I was re-reading this story, when I started noticing how many characters I had introduced in it. To make things a little easier to keep track of everyone, I decided to create the list below. I know it's been a pretty long time since I originally posted this story, so there probably won't be a lotta folk using this list, but I do see a few hits on a pretty regular basis, so I decided to post the list anyway. If you have any questions, please feel free to comment below, or send me a private message. Thank you! :)
Copyright 2021 by Heather Rose Brown
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Brighton Family
Bobby (Robert) Brighton Jr - main character of Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure/ 10 years old (5th grader/started kindergarten at 5)/is very short for a boy his age/has hazel eyes & straight reddish brown hair
Irene Brighton - Bobby's mom / has hazel eyes & black hair in loose curls
Robert Brighton Sr - Bobby's father
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Moreno Family
Cori (Corina) Moreno - Bobby's neighbor / 10 years old (4th grader/started kindergarten at 6)/has blue eyes & wavy golden blonde hair
Terri (Theresa) Anne Moreno - Corina's sister / 14 years old (8th grader)/ has golden brown eyes
"Aunt" Joan Moreno -Corina's & Terri's mom
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Wilton Family
Cassie (Cassandra) Louise Wilton - Bobby's cousin
Marie Wilton - Bobby's aunt
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School Friends
Rhi (Rhianna) - had lunch with Bobby/9 years old (3rd grader)/has long waves of coppery-red hair and freckles
Tess - had lunch with Bobby/9 years old (3rd grader)/has short black hair and cinnamon-colored skin
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Others
Mae - intake nurse/heavy set woman/has dark brown skin and golden hair in a tight bun/used to carpool with Joan
Henry - Mae's supervisor/Joan's former supervisor
Lilian Chung - doctor who examined Bobby's sprained ankle/received help from Joan when she changed her name
Carrol - 7th floor nurse
Anna - someone Cori knows from GoodNites website
Officer Hernandez - police officer
Marcia - Terri's friend (girlfriend?)
Trying to find his new home in the pouring rain, Bobby winds up falling into a mud puddle and is soaked from head to toe. A neighbor girl offers to takes Bobby home, where his rainy day adventure begins.
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2005 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER I
As the school bus pulled away, I felt a moment of panic as I tried to remember where my new house was. I pulled the collar of my jean jacket up around my neck in a vain attempt to keep the pouring rain from soaking me to the skin.
"What's the matter, Bobby? You look kinda lost." I turned to the source of the vaguly familiar voice and saw a smiling, angular face surrounded by wavy, golden blonde hair peeking out from under a bright pink umbrella.
"Yeah," I said while trying to keep my teeth from chattering as the wind picked up. "I'm okay...Corina?"
"Wow! Got my name right on the first try." Corina stepped closer to me and held her umbrella out, protecting us both from the late afternoon shower. "But you're an awful liar. You better head home and change before you get sick."
Feeling a little uneasy being so close to a girl I'd only met yesterday, I took a couple of steps backwards. Unfortunately, there was a patch of slippery mud right behind me. The next thing I knew, I was flat on my back in a mud puddle with rain pouring down on my face. I laid there for a moment with my eyes closed, trying to catch my breath while waiting for Corina's laughter.
It never happened. Instead I felt the rain suddenly stop as a shadow fell across me. I opened my eyes to find Corina’s worried face inches from mine. "Gimme your hand," she said.
I felt a little embarrassed accepting help from a girl. And the fact that she was in fourth grade while I was in fifth didn't help much. Corina rolled her eyes as I hesitated, took my hand and helped me slowly get into a sitting position. Then she crouched down next to me. "You okay, Bobby?"
"Yeah, I think so." It wasn't exactly an honest answer, since I was seriously soaked now and shivering in the late afternoon breeze. Corina adjusted her umbrella and shuffled closer to me until the worst of the wind was blocked off. I managed to overcome my shyness enough to look up at her and smile my appreciation.
Corina's expression shifted from worry to relief. "You look like you'll be okay, although you're a bit of a mess. Let's get you home so you can get cleaned up and changed into something dry."
She then took both of my hands and helped me to stand up. Once I was on my feet, she led the way down one of the streets, grabbing my hand as if I were in kindergarten or something. But at least I was heading home and didn't have to wander around trying to remember where I lived. We finally wound up standing in front of a split level house with forest green aluminum siding. While most of the new houses in this neighborhood were very similar in design, I was sure mine had been a different color when I'd left it that morning.
"Could you hold this for me?" Corina asked as she handed me her umbrella. She smiled as I took the umbrella and held it over both of us. She then scooped a key from a pocket in her bright pink raincoat and fitted it into the lock on the front door.
"Wait a minute," I said. "What are we doing here? This ain't my house."
Something in Corina’s deep blue eyes laughed at me. But she only smiled when she said, "this is my house, not yours, silly." Before I could say anything, she opened the door, took my hand, pulled me into the house and shouted, "Mom! I'm home!"
"I'm upstairs in the kitchen, honey," a woman called. "And make sure you take off those muddy boots at the door before coming up here."
"Yeeeess Moommm," Corina said with a sigh as drew her foot back from the step she was about to climb. "Oh, I brought a friend home with me," she added as she struggled out of her boots.
"That's wonderful! What's her name?" The woman sounded like she was getting closer.
"Well, HIS name is Bobby. We met him and his mom at church yesterday."
Church....that's where I remembered the woman's voice from. It was the voice of 'Aunt Joan'. It had felt odd calling someone I just met my aunt. But she and my mom had been best friends when they were little, so it wasn't like she was a complete stranger, even though she was to me. Plus Aunt Joan had gone out of her way to make us feel welcome and introducing us to the rest of the congregation. As I was introduced to the other kids, I found most of them called her 'Aunt Joan' too, which made me feel a little less odd. Also, I really found it impossible to not like her. Calling her Aunt Joan seemed the least I could do.
Just then Aunt Joan appeared at the top of the steps. I'd remembered her being tall the first time I'd seen her. But standing at the top of the steps, she seemed like a giant. Actually, she looked a bit more like a lumberjack with green and black flannel shirt and sturdy jeans. "Oops! I'm sorry, Bobby. Welcome to our..." Her jaw dropped open. "Oh my god," she gasped as she came down the steps. "What in the world happened to you?"
Before I could answer, Corina jumped in. "He fell in that huge mud puddle where the bus drops us off."
"You poor thing. Did you get hurt when you fell?"
"Nah," I said, although I was feeling a bit scraped and bruised.
"Okay, Bobby. Does your mommy know you're here?" She asked as she brushed a loose strand of my muddy hair behind my ear.
I wondered how old she thought I was if she was asking about my 'mommy', but I decided to just answer the question rather than argue. "Actually, she don't," I said. "I really aughta get home before she starts worrying about me."
Aunt Joan nodded. "Wait right here while I get my keys and I'll drive you over," She began climbing the stairs. Just as she reached the top, a phone rang. Aunt Joan picked up a phone from an end table at the top of the steps. "Hello? Irene! I was just about to call you. Oh really? I'm so sorry to hear that. Yes, I know exactly what you're going through. No, you don't want to put him through any of that." She turned, took a few steps away, and lowered her voice, making it impossible to understand what she said.
Finally, she turned back. "Of course, I'd be happy to watch him. As a matter of fact, he just appeared on my doorstep a minute ago. Mmhmmm...oh sure." Aunt Joan turned to me and smiled, but there seemed to be a bit of sadness in her eyes. As she slowly walked down the steps with the phone to her ear, she said, "Sure. Not a problem at all. I have him right here." Handing the phone to me she said, "here you go, sweetie. Your mommy wants to ask you something."
I held the phone to my ear, pulling my muddy shoulder-length hair out of the way with my free hand in an attempt to avoid getting the phone dirty. "Hello?"
"Pumpkin, I need you to do something for me," she said, sounding rushed and upset. The old nickname barely registered when I heard the pain in her voice.
"Whatcha need?" I asked, doing my best to get the words past the lump in my throat.
"Would you mind staying with Joan for a while? I need to meet up with your father to work out something with the settlement. I may not be back home until late, and I'd rather not leave you all alone tonight."
"Sure Mom." Even though I felt old enough to be alone, I knew she would be worrying about me, and I didn't want her getting any more stressed out. "Something came up again with the divorce?"
"Yes, but nothing for you to worry about," she answered, the cheerfulness in her voice sounding forced. "Now I want you to promise me you'll behave and do as you're told while you're a guest there."
"I will, Mom." I stood there for a moment, wondering for the hundredth time if things would have been any better if my parents hadn't gotten married when my mom found out she was pregnant with me. I bit my lower lip and closed my eyes, trying to get my emotions back under control. Finally, I managed to whisper, "I love you, Mom."
"I love you too, pumpkin," she said softly. "I really have to run now. I'll pick you up tonight when I get back."
After saying goodbye, I handed the phone back to Aunt Joan. She put an arm around my muddy shoulder. "Is everything all right?"
It took me a few seconds to shake the numbness enough to answer. "I think so," I said. "At least I hope so."
Aunt Joan smiled down at me, giving my shoulders a squeeze. "I'm sure they will be. In the mean time, we're going to need to get you cleaned up and out of these wet clothes before you catch a cold." She turned to Corina, handing the phone to her. "Would you put this away for me and get a bath started for Bobby?"
"Sure thing," Corina answered, taking the phone and then giggling as she bunny-hopped up the steps.
Aunt Joan then put her hands on my shoulders and steered me towards the steps leading downstairs. "We'll have to use the sink in the laundry room. I can't have you tracking mud across the carpets to get to the upstairs bathroom."
"You've got a sink in your laundry room?" I asked.
"It's really a bathroom," Corina shouted from the top of the steps, "but we've got the washer and dryer in there, so we call it the laundry room."
Whether it was a bath or launder room suddenly became much less important as Aunt Joan started to peel my jean jacket from my body. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"Just getting you out of this muddy jacket, sweetie," she answered as she tossed it into the washing machine. "Looks like your top is soaked too. Okay now, arms up." Before I could figure out what she meant by my top, Aunt Joan had pulled my t-shirt up and over my head and tossed it into the washer as well. "My, you're looking halfway clean already! Let's take care of your hair next,"
She draped a fluffy peach-colored towel across my shoulders that almost went down to my knees. She then rolled up her long flannel sleeves, walked over to the sink and began running water in it while holding her fingers under the tap. "Come on over here sweetie and lean over the sink so I can get the mud out of your hair."
I just stood there, wondering how to explain that I knew how to wash my own hair.
When she saw me holding back, she smiled. "Don't worry sweetheart. I promise to be careful. But you're going to need to get that mud out before it dries and gets caked in there. It will be much harder getting it out then."
Seeing her standing there waiting, I found it hard to tell her what I was thinking. So I just smiled, walked over to where she was standing, and bent over the sink. Aunt Joan put one hand across my shoulders, the other on my forehead, then carefully moved my head under the tap.
As the warm water flowed over my head, I noticed something dark and brownish draining into the sink. "Blood?" I asked, wondering if I'd hit my head when I fell and just not felt it yet.
Aunt Joan's hand suddenly went from my shoulder to the back of my head, preventing me from drawing away from the sight. "Hold still, sweetie," she said as she slowly moved my head out from under the tap. "That's just mud you're seeing. Now I'm going to need you to keep your eyes closed so you don't get any soap in them."
Just as I closed my eyes, I felt something thick being poured on top of my head and caught a whiff of strawberries. Some of the tension I'd been feeling after talking to my mom began leaking away as she began lathering up my hair. Too soon, Aunt Joan lowered my head under the tap again, my hair was rinsed out, and something soft and fluffy was wrapped around my head.
"What's this for?" I asked, reaching up and finding what felt like a towel on my head.
"That's so your hair won't be dripping all over the place when you go upstairs to take the bath Corina started for you. Now I'm going to step outside so you can get the rest of your muddy clothes off. Just toss everything into the washer, including your sneakers. Then wrap a towel around yourself and I'll show you where the bathroom is." She walked out, closing the door behind her.
I felt a little nervous about taking all my clothes off in a stranger’s home, but the mud that had soaked into my pants was starting to feel itchy. I shivered as I stripped off the rest of my damp clothes and threw them into the washer. Then I took the towel that had been draped over my shoulders and wrapped it around my waist. But it was a bit too big and wound up dragging on the ground. As I stepped out the laundry room, I tripped on the towel and barely caught it before it slipped off my hips. Fortunately, Aunt Joan was there to catch me as I started to fall.
"Hold on," she said as she put me back on my feet. "You're not going to get very far dragging that towel around like that. Let me see if I can help." She pulled the towel around my waist up to chest level. Although the towel did feel odd in its new position, at least it wasn't dragging on the ground any more. "That should work much better," she said, smiling as she took my hand and lead me upstairs. I could see where Corina got that hand-holding thing.
When we reached the upstairs bathroom door, Aunt Joan said, "Go ahead and get washed up. I'm going to see about getting you clean clothes and then getting dinner started."
The first thing I noticed when I entered the bathroom was the smell of minty bubblegum. "Is that kiddie bubble bath?"
Corina’s face turned red. "Ahhh..." She looked to her mother.
"We don’t have any boys in our house, sweetie," Aunt Joan said. "I’m afraid the only other bubble bath we have is lavender scented. Would you have preferred that instead?"
It didn't take long to choose between smelling like bubble gum and flowers. "Oh no, the bubble gum is great. Thank you Aunt Joan and Corina."
I sighed with relief once Aunt Joan had finally lead Corina out of the bathroom. I had been starting to wonder if they were ever going to leave so I could take my bath. As I climbed into the tub I noticed something bobbing around in the thick bubbles and grinned when I realized it was a little yellow rubber duck. As silly as the idea felt, I was half tempted to play with it. But I was really tired from the move and unpacking over the weekend, not to mention surviving my first day at a new school.
Instead I slipped into the bath until the foam was up to my chin. The warmth from the water felt wonderful against my chilled skin. I closed my eyes, dreading the idea of leaving such a comfortable tub. As I began to doze off, I idly wondered what Aunt Joan had meant by getting me clean clothes.
Trying to find his new home in the pouring rain, Bobby winds up falling into a mud puddle and is soaked from head to toe. A neighbor girl offers to takes Bobby home, where his rainy day adventure begins.
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2005 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER II
Startled awake by someone rapping on the bathroom door, bubbles went flying everywhere as I flailed around in the warm bath water.
"Bobby, you okay in there?" It took a minute for my sleepy brain to recognize who was asking, and another to remember what I was doing in the bathtub of an unfamiliar house. Before I could answer, the bathroom door opened and a face that matched the voice peeked in.
"Aunt Joooan!" I squealed. I felt my cheeks burning with embarrassment, probably as much from being seen in the tub as from hearing my voice squeak.
Aunt Joan quickly pulled her head back and closed the door. "I'm so sorry, sweetie. You'd been quiet in there for so long, I was starting to worry. Cori is usually a lot more noisy."
I thought about asking my new aunt why she expected me to be like her daughter, but then decided I might not like the answer. "I'm okay, Aunt Joan. I just kinda dozed off in the tub."
"So long as you're okay. Well, I have some towels and clean clothes for you to change into once your done with your bath. Do you mind if I bring them in? I promise I won't look, and you can pull the shower curtain closed if you like."
While I was looking forward to having my clothes back, I was also determined not to be embarrassed again. So I pulled the curtain closed before telling her it was okay to come in.
I heard the door swing open and saw Aunt Joan's tall shadow move across the shower curtain. "I put everything on the toilet seat. I've got to go back to check on dinner. When you finish your bath and get dressed, just head left when you come out of the bathroom and follow your nose to the kitchen. If you get lost or if anything doesn't fit, just holler."
The scent of bubblegum filled the air as I quickly scrubbed at what mud hadn't already soaked off. The towel Aunt Joan had wrapped around my head after she had washed my hair felt a little funny, but not in a bad way. As I dried off with the warm, fluffy white towel left on top of the pile of clothes, I was surprised how soft and silky my skin felt and wondered what else had been added to the water besides bubblebath.
Once I was dry, I tried wrapping the towel around my waist. It was as big as the towel I had worn earlier and wound up dragging on the floor. I sighed, wondering when I'd get that growth spurt every one said would eventually hit me.
Of course, I knew feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to make anything better. What I needed was a practical solution, not some miracle that would suddenly make me as tall as the other boys. I tried moving the towel up under my arms like Aunt Joan had shown me. The new position felt odd, but at least the towel wasn't dragging any more.
I stood on tiptoe for a moment to reach the mirror over the bathroom sink so I could wipe off the foggy glass. I did a double take when I saw my reflection. For a second, I thought I had seen my mom! I had the same hazel eyes, the same pug nose (though mine was sprinkled with way too many freckles), the same thin lips. Although my face was roundish like hers, mine looked a little like an apple because of my pointy chin.
When I pulled the towel off my head, the spell broke. Mom had short black hair in loose curls and mine was shaggy, straight and reddish-brown. My hair had gotten long over the summer. It was mostly grown out to spite my father, who had always insisted I get a buzz-cut every year for as long as I could remember. But this summer he had left, and skipping the annual ritual was my way of defying him.
He never explained why he left. I'd been sent to bed that last night. My parents had argued until early in the morning. I remember hearing the door slam and Dad's truck starting. The last I saw was just a glimpse of him through my bedroom window as he drove down the twilit road.
The memory seemed to open up something inside. The aching and pain I'd been trying to keep under control over the summer started to boil over. Just as I was getting good and angry, squeezing my eyes against the tears, the bathroom door swung open.
"ACK!" I screeched, grabbing the towel I'd wrapped around myself to make sure it was closed.
"Woops," said the invader, looking just as surprised as I felt. She seemed to recover quickly, a playful smile curling on her face as she folded her arms across her chest and casually leaned on the doorframe. "Hey Cori," she shouted over her shoulder, "do you know anything about someone sneaking into our bathroom and stealing our towels?"
"Oh, Terri!" Corina shouted from a distance. "I didn't even hear you come in. That's my friend, Bobby."
"Hello, Bobby." Terri pulled away from the doorframe and walked into the bathroom. "I thought I recognized you from somewhere. So you having a sleep-over with my sister?"
"Ummm...I dunno if I'll be sleeping over. My mom had to take care of something and asked Aunt Joan if I could stay here while she's gone. So I guess I'm kinda here 'til then."
Terri stood there for a few seconds. Her smile faded as she looked at me with an unreadable expression. Then she closed the bathroom door behind her back, walked over to me and bent over until we were eye to eye. Very softly, in almost a whisper, she asked, "Are you doing okay, Bobby?"
"Uh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Well, I couldn't help noticing you looked like you'd been crying. I realize you don't really know me, but if ever need friend or a big sister to talk to, feel free to ask."
I'm not sure how long I looked into her golden-brown eyes, but I knew I could tell her anything, and almost did. "Thank you, but..."
"But not right now?"
I stared down at my bare toes, wriggling them in the thick pile of the pale-violet bathroom rug. Hearing Terri finish my thoughts was a little scary. The only other person who'd known me well enough to do that was my mom.
Terri lifted my chin until we were eye to eye again. "Don't worry, Bobby." Her warm smile made me feel silly for feeling scared. "Whatever is going on, I'm sure it'll work out somehow. In the meantime, you better hurry up getting ready or you'll miss dinner. I'll give you hand brushing out your hair."
Before I could even decide whether I wanted someone I barely just met to touch my hair, let alone brush it, I found myself facing the bathroom mirror again, but this time with Terri standing behind me.
"Ouch," I yelped as my head was yanked back when the brush snagged on something.
"I'm so sorry, Bobby. I didn't see that knot there. Your hair is pretty tangled. Did you use any conditioner?"
"Ermmm...no." I wasn't actually sure, since Aunt Joan had asked me to close my eyes when she had washed my hair.
"Ahhh." Terri nodding knowingly to me in the mirror. "No wonder it's so tangled. Let me see if I can do something about that." She reached over my shoulder, opened the mirrored door to the medicine cabinet, pulled out a tall black bottle and began spritzing something onto my hair.
I was surprised when the brush easily glided through my hair. It was quite a change from the struggles I was used to. "What is that stuff?"
"Just some leave-in conditioner. By the way I love the highlights in your hair."
"Thanks, I think."
Terri grinned at me in the mirror. "Your welcome. Okay, looks like we've got all the tangles out of the back and sides, so let's take care of the top."
I almost protested when she parted my hair down the middle, but it really felt nice having someone brushing my hair, so I decided not to make a fuss. Once she was done with the top, Terri gently turned me around until I was facing her and began blowing warm air through my hair with a blowdryer. When she was done, she turned me back to the mirror. "How's that?"
I stared at my hair in the mirror as tried to think of a reply. It wasn't that it looked bad. It actually looked very nice. But it also looked like, well...a girl's hair-style.
Terri giggled. "Don't look so shocked, Bobby. You'd think I did a complete makeover or something. All I did was fluff out your hair a bit and give it a little style. Now hurry up and finish getting dressed before Cori eats both her dinner and yours." Terri winked at me, and then left, closing the door behind her.
I looked in the mirror again and smiled. Someone who looked kind of like me, but also kind of like a girl, smiled back. I couldn't decide whether I liked that or not. I almost decided to comb my hair out until it looked normal again, but I also worried I might hurt Terri's feelings. So instead I turned to my clothes to get dressed.
Only they weren't my clothes. At least, the underpants on top of the clothes pile definitely weren't mine. They were white and cotton like mine. But these were missing the fly opening, and had tiny pink hearts and smiling yellow stars on the waistband.
"Hurry up Bobby." Aunt Joan sounded like she was yelling from the other end of the house. "I'll be putting dinner on the table in a few minutes."
"Okay," I thought to myself, "so they weren't able to wash my clothes and dry them in time for dinner. This is only temporary, and I should be grateful they gave me something to borrow. So lets get dressed and get some dinner." My stomach gurgled in agreement.
When I first tried on the underpants, they felt odd. It took me a moment to realize I had them on backwards. I found myself wondering how girls knew which end was which without a fly opening. When I tried them on again the other way around, they felt better. They felt a little tight, but weren't really uncomfortable. They just seemed to fit me differently than my boy underpants.
Next on the pile of clothes was a tank-top style undershirt and a pair of plain white tube socks. The undershirt was made of thin white cotton like the underpants. There was a bit of lacy trim around the neck and armholes, making it impossible to mistake it for a boy's undershirt. It seemed a little silly to balk at the lace when I was already wearing girls underpants, so I pulled the undershirt over my head. The socks didn't really look like there were especially for a girl or a boy, but they were a couple of sizes too big for me and went up to my knees. Still, they were keeping my feet warm, which was the important part.
I smiled with relief when I saw the pale-yellow t-shirt on top of the pile didn't have any lace or frills. The relief faded when I unfolded it and found a fuzzy pink teddybear on the front. Its fur was very soft, reminding me a bit of a kitten. A little white satin bow was attached in a way that made it look like it was tied around the bear's neck. I sighed and put on the t-shirt. Next came a fairly unisex pair of blue jeans. They seemed to fit a bit different and were made of a thinner material than I was used to. I had to roll up the cuffs, but besides that they were a pretty good fit.
Then came the sneakers. But not any old grungy greyish-something-color-because-they-were-run-through-the-mud-and-god-knows-what-else, as my mom would usually say. No, these were pink...bright pink. Not exactly neon, but more the brightness of something that had never been worn before. The laces were white with tiny yellow smiley faces. On the sides of the sneakers was a little white kitten in a short yellow dress with a big yellow bow over one ear.
"Bobby," Corina called through the bathroom door, "Mom asked me to tell you your dinners gonna get cold and asked me to give you a hand if you need any help. Are you decent?"
"Ummm, I guess so," I answered.
The door swung open and Corina stepped in. "You ain't got your shoes on yet? Okay, go ahead and sit on the toilet seat and I'll help lace you up," She took the shoes from me and then stood there, smiling and waiting. I planned to argue with her that I knew how to do my own shoes when the smell of lasagna attacked my gurgling stomach made a strong argument against any type of delay.
I sat down on the fuzzy lavender seat cover; Corina crouched down in front of me and wriggled my feet into the sneakers. Then she pulled the laces tight and tied them into what looked like a double bow.
"What kinda bow is that?" I asked.
Corina looked up and grinned. "It's a butterfly bow. See how the loops look like wings, and the ends of the laces look like antennae? My dad used to tie my laces for me like that when I was little." She fussed with the bows for a moment, and looked up with a distant wistfulness.
"Why'd he stop?"
Corina blinked her eyes as if she were waking from a daydream. "Well, after my parents broke up, I didn't see him for a long while. It's hard tying bows from another state."
"Do you miss him?" I was a little surprised hearing such a personal question coming out of my own mouth.
But instead of getting angry at my prying, she just smiled. "Yeah, I do. But I get to visit him sometimes now and I talk to him on the phone. It ain't perfect, but it helps." Corina gave the bows a final tug. "Okay Bobby, let's go eat!"
Bobby struggles with his feelings about wearing borrowed girls clothes and a dinner conversation turns into an asparagus eating contest between him and Cori. What does Bobby have to gain (or lose) to such a contest, and why is Cori grinning like that?
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2005 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER III
As we entered the small, brightly lit kitchen, Corina announced, "After a daring rescue from the bathroom and a dangerous journey through the wilds of the hallway and living room, may I present to you our special dinner guest, Bobby!" Corina's mom, Aunt Joan, and her sister, Terri, clapped and cheered as Corina led me to the table and pulled out my chair.
Until that moment, I had thought I could handle being seen in girl clothes. Now all I wanted to do was melt into the floor.
"Go ahead and sit down, sweetie." Aunt Joan titlted her head toward the chair. "Lasagna tastes as good cold as it does hot, but the asparagus won't." To my relief, the applause died when I sat down and Corina slid my chair in for me.
Terri reached across the table, picked the paper napkin up from beside my plate, and dropped it in my lap. "You look so cute in Cori's teddy bear top, Bobby. It's a shame Mom couldn't find the matching skirt."
"Theresa Anne Moreno." Aunt Joan's glare could have melted steel. "You're fourteen years old. You should know better than to tease someone like that."
Terri stared at her mother, her mouth hanging open. Aunt Joan silently stared back. Eventually, Terri closed her mouth and turned to me. "I'm sorry, Bobby. I'd meant to compliment you, but I guess it came out wrong."
Terri hadn't sounded like she had been teasing, which just made it more confusing when she'd said I looked cute wearing girl clothes. But the compliment had felt nice, and I couldn't think of a reason to be mad at her.
I looked down at the teddy bear on the front of my t-shirt and touched its fluffy fur. "To be honest, I don't think I'd be able to think of anything else to call this besides cute."
Aunt Joan sighed. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to find anything else for you, Bobby. None of Terri's clothes would have fit you, and most of what Cori has is a lot frillier than what your wearing."
"It's okay, Aunt Joan. It ain't like I'm wearing a dress or something."
Terri patted my shoulder. "You sound just like me, Bobby. I was a serious tomboy when I was your age. That's probably why Mom's had Cori in nothing but dresses."
"I do NOT wear nothing but dresses." Corina shoved her seat back as she stood up and threw her napkin on the table. "In fact, I'm wearing jeans right now. I can be as much a tomboy as you ever were."
Terri leaned back in her chair and smirked at her sister. "Really? While wearing that lacy pink blouse?"
"Being a tomboy ain't just about clothes. And for your information, this ain't pink; it's strawberry sorbet."
"Hah! That shows how much you know about being a tomboy."
"That's enough, girls. Corina, sit back down. " Aunt Joans firm tone wasn't especially loud, but it was enough to put a quick end to the argument. "This is no way to behave, especially in front of a guest. I think you both owe Bobby an apology."
After both girls apologized, Aunt Joan said grace. Soon the table was filled with the clink and clatter of a family enjoying dinner. As I took my first bite of the rich, gooey lasagna, Corina asked, "So how ya liking third grade?"
Aunt Joan and Terri jumped up as I started gagging, but Terri got to me first. It took a couple of sharp smacks between my shoulder blades before a piece of food shot from my mouth and landed with a soft plop on the table. "Sorry about that," I managed to croak.
Aunt Joan took the napkin from my lap, wiped my mouth, and then cleaned up the mess on the table. "No need to apologize, Bobby. Accidents happen. How do you feel?"
"My throat's a little sore, but besides that, I'm okay."
"That's good. Okay, take a sip of your iced tea." Aunt Joan already had the glass in her hand and was holding it to my lips before I could reach it. As I drank, the cool, sweet tea soothed the rawness at the back of my throat. Aunt Joan seemed satisfied after I swallowed a few mouthfuls, put my glass down next to my plate and carried the used napkin over to the trash. Terri, who had been rubbing the spot on my back where she'd just whacked me, brushed a few hairs from my face before strolling back to her seat.
"What happened, Bobby?" Corina looked confused and worried.
I remembered what had made me choke and frowned. "Third grade? What makes you think I'm in third grade?"
Corina frowned back. "Well, you seem a little too old for second grade."
Fortunately, I hadn't tried to take another bite, or I would have been choking again. "Second grade? You're waaaay off. I'm in FIFTH grade."
"Really? Then why did I see you sitting with the third graders at lunch?"
"I...I didn't know they were third graders."
Corina's frown turned into a knowing grin. "Not at all?"
"No...at least, not at first. I'd just sat down at the first table I saw with an empty space. Rhianna and Tess were really nice to me and introduced me to the other girls sitting at that end of the table. It was a nice change from lunch at my old school. On a good day there the other kids ignored me, but I had some pretty bad days too."
"That's awful." Terri stabbed at her lasagna. " You're such a sweet kid and deserve better. I'm glad you were able to make some friends at your new school."
The smile on my face went all the way down to my toes. "So am I. It almost made it worth going to school today."
"You had problems at school?" Aunt Joan asked as she returned to the table.
I tried to think of anything I hadn't had problems with. "I really wasn't expecting to be taking all those tests on my first day here. Except for lunch and recess, that's pretty much all I did today. The reading tests weren't so bad, but I think I flunked most of the others."
"Don't worry about those tests, sweetheart. There are no passing or failing grades. They give them to all the new students to get a better idea of what you learned at your old school so they can find the best place to put you in your new school."
"That's a relief. I wasn't looking forward to explaining to my mom why I'd washed out on my first day at school." As Corina and Terri began telling Aunt Joan about their day, I started wondering what was making things different for me at my new school and lost track of the conversation for a while.
I was rolling a spear of asparagus across my plate, trying to get up the nerve to take a bite, when Corina poked me in the arm with the handle of her fork. "Hey Bobby, did you hear me?"
"Sorry, I missed it. What'd you say?"
"I said I bet I could eat twice as much asparagus as you."
Aunt Joan chuckled. "I thought you just said you didn't want to eat it."
Corina smiled at her mother. "Uh huh. And you said I should find a way of making it fun. What's more fun than a contest?"
"I'm not too sure about that. But if it'll get you to eat your vegetables, I guess we can give it a try."
Terri leaned across the table and patted Corina on the head. "That's my li'l sister, always coming up with zany ideas. So what are you putting up for the bet?"
Corina ignored Terri's love pats and tapped the edge of her plate with her fork as she concentrated on an answer. "It's gotta be something good to make it a real contest. How about a week's allowance?"
Aunt Joan's eyebrows popped up in surprise. "Are you sure you want to do that, honey? Once you agree, you can't take it back."
I could hardly believe it when Corina nodded. Money had always been tight at home and my parents were never able to afford to give me an allowance. "That sounds tempting, but I don't have anything to match something like that."
Corina grinned slyly. "How about I get to pick what we play after we're done eating?"
That grin made me nervous. But I'd seen the PlayStation when Corina had led me through the living room and figured I'd be able to handle whatever game she picked. I grinned back when I realized it was pretty much a win/win situation for me. "Okay, you're on."
I picked up a spear of asparagus and was surprised it felt firm and tender instead of limp and slimy. As I bit it in half, Corina shoved a whole spear into her mouth. The asparagus was buttery with a bit of lemon and something spicy, but when I began to chew...well, it was still the worst vegetable in the world. Corina began chewing too, barely making a face.
By the time I'd swallowed my fifth spear, I knew I couldn't handle another. How Corina had managed nine was beyond me. Terri began cheering her sister on. "You're almost there, sis. Your tongue must be numb by now, so ingnore the taste. Bobby's already stopped. Just eat one more and you'll win!"
Corina gritted her teeth and stared at the green death in her hand for a few seconds before she closed her eyes, popped it into her mouth and began chewing. I couldn't help admiring her determination and began cheering as she swallowed. "Wahoo! That's totally amazing. I really can't eat any more, so I guess that makes you the winner."
Aunt Joan began laughing and clapping. "Congratulations, baby. Looks like we have a new champion asparagus-eater in the house."
Getting into the spirit of the moment, Corina climbed out of her chair and did a victory lap around the table, waving her arms and smiling ear to ear. Aunt Joan grabbed Corina by the arm as she started going for a second lap. "Once is more than enough, young lady. Now take a seat or you'll miss out on the peach cobbler."
While Aunt Joan was pulling something sweet and spicy from the oven and Terri was carrying the dinner plates to the sink, Corina flopped down in her chair and looked at me with the same sly grin she had before the contest. "So, you still gonna let me pick what we play?"
"Of course, Corina." I couldn't imagine what kind of video game would make anyone grin like that, but I was pretty certain I could handle whatever she had chosen. "I would've expected you to do the same if I won."
"I'm glad. But please call me Cori. The only person who calls me Corina is Mom, and that's only when she's either mad at me or doing her formal introductions." When I nodded, Corina's...no...Cori's grin softened into a thoughtful smile, and I thought nothing more about the game when Aunt Joan and Terri brought plates of steaming dessert to the table. As the conversation picked up again, I began feeling more like I was having dinner with family rather than people I'd just met.
While Terri, Cori and I did just about everything but lick our plates, Aunt Joan was barely nibbling at her dessert. Terri gently touched her mother's elbow. "Something wrong with your cobbler, Mom?"
Aunt Joan looked up from her plate, "It's fine, honey. I'm just worried about Bobby's mommy. I'd asked her to call as soon as she reached her lawyer's office, but I haven't heard from her yet."
I glanced out the kitchen window and saw the storm was still in full swing. My blood turned to ice as I started imagining all the awful things that could happen on a rainy night like tonight. "Do you think she's okay?"
"I'm sure she's fine, Bobby. She must have had a lot on her mind when your daddy asked to see her about the divorce settlement. It's quite understandable that she forgot to call."
Aunt Joan's smile looked brittle and her voice seemed strained as she changed subjects. "Now Cori, since you set up the table, you can go play with Bobby; Terri will help me finish cleaning up."
I barely had a chance to finish eating before Cori was pulling at my arm. I dug my heels in when Cori led me through the living room and we started walking past the PlayStation. "Wait a minute, where are we going?"
Cori dropped my hand and turned around. "To my room to play."
"You've got video games in your room?"
Cori giggled. "I'd probably never come out if I did. All we have is here in the living room, but Mom won't let us play on school nights." Cori took my hand again and lead me out of the living room. "Let's go before she realizes she didn't ask us if we had homework."
"So, what did you want to play, then?"
Cori looked over her shoulder and smirked as she opened her bedroom door. "Mommy and Baby."
I was barely able to absorb more than a general sense of frilliness as we entered her room, since I was pretty busy trying to wrap my brain around her answer. "'Mommy and Baby'? What kinda game is that?"
Cori closed the door and led me over to a narrow bed with a lacy pink and white canopy. The box springs squeaked a little as she flopped down on the bed and giggled. When she managed to pull herself together enough to sit up, I realized the comforter spread across the bed had the same kitten I'd noticed earlier on the sneakers I had borrowed.
"You like Hello Kitty too, Bobby?"
"Hello who?" I was beginning to think that confusion was a way of life in their house.
"C'mon. Stop pretending you never saw her before and answer the question."
"What about my question?"
"Okay, I'll answer your question. But since you're a guest here, you've gotta answer mine first."
I really wanted to argue over such a dumb rule, but Mom had asked me to behave, so decided to play along. "I dunno. I guess so."
"That doesn't sound like a real answer."
"First off, just because I've seen her before doesn't mean I'd know her name. Second, you only see her on girl stuff. What kinda answer do you expect from a boy?"
Cori patted the space next to her and waited for me to sink into the soft, fluffy comforter. "I expect an honest one, Bobby." Her serious tone took me by surprise. I looked down at the pink shag carpet and tried to think of a decent answer. Cori gently rested a hand on my shoulder. "Is that why you had the necklace?"
Cold fear dropped into my stomach. "What necklace?"
Cori reached towards a fancy white nitestand, opened the drawer, and pulled out a thin gold necklace with a tiny Hello Kitty charm. "This one. Mom asked me to check through the pockets of your clothes before I started up the washer. I found the necklace in your jacket. Where'd you get it?"
"It was a prize."
"Really? How'd you win it?"
"You're probably gonna laugh when I tell you this." I quickly regretted what I'd said when I saw Cori's hurt expression. "Okay, maybe you won't. You see, I wound up going to recess with the girls I'd had lunch with and was playing against Tess in some jumping game. I forget what they called it, but there were a couple of girls with the rope stretched between their ankles and me and Tess had to jump in and out and stuff."
"You beat Tess at chinese jumprope?"
"Oh no. I was barely able to keep up with her, and I'm pretty sure she'd been going easy on me. I can't tell you how many times I got tangled in the ropes. But Rhianna had said I deserved an award for lasting longer against Tess than anyone else."
"I've never heard Rhi say something she didn't mean. If she told you that, then you must have been pretty impressive. So what happened next?"
"Well there was an award ceremony, which was a little embarrassing. I was totally shocked when Rhianna took off her necklace and put it around my neck. But then we started playing again and I forgot I was wearing it. When I got back from recess I nearly walked into class with it still around my neck. I'll hafta look for Rhianna tomorrow so I give it back to her."
"You might have been able to give it back if you'd borrowed it from her, but I doubt she'll take it back if she gave it to you; and she'd probably be pretty hurt if you tried."
"Wait a minute. How do you know Tess and Rhianna so well? They're both in the third grade."
"Tess is in my gymnastics class, and I'm in Rhi's math class."
I managed to hold back for maybe two seconds before I burst out laughing. "You're in a third grade class?"
"Don't laugh too hard, Bobby. If you did as bad as you said on those tests today, you may wind up being in there with me."
That stopped me cold. "You mean they'd send me back two grades?"
"Not unless you did bad in all the tests. Most of the time, when you're having problems with certain subjects they'll just put you in the classes where you'll be able to get the most help on those subjects."
I was trying to decide how I'd feel about taking classes with Tess, Rhianna and the other girls when Cori dangled the necklace from her fingers. "But getting back to my question...do you like Hello Kitty?"
The coldness in my stomach felt like it was seeping into my lungs. I could barely breathe. I nodded, not trusting myself to be able to speak the words.
"I thought so." Cori kicked her sneakers off and scooted up onto the bed until she was kneeling behind me. I nearly jumped from the bed when she started to gather my hair off my shoulders. "What are you doing back there?" I tried turning my head to see was going on, but only managed getting my hair pulled.
"Oops, sorry Bobby. You'd better hold your hair."
"Huh? What for?"
"So I can help you put your necklace on."
Cori had called it my necklace. And it WAS mine. But it couldn't be; shouldn't be. As much as I wanted the necklace, one really important reason why it could never be mine popped into my head. "But...it's a girls necklace."
Cori let go of my hair and looked over my shoulder. Even though we weren't touching, I could feel the warmth of her skin. Her faint flowery and baby-powder scent mingled nicely with the bubble-gum and clean, soapy smell left over from my bath.
I wasn't too sure how I felt being so close to her. I had seen girls who were good friends sitting this close when they were talking and wondered if Cori thought of me as a girl, a friend, or both. It wasn't really bad, but experiencing first hand what I'd only seen before was a lot different than I'd ever imagined.
"And?" Cori's simple question bounced around my head.
"'And'? How can you just say, 'and'? I'm a boy. People will think I'm weird if they see me wearing it."
"No they won't. They'll just see a girl wearing a pretty necklace."
I should have dropped the argument right there, but the question fell out of my mouth before I could stop it. "Who would take me for a girl?"
"I know Terri does. She wouldn't have fixed your hair like that if she thought you were a boy."
I reached up and carefully touched my hair. "It feels weird having it all fluffy like this."
"You don't like it?"
"I dunno. It feels nice, but it's a lot different from what I'm used to. Nobody ever did my hair like this before."
Goose bumps broke out on my arms when she ran her fingers though a few stands of my hair. "It does feel nice; very silky. Terri did a good job. It really looks nice on you. Maybe you could ask your mom to fix it for you like that when you go to school tomorrow."
"Are you kidding? Everybody would laugh seeing me with a girl's hairstyle."
"I don't think they would, Bobby. I know at least some of the kids at school think you're a girl."
"Right...name one."
"Well, when I had gymnastics class this afternoon with Tess, she'd been telling me about a new girl named Bobbi she met at lunch."
"Tess thought I was a girl? Even after seeing me up close?"
"Yup." Cori leaned away from me. When I twisted around to see what she was doing, I found too many expressions drifting across her face to make sense of them. The odd look only lasted a moment and was quickly replaced with a small smile. "But that's not really the point. Instead of worrying what people would think about you wearing your necklace, you should be thinking about how YOU feel about wearing it."
"I think..." The coldness in my stomach turned into a fluttering and my fingers started to tingle as I worked up the courage to answer. "I think I'd like that."
"Then quit fussing and hold up your hair." Cori helped me gather it up at the back or my head and tucked a few loose strands in my hand before she drew the chain around my neck and fastened it at the back. She then slid off the bed, stood in front of me and adjusted the charm so it dangled just below my collarbone. "Oh Bobby, you really do look...would you mind if I said pretty?"
For a long moment, I barely dared to breathe. "I...ermm...what I mean is...I dunno."
"That's okay. I guess it ain't an easy question for a boy to answer."
"Speaking of questions, I think it's your turn to answer mine."
Cori's smile was both warm and playful. "Fair enough. Playing 'Mommy and Baby' is pretty easy. It's kinda like playing house, where one of us is the mommy and the other is the baby. Me and Terri used to play it all the time. So which would you like to be?"
"Couldn't I be the daddy?"
Cori's smile faded a little. "I suppose, although it wouldn't be 'Mommy and Baby' anymore. You don't look too much like a daddy right now, but we could probably borrow one of Mom's hats to hide your hair and maybe one of her blazers. Are you sure you wanna play a daddy?"
I thought about Dad, and what it would like to pretend to be him. "Maybe not. But I dunno about dressing up as a mommy, either. Would it be okay if I was the baby?"
Cori squealed and nearly choked me as she hugged me around the neck. "Of course! Terri hardly ever lets me be the mommy. We're gonna have loads of fun!"
In chapter four Bobby has fun playing 'Mommy and Baby' with Cori until Terri bursts into Cori's room with some shocking news.
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2005 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER IV
"Cori, what are you doing in there?"
Cori's voice was only slightly muffled by the closed door between us. "I'm just trying to find something for us to change into so we can play 'Mommy and Baby'."
I stared at the door, trying to decide if I was more annoyed at having it swung closed barely inches from my nose or worried about what kind of clothes Cori was going to pick for me. The girl in the full length mirror on the back of the door returned my stare and folded her arms tightly across her chest.
I turned my back on the reflection. It was weird enough wearing girl clothes, but looking at myself and seeing a girl was a little too much. "How long are you gonna take?"
The closet door squeaked open. "All done! I think I found something you'll love, Bobby. Turn around and take a look."
When I turned and saw what Cori was holding, my legs nearly gave out. "It's...it's my dress."
"Bobby!" Cori dropped the dress in a heap and was at my side with her arm around the back of my waist. "What happened? Your face just turned white."
"It's the dress. It's my dress. I mean...I dunno what I mean. I feel kinda wobbly."
Cori led me over to her desk, rolled the office chair out and helped me sit down. "Just rest here for a minute. Should I call Mom?"
"No, I'll be okay." As I waited for the wooziness to pass, Cori crouched down by my side and laid a hand on my shoulder. "Bobby, what just happened, and what did you mean that was your dress?"
"I dunno what happened. I just saw the dress and..." I tried to swallow, but my tounge felt like it was stuck to the back of my throat. "Cori, you gotta swear not to tell ANYONE about this."
Cori looked at me for a moment before she crossed her heart and then held out her pinky. It took me a second to realize what she was doing before I wrapped my pinky around hers. Her eyes were unflinching and her voice steady as she spoke. "Bobby, I swear not to tell another living soul anything you ask me to keep private, no matter what."
I hadn't expected a pinky swear, but it was exactly what I needed to be able to share such a secret. "A few weeks before my fifth birthday, me, my mom, my Aunt Marie and my cousin Cassie had been shopping at the mall when my mom had asked me what I wanted for my birthday. At first she thought I was playing around when I said I wanted a dress just like my
cousin had been wearing."
"So your mom got you a dress for your birthday?"
"No. Mom was afraid my dad would freak out if he saw her bring home a dress for me. But when my birthday came around, Aunt Marie and Cassie arrived early and asked me to open their present before the rest of the guests got there. I was so excited when I saw the dress that I didn't bother going to my bedroom to change and just started trying to pull it on over my clothes."
"And your mom was okay with it?"
"Yes and no. She didn't seem so much upset about me being in a dress as she was worried about how Dad would react. I musta begged her for nearly ten minutes before she finally let me wear it. Even then she made me promise to take it off before Dad got home. A lot of what happened after that is a bit of a blur. I remember having some of the kids that came to my birthday asking why I was wearing a dress and a couple of them giggling. But mostly I remember having fun...until Dad came home from work early."
My heart thudded against my ribs as I remembered what came next. "I ran up to him, gave him a big hug and asked him what he got me for my birthday. His eyes nearly popped out of his head when he eventually recognized me. Next thing I knew he was yelling and tearing off my dress. I'd thought he'd gone crazy and was gonna tear me apart!"
Cori was blinking tears from her eyes as she crouched down and hugged me. "Oh Bobby...I had no idea."
As I hugged her back, the scared, shaky feeling faded until it was almost unnoticeable. "It's okay. I'd completely forgotten about that day until I saw the dress. There's no way anyone could have guessed this would have happened."
Cori was smiling when she pulled away, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "I guess playing 'Mommy and Baby' ain't such a good idea. You wanna try something else?"
I had to think about this for a minute. After Cori had told me about the game, part of me was curious about it. But there was another part of me that was saying this really didn't sound like a game a boy would want to play. "Ermmm...I guess so."
Cori tilted her head slightly and gave me a puzzled look. "You don't sound too convinced. I'll tell you what. Lemme get this dress put away and you can think of a game for us to play. Okay?" Without waiting for an answer, Cori turned on her heel and scooped the dress from the floor in one smooth motion before wandering back into the closet.
Since she hadn't closed the door this time, I followed her into what looked like a small, crowded room. The only way I you could tell it was a closet was because of all the clothes either hanging from racks or folded neatly on shelves and in cubbies. I noticed some of the cubbies had doors and I began opening one of them.
Before I had the door open more than an inch, Cori swung around and slammed it closed. "What do you think you're doing?"
"I...I'm sorry, Cori. I was just looking."
The tension in Cori's shoulders eased as she let out a sigh. "Well, you can look, just not in there. Okay?"
"Sure." As curious as I felt about what was behind the door, I wasn't ready to ruin the start of a good friendship by being nosy.
Cori turned away and hung up the dress she had brought out. "So, have you thought of a game yet?"
"Actually, I was wondering if...umm...what I mean is, would you mind if we still played 'Mommy and Baby'?"
Cori looked at me over her shoulder and she fussed with the dresses. "Not if it's gonna make you faint."
"I didn't faint. I'd just felt...weird. And the game didn't make me feel that way. It was the dress."
"Hrmmm. I guess we could play it without getting dressed up."
"Actually, I wouldn't mind getting dressed up. To be honest, I was wondering..." my throat tightened until the next few words came out in a squeak. "Could I wear the dress?"
Cori slowly turned towards me. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she finally found something to say. "Are you sure?"
"Yes. At least I think I am. What I mean is, I think I need to. It feels...important."
Cori pressed her lips into a thin line as she stood in front of a rack of frilly dresses, deep in thought. "I think I understand. But if you start feeling fai...I mean weird, we'll stop playing and find some other game. Does that sound fair?"
I couldn't tell for sure if I was nervous or excited, but the happiness growing inside overshadowed everything else I was feeling. "Sounds more than fair."
"Okay Baby." Cori began tugging at the bottom of my shirt. "Arms up."
I pushed my shirt back down. "Whoa, what are you doing?"
"Mommy's changing you. Can't have you wearing your play clothes under your dress."
"But, you'll see my underpants."
"Technically they're mine, not yours. And they're panties, not underpants."
I could feel a blush climbing up my neck. "Well, whatever they are, I'd feel embarrassed if you saw them."
"That's okay. We can work around that without a problem. But you're gonna hafta trust me."
I had barely known Cori a day. How could I trust her? And yet, I already felt like I'd known her forever. For the first time in my life I had an idea of what it must really mean to have a best friend. I let go of the shirt and lifted my arms.
"That's my little girl," Cori chirped as she pulled my shirt over my head. My stomach clenched when I heard the word 'girl', but I was about to wear a dress, so I decided not to comment on it and instead started taking off my undershirt.
"No no, Baby. Leave the cami on."
"What's a cami?"
"It's this thing you're taking off; short for camisole. Hold on a sec, you've got the shoulder strap tangled in your hair." Cori pulled my hands away from the cami and untangled it from my long hair before pulling it back down.
"There we go. Allll better." Cori's sing-song voice sounded so silly, I couldn't help giggling. "Awww, you're such a happy baby, ain't you? Now can you be good for Mommy while she finds your dress?"
"Yes, I be good, Mommy." I could feel the blush reaching my cheeks as I shifted into baby talk.
"Good girl!"
It only took a minute for Cori to find the dress again. "Here we go, Baby. You all ready to look pretty?"
I nodded and smiled, too nervous for words.
"Okay, arms up again."
My heart was thumping so loud as Cori lowered the dress over me, I could barely think. "Oh Mommy. It's...it's..."
"It's adorable, Baby. You look so CUTE in pink and white." Cori turned me around and the dress was pulled tight against the bottom of my ribs as she tied a bow behind my back. "I never realized until now how much lace this dress has." My ears grew hot with embarrassment as Cori fluffed out the bottom of the dress. "And I love the way the attached petticoat poofs out your skirt."
"Petticoat?"
I turned back around and saw Cori smiling warmly. "Looks like Mommy's got a lotta new words to teach you. A petticoat is sorta like a skirt that goes under your dress."
"You gotta wear skirt under dress? Dat sound silly, Mommy."
"I never really thought of it like that, but I guess you're right. Speaking of which, we better get you out of those jeans and sneakers."
"Uhhh..."
"Don't worry." Cori turned away. "I won't look."
I turned around as well. My hands were shaking a bit as I waded through the layers of petticoat before I found the top of my jeans. By the time I had the jeans around my ankles, I realized I should have taken my sneakers off first. I groaned when the butterfly bows Cori had tied on them turned into knots.
"You done yet?"
"Almost...sorta."
"What's wrong?"
"My jeans is stuck 'cause I can't get my sneakers off."
"I see. Sit down on the floor and Mommy will help."
"What do you mean 'I see'?" I twisted around and saw Cori grinning at me. "Hey, what are you doing looking? I'm naked!"
Cori's grin turned into a frown of honest confusion. "What do you mean? How can you be naked when you're wearing a dress?" Cori bent close and whispered, "don't forget, you're supposed to be talking like a baby."
"Because I...ummm...well, it hard to explain." Trying to translate what I was thinking and feeling into baby talk was getting pretty tricky. "I just feel kinda naked."
"Are you changing your mind about the dress? It's really okay if you don't wanna wear it."
"No, I okay. I really like this dress."
"I'm glad, Baby. You look so sweet in it. Now can you sit on the floor for Mommy so she can help you with the rest of your play clothes?"
After I sat down, Cori undid the mess I'd made of laces, popped the sneakers off my feet and pulled the jeans the rest of the way off. "These socks are going to have to go too, Baby."
She already had one sock off by the time I asked, "Why?"
"Because I have much prettier socks for your to wear that match your dress." Cori shoved the sneakers into the back of the closet under the dresses hanging on the rack, then bundled up the socks, jeans and shirt in her arms as she stood up. "Now sit there like a good girl and Mommy will be right back."
As I sat in the middle of the closet listening to Cori rooting through her dresser drawers, questions started popping up in my head. The biggest question was, what was a boy doing sitting on the floor in the closet of a girl's bedroom wearing a dress? Before I could make sense of the question, let alone think of an answer, Cori was back.
"Here we go." Cori knelt down and unrolled a pair of pink socks with white lace around the cuffs. "Now hold up your feet so Mommy can put on your socks." The soft, silky material made my feet tingle as she pulled the socks up to my ankles.
After digging half a dozen shoes out from where she had tossed the sneakers, Cori pulled out a shiny white pair with silver buckles and brought them over to me. "I knew I still had these Mary Janes." Cori smiled as she pulled the thin straps across my feet and buckled them on. "Okay, we're all dressed. Can you stand up for Mommy?" Cori had her hands under my arms and started lifting me before I had a chance to stand up.
"Hey, how'd you pick me up like that?"
"I guess I'm stronger than I look. That's probably from the gymnastics classes I take, and the self-defense classes I took over the summer probably didn't hurt. I learned about balance and leverage from both of them. But I didn't really pick you up, I just helped you to stand."
"Oh."
"Plus, you're really not all that heavy."
"I am too. I mean, I ain't fat, but..."
Without warning, Cori swung one arm behind my knees. My feet were suddenly out from under me and I was falling backwards. I barely got out a screech of surprise before I found myself in Cori's arms. "You ain't heavy at all, Baby."
"What in the world are you doing?"
Cori kicked the door closed as she carried me out of the closet. "Taking you to your stroller."
I stretched my neck to look around the bedroom. "Ermmm...I don't see no strollers."
Grunting a bit, Cori lowered me onto the office chair by her desk. "This is your stroller right here. Now hold on tight, 'cause we're almost late for your appointment and Mommy drives a little crazy."
Making car idling noises, Cori put her hands on the back of the chair. I barely had a chance to grab the seat before she swung me around and began racing around the room. By the time we screeched to a stop, my throat was sore from screaming at near misses with the bed, dresser and other bedroom furniture and my stomach ached from laughing in between.
"Cori! Bobby!" Aunt Joan yelled from the other end of the house. "Quiet down in there. I'm in the middle of an important phone call."
"Sorry, Mom."
"Sorry, Aunt Joan."
I was still giggling when Cori rolled me in front of a small cluttered table with a mirror attached to the back. "Whew, we made it just in time, Baby. Now you sit here and behave while I go find the beautician."
Before I could ask Cori what she was talking about, she had dashed off to the closet. A few moments later she came strolling back into the bedroom wearing a pink bathrobe. "Ah! Mademoiselle eez finally here for her appointment, no?"
I was having difficulty keeping a straight face listening to Cori's fake accent and watching her swinging her hips and shoulders as she approached. "What are you supposed to be?"
"Oh, you cut me to ze heart. Do you really not know me? I am ze great beautician, Madam Corina, and zis," Cori swung her arms dramatically, "eez my world famous beauty parlor!"
"Beauty parlor?" Cold fear trickled down my spine. "You mean, like hair cutting and stuff?"
"Cut your hair?" In the mirror I could see Cori lifting several lengths of hair from the back of my head, examining each one carefully before going to the next one. "I must zay, with zo many zplit ends, a trim might be called for. But to cut it off? You might as well ask ze master gardener to tear ze petals from her prize roses."
"So, you ain't gonna cut it?"
"No no, today eez not ze day for ze cutting of ze hair." Cori picked up a wide toothed comb from the table and began parting may hair down the middle. "No, today eez ze day for fashion, flair and fun!" Cori gathered all my hair on the left side of the part into her right hand while she rooted through a shallow plastic bowl full of hair bands with her left. After a moment of searching, she dug out a couple of pink ones and wrapped one of them around the hair bunched up in her hand.
"You're making a ponytail on the side of my head?"
"Actually zis eez, how you zay it, a peegtail." Cori gathered the loose hair on the right side of my head in the other hairband. "Ah, one of my greatest hairstyles, if I do say so myself. But," Cori opened a drawer on the side of the table and pulled out a pair sparkly pink ribbons, "for zuch a pretty leetle girl in her pretty dress," wrapping the ribbons over the hairbands, she tied big bows on each side of my head, "we need zomething a bit extra zpecial. Ah, eet eez perfection, no?"
I could hardly breathe as I watched the transformation. Even with my hair pulled up, it was still long enough to tickle the base of my neck as I turned my head from side to side. But the length wasn't what felt so shocking. "I...I look just like my cousin Cassie."
"Ah, your cousin likes ze peegtails?"
"Yes. At least, she did the last time I was allowed to see her."
"You mean at your fifth birthday party?"
Before I could answer, Teri burst into the room. "Cori, Bobby, we've gotta go. Take off that bathrobe, Cori. I've got your raincoat right here. Bobby, I've got one of Cori's spare raincoats you can borrow."
Cori backed away as her sister started untying the sash on the bathrobe. "What do you think you're doing busting in here and bossing us around?"
"I think I'm in a rush and don't have time to argue. Bobby's mom has been in an accident. Mom's outside starting the car and she asked me to come in here and bring you both out."
It felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. I could barely breathe. "My mom...in an accident?"
Terri gave me a worried look as she helped her sister out of the bathrobe. "That's what the hospital said."
"What happened?"
Terri helped Cori shrug into a short pink raincoat. "I don't know. All my mom said is your mom was in the hospital before she told me to bring you two out to the car." After zipping up Cori's coat, she held out a longer version to me. "Cori wore this raincoat last year, so it should fit you just right. Come here and I'll help you put it on."
My legs refused to move. "You mean...MY mom was in an accident?" The impossible words were making my head buzz.
Terri closed the distance between us, lifted my numb arms one at a time and slid them into the sleves of the raincoat. "I guess it must be pretty hard to believe." Crouching down until we were eye to eye, Terri zipped up my coat. "Don't worry. I'm sure everything will be okay."
Terri took Cori and I by the hand and began leading us out of the bedroom, but my legs still didn't want to work and I stumbled just as we stepped out into the hallway. Without warning, Terri picked me up and I suddenly found myself riding on her hip.
"Hey, whatcha doing?"
"What's it look like?" Terri grinned at me as she took Cori's hand and lead the way down the hall.
"But I ain't no baby. I can walk on my own." I felt an itch of annoyance when Terri's grin grew.
"I know you can." Terri shocked me by kissing me on the forehead. "But this'll be faster and easier." Terri shifted me on her hip as she opened the door and let Cori pass through. Icy needles of rain stung my bare legs when Terri carried me outside.
"Wait a minute!"
Terri was in the middle of locking the door. "What's wrong, Bobby?"
"I gotta get changed. I'm wearing Cori's dress."
Cori ran ahead and slid open the side door to an idling mini-van as Terri carried me down the short path to the driveway. Terri slid me off her hip into the van before before climbing in herself. "Mom, is there time for Bobby to get changed?"
Aunt Joan turned in the driver's seat, "I really don't think..." Her mouth froze in the middle of her next word. "Bobby, what are you wearing?"
My heart dropped into my stomach. "I was...I mean we were just playing and...umm...you see..."
Cori put her hand on my arm. "It's my fault, Mom. We were playing 'Mommy and Baby' and I'd suggested Bobby try on that dress I usually wear when me and Terri play."
To my surprise, Aunt Joan didn't seem upset with either of us. She just smiled and nodded at Cori before turning to me. "Sweetie, can you stand up and take your coat off for me?"
Barely managing to keep my knees from knocking, I carefully stood up and slowly removed the raincoat.
"Oh Bobby, you look JUST like the picture your mommy had sent me."
"She sent you a picture of me...dressed like this?"
"Oh yes, we've been friends for a long time. Speaking of your mommy, we really need to get going. Terri, could you help Cori and Bobby with their seat belts?"
I sat back down and let Terri buckle me in. "But, shouldn't I get changed first?"
Aunt Joan smiled at me in the rear view mirror. "Sweetie, your mommy is going to want to see you, not what you're wearing. Trust me, you'll be fine."
Still in the dress he wound up wearing while playing 'Mommy and Baby' with Cori, Bobby runs through a poorly lit hospital parking lot to see his mother, who's just been in a car accident. But running though dark parking lots, even at best of times, is never a very good idea.
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2006 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER V
The hard soles of my Mary Janes clicked on the wet blacktop as I ran to catch up with Terri. When the damp breeze picked up, I thought I recognized the stink of gas fumes and burnt motor oil. My pulse raced in my throat as I tried not to imagine a leaking gas tank bursting into flames with my mom trapped inside. Ahead of us, Aunt Joan was leading Cori by the hand across the dark parking lot towards the brightly lit emergency entrance of the hospital.
"We going too fast for you, Bobby?" Terri craned her neck around and held out her hand.
"Oh no, I'm fine." I took a couple of running hops until I caught up with Terri and grabbed her hand.
Terri moved her umbrella to protect us both from the light drizzle. "Okay, just watch out for th ... "
Just then my right shoe was flooded with something damp, cold and squishy. "Ugh, what did I step in?"
Terri skidded to a halt and turned to face me. "That'd be the pothole I was trying to warn you about. "
Aunt Joan stopped short and looked over her shoulder at us. "Everything okay back there?"
I balanced on my left foot and tried to pull the soaked shoe off my other foot when a sharp pain bit into my ankle. "Ouch!"
"That didn't sound good." Aunt Joan handed her umbrella to Cori, then lifted me with ease and sat me on her right hip. "Let's just take a look at that foot." Cori and Terri crowded in close, each wearing slightly different versions of worried, and held their umbrellas over the four of us as their mom carefully moved my foot around.
I put on my best smile for them. "I'm okay, honest. I can walk on it just ... gah!" Icy pain shot up my leg as Aunt Joan gently twisted my foot inwards.
"I'm sorry about that, sweetie." Aunt Joan let go of my foot and gave me a quick hug. "It definitely looks like a sprain, although I can't tell how bad it is. Fortunately, we're not that far from a place where someone can." She held a hand out towards the umbrella Cori was holding. "Could you hand that back to me and walk with Terri? I'm going to be carrying Bobby."
"You ain't gotta carry me, Aunt Joan. I can still walk."
Aunt Joan turned to me with a playful smile as she lifted her umbrella to protect both of us from the rain and led the way towards the hospital. "I don't think you'll be able to walk with a sprained ankle."
"Well, I could hop."
Aunt Joan stopped a few steps short of the entrance and frowned at me. "Bobby, your mommy trusted me to watch out for you and take care of you. An accident is one thing, but letting you make an injury worse is quite another. So let's have no more talk of walking, hopping, skipping, or anything else until a doctor has taken a look at your foot, okay?"
I got another hug and a soft smile from Aunt Joan when I nodded. The sliding glass doors whooshed open as we passed through the emergency entrance and walked into a wall of warmth. The clean, pine scent reminded me of the kitchen after Mom had just cleaned it, and I found myself wondering if anyone would be mad because I was dripping mud onto the sparkling clean lobby floor.
As we approached a long desk with a large sign that read 'INTAKE' crowded into a corner by piles of folders, a heavy”‘set woman with dark brown skin and golden hair pulled up into a tight bun under a nurses cap looked up from her computer and gave Aunt Joan a relieved smile. "Girl, I'm so glad you're finally here. I was starting to wonder if something happened to you with all the accidents we've been having tonight."
"Mae, back when we used to carpool you'd laugh at how slowly I drove in the rain. You know how I am."
"I know, but even the most careful drivers can have accidents."
Aunt Joan nodded and glanced down at my ankle. "Speaking of accidents, we just had one in the parking lot."
Mae was suddenly alert. "There was an accident in the parking lot? I hadn't heard a crash. Was anyone hurt?"
"No, not that kind of accident. Bobby stepped into a pothole and wound up with a twisted ankle."
"Bobby? You mean Irene's son? Where is he?"
I shyly raised my hand. "Right here."
Mae looked me up and down once, and then studied the computer monitor and tapped at her keyboard for a couple of seconds. "Sorry about that, Honey. I think we've got everything straightened out. Just have a seat and I'll see who's available to look at your ankle."
"But ... can't I see my mom first? That's the whole reason I came to the hospital." My foot was cold, something gross was squishing between my toes and my ankle ached, but that hardly seemed a good enough reason to keep me from seeing my mom.
"I know that, baby. But your mama's condition stabilized a little while ago and she was just signed out of the emergency ward. At the moment she's being moved into a regular room. As soon as they've got her settled in, I promise to bring you to her. But in the mean time, we need to take care of you."
Mae handed a clipboard and pen to Aunt Joan. "Sorry to do this to you, but the new department manager has really been on my ... " she quickly glanced at me before turning back to Aunt Joan. "I mean, he's really been giving me a hard time for filling out paperwork for patients."
Aunt Joan took the items and grinned. "Don't worry. I know EXACTLY what you're talking about. Henry drove everyone in my department crazy with his paperwork obsession before he was promoted and moved to yours." She turned to Cori and Terri, who were in the middle of a whispered conversation. "So what are you two up to?"
Terri answered first. "We were thinking of going to the gift shop to get something for Bobby's mom."
"And maybe get something from the cafeteria?" Cori asked.
Terri rolled her eyes at her sister. "You just ate an hour ago. How can you be thinking of food?"
"I wasn't gonna eat a whole meal. I was just thinking of getting some hot cocoa."
"That doesn't sound half bad, Cori. I could probably go for some myself."
"And maybe ... a donut ... or some cookies?"
"Jeez, you're a non”‘stop eating machine."
"Watch your language, Terri." Aunt Joan's tone was gentle, yet firm. "And Cori, are you sure you want to have something to drink this late at night?"
Cori started blushing. "Mom, it's not THAT late."
Aunt Joan checked her watch. "I don't know."
"I'd only get a small one."
"Well ... "
"And I could share it with Terri."
Aunt Joan turned to her older daughter. "How's that sound to you?"
"Works for me, Mom. Want us to get something for you and Bobby too?"
"I'm fine, Honey." Aunt Joan shifted me higher on her hip as she turned to me. "Would you like anything, Bobby?"
I really wasn't in the mood for hot cocoa or anything like that. The pain in my ankle was getting worse and my foot was starting to feel itchy from soaking in the mud. I was tempted to say that all I wanted was to see my mom. But I was pretty sure that wouldn't get me anywhere, so I just shook my head and kept my mouth shut.
"Okay girls, follow me." Aunt Joan wove her way through the tiny, crowded waiting room. All the seats were taken, but an older gentleman stood up and offered his seat to her. After thanking him and sitting down, she pulled me onto her lap before swinging her purse off her shoulder. "I don't have a lot of cash on me, so I want you to go to the gift shop first before getting something for yourselves at the cafeteria." She pulled a couple of bills from her wallet and handed them to Terri. "Understood?"
They answered, "Yes, Mom," at almost the same time before Cori was racing down the hall, followed closely behind by Terri.
"And no running," Aunt Joan called after them as they were turning a corner. "Okay, let's take a look at this paperwork." She laid the clipboard in my lap and wrapped her arms around me as she began reading the fine print on the forms and filling in dozens of tiny boxes.
Aunt Joan was about halfway through the pile of paperwork when Mae walked up to us. "Could you two come with me?" As she led us out of the waiting room, Mae's voice dropped to a half whisper. "Doctor Chung had already clocked out and was about to leave when I told her about Bobby and she agreed to see you before she leaves." As we wandered through a maze of narrow hallways, Mae plucked the clipboard from Aunt Joan's hand.
"Wait a minute, Mae. I haven't finished all the paperwork yet."
The nurse managed to walk around empty wheelchairs and through swinging doors without looking up once from the pages she was flipping through. "Oh, you've already filled more than enough. I don't know why we even have half of these forms here. I think I can fill out the rest of this with no problem."
"But won't you get in trouble with Henry?"
"Don't worry, I can handle him with one arm tied behind by back. And besides, what are friends for?"
When we came to a stop in front of a heavy, darkly stained door, Aunt Joan took Mae into a one”‘armed hug. "Thank you so much, Mae. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Mae smiled and returned the hug. "Hey, you've been there for me plenty of times, girl." She pulled me into the hug, and then patted my butt as she let go. "And don't you worry about a thing, baby. Doctor Chung is one of our best pediatricians and will have your ankle fixed up in no time. As soon as she's done, I'll come back and bring you around see your mama. Now will you be a good girl for the doctor?"
"But ... "
Mae frowned and shook a finger at me. "Uh uh. I don't wanna hear any 'buts'."
How could I be a good girl when I wasn't a girl? "Yes, I'll be good. But ... "
"Whups, what did I say about 'buts'?" Mae smiled as she squeezed my arm. "I knew you'd be good, Baby. I was just teasing you." Mae opened the door and led us into a small room where everything that wasn't white or chrome was pink or light blue. "Just wait here and the doctor will be right with you."
A few minutes later, as Aunt Joan was helping me out of my raincoat, a very young, thoroughly exhausted looking woman walked through the open door. "Hello, I'm Doctor Chung. Aren't you Joan from the accounting department?"
Aunt Joan draped my coat across the back of my chair, and then turned and held out her hand to the doctor. "So good to see you again, Lillian. I'm surprised you remembered me."
The doctor took Aunt Joan's hand in both of hers. "How could I forget the woman who untangled the mess they made of my paychecks when I changed my name?" After giving Aunt Joan's hands a squeeze, Doctor Chung turned to me and crouched down. "So you must be Bobby. That's a very pretty dress you have on."
I looked down at the dress I was wearing, trying to think of what to say as I felt myself blushing. "Urmm ... thank you, but it ain't really mine. I'd borrowed it when me and Cori was playing."
"I see ... well it still looks very pretty on you. So how are you feeling?"
"Well, my ankle hurts."
The doctor looked at the chart in her arms and scribbled something down. "Okay, anything else?"
"Well, I'm a little nervous." Actually I was a lot nervous about being seen in a dress, and a little confused why nobody seemed to be acting as if it were odd.
Doctor Chung lifted my chin until I was looking into her dark, smiling eyes. "That's perfectly understandable. There's plenty of grown”‘ups who feel nervous about being in hospitals. Would you mind if I help you up onto the examining table so I can take a look at your ankle?"
"Umm, okay."
"Okay, here we go." As Doctor Chung lifted me from the chair and carried me to the table, I did my best to keep my shoe from dripping on her long, white coat. After sitting me on the edge of the table, she pulled an handful of paper towels from a dispenser, rolled a stool over to my right side, sat down and spread the towels on the floor under my feet.
"First thing I'm going to need to do is take off your shoe and sock so I can get a better look at your foot." Mud dripped onto the towels as the doctor carefully removed my shoe and unrolled the soaking wet sock from my right foot. Even though I was hurting, I still giggled as she used a small, damp towel that smelled like baby powder to clean the mud from the bottom of my foot and between my toes. As she dried my foot off with a regular paper towel, Doctor Chung looked up at me and smiled. "You know, I have a little girl just about your age."
"But, I ain't a little girl."
Doctor Chung's smile grew as she slowly moved my bare foot around. "You're absolutely right, Bobby. You've been acting like a very big girl and I'm sure your mother will be very proud of how brave you've been."
"What I meant is ... aiee!"
"I'm sorry, Bobby. We're almost done here. I'm going to be pressing different spots on your foot, and I'll need you to tell me when it hurts. Can you do that for me?"
I nodded, and braced myself. Even though I was ready for it, a whimper still managed to slip through my gritted teeth when she pressed a tender spot on the side of my ankle. "Th”‘here. That last spot is where it hurts."
"Very good." Doctor Chung patted my arm. "I think we're done with the examination. It looks like you have sustained some minor damage to the anterior talofibular ligament."
"The ante”‘what?"
The doctor swiveled on her stool and opened one of the pink drawers in the row of light blue cabinets lining the wall. "It means you have sprained ankle." When she turned back to face me, she was holding a small roll of tan cloth. "Fortunately, there isn't a lot of swelling, but I still want you to keep it wrapped and stay off your foot for at least a day." The cloth stretched and hugged my ankle as she began wrapping it around my foot. "You should also keep your leg elevated as much as possible and put ice on your ankle for about twenty minutes every two to three hours."
"Okay ... can I see my mom now?"
Doctor Chung chuckled as she stood up and started looking through one of the upper cabinets. "You certainly have a one track mind. Normally I would recommend going directly home and getting plenty of bed rest." She pulled out a blue plastic package, then twisted it sharply before shaking it. "But Mae explained your circumstances to me, so I think we can make an exception." She slipped the package into a white terrycloth pouch which was surprising cold when she wrapped it around my ankle.
"What's this?"
"It's a cold”‘pack. It has special chemicals in it that get very cold when you mix them together. Can you lift your feet for me?" When I lifted my legs, Doctor Chung pulled me back on the table until my feet were no longer dangling over the edge. "That's it. Can you lay down for me now?" As I lay down, I felt her slip a small pillow under my injured foot. "Okay, I'd like you to rest here for twenty minutes with your leg elevated, and keep the cold”‘pack on your ankle so it can help bring down the swelling."
"Then I can see my mom?"
The doctor chuckled again. "Yes, Dear. I'll have someone come in to get you when the time is up and bring you to see your mother."
"Thank you, Doctor Chung."
Aunt Joan rose from her chair. "Oh yes. Thank you so much for seeing us, Lillian."
"Not at all. It was a pleasure seeing you both."
After the doctor closed the door on us, Aunt Joan walked over to me and held my hand. "So how are you doing, Bobby?"
"Well, beside my ankle hurting, I think I'm doing okay."
Aunt Joan squeezed my hand. "I'm so glad. I was really worried it might have been a lot worse."
"Actually, there's something else that's bothering me."
"What's that, Sweetie?"
"Well, I'm a boy wearing in a dress, and everyone seems to be acting as if it's all perfectly normal."
"And how were you expecting them to react?"
"I dunno ... maybe shocked, surprised, laughing ... something."
"You want people to laugh at you?"
"No, but ... but it feels so weird that people are assuming I'm a girl, just because I'm wearing a dress."
"I think it's a bit more than what you're wearing, Bobby."
"What do you mean?"
"From what I've seen so far, you tend to act more like a girl than a boy."
"You mean I'm a ... " Icy fear clawed at my stomach. " ... a sissy?"
"No, I think being a sissy is a bit different. There's just a certain something about you that says ... girl."
The fear clenched into a tight ball. "Would it sound like I was crazy if I'd said I ... well, I feel like I AM a girl?"
Aunt Joan gave my hand another squeeze. "Not at all, sweetheart. I think it just makes you very special."
Before I could ask what kind of special she meant, there was a knock at the door. I looked up just as the door opened and Mae walked in backwards, pulling a wheelchair. "The Mae express train has pulled into the station. Any stowaways better hop off now." Both Terri and Cori were laughing when Mae swung the chair around.
"Oh, Mae." Aunt Joan ran over to the wheelchair and helped her still giggling daughters to stand up. "You didn't have to do all this."
"It's not a problem at all. I'd promised Bobby I'd make sure she got to see her mama, and I intend to keep that promise." Mae wheeled the now empty chair to the side of the examining table. "Okay, baby. I need you to sit up for me." When I was nearly upright, Mae slid one arm under my knees, another behind my back, and then carried me over to the wheelchair.
Once I was settled back into the cracked vinyl seating and the right foot support was ratcheted up to bring my sprained ankle a bit higher than my hips, I managed to catch Mae around the neck before she stood up and gave her a big hug. "Thank you so much so much for helping me get to see my mom."
"Oh, baby." Mae nearly suffocated me when she hugged me back. "I'd have walked barefoot down ten miles of rough road for a hug like that." Mae fussed with the lace on the hem of my dress and adjusted the ribbons in my hair. "Your mama is very lucky to have a daughter who's as sweet as she is pretty. Now let's get this train back on track and go see her."
Bobby *finally* gets to see his mother in the hospital ... while wearing his new friend's dress. Just as he starts coping with her reaction, the last person Bobby wanted to see bursts in and winds up trying to drag him away.
As the nurse wheeled me down the hall, I kept waiting for someone, anyone, to start laughing at me. To my surprise I got almost no reaction at all. A couple of people smiled and someone wiggled her fingers at me from behind a nursing station, but that was pretty much it. As I rode along, I took occasional sniffs from the flowers Terri had given me to pass on to my mom. Everything seemed to be going fine ... until we got into the elevator.
It was already crowded with Aunt Joan, Cori, Terri, Mae and me (especially since I was in a wheelchair with one foot propped up), but it got uncomfortably close when a woman carrying a huge, gift-wrapped box slipped in just before the doors closed. As the elevator started to rise, the woman looked down at me, smiled, and gave me a wink. "I bet I know what your secret is."
Goose-bumps popped up on my arms and bare legs. "W-what do you mean?"
"Oh, no need to shy about it. You should be very proud. I must admit, I'm surprised to see you starting so young."
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, seeing you in that pretty dress and carrying such a beautiful bouquet of roses could mean only one thing. You've just won the Miss America Pageant and twisted your ankle walking down the runway."
My heart felt like it had stopped when the elevator was filled with giggles and laughter. It took a second for me to realize they weren't laughing because I was a boy dressed up like a girl. I felt so relieved I started giggling too.
The woman pinched my cheek as the elevator doors opened. "You're just adorable. If you haven't won yet, I'm sure you will when you grow up." With another wink she walked out of the elevator and waved to me as the doors closed. By the time we stopped in front of a varnished wooden door with a sign that read 'Room 704', I was in a pretty good mood.
Even though Mae was smiling when she crouched down in front of me, she looked serious as well. "Okay, baby. Visiting hours are officially over, but the floor supervisor agreed to let you see your mama." She pulled one of my hands from the flowers in my lap. "Now I'll warn you ahead of time, she's going to look a bit banged up."
All the awful images of what might have happened to my mom came rushing back. After all this time waiting to see her, I was almost ready to chicken out. "Whatcha mean by 'a bit banged up'?"
"Well, from what I saw on her chart, it seems as if the side-impact airbags didn't open when she was sideswiped. She hit her head pretty hard, and dislocated her shoulder."
"Oh...."
"Bobby, if you're having second thought about seeing your Mama...."
"No, I'm fine." It was probably the biggest lie I ever told, but I was more determined to see her than afraid of what I might find.
"I'm glad to hear that." Mae smiled at me as she stood back up. "Your mama's been asking for you."
Even with the warning, I really wasn't prepared for what came next. When the door opened, an odd medicine smell nearly choked out the sweet scent of the roses in my lap. Except for the soft yellow light over my mom's bed and the pale green glow of the slowly beeping monitor beside her, the room was completely dark. She had a stiff plastic collar around her neck and her left arm was in a sling.
Tubes and wires were coming out of places I didn't want to think about. Where bandages weren't wrapped around her skull, a tangle of damp black curls poked out. When she slowly rolled her head on her pillow and looked in my direction, I noticed most of the left side of her face was covered in bandages; my stomach squirmed when I saw the dark stains.
"Irene, you have a very special visitor." I could hear the smile in Mae's whisper as we pulled up beside Mom's bed. After setting the brakes on my wheelchair, she reached over my mom's bed and pressed a couple of buttons on the monitor before turning to me and stroking the back of my head. "I imagine you to will want a few minutes alone. I'll be at the nurses' station for this floor checking on a few things. If you need me before I get back, just press the call button."
As Mae closed the door behind her, Mom leaned over the edge of the bed and squinted as if she were having trouble focusing on me. "I'm so sorry, but the drugs I've been given have left me a little dopey. What's your name?"
Out of all the people in my life, I would have expected my mom would recognize me. Did I really look that different in a dress? For a scary minute I wondered if she was too embarrassed to admit she knew me. But she didn't look embarrassed; she just seemed confused. Could the drugs really have affected her that much? I sat up higher in the wheelchair and laid the flowers beside her. "It's me, Bobby."
I did my best not to look at the tube taped to the back of her hand as she lifted the flowers, closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. "These are just lovely, Bobby." Her eyes popped open with surprise. "Bobby, is that really you?"
"Mom, I can explain."
"You look so --"
"It's really not what it looks like."
"-- so beautiful."
"You see, me and Cori was -- what'd you say?"
"I said you look beautiful, Pumpkin. But what happened to your foot?"
Instead of saying I looked silly, Mom had said I looked beautiful. And instead of grilling me about why I was wearing a dress, she asked me about the foot I had wrapped in bandages and propped up on the wheelchair's footrest. It felt both very weird and wonderful at the same time. "Oh, I kinda twisted my ankle when I stepped in a pothole in the hospital parking lot."
The corners of Mom's eyes crinkled when she smiled. "I guess if you were going to get hurt, the best place to do it would be at a hospital." Although this was far from her regular playfulness, her smile and attempt at a joke gave me some hope that she really was going to be okay.
When she reached for me, I swallowed the queasiness I felt and put my hand in hers. "So how are you doing, Mom?"
"From what I've been told, I was pretty lucky, since I don't have any broken bones. My head feels four sizes too big and I ache in places I didn't know could ache, but the medication is helping with that."
"And there wasn't any fire?" I was pretty worried when her laughter turned into a coughing fit and stood up on my good foot to pat her on the back. "You okay, Mom?"
Once her coughing was under control, Mom laid back in bed and turned to me with a crooked grin. "I'm okay, Bobby, and no, there was no fire. Why don't you sit back down before -- no, not like that, Pumpkin."
Feeling confused, I stood back up. "What'd I do wrong?"
"When you're wearing a dress, you need to smooth the back of your skirt before sitting so I doesn't get all bunched up and wrinkled."
I tried to remember how my mom usually sat when wearing a dress. "Like this?"
"Much better." There was something odd about her voice. It almost sounded like she wanted to cry, but she was smiling too.
"You okay, Mom?"
"I'm fine, Bobby. But you look as if you have something else on your mind."
"Well...."
"It's okay, Pumpkin. You can tell me."
"There is something I'm kinda confused about. You seem to be acting like me being in a dress is perfectly normal. Don't it seem even a little bit weird?"
Mom frowned a little, but it seemed to be from concentration rather than because she was upset ... at least, I hoped she wasn't upset. She spoke a little more slowly when she answered, as if she was choosing her words very carefully. "I have to admit, I was surprised to see you wearing a dress. Except for the fact that the dress seems a bit fancy, even for visiting someone in the hospital, nothing about what you're wearing looks especially unusual. How do you feel?"
"I feel weird."
"About wearing a dress?"
"Actually, no. I mean, it does feel different. But it don't feel weird ... which feels weird. Does that make sense?"
Mom's lips moved slightly as she worked through what I'd just said. "I think so. Are you saying you feel more like a girl than a boy?"
I opened my mouth to answer, then clamped it shut and decided to think about the question first. What did it really mean to be a girl? Was it just the clothes I was wearing? Was it my body? Was it something deep inside me that was telling me what I was? Did it matter if the rest of the world was telling me something different? What would happen if people found out about me? What would happen to Mom?
As I was wrestling with these questions, I heard the door open and a deep, booming voice say, "I'm sorry it took me so long to get up here, Irene. I came as soon as I heard about the accident, but you wouldn't believe the paperwork they put me through before they let me see you."
I turned and saw ... my father. Somehow, his sideburns had turned grey over the summer. He was also a lot thinner than I'd ever seen him; the skin was sagging from his cheeks and jaws. I almost didn't recognize him at first, but there was no mistaking his walk when he strode into the room and smiled down at me. "Oh, I didn't realize you already had a visitor, Irene. What's your name, sweetie?"
I was so glad I was sitting down just then, because my legs would have never held me up. "It's B-Bobby."
My hands started to shake as his smile turned into confusion, shock, and then ... something too awful to describe. "What the hell?" I felt a guilty sense of relief when his glare shifted from me to my mom. "Irene, is this what's been going on all summer?"
The monitor started chirping loudly and red lights began blinking after Mom sat up and returned the glare. "How dare you ... how dare you make accusations! You're hardly here two seconds and already you're jumping to conclusions."
My father folded his arms and bunched his hands into fists as he stood fully upright and puffed out his chest. As thin as he had gotten, he still somehow managed to fill the room. "All I did was ask a question, Irene."
A tear rolled down her right cheek as she squeezed her eyes shut. I was barely able to understand her as she growled through clenched teeth. "That sounded more like an accusation."
"I can't believe this. I've barely stepped in the door and you've already started yelling at me."
"I'm not yelling; I'm angry. You can't just walk away and leave us to fend for ourselves and then come back and play the concerned father. It doesn't work like that."
"Irene, you're impossible. I see I'm not going to get anywhere with you right now. When you're ready to have a rational conversation, let me know." My father wrapped his long, bony fingers around my upper arm just a little too tightly, but not quite enough to hurt ... much. "Let's go, Bobby. We'll talk about this on the way home." It felt like ice was sloshing around in my stomach as I started to imagine what the "talk" might include.
"Sir, please let go of my patient." Craning my neck to see past my father, I found Mae standing in the doorway.
I gasped when my father wrapped his hand more tightly around my arm. Just as I was being lifted out of the wheelchair, Mae's hand was suddenly around my father's wrist. "Please let her go, sir."
"Dammit, that hurts! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Right now, I'm applying just enough pressure to get your attention, and politely asking you to let go of my patient. If you'd like, I can be less polite." Mae seemed to tower over my father, which was a bit of a trick with her being at least a head shorter than him. With all the weight he'd lost, she may have been a little heavier than him, but that didn't seem to be it. There was something about the sureness in the way she stood, the level tone of her voice, and the glint in her eyes that said she was in charge.
My father slowly lowered me back into the wheelchair. His grip loosened, but he didn't completely let go of my arm. "You can't do this to me. As a parent I have the right to --"
My mom slumped back into the bed and the monitor started to quiet back down. "Robert, we've been through this a dozen times. I thought you had agreed to give full custody of Bobby to me after the divorce has been finalized."
"But it hasn't been finalized yet."
"Are you saying Bobby is your daughter?" The politeness was completely gone from the nurse's voice; my father's wrist was still firmly in her grip.
"My daughter? Are you serious?" A half-hearted grin was pulling at the corners of my father's mouth.
"Yes, I'm very serious."
He let go of my arm and yanked his hand from Mae's grip. I caught a glimpse of raw red marks on his wrist before he tucked his hand under his arm. "I see. So that's how it's going to be, eh?"
Just then the door opened a crack and an ancient woman with silver hair pinned under a nurse's cap poked her head in. "Is everything okay in here, Mae?"
"Everything's fine, Carrol. I was just explaining to this gentleman that visiting hours are over and he was about to leave." Mae was all smiles, but the way she stood suggested she was prepared to wrestle my father to the floor if necessary. He gave her a nasty look, mumbled under his breath, and then stormed out of the room.
Carrol poked her head back in after my father shoved his way past her. "Oh my, I don't think I've seen anyone THAT upset about visiting hours in a long time. Speaking of which, my shift is going to be over soon, and the supervisor on the swing shift isn't quite as understanding about extending visiting hours as I am."
"I understand Carrol." Mae turned to me, lifted me out of the wheelchair, and gently sat me beside my mom. "You better give your mama a hug and kiss goodnight, baby."
I did my best to hug Mom without squishing the arm she had in the sling, and then gave her a kiss on her unbandaged cheek. After all this time worrying about her, it felt so good to finally be able to be close to her, even if only for a moment.
I could feel the tears sliding down my face when she hugged me back and kissed me on the forehead. "Don't worry, Bobby. Just seeing you is making me feel better already. Soon I'll be out of the hospital and we can properly move into our new house." My mom pulled a tissue from the box on her night stand and blotted at my tears. "Aunt Joan has offered to watch you while I'm recovering. Can you be a good girl for me and stay with her for a few days while I'm in the hospital?"
I nodded and smiled, knowing I'd start bawling if I tried to say anything. Seeing my mom hurting was awful, and having my father freak out had been scary, but when Mom called me a girl, it felt like all the emotions I'd been keeping bottled up since the beginning of the summer (or maybe even before?) were about to spill out. I wondered if it had been because of our talk or something she had already known. Whatever it was, it felt absolutely right, even if it had been a long time coming.
"That's my girl." Mom pulled me into another hug. My control broke and I started crying into her shoulder.
Finally, I managed to pull myself together and blew my nose into a fresh tissue. "I'm sorry, Mommy." The old name slipped out before I was even aware of it, but at the moment it felt right and I decided not to worry about it.
"No need to apologize. Everyone cries sometimes."
"Even Dad?"
Mom was quiet for a minute. "Yes, even he cries sometimes."
"But I've never seen him cry before."
"I know, Bobby. For some reason, he seems to think it's important to hide that from you."
"Why's that?"
"I wish I knew, Pumpkin. I wish I knew."
The door squeaked open and Aunt Joan stepped into the room. "We've got to go, sweetie."
My mom rubbed my back. "You better get going, Bobby."
"Okay, Mom." I hadn't felt this afraid of being separated from her since my first day of kindergarten. "I love you."
"I love you too, Bobby."
As Mae wheeled me out of the room, Cori came running from the waiting room at the end of the hall. "Bobby, what was that guy doing in there after Mae left?"
Terri caught up to her little sister. "Hey, didn't Mom say not to ask awkward questions?"
"But I was just asking --"
Aunt Joan put her hands on her daughters' shoulders as she came up behind them. "I think Bobby has been through a lot tonight. Why don't we save the questions for later?"
The elevator ride down to the lobby was very quiet. Except for the rumble of the engine and the splattering of rain hitting the windows, the ride back home was pretty quiet too. Eventually, Cori gently touched my arm. "Bobby, was that your dad who came out of your mom's room?"
"Yeah." I felt the gears in my head slowly turn. "At least, he will be until the divorce is finalized."
"How could he not be your dad?"
"I ain't really sure, but that's what it sounded like was gonna happen when him and Mom was talking."
Aunt Joan spoke up from the front of the mini-van. "Bobby, whatever happens between your parents, your mommy will always be your mommy and your daddy will always be your daddy."
"What if I don't wanna see him?"
"You don't have to see your daddy if you don't want to, sweetie. Just remember: things may not be exactly how they seem, and you may feel differently one day."
Even though I knew she was wrong, I was too tired to argue, so I just nodded, closed my eyes, and leaned my head against the chilly window. I found myself wondering about how my parents had reacted to seeing me in a dress. My mom seemed fine with it, while my father went crazy ... again.
But this time my pretty dress hadn't been torn to shreds before he'd been pulled away from me. This time I wasn't hiding under my covers and crying alone in my bedroom while my parents screamed at each other downstairs. Even with my mom in the hospital, I still felt a glimmer of hope. Things were finally changing. Somehow, I was going to find a way to make sure they stayed changed.
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Bobby is reunited with two people he thought he'd never see again, but Cori, Terri and Aunt Joan seem to have disappeared. Could they have been part of the dream he's woken from? If so, then why is he still wearing a frilly pink dress?
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2006 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER VII
The first thing I noticed was how warm and comfy I felt. It was a nice change from leaning my head against a cold, hard window. I wondered who had carried me in when I'd fallen asleep in the mini-van. Slowly, I opened one eye and saw ... my bedroom. It wasn't the room I'd just moved into with all the half-opened boxes scattered across the floor; this was my old bedroom.
Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I sat up in bed and looked around. Everything had been put back exactly where it belonged. It was almost as if the move hadn't happened at all. Could the whole weekend moving, the time I'd spent at school, going home with Cori, and Mom's accident have been a dream? I looked down at the pink, frilly dress I was wearing. If it had been a dream, then I hadn't woken up yet.
The dress felt a bit shorter; it barely reached halfway down my thighs. I was almost certain it had gone to just above my knees before. The waist was higher too, making me wonder if the dress had shrunk somehow. That didn't make a lot of sense after I thought about it, since the dress didn't feel any tighter. Maybe it had scrunched up on me while I was sleeping?
Deciding it would be easier to adjust the dress while standing, I slid off the bed. Taking a little bit longer than usual to reach the floor, I had just enough time to remember my sprained ankle. Gritting my teeth as I landed hard on both feet, I felt ... nothing. I lifted my right foot to see past my fluffy skirt. The bandage that had been wrapped around my ankle was gone. I wiggled my foot a little; there was no pain at all.
While I was trying to figure out how I had healed so quickly, my bedroom door creaked open and someone I thought I'd never see again stepped into the room. "Bobby, would you like some help putting on your dress?"
I looked up ... and up ... and saw Aunt Marie. I could hardly believe it. She looked exactly like I'd always remembered. "What are you doing here?"
"I came upstairs to see if you needed any help." She knelt in front of me, bringing with her the familiar perfume that had always reminded me of freshly-baked gingerbread cookies. "Seems as if I got here just in time."
"In time for what?"
"It looks like you were just about to go downstairs with your dress on backwards."
"It's backwards?"
"Yup. See these buttons down your front?"
I looked down to where she was tapping my chest and saw a row of white, heart-shaped buttons. It took a few seconds to figure out why they looked crooked. "Oops, missed a button-hole."
"It's okay, honey." Aunt Marie quickly undid the buttons. "See, no harm done. Okay now, arms up." I tried to complain when she started lifting my skirt, but everything I said was muffled by layers of lace and cotton as she pulled the dress over my head.
When I was finally able to speak again, the first words out of my mouth were, "Aunt Joan...?"
Aunt Marie stopped untangling the dress and gave me a confused look. "Aunt Who?"
I felt a little confused myself. I knew that name from somewhere, but I couldn't remember how. "Errrm, I mean, Aunt Marie?"
She went back to turning the dress right side out. "Something wrong, Bobby?"
"Well, yeah." I wrapped my arms around myself, wishing I could disappear right then and there. "I'm naked."
"You're not naked; you've still got your panties on."
I looked down and saw a pair of pink panties with white lace around the legs and a tiny white ribbon tied in a bow right below my belly button. Something seemed to be wrong with them. Something, that is, beside them being girls' underwear. "Weren't they a different color before?"
"You're thinking of the boy underpants you were wearing before, honey. The panties you have on now were designed to match your dress."
As Aunt Marie pulled the dress back over my head and began doing the buttons up the back, I started wondering what was going on. I knew my underpants had been white, but hadn't I also been wearing white panties with some sort of design on the waistband as well? Had that been part of my dream? If it was, then why was I still wearing the same dress?
I took a closer look at the dress while my aunt tightened the sash around my chest and began tying it into a bow behind my back. Somehow, the dress had gotten frillier; and no matter how much I pulled at the hem, it refused to stretch back to its original length.
"Does the dress fit okay, Bobby?"
"I dunno. I was kinda expecting it to be longer."
"Sorry, honey, that's as long as it gets. But don't worry about it being short. That's what the rhumba panties are for. Now lets get your socks and shoesies on."
"Shoesies?" The baby-talk annoyed me a bit. It had been a long time since I'd seen Aunt Marie, but couldn't she tell I wasn't a little kid any more?
"Yes, shoesies." Aunt Marie smiled as she slipped her hands under my arms and lifted me up onto the bed. "Don't you remember? They were in the little box that came with your dress." After searching around my room, she picked up a small box from between a pair of the stuffed animals lined up across the top of my dresser. "Here we go. Okay, lets get them toesies covered up."
I frowned at the baby-talk, but she didn't seem to notice as she began pulling a thin white sock over my now unsprained ankle. It was very soft and silky and tickled as it slid over my heel. After adjusting the cuffs of the socks so the pink lace was just above my ankles, Aunt Marie strapped a pair of shiny black shoes with bright silver buckles onto my feet.
"Bobby, you are just too CUTE for words." Aunt Marie picked me up and began swinging me around the room.
There was a long screech of surprise, which I eventually realized, was coming from me. I must have been pretty loud, because I soon heard feet thumping up the stairs.
"Bobby? Marie? Is everything okay?" Mom rushed into the room, looking frazzled.
By the time Aunt Marie stopped spinning me around, my screech had turned into giggles. I was still catching my breath as she sat me on her hip. "Honestly Irene, you're such a worrywart."
Mom frowned at my aunt, but it didn't last long and was soon replaced by an odd grin. "You're right, I do worry a lot."
"You've got it, Sis; a party is the last place you want to bring down with a bunch of worry."
"What party?" Even as I asked the question, I had a feeling I should know the answer.
Mom took me from Aunt Marie, stood me on the ground in front of her, and then crouched down until we were eye-to-eye. "You're such a teaser, Bobby. After weeks of bugging your daddy and me, did you really forget what today is?"
"Is something special happening today?"
"Ha, now I KNOW you're teasing me."
I fell into a giggling heap when Mom started tickling me and I was soon rolling around and laughing. "Sto ... stop. Please, s-stop."
Mom stopped tickling, but her hands rested on my ribs. "Have you remembered what today is?"
I was still panting when I answered. "Is it ... my first day back at school?"
Aunt Marie, grinning from ear to ear, sat on the floor next to my mom. "I think Bobby needs some more help remembering what today is. Do you think it would work if we both helped?"
Mom returned the grin. "We can always try."
"Gahhhh!" I was rolling again, laughing even harder. "Stop. P-please, I'm gonna pee myself."
Eventually they showed mercy and let me go. I lay between them, still giggling and trying to catch my breath. Aunt Marie leaned over me, holding a threatening hand just above my stomach and grinning dangerously. "So, are you ready to tell us what today is, or do you need some more help?"
"No no no ... no more help." While part of me knew what today was supposed to be, another growing part of me was realizing what today was. "Is it ... my birthday?"
"Ding ding ding!" Aunt Marie picked me up and swung me around the room. "Good girl. I knew you'd get it if you tried."
"Marie. . . ." Even while swinging around, I could hear the concern in my mom's voice.
Aunt Marie stopped spinning and sat me on her hip again. "I'm sorry, Sis. Did we knock something over?"
"No, but you did call Bobby a girl."
"Oh, sorry about that. He looks so much like Cassie, especially in that dress, I kinda slipped."
"It's okay, Marie. With them so close in age and size, it's an easy mistake. Even when they weren't dressed alike, I've mistaken one for the other. Some days I wonder what I'd do if Cassie's hair wasn't longer."
"Speaking of Cassie, she's been waiting very patiently downstairs to see Bobby in his new dress. I imagine the rest of his guests are looking forward to seeing him too."
"Are you sure it'll be okay?"
"Irene, we've already talked to all the kids and their parents. Everyone who's here is totally okay with this. So will you stop fussing and just have fun for once in your life?"
Mom pulled us both into a huge hug. "You're right again, Marie. I've done enough worrying. Let's get this party started!"
The hug seemed to take forever, especially since I realized my long-lost cousin was waiting for me. When I finally managed to wriggle my way to the ground, I ran to the staircase and found Cassie, waving and hopping on the bottom step. "Bobby, You look tho pretty!"
Something seemed strange about the way she was talking, but I didn't really care. I ran down the steps and hugged my cousin tight. "Cassie, I can't believe you're really here. I thought I'd never see you again."
"I wath wonderin' if I'd thee you too, Bobby. You wath up there foreeeever."
Mom had reached the bottom the steps just then, closely followed by Aunt Marie. "Beep beep." Mom pretended to honk a car horn. "No blocking traffic on the stairs. This is a major thoroughfare here." She then picked me up, sat me on her shoulders and started making engine rumbling noises. Aunt Marie did the same with Cassie, and soon we were zooming and vrooming through the living room.
There was a noisy cheer from a large crowd of kids when we entered the dining room. Some of the parents who weren't busy doing last minute setting up cheered as well. After taking a couple of laps around the room, which brought more cheers and laughter, Mom announced the car had run out of gas and sat me down at the head of the table.
As Mom helped me adjust my skirt, one of the boys near me sniggered. Cassie, who had just been seated next to him, punched the boy in the arm.
Aunt Marie yanked her daughter into a standing position on the chair and turned her around until they were facing each other. "Cassandra Louise Wilton, what did I tell you about hitting people?"
"But he wath laughin' at Bobby."
The boy frowned and rubbed his arm. "Was not."
Cassie glared down at him. "Wath too."
"Was not, even if he do look funny."
"You take that back."
Fortunately for the boy, Aunt Marie was holding Cassie's arms just then. "I want both of you to listen to me carefully. Laughing at people is not nice, but neither is hitting people. Now are you two going to be able to behave, or will you need some time alone in another room to think about it?"
"Yeth, Mommy."
"Yes, Missus Wilton."
"'Yes' what?"
Both Cassie and the boy answered at almost the same time. "I'll behave."
Aunt Marie ruffled the boy's hair, then turned her daughter around, sat her back down and gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "You both made a very good choice, since you would have missed out on the main event. Could someone hit the lights?" The darkness was filled with the sounds of kids fidgeting, stifled giggles, and soft whispers. I almost jumped out of my chair when everyone began singing "Happy Birthday".
As the song neared its end, I noticed the scent of burning wax a moment before the cake was brought around my head and set on the table in front of me. By the light of the flickering candles, I could just make out the words, "Happy Birthday Bobbi!"
When the singing died, Mom bent down next to me. "You ready to make a wish and blow out the candles, Pumpkin?"
"Could I ask a question first?"
"Of course. What is it?"
"Ain't my name spelled different?"
Mom gave the cake a quick glance. "Oops, sorry about that. Mommy was rushing and got a little sloppy at the end." She took a plastic fork and carefully rolled what had looked like an exclamation mark closer to what I had thought was a crooked "i" until together they looked more like a "y".
I felt a bit embarrassed putting my mom through all the trouble of fixing the letters. Hoping to make her laugh, I said, "Maybe it'd be easier if I spelled my name with an 'i'?"
Instead of laughing, Mom just smiled. "Maybe, but we can talk about that later. Right now you have a wish to make and candles to blow out before they melt all over the cake."
I turned back to the cake and was surprised by how short the candles had gotten. There also seemed to be less candles than there should be, but it didn't feel right to complain about something else. So I closed my eyes, reached deep down inside for my one true wish, then blew with all my might. I opened my eyes as everyone started clapping and saw all five candles were out.
"Tho whatcha weth for, Bobby?" Cassie was kneeling on her chair and leaning across the table towards me, shouting to be heard over the growing chatter.
Before I could answer, an older girl on the opposite side of the table interrupted. "You can't ask her that, or it won't come true."
The boy Cassie had punched joined the conversation. "You mean you can't ask him."
"No." The older girl pointed at me. "I meant her."
"I ain't stupid. I know who you was talkin' about. But Bobby can't be a her 'cause he's a boy."
I was feeling pretty annoyed at being talked about as if I weren't even there. "Maybe I really am a girl."
The boy started giggling. "Nuh uh. I know you're a boy."
"It's my birthday. I can be a girl if I wanna." I nudged my mom's elbow. "Can't I?"
"Careful, Bobby. You nearly made me drop this slice of cake." Mom adjusted the cake on the paper plate so it was a bit less lopsided before passing it down the table. "Now what did you want?"
"Can't I be a girl for my birthday if I wanna?"
Mom's mouth fell open and the cake-knife nearly slipped from her hand. "I ... I don't know, Bobby. It's really not that easy to. . . ."
Aunt Marie took the knife from my mom's loose grip. "Irene, it really doesn't have to be all that complicated. Children around Bobby's age try out different roles all the time."
"But what if Robert. . . ."
"If he can't grant his only child a simple birthday wish, then he's not half the man you married."
Mom was nibbling her lower lip when she turned to me. "Bobby, is that what you wished for ... to be a girl?"
"Well, no." I twisted my fingers in my lap, wondering if it counted as telling if you said what you didn't wish for. "But can't I be a girl anyways?"
It had gotten pretty quiet, and nearly everyone was looking in my mom's direction. "Well, okay, but only for your birthday." This was followed by clapping and cheers from everyone, even the parents who had been helping set things up.
The rest of my birthday was amazing. I wasn't sure if it was the way I was dressed or being officially declared a girl for my birthday, but everyone seemed be treating me a bit different. The boys didn't play as roughly with me, the girls were more friendly towards me, and the parents seemed to smile more at me.
By the end of the afternoon, all the parents and most of the kids were gone. Mom and Aunt Marie had started a game of "Musical Chairs" to pass the time while we waited for the rest of the kids to be picked up. It had gotten down to just Cassie and I nervously circling the last chair, when the front door swung open. "Hey there, party people." The keys in my father's hand jingled as he waved. "Hope I didn't miss too much. Is there any cake left?"
The music had stopped and Cassie jumped into the chair. I didn't care; my wish had come true. "Daddy, you're here!"
I ran up to my father and hugged him around the waist. "I thought you wasn't gonna make it for my party. I'm so glad you're here, Daddy. Didja bring my present? Is it out in the car?"
My father chuckled as he pulled me away. "Hold on there, sweetie. I think you've got me mixed up with another daddy, and I'm afraid I only brought a present for Bobby."
I looked up at my father, feeling rejected and confused. "But ... I'm Bobby."
"No. . . ." He tried another half-hearted chuckle, which quickly died. "Bobby, is that really you?"
I nodded and smiled, hoping I'd get my present now that he recognized me.
"What are you doing in that dress?"
I twirled around, enjoying the way the skirt lifted as I spun. "Ain't it pretty, Daddy?"
My father stopped me spinning by grabbing my shoulders. He looked down at me with an odd mix of disgust and fear in his expression. "For crissakes, you want people thinking you're a little freak? Take that goddam thing off right now."
"But Daddy, it's my birthday present."
"Who the hell would give you something like that?"
I heard Aunt Marie's voice directly above and behind me. "It was all my idea, Robert."
My father glared over my head. "I should have guessed. Well, this is the last time you'll ever poke your nose into my family's business." I backed into Aunt Marie's legs when his glare came back down to me. "What are you waiting for? Get that thing off now."
As frightened as I felt, I also didn't want to be seen naked in front of everyone at the party. "But Daddy. . . ."
I felt a sharp sting across my left cheek. My father stared at his hand, looking almost as surprised as I felt. As he lowered his hand and looked at me, the shocked look hardened into something scarier than I'd ever seen on his face. "Don't you ever back-talk to me again. Now do what you're told and take that thing off -- now."
"Robert!" Moms voice was close behind me. "What do you think you're doing?"
My father's voice turned into a growl when he glanced up at my mom. "What I should have done a long time ago." His voice grew deeper and seemed to vibrate right through me when he looked back down. "Are you still defying me?"
A salty tear cooled my burning cheek. "B-but. . . ."
My father raised his hand again. "What'd I just say about back-talk?"
I tried to answer, but nothing would come out. As I stood there, wishing my knees would stop shaking, I felt something warm trickling down my thigh.
Mom grabbed his arm. "Have you lost your mind?"
My father twisted his arm from her grip and ignored her question.
"Goddammit, am I gonna have to take it off for you?" Without waiting for me to answer, he slid his fingers into my collar and began pulling. I tried begging him to stop, but the collar was pressed tight against my throat; all I could do was cough and gag.
"Let go; you're gonna kill him!" Aunt Marie had grabbed me around the waist and tried to pull me away, which only made things worse.
Just as I was starting to see bright spots floating in front of my eyes, I heard something tear and I gasped for breath. "Daddy, please stop. You're tearing my dress."
"Shut up. This is for your own good." Behind the anger, there almost seemed to be sadness in his voice.
By the time my sight cleared, I could see Mom had both arms around my fathers neck and was trying to pull him away from me. This probably would have worked better if she were either taller or heavier. Instead, it just seemed to make him angrier.
Before Aunt Marie could pull me out of his reach, my father grabbed my arm and yanked at my collar again. There was another tearing sound and one side of the dress now hung off my shoulder. My whole body was starting to feel numb, but a far off part of me noticed a dull ache in the bare shoulder. "Daddy, you're hurting me." There were more tearing sounds. Choking on my own tears, I screamed at my father. "Daddy, stop!" I tried shoving him away from me, but there was not strength left in my free arm. "Stop it! STOOOOP!"
My scream was still ringing in my ears when my eyes slid open. I was someplace dark and unfamiliar. My throat burned and my forehead felt cool and damp. I jump and screeched when something touched my shoulder.
"Shhhhh. It's okay, Bobby."
I tilted my head towards the sound of the voice. By the warm light coming through an open door, I could just make out the familiar face. "Aunt Joan?"
"Yes, sweetheart. It's Aunt Joan."
"Where am I?"
"You're in Cori's room."
"I am? How'd I get up here?"
"You were fast asleep when we got home, sweetie. You didn't wake up once when I carried you up here and put you in your jammies."
My stomach tightened when I thought of her changing me. But when I looked up at Aunt Joan's gentle smile, the tightness faded. I felt safe and protected. I knew nobody would try tearing my clothes off; nobody was going to hurt me.
Aunt Joan brushed some stray hairs from my cheek. "What are you thinking about, Bobby?"
"My nightmare." It had been a long time since I'd last dreamed about my fifth birthday party.
"Would you like to talk about it?"
My face became wet with tears as I nodded. Aunt Joan sat on the bed beside me and pulled me into her arms. All the fear, pain and anger poured out of me as she held me close and rocked me. "It's okay, sweetie. Let it all out. Aunt Joan is here for you."
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Aunt Joan surprises Bobby when he finds himself in an embarassing situation, and Cori finally reveals what she's hiding in her closet.
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2006 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER VIII
It felt like I was crying for ages as I rocked in Aunt Joan's arms. Between sobs, I tried to describe the dream I'd had about my fifth birthday party. Even though it had been a dream, most of it was just like what had happened on that day. When I got to the nightmare part and told her about what my father had done, it brought back up all anger I felt towards him and reminded me of why I was afraid of him.
I got to a point where there were more sobs than words and stopped trying to speak. Aunt Joan held me close and made soft, comforting sounds. What was making me cry the most was the sense of loss. My father, the man who had loved me and was always there to protect me, had disappeared the day he saw me in the dress Aunt Marie had given me for my birthday. While he had never hit me again, he also barely touched me after that day.
Eventually, I had no more tears, just a deep ache. I was still sniffling when I realized where a faint but painfully familiar stink had been coming from. "Aunt Joan, I think I . . . ."
"Sh sh shhhh, we'll take care of that in a moment." Aunt Joan turned towards Cori and Terri, who were partially blocking the light coming in through the doorway. "It's okay girls. You can go back to bed, but I'll need to talk to you in a few minutes, Cori."
After they both left, Aunt Joan pulled a tissue from a fuzzy box sitting on the nightstand beside the bed, blotted at the tears on my cheeks, and then held the tissue up to my nose. "Blow your nose, sweetie."
The trumpeting sounds she made when I blew my nose made me giggle, but it didn't take away the shame I was feeling. "Aunt Joan, I'm so sorry I wet Cori's bed."
"Don't worry, Bobby. I'm certain she'll understand."
"But the mattress . . . ."
". . . Will be just fine." Aunt Joan brushed a strand of hair behind my ear, stood up, and walked over to Cori's dresser. "Let's find you some fresh clothes to change into."
The stink was a lot worse after I pulled back the covers. My guilt doubled when I rolled onto my side and felt the chill on the back of my damp pajama bottoms. I stood up and turned to strip the bed, but wasn‘t on my feet long after I shifted my weight onto my right foot.
No sooner had I yelped in pain and stumbled than Aunt Joan dropped the clothes she was holding back into the dresser drawer and ran over to me. "What do you think you're doing, Bobby?"
After she helped me back into bed, I reached for my aching foot and felt the bandage wrapped around it. "I'd forgotten about my ankle. In my dream it wasn't hurt."
"Well, we can't have you trying to walk on it yet. If you're anything like Cori had been after she slipped out of that tree a few summers ago, I'd probably have to sit on you to get you to stay in bed." For a moment, I found myself worrying what I'd do if someone as big as Aunt Joan tried to sit in me, but the wink she gave me before walking over to Cori's closet told me she was just teasing.
I spent a few minutes sitting on the bed, trying not to breathe through my nose while listening to the scritch of hangers sliding across clothes racks and the scrape of boxes being shoved around the closet. "Aunt Joan, whatcha doing in there?"
"I'm looking for . . . ah, found it." She walked out of the closet carrying a small aluminum crutch with pink padding on the armrest. "I was hoping Cori would still have this. She's almost as much of a packrat as her sister." After helping me balance on my good foot, Aunt Joan placed the crutch under my right arm and showed me how to use it as an extra leg so I wouldn't make my injured ankle any worse.
Once I more or less got the hang of using the crutch, Aunt Joan lead me out of the bedroom, across the hall, and into the bathroom. While I stood in the middle of the cold tiled floor, wishing the back of my pajama bottoms weren't wet so I could sit down someplace out of the way, Aunt Joan reached past me to drop the clothes she had been carrying onto the closed toilet lid. I was expecting her to wrinkle her nose when she was standing so close, but all she did was smile at me before kneeling down in front of the bathtub.
The faucet knobs squeak as she adjusted them; soon, a cloud of steam began floating out of the tub. When she added the bubble bath, the flowery scent didn't completely cover the smell that had followed me since I got out of bed, but it helped.
"Okay sweetie, let's get you out of those wet clothes." Without really being aware of what I was doing, my elbows clamped down to my sides as Aunt Joan started pulling at my pajama top. She froze for a minute, looking embarrassed and slightly worried, before letting go. "I'm so sorry, Bobby. After hearing about what happened when you were little, I should have . . . would you rather me not help you?"
I had to think about that. It hadn’t been so long ago when Aunt Joan had taken off my shirt before shampooing the mud out of my hair. I hadn't felt at all shaky then, just a bit shy. "Any other time I think I'd be okay. But right now, after having had that dream . . . ."
Lightly stroking my cheek with her fingertips, Aunt Joan nodded and smiled, but her soft sigh sounded sad. "I think I understand." She pointed to a small wicker basket with the edge of a trashcan liner peeking out from under the plastic lid. "When you change out of the jammies you're wearing, just toss them into the little hamper over there by the sink."
Aunt Joan dipped her hand in the tub for a moment, nodded to herself with a satisfied smile, and then turned the knobs until the rumble of falling water wound down to a trickle, ending in a few muffled plops as the last of the water dripped into a tub full of fizzing soap bubbles. "Try not to get the bandage on your foot wet when you're in the tub, sweetheart. If you need help with anything, just call. I'll be right across the hall in Cori's room."
"Thank you, Aunt Joan." The words seemed so empty compared to how I actually felt. What I really wanted to do was hug her, but it didn't feel right while still in my wet clothes.
"You're welcome, Bobby." Aunt Joan ran her fingers through the back of my hair. "When you've washed and changed, come back into Cori's room."
Once Aunt Joan closed the door behind her, I stripped off my clothes and tossed them into the hamper. After climbing into the tub, I slowly slid down into the bubbles, being careful to keep my right foot from getting wet. The warmth of the bath water seemed to melt away the last bit of fear left over from the nightmare. For some reason, this got me started crying again. It only lasted a minute and was a lot less noisy than before. A weight I hadn't realized was there seemed to slip from my shoulders when it was over.
It was tempting to just sit there and soak, but I was too afraid of falling asleep and going back to where my nightmare had left off. Instead, I quickly washed up and shampooed my hair before letting the bubble bath drain out of the tub. It was a bit tricky trying to rinse off under the shower while standing on one foot and holding the other out of the tub.
After I was finished drying off and cleaning up the water that had splashed out of the tub, I went to the clothes Aunt Joan had left for me. The white panties on top were almost like the ones I'd been wearing earlier, except these had pink hearts and smiling blue moons around the waistband. I still had some trouble deciding which side was the front. They felt better the second time I pulled them up when the tag was against my left hip, so I decided to keep them on like that.
The only other piece of clothing left was what looked like an extra-long white t-shirt. It seemed unusually plain for something coming out of Cori's dresser. The one thing that made it look a little girlish was the large picture on the front of Hello Kitty wearing a frilly blue nightgown and a matching bow over her ear. After slipping the shirt over my head, I hung my damp towel on an empty towel rack, grabbed the crutch, and headed back across the hall.
The first thing I noticed when I reached Cori's bedroom was how the air smelled fresh and clean instead of stinking from wet bed sheets. I glanced at the bed, noticed the covers looked different, and wondered who had changed the sheets and made the bed for me.
I turned to the desk and saw Aunt Joan sitting there with Cori in her lap. They were both staring at the computer monitor on the desk. Before I could decide which of them to thank for changing the sheets, Aunt Joan turned to me, smiled, and waved me in. As I entered the bedroom, she whispered in her daughter's ear.
Cori nodded to whatever had been whispered, slid off her mom's lap, and walked up to me. For a moment, she just stood there, staring at her feet. "There's . . . there's something I wanna tell you, Bobby. It's kinda personal, but I think you might understand."
I felt confused by the sudden shyness. "What's wrong, Cori?"
Cori finally looked up. "Nothing's really wrong. It's just . . . it'd be easier to show you."
Grabbing my left hand, Cori led me into her closet and opened the door to one of the cubbies inside. It was the same door she had been so upset about me trying to open before. She took out what looked like a pair of thick, white underpants with a butterfly print on the front. "These are called Goodnites."
"What are they?"
"They're sorta like panties, but they help keep you from wetting the bed."
"You mean . . . like a diaper?"
For the first time since I'd met her, Cori blushed. "Not really. Diapers are made for babies, but Goodnites are made for kids."
"Oh." Things started clicking into place in my sleepy brain. "So, do you wear them all the time?"
"No, only when I go to bed."
I glanced down at my friend's hips, but couldn't see any noticeable extra thickness under her pajama bottoms. "You mean, like right now?"
Cori nodded and her blush deepened. "I ain't had to change the sheets since I started wearing them." Cori closed the cubby door and held the Goodnites out to me. "Would you like to use a pair?"
The idea of never waking up to wet bed sheets was almost too amazing to imagine. "Wow . . . ummm . . . ."
Cori put the Goodnites in my hand. "These are yours. You can put them on if you want when I go back out to the bedroom. If you decide not to, just put them back in the cubby." She gave me a quick hug around the shoulders. "Either way it'll be okay."
After Cori left, I stood there for a minute, balancing on my good foot and the crutch while looking at what she had just handed to me. While I really wasn't sure about wearing what felt a lot like a diaper, I also knew I didn't want to take a chance wetting my friend's bed again.
Once my mind was set, I took off my panties and pulled the Goodnites up over my hips. They weren't as tight as I had been expecting and a bit warmer than the panties. The extra padding between my legs felt a little odd, but being able to wake up to a dry bed more than make up for that.
Aunt Joan was still in front of the computer when I came out to the bedroom. Her arm was around Cori, who was standing beside her mom. Aunt Joan was speaking to her daughter in a low voice when she turned to me and waved. "There you go, Bobby. We were starting to wonder when you were coming out. You can put the panties in the hamper by the door."
Even though I should have known it was impossible, considering how well most mothers could hear, I had been hoping to find someplace to put the panties before anyone saw so they wouldn't know for sure what I was wearing. After tossing the panties in the hamper, I turned and saw Aunt Joan holding her arms out to me. "Come here for a minute, sweetheart. I'd like to show you something."
I barely had time to lean my crutch against the desk before Aunt Joan picked me up. There was a soft crinkling as I settled into her lap, but I seemed to be the only one to notice the sound. “Whatcha wanna show me?“
“There’s some information online Cori and I have found helpful. We thought you might like to take a look at it.” Aunt Joan reached around me and typed something on the keyboard in front of us. A window popped up on the monitor and I quickly noticed the Goodnites logo in the upper left corner.
"Is this the place that makes those . . . panties?" I'd almost called them diapers, but I didn't want to think of them as that, especially since I was wearing a pair of them.
Aunt Joan's cheek rubbed my ear as she nodded. "That's right, Bobby. They have a special website for kids and parents dealing with bed-wetting." She began clicking through the site, pointing out where they had info about why some kids wet their beds and how to wake up dry more often. We even spent a little time scrolling through their message board, looking at posts where people were asking for help and getting advice and support.
"Wow, I kinda knew I wasn't the only kid who wet the bed, but I had no idea there was so many." I tried to rub the sleep out of my eyes as I started reading the next message.
Cori leaned over my arm and looked at what I had up on the monitor. "Oh, that's another post from Anna. She's always got good advice. I've e-mailed her a couple of times when I had questions I didn't want everyone to see. If your mom says it's okay, I'll give you her address."
"I ain't got a computer."
"Oh . . . well, does your mom let you borrow hers?"
"She ain't got one either." I was feeling both annoyed and embarrassed. I hated being the only kid I knew who didn't have a computer at home.
Cori stifled a yawn. "Well, you could use my computer if you want when you come over to visit."
Aunt Joan hugged her daughter around the waist. "That's a very thoughtful thing to offer, honey. But I think it's about time we turned off the computer and got you two back in bed."
Cori pouted after the computer was turned off, but it didn't last long after Aunt Joan tickled her ribs and Cori started giggling. "Moooom, n-no fair!"
Aunt Joan's voice was playful. "I can't have you going to sleep grumpy. Now get that bottom back in bed."
Reaching behind me, Cori wrapped her arms around her mom and squeezed tight. "G'night, Mom."
Aunt Joan swung an arm around her daughter and squeezed back. "Good night, honeybunch."
After kissing her mom goodnight, Cori surprised me by kissing me on the cheek. "Goodnight, Bobby. I hope you don't get no more nightmares."
Before I could think of more to say than, "Thank you," Cori was out the door.
I scooted around in Aunt Joan's lap until I was sitting sideways and could look up at her. "I dunno if I can go to sleep just yet."
Wrapping an arm around my back, Aunt Joan began brushing loose strands of damp hair out of my face. "You know, when my girls have nightmares, I usually rock them back to sleep."
"Even Terri?"
Aunt Joan grinned. "Not as much as when she was little, but there are still times when she needs to be held. Would you like to rock for a little while, sweetie?"
I only had to nod once before Aunt Joan stood up with me in her arms and carried me over to the wooden rocking chair in the back corner of Cori's room. Before she started rocking, Aunt Joan pulled a knitted blanket from under the chair and used it to cover my bare legs and feet.
Cuddled up under the covers, I leaned against Aunt Joan and listened to her heart beating. "I love you, Aunt Joan." Almost as soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt guilty. "I mean, not the way I love my mom, but . . . I mean . . . ."
Aunt Joan pulled me closer. "I think I understand what you're saying. Nobody could ever take the place your mommy has in your heart, and I would never try. Love is a pretty amazing thing; you can feel it in many different ways for as many different people as you know."
"Can you love someone and hate them at the same time too?"
"Yes, it is possible." Aunt Joan was quiet for a moment. "Were you thinking of someone in particular?"
"I guess I was kinda thinking about my dad. I always feel so mixed up when I think about him."
Aunt Joan's chin touched the top of my head as she nodded. "Love can be confusing sometimes, but it can be simple as well. For instance, I know I will always love my daughters, no matter what." We rocked in silence for a few minutes. "You know what else, Bobby?"
I yawned and stretched my legs out under the blanket. "What's that, Aunt Joan?"
"I love you too."
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It's a brand new morning for Bobby: a time for secrets to be revealed and sisterhood to be discovered. It's also a day for his father to return ... this time with the law on his side.
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2006 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER IX
“Wake up, Bobby.”
I felt warm sunlight shining on my face. The sound of rain tapping on the window, which I'd fallen asleep to last night, had been replaced by birds chirping. “Is it morning already?”
“Yep, and breakfast is on the table.”
I cracked an eye open and saw Terri sitting on the bed beside me. “Whatcha doing in my room?”
Terri ruffled my hair. “Silly girl, this is Cori‘s bedroom.”
I opened my other eye and looked around. There definitely was a lot more pink than I’d ever seen in my bedroom before, but I had something else on my mind besides the room color. “Terri, there’s something I think you aughta know.”
"What’s that, Bobby?”
“I ain’t really a girl.”
Terri nodded. “Cori explained it to me last night when we were having hot cocoa in the hospital cafeteria. To be honest, I was having trouble believing her. I even double-checked with my mom this morning.”
I suddenly felt more awake when I remembered a conversation I’d had with Aunt Joan right before I’d seen my mom in the hospital. “What’d she tell you?”
“Not a whole lot, but she did say you feel like you’re a girl.”
I pulled the covers over my head to hide the blush warming my cheeks.
“Hey! No going back to bed, sleepyhead.” Terri yanked the covers away from my face.
“I wasn’t going back to bed. I just ... I wish Aunt Joan hadn’t told you that.”
Terri frowned with confusion. "Why's that?"
"'Cause now you're gonna think I'm weird."
Her frown turned into a soft smile. “I don't think you're weird, Bobby. In fact, knowing how you feel makes things a little simpler.”
“How’s it simpler?”
“Well, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but ... everything about you seems to say, 'girl.' "
"You mean like the way my hair looks and the clothes I'm wearing?"
Terri brushed the tangled hair from my face. "Well, your hair is a little long, but I've seen boys with longer hair before." She pulled the cover down enough to see the picture of Hello Kitty on my chest. "As far as you wearing girl clothes, they look cute, but they're just clothes."
"I don't understand. If it ain't the clothes or hair, then what's making me look like a girl?"
"There's more to being a girl than looks. Even if you were dressed like a boy, there's still this ... something about the way you act and the way you are with other people. It's like, you don't seem like a boy who's pretending to be a girl. You just -- I dunno -- seem like a girl."
"I've always tried to be careful to act like a boy." My father had made sure of that. Some days it seemed as if every time I turned around, he was telling me to stop acting like a girl. "Am I really that girly?"
Terri paused for a moment and scratched her chin. "From what I've seen so far, I'd say you're not quite as girly as Cori, but you're not as much of a tomboy as I used to be either."
"Are you still a tomboy?"
Terri chuckled. "I don't dress as much like a boy any more, but on the inside -- I think I'll always be a tomboy."
"Did you dress like a boy 'cause you felt like one?"
"I don't think anybody ever asked me that before." Terri was still smiling, but the look in her eyes had become more serious. "There had been a time when I felt jealous of boys. They seemed to have all the advantages and got to do things I wasn't supposed to be interested in doing. But I don't think I ever actually felt like I was a boy."
I tried to imagine what Terri looked like dressed as a boy and was wondering if I was really that much different from her when she nudged me in the shoulder. "You're not falling asleep on me, are you?"
I blinked my eyes back open, feeling surprised at how they had slid closed so easily without me being aware of it. "Kinda. I was up pretty late last night."
Terri covered her mouth, but it didn't hide her huge yawn very well. "I hear ya, kid. Let's get out of here before we both wind up snoring. You need to change first?"
"I guess I should get ready for school."
Terri shook her head. "I wasn't talking about clothes; I meant your Goodnites."
I slowly realized why my underpants had seemed thick. My blush came back and spread across my face until my ears were burning. "Oh, umm ... no, I don't think I need to change." I didn't feel wet and there wasn't any smell, so I was pretty sure I was okay.
"All righty!" Terri reached under my covers, lifted me out of bed, and sat me on her hip.
"Wait a minute; I can walk on my own."
"Mom would kill me if I let you try walking with that sprained ankle."
I moved my foot around. It didn't hurt as much as last night, but it was still tender. "I can still walk. Aunt Joan found me a crutch she said I could borrow." Considering the main color of the Cori's bedroom, I was surprised how quickly I found the bright pink armrest of the crutch peeking up over the footboard of the canopy bed. "See, it's right over there."
Terri giggled. "By the time you got to the table using that, it'd be lunch time." She wrapped her arm around my bottom and shifted me higher on her hip before picking up the crutch with her free hand.
Even though it felt a little odd being carried around, it also felt nice too. There was something about the way Terri held me that made me feel safe and protected. Being this close to her, I was surrounded by a light, sweet scent that reminded me a bit of peaches and cinnamon. When I leaned my head on her shoulder, there was something that felt so right and peaceful about it, I couldn't help smiling.
Terri's smile turned into a lopsided grin as she looked down at me. "You seem pretty determined to fall asleep on me." She nuzzled my nose with hers, making me giggle. "Let's see if we can get some breakfast in you before you do."
* * * * *
We were just coming out of the hallway when I noticed the distant rumble of a car engine. Cori ran out of the kitchen shouting, "Daddy's here!"
Aunt Joan followed her daughter out of the kitchen at a much slower pace. "He's not supposed to be here until Friday, Cori."
Cori had reached the living room window and was peeking outside from behind a curtain. "Well, somebody's here. There's a police car in the driveway and a couple of people just came out of it."
Aunt Joan had already walked past Terri and me when there was a sharp rapping at the front door. "Cori, get away from the window. It's not polite to stare at people." As she climbed down the stairs, she shouted, "Hold on, I'll be right there."
Cori dropped the curtain and thumped down the stairs until she was just a step behind her mom. Terri was carrying me down the stairs when Aunt Joan opened the door. The breeze drifting through the doorway brought the sweet scent of damp leaves and the dry, dead smell of car fumes. When we reached the bottom of the steps, I saw a police officer standing just outside the door beside ... my father!
"Good morning, ma'am. I'm Officer Hernandez and this is Mister Brighton. I apologize for calling on you so early in the morning." The police officer was shifting a folded bundle of papers from one hand to the other.
Aunt Joan tightened the sash on her bathrobe. "Not a problem at all. You must be freezing standing out there. Would you like to come in? I just made a fresh pot of coffee."
"I appreciate the offer, but we won't be able to stay." The police officer handed the papers she had been holding to Aunt Joan. "Mister Brighton is here to pick up his son, Bobby."
A chill ran through me that had little to do with the cool air drifting in through the doorway. "What if I don't wanna go?"
Officer Hernandez looked at me and her eyebrows popped up with surprise. "You're Bobby?"
When I nodded, she turned to Aunt Joan. "Could I take a look at those papers, ma'am?"
After Aunt Joan returned the papers, the police officer frowned as she flipped through them. When Officer Hernandez reached a page in the middle of the stack, she carefully folded it at the corner where the sheets were stapled together. "I think we may have a problem here." She pulled a palmtop from its holster on her belt, extended its short antenna, and began tapping on the screen. "Yes, we definitely have a problem." She put the palmtop back, folded up the papers, and looked up at my father. "We'll need to go back to the station to straighten this out, sir."
"Go back?" My father scratched at the stubble on his cheek. "I just spent four hours there. Why do we need to go back?"
"Because this paperwork says we're here to pick up your son, not your daughter."
My father closed his bloodshot eyes and rubbed his temples. "Are you saying I can't take my son home because you think he's my daughter?"
"I'm not saying anything like that, Mister Brighton." Officer Hernandez held the papers out to my father. "What I am saying is this warrant, or whatever you want to call this pile of ..." She glanced at me before looking back at my father. "... of paperwork, is already on shaky legal grounds. Until we get this straightened out, I can't let you take your daughter home with you."
My father swung at the papers, knocking them from the police officer's hand. "Then to hell with all this legal crap." He reached past Aunt Joan and grabbed me by the waist. "Let's go, Bobby."
"No!" I was almost as surprised to hear myself screech as I was by my father's sudden move.
Terri, who was still holding onto me, swung the crutch she was carrying at my father. "Let go of her!"
Officer Hernandez moved almost too quickly to see. Before you could blink, she was standing between Terri and my father with one hand on his chest and the other holding the crutch in mid-air. "Up until now, we've just had a misunderstanding. If this goes any further, it could become assault." She turned to my father. "First, I'd like you to let go of Bobby and take a step back."
Even though he still seemed angry, my father also looked surprised and then confused. "But. . . ."
"Mister Brighton, this can go two ways. Either you let go of her now and ride in the front with me to the station, or you can ride in the back wearing handcuffs." While I couldn't see her expression, her voice didn't sound very happy. The places where my father's ice-cold hands had wrapped around my waist felt sore when he finally let go. After he took a step back, the police officer turned to Terri. "Now I'd like you to let go of the crutch."
Terri yanked her hand away from the crutch as if were burning hot and wrapped both of her arms around me. "I'm ... I'm so sorry. I just ... I don't know why I just did that."
The police officer nodded as she handed the crutch to Aunt Joan. "I understand. These kinds of domestic situations can get heated pretty quickly." She turned to my father. "Please go back to the squad car, Mister Brighton. I'll be there in a moment."
My father opened his mouth as if to speak, paused, and snapped it shut. He seemed more like a kid than an adult when he turned, stomped over to the car, climbed into the passenger side, and then slammed the door.
Officer Hernandez looked down at the paperwork that had fallen on the damp steps before she picked it up by its stapled corner and shook out a few drops of water. "Looks like these will have to be typed all over again." Although she didn't smile, there was laughter in her eyes. "I'm sure Mister Brighton will be happy about that."
"Will I have to go with him when you get it fixed?" My throat felt so tight with all the emotions I was feeling, my questions came out in a squeak.
"No you don't, not so long as I'm wearing a badge. He didn't make many friends this morning, and I doubt his lawyer will have any more tricks up his sleeve once I turn in my report." Officer Hernandez tipped her hat to us. "Sorry for the disturbance, ladies. Hope the rest of your morning is pleasant."
* * * * *
Aunt Joan closed and locked the front door after the police car pulled out of the driveway. Everyone was very quiet when we climbed the stairs and shuffled into the dining room. I was so glad Terri was still carrying me, because my legs probably wouldn't have held me just then, even if my ankle hadn't been hurt.
The bacon and eggs smelled wonderful when Terri sat me down at the table, but I didn't think I could eat with the huge knot I felt in my stomach.
"You want me to heat that up for you, Bobby?" I looked up and saw Aunt Joan holding her hand out across the table.
"No thanks, Aunt Joan. I really ain't hungry right now."
"What's wrong, Bobby?" Cori was poking the corner of her toast into an egg yolk, but she seemed more interested in playing with her food than eating it.
"I’m just feeling mixed up about a couple of things, like why I lied to the police officer."
"You didn't lie."
"I feel like I did."
Cori gave up poking at her eggs and dropped her toast on her plate. "So what do you think you lied about?
"Well, I let her think I'm a girl."
"Are you?"
"I ... I'm not sure how to answer that. I mean, on the inside I feel like a girl. But who pays attention to what's on the inside?"
Aunt Joan pulled her hand back. "More people than you may realize, sweetie."
I was having trouble believing anybody would be able to understand me. Even to me, it seemed hard to believe the feelings I had inside could be real. "I hope you're right, Aunt Joan. At least, I hope you're right about the police officer. I dunno if I wanna wind up havin' to live with my father 'cause they think I'm a boy."
"I have a feeling, considering your fathers behavior this morning, they won't be sending you to him, even if they decided you were a boy." Aunt Joan rested her hand on her chin and leaned a little closer to me. "So what else were you feeling mixed up about?"
"Well, there's my father."
"I guess things were difficult after he left."
I nodded. "I missed him so much over the summer. I dunno how many mornings I sat at my bedroom window, waiting for his truck to pull back into the driveway. Now that he's back, all I want is for him to do is go away; at the same time, I still miss him and want to be with him."
Terri stopped stabbing at the bacon on her plate, but didn't look up when she spoke. "I used to feel like that about my dad too. Sometimes fathers can be so. . . ." She sounded both angry and sad. "I'm sorry. I don't want to ruin everyone's breakfast."
Aunt Joan got up from her seat, crouched down beside Terri and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "It's okay, love. This has been an emotional morning for everyone. Was there something you'd like to talk about?"
"That's okay." Terri was smiling when she looked up, but her eyes were brimming with tears. "I'm just ... being hormonal again. I'd better start getting dressed for school." Even though she was the only one at the table who wasn't still in her bedclothes, nobody argued with Terri when she stood up and wandered out of the dining room.
Aunt Joan sighed after Terri left the room. "I better go see if she needs any help."
I turned to Cori after Aunt Joan left. "Is your sister gonna be okay?"
Cori shook her head. "I dunno. I ain't seen her like this since our parents first broke up. She used to be really mad at our dad. Sometimes I get the feeling she still is."
"I think I can understand how she feels."
"You're mad at your dad?"
"Well, yeah. He just disappeared without saying goodbye or anything."
Cori laid her hand on my bunched up fist. "That musta really hurt."
I nodded, feeling the tightness in my stomach climb into my chest. "I guess he was mad at me first ... not that I can blame him."
"What was he mad about?"
"Well, we were having dinner and I was talking about what I wanted to do over the summer when he asked me if I was ready to see the barber in the morning. I pretty much just said no."
"So he got mad at you for saying no?"
"Nah, he just laughed and said that I'd better be ready by morning. I really hated getting my haircut and the barber he always brought me to was a little creepy, so I tried asking my mom if I really had to go. That kinda made him mad, but nothing like when she took my side and said maybe I was old enough to have more say in how I look."
"What your mom said makes sense. You're plenty old enough to say how you want your hair to look."
"I guess it didn't make a whole lotta sense to him. I got sent to bed just about then, but it wasn't too hard to hear them from my room with the way they'd started yelling."
"Had you ever heard your parents arguing before?"
"Yeah, a couple of times, but never anything like that night." The ache in my chest reached up to my throat, making it hard to speak. "If only I'd kept my mouth shut about that stupid haircut. . . ."
Cori got up, came over to me and wrapped her arms around me. It didn't take long before I found myself crying on her shoulder. After all the tears from the night before, I didn't really expect to have any more left in me. By the time I was done, my nose was running, so I pulled back from Cori and wiped it on the back of my hand.
"Eww, don't wipe your nose like that, Bobby." Cori ran into the kitchen, tore a couple of sheets of paper towels from the holder by the sink and brought them back to me. After wiping the back of my hand with one towel, she held another one up to my face. "Go ahead and blow your nose."
I couldn't help smiling when I blew my nose into the paper towel. "Are we playing 'Mommy and Baby' again?"
Cori giggled. "I think this is more like 'Big Sister, Little Sister.' "
"How's that?"
"I guess it reminds me of how Terri used to be whenever I'd get a runny nose when I was little. She would get so grossed out at the way I used to wipe my nose on my sleeve. Even now, she still chases after me with a box of tissues if she finds out I have a cold or my nose is running."
"You're so lucky to have a big sister. Sometimes it feels pretty lonely being an only child."
"There's times when I've wished I was an only child, especially when Terri's being bossy. But even when she's at her worst, I still love her. Most of the time, I'm glad she's my sister." Cori was very quiet for a few seconds. "I was just wondering ... how would you feel about being sisters?"
"You mean you and me?"
Cori nodded and a huge smile spread across her face.
It took me a moment to work that out. "Wouldn't we need the same parents ... and wouldn't I need to be a girl first?"
"With the way you call my mom 'Aunt Joan', you're practically a cousin already. As far as the girl part goes, I thought you felt like you were a girl."
I couldn't help groaning. "I can‘t believe I just came out and said that."
"I don't think it's a real secret, Bobby. I kinda got the feeling something like that was going on when I saw you at school yesterday." Cori took both of my hands in hers. "But, getting back to my question, how would you feel about being my little sister?"
"Wait a minute; you didn't say anything about me being the little sister."
Cori grinned. "Maybe not, but you have to admit it does make sense."
"How do you figure that? After all, I am older."
"Well, you may be older, but I been a girl a lot longer."
"Oh ... I hadn't thought of it like that."
"So, what do you think about being sisters?"
I was starting to learn that once Cori got an idea in her head, she never let it go. I was also learning that along with being playful and bouncy, she could be serious too. She seemed very serious about being my sister.
The idea sounded impossible. How could two kids just decide they're related? At the same time, Cori felt like more than a friend. I'd had a couple of friends at my old school, but I felt closer to her in just one day than I'd ever felt with any of them. "I'd really like to have you for a sister ... but how do we do it?"
Aunt Joan came into the room just then and began gathering the plates and silverware. "Okay, time to start getting ready for school."
Cori leaned close to me, her voice just above a whisper so her mom wouldn't hear. "I'll hafta explain it to you later."
When I got up to follow Cori, Aunt Joan set the breakfast dishes she had been collecting back on the table and put a hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to get dressed for school, sweetie. The doctor said you should stay off your foot for at least a day."
I vaguely remembered being told something about staying off my foot and keeping it up, but the trip to the hospital felt like a million years ago. "Oh, I'd forgotten about that."
"That's understandable, Bobby. You've had a stressful start to your morning. Why don't you go lie down on the couch in the living room and prop your foot up on a pillow? I'll be in there with an ice pack and some covers after I finish with these dishes."
After finding a comfortable position on the couch and carefully shoving a few pillows under my right foot, I picked up the remote and began flipping through channels. Nothing I saw held my interest for long; I was too busy worrying about my dad coming back for me. On top of that, there was the mystery with Cori. What was so secret that she couldn't tell me when her mom had come in?
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While Cori and Terri rush off to school, Aunt Joan stays home with Bobby while he recovers from his injury. Today is the day he finally gets to change back into his boy clothes. Will Aunt Joan start treating him more like a boy now? More importantly, how will Bobby feel now that he's no longer wearing Cori's pretty clothes?
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2006 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER X
"Aunt Joan, you think maybe I should go to school anyways?" I was surprised a question like that would come out of my mouth. I would have never asked to go back to my old school if I had any chance at all of getting away from it for a whole day. My new school was a lot different. Nobody had teased me for being a sissy. What was even more surprising was how quickly I had made new friends.
Aunt Joan frowned, but it seemed more out of concern than anger. "Sweetheart, you know the doctor said you should stay home at least a day to give your sprained ankle a rest." She turned away from me and shouted down the hall. "Let's go, girls! You're going to miss the bus if you don't get out there soon."
I was a bit startled by how loudly she could shout, but to my surprise, not frightened. While Mom hardly ever raised her voice, I was used to being afraid when my father yelled, since it usually meant I'd done something to make him upset . . . again.
Terri raced down the hall, braking just in time to avoid crashing into Aunt Joan. "Sorry about that, Mom. Cori and I were talking and lost track of the time."
Aunt Joan smiled at her older daughter before handing her a small paper bag and kissing her on the cheek. "So did talking to your sister help you feel better about your daddy?"
"I don't know if how I feel about him could change, but I am feeling a little better. I really appreciated you and Cori talking to me." Terri surprised her mom with a quick hug around the neck before running down the steps and out the front door.
It was hard not to giggle at Aunt Joan's dazed look. She quickly recovered and grinned at me. "And what do you think you're giggling at, Bobby?"
I managed to get control of the giggles, but I couldn't help smiling. "I'm sorry, Aunt Joan. It's just I don't think I'd ever seen anybody so surprised by a hug before."
Aunt Joan's grin eased into a soft smile. "It was a very nice surprise. Some days I don't think I'll ever understand teens. I just wonder what I'm going to do when both of my girls are that age. Speaking of which . . . Cori!"
Almost as soon as Aunt Joan shouted her name, Cori ran out of the hallway, chattering into a cell phone. "Oh yeah, that sounds great!"
"Cori, what are you doing with Terri's phone?"
Cori pulled the cell phone from her ear. "She said I could use it, Mom." Cori held the phone to her ear and nodded a couple of times. "Yeah, Mom's right here. Hold on and I'll ask her."
Aunt Joan had that special look most parents have when they're getting ready to decide whether or not they're going to let you do something. Both of my parents were good at that look, although lately one of them always seemed to argue when the other had made a decision. It had gotten to where I'd avoided asking either of them anything just so I wouldn't have to see them fighting.
"Um, would it be okay if Rhianna and Tess came here after school for a sleep-over?"
The handle of the plastic lunchbox Aunt Joan was holding squeaked when she folded her arms and looked down at her daughter. "Have they asked their parents yet?"
"Well . . . no, not yet. I wanted to ask you if it was okay first."
Aunt Joan scratched at her chin with her free hand. "I guess that will be all right, if they ask their parents, and if their parents say it's okay."
Cori squealed and hugged Aunt Joan around the waist. "Thank you, Mom!"
"You're welcome, honey. Now I want you to say goodbye, turn off that phone, and promise me you won't use it at school."
Cori pulled away from her mom and held the cell phone to her ear again. "Hey, I gotta go. Yeah, see you at school." She then hit the end-call button, folded up the cell phone, and slipped it into a side pocket of her backpack. "Okay, no more talking on the phone, and I promise to give it back to Terri at lunch."
Aunt Joan smiled and kissed Cori on the forehead before slipping the lunchbox into her daughter’s hand. "That's my girl."
Cori shifted her backpack onto her shoulders and then hugged Aunt Joan again, barely missing smacking her mom in the back with the lunchbox. "Thank you so much, Mom."
"You're welcome, honeybunch. Now get your butt out to the bus stop."
"Okay." Cori turned to me and waved. "Bye, Bobby. I hope you're foot feels better." Before I could do more than wave back, Cori bounced down the steps two at a time and ran out the door.
* * * * *
It was unusually quiet in the living room after Cori left. Aunt Joan eventually broke the silence. "So, would you like some help getting changed, sweetheart?"
I pulled myself into more of a sitting position on the couch, wincing a bit when my sprained foot slipped off the pillow, and looked down at what I was wearing. Even though I was hurting, seeing Hello Kitty on my chest made me smile. "I guess I probably should be wearing something more than a t-shirt, even if it does go down to my knees."
I noticed a soapy, baby-powder scent when Aunt Joan sat on the armrest near my head and wondered if she always smelled so nice or of she had somehow found time to take a shower before waking everyone else up. When she rested a hand on my shoulder, I looked up and saw a smile that made me feel like I'd just been wrapped up in a warm, fluffy blanket. "Actually, that's one of Cori's nightshirts, Bobby."
"What's a nightshirt?" It felt like a silly question as soon as I asked.
"It's sort of like a nightgown, but it's styled more like a long t-shirt." Aunt Joan's smile didn't change at all when she answered, making me wonder if there was anything I could say that would surprise, annoy, or shock her.
"Ah, okay. Well, I'd better go change. I'd feel kinda funny wearing a nightshirt all day." What I was wearing actually felt very comfortable, but I also felt a little weird wearing something that was almost a nightgown.
"I think I understand." Even though she had only nodded and spoken a few words, I had the feeling that, somehow, she really did understand. "Well, the clothes you'd worn to school yesterday are clean. I took them out of the dryer last night and put them on Cori's dresser after you went back to sleep."
"Oh cool!" I swung both feet out from under the covers and was painfully reminded why I was staying home after I felt a sharp sting in my sprained ankle. Doing my best to ignore the ache, I carefully stood up, and balanced on my good foot.
Just as I was about to hop into Cori's room, the hand Aunt Joan had on my shoulder slipped down to my arm. I felt panicked for a moment. It hadn't been that long ago when my father had grabbed me there and tried to pull me out of a wheelchair. It was the gentle playfulness in Aunt Joan's voice that calmed my jittery nerves. "Hold on there, missy . . . ermm . . . I mean, mister." She seemed just a tiny bit flustered for a second. "I mean, Bobby. I can't have you walking around on that sprained foot."
"Aunt Joan?"
"What is it, sweetie?" She had her hands under my arms and probably would have picked me up if I hadn't interrupted her.
"Would it be okay if I walked?" I felt like I'd spent a lot of time being carried around lately. Terri had carried me out to the car when I'd been going to see my mom in the hospital and to the front door when my father had brought the police officer to take me home. Aunt Joan had also carried me around the hospital almost all night when I'd sprained my ankle.
Even the doctor who fixed my ankle picked me up, and you could probably count Cori too when she carried me from her closet to her desk chair. Getting carried around wasn't exactly a bad thing. Being held like that, especially by Terri and Aunt Joan, made me feel very safe and protected, but I was starting to miss getting around on my own.
Aunt Joan pulled her hands away and looked at me with an embarrassed smile. "Of course, sweetheart. Do you still have the crutch I found for you last night?"
"Ummm . . . somewhere. I thought I'd leaned it up against the arm of the sofa."
I began hopping around on my good foot, looking for the crutch. Aunt Joan stopped me with a touch on my shoulder. "Stay right there, sweetie. You don't want to fall and make your ankle worse."
Bouncing around wasn't really making me feel any worse . . . at least not a lot worse. I had gotten used to being expected to do things on my own, but it was nice to have someone helping me out. I was just a little worried about getting too used to it, especially if my father found a way of taking me away from my mom.
While I had missed my father over the summer, being able to spend time with just my mom had been nice. I was almost getting used to the idea of there just being the two of us. Then she got into that awful accident. It was so scary thinking of her being stuck in the hospital with all those tubes and wires attached to her. It was even scarier thinking about my father trying to take me away from her.
As I tried my best to believe my mom would be out of the hospital soon and stop thinking about what life might be like with my father, Aunt Joan looked around the side of the couch and picked up a small aluminum crutch from the floor. After handing it to me, she sat behind me on the couch and held me by the waist, helping me keep my balance until I got the crutch under my arm. "You sure you're going to be okay, Bobby?"
I took a few careful steps away from the sofa, leaning the weight that would have been on my sprained ankle onto the crutch. "I think I'm gonna be okay. Thank you for showing me how to do this last night."
"You're welcome, sweetheart. Cori has a small pail next to her hamper. When you get changed, you can toss your Goodnites in there."
I was so glad I wasn't facing Aunt Joan, because I could feel my face warming with embarrassment. I had almost forgotten what I had changed into last night so I wouldn't wet Cori's bed again. Even though it had been a busy morning, it still seemed weird to forget something like that. "Errr . . . okay, Aunt Joan. I . . . umm . . . I better go change now."
As I headed down the hall toward Cori's room, there was a loud knock on the front door. A few seconds later I heard Aunt Joan open the door and start talking to someone. I hobbled down the hall a little faster. I really wasn't ready to face a stranger at that moment.
* * * * *
After I closed the door to Cori's room, I stripped off the nightshirt and tossed it into the hamper. What I had left on really didn't look like a diaper. At least, it didn't look like anything I'd seen a baby wear. It felt more like I was wearing thick underpants. Maybe I was just kidding myself, but it did seem easier to think of the Goodnites like that.
As I looked, I noticed something was a bit different. I seemed . . . flatter. I made my way over to the mirror on the back of Cori's closet door and felt an odd giddiness when I saw my reflection. The Goodnites really did make me look different. I felt a tiny, long forgotten spark of hope and quickly pulled down what I was wearing.
I gritted my teeth, determined not to cry again, when I saw everything was still there. Instead, I turned away from the mirror, pulled the Goodnites the rest of the way off and tossed them with all my strength at the pail beside the hamper. The pail wobbled a bit when it was hit, but to my surprise, the Goodnites had made it in, making the lid to the pail spin around several times.
Normally, I would have felt proud of myself for making a shot like that, but at the moment, I just felt miserable. Even though I was supposed to be using the crutch, I hopped the few feet from the closet to the dresser and looked at my neatly folded clothes. Before, they were just clothes; today, they were boy clothes.
I didn't cry as I started getting dressed . . . just barely. That is, I wasn't bawling and there weren't any tears, but there was all the aching you feel inside just before you cry. When I was wearing everything except for my sneakers (they hadn't made it to Cori's room with the rest of my clothes), I took a deep breath and hopped back over to the mirror. It was time to get over my silly wishes and see myself for who I really was.
"Gah!"
"You okay in there, Bobby?" Aunt Joan’s shout sounded like it was coming from the other end of the house.
"I'm okay," I shouted back. "I was just . . . surprised by something." Seeing someone else in the mirror can be pretty surprising. It wasn't actually a different person I'd seen. Just for a second, I thought I'd seen a girl in the mirror. I just saw me after that, but the feeling of seeing a girl was still there. I frowned at my reflection. The girl in the mirror frowned back, looking angry, confused, and just a little bit afraid.
I was finally wearing boy clothes again. Why wasn't I seeing a boy? Was it the hair that made me look different? Was there something else? This was too weird . . . too confusing. I'm not sure how long I stared at myself, trying to make sense of what I saw and felt, before I heard a knock on the door.
"Is it okay if I come in, Bobby?" Her question was a bit muffled coming through the bedroom door.
It took me a moment to pull myself away from the mirror. "I'm all dressed. C'mon in."
Aunt Joan held up my sneakers as she walked in. "I'd forgotten to bring these up with the rest of your clothes. You probably should avoid wearing a sneaker on your sprained foot for today. If you feel funny just having one on your good foot, I think it would be okay to go around in your stocking feet today."
"I ain't wearing stockings . . . am I?" I actually looked down to check, but all I saw were white tube socks.
"No, sweetie. Stocking feet just means you're wearing socks without shoes." Aunt Joan adjusted my shirt, although there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it. "This top looks very pr--" Her jaw snapped shut on the last word. "I mean, it looks very nice on you."
"Were you gonna say, 'pretty'?" It wasn't hard to guess what she had stopped herself from saying, but I still needed to hear her answer.
Aunt Joan nodded slowly. "I'm sorry, Bobby. I've gotten so used to it just being me and my girls, it just slipped out."
"It's okay." A question popped up into my head, but it took a while before I had the nerve to ask. "Do you think I look pretty?"
"I think. . . . I think we need to sit down and talk." Aunt Joan held my free hand and had her other hand in the middle of my back as she helped me hobble over to Cori's bed. After she sat down, she pulled me onto her lap, and sat me sideways. With Aunt Joan still wrapped in her fluffy blue bathrobe, it felt like I was sitting in the lap of a giant teddy bear. The ache in my ankle I had been getting from hopping around felt a little better when she carefully propped my sprained foot up on Cori's giant, fluffy pillow. "Sweetheart, before I answer, I need to ask a couple of questions."
"Okay. What'd ya need to ask?"
"Last night when we were alone at the hospital in Doctor Chung's office, you said that you felt like a girl. Was that because you think only girls can be pretty?"
"I. . . . I dunno." I hung my head, unable to look Aunt Joan in the eye and hide what I was feeling at the same time. I began chewing on my thumbnail.
Aunt Joan slowly moved my hand away from my face with one hand and lifted my chin with the other. Her eyes sparkled in the morning sunlight coming through the bedroom window. The sadness in her smile almost made me forget the pain and confusion I was feeling. "I realize this is hard, Bobby. If you don't want to say anything, it's okay. If there is anything you want to say, and I mean anything, I promise it'll be all right to tell me."
I tried to swallow my nervousness, but my throat was too dry. "When I was little, I didn't think I was a boy. It wasn't like one day I'd said, 'I ain't a boy; I'm a girl.' It was more like more like when I thought of myself, I'd see me as fitting more in with girls than boys."
"So you liked playing with girls more than boys?"
"Well, yeah, especially with my cousin Cassie."
"And you didn't like playing boy games?"
"Not exactly. I liked climbing trees and playing in the dirt and riding bikes and stuff like that, but I didn't like playing like the boys played. I felt more comfortable playing like the other girls played."
"You said, 'other girls.' "
"Umm . . . yes?" For some reason, I had the feeling I'd been caught at something. I just didn't know what that something was yet.
"That sounds like you consider yourself to be one of the girls."
"I do. Or at least, I did before the -- you know -- birthday party."
Aunt Joan pulled me close and held me for a few minutes before she spoke. "I remember, sweetie. That must have been pretty hard."
The ache in my chest became a cold stone that sank into my stomach. "It was, especially at first. My father never lost his temper the way he did that day, but he did seem to change. He wouldn't hug me or hold me any more and he got rid of anything that he thought was too girlish."
Aunt Joan stroked the back of my hair. "Sounds like it was a painful change for you, Bobby. In what other ways did he change?"
"Before, he was a lot gentler with me. He smiled more at me. He'd even played house with me and stuff like that instead of trying to make me do boy stuff. In a lotta ways, he was an awful lot like my mom back then."
"Did he feel like a mommy?"
I imagined my father dressing like my mom and giggled a little. "No, I don't think I ever thought of him as a mother. But when he changed, it was like he was suddenly covered with ice." The stone in my stomach seemed to get colder when I thought of the change.
"What made him feel like he was covered with ice?"
I leaned my head against Aunt Joan's chest. The sound of her heartbeat calmed the shaky feeling I got when I tried to think of an answer. The warmth of her arms as she wrapped them around me helped to melt what I'd been feeling in my stomach. "He . . . got colder and harder, and it felt like I could see the person I'd known under the ice, but I couldn't reach him."
I shuddered at the thought of my father being trapped like that. "Sometimes, probably when he wasn't paying attention, I could feel how he still loved me. It just felt like his love was coming through that thick layer of ice. I hated knowing he was there, but not knowing how to reach him. I think that's probably why I'd tried so hard to do what he asked and to believe what he told me was true."
Aunt Joan was quiet for a few seconds. I could hear her heart beat a little faster. "What did he try to tell you?"
"He told me lotsa things. Being able to be with him when he'd sit down and talk with me felt special, even when he'd get upset at the questions I'd ask. Some of what he'd say was hard to listen to, like when he told me 'bout how boys and girls are different and how I could never be a girl 'cause I got . . . boy parts."
Aunt Joan pulled away from me a little and looked down at me. "So, what did you think when he told you about the difference between boys and girls?"
"Mostly, I was confused and frustrated. I guess maybe I still am a little. When I'd asked him to explain the differences, he just seemed to get upset or something and I never had the nerve to try asking anyone else. I was frustrated 'cause he told me I could never be a girl, but he wouldn’t explain why."
"Did you feel different after he told you that?"
"Not really. I tried to make myself believe I was a boy 'cause I knew my father wanted me to, but . . . I just couldn't."
"Well, you know what I think?"
I was too afraid to speak, so I just shook my head. After sharing something I'd kept secret for so long, I was too scared to try imagining what she thought.
Aunt Joan pulled me close again. "I think you're a very pretty girl."
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In this chapter, Bobby is invited to Cori's sleepover and semi-officially acquires some new pronouns. We also learn a bit more about Bobby's father and get a little more insight into how he and his child feel about each other.
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure
Copyright 2007 by Heather Rose Brown
CHAPTER XI
I spent the rest of the morning on the couch with my sprained ankle propped up on pillows and my legs covered by a warm, brightly colored quilt. I couldn't find anything interesting on TV, so I started reading through a pile of manga comic books Cori said I could borrow. I'd never given manga a second look up until then, assuming all comic books were just about superheroes fighting supervillains, which got old pretty fast after a while.
I felt like I could really connect better with the characters I was reading about in Cori's manga collection. There were still heroes and villains in some of them and lots of them had magic and things you don't usually see in real life, but it all felt different somehow. By the time I could smell Aunt Joan cooking grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, I had read through nearly everything Aunt Joan could find in Cori's room.
After lunch, I started playing some of the games Cori and Terri had for their PlayStation. Being up late last night was catching up with me. I kept on yawning and was finding it hard to keep my eyes open as I played. The latest game had turned pretty weird. I was in the middle of trying to wriggle a virtual pit bull puppy into a frilly baby dress when the game controller slipped from my fingers.
I'd been searching around the couch and under the quilt when I heard a deep voices ask, "You looking for this?"
I dropped the quilt and turned to see my father standing beside me; the controller dangled from his right hand. I couldn't decide if I was more shocked to see him there, or to see him wearing a white, silky looking shirt under a dark green jacket and a matching skirt. "Dad, what are you doing here . . . wearing that?"
"A better question is, what are you doing wearing that?" My father poked me in the middle of my chest with a long, pink fingernail.
I followed his finger to where it was digging sharply into my skin and saw the top of a pink dress. "I . . . I have no idea how I got into this. I just changed into boy clothes a little while ago."
My father grabbed me by my shoulders and yanked me from under the covers until I was standing on the couch in front of him. "Stop lying!"
My upper arms ached where he had taken a death grip on them. I tried to lift my hands to push him away, but they wouldn't move. I tried kicking, but my legs barely had the strength to keep me standing. "Lemme go! I didn't do nothing."
He seemed to turn huge when he leaned in closer to me and his sour breath made me want to gag. "You need to wake up and face reality."
I tried to keep my head from flopping back and forth when he started shaking me. "You have to wake up!"
"Stop, you're hurting me!"
My father either didn't understand or didn't care. "You're lying to your friends. You're lying to your family. Worst of all, you're lying to yourself!"
I was starting to feel dizzy from being shaken and the smell of his breath. The only thing I could manage to say was, "Huh?"
"You have to wake up, Bobby. You're a boy, not a girl. You always have been. You always will be."
The world started spinning. I could hardly breathe. The pain in my arms faded as everything turned dark.
* * * * *
"Wake up, Bobby."
I tried to turn towards the sound of the new voice, but something thick, damp, and stinking of sweat covered my face. I took in a huge gulp of cool air when it was pulled away and squinted as my eyes adjusted to the bright afternoon light coming through a nearby window. "Aunt Joan?"
"That's right, sweetheart. I heard you yelling in your sleep when I was on the phone." She sat beside me on the edge of the couch, untangled me from the cover wrapped around my arms and legs, and helped me sit up. "You okay now?
"I feel kinda wiped out, but not as bad as last night. I don't remember falling asleep. It still feels like my father was just here in the living room."
Aunt Joan smiled and ruffled the top of my hair. "You drifted off a little after lunch and slept through most of the afternoon. Your father hasn't been here since he brought the police officer to our front door early this morning. With the way he was acting then, I would have never let him in the house." She brushed my hair out of my eyes and her smile softened. "Did you want to tell me about the dream?"
"It started out pretty weird, especially when I saw my father wearing a dress."
Aunt Joan's eyebrows popped up. "You saw your daddy in a dress? What did it look like?"
"No, not my daddy, my father." Normally I wouldn't talk back like that, but I was still feeling upset by the dream and not really thinking of how rude I sounded.
Aunt Joan frowned and looked like she was going to say something. Instead, she sighed and said, "Okay, what did your father look like?"
Parts of the dream were already fading, but I did my best to tell her what I remembered. By the time I was done, her eyes looked like a pair of ping-pong balls that wanted to pop out of her head. "How in the world would you remember . . . I mean, you were only two when--"
The front door slammed closed and Cori shouted from the bottom of the steps. "I'm home, Mom!"
Aunt Joan turned and shouted back, "We're in the living room, honey. Don't forget to take off your softball cleats." There was the sound of grumbling and something clattering to the floor by the front door as Aunt Joan turned to me and brushed my cheek with the back of her fingers. "We can talk about this later."
After something else clattered to the floor, Cori thumped up the steps. Both legs of the dark blue pants she was wearing and spots on the white shirt with blue sleeves were splattered with dried mud. With her hair tucked under a baseball cap and not a bit of anything frilly showing anywhere, I almost didn't recognize her until she spoke. "Hi Mom! Hi Bobby! How's your foot doing?"
I tried moving my sprained ankle around under the comforter. It still felt a little sore, but the sharp pain was gone. "It's a lot better. I guess taking the day off from school must have helped."
"Oh, that reminds me. Tess and Rhiana were asking about you at school. I really wasn't sure how much to tell them, so I just said you were staying home 'cause you'd hurt your foot and they could ask you more at the sleepover." Cori's fingers squirmed in her folded hands as she turned from me to her mom. "I hope that was okay."
Aunt Joan only took a moment to think before she nodded. "So long as Bobby is okay with it, then it's fine with me."
Cori nearly choked her mom with a hug while somehow managing not to get any mud on her. "Thank you thank you thank you!" She pulled one of her arms away from her mom's neck and took my hand. "Oh Bobby, this is gonna be so fun!"
Aunt Joan pulled Cori's other arm from around her neck and held her daughter's hand. "I think you're jumping the gun, honey. She hasn't even said if she wants to join the sleepover."
"She?" Cori's glance bounced between me and her mom. "She who?"
For a moment, Aunt Joan seemed at a loss for words. " I guess I jumped the gun too." She wrapped her arm across my shoulders. "Bobby, how would you like us to refer to you?"
Cori tilted her head to the side. "Do you wanna be a girl?"
My heart thumped in my chest. I could barely breathe. It was a choice I would have never imagined getting a week ago, and now the words I was aching to say were stuck in my throat. I closed my eyes and concentrated on breathing, willing the tightness to go away. I took in a deeper breath and noticed the scents of mud, grass, and dandelions. When I opened my eyes, I found Cori crouched down in front of me, chewing on her bottom lip.
"Bobby? Did I say something wrong?"
"No, it's nothing like that. It's just. . . ."
Aunt Joan gently squeezed my shoulder. "Sweetheart, you don't have to answer if you're not sure or just not ready."
"But I want to." I looked back and forth between the two of them. The sound of my heart beating was loud in my ears. I looked down and rubbed my sweaty hands on the part of the comforter covering my legs. "If it wouldn't feel too weird, I'd . . . I'd really like to be referred to as a girl. Would that be okay?"
Aunt Joan kissed the top of my head. "Of course it would be okay. "
Cori squeezed my hand. "It'd be lots easier for me. I can't tell you how many times I'd almost slipped and called you a girl yesterday. If your mom hadn't introduced you as her son at church, I probably would have assumed you were a girl at school just like everyone else."
"Which everyone else?"
The phone rang just as Cori started to answer. Both she and her mom reached for the phone, but Aunt Joan was closer and a tiny bit faster.
"Hello? . . . Oh hi! Is everything okay? . . . Ah, that's good."
Cori whispered, "Who is it?"
Aunt Joan mouthed the word, "Terri."
"What was that, honey? . . . Oh, that was so sweet of her to invite you over. Does her mother know? . . . I see. Will there be any other girls? . . . And what about boys? . . . Okay, that sounds all right. It looks like both of my girls will be at sleepovers tonight. When you get there, I want you to give me a call and ask her mother to talk to me. . . . You're welcome, hon. Just don't forget to call me. . . . I love you too."
Aunt Joan was smiling absently as she hung up the phone. "It looks Terri will be staying at Marcia's tonight?"
Cori giggled. "You mean she's staying at her girlfriend's house?"
Her mom gave her a sharp look. "You know your sister doesn't like you teasing her like that."
"But it's true, Mom. You should see how they are together when Marcia comes over."
"Really? What have they been doing?"
"Well, I ain't seen them doing any kissy mushy stuff. But the way they look at each other, you can tell they like each other."
Aunt Joan nodded and sighed. "I've seen it too and talked to her about it. She still insists they're just friends. Until she says differently, I want you to respect how she feels."
Cori frowned and seemed to think for a minute. a playful grin spread across her face. "I guess I can do that. I don't want her getting mad at me and saying I can't be a bridesmaid at the wedding."
"You are just impossible." I froze when Aunt Joan swatted at Cori's butt. At first I thought she was going to be spanked, but Aunt Joan was smiling and Cori just eeped and giggled. "Now I want you to head down stairs, throw your uniform in the washer and wash what you can in the sink down there. I'll get a bath started for you in a few minutes."
* * * * *
Aunt Joan seemed to be lost in thought after Cori headed downstairs and I had to tug on her sleeve to get her attention.
"Yes sweetie?"
"Should I get changed for the sleepover?"
"Oh you won't need to change into pajamas until later tonight."
I looked down at my t-shirt and jeans. Even though they had been washed last night and I couldn't see any stains from falling in the mud yesterday, they still looked frumpled and the sweat from falling asleep rolled up in the covers was still making my shirt stick to my ribs. "Do you think what I'm wearing will be okay until then?"
Aunt Joan pushed a few strands of my hair over my left ear and smiled softly. "I'm sure Cori has something you could borrow." She turned away from me and shouted, "Cori, could you come back here a second?"
The distant sound of running water I hadn't noticed before stopped, then Cori came thumping up the steps . . . naked from the waist up. She was rubbing at the mud on her forearm with a damp washcloth when she walked towards us. "Did ya need me for something, Mom?"
"Yes, would it be okay if Bobby borrowed some clothes to change into before our guests arrive?"
"Sure thing. She really took care of what she'd borrowed last night, especially considering how she'd slipped into that pothole last night."
I was too shocked to do anything but stare as they talked. It wasn't as if she had anything more than I did. I'd just never seen a girl, or really anyone else except for my father, topless before. I could feel my cheeks starting to burn as I squeezed my eyes shut. "Uh, Cori?"
"What's wrong, Bobby?"
"Err . . ."
Aunt Joan came to my rescue. "I think she's embarrassed, baby. You really shouldn't be wandering around without a top on."
"But I thought she was a girl."
"Being a girl doesn't stop someone from being shy."
"Oh wow . . . I'm sorry, Bobby."
I opened my eyes and made myself look again. When I ignored the curly ponytail at the back of her head and the way she was standing, I realized she didn't look all that different from a boy. "I'm the one who should be saying sorry. I don't know why I'm acting so silly."
Aunt Joan held my hand and patted it a few times. "You're not being silly at all." She looked up at Cori and said, "Go ahead and finish cleaning up downstairs. I'll come down to get you when I've got your bath ready."
Looking a bit confused, Cori answered with a nod and a smile before hopping back down the stairs. After she was out of sight, her mom turned to me and squeezed my hand. "I guess things may get a little more complicated than I'd expected. If you feel at all uncomfortable joining the sleepover tonight, it's okay to change your mind."
"You think I shouldn't be there with the other girls?"
Aunt Joan pulled me into a warm hug. "Oh no, sweetie. I didn't mean that at all." She pulled back a little and looked down at me. "I just know girls tend to be treated differently than boys, and I'm worried you might feel overwhelmed or uncomfortable or something."
"Oh, I hadn't really thought about that. I do feel a little nervous not knowing exactly what might happen, but it's not like a scary nervous. It's more like the nervous I felt the first time I decided to try riding my bike without training wheels."
* * * * *
I thought back to that special time. It had been about a month after my seventh birthday. Even with my father holding onto the back of the bike, it still wobbled as I climbed on. I almost chickened out, but just couldn't when I turned and saw his proud smile.
My legs were shaking when we started moving and it took me a couple of tries before I was able to pedal without my feet slipping off. When we were about halfway down the sidewalk, I noticed the sharp smell of my fathers aftershave as he leaned close to my ear and whispered, "You can do it."
Without looking back, I could tell he had let go. I was finding it hard to keep my front wheel straight and my stomach started doing flip-flops. "Keep pedaling," my father shouted from what felt too far off. I began pumping harder, and found it was getting easier to steer. "Good job! Now stop and come back."
That's about when I started to panic. I had started going downhill and was picking up speed without pedaling. The end of the sidewalk and the intersection beyond was coming up too fast and I had started screaming for help. The sound of my father's boots thumping behind and hearing him shouting had only made me more afraid. My shaking, sweaty hands could barely hold onto the handlebars. I was almost at the corner when I realized he had been telling me to hit the brakes.
By the time I'd been able to get my legs to move in the right direction to get the coaster brake to work, I had already popped over the curb and was in the intersection. The sound of screeching brakes filled my ears before I was hit from behind. A small part of me had wondered why I hadn't been hit from the side. The rest of me couldn't think of anything else to do except scream.
By the time I'd stopped rolling, my throat felt raw. Everything still looked like it was spinning when I'd opened my eyes, but I could make out my father looking down at me. "Daddy?"
His voice was gentle, barely above a whisper. "Yes pumpkin?"
At the time, I hadn't realized it had been years since he had called me that. I just knew someone I'd never thought I'd see again had replaced the person my father had become. The world stopped spinning right about then and I realized his forehead was bleeding. I reached up and touched his rough cheek. "How'd you get hurt?"
His smile had felt like the sun coming out from behind the clouds after a storm. "It's been a long time since I've tried doing gymnastics. After I dived for you and grabbed you off the bike, I tried to tuck and roll. It wasn't as graceful a landing as I was hoping, but it could have been worse."
"How could it have been worse?"
I had been so shocked to see a tear roll down his cheek before he had pulled me close. "I could have lost you."
* * * * *
Tears were stinging my eyes as Aunt Joan pulled me onto her lap. "What's wrong, sweetheart?"
"I just miss him."
"Who do you miss? Your father?"
"No . . . my daddy."
While getting ready to meet with two girls from school who've been invited to Cori's sleep-over, Bobby gets a call from the hospital, talk to her mom, and learns a bit about both her parents as well as her part in their divorce. Worried about being accepted, Bobby braces herself to meet Rhianna and Tess, and discovers what kinds of friends they can be.
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure - Chapter XII
Copyright 2007 by Heather Rose Brown
I couldn't stop staring at the girl in the mirror.
It was still hard to believe I was looking at myself. It wasn't as if this was the first time I'd seen a girl in the mirror, but it was still weird just the same. It hadn't been too long ago I'd been in my boy clothes and I'd still seen a girl. I didn't look that much different in the clothes I'd borrowed from Cori. Just a little more relaxed. Maybe even a little happier.
Aunt Joan had helped me look through Cori's closet and explained the funny looking overalls I'd picked out were called shortalls and that they were lavender, not purple. I was a little confused at first about the lavender, since I thought it just meant the soft, flowery smell of the bubble bath I'd used late last night.
Instead of getting annoyed with me for asking a dumb question, Aunt Joan stopped what she was doing and explained how lavender could mean more than one thing, just like the word orange could mean a color or piece of fruit. Once I was able to explain in my own words what she had told me, she gave me a quick hug before gathering up some shoes and clean underwear for me. After handing over everything I would need to get changed, she found some clothes for Cori to change into after her bath before she left me alone in my friends bedroom.
I adjusted the left strap of the shortalls so it would stop slipping from my shoulder. The soft, almost silky, short-sleeved, white cotton shirt felt nice under the rougher corduroy of the shortalls. No, not a shirt. Aunt Joan had said it was called a . . . blouse. I touched the plastic, flower-shaped buttons running down the front. It had been a little funny doing them up on the wrong side, but it wasn't really all that hard. I couldn't remember if girls did them all the way up, but decided to leave them, since I liked the way the blouse looked with all the buttons closed.
I sorta hop-stepped back a couple times until I could see the white anklets and lavender sneakers in the mirror and wondered if all girls matched up their shoes with their clothes like this. Was Cori unusual for liking the kinds of clothes she wore? I was finding I really liked the very girly look. Did that mean I was I a girl like Cori? Was I a girl? Could it really be as easy as deciding I was a girl to become one? Had I ever not been a girl?
I swung my head from side to side to shake the dizzy feeling I was getting from all the questions swirling around in my head and giggled at the way the swaying pigtails tickled my ears. I was so glad I had convinced Aunt Joan to help me fix my hair before she left. The scent of the strawberry shampoo I'd used last night (or early this morning?) was faint, but still noticeable as the pigtails bounced around my head.
I'd pulled the crutch (which Aunt Joan had insisted I still needed to keep using) away from the wall and was swinging my way towards the bedroom door when I heard a familiar knocking. "Sweetie, is it okay if we come in, or are you still changing?"
Something seemed to flutter in my stomach and my knees felt wobbly. "Tess and Rhianna got here already?" Even though Cori seemed positive they'd assumed I was a girl, I still wasn't sure how ready I was to have someone from school see me dressed like this.
"No, they won't be here for a little while yet. When I said we, I actually meant me and someone on the phone who would very much like to talk to you."
"Oh, umm, come on in. I'm all done changing." Talking to someone on the phone sounded a lot less scary than meeting Cori's friends face to face and the nervousness in my stomach calmed a little.
Aunt Joan was holding a phone to her ear as she walked into the bedroom. "Oh Irene, you should see her. She looks adorable in the outfit she picked out."
It took a second before I realized who she wast talking to. "Mom! Oh, can I talk to her please?" Without waiting for an answer, I hobbled towards Aunt Joan in a rush. I must have swung the crutch a little too wide. Without warning, it had slipped out from under my arm and I was falling sideways.
The next thing I knew, the phone was bouncing on the thickly padded bedroom rug and Aunt Joan was down on one knee, holding me in her arms. As she lifted me up and started to carry me to Cori's bed, I heard a tinny voice shouting. "Joan? Bobby? Anybody? What's going on?"
"Mom, is that you?" I was too far away to make out what the voice on the phone said as Aunt Joan sat me down on the edge of the bed, but I was sure now I knew who it was and that she sounded worried.
After checking my ankle to make sure I hadn't hurt it again, Aunt Joan scooped the phone off the floor. "Irene? . . . Yes, everything is okay. She just got a little excited when I was bringing you to her and fell. . . . Oh no. I checked and everything looks fine. She does seem anxious to speak to you, though. . . . Of course. . . . No need to thank me. It's what best friends do." Her chuckle was warm and playful. "Okay, you're welcome. . . . Sure, here she is."
After handing the phone to me, Aunt Joan tiptoed out of the room and quietly closed the door behind her. "Mom? Is everything okay?"
Hearing my mother's gentle laughter melted away the last bit of worry I was feeling. "I was just about to ask you the same thing. Is your ankle feeling any better?"
"Oh yeah. Aunt Joan kept me home and made me keep my foot up all day. Most of the aching is gone now. I can even walk on it a little."
"That's so good to hear. Now I know it's tempting, but I want you to promise me you won't try putting any weight on that foot for a while and keep on using the crutch Joan's let you borrow."
I wanted to argue that I really wasn't all that bad off, but I didn't want to make her any more worried than she already sounded. "Okay, I promise."
"That includes the sleep-over. So no jumping, dancing, running, or anything like that when you're playing with your friends, and no walking anywhere without the crutch."
"How'd you find out about the sleep-over?"
"You're avoiding answering me." Mom sounded a little more serious, but there was still a bit of a smile in her voice.
"Okay, I promise not to do any of them things at the sleep-over. But how'd you find out about it?"
"This afternoon, after the hospital staff were done poking and prodding and running me through all kinds of tests, I called Joan to find out how you were doing. She told me about the sleep-over Cori was planning and asked me how I felt about you joining it."
"And you're okay with it?"
"Of course I am, Pumpkin. I've raised you as a good b-- err, girl, and I know you'll behave yourself."
"Were you gonna say boy?"
The faint crackle of static filled a few seconds of silence. "Yes, Bobby."
Cold dread washed through me and the phone felt like it was just about ready to slip out of my sweaty hand. "So, you see me like a boy . . . like a sissy who wears girls clothes?"
"No, Pumpkin." There were a few more seconds of silence. "Actually, that's not entirely true. When you were first born, I thought of you as my son. As you grew older and I saw your personality developing, I realized you were a bit different from most boys. I believe your father saw the same thing as well."
"Is that why he freaked out at my fifth birthday party?"
The sadness in Mom's sigh made my heart ache. "I'd say that was part of it, but it seems it was also somethings from his past that set him off. Once I'd gotten you to sleep that night, I had a long talk with him and found out about some things that had happened to him a long while ago."
"What kinda things?"
"Just . . . just some very bad things that went on for a very long time. It didn't excuse what he did to you. If I had thought for a second he wouldn't keep his promise about never letting it happen again, I would have left him that night."
"You would have left him because of me?"
"Yes . . . no. What I mean is, I would have left him because of what he did. He was responsible for his own actions, not you. And just in case you were wondering, he was also responsible for his own choice in leaving a few months ago."
"But, I'd told him I didn't wanna get my hair cut."
"Which had nothing to do with him leaving. Your father and I breaking up had been a long time coming. He just happened to choose that night to leave."
I'm not sure how long I sat there, trying to absorb what I'd learned while questions floated around in my head. What was it that had changed my father? What had happened to him that was so awful that my mom wouldn't tell me? Was I really not responsible for my parents breaking up? It was still hard to believe, but my mom seemed pretty sure I wasn't. Eventually, the sound of Mom's voice broke through my thoughts. "What was that?"
"I was just asking if you were still there."
"Yeah. Just thinking a lot and trying to figure stuff out."
"I'm sorry, Pumpkin. Talking over the phone about things like this probably isn't the best idea. Think you'd be up to a real talk when I get home from the hospital?"
The sadness and confusion I'd been feeling was almost completely overridden by the excitement of being able to have my mom back home again. "Oh, that sounds great! When ya gonna get outta the hospital?"
"Well, my nurse came in a few minutes ago to take me to the last of my tests for today."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to keep ya on the phone so long."
"It's okay. When he'd dropped me off from the last test, I'd told him I was going to try reaching my daughter this afternoon and he's been very understanding. If everything goes well with this and the other tests I've taken today, they may be letting me out as early as tomorrow afternoon."
My heart was bubbling over with happiness. Not only did my mom seem to accept me as her daughter, but she didn't seem to have any problems referring to me as one with other people as well. Topping that off with having her back home . . . I really couldn't have felt any happier. "Wow, that sounds great! I can't wait to see ya again."
"Same here, Pumpkin. I can't tell you how much I've missed your sweet smile."
I felt a little worried when I heard her sniffling. "Everything all right? You sound like you're crying."
"I'm fine. These are happy tears."
On the one hand, the idea of happy tears didn't make sense. On the other hand, I was happier than I'd felt in ages, but there was a tear trickling down my cheek. "I love you, Mommy." The old name had slipped out again, but it felt right, so I didn't worry about it.
"I love you too, Bobby. Now I want you to be a good girl for Joan and try not to stay up too late tonight at the sleep-over. Joan had said she planned on driving you and the other girls to school tomorrow before going to work and I don't want you to make her late because you can't wake up. Can you do that for me?"
"I will. I promise."
I hadn't been sitting on the bed for more than a few minutes after I hung up before I heard Cori's shouting, closely followed by the rumble of what must have been her thumping down the steps, then the excited sound of new voices. I pulled a fluffy tissue from the fuzzy pink box on the night stand, then dabbed at my tears and blew my nose before standing with the help of the crutch and bracing myself for the new arrivals before heading out the bedroom door.
* * *
I had just come out of the hallway and looked down the steps to watch the hug-fest. I smiled when I saw a girl with short black hair and cinnamon-colored skin gasp as Cori squeezed her tight and another girl with long waves of coppery-red hair and a face full of freckles squealed when Aunt Joan picked her up and wrapped her in a warm bear hug.
The second girl, who I quickly recognized as Rhiana, seemed to notice me first, but it was the first girl, Tess, who shouted, "Bobby!"
When Rhiana squirmed out of Aunt Joan's arms, she ran up the steps and gave me a huge hug. "It's so good to see ya again, Bobby. Everybody at recess was askin' about you."
Once Cori let her go, Tess lightly bounced up the steps two at a time and hugged me too. "I'm glad to see ya too. Rumor had started going around you'd been in a bad car accident."
Not one to be left out, Cori thumped up the steps and joined in the group hug. "I dunno how the rumor got started, but I'm glad ya didn't get in a car accident yesterday."
I turned to Cori, not sure if I was ready for the answer, but still needing to ask. "Had you told people who'd been in the accident?"
"Oh no. That's one of the things I figured you wanna let people know if you was up to letting them know."
Rhianna gasped. "Who'd been in an accident?"
Tess rolled her eyes before glaring at her friend. "Hey! You know better than asking questions like that."
I reached out and did my best to hug all three girls. "It's okay. I don't mind telling ya's so long as ya don't tell nobody else."
Rhianna's embarrassed expression relaxed a bit. "Of course. I won't tell anyone else. Promise." The other two girls nodded in agreement and added their promises.
"Actually, it was my mom who'd been in an accident."
It was Tess's turn to gasp. "Oh god! That musta been awful!"
Rhianna squeezed my shoulder. "You poor girl. I'm so sorry to hear that. If it ain't too personal . . . how's she doing?"
I took in a deep breath. "She's doing better now. But when I first saw her. . . ." I thought back to the other night when I first saw my mom in a hospital bed. I thought of all the tubes and wires coming out of her. All the emotions I felt then, all the fear I'd tried to push down on the way to the hospital, everything just came back in a rush. Without a word, all three girls closed in and held me as I started crying.
When I was more or less back to my normal self, I felt a new hand on my shoulder. I looked behind me and saw Aunt Joan smiling gently and holding a box of tissues. She pulled one out and held it up to my nose. "Go ahead and blow your nose, sweetie."
Cori, Tess, and Rhianna all made their own versions of honking noises as I blew my nose, which started me giggling. The others joined in, and even Aunt Joan chuckled. "Okay girls. It's time to get started on the pizza's if you want anything to eat during the sleep-over. Who wants to help?"
All four of us said, "me," at exactly the same time, which started everyone laughing again as we followed Aunt Joan into the kitchen.
In this chapter, Bobby has fun with Cori, Tess, and Rhianna at the slumber party. Everything seems to be going fine ... until someone walks in on Bobby while she's getting changed for bed. Will anything ever be the same for her again? Read on and find out!
Bobby's Rainy Day Adventure - Chapter XIII
Copyright 2007 by Heather Rose Brown
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Even though we were in Cori's living room, it almost felt like a camping trip with the way me, Cori, Tess and Rhianna had our sleeping bags spread out in different directions. In the middle where you might expect a camp fire, there was a huge metal dish with a few pizza crusts scattered across it that none of us felt like finishing off.
I wondered if Tess was thinking about camping too when she asked, "Hey, anybody got a good ghost story?"
Rhianna stopped struggling with the stuck zipper on her sleeping bag and looked up. "Oooo, great idea!" She gave Cori's elbow a light tap. "Hey, you're good at telling stories. Got any really scary ones?"
Cori fidgeted a bit before answering. "I dunno. I don't think this might be the best time to be tellin' ghost stories."
Rhianna sounded more worried than disappointed when she said, "Awww."
Tess reached across the pizza plate and took Cori's hand. "You ain't been havin' them bad dreams again, have you?"
Cori shook her head. "No, I ain't had 'em in a while, but Bobby had a pretty bad one last night."
Rhianna reached over to me and rubbed the back of my shoulder. "You poor girl. It musta been pretty hard after what happened to your mom. Didja wanna tell us 'bout the dream?"
For maybe just a second I seriously thought about sharing my dream, but I wasn't sure I was ready to explain the part where my father had freaked out when he saw me in a dress. I patted the hand on my shoulder and smiled at Rhianna. "Thanks ... ermm ... but I. ..."
"I'm sorry." Rhianna's smile didn't do a very good job of covering her embarrassment as she pulled her hand back. "I really aughta know better than to poke my nose where it don't belong."
Aunt Joan stepped in just then and picked up the mostly empty pie plate. "Okay girls, I'm going to get some sleep after I put this in the dishwasher, and I think it's about time for everyone to get dressed for bed."
All of us moaned, then Cori said what I, and probably the other girls, were thinking. "Moooomm, it's only hardly after eight. Can't we stay up a tiny bit longer?"
Cori's mom held the plate out of the way so she could see her daughter. "Yes, you can stay up and talk after getting dressed for a *little* while, but I expect you and the rest of the girls to at least try going to sleep by ten. You all have school tomorrow, and I'll drag you there in your sleeping bags if I have to." With the way she was grinning after saying that, I wondered how far she'd really go to make sure we made it to school.
Rhianna hopped up and spun around, making the bottom of her nightgown flare out, and started chanting. "I'm already dre-essed. I'm already dre-essed."
Aunt Joan caught her by the shoulder to stop her from spinning. "Did you brush your teeth?"
She somehow managed to look up sheepishly at Aunt Joan while wobbling dizzily. "Ummm ... I was planning on doing it in the morning."
Cori's mom patted Rhianna's arm. "I really think you should take care of that tonight. Why don't you use the bathroom while the rest of the girls are getting dressed?"
She got her balance back pretty quickly, then nodded and turned towards the bathroom, but didn't get more than two steps before Aunt Joan caught her by the wrist. "Hey, don't I get a hug goodnight?"
Rhianna turned on her heel with a huge grin on her face, then reached up and hugged Aunt Joan tightly around the neck. The rest of us lined up behind her to get our hugs in too. Even though my ankle was hardly bothering me at all any more, I still used Cori's crutch as I got to the end of the line. It was simpler to do that than trying to argue with Cori's mom that I didn't need it any more.
Things were a little tricky trying to balance with the crutch and keeping my weight off my right leg, but I eventually worked it out and gave Aunt Joan the biggest one-armed hug I could. I'm not sure how she did it, but I felt safe, warm, and loved when she hugged me back. Aunt Joan then wandered into the kitchen, Rhianna found her way to the bathroom, and I headed for Cori's room ... followed closely by Tess and Cori.
I didn't realize they were behind me until I'd reached the door, so I turned around there to face them. It was one thing to feel like a girl and hang out with other girls, but getting changed around them wasn't something I felt ready for yet. "Ummm...I know this is gonna sound stupid, but would ya's mind if ... umm ... what I mean is. ..."
I might have been there all night trying to get the words out if Cori didn't speak up. "I think what she's trying to say is she's a bit shy about getting changed in front of other people. Is that right, Bobby?"
I nodded and smiled with relief. It didn't explain why I felt shy, but I wasn't ready to try tackling something like that just then.
Tess shifted her overnight bag onto her shoulder and smiled back. "I understand. Rhi's kinda shy like that too. Since Terri ain't here tonight, could I use her room?"
Cori beamed. "That sounds like a great idea! Why don'tcha head in there while I look in my room for something Bobby can borrow? Once I get that and something for myself, I'll join ya."
" 'Kay. See ya in a few." Tess nodded and waved before heading towards Terri's door.
=-=-=
Cori had me sit on her bed while she searched through her closet. As I listened to her rummaging around, bits of the nightmare I'd had while sleeping in that bed came back to me. Fortunately, before I could really start worring about going through the same thing tonight, Cori walked out of the closet with a bundle in her arms.
"Okay, I know this is kinda frilly, but the nightshirt ya wore last night was pretty much the only unfrilly thing I got." She carefully laid part of what she was carrying beside me. "I also included something else, just in case ya ... well ... just in case." She blushed just a little bit. "Anyways, I'm gonna head over to Terri's room now. If ya need any help with anything and we're not out in the living room yet, just knock on Terri's door. Okay?"
Once I nodded, she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. I looked down at what she left for me. It was a white nightgown with tiny pink and blue puppies playing on it. There was white lace with a strip of blue trim around the neck and pink heart shaped buttons down the front. It definitely was as frilly as Cori had said. I picked up the nightgown and saw there was the same kind of trim around the sleeves and bottom. I also saw the Goodnights Cori had left underneath.
Even though it had been a long time since I'd wet the bed, I didn't wanna repeat the accident I had last night. Wearing the Goodnights sounded a little embarrassing, but not as bad as trying to explain to my friends how my sleeping bag had gotten wet. I kicked off the shoes I'd borrowed from Cori, stripped off the cute shortalls and had just pulled down my panties ... when the bedroom door swung open.
"Hey Cori, I was just wondering if--" Rhianna froze in the doorway.
My brain screamed at me to do something, anything, but I couldn't move. Time felt like it froze as she stared at me with my panties around my ankles. Her voice sounded far away and I could hardly hear her with the ringing in my ears. "Oh Bobby, I ... I'm sorry. I ... uhhh ... I'll just be out in the living room."
=-=-=
I could hardly move even after she closed the door. I turned my head, which seemed to be the only thing I could do just then, and saw my reflection in the mirror on the door of Cori's closet. From the waist up I saw a girl in a pretty white blouse with her hair up in pigtails. From the waist down I saw a boy. The top half looked like it couldn't decide whether to scream or cry; the bottom looked ... awful.
"Oh my god," I whispered as I turned away. "He was right." My stomach flipped over as I thought about something my father had said at the end of my fifth birthday party. I looked back at the mirror. From the look on my reflections face you would have thought she had just smelled something really gross.
"You ... you freak!" I thought I was going to be sick as I screamed. "Go away you ... you freak!" I reached out for something to throw. The first thing my hands found was a fuzzy tissue box, which I tossed at the reflection. It didn't do much besides bouncing off the mirror with a soft 'thunk'. "I hate you. Go away!"
The door swung open again. I was so completely gone just then, I didn't even bother trying to cover myself as I turned. I could barely make out who it was through my tears, but with the way she filled the doorway, a part of me realized it must be Aunt Joan. That didn't stop me from screaming, "Go away!"
Aunt Joan stepped towards me as she asked, "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"
My brain pretty much stopped working about then. All I knew was someone big was coming towards me. I swung out a fist and roared the only words I could think of. "GO AWAY!"
Aunt Joan caught my hand in mid-swing, took hold of the other one, then spoke very softly, but in a way that reached through the rage and fear swirling around me. "Bobby, I realize you're very upset, but if you try to punch me again, you'll get a sharp swat on your backside. Do you understand me?"
Even though I heard her, it took me a while for what she said to sink in, and a bit longer for my head to clear enough to remember how to nod.
"Very good. I'm going to let go of your hands now. Are you going to try hitting me?"
When I shook my head no, she let go, then pulled my panties back up to my waist. I stared straight ahead as she did that, feeling too numb to even think about it. The only things I could feel were emptiness and a deep, aching sadness. Aunt Joan then picked up the tissue box, which had rolled to the middle of the floor, took one of my hands, and led me over to the rocking chair where she had held me after my nightmare last night.
When she sat down and pulled me onto her lap, I just curled up in a ball and started sobbing. All the hopes I'd had that maybe someday, somehow, I could just be me were gone. When I was able to speak again, I asked, "Why am I like this?"
"Why are you like what?" Aunt Joan's soft words came out slowly, as if they were being chosen very carefully.
"Why am I such a freak?"
I felt a hand slip under my chin and my head was lifted until I was facing Cori's mom. The sadness in her eyes almost started me crying again. "Dearheart, who in the world would call you such an awful thing?"
I almost said my father, but that wasn't exactly true. He had asked me if I wanted people thinking I was a freak when he saw me in a dress on my fifth birthday, but that wasn't exactly the same thing as calling me one. "Does it really matter if anybody said it? I'm a girl who thinks she's a boy." It took me a second before I realized what I meant to say had come out backwards. "I mean, I'm a boy who thinks he's a girl."
Something that looked like simple, honest confusion crinkled up her eyebrows and forehead. "What makes you say that?"
"Aunt Joan, you *saw* me naked. You know I got boy parts. I've seen 'em all my life. How could I do that and still think I'm a girl?" Before she could answer, I realized something else. "Oh god ... Rhianna saw me too. That means the whole school's gonna find out."
As I started thinking over how much worse things would probably be at my new school where someone actually saw me dressing and acting like a girl, I heard a new voice ask, "What's the whole school gonna find out?"
I turned and saw Rhianna standing in the doorway, looking sad and worried, with Cori and Tess behind her looking pretty much the same. Instead of answering the question I asked, "What are you doing here?"
I felt Aunt Joan kiss the back of my head. "It looks like your friends are concerned about you."
"Why would they wanna be my friends?"
Even though I'd meant the question for Aunt Joan, Rhianna answered it. " 'Cause you're a nice girl?"
"Girl? How could ya call me that after seein' me like you did?"
Rhianna stared at her toes. "I'm really sorry for walking in on ya like that. I know how ya feel 'bout being seen naked and I really feel awful."
Hearing a girl saying she knew how I felt just piled jealousy on top of the hurt I was already feeling. "What gives you the right to say you know how I feel? Nobody knows how I feel!"
There was a deep sadness in her eyes when she looked back up. "I know."
Guilt piled up on everything else when I saw she was just about ready to cry, but it didn't stop me from feeling mad. "What makes ya think ya know how I feel?"
" 'Cause. ..."
Cori slipped an arm around Rhianna's waist. "Go ahead and say it."
Tess stood on the other side of Rhianna and wrapped an arm across her shoulders. "I think she needs to hear it much as ya need to say it."
Rhianna gave them each a small smile before turning to me with a more serious look, taking in a deep breath and saying, "I understand 'cause, in a lotta ways, I'm like you."
"Whatcha mean you're like me?"
Her cheeks turned a deep pink. "I mean ... I got boy parts."
I couldn't decide if I heard wrong or if she was just telling a really stupid joke. "Boy parts?"
For a long while, I just stared at her when she nodded. "But, you're a girl."
Rhianna frowned at me. "Yeah ... and?"
"Well, girls ain't got boy parts."
Tess let go of Rhianna's shoulder, stepped in front of her, and stood like she was ready to protect the other girl. "Who says?"
I thought long and hard about that, but could only think of one person who'd said anything like that to me. "Umm ... my father."
Rhianna gently moved Cori's arm from around her waist, stepped around Tess, and walked over to me until she was almost close enough to touch. "My granma told me, but sometimes grownups make mistakes."
Aunt Joan's chin rubbed the top of my head as she nodded. "I can certainly vouch for that. With age comes experience, and hopefully wisdom, but that doesn't mean adults have all the answers."
I turned to Cori's mom, who had just the hint of a smile on her face. "You sayin' I ain't supposed to listen to grownups?"
"No, but you should think about what someone says before you accept it as fact. If someone says something that doesn't make sense, keep on asking questions until you find an answer that does. Did being told you were a boy make sense to you?"
"Not really. I did try asking my father questions when he'd told me that, but they didn't make sense neither."
I felt someone touch my arm and turned to see it was Rhianna. "It might help askin' others for answers then. It took me a while before I found somebody who had answers that made sense."
"Who'd ya ask?" The idea of being able to get real answers lifted something I had't realized was hanging over me until then.
"Well, a lotta people, but Ms. Marple gots some really good answers."
"Who's that?"
Tess walked over to us until she was standing next to Rhianna and smiled at me. "That's one of the counselors at school."
Cori came in and gave me a smile from Rhianna's other side. "She's also our homeroom teacher."
I packed those bit of info away for later, then took back out what Cori had just said. "Wait a minute. You all got homerooms? I thought they didn't do stuff like that until high school."
Cori giggled before she answered. "They kinda do things a little different in our school."
"Oh." I thought back to all the weird questions I had to answer when I'd helped Mom fill out the school application form. Back then I'd just figured that's the way schools did stuff. As I started wondering what might have been behind some of the questions, I noticed the faint tapping of raindrops falling on the outside of the bedroom window. "How different is different?"
Aunt Joan wrapped her arms around me a little more tightly for a moment. "Why don't you finish getting dressed, then you can ask the other girls all about it?"
Being counted as one of "the other girls" made me smile. "Are ya's really okay with me being at the slumber party?"
Tess grinned as she rolled her eyes. "Of course we're okay. Now would ya get yourself changed so we can get it started?"
Aunt Joan waved at the three of them with one arm while leaving the other wrapped around me, keeping my backside more or less covered. "Okay, shoo! Bobby will join you as soon as she's finished changing."
Once they were gone, she slid me off her lap, kneeled down next to me, and gave me a huge hug. "Sweetheart, I realize things are probably pretty confusing and a bit scary for you now, but I promise, things are going to be better. Me and your mommy and ... some other people who care a lot about you are going to be there for you. So just relax and be yourself. Okay?"
I felt a couple of tears trickle out the corner of my eye as I hugged her back, but I felt happier than I had in a long, long time. "Okay, I'll try."
Aunt Joan kissed my forehead as she stood up, then gave me another smile before walking out, closing the door behind her.
I sat down on the bed and looked at the nightgown beside me. Thunder rolled in the distance. I thought about how it had started raining just as I was climbing on the bus after my first day of school. Had it really only been two days since Cori had pulled me out of that mud puddle, and this whole adventure started?
I'd learned a lot since then, both about myself and other people. As the rain started falling harder, I kinda got the feeling my adventure was ending, but I also had a feeling another one was about to start. I stood up and started getting changed as quickly as I could. I wanted to ask my new friends all the questions I could before I started my new adventure at school.