Chapter 18 #3
“It always goes back to childhood, doesn’t it?
” Vic laughed. “Maybe I do need a therapist or something.” Jessica heard the distinct sounds of Vic blowing her nose.
“One of my friends back home, no, actually, two of them go to this BDSM-friendly psychologist. Maybe I can…” Vic was obviously choked up again.
“You keep referring to it as ‘back home,’” Jessica said. “That speaks volumes. I think you like it there, but this misstep has tripped you up majorly.”
“I have a lot to think about,” Victoria said. “You’re a saint for listening to me. Can we, uh…”
“Talk again?” Jessica offered.
“Yes.”
“We can. Evenings are best for me,” Jessica said. “You know, with school and chaperoning and all.”
“You’re busy,” Vic said. “Erin won’t let me set foot in the storage facility again. She’s hired an outside company, but she’s insisting on continuing to pay me.”
“Wow, that’s generous. I mean, it’s the least she could do, right? I mean, I hate to say this, but that taser gun thing could have been a very different kind of gun.”
There was a brief silence on the other end. “I know.”
“But it wasn’t,” Jessica said. “So, we thank the universe, take the win, and we move on.”
“Yes, Ma’am,” Vic said, and Jessica definitely heard the smile behind it. “Moving on. Getting my shit together. Making amends.”
“That’s the spirit,” Jessica said. “So, tomorrow evening? Same time-ish? You call me this time?”
“Perfect,” Victoria said. “And I want to thank you for being so gentle with me.”
“I’ve got you,” Jessica said, feeling protective.
“I think you do.”
They spent a few more minutes wrapping up their call, then Jessica flopped back onto the couch.
She was totally energized after talking with Victoria and made quick work of the lit magazine flyer, emailing it off to KC.
The next thing she did was go down the rabbit hole researching lactation kinks.
It was a fascinating kink, but maybe not one she’d want to take all the way to actually lactating.
Could it be a soft limit, maybe? She needed to think about it some more.
~~~
Jessica carried her energized feeling into school the next day and straight into the parent conference that afternoon. Mrs. Baker, Josalyn’s mother, was right on time, and once they were both seated in student desks facing each other, Jessica gave a quick summary of Josalyn’s progress.
“English 9 is going well for Josalyn,” Jessica said.
“She’s attentive in class and participates when I ask her to, but she is a bit reticent, I’ve noticed.
Probably nothing to be concerned about, but it is something to work on.
Being able to advocate and speak up for yourself is an important skill to have. ”
“It is,” Mrs. Baker said.
Jessica handed her a printout of Josalyn’s current grades. “She’s doing well. She has an A in my class.” She waited. There had to be a reason other than grades that this mom was sitting in her classroom after school.
And there was. Jessica’s smile faded as she watched Mrs. Baker pull the Trans grammar worksheet out of her bag. “Joss was floored by this.”
“Okay,” Jessica said cautiously. Dread spread through her. She was finally seeing the repercussions of her bold move.
“It was the first time at school that there had been anything remotely related to trans...” Mrs. Baker sighed.
“Trans anything.” Tears were filling the woman’s eyes.
Jessica leaped up and snagged the box of tissues from her desk.
“Thank you,” Mrs. Baker said. The next thoughts came out in a fast stream as if bottled up and under pressure.
“Joss’s father isn’t quite on board. Not yet, but Ms. Bennett, I’m going to confide something very personal to you. ”
“Okay,” Jessica said softly.
“Joss is transgender. Joss knows I’m here to talk to you about this today. And I hope I’m not overstepping, but you seem like an ally, an understanding teacher, maybe someone Joss can talk to?”
“Of course.” Jessica reached over and touched Mrs. Baker’s arm in sympathy. “I did that lesson on purpose.”
“We know. I mean, it was subtle, but we heard it loud and clear. You are Joss’s favorite teacher.”
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Jessica said. “I assume Joss is not exactly out yet?”
“No. One close friend from the volleyball traveling team, my husband, and a gender-affirming therapist. And now you know. He—” Mrs. Baker stopped talking and swallowed hard. “This is the first time I’ve allowed myself to use that pronoun. I must feel safe with you.”
“Your little girl told you that she’s leaving. It’s hard to adjust.” Jessica started tearing up and grabbed a tissue. “That has to be incredibly difficult, but Joss is finally becoming the real person he’s always known he was.”
“It’s a lot,” Mrs. Baker admitted.
“So how do we play this?” Jessica asked. She didn’t want to assume.
“He doesn’t want to be outted, so please don’t call him by he/him. Please don’t single him out now that you know.”
“Got it,” Jessica said. “Easy enough.”
“Can you be a resource for him? Someone he can come to when he gets overwhelmed?”
“Absolutely,” Jessica said. “I’m no expert in trans anything, but I’ll look for resources. It would be helpful if we had more official information as teachers. I mean, it’s still kind of not on anyone’s radar to help kids navigate this path. It needs to be talked about. That’s for sure.”
“We haven’t talked to any of the counselors here at PUA, but he’s going to a psychologist once a week to work out his feelings. We learned that in Ohio, since he’s only fourteen, he has to wait four more years to get hormone therapy or surgery of any kind.”
“Yeah, the new legislation makes that part difficult, but I’m glad kids can still get access to gender affirming therapists.”
Mrs. Baker nodded, grabbed another tissue, and said, “We may have to move to one of the states that still protect transgender healthcare for minors. I don’t know. His father isn’t on board with any of it.”
“Not yet,” Jessica said. “Like you, he’s probably trying to understand it.
I mean, Daddy’s little girl suddenly isn’t.
But it’s not sudden for Joss. He’s probably known for a long while now.
And hopefully, your husband will come to realize that Joss is still the same person with the same values, sense of humor, and intelligence. ”
“I hope,” Mrs. Baker said. “It’s just going to take Stephen time, I guess. Another option might be homeschooling. I just don’t know what we’re going to do.”
“I’m sorry the world is lagging behind,” Jessica said.
“Another reason I wanted to meet with you today is to ask if you’d be willing to tutor Joss if we do go to homeschooling.”
“Sign me up,” Jessica said, not hesitating one iota.
Mrs. Baker blew out a sigh and then reached over to pat Jessica’s arm. “Thank you, Ms. Bennett. And thank you for the subtle signal.” She tapped the grammar worksheet and then put it in her bag.
The meeting obviously over, both women stood. Jessica moved in for a hug first, and Mrs. Baker gladly accepted it. It wasn’t protocol to hug students’ parents, but Jessica was making an exception.
Once Mrs. Baker left and Jessica was alone in her car in the faculty parking lot, she blew out a sigh to shake off the heaviness of the meeting. Poor Joss had a tough road ahead and not one of his own making.
She had the desperate urge to call Victoria and discuss what had just happened, but she didn’t.
She couldn’t. She’d promised Mrs. Baker she would keep her newfound knowledge under wraps.
But what she could do was get some of her thoughts out in her Kinks group under the Gender topic that Vic had posted.
“Funny,” Jessica said out loud. “Sometimes I think of her as Vic and sometimes as Victoria.”
She opened the Kinks app and found the Gender topic.
Topic: Gender
Question: (2 parts) How do you define gender? And how do you go about supporting a transgender person?
Juicy_Babe: You first support a transgender person by believing them. If they say they’re a guy, then, guess what? They’re a guy. You can also support them by using proper pronouns. Make an effort. Don’t make a big deal if you mess up. Just do better next time.
Juicy_Babe: Your gender identity may or may not agree with your biological sex.
Juicy_Babe: Gender is on a scale. There’s such a wide range. Think about height. Tall or short? That’s not really a binary thing, is it? So maybe gender isn’t binary either. Not just male or female, but everything in between.
Satisfied that she got some burning thoughts out, she headed home, excited about a certain evening phone call.