Ploy

I went long on this one!

It's a simple tale with a simple moral: If you're trying to scheme your way out of something, be careful you aren't too successful.  😉 

TEXT!

Our high school was normal, for the most part, but for the presence of a young man named Ed DeMarco. He was a bully. Yeah, I know, every school has bullies, but not like Ed. He was particularly cruel, and he was creative in his cruelty.

Now, he picked on everyone, but his chief target was the girls. He played awful pranks on them, spread rumors, and would cop a feel whenever possible. But he made a big mistake when he hacked Julia Stevenson’s phone and posted all her nudes online. The police were called, and the last we heard about Ed, they were talking about charging him as an adult.

At least, that’s the last everyone else heard about him. See, my mom is an attorney, and she found out that Ed’s parents convinced the jury that Ed was acting out because he was transgender. Like, he was picking on girls because he was jealous of them.

Was that true? I had my doubts. Oh, who am I kidding; I didn’t believe that story for a damn minute.

For a couple years, I didn’t hear anything about Ed. Then, on a trip back home from college, I spotted a pretty young woman sitting in the park. Suddenly, two dudes came up to her. They exchanged words, and then one of them slapped her across the face so hard she fell off the bench.

Now, I’m no hero, but when you see something like that, you can’t do nothing. I rushed over and shoved the guys away from her. That’s when I recognized them: Jim and Ben, kids from my graduating class.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I yelled. “You think you’re tough guys, hitting a girl?”

“That ain’t a girl, man,” Jim sneered. “It’s that sick asshole Ed DeMarco. He thought he could sneak back into town and nobody would notice because he’s in drag. Well, everyone knows it’s you, Ed. You better get out of here before we come looking for you again.” With that, Jim and Ben stormed away.

Shocked, I looked at the woman. Tears glinted in her eyes. Could this really be Ed? I mean, yeah, there was a resemblance, but…

“It’s true,” she—he?—said. Her voice was a little husky, but definitely feminine.

“Oh my God,” I replied, helping her up.

If this was Ed, there was no way he was just dressed as a girl. The shape of his face was different (especially his nose, he’d had a colossal schnoz) the long hair wasn’t a wig, and his chest…

“They’re real,” Ed said, following my gaze. “It’s all real.”

“Oh shit,” I said. “I feel like such an idiot. I’d heard you were transgender, but I thought it was just a ploy to get leniency.”

Ed bit her lower lip. She was cute. More than cute. Fuck, did I really think Ed DeMarco was kind of a babe?

“Well… That was a ploy,” Ed said. “And it worked, kind of. The jury let me off, but the judge didn’t believe me. So, under the guise of ‘helping’ me, he set up a first-of-its-kind program to assist in my transition. It was basically like probation, but with visits to a doctor for estrogen shots instead of a probation officer. At the time, I was only fifteen, so you can imagine what those hormones did to my body.”

My jaw hung open. I didn’t know what to say. Should I feel sorry for Ed the bully? Or had she gotten what she deserved?

“Anyway, thanks for helping me, Marty.”

“You remember me?”

“How could I forget my favorite head to dunk in the toilet in the boys room?”

I laughed. “Well, now I guess I’d be safe from you in there.”

Ed sighed. “Look, I never wanted to be a girl, but the hormones did more than give me tits and ass. They mellowed me out, and they helped me realize how much I hurt others. So, for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

I looked over the former bully, wondering if I was losing my mind, and then decided I didn’t care and said: “You can apologize by letting me take you out to dinner.”

She grinned and said, “Sorry, I don’t date men.”

“Me either,” I said. “C’mon, what do you have to lose?”

Ed again bit her lower lip. God, she was sexy. “Oh, all right.”

After dinner that night, in my bedroom, I discovered Ed did have something to lose: Her virginity.