Page 39 of Precise Justice

Friedman, normally quite stoic, actually smiled and chuckled a little bit.

“Everyone asks that question. Probably not much bigger, if at all, than what they are now,” Friedman answered.

“What about facial hair?”

“The estrogen you’ve been taking should take care of that. There are other drugs we can give you to reduce that, if necessary.”

Friedman then crossed his legs, leaned toward Robbie and ran the back of his hand over Robbie’s face. Robbie stopped breathing while he did this.

“Relax, I won’t hurt you. You’ll be fine. I don’t believe a beard will be a problem.

“Now, back to the surgery,” Friedman said sitting back again.

“You’re seventeen now. You’ve made excellent progress in your transformation and, you’re ready, in fact, you’re way overdue, for the surgery.

“I have spoken to your mother about it and she agrees. With summer coming up, you’ll have plenty of recovery time. I’ll give you a brochure to take home…”

“I’ve already seen it,” Robbie said. “I looked it up on Google.”

“Okay and what do you think?” Friedman asked.

“I know a couple of girls at school who had it done and they’re very happy. And, of course, there’s Joan,” Robbie answered.

“I’ll still give you a brochure to take home. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to call.”

“There’s a girl at school, a natural girl, that I’m attracted to. Is this normal?”

“Yes, of course. Or, if you were finding yourself attracted to boys, that would be normal, too. You feel what you feel. But, be careful with girls. They may not feel the same as you,” Freidman said.

“Sure, I understand.”

“We need to decide soon about doing the surgery this summer. I know an excellent surgeon but he is very busy. We will need to get it scheduled soon.”

Friedman stood and went to his desk. He picked up a brochure, returned to his seat and gave it to Robbie. He then took ahold of Robbie’s hands.

“I want to tell you something,” Friedman said while Robbie nervously looked at him. “I have spoken at length with your mother and with Joan and we all agree. You have made remarkable progress. We also believe you are ready for this and your life will be immeasurably better. You’ll see.”

As usual, following a session with Friedman, Priscilla and Robbie did not speak for most of the drive home. Eventually, as usual, Priscilla broke the silence.

“What did you talk about?” she asked Robbie.

“Don’t be coy, Mother. I’m sure you knew ahead of time what we would talk about,” Robbie replied without looking at her.

“I’m sure I don’t know,” Priscilla said.

“We talked about the surgery. You’ve decided it’s time to do it this summer. So, I suppose I’ll do it.

“Frankenstein is getting creepy,” Robbie said.

“What are you talking about?” Priscilla asked. “And don’t call him that.”

“He has moved his chair so he is practically sitting with me and he is putting his hand on my knee. Creepy.”

“I’m sure he was simply trying to be comforting. It was during the time he brought up the surgery, wasn’t it?” Priscilla asked.

“Just before it.”

“Well, see, there you have it,” Priscilla replied.