Page 3 of Precise Justice

“Of course not,” Priscilla answered.

“Have you talked to her, too,” Robbie asked Priscilla referring to Nurse Griebler.

“Yes, and well, we’re all in agreement,” Priscilla replied.

“Robbie, we’ve talked about this and…”

“And I didn’t decide,” he quickly said. “I mean, well, I don’t know. Sure, I know, I have had some feelings, but I like girls, I’m attracted to girls.”

He turned from Dr. Brie to his mother and quickly said, “Shouldn’t I be? I mean, well, I know about, you know, sex and everything and I think about girls.”

Priscilla took Robbie’s right hand in both of hers while Dr. Brie said, “That’s perfectly natural. Normal even.”

“We want you to do something. Dr. Brie knows an expert in gender dysphoria,” Priscilla said.

“He’s a highly reputable psychiatrist at the University of Minnesota. A professor at the medical school. I have already spoken to him. He wants to meet you. He can see you tomorrow at ten o’clock in the morning,” Dr. Brie said.

“I’ll pick you up from school and go with you,” Priscilla said trying to sound reassuring.

There was a silence between the four of them while Robbie thought it over. It lasted for a long minute.

“Robbie, you need to do this. Go, see the man. What can it hurt?” Griebler quietly said.

“I guess, yeah, okay,” Robbie finally said.

“Robbie, I had your mother sign a consent form so I can send both my records and session notes and nurse Griebler’s to Professor Friedman,” Dr. Brie said.

“That’s the shrink at the U, this Friedman guy?” Robbie asked.

“Robbie! Do not call him that,” Priscilla admonished him.

“Okay, I won’t,” Robbie replied.

“Yes,” Dr. Brie answered him. “I understand he’s a brilliant man. Go see what he has to say.”

TWO

Priscilla parked on the third floor of the ramp on Delaware St. She checked the dashboard clock and saw they were thirty minutes early. They were on the East Bank campus of the University of Minnesota. Across the street were the medical school administration offices in the Mayo Building. Robbie had been sullen for the entire drive. But then, sulking was his natural condition.

“Are you sure about this, Mom?” Robbie asked.

Priscilla shut off the BMWs engine, unbuckled her shoulder harness and turned to her son. Never one to show much affection, with the back of her right hand she gently stroked Robbie’s cheek.

“To be honest, no, I’m not one hundred percent sure about this. That’s why we’re here. To get the opinion of one of the foremost experts in this field of medicine. It’s a very big deal and we’re going to be careful. How do you feel about it?”

“I don’t know. Nervous, anxious, scared,” Robbie answered.

“Of course you do,” Priscilla said. “That’s natural. We should go. We don’t want to keep the professor waiting.”

Their appointment was scheduled for 10:00A.M., which meant Priscilla picked Robbie up from school. The two of them entered the waiting room at 9:43.

Priscilla tossed the month old People magazine she was paging through without reading onto the small table. She looked at her watch for at last the tenth time, the last one being three minutes ago, 10:55 and still no sign of the great man.

“Can we go, Mom? I’m bored,” Robbie said.

“No!” Priscilla replied sharply. “We’ve come this far, we’re staying.”

At eleven o’clock an assistant, a pretty young woman, probably a student, came out and got them. She led them back to the conference room where Priscilla assumed they were in for another long wait. Instead, she was pleasantly surprised when she heard a soft knock less than a minute later.

---