To Keep Her Safe is All I Know

Chapter 8

"What did you say?" John finally asks.

Melanie sighs, "Well, not all the time, but...Sadie has told me that, on certain days, she feels like she's a boy. And on those days, I let her be one."

"W-Why-Why-Why would you do that?"

"Because my child is free to express herself, Johnathan! Or himself! Whoever it is that Sadie wants to be!"

"But Melanie, that's just...i-it isn't right!"

"Look, if you can't open your mind even the tiniest, slightest bit for your own child, for your own flesh and blood, I can't help you. I wouldn't get back together with you if you were the last man on planet Earth."

"...Please, Melanie."

"Take your meds, John. I've got a body to look at. And if I pick up Sadie from your house tonight and she tells me that you've said even one negative thing about her suddenly questioning her gender, if she doesn't come home to me tonight with a smile on her face, I will go to court and fight for parental custody of her. Be a father, John. If you really still love me, you'll do that for me. I'll see you this evening."

With that, Melanie hangs up her phone and sets it back down beside her. She then puts her gloves back on, picks up her equipment again and resumes examining the body before her, hoping that Sadie would be okay with John tonight.

x

John gripped the steering wheel so hard his knuckles were turning white. His arms were practically shaking. He sees Sadie standing outside of the school with teachers and a few other students. She spots his car and gets a big smile on her face when he pulls up to the building. Sadie runs up to the car and opens the back passenger door. She climbs into the car, shuts the door, then throws her backpack to the floor before sitting in her booster seat and buckling herself in.

"Hi, Daddy." She says.

John glances at his child through the rear view mirror for a second, then returns his eyes to the road.

"Hello." He says.

John drives off, his knuckles still white and his arms still shaken. His eyes were wide as he tried to keep them from drooping. He was so exhausted he couldn't think straight. Purple bags had formed under his eyes. On the bright side, he'd lost some weight too. At least, he'd chosen to see that as a bright side.

"Daddy?" Sadie asks.

"Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

John glances in the rear view mirror at Sadie again for half a second, then returns his gaze to the road in front of him.

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Did you take your medicine this morning?"

"Yes, dear."

Lies. He'd thrown those pills out a while ago. He didn't need those damn things. He was perfectly fine on his own. However, he didn't need Sadie blabbing to her mother more than she already had been. Speaking of Sadie...

"Sadie?"

"Yeah?"

John pauses, trying to find the right words to say. Finally, he simply says:

"You're a girl."

"What?"

"You're a girl, Sadie."