Page 56 of Precise Justice

Robbie hesitated for a moment, his hand on the door release. She looked at Blake and asked, “Dad, can you pick me up for school in the morning every day?”

“Well, um, I have a surprise for you. I was gonna wait but I’ll tell you now.

“I’m picking you up today to take you to your driver’s license test. You’re ready and I think you’ll pass easily. In fact, you’re way overdue. We should’ve done this two years ago.”

“Really? Seriously?” Robbie practically yelled. “Wait, does Mom know?”

“Yes, she knows. I told her and, of course, she started to protest. I just told her to shut up. That I was gonna do it,” Blake told him.

“And she looked at you with total shock on her face,” Robbie said.

“She did. I’ll tell you what, it feels good to be out from under her thumb.

“Robbie, I want you to know something. No matter what, son or daughter you’re my child and I’ll always love you and be there for you.”

Robbie looked at her father, a tear in her eye, then threw her arms around his neck.

They held each other for a moment, then Blake said, “Here we are. Go to school. I’ll see you at three.”

As Blakedrove away, they waved to each other. Robbie wiped a tear from her cheek then she heard a familiar voice from behind.

“Hey, wait up,” Stephanie yelled out to her from among the kids walking toward the door.

“Hi,” Stephanie said when she caught up with Robbie.

“Big news,” Robbie said while they walked on.

“Yeah, what?”

“My dad’s taking me for my driver’s license today. I’ve been practicing with him,” Robbie said.

“Cool. It’s about time. You gonna get a car?”

“I don’t know. That would be up to the Evil Queen. We’ll see.”

“I went to another meeting, my second one, last night,” Stephanie said.

“What meeting?”

“You know, I told you about it,” Stephanie whispered. They were inside the building and she did not want to be overheard.

“Oh, the one for trans girls. The support group.”

“Yeah, that one,” Stephanie said.

At that moment, the ten-minute warning bell rang.

“Oh, shoot,” Stephanie said. “I gotta get to my locker. It was good. I’ll tell you about it later during study hall.”

Robbie hurried to get to the study hall early. Stephanie was already at their table when she got there.

“Okay, so…?” Robbie asked after sitting down.

“It’s what I told you it was. It’s a support group for trans girls. There are all kinds of them that belong. A few younger, not many, mostly older. There are several in their twenties. One of them, Sherry, first names only, is very bitter about the trans she went through.”

“How many members are there?” Robbie asked.

“I’m told almost twenty. They don’t all come to every meeting. They meet three times a week. Tuesday and Thursday night from seven to nine, Saturday afternoon from two to four. It’s at the YMCA on York in Edina,”Stephanie explained.