Jerk of Hearts, Queen of Spades

________________________________Chapter 9

Once again, when Reggie arrived at his trusty convertible in the parking lot after classes were over for the day, a girl was leaning against the hood of his car. He just wasn't expecting her to be a blonde.

"What do YOU want?" he said numbly.

"Nice to see you, too," Betty snorted. "Let's go for a ride."

"Sorry," he sighed, "but I can't. My dad wants me to clean out the garage, and then there's all that really cool homework they-"

"Did I ask, or did I order? Start 'er up, come on."

He scowled at her as he dug out his keys. "Nobody ever asks. One of these days, you guys will get it into your heads that the guy who holds the insurance card is supposed to decide where the vehicle ends up."

In the end, he knew it was useless to fight her on it, so he did as he was told. She directed him to a vacant lot in a neighborhood none of his friends lived in, and in fact he may only have been to twice in his life, despite Riverdale being his hometown. Once there, she told him to shut off the engine, and he did so. Then, she slouched down in her seat, and he waited.

And waited.

"Look, you can get out and walk home if you don't open up about something or other pretty damn soon."

"I saw you two."

That was it. And it was a pretty hefty "it", to be sure. Reggie's default response was to play dumb, even though he knew this time it was futile. "Uhh... why, Elizabeth, dear, whatever do you mean?"

"Making out on the steps," she continued, and she sounded as if she was having trouble breathing. A quick glance showed she was staring out at the fence surrounding the lot, trying not to lose her bearing on the situation. "Skipping first period to make out on the steps. You... I've never seen anybody going at it like that, like... rabid, wild forest creatures. It was..."

"Yeah, it was." His voice was slightly higher than usual. "So, um..."

"I'm sorry, Reggie, I know I had something to ask you about it, but..." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't stop replaying it over and over in my head, y'know?"

Now he was starting to feel offended. "Hey, come on, it's not like we were crucifying somebody. You saying watching me in action was that putrid?"

"In a word - yes!"

"Oh, well, thanks a heap!"

A huge sigh issued from her lips, and the bottom one quivered. Baby blues looked up at him, pleading. "Just give me something, here, okay? Say you were- that you're going off to war and she was giving you a proper sendoff! Any explaination other than that y-you- that the two of you are-"

Reggie did his best, he really did. But Betty had cut right to the heart of the matter, effortlessly as always, and he wasn't expecting her thought process to be so dangerously close to the truth. "Hey, c-come on, what are you saying? Why would you even ask- I mean, isn't that kind of personal, to, y'know, just up and accuse one of your friends like- what do YOU know about it, anyway?!"

"No, no, NO, Reggie!" she pleaded, panicking, turning to face him properly now. Her face was quite flushed from the subject matter she was forcing herself to discuss with him; it was clear this was not a topic she thought appropriate for polite conversation, and she'd rather be doing just about anything else, but she felt she had a duty as a friend to bite the bullet. "Not Midge, not right after she broke up with Moose! How COULD you?!"

"What makes you think it was me and not her?!" he burst out, then slapped his face with his palm. "Shit."

"You guys can't be, it- it's so wrong!" she pleaded. "You took something from her she can never get back, don't you understand that? Do you really think she was in her right mind, with her and Moose so recently seperated? She's not ready, and- and YOU'RE not ready!"

"All right, just stop it! First of all, this is completely none of your business! And second... no, I think the first one pretty much wraps it up, so if you're through-"

"I am NOT through!" Reggie was almost afraid for Betty, the way her chest was heaving, the droplets of sweat rolling down from her temples. "Reggie, she just got her heart torn out and trampled on, and then you come along and- and you weasel your way into her panties when she's at her most vulnerable? That's totally, unforgivably low!"

"Let the record state that SHE broke up with HIM!" he informed her solidly. "So, will you please just quit with all the bull about her poor heart being 'trampled on' because she lost her man?! She's not a paper doll! In fact, she's been putting up with a lot worse for her whole entire life, with broken bones and deadbeat dads, and- and she's just fine, so maybe you should know what you're talking about before you open your YAP!"

By the end of that, he was almost screaming in his bandmate's face, and was intrigued by how relieved and ashamed he felt at the same time. Meanwhile, she looked positively terrified, and of him. He turned from her to stare over the top of his door, bumping the horn on accident and starling himself. Growling aloud, he fought with the seatbelt until it released him and climbed out of the car, walking all the way over to the chain link fence and grabbing it with both hands, shaking the metal mesh until it jingled.

Minutes went by. Finally, though he'd only been standing around, thinking of nothing - and everything - he was jolted back to his surroundings by a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around and saw Betty, twin tracks of tears staining her cheeks, staring into his face with no words. It was harder to take than if she'd said something.

"I'm-" he began, but then realized he couldn't talk after all. She hugged him, hard - the kind of crushing bear hug you give a frightened child who thinks a monster is under the bed. And Reggie cried. He fought it every single step of the way, but it came out anyway, like a car being dragged down the road by a tow truck with its emergency brake on. His life had been such an up and down the past week that it seemed he was in dire need of release, and his friend had been there for him, even though half an hour before he wouldn't have been sure he could count on any of his friends in any crisis. He was grateful to be proven wrong.

"Geez, I don't know what's going to happen, now," he finally whispered, maybe ten, maybe twenty minutes later, he had no idea. "Her mother hates the idea of us being together. Which is pretty understandable; I wouldn't wish me on my worst enemy. Okay, maybe Arch..."

"It's gonna be fine," she soothed frantically; he knew Betty, bleeding heart that she was, would have been crying as hard as he was. Normally, it was a trait he'd always sneered at, and he suddenly hated himself more than he ever had. What kind of snotty, upper-middle-crusty piece of gutter trash was he? Elizabeth Cooper deserved a gold medal for the personality she'd ended up with. "We... I'll keep all this to myself, okay? Don't worry, please, don't cry anymore!"

"Nobody deserves to g-go through what she's going through," he growled into her shoulder. "Except maybe serial killers! So why her? She d-didn't-"

"Reggie, stop, you have to get a hold of yourself!" Her voice was scarcely audible as she struggled to speak. "I c-can't take- not you, not like this!"

Instantly, he did shove himself away, swiping furiosly at his eyes and nose. A quick glance back showed a wet spot on her shoulder, and he shuddered - how could he have broken down like that? "Betty, I'm really... I'm sorry about before. When I yelled, I was just taking out my pent-up frustrations on you, it's not your fault. Usually isn't."

"Reggie, you're really in it deep," she sobbed, grasping at his sleeve as an unconscious symbol of how she was reaching out to him, trying to end the hurting. "What can I do? If you're so mad, then it means something's wrong, which means you need help. So let me! Is... she's not, um, LATE, is she?"

Perhaps it wasn't the most sensitive reaction, but Reggie laughed. It did feel nice to realize that there was at least one complication that the two of them never, ever had to concern themselves about. But he'd learned from his confrontation with Ethel. "Not the way we're doing it. Look... just, don't worry about that part, okay? That's me and Midge."

She sighed, running her hand over her mouth as she fought to breathe, to settle herself. "Right. Well, if that's all hunky dory, then... what's got you yelling in my face and trying to demolish fences? Seriously... I've never seen you act so, so helpless before, so I know it has to be really, REALLY dire. Like, life-and-death. Is it?"

He'd been expecting her to get there, but was no more happy about it than he would be if taken unawares. "That... is also between me and Midge. Sorry. You're being so cool, and I... don't have much I can say."

"Gotcha. Lots of secrets." She cleared her throat, placing a hand on his shoulder. "But you guys aren't alone, you know that, right? We're all here, right here, ready and willing."

His hand went to her cheek automatically. "Bets... you know you're pretty much a saint, don't you?"

She backed up a step, though she was smiling. "Careful, now, you can't do things like that to me anymore. I mean, you're no free agent."

"Don't worry," he sighed, slowly walking back toward his car. "I'm removing myself from the running... and letting you and Arch and Ron go back to being the Bermuda Triangle. My search is over."

"Ooh, this is so frustrating!" she burst out. "Why couldn't you have ended up with Veronica so I could have a clear shot - for once?"

Reggie laughed as he hopped back into the driver's seat. "One day, the Age of Betty will come to be - I guarantee it."

________________________________

Light was slowly draining out of the skies as Reggie neared his house. He'd driven Betty over to Pop's and bought her a burger-and-fries platter with a soda to show his appreciation for what a decent human being she was, ignoring her refusals and sputterings. They had chatted for a few more minutes about silly things until the rest of the gang walked in. It felt wrong to hang out and socialize with everybody when his insides were roiling and festering, so he'd bid them adieu and made his way home alone.

But there was a rusted old car in the driveway to maneuver around when he got there. Curious, he went back to look at it, but it was empty; was she already inside? Hurriedly, Reggie dove into the house, yelling, "Mom? Dad?"

"In here, son."

The tone of voice was nothing less than chilling; whatever was happening wouldn't be delightful. Dread welling up in his chest, Reggie entered the living room to find both of his parents on the couch, holding coffee cups and looking idly at nothing... and Mrs. Klump in one of the two recliners.

"Have a seat," his dad said carefully. He knew that tone; he only partly blamed Reggie for what had happened. Even with company over, if he'd been truly outraged at his son, his face would be beet red and his nostrils flaring, ready to shout at any moment. This was a good sign that he probably wasn't about to be thrown out on the streets.

"What's going on?" he said, testing as he sank slowly into the vacant chair. It took some doing to resist adding, "...and why isn't Midge invited to this little pow-wow?" It would only have made things worse.

"Well," his mother said gently, "we've just been talking with Mrs. Klump, here-"

"Miss Little," the woman corrected, over-mascaraed eyes narrowing. "Mrs. Klump is the woman who's now living with Mr. Klump... the harlot."

The look on his mother's face was priceless, but Reggie was in no mood to enjoy it. "Right. Well, it seems she has some reason to believe that... you and Midge have been... well, how can I-"

"Sexually active," his father said gruffly, using his standard rip-off-the-band-aid approach to conversation.

"That very thing," Miss Little said, glaring twin daggers at him. Reggie gulped. Being thrown out would be fortunate, as it would mean he made it out of that living room alive.

"Uhh... I don't get it," he said with a would-be careless laugh. "What makes you think we-"

And then the condom wrapper, quite obviously open, was in her hand, out for the whole room to see. His parents were looking away, which made it very plain they'd already had the pleasure of Exhibit A. "In her purse. If it wasn't you, I'll eat my mink stole for supper."

Reggie's feelings shifted. At first, when he had walked into the room, he'd felt nothing but sheer terror with that squirmy undercurrent of uncertainty. Now, however, the memory of Midge crying in his arms resurfaced, and a tiny, tiny bite of anger formed at the back of his stomach. It was enough to strengthen some of his resolve. "That's not proof, it's trash. Got anything else?"

"Reginald!" his mother admonished, looking scandalized. "Mind yourself! This is serious stuff, not one of your video games!"

"My daughter isn't like the other girls, is she?" the woman went on coldly, folding her arms. "I wonder... which one of you wore it?"

And now she was making bad jokes at their expense. Reggie was trying very hard to maintain a grip on his tongue, but he couldn't; it wasn't working. Everything about this woman made him want to jump up and start swinging at her - mother or not. "Maybe she found it at your ex-husband's house. He might be going for wife number three, since one and two weren't anything special."

"That's enough," his father commanded in a way that said he meant it. Only out of respect for his dad did Reggie forego further insults. "We've just been informed that this... Midge, she's not... well, instead of having-"

"Yeah, she's a guy," he said simply. His father went white and his mother let out a kind of strangled gasp, but he did not stop. "And you know what? I could give a shiitake. Because even as a guy, she out-girls the rest of the girls."

"You know what this means," Miss Little went on, holding up the condom wrapper again. "The only way the two of you could have been intimate would mean sodomy. And that is a sin."

"That's not what she said about it," he muttered under his breath. For one scary moment, he thought the woman was going to stand up and attack him, but she managed to stay in her seat.

"Here is how it's going to be," she went on, voice rattling with ill-suppressed rage. "Neither of you will speak with each other again. You will not talk in school, at home, on the phone, at Pop Tate's. If I so much as catch-"

"No."

All three adults were staring at him now, shocked. "Watch what you say to your elders," his mother hissed.

"How long did you leave her in that school?" he said quietly, stonily. "Before you got her out of there? She had broken bones, and still she was there until you finally decided. How long?"

"Don't you dare speak to me like you understand," she bit out. "My son becomes a daughter, happy as you please. A grand idea, isn't it? You assume he's playing games, being curious as all children are. Until you realize the game has gone on for a year. Then two. You take him out of the environment, bring him somewhere else... but he never does return to identifying himself as a boy. And the ridicule continues, the abuse from his peers, because he won't dress right, he won't behave right. And then, one day, you finally see he's never going to change his mind. He is now a she. But the law and the doctors and the school board, they refuse to agree with you. So, you legally change his name to something more feminine, purchase the drugs that will make 'her' look and sound more feminine. Fudge the transcripts, find doctors who are more discreet than others. Move AGAIN. Because when push comes to shove, he's still your son... even if he's your daughter."

Reggie couldn't speak. Somehow, with Midge being so upset and the threat of losing her, he'd become so angry at the very existence of her mother that he'd forgotten the woman had been there for all of it. "I..."

"And here you are, fooling around and playing with her penis," she went on, a disgusted look in place. "Well, I hope you've had a ball, because it's the last time. She's not your sideshow entertainment anymore, I won't stand for it - I WON'T!"

"Please, Miss Little," his father ventured gently, "don't shout at our son. We know he has a tendency to be self-centered, but there's no call for-"

"Keep his THING in his PANTS, then!" she went on manically, before stopping herself to take several very deep, very slow breaths. "Apparently, you're quite the playboy around Riverdale. Find yourself a girlfriend or two, playboy... or find a boyfriend. Either way is fine by me. But my daughter is waiting on her surgery, and I will not let you confuse everything before she gets the chance." A noisy swallow. "This is too important to both of us."

"How is it important to you?" he couldn't help but choke out. "What could you possibly care?!"

"Because it means she will be happy. God knows nobody could be, stuck between one gender and the other. So if she won't go back to being a boy, then I'll help her transition. It's the least a mother can do." The woman stood up. "I've nothing more to say... and I trust you to help keep an eye on him. I'll take care of things on my end. Good day."

She was halfway to the door when Reggie repeated himself. "I said, 'no', and I meant it."

"Young man," she growled out nastily, as she turned halfway toward him, "this is not open for discussion."

"No, it sure as hell isn't!" That was all it had taken for him to rise to his feet. "You think we haven't already been down all the roads you're talking about? She... she was afraid to let me near her, because she didn't think I could handle it! But we got past it! And now, we... damn it, why am I defending myself, here? Fact is, we have a right to be together! This is America!"

"Oh, America!" she said with a laugh. "Yes, because America is free of those trappings of society like 'manly men' and 'lovely ladies', and everything's so progressive that way! Pah. What are you going to say when the school finds out she isn't a she at all?"

"I'll say, 'I'm with this guy!' Chew on that!"

"Reggie, how crass," his mother admonished.

"No, I'm serious!" Chest heaving for what felt like the hundredth time that week, he stepped forward. "This isn't a 'video game' or a prank, or anything! So maybe I have a terrible track record at being serious about anything, and I guess I've earned it. Self-centered, right?" His father frowned at him. "But this is not a 'sideshow', or a sport or a date, or anything like that! This is the real thing! As soon as she can legally change her status on her birth certificate and all that... I'm going to marry that girl!"

His father sighed. "Yes, son. I'm sure it seems like you will, things always feel that way when you're-"

"Didn't you marry Mom when you were nineteen?!" he countered. "And she was a year younger. So don't say those things never last, because apparently it's lasted about sixteen years or so! Midge is... she's all I could ever ask for, and more!"

"It's the 'and more' part I'm concerned about," his mom said quietly, an uncomfortable pinch in her usually-cheery features. "I mean... does she really... is there-"

"Yeah," he said gruffly. It was too awkward to spit a phrase like that right into his mother's face, so he refrained from being more specific. "And... I don't mind. To be honest, I thought I would care, I thought I'd high-tail it for the hills, but in the end... what's the big deal? As long as we can be together, I'll take her any way I can, because... because I have to. I need to."

A brief silence before Miss Little cleared her throat. "Well. Honorable as your intentions may or may not be, boy, I'm still not going to stand for it. The more of this tomfoolery you engage in, the more likely that the school will find out. And then what? She's been impersonating a full woman for years when she has no legal right to do so yet. Best case, she might have all her grades thrown out - have to start over from freshman year again. They could have her arrested, if they're of mind. And you will not be the thing that makes this happen."

"Moose never even found out, and he was dating her!" he blew up. "How do you think the other kids will find out? Because we're going to drop down and get busy in the middle of a crowded hallway? Come on!"

"Then why did Ethel call our house the other evening, asking if Midge needed to 'talk to someone'?" Reggie groaned as the woman nodded. "I think you can understand my concern."

"That's because some of our friends are... TOO friendly. I cried all over Betty today because she wouldn't leave it alone."

"Cried about what?" his father asked. "Just because she was pestering you?"

Now he leveled a face-melting gaze at their guest. "No. Because someone's talking about splitting us up with actual distance."

"Only if you don't back off," she told him, eyebrows raising extra high to illustrate how serious she was. "There's no need if you cool it. But if we can't reach such an agreement, then... we'll have to find somewhere else for her to finish out her high school career."

"Then how is she going to make enough money for surgery?!" he blustered. "If she keeps changing jobs, she'll never save so much as five bucks! And the way she puts it, you don't have the cash, either, and her stupid father couldn't give a rat's ass if this ever happens!"

"Please," she scoffed. "You just discontinue this-"

"NO!" he shouted, causing his parents to also stand. "I will not be dictated to like a toddler! Midge is all I've got - the first thing I've ever cared enough about in my pointless life that's worth going down fighting for! I'd do stupid things for her - like rat her out to my friends! She'd slug me good for it, sure, but I know my buds, and they would never let you take her away for something like this! When we've got a worthy enough cause, we band together mighty solid!"

A dangerous edge crept into the woman's voice as she turned to face him fully. "Is that a threat?"

"DAMN RIGHT IT IS!" A hand rested on his shoulder, and he dimly registered it was his father's. "So if you don't want a human chain of indignant teens barring your U-Haul from leaving the driveway, you better give up the whole idea right now, because when Reggie Mantle says what he means, he means what he says!"

"But you don't even know her," she countered nastily. "How can you be so sure of what you have with a girl you've scarcely-"

"I know she wears size eight shoes!" he blustered, voice still climbing in decibles. "Her favorite color is purple! I know that when she eats tacos she makes a huge mess all over herself, and she always reads the fortune cookies, even if she's too full to eat them! She's a lot better at skee-ball than at pinball - probably because of her killer pitching! She works at Burger World and hates it, but she keeps at it because she knows she'll need the money one day! And one of her grade school classmates dislocated her shoulder, and her dad thinks he got a replacement son free with purchase of new wife! She cares more about stupid little things that MIGHT get me in trouble than she cares about herself - she still worries about her EX-boyfriend! I know she digs Mazzy Star and Mandalay, and even though I totally don't share her tastes I love that she does! Because I love HER, you get me?! Do you hear THIS punchline?! I FREAKING LOVE HER!!!"

The room was now deadly silent as everyone stared openly at the boy who would not be cowed, breathing in ragged gasps as he strained against his father's grip on his shoulder. Though he could see his parents in his peripheral vision, his entire attention was focused on the would-be destroyer of his happiness whose jaw was hanging open. How could he blame them for being surprised... when he was utterly floored himself? No matter how close he and Midge had grown in the past week, being close and being in love were not the same. But once the word had slipped out, it rang true; he did love that girl. Was that enough for them? He'd purged it all, spilled the sacred contents of his soul on their wall-to-wall carpeting. Was this obstinate woman still going to be so stubborn, even in the face of his obvious sincerity?

His heart spasmed when he heard the front door slowly creak open. All eyes followed the sound of steady, cautious footsteps - two sets of them. When the sets rounded the corner, Reggie's head exploded.

________________________________To Be Continued...
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