A Family Is A Family, No Matter What. (Sam & PunkPrince).

[SammyTheNotAPanda]

Limping up the almost empty rain soaked streets, Liam wiped away the tears from his face, ensuring no more blood remained under or around his mouth in the process. He'd been set upon by a pair of classmates on his way home from school, in an attempt to "get rid of the gay!", as they put it. He knew he looked a mess, shirt torn and splattered with mud and his own blood, a tooth knocked out. His nose had been bleeding, and his glasses broken, leaving a cut in his nose. It hurt to put too much weight on his ankle, and he was almost positive he'd dislocated it...but he couldn't face up to the reason WHY he'd been attacked, feeling too ashamed to do so.

Earlier that day hadn't gone too well either, with Liam making a fool of himself in front of his class..

/"Being born into the wrong body can be one of the worst things a person may ever have to face. Physically or emotionally. The struggle to accept yourself, and thereafter to be accepted by others.

The hate faced by others towards you, just because you want to be who you truly are within. The comments, the spiteful behaviour, the kicks. The punches.

Who you feel you are. Who you have the right to be. You all get to have that human right. But I don't. Because wanting to be a woman? That's "wrong" in your eyes. "Disgusting", "Evil"..."

Shaking with emotion, Liam's tear-filled eyes had run back over the words on the paper in his hands as the words passed his lips, hoping that someone... /Anyone/ would take the words he spoke and think again about the actions they undertook. The words they spoke. But he doubted it.

"You deserved it. I'm glad it happened to you!" A voice, deep and rough, had broken through Liam's speech, drawing attention to the newest speaker. "Freaks like you deserve it! Too bad you weren't killed!"
A few cheers had greeted this acclimation, mingling with a few "Yeah!"s or "FREAK!"

With that, Liam had ran from the classroom as fast as he could, looking to hide underneath the bleachers, where it was quiet. The rain had continued to thunder down upon him, drenching him, but he no longer cared./

He needed help now, from anybody. Spotting a small, local store, he took a deep breath and entered it. He'd heard some students talking about it, saying the staff were always professional and kind to them when they went into there, but he didn't know that, really.. He knew it was probably just them being kind to make more money, but… Maybe someone.. staff, patron, passer-by.. would help him.

"Help me.." Liam's voice was soft and frightened, the footsteps of his assailants coming behind him, knowing full well that they had followed him up there. People were in here, so maybe they'd leave him be…

 

[PunkPrince]

"Carter! Have you finished restocking the soup?" Tammie flinched at the sound of her boss calling her birth name. She had gone into the bathroom for a minute before stocking the shelves like he had asked her to. He wouldn't use her real name since it wasn't her legal name, no matter what she said to him. She had argued with him at first but...she did need to keep this job. She couldn't spend all her time working the streets again. Something bad could happen to her. She had narrowly escaped death more than once, and every night she'd returned alive was another night she had beaten the odds.

Now she was relatively safe. She had an apartment with her girlfriend, and they only occasionally had to work the street. She remembered when they'd gotten the place. It was a step up from the shit motel they'd spent so long in, and upon learning that the place was free of roaches they had held one another and cried from happiness. She was happy to be safe, and though she didn't really like her job, it was a hell of a lot better than getting fucked for money.

At least they lived somewhat normally now. Tammie loved Marilyn, and she knew that Marilyn loved her. The place was far from their dream, but it was okay. She knew that Marilyn wanted things that they might never have, particularly children. She knew how jealous Marilyn got of other people. She got jealous a lot. Jealous of cis women for having the bodies she had always wanted but would never quite have. Jealous of people with families who still loved them and would never reject them. The girl had had a hard life. The both of them had.

Neither one of them had had a steady job for a while before that, and being transgender women made it even more difficult for them to find work. Marilyn had been kicked out by her parents at the age of eighteen, and with no job, had been forced to resort to prostitution almost immediately. Tammie had been another story. She had worked as a waitress until shortly after her mother's death, something that had completely shattered her. She'd had nobody to turn to to help her with her grief, it had affected her job performance, and she'd been fired pretty quickly. Having no other way to make money, she'd had to resort to selling herself for money.

"I'll be out in a minute," Tammie sighed, smoothing down her thick curls. She would much rather be at home curled up in bed with Marilyn. At least she'd be off work soon. Her job was only part time. It was all she'd been able to get. Eventually she would be promoted. At least she hoped so.

Tammie opened the bathroom door and slipped back outside. She took the cart of soup cans and pushed it over to the near empty shelf of soups. She sighed and began to put the cans on the shelf, her mind drifting off as she did, settling into a routine. Tomato, Chicken, Vegetable... She never really had been too well liked in this store. The people who shopped there were all right, and her coworkers were cordial, but they never called her by her name, and she could always tell that their kindness was strained. She had grown numb to it.

She heard someone run inside, and when she turned and saw the kid, she accidentally knocked half the cans off the cart. She wasn't sure if the kid was a boy or a girl, but once she saw them she didn't really care. The kid was scraped up and bleeding, and had very obviously been beat up. Without thinking, she grabbed the kid and pulled them closer to her. "Oh my god, honey," she started, her motherly nature taking over almost immediately. "What happened to you? Are you okay? I'll get you some stuff from the first aid kit. She led the kid behind the counter and dug through the first aid kit, pulling out bandages and some Neosporin.

 

[SammyTheNotAPanda]

Lily jumped in fright at the voice that broke through her thoughts as she was almost grabbed and pulled against the taller female, yet that simple motion made her feel.. oddly safer. Following Tammie through to behind the counter, she took a seat upon the furniture, to make it easier to be treated by the shop worker.

Sitting up a little, Lily glanced up at the figure who'd gone so out of their way to help her, thinking for a moment or so before she spoke. "You're very pretty. I like your make-up, miss." She smiled at the woman, playing with her hair for a moment or two, wondering how it felt. She had never seen another transgender person, and honestly was very curious indeed. She could tell Tammie was a male, but wasn't going to say anything to her, just in case she caused offense to the other.

A resounding CRASH! sounded out from the door, as three boys, all taller then Lily and obviously a bit older then her, made their way into the store, shouting vile and unrepeatable abuse at Lily, ranging from thinly veiled transphobia, to out and out hate, the sort of thing that would get someone arrested if they were to scream it at someone based upon race.

The poor female sat on the counter began to panic, her breathing becoming slightly wheezy as she reached for her bag, needing her inhaler out at that moment. Her arms had wrapped around Tammie by now, as though trying to find protection in her arms, or close to her.

 

[PunkPrince]

The kid settled on the counter and Tammie began to dab some medicine onto her cuts. "I'm sorry if it stings," she apologized. "I'm trying to be gentle." She smiled as the child complimented her makeup. "Thank you," she said. "I try. I suppose I could be better but..." She shrugged. "My girlfriend is the one with the real talent, though. My name is Tammie. What's your name? And...what in the world happened to you?"

Sticking a band aid onto one of the child's cuts, she jumped when she heard a loud crash from the doorway. The kid immediately clung to her. Tammie instinctively shrank away from the slur spitting boys for a moment before handing the girl her inhaler and stepping toward the boys. Their comments didn't really phase her, she was more concerned that they might hurt the kid they were very obviously after.

"Leave her alone!" Tammie snapped at them. "Get out of here before I chase you out!" She was about ready to lunge at them, but she had to restrain herself. She couldn't help yelling at them though. She wanted to keep this poor kid safe. She didn't know why, but she felt like she had to. The boys turned and ran.

"Carter!"

Tammie froze when she heard her boss yell at her. He grabbed her by the arm. "I am tired of your outbursts here. This is the last straw. Get your things and leave. You're fired. I'll send your last check in the mail on Monday."
It took a moment for his words to sink in for her. "But I need this job!" she pleaded. There was no way she and Marilyn could survive with one of them out of work.

"You should have thought of that before you had your outburst. Go." Tammie took her work vest off and flung it down onto the chair, taking the nametag with her birth name on it and snapped it in half.

"Fine," Tammie said, grabbing her bag and slipping out the door, casting a small smile back at the girl on the counter. "Your loss."