Rest Stop

Extra scene from novella Down Pad.

Image design by Cedar Sanderson

Sergeant Midfeld pulled over to the rest stop along the highway so the Space Force enlistees could eat, and the other jeeps followed suit. It was a busy rest stop, since it was summer, with a lot of civilians, a lot of families. Doke, Wiltshire, Tanner and Blacksmith were sitting around a picnic table eating lunch.

As often happened when they stopped, some kids worked up the courage to approach them.

“You’re Space Force, aren’t you?” said a boy who looked elementary school age.

“Um-hm,” said Doke. “Wanna join?”

“You’re not an officer,” he said. “You don’t have any rank at all. Are you still in boot camp?”

“Smart kid,” said Wiltshire. “Not anymore, but we are all Spec1. You gotta start somewhere.”

“I’m smart,” the boy said. “I’m going to be a pilot, so I’d be an officer, if I went Space Force, not enlisted. You don’t have to start enlisted.”

“Oooo,” said Wiltshire. “Burn.”

Now another three kids about his age joined him. Three more boys. Jake just stayed in the background and pretended to read something on his Notepad.

“He’s right,” said Tanner. “But don’t forget. You got to keep your grades up so you can make it into a college or the Academy. It’s not enough just to be smart. Case in point. Me. Too much time on video games, so I’m just enlisted even though I’m much smarter than these clods.”

“I’m going to be a boy when I grow up and join the Space Force, too,” said one of the other boys.

Jake looked up from his Notepad. “You mean you’re going to be a man,” he corrected.

“He has to turn into a boy first,” said the first boy.

Jake moved to the other side of the picnic table, to sit in front of the kids.

“Assigned female at birth?” he asked. He knew this lingo backwards and forwards.

The girl nodded.

“And you feel like you’re a boy?” he continued.

“I am a boy,” she said. “See, I already started social transitioning. I cut my hair.”

“You cut your hair,” said Jake, shaking his head. “That doesn’t make you a boy. That makes you a girl with short hair. Girls can have short hair, too, you know. Even women. And you know, we do have women in the Space Force. Pilots, even.”

“Come on, Joe,” said the first boy to the girl. “He’s one of those right-wing nuts. Another reason not to go into the Space Force. He probably doesn’t even think my two moms should be married.”

“Actually,” said Tanner. “That would be me. Jake, here, doesn’t care about that at all.”

“But if I don’t cut my hair, everyone thinks I’m a girl,” she said.

“You are a girl,” said Jake.

“No, he isn’t,” said another boy.

“You assigned female at birth, too?” Jake asked.

“No!” the boy answered.

Jake smiled at the vehemence of the response.

“It hurts, doesn’t it?” Jake said. “When someone doesn’t recognize what you are.”

“Yes,” said the girl. “That’s why I cut my hair.”

“Do you like short hair?” asked Jake.

“Yes,” she answered. “I just said –.”

“No,” said Jake. “You just said you cut your hair so you’d look like a boy. If people still called you a boy even with longer hair, would you let it grow?”

“No,” said the girl. “I like my hair short.”

“But when you do that,” said Jake, “people think you’re a boy.”

“Yes,” said the girl.

“Then they’re wrong,” said Jake. “People think boys with long hair are girls, too. They’re still boys. With long hair.”

“But I don’t like dresses, either,” she said.

“Lots of girls don’t like dresses,” said Jake. “Lots of women, too. Some of them are in the Space Force.”

Pause.

“Joe,” said Jake. “If you cut your hair and don’t wear dresses, some people are going to call you ‘he.’ Most of them aren’t trying to be mean – they just can’t tell. So you just correct them. I have to do that, too. Even with my hair cut short. Because my voice never got real deep and I look a little girly. It’s okay. You’re still a girl, and I’m still a man.”

“My dad wants to call me Josie,” she said.

“Nice name,” said Jake. “But you can still be Joe. It’ll make it more likely people think you’re a boy, though.”

“I like Josie better anyway,” she said. “I picked Joe as my boy name.”

“Well, then,” said Jake, “since you’re not a boy and you like Josie better, there’s no reason to be Joe, is there?”

Josie looked at her feet.

“Sometimes,” said Jake, “people want us to be what we’re not. My stepmom wanted me to be a girl.”

Josie looked up at Jake. “Mom wishes I was a boy. We already have my sister.”

“That’s really tough,” said Jake. “Especially when you already like so many boy things. Seems like it would be easier just to be a boy. Make everyone happier.”

She nodded.

“You’re still a girl and you can still do whatever you want to do,” he said.

“No, she can’t,” said Tanner. “Not unless she works for it.”

“Yeah,” said Jake. “There’s that. You ready to work for it? To be a Space Force pilot? So you don’t end up like Tanner here?”

She nodded her head, and the children walked away, arguing.

---

They were finished with lunch when a man came over in the direction of their table.

“Where is he?” said the man. “The Space Force man who talked to my daughter?”

Sergeant Midfeld looked around. That didn’t sound good. One of the guys messing with a civilian’s daughter?

“All she remembered was ‘Tanner.’”

At that, Midfeld got up and went over to the man. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said. “Is there a problem?”

At the same time, Tanner stood up. “That’s me, sir,” he said.

“Sit down!” said Midfeld and Tanner sat. “Look, mister, I’m responsible for these guys. Why don’t you come over here and talk to me?” He waved to another picnic table a little way off from the main group.

The man didn’t move, though, and looked at Tanner.

“You don’t look girly,” said the man. Tanner frowned.

“Oh,” said Doke. “You want Ugly, here,” and he pointed to Jake.

“Specialist Doke…,” started Midfeld.

But the man looked at Jake and broke out in a grin. “Ugly? No wonder you didn’t give her your name.”

Jake looked at Midfeld with a questioning look. The man didn’t look angry. Midfeld nodded.

“Just a nickname, sir,” said Jake. “Name’s actually Blacksmith. Jacob Blacksmith.”

“Thank you, Mr. Blacksmith,” he said. “My wife and I have custody this week, and my daughter is letting us call her Josie again.” There were tears in his eyes.

“Don’t make her grow her hair, sir,” said Jake. “She likes the name, but not long hair. Or dresses. And she wants to drive rockets.”

The man nodded. “We know that. And we told her everything you did. But she doesn’t listen to us. Her mother and the teachers….”

“Don’t give up, sir,” said Jake. “My dad never gave up on me. Even when he lost visitation. No matter how far it goes, never give up. It matters.”