Febuary 25th
Still at the hospital
"dad can you find Lexie's laptop, it should be in Ryder's room" says Vanessa
"why on earth would it be in HIS room" asks Randal
"the week before you and David confronted him he took it away from her for being too girly, also by chance do you still have the camera bits and the card that you took from Lexie last year" says Vanessa
"I made a bad judgement grounding her for three weeks didn't I" asks Randal as he opens Ryder's old room
"get in line dad, we all made mistakes with her, I've probably made the most, do you have them" says Vanessa
"yes, the laptop doesn't look so good, the screen is destroyed but seems to be the only thing seriously damaged on it, I don't think it will work but the thing that things are stored on seems like it should be ok" says Randal
"why wouldn't it work, Robbie Shapiro should be able to fix just about anything" asks Vanessa
"not this, it looks like Ryder had attempted to take it apart but failed and started bending it in half, the keyboard had popped out, I'll hand it to him to fix but I don't know if he can fix it, he's living at David's now, his sister left her spot on the team when Hollywood arts burned down" says Randal
"I thought she dropped out" asks Vanessa
"she did, she's pulling herself into a box, Lexie is the only real friend she had and losing her as a local friend has been extremely difficult for her" says Randal
"does she like Lexie, Lexie's been talking about her a lot this morning and you and I both know she doesn't talk about people, she just does, which leads me to the camera thing" says Vanessa
"Maria won't say because she can't, she has an issue with words, it's a brain disorder, she was only on the cheerleader team because Lexie was the towel boy for the soccer team, the head cheerleader understood, now explain to me the camera thing" says Randal
"as Lexie calls him 'Evil brother' Ryder was angry that I'd refused to continue taking pictures or video of him raping me, as a result while she didn't fully realize the context she heard the words 'destroy the camera' and she went and took the card out of the camera to save the pictures before Ryder could destroy it, then when she saw the camera in the trash she took the camera out and got as much information as she could, she then started posting some of my best photos online though without my consent which to be honest was probably a good idea, her intention was to raise money to replace it and surprise me on my birthday this year, she could have created a fundraising campaign to raise money but she's not versed in the legal requirements of those, Cassandra's friend stumbled on the account and showed Cass, they were in awe, Cassandra says that I possess an amazing ability to work a camera, as her photographer girlfriend she can now finally go out on her own, I now have two cameras, very expensive, anyway that aside, Lexie tried to surprise me with a new camera, all on her own, aside from Cat and her mom, that's' more than ANYONE has ever done for me, I don't blame you for assuming she broke it because she can be clumsy, hell when I learned she'd created an account and was sharing my pictures I yelled at her, I was upset, but we all know what happens when somebody yells at her, she got so scared that I was angry about the account she completely deleted it from the internet with no way of getting it back, if the laptop can't be fixed please get her a new one, her birthday is coming up" says Vanessa
"did you ever see her as a boy because I didn't, neither did your mom, she was always into dolls and dresses, we're concerned as to the timing of her coming out, did Ryder hurt her like he did to you, legally I need to know, I hope you don't hate me but I did an interview with LA news with Sadie and I told your story, as a result the girls he raped came forward, he liked making them record it as it would seem, the evidence is massing very quickly against him, as a result the trial was moved forward drastically, not by some LA local court but by the SUPREME Court of California, they seem to have opted to oversee this trial personally, you will need somebody to represent your case here, they disallowed video conferences, instead either Ryder will be taken out of the court room when they're testifying or a heavy metal cage will be put around him, unless you can travel here you need someone to represent your experience for you, your hair looks beautiful" says Randal
"Cass and I can be there in two to three days, she and Lexie are being released today, she's on hormone replacement therapy, neither are supposed to be physically active for twenty-four hours" says Vanessa
"you didn't answer my question about what you thought about Lexie being a boy, or my question about representation" says Randal
"I assumed the court day was really soon as innthe next few days which is why I said Cass, Lexie and I could be there in two days, if Ryder is restrained or vacant I can do it in person, if not I will write it down and have Robbie read it, the information is probably going to be quite graphic, unless the judge prefers I water it down will be brutally honest, it's who I am" says Vanessa
"again with the diversion, you didn't answer the question about Lexie" says Randal
"dad, did David not tell you how I immediately accepted her after she came out, I shouldn't have to justify my view on her gender to anyone and neither should she, you don't know what it's like to have been the only girl in the family, you and mom trusted Ryder with our lives, I kept quiet because you'd have grounded me for 'lying' because my claims would have been outlandish from your point of view, Lexie didn't tell you guys for the same reason I kept the reality that Ryder was raping me, for one Ryder would have killed us if we told, for another you barely listened to a word we'd say, Ryder is more than just a serial rapist dad, he controlled every aspect of our lives when either you or mom weren't home, unless Lexie was doing a project with a classmate she was only allowed half an hour of tech a day, the moment I got home he'd take my phone camera and laptop, he made us fearful, there would be no point in us telling you the truth, he had copies of all Lexie and I's texts and calls, if I told anyone he was raping me he'd delete the text on my end or if Lexie texted anyone and mentioned him and I fought he'd also delete it, no he didn't rape Lexie but he would beat her or take her stuff if she did anything remotely girly, in his eyes having a little brother 'pretend' to be a girl offended his reputation" says Vanessa
"you realize he committed a crime of discrimination right, she might have to testify, the trial begins tomorrow morning, you were expected to open as the official first victim, I explained the issue and they said you either needed to have someone represent your case or they could rearrange the lineup to give you time to get back here, Jacob is already on his way to get Sadie and Trina, get Lexie and Cass in a wheelchair so you guys can be there when he does" says Randal
"they're not supposed to move for twenty-four hours dad, I can't in good faith take them on a flight till tomorrow, I made a promise to the doctor I'd follow the advice to the letter" says Vanessa
"Vanessa listen to me, there are eighty victims in this case and Ryder is hinting at the existence of five more, your testimony and Lexie's testimony of the emotional or physical abuse is critical, you must get on that plane, we will send you back once that part of the trial is over" says Randal
"Dad you're not listening, you taught me to look out for others before myself, that's why I let Ryder keep raping me, I was under the assumption that I was his only victim and by giving him what he wanted I'd have saved others, that's all because of how you raised me to care for others before myself, Cassandra and Lexie's health matters more than being on time to tell a jury about what Ryder did to me, if either of them got hurt on the way to or getting on that plane because I ignored the doctors advice I'd never forgive myself, so either you care about how you raised me or you don't care about their safety, which is it going to be father, are you going to teach Lexie that being selfish is more important than the safety of others or are you going to teach her that empathy matters" says Vanessa sternly
"fine but the prosecutor isn't going to be happy about the delay" says Randal
"it's not your job to appease a lawyer dad, it's your job to do what's right for everyone involved" says Vanessa as she hangs up
"did dad see my hair, I feel So pretty" asks Lexie playing with her wig
"no, Cassandra was changing, like I told dad you guys are being released from the hospital in ten minutes, are you ok testifying to the abuse Evil brother gave you" asks Vanessa
"nobody will believe me in LA sis, I'm not seen as a credible source of information for anything, it doesn't matter if I tried to grow my hair out, he'd always cut it back to what he saw as acceptable despite the fact that he lets his hair be long-ish, like I said nobody but Maria ever believed me, she does love me by the way, when I told her I was trans she came to within less than an inch of my lips and just stared into my soul, I could feel her breath quicken, one thing she's afraid of is Robbie telling her no, he's not mean but he's very protective of her because of her lack of word use, after five minutes of staring into my soul she kissed me, or maybe it was a make out, I can't tell, I've never kissed anyone before, not like that and never on the lips" says Lexie as Cat walks in
"Lexie did you know Maria, Robbie's little sister has feelings for you, Robbie said he just found out, he's been saving up money to get her a plane ticket because she's been missing you, I told him to just give her the money because you guys would be heading to LA soon for that trial so you'd pick her up" says Cat
"yes, as I just explained there was a whole incident, she stared into my soul when I came out as trans to her a few months back and either kissed or made out with me, I can't tell what happened for sure, I just know her lips were on mine, did Robbie really not know" says Lexie as she packs up her hormone meds
"I signed you guys out, get in your wheelchairs, walking is to be limited, your guys' muscles are going to be strained because of the meds you were on for pain, that and staying in bed for days straight, no Robbie didn't know she had feelings for you, why wouldn't she tell him, Robbie is very supportive of her, it seems irrational to keep such an important secret from him, even if her ability to speak is limited, her writing is impeccable" says Cat as they get in the wheelchairs and get wheeled down the hall
"Maria is different, she speaks with her eyes, she doesn't understand men or anyone of the gender, she seemed to understand I was different, she understands her brother cares but she'd heard rumors about what my evil brother was doing at Hollywood arts, given that Robbie went to the same school and the fact she doesn't understand males nor can she muster any feelings for them she fears that if she let him know she has feelings for me that he'd hurt her, she's severely autistic as she told me, though I don't know why she used the word severely, being partially verbal terrifies her, her main fear is that because her speech is limited that he will assume me a fully speech capable newly outed trans girl persuaded her into it and attack me, she told me she would kill herself if anything happened to me because of her, she is terrified Cat" says Lexie