going to let anything happen to you.”

“Promise?” She’s all muffled face in my stomach but as sore as I am it feels more than right. I run my fingers through her hair soothingly.

“Promise Sis. I love you.”

“I love you too Jenna…” Ow…she tightened her hug.

We sit there in Taylor’s arms him rubbing Hunter’s back as he watches the goings on out in the main part of the station. I sigh as he kisses neck or the top of my head. Even with him recovering still he’s my rock. It’s getting just a huge ugly mess as things shift around from various points of yelling with the legalese and the police and there’s a couple of older police guys in uniforms and bigger lawyer types in really expensive suits and the gaggle of stuff kept getting bigger and bigger.

Daddy comes in with Angie and he kisses me and hugs me. “How are you holding up honey?”

“I’m okay Daddy but I think someone here really needs to get home.” I run my fingers through Hunter’s hair.

“Alright, I think that we can go home girls, a lot of this is out of our hands for now.”

I get up with Hunter still hanging onto me and Taylor too with my parents…I love the thought of them like that. My parents, my family… Well we’re more a family than the one Jaime grew up with that’s for sure. We’re heading out when I see Billy? And Davey? With the cops getting booked and they’re acting like drunken assholes? I heard Davey mutter something about “Fucking Queers.” …? WTF? Billy too, but he’s dating…? Taylor leans over in my ear. “Just keep going.” I can smell the booze on both of them.

I’m upset, and I watch them get moved and shoved around and I hear one of the cops say. “Get these red-necks out of here and shove them in with their paintball buddy.” I catch the guy’s eyes and there’s this look, this intensity there and I know both of them are stone cold sober. Taylor is literally steering me outside. “B..but Tay?”

“Keep going, we’ll talk at home honey.”

Oh…oh…this is one of those biker, streets thing…

Oh…The guys, My guys…they’re doing this for me.

I’m not sure what to think about that. Good? Protected, Safe? But I’m a good girl right? Or I’d like to think that I am.

“Daddy? Mom?”

“Yes Jen?” They both answered together. It’s cute.

“Should they…” Dad puts his hand on my shoulder. “How long? Do you think after the lawyers things’ll be even? Let the guys do this….they need to do this, it how they take care of family.”

I’m still not sure but nod. But Angie’s a nurse and she just looks me in the eyes and nods as we’re leaving the building.

There’s a lot of press there and camera’s and stuff. Well not a lot probably close to ten or twelve but it’s sure more than I’m used to. I get asked a lot of questions, and dad stays to run press interference while Taylor get’s me and Hunter and Angie into the truck. Hunter’s hanging onto me tightly scared even more because of all this too and a few of them shouting her name.

Its Canada so there’s actually a few cops getting between them and us. We have free speech laws here but we also have laws that protect people from hate speech and from the negative aspects of the press.

We get out of there without them following us or starting all the drama that we really don’t need. With the stuff with the guys and Taylor, honestly even sick I’m not sure what he’d do. Mom either for that matter. I think if they got too close to Hunter she’d have taken off an arm.

I actually dozed through part of the drive holding Hunter who’s still clinging to me. I guess its okay and there’s people there at the diner as we pull in. There’s a lot of regulars and friends and…and they started clapping when I come inside, Holly and Nin are beaming and Tim’s pointing at the TV.

I winch as I watch someone’s or several someone’s video clips of my getting shot by the paintballs playing human shield for Hunter then others of the fight between me and Troy.
I’m stunned and speechless because I’m also really outed from Troy’s little rant.

And people are hugging me and patting me on the back and I’m getting a bunch of atta-girls. No one’s yelling, or calling us names or being nasty to us.

I can’t help it but start crying happy tears as it’s all going on. There’s even a cheer as Taylor kisses me.

Hunter’s wide eyed and has moved from me to her mom, our Mom. And she’s as wide eyed as me at the way we’re being treated. I even see people there from the church that we went to there and there’s a whole lot of support that honestly I never would have though to have in a million years.

There’s part of me that really just wants to go to bed, to just go and curl up someplace with Taylor and let him take care of me. But there’s so much support here I feel kind of like it’d just not be right if I didn’t stay.

Taylor looks tired too. This ontop of everything else has him pretty beat. And as soon as one’s vacated I grab him and me one of the booths and ask Kendall if she’d be a sweet heart and see if she can steal us a pillow from our apartment. She gives me a hug.

“Sure Jenna…I…You’re brave y’know that right?” she’s looking around definitely on edge.

“Thanks and I’m not sure brave’s the right word. I saw them going to hurt Hunter and I just…reacted. Then afterwards once I figured out that I wasn’t dead I got angry. That’s not exactly lady like.”

“Bull that.” Come from Njinda. “I’m natural born, and I have been angry enough to hurt those who hurt the ones I love. You are just as much a woman as any woman here. Beside there is proof.” Nin’s all emotional because her English is all stilted into her Somali accent. “You cover the child wit ya own body Jenna, that’s something born in bone deep in a woman. I know it and everyone here knows it.”

“Too bad Natalie didn’t know that.”

“That silly twit who gave birth to you wasn’t no woman Jenna. Just ‘cause you got the parts don’t mean you fit the part.” She kisses my cheek and heads off to wait on a few more customers.

I look at Kendall and take the pillow from her as she gets back. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

“Oh…nothing.” Her voice is a bit subdued.

I take the pillow and put it behind the wall and Taylor and we get adjusted so like we’re sitting sideways like on a couch. He sighs and kisses my neck with a murmured “Thanks baby.” In my ear that makes me smile. But I pat the bit of bench left for her to sit

“It’s not just nothing come on spill you’re family.” She looks at me and tears start to well up. I grab some napkins and pass them to her.

“It’s that, being here and being accepted by you guys and by Billy…but this…I mean you’re really out, there’s not closet anymore and Hunter and …what if they look at me and everything. It’s not like I pass, I’m just past thirty…I’m…I’m just really scared.”

I hug her and she shakes a bit and I look Kendall over. She’s one of my online friends and one who ended up staying after my wedding because she had hooked up with Billy. It was a surprise to all of us including each of them. Kendal thought she was a girl into girls and Billy was surprised at how much he loved talking to this T-girl who was except a few niggling details that we all have to deal with the woman he’d always been waiting for.

Kendall is right on a lot of counts. Short of some surgeries she’ll have a real hard time passing. Bigger shoulders that a GG and thin hips, she’s Italian to boot with the stereotypical hirsute problem and she’s got the Adams apple and no amount of breasts right now but she’s got this head of Catherine Zeta Jones hair a nearly perfect smile and these sensual deeply green eyes that really pop when you look at her.

“Kendall, for one you’re beautiful and I have a head start on you age wise and hormone wise. You’ve not really seen anyone yet professionally have you?”

She shakes her head no.

“Well you work for us now and Taylor and I work with a couple of medical coverage companies that cover TG issues. We made sure of that so we can get you appointments and stuff and you’re gainfully employed and we can argue the case for keeping you here because you’re our IT specialist.”

“But I’m waitressing?” she looks confused and even Tay’s leaning more on the table top to look over and around at me.

“You’re waiting tables between your other duties but I wanted to ask you if you can get us set up like that on the computer. Put Mavericks on Twitter and Facebook and a few other places, build us a website.”

“Uhm yeah sure but are you guys sure?”

“Yes we’re sure now go and talk to Dallas she used to work in a salon before here and a spa too. I’m sure she can lend you a few more ideas to try like she did me.”

“You? I though you just were like a natural or something at this you seem so just right with It.?”

“Me hardly, I’ve had tones of tips and tricks taught to me over the last few years and you learn a lot of stuff about make up and all sorts of other tricks and cover ups working at a strip club and one that features t-girls. I’m in the same boat as you honey just I’ve got a head start is all.”

We hug and Kendall goes off to work again. I feel older, I know it’s tired and sore but I feel so much older than I really am.

I settle in with Taylor as the bust bustle and flow of the customers and well wishers goes on around us and I’m sort of back in the old position of lime light? Sort of as this is all really déjá  vu like to when I’d get the same thing after my football games.

I guess that one of the truths about the whole transgendered experience pre-during and post-op. You were never the person that you knew you were and once you became that person you can never really stop being who you used to be.

Oddly I’m good with that. It makes sense. If you never were who you were then you’d never have had the need to become who you are.

Oh I see some more sessions with Marley coming up over all of this. I settle in and just try to down play the whole thing. I see some people from the LGBT club we went dancing at here tonight and they’ve been out doing there thing but there’s some with us that seen it online and on some blog-casts as well as some of the more traveled LGBT styled news type of sites. Plus apparently it’s all over You Tube.

It’s a little intimidating to get all the attention and we get asked right there by some of the bloggers and the two LGBT reporters to talk about what happened. I think about it before responding.

“Look I’ll do an interview session but I need to answer the questions from the other news outlets that want this too. Let me make some arrangements and we can all do a sit down interview session.”

I call Daddy and let him know what’s up and he say’s that he’ll get back in touch with the press people that were outside the police station. We decide on tonight if they can make it so they can get things set for the late news and morning printings.

I hang up my cell phone and Taylor gets up and gives me a kiss. “I’m going to make pizzas. We all missed supper and once the rest of the press get here.” He smiles and shrugs. “Hey, it won’t hurt to offer up some free food and make this as informal as possible.” I add. We kiss again and there’s a sigh from hunter but some of the single girls in the place and a couple of the gay guys.

I can’t help but stare at him as he weaves through the crowd to the kitchen.

God I’m a lucky girl.

***

Troy paced angry, oh he was pissed, he was beyond pissed and Coach Thompson wasn’t being worth a pinch of shit other than getting a hold oh his father.

“At least Dad’s getting me a real lawyer instead of that pansy that works for the school.”

He frowned and ignored the few other people in lock up. He was a big guy and no one in their right mind fucked with him. The fact that Jimmy, all fagged out looking like some little bitchy princess…. Coming after him like that. That the wanna be cunt dared to even show her face around him after she’s been run out on the rail from school it got his blood boiling

Jaime’s “Iron man” Morgan had hogged the spotlight the entire time they’d been on the same teams together. Oh jimmy had talent but not that much talent and just because he played a couple of play off games with him playing on both lines…or “Iron Man” football everyone thought he was the shit that he could walk on water

It was like a sign from god when he was at that party and he slipped that dyke Ingrid some rohyp and she babbled on and on about this Jenna cunt, then he found out from the drugged up little bitch that that was Jimmy.

He was planning on popping her cherry but it had been way more fun to fuck with her head and get her drugged ass to believe and get mad over the fact of “Of course she was in love with Jenna, because Jimmy was having fun with you, you stupid dyke.” Drugged as she was she was really easy to lead around by the nose that night. The pictures she had; were plastered everywhere in only maybe an hour. The best was she was still pissed at Jimmy because he never stepped forward to defend himself so of course it all had to be true.

Even now it brought a smile to Troy’s face. It was a fucking pity Jimmy’s dad didn’t strangle the wannabe pussy or that Jimmy’s mom couldn’t get him lit up.

And the website was so much fun, seeing how low the mighty had fallen. He was so in love with what had happened to Jimmy he got hard while watching him working in that faggy titty bar.

But this, Jimmy busting up his ride then coming after him like some psycho whore. No, no this was Alberta this was good ole boy territory. His old man would get their lawyer and a judge that was amenable and it was just paint balls, and the tire iron and the stuff he said. The tranny was crazy; he was distracting him from his little brother and his friend. The football boosters were a pretty tight bunch of god fearing folk and had connections. He’d get a slap on the wrist, house arrest, there were schools…colleges where this would seem like a good thing that he did especially good upright schools down in the southern United States.

He looked up when more police came shoving to swearing and drunken guys who got shoved into the holding cell with him and the other guys while they were waiting to be processed.

He heard one of the cell mates he already had say. “Hey Billy.”

There was a quite. “Hey, you see anything?”

“Nope…uhm…nothing…you and he came in and passed right out.”

What was going on? Some drug deal, something he might use in court to bargain with? Nosy he turned around and right there in his face was the other one. This blonde baby-faced guy with these haunting icy eyes. Staring at him like he was nothing, less than nothing.

***

Troy Mathews had always thought he was a tough motherfucker. He found out that he was very, very wrong.

***

There had been someone who had started a fight three cells down that drew away the roving camera. And in the six minutes in took to watch, call out and break up that fight it was over. One of the police officers saw the beaten body curled up in the fetal position whining over and over again up against the bars… he called the others and the EMT’s were called.

Both hands were broken, both arms, busted teeth maybe a busted jaw, holding his ribs and his crotch they rushed him to the hospital.

The duty sergeant came down with three cops and yelled at them waking the two drunks; one got up and staggered to the john puking his guts up.

He yelled asking what the fuck happened and they’d better speak up because there was always evidence left after a beating.

The drunk flushed the john and spat. Sitting on the floor. But not looking at the cops but the three other guys.

Alex Finely looked at the cop. “I dunno, he fell.”

That was the story all the way around. They found no traces of blood on anyone’s hands the quiet blonde kid explained the bruises. “Yeah of course I’ve got bruises, I work construction.”

They got all moved out spaced between the cells and the CP would be pissed but these guys were frequent fliers in the jails and even prison no matter how hard they’d be asked Troy Mathews had always just slipped.

And what he did. To that girl, was going to do to that little kid. He worked the two younger ones up to it. He wasn’t sure that the ass just didn’t get what he deserved.