The feeling of being cold from the chill in the air was only a minor inconvenience to Ric Ridley as he was walking to The Hideaway, the neighborhood bar. This did not matter to him. Ric was soon going to be warmed up by seeing all of his old friends. Tonight was going to be the first time they were all able to get together in at least 4 years. None of them returning home after college made it hard to meet up as a group. Thinking of that fact made the man who just turned 28 realize how quickly life went by.

The local bar he was going to haunt tonight never became his local haunt. Growing up, the Hideaway was his neighborhood bar, but he went away for college and never moved back home. This neighborhood was not his neighborhood anymore. This town was where he was from, not where he lived. Ric was the guest of this town and will never be a host here again.

Entering the bar Ric was treated as a stranger. Everyone in the bar looked at the door to see who was coming in. Even the bartender stopped pouring a beer to see who the new patron was. Most of the patrons did not recognize him. Being seen as an outsider to those with whom he grew up with, was a strange feeling to Ric. That feeling soon went away when his friends waved him over to their section of the bar. The smiles on the faces of Chris Cornette, Stan Eaton, and Bobby Snodgrass as they welcomed Ric joining them was a sign he was not a stranger to those who mattered in his life.

*********

Becki Hall appeared to be one of the apathetic patrons to Ric’s arrival to the bar. The lack of her face showing any sign of her knowing Ric came from her needing a poker face all her life. Until she admitted she was the woman she was, Becki was always having to be careful in showing her true self. Her having to make everyone else believe she was Vinnie Hall made her cautious to just react to anything.

Becki was happy her face was as neutral as a 7 on a pH scale. Her true feelings of sadness and regret would have been welcoming to the man who just walked in. She never wanted to give Ric that unwelcome feeling ever again. Growing up as Vincent Hall he made sure that Ric did not feel welcome. He was a bully, but for some reason, he made tormenting Ric his special project.

Becki’s mood changed once she quit thinking about her past and started to think about the present and future. Instead of dwelling on how he hurt Ric, her mind was on how she now had a chance to make amends. This would be yet another stop on her forgiveness and rehabilitation tour. Hearing that Ric has forgiven her would give her a better high than the rum and coke she was drinking. The euphoria from being absolved for past sins was worth the price of feeling a little ashamed.

Another benefit of making amends was Becki being able to tell her life story once again. She loved telling people her hero’s journey. The heartwarming tale of transformation about being an asshole to a model citizen who won over those she wronged. Many of the people she used to pick on actually felt bad they were upset at her.

Becki was going over to where Ric and his friends were. She could not wait until a chance encounter at the bar to right yet another wrong from her past. Doing it now instead of waiting also would give her more time to talk with Ric. She was almost as eager to hear what he was up to as she was to hear him say she was forgiven. One reason Ric was Vinnie’s personal whipping boy, was the crush she had on her victim. Putting him down was the best way to hide her feelings.

Before Becki could begin the feel-good reunion, Ric’s greeting to her went off the script. “Hi there Vinnie. How have you been? It’s so nice to see you.”

Either Chris, Stan, or Bobby must have told Ric who she was. There was no way her old classmate could have recognized her. Anyone would have to study her face already to see any remnants of Vinnie. Even then they would have to be told what they were looking for.

The lady did wonder why they did not tell him her new name. There was the only explanation why Ric did not use Becki. Back in school, he was a kind boy and he would never deadname her. Trying to maintain her redemption narrative Becki said “I guess that Chris and the boys did not tell you my name. I am Becki Hall.”

As plainly as the black t-shirt he had on, Ric Ridley said, “They did. Call yourself what you want, you will always be Vinnie to me.”

*************

In a mocking laugh, Vinnie Hall said, “Call yourself what you want, you will always be Wic to me.”

Ric was happy that he was already leaving his locker. That meant he only had to deal with Vinnie’s greeting of “hey there Wic” and that bully’s rebuttal on being corrected. Vinnie called Ric Wic as a way to remind the boy he tortured about his speech impediment. Even with Ric putting all the time and effort to overcome mispronouncing sounds and words, Vinnie was not going to let Ric forget about that flaw.

As he was walking away from the debate he could not win, Ric did wonder why Vinnie went out of his way to be around him. All that asshole did was harass Ric. Why would someone go out of their way to torment someone? Not everyone was going to like everyone else, not liking someone does not mean you have to try to make their life a living hell.

Vinnie’s cruel treatment of Ric could not actually bring him down. That boy was already at rock bottom. 5 years ago, when Ric was 12, his dad, Rich, was paralyzed on his construction job. The elder Ridley’s boss did not keep his payment on worker's compensation or disability insurance. That meant no payment coming. The family could sue, but that would only be a token victory. That construction company was deep in the red.

Ric had to grow up quickly. He was their only child and had to help his mom. His mom, Carol, never asked Ric to help out. Him taking on the extra chores, volunteering to take care of his dad, and contributing to helping the household was all done on his own. In fact, she did her best to try to stop her son from taking on responsibilities that were not his. Ric disagreed with her. He was part of the family and it needed help. He had to do what he could.

Ric was 12 so he could only hustle to make money. He started to cut lawns in the spring and summer and in the winter he would shovel sidewalks and driveways in the winter. His mom never took any money from him, but did let him pay for the cable and internet. They were going to be lost in her budget slashing to make ends meet. Ric also bought some of the little things for the household. His mom could not say no to the milk which was already in the fridge.

Taking on and meeting new responsibilities along with school and being a teenager took a toll on Ric. The boy did not put up an effort to stand up to Vinnie and his crew. They were not worth the effort. The hurt from them bullying him was minor compared to the desire of wanting to be there for his family. He wanted to conserve his energy for what was important so did not wear himself more than he already was.

As Ric was getting out of earshot Vinnie had to get one more indirect dig in on his victim. “Guys, do you know why Wic is upset? He called himself Wic all the time. If he did not want to be called Wic then he should have never said it.”

*****************

Even with Ric performing improv on how the conversation was supposed to go, Becki stayed on script. Getting redemption for her past as a boy was more important to her than stooping down to Ric’s level. Plus being dead named was a little deserved because of the past between them. “I know I was a little harsh on you growing up. That is why I am here. I want to know what you’ve been up to.”

Ric's response was as cold as the beer in his hand “Why should I say it? Nobody who matters cares about me.”

*************

One night, during his junior year in college. Ric’s day was finally over. Returning back to his apartment after a long day of classes, studying, and working at the dining commons, Ric went online to relax and catch up with his friends. Then one of the messages on his Facebook feed made him feel like Charlie Brown to Vinnie’s Lucy. Once again, Ric’s old classmate showed his true colors. He left a snide reply of “Wic, why do you post on here? No one who matters cares about you.” on Ric’s post about getting a nice paid internship.

The post itself was not upsetting. There was no time in Ric’s life to get mad. The agitating part, was Ric having faith that Vinnie changed. Feeling naive was what got to Ric. Giving his bully the benefit of the doubt was a huge lack of wisdom. There was no catalyst for Vinnie to change.

Instead of dwelling on his mistake, Ric’s course of action was to rectify it. He defriended the person who was not his friend. Then he went on to read all the positive posts congratulating him.

***************

Becki was not going to let Ric being unfairly hard on her about the past ruin her chance at redemption. She wanted to feel good about who she is and not be reminded about who she was. She deserved to be heard out. She made her case to be able to get what she wanted. “Ric, why are you being like this? I’m not trying to be your friend. I just want us to be civil to each other. Is that too much to ask for?”

Ric just asked the question “What’s in it for me?”

***************

To graduate from Quaker Valley High School, all seniors have to do a community group project. Ric was dreading going to the first meeting of his high school senior group project. The administration did a random drawing to form the groups and with his luck of course Vinnie Hall was one of the members. The other two Abby Rhodes and David Verbeek would have been fine to work with if Vinnie was not in the group. Those two were Vinnie’s friends and would go along with how Ric’s bully was treating him.

Ric showed up at the meetup place, Starbucks, right on time. He was not going to spend an extra second in the presence of the boy who was trying to make his life a living hell. It did not take any time for Vinnie to be Vinnie, that is a douchebag, towards Ric. The wannabe bane of Ric’s life greeted him by saying “Hi there Wic.”

Abby and David did nothing in response. To them, that was being neutral in the situation. In reality that was them taking their friend’s side. To do nothing will always be a sign of passive approval of their friend’s bad behavior. Their silence loudly said to the rest of the group they were fine with Vinnie’s bad treatment of Ric.

“Vinnie why are you being like this? I am not trying to be your friend. I just want us to be civil to each other. Is that too much to ask for?”

Vinnie just asked the question “What is in it for me?”

Ric gave no response to the question. He knew answering the question would be as useful as having the best chili con carne recipe in a vegan chili cook-off contest. It would also make it so he would have to spend extra time in the presence of Vinnie. He just said, “Let’s figure the quickest way to finish this project.”

***********************

Becki was a strong-willed woman who was used to being able to get what she wanted. After all, she did become a woman after having the disadvantage of being raised a boy. These little setbacks were not going to deter her from getting what she wanted, Ric’s approval. Becki was still concerned about being accepted as who she was by others. If Ric held the sins Vinnie committed against him then in his eyes she was still that boy to Ric.

Becki being a strong-willed woman also meant she was never afraid to speak her mind. She held her true voice in too long to be silent to not let others know what she was thinking. “Here is what’s in it for you. You can let go of the past. How you are treating me shows you still have lingering bad feelings about how I treated you. Instead of holding on to that pain you should hear me out so we can both move on from how much of a bastard I was.”

Ric looked at Becki and smiled. It was amazing to him that somehow she thought that changing the cover somehow also changed the content of the book. Her coming over uninvited and making a big deal about wanting to say sorry showed it was still about what makes Becki feel good, not what was good to do. That she still thought that she was the center of everyone else's existence.

“How sweet. You believe that I still think of how you treated me. I moved on years ago. I have not thought of you for years until Bobby and the gang pointed you out to tell me who you were.

“I’m being this way because I do not want anything to do with you. I know you have not changed. I know you are still the same self-centered bitch that you were in high school. If you did change you wouldn’t have come over. If somehow you changed then you would have left as soon as you saw I was not interested in what you were saying.

“Now if you really want to be civil you will just leave right now and act like we did not even talk and I’m not here.”

*****************

Becki left feeling as dejected as a rejected suitor. She was sad because of not getting that rush of good feelings from making amends. Depressed, she was under the misimpression that Ric was still harboring ill feelings towards her and her actions as Vinnie. She was also dispirited from having the false assumption that she had made someone bitter and angry towards life.

Ric went right back to having a smile on his face. He was here to spend time with his closest childhood friends and was not going to waste any of his time tonight trying to repair his relationship with Becki. Why make amends with someone who you will probably never get to see again? This would not give Becki the closure she was yearning to get. That can only come from within, like how Ric moved on from their past on his own.

Bobby and the rest of Ric’s boys joined Ric in moving forward with the night. The topic of how Vinnie treated Ric was staying where it should be, the past. Tonight was about them spending time with each other and enjoying the moment. Yes, there would be some stories told about their glory days, but that was so there would be more laughter in the air. Talking about the tribulations would only bring them down.

The gang understood the why of Ric’s apathy towards Becki. Coming over for forgiveness was only a gesture to her. Ric giving her absolution was a given to her. Them making amends by her just saying sorry was rightfully hers. She did not need to do anything else. The gang also knew she was trying to make amends for good intentions, but she wanted forgiveness for herself. The reconciliation in her eyes was about her making herself feel better about the past. That she got more of the burden of being Vinnie off of her shoulder. Becki was not going to put any work into righting the wrongs she did.

After seeing that everyone needed another drink, Ric went up to the bar to order the next round. As he was approaching the patron’s side of the bar he noticed the barmaid, Abby Rhodes, giving him a side-eye look. Ric had to wait for Abby to serve him. She was waiting on anyone else who wanted a drink.

Sitting next to the thirsty man was Brendon Demott. Even with the bar regular being a couple of years younger than Ric they were friendly in high school. Ric said, “Hey Brendon.”

Brendon responded by giving Ric the side-eye and saying, “Hello Wic.”

The unwelcoming greeting made Ric speed up getting service by calling out to the barmaid to get her attention. He wanted to get away from the bar. The man getting drinks did not care about how rudely Brendon treated him. He just did not want to be around someone who was so ill-mannered.

Abby knew she could not ignore Ric anymore. The tone in his voice told her he was not in a pleasant mood. That would be an issue for her. Ric’s mom was friends with Hank Robinson, the bar owner. He would not like hearing if she gave Ric bad service. That was a huge drawback to working with the public, Abby had to give good service to bad people. Becki told Abby how Ric treated her. Abby was not going to waste her time being pleasant to someone who was so unpleasant to her friend.

The question of what can I get you Abby asked Ric was as stiff as a double shot of bottom-shelf whiskey. Ric asked Abby how she had been as she was placing his order on the bar. After serving the order Abby turned to get the next customer without giving Ric’s inquiry a response. There was no need for small talk. Abby had the cover of it being Saturday night as the reason she did not answer Ric. Hank was more concerned about Abby filling up the regulars’ glasses than her being extra cordial to a newcomer.

Bringing the beers back to his friends made it so easy for Ric to forget about how unwelcoming Brendon and Abby were. He was there to see his friends, not a couple of people he used to know. Those strangers showing who they were only added another reason why Ric was happy he did not move back.

Bobby, Chris, and Stan had no idea how their good friend was being treated by the rest of the bar until David Verbeek walked past where they were standing. As David walked by Ric he put his shoulder down and “accidentally” bumped into Ric. Then the instigator told Ric to watch what he was doing. This childish act of aggression was to show David’s displeasure in how Ric treated Becki and to let the outsider know he was not welcome here.

Ric was not going to stoop down to David and the rest of the regular’s level. They were and from now on will always be strangers to him. Not having to deal with them again after tonight helped him in staying as smooth as a top-shelf vodka to the inhospitality.

Stan Eaton on the other hand was not going to let David’s uncalled for act of aggression not be called out. He corrected David by saying “You are the one who bumped into Ric.”

Ric just wanted David to be gone. Any time Ric and his friend wasted on talking with David was less time they could spend enjoying each other’s company. “Stan, it’s fine. David how about if we do a shot together. It’s my way of saying sorry about not watching what I’m doing.”

David was smiling as he accepted the kind gesture. He might not have liked how Ric treated Becki, but he was not going to turn away a free shot. On their way to the bar David was being a straight shooter. He asked “Why did you treat Becki the way you did? That was not cool. You were being a real dick by calling her Vinnie.”

Ric respected David being so straightforward so his response was also just as matter of fact. “David, it is because I do not have time for her. How she casually came over to me and acted like we were friends. You know that is bullshit. She expected me to be fine with how she treated me. I’m not. I forgave her a long time ago, that does not mean I forgot the type of person she is. I just don’t want anything to do with her.”

“Becki has changed, give her a chance.”

“Oh please, she has not changed. If she did then no one would have known how our chatting went. She would have kept our conversation private. Yet somehow the entire bar knows.

“I’m just here to catch up with my friends and be friendly to everyone else. I’m not here so Becki can move on from what she did. She needs to do that herself.”

David reluctantly agreed with what Ric said. This might not be what Becki or the rest of the bar wanted, but Ric made valid points. They cannot force Ric to like Becki. “Sorry dude. It sucks that Becki is feeling bad and I want to help make her feel better.”

“Hey, I know you were just looking out for your friend. I’m just here for the night so I don’t want to deal with the drama from the past. I also don’t want to lie and make Becki think everything is fine. That she can just say some words and make up for how she treated me.”

Ric made sure he and David ended up at an empty section of the bar away from Brendon. Turning the other cheek for the same person twice would have been hard. He was already close to having more than his fair share of abuse by strangers. Little did he know that there was going to be no shelter anywhere at the bar away from snide comments about him for the rest of the night.

The saddest part about how badly Ric was being treated was none of it actually matched how the bar patrons at the bar felt. Oh Ric was being an asshole in their eyes but their reactions were a 10 compared to their outrage being a 2. They were putting on a show of solidarity for Becki. Their righteous attitude was just them virtue signaling. They wanted to be seen as the most accepting of who Becki was by not accepting Ric was allowed to have personal issues with her.

Ric ordered two Dewars and that gave Abby the chance to proudly put her heart on her sleeve for everyone to see. Even with working on his speech impediment Ric still had a couple of words he had issues with. Dewars was one of those words. His saying the word sounded like Dewaw. The w and r sound being so close to each other gave him issues and he made the r soft enough to sound like a w.

Abby, using her tough gal voice, said “All right there, you had enough mister. You are out of here.”

Ric was dumbfounded by the outlandish accusation and asked why. No one would ever confuse him with someone whose best friends were Bud and Jack, but he could handle more than two beers. Even if he has been drinking for a much longer time, Ric has done nothing to warrant him being barred from the bar. He was not being loud, annoying the other customers, or being a nuisance in any other way.

Abby was happy hearing Ric asking what. This question could be seen as him objecting to her. Now the barmaid was able to continue the theatrics by raising her voice even more and using exaggerated gestures to cut him off and show him to the door. It was a great show. She wanted to make this a scene for everyone to see. Not only did it give her being a friend of the LGBT community more cred. This dramatic exit for Ric would also put him in his place. That man needed to know not to be cruel to people for no reason. “You heard me, you are cut off. You are slurring your words. I was going to let you stay, but you will not listen. So leave.”

By the time Abby was finishing ceremonially kicking Ric out Bobby Snodgrass and the rest of Ric’s friends were at the door. They were not going to stick around a place where they were not wanted. “Ric come on, we head to my dad’s place to continue this night. We don’t need to be around these people.”

The celebration of getting rid of the transphobic man started as soon as the door was closed. Abby started the festivities by declaring “Round on the house.” Doing this little gesture was going to pay off big for the defender of Becki. The tips were going to be better tonight. People love free drinks and show their appreciation. Plus the regulars are going to want to show solidarity to Abby’s stance on Ric. They will reward her for getting rid of someone who they saw was bringing down the place.

Of course, Abby poured herself a shot before getting to serving the bar. She wanted to make a quick toast to gloat about her victory. “To getting rid of Wic!”

************

Becki’s face was as sour as the lemon in her rum and diet coke when she was returning from talking with Ric. How her former classmate treated Becki made her normally bubbly personality become flat. There was no way she could hide the pain from her apology being rejected by the man she tormented to her friends. Even if she was willing to put on a good show, she would not have. Becki was never again going to hide her feelings. She did that too long when she was Vinnie.

Mandy and Alexa’s spirits also went down as their friend sat back down on her stool. They could tell something was bothering Becki. Knowing the best way to lift their spirits was to help Becki, they asked what was wrong. Becki started to give a recount of her talk with Ric. She did not think anything was wrong with telling them. They would not say anything to anyone so Becki would still be following Ric’s wishes of acting like he was not there or she knew him. Anyway, how could she get over the rejection if she could not at least get condolences about not getting what she wanted.

Becki was right about her friends not talking about it. They knew all Becki really needed was support. The thing is that one other person overheard the conversation. That person was Abby. Bartenders always have one ear listening to the background chatter. It helped them keep tabs on what was going on in the bar. They would know about trouble brewing before it comes to be. Plus, this eavesdropping made it so they could know all the juicy gossip.

Abby did not see the conversation as private. It was done in public, plus the information was too important to keep from others. Someone came into their bar and made one of them feel like shit for no good reason. Her people, her friends needed to know what kind of person Ric really was. Ric needed to be put back in his place. He cannot come here and act better than everyone else.

The seeker of social justice was efficient in making the information that she wanted known dispersed over the bar. She told the talkative stakeholders in the situation. First to be told was Becki’s cousin Brendon Dewitt. Those two downplayed being related until Becki was true to herself in public. Becki was the oldest sibling so when she came out as who she really was Brendon took it upon himself to become her older protective brother.

After knowing the bar area was covered Abby looked to see who would be best to cover the table section of the bar. The person was David Verbeek. She knew he was still feeling guilty about not being able to date Becki. He saw her as a girl but could not get over the past. That she was once Vinnie. What David saw as an immature reason for not being able to make a romantic connection with Becki made him go overboard in being an ally for transgender rights. It was his way of compensating for what he saw as a personal flaw.

Picking those two was the right choice. They were able to get the information out in a timely, natural manner. Abby’s messengers were also able to get the right level of disgust and contempt aimed towards Ric. There was enough to make him feel unwelcomed, but at the same time not enough to have her customers reaching for the torches and pitchforks. She wanted him to leave quickly. She could not just kick him out, her boss was friends with Ric’s mom.

The execution of Abby’s plan went as perfect as a pop song written by Paul McCartney. The results on the other hand were not as expected. Ric did not care that much about how Brendon and David treated him. It was like that stranger was too good to be concerned about how others felt about him. This meant that Ric was going to stay the night unless Abby could find a way to kick him out.

Ric coming up to the bar and ordering Dewars gave Abby her chance. She knew that his softening of the r was not from drinking too much. The mispronunciation of their drink of choice came from his speech impediment. That did not matter to Abby, she wanted Ric gone so he was going to get cut off right then. His not being able to drink would make him leave the bar soon. Sober people tend not liking to be around drunks for a long period of time.

Then Ric did what anyone would do in the situation asking why. Abby once again was following the letter of the rules but not the spirit and kicked him out of the bar. She made the patron wanting to know what was happening as he was talking back to her. Being a bartender is one of the professions in the service industry where the maxim of the customer is always right was not close to being true. She kicked him out.

Ric took being barred from the bar well. In fact, Abby beat him to the punch. He would have barred himself from patronizing this far from fine establishment. He was not going to spend his money on a place that went out of its way to make him feel unwelcomed. The customers and the waitstaff did not have to be friendly in his eyes, they only needed to not be openly hostile. How he was treated was disrespectful and he had enough.

Bobby Snodgrass and the rest were already on their way towards the door before Abby kicked Ric out of the bar. They were not going to have their time together wasted by some wasted people acting like jerks. Tonight was about them being together not where they were together. They would have fun no matter where the group ended up spending the night.

David stood at the bar in shock. He was stunned by how Abby was acting. How rude his friend was being, was out of line. Abby was working and she needed to be professional. Her thinking that Ric had too much to drink was not possible. The seasoned barmaid knew that Ric had a speech impediment and there was no other sign of the man being impaired.

Then by the time he was able to gather his senses Abby once again shocked Dave. She celebrated kicking Ric out. If that act was not mean-spirited enough she wanted to show how petty she could be by calling Ric, Wic. The rest of the bar did not want to be outdone by Abby so they all laughed and cheered.

Seeing how the people he was surrounded by were acting as immature as they were accusing Ric of being, helped David get his bearing. He had to speak up. They were all only listening to how they wanted the narrative to be. These people who thought they were doing the righteous thing conveniently forgot the history between Ric and Becki. Becki had no right going up to Ric and acting like forgiveness was a given.

David had to speak up to defend the person who was not there to defend himself. He could not let his people get away with demonizing someone just to make their friend Becki feel good about her past. “Really Abby? You think how you are acting is a good look for you?”

Abby was glowing in her self-righteousness when she answered David's questions. “Yes I do. Wic was mean to Becki and did not give her a chance. He did not belong here. Don’t worry you are getting a free shot.”

The bar became a Greek chorus. In a collective voice, they agree with Abby. They wanted to drown out any dissenting voice from their universally held beliefs about tonight. Deep down they knew if they thought about what transpired they were in the wrong.

Having the crowd to stand up against strengthened the contrarian part of David. He was raised by his daddy to question when everyone profusely defended doing something which seemed out of their character. “Come on people. Ric might have been a little bit of a dick to Becki, but he did not deserve how we treated him. He had good reasons to not want to deal with her. Remember how she treated him back in school? She was a total bitch towards him. And tonight, she kept on bothering him after he showed he wanted nothing to do with her. Yeah, he might have been an asshole towards her but he was a justifiable asshole. He wanted to be left alone and a person who was his bully would not do so. In my eyes, Becki was just being a bully again.”

This simple defense of Ric brought about a quick verdict of guilty of treason on David. All the jurors witnessed him doing the act of betrayal so there was no need for a trial or a judge. The mob was starting to hand out their sentence of belittling David when Becki spoke up in defense of him. The surprise character witness starting her testimony in defense of a witness for whom they deemed guilty made the restless crowd settle down.

“Everyone, David is right. My feelings were hurt dealing with Ric, but he had the right to blow me off. I should have left him alone right away and got over him seeing me how I showed myself to him. I was not nice to him. No wait, I was mean to him. I was a prick and a bully. I should not have said anything to Mandy and Alexa.“

After admitting her mistake, Becki turned to her friends and said, “You two should have not said anything to anyone. I said what happened was between us. I’m hurt that you did that.”

Before the two innocent girls could proclaim the truth, it came out. Abby was not going to let her actions damage their friendship. Plus having pride in her actions made the barmaid not want to share the credit of getting Ric out of the bar tonight. What happened tonight was her doing.

“I told a couple of people Becki. You needed support. The people I told needed to know the type of person Ric is. Brendon and David look out for you. They would want to be there for you. The entire bar needed to know so they did not have to deal with a little immature boy.”

Becki had more pressing and time sensitive issues to deal with then to make sure that Abby did not make her private life public knowledge. The lady had to at least make Ric know that the rest of the bar did not regress since leaving high school. That their good intentions led to them making a horrible decision on how to treat him, That they also made the mistake of taking a second-hand story as the truth. Becki’s personal whipping boy can have the lowest opinion of her of anyone he knew, but her friends deserved better. Their foolish decision to protect her should not be the basis of Ric's opinion of them.

Getting up from her stool Becki went to the door to at least fix some of what she caused tonight. Before leaving the bat she told Abby “From now on don’t eavesdrop on conversations and share them with people. I pick who knows what about my life.”

*************

“Hold on a moment Ric” was heard once again coming from behind them. The man who the plea was aimed at just kept going on. His friend Bobby listened and said “You have to hear her out Ric.

“I do not, just keep on going,” were the words out of Ric's mouth as he kept his trek to making his way to Bobby’s childhood home. He wanted to keep on pressing on with the night and not stop to let the past once again catch up with him.

Bobby replied with “Come on Ric. This has to be important to Becki. She left the bar and is now trying to run in those heels to catch up with us.”

Bobby was right about how important talking to Ric was to her. She would have commended him about knowing how hard it is to run in heels. Her ankles were turning every time one of her heels landed on uneven ground. She was cursing about how fake the media portrayed how easy it is to move in heels.

Ric’s retort was simple. “It’s not important to me. She’s just someone I used to know. We don’t get that much time together and I will not be wasting any of it on some stranger who needs it to feel good about themselves.”

Stan Eaton was the heart of the group. He was the one the rest of the group’s better angels listened to about if what they were doing was the right thing. When he started to talk the rest of the gang knew the bickering about letting “Ric, it is important to us. We would stop and listen to a stranger. At least I would. You might not need it, but giving her a moment of your time is going to ease so much regret for Becki. It will also help her to keep on being a better person if what David said was true.”

Ric stopped. His Jiminy Cricket agreed with Stan. The man who had no desire to talk with his antagonist did not want to but needed to listen to Stan. He was wise enough to know giving in to Stan’s advice was the right choice. He will not have any regrets later thinking about if he was too harsh on the person who took so much pleasure being harsh on him.

Ric told Becki to hurry up and that she only had a minute. The lady listened and picked up speed to get this over with for Ric. When she finally got face to face with Ric she unexpectedly did not start her mea culpa about the past. Instead, she spent the little amount of time she was allotted to put the rest of the bar in a better light.

“Ric, I was wrong to talk to you tonight. I should have listened to you and not told Alexa and Mandy. I knew they would say nothing and I needed to get it off my chest. That is why I did it. Abby overheard us and she put it upon herself to defend me.

“Those people are good people. They do not see me as Vinnie like you do. They do not hold what Vinnie did against me. They treat Vinnie and me as two different people. I am not.

“So please, you can see me however you want. Your feelings of owing me nothing are legit. I deserved how you treated me tonight. I treated you badly for too long to think that just talking and showing you who I am now meant anything to you. Please do not hold this night against those people. They wanted to help a friend who they can’t see was also the person who did you wrong. Who was your bully.”

Ric asked why. He had to know why when she was Vinnie that she picked him to be the target of his cruelty. He did not add any details to the question for he believed it was so pressing that Becki would know the rest. She did not think it was about why she was a bully for she accepted her fate as being seen as that by Ric from now on. Instead, she started to answer why she was so adamant about Ric understanding her friends’ unfriendly attitude towards him.

“They are good people.”

Even with his question not being understood Ric knew that Becki was listening to him. This made him clear up the misunderstanding. “No, why were you a bully towards me?”

Becki hated the question. She was going to have to admit why. The reason was so embarrassing and immature she started to blush. Thankfully it was dark so no one saw her face turn as red as her nails.

Becki could not answer the question. The answer was a secret she was not ready to admit to anyone else. She wanted to be strong enough to never hide her true self ever again but knew she was not ready. The chance of being mocked and ridiculed was too much to bear. It would destroy who she saw herself as. She did the bully to protect the boy she wished she was and could not have the truth destroy her putting that boy in her past. Tilting her head down and turning around to go back to the comfort of her friends, Becki said “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Ric said, “Try me.”

The truth had to come out at that moment. Saying the knowledge which was only her was owned to Ric. He had to know why she went out of her way and spent so much time and effort into making his life miserable. Becki turned around for if she was facing the truth she wanted her face to be seen by the person she was making the confession to. “I had a crush on you.”

Right after the admission left Becki’s mouth Bobby and the rest of the gang started walking away from Ric and her. This had nothing to do with them. They respected Becki’s privacy. She was opening up and not being at her side was the best way to morally be at her side.

Those words leaving her loose lips made Becki tense up. She wanted to be prepared for Ric’s response. Having a stiff upper lip as Ric was mocking her was the least she could do. She did not want to have any chance of her showing being hurt to make Ric hold back on his ridicule. She deserved every single mean comment he had to say. How could she have thought for one moment even in a fantasy a man would want a woman like her. That was just silly.

Instead of hearing how ridiculous she was for having a crush on a man. How silly she was that Ric would even think about her in that way she heard something worse, silence. No response made the demons which were Becki’s insecurities fly out of the abyss of self-doubt in her subconscious. How she felt was so silly that it needed nothing to be said to point that out.

Smiling to make sure that Ric did not feel bad for hurting her feelings with the truth, she said “I should have never told you, you don’t believe me. I am going to get going.

“Ric, I do hope that you at least believe this. I am happy to see that you are doing good in life. I came over because I wanted to hear all about it.”

“Hold on Becki. I wasn’t expecting that. It is not every day that a beautiful woman tells me that they had a crush on me.”

Ric was telling the truth. Hearing Becki had a crush on him was so out of tune with how she treated him. Yet knowing that she was not a he when he was being a bully made the unexpected make perfect sense. Becki was fighting with how she was as a person on so many fronts. People thought and treated her like a heterosexual man. She was not taught how to handle being a heterosexual woman and could not handle all those feelings along with the spike in hormones. The only course of action was to hide who she was not only to others but to herself. She could not act upon her feelings so acting the opposite was the easiest way to keep them private. Becki being mean was like when a little boy would pull on the pigtails of a girl he liked.

Finding out about the crush also made Ric see how strong Becki was. Not only did this lady stand up and declare the truth about who she was, but she also admitted why she was how she was when living a lie. Becki was going to do the right thing from now on and Ric wanted to help her have the strength to do so.

“Ric, I am being truthful.”

“I know Becki and so am I.”

“Thanks. I still better let you, Stan, and the rest of the gang get on with your night.”

“Then hold up we are going back to the bar. I did not like Vinnie one bit, but I think she has become a person I would like to know better.”