It’s probably ridiculous to walk to work in my new motorcycle boots, only to change into my tennis shoes when I get there. But I love these damn boots. Maybe it’s because they make me an inch taller, maybe it’s because I look damn sexy in them—the world may never know. But here I am, minding my own business, getting changed in the locker room, when I hear a commotion out on the main floor. I put my boots away in the locker, grab my tennis shoes, and jog out in my socks.
What I see chills my blood. One of the really big guys, the ones that have more muscles than sense, is crowding a woman at the scaffold wall. I don’t really care about the circumstance at this point; the big guy has at least two hundred pounds of muscle on her, and—shit, he’s got her arm in a vice grip.
“This gym is only for people who’ve served. There’s no way you served a damn day in your life, you damn queer tranny faggot.”
The person, who I’m beginning to realize probablyistrans, goes absolutely scarlet and is trying their best to pull away from him.
“Let them go, now,” I say, trying to keep my tone even. I wedge myself between the two of them, and he releases their arm, which has an angry red stripe where his grip had been.Fucking douchebag motherfucker.
“Dude,” I say, holding my hands out. “Youcan’tput your hands on our clients, and youcan’tuse that language around here. Grab your gear and get the fuck out.”
The dude rounds up on me and bumps his chest against mine. “And who the fuck are you? I’ve been coming to this gym since it opened, and now all of a sudden we got new people here, and women, and fags, and I’m tired of it.”
I’ve watched this guy for a couple of weeks now, and he’s only using the gym for weight training and gains, no practical fitness whatsoever. His calves are too small, and his shoulders are too big. I could have his sorry ass on the floor in about three seconds. But I really, really like my job.
“My name is Elijah, and I work here. And this person right here, they’re a customer of ours. And they don’t deserve this bullshit attitude you’re giving them.”
“I’m really not trying to cause any trouble,” they say, their voice soft. “I was just trying to work on my pull-ups, I promise.” They are definitely femme-presenting, and there is a telltale scar right where an Adam’s apple would normally be, but I’m not adding to this person’s bad day with assumptions.
“It doesn’t matter. Nobody gets to treat any of our clients like that.”
The big guy opens his mouth again. “Oh, for the love of god. Use a goddamned pronoun. He’s one of those shemaletransitionalpeople. Which is exactly the kind of snowflake, made-up bullshit that is everything wrong in our country right now.”
“Oh!” I say, wrapping a protective arm around my new friend, stage-whispering into their ear. “He wants apronoun, because otherwise he’s lost at sea and can’t be counted on to act like a human being when his fucking pea brain is confused. Your femme game is strong today, but I don’t like to assume. Care to share your gender with the class so that he knows he’s being kicked out of here by a fag—that’s me—and a…”
She leans in and whispers in my ear.
“Oooooh,plot twist!” I say, stepping once again between the two of them. “You just got kicked out by a faganda lesbian.Burn.”
The guy’s face mottles into a disturbing shade of red. Seriously, I’m concerned for his cardiac health. “Who are you to kick me out? Stupid fucking punk—where’s Nick?”
And just like Superman, he shows up right on time, with an expression that would melt diamonds.
“I’m right here, Leon. And Elijah is correct—you’ve got about three seconds to getthe fuckout of my gym. You’re banned, asshole. Because that’s my sister, and nobody treats my sister like that if I have anything to say about it.”
Leon’s face bunches up in anger, and I’m massively impressed that he hasn’t actually stroked out yet. After looking between Nick and his sister, he decides to leave, his angry, stomping gait echoing through the nearly empty gym. Good choice. The door is violently opened, and a curse travels on the air as he thwarted from slamming it due to the hydraulic mechanism.Ha.
Nick turns to his sister, checking in with her and fussing over the bruise blooming on her arm. With gratitude in his eyes, he pulls me into a half hug, bro-style. I get the feeling I just got sorted into the friend box, and while that is awesome, it is rather less like the hand job I’d like to get from him.
“Thanks for standing up for my sister. That guy was an asshole.”
I shrug and turn to his sister, who is about my height and size. “Apologies for the kerfuffle. I’m Elijah, you must be Jules. Nick gave me a bunch of your old clothes the other day, so thank you.”
She smiles, reticent. “Yes, that’s me. I’m so glad they worked out for you.”
“Well, I’m sorry he decided to use his precious time on this planet to be a corn-infused taint rocket, but them’s the breaks sometimes. Are you going to be okay?”
She giggles at my description and grabs my arm. “I am, and thank you for coming to my rescue, Elijah. And thanks for saying that my femme game is on point. That’s always nice to hear.”
“Well, I started off in my head with female pronouns, for what it’s worth. Do you mind telling me… other than that Leon knucklehead, how are you feeling here, in the general workout space and in the locker room? Do you feel safe? Has anyone else tried to give you a hard time here, before today?”
Jules shakes her head. “No, everybody’s actually been really cool. It was just that one random douchebag.”
“Well, good. We have a strict no-harassment, no-bigotry policy, but sometimes people try to get away with it anyway.”
“Thanks for coming to my rescue, and for making me feel safe.” Turning to her brother, she asks, “So, Nick, is this the new employee you were talking about earlier?”
Nick is a little discomfited and shifts around on his feet before answering, “Yeah.”
