This is a follow-up to A Surrogate Sister, which you may want to read first. This story begins five years after George and Andrew's youngest brother Peter became Sophie, and is told in flashback form from Andrew's point of view.
Also, I'd better warn you that it's nearly 40,000 words long!
Also, I'd better warn you that it's nearly 40,000 words long!
Being
at college is loads better than being at school. There's no uniform
for a start, the subjects are more interesting, there's no PE, RE or
IT to endure and I've made a few new friends too. It's not uncommon
for a handful of us to go down by the creek and sit talking, smoking
and generally killing time between our classes. Today I sit with
Bekah and TJ... and as usual, TJ is moaning about his parents. I
wouldn't mind but his folks are loaded and all his supposed problems
can be attributed to him being a spoilt little brat who's struggling
to grow up. He's a nice enough guy but sometimes I wish he'd give his
'my parents are so unfair' mantra a rest. I guess Bekah was also at
the end of her tether with his incessant whining because she told him
that he has no idea just how lucky he is. She described her own
home life which leaves both of us speechless. She grew up with an
alcoholic mother and an abusive yet mostly absent father. Any nice
clothes she had were second hand and she endured years of teasing and
taunting at school for being scruffy, spotty, speccy and so on. Once
she'd informed TJ just how bad growing up could be in a broken home
where money is scarce, he shut his mouth. “What about you Drew?”
she asked me. “Your Mum's a single parent isn't she?”
I
nodded and Bekah asked what she's like. “She's OK I guess. She used
to be a bit mad but...”
“My
Mother's bonkers!” TJ interupted. “She even irons socks... and if
there's one thing I can't stand it's creases in my T shirt
sleeves...” Bekah and I shared a sly grin and rolled our eyes as TJ resumed his rant about how bad his life in a cushy middle class home is.
We let him rant away though, and thankfully mid-rant, he realised
that he was supposed to be somewhere and darted off.
"See ya tomorrow TJ." we said in unison.
"See ya tomorrow TJ." we said in unison.
“Poor
lad... having creases in his T shirt sleeves.” Bekah giggled. “My
mum didn't even have an iron and if she did she'd have pawned it for
a bottle of gin.”
This
made me laugh out loud but it wasn't funny. “Sorry. It's the way
you said it, not what you said.”
“Ah
it's OK... I could write a book about my mother's drunken antics”
she replied.
“So...”
Bekah asks after short yet comfortable silence. “When you say your
Mum was a bit mad... how do you mean?”
After
seeking her assurance that she wouldn't tell anyone, I said “Well,
she wasn't a psycho or schizo or anything like that.. but she did
make me and my brother wear dresses.” I gulped before defensively
adding, “Not all the time... just occasionally.”
“Wow!”
Bekah exclaimed as she lit two cigarettes and passed one to me. “I
wasn't expecting that.”
“Thanks.”
I said as I took the lit cigarette from her, “It was pretty weird.”
I added before taking a long deep toke of my ciggy. I didn't want to
reveal everything to Bekah... in fact I wasn't sure I should be
revealing anything to her, but it feels good to talk and she seems as
if she's capable of listening without prejudice.
“So...
how come your Mum made you wear dresses?” she asked. “Was it a
punishment thing?”
“No
nothing like that.” I replied. “My younger brother went to high
school in Crickley...” I began.
“Which
one?” she asked.
“Malham
Hall.” I cautiously replied.
“I
had a feeling you were going to say that.” she replied, “It's a
very good school.”
“Not
if you're a boy it ain't.” I retorted before taking another drag of
my fag. “Well...” I backtracked. “...it is a good school I
suppose... it's just the boy's uniform isn't so good.” I said. I
didn't tell her that my mother turned Peter into a girl and insisted
we called him Sophie as she didn't need to know about that, but did
tell her about him having to dress like a girl for school as that is
the precursor to Mum making me wear dresses. “My big bro and I used
to tease him something rotten.” I confessed. “But we were just
picking on an easy target.”
“So...
your brother went to Malham Hall...” Bekah said. “...and you went
to Broadoak Road, which isn't an EP school?” she quizzed, adding
“Educational Petticoating” for clarity. I nodded and she
continued. “So... how come you ended up wearing dresses then.”
I
sighed. “I dunno... it just sort of happened.” I replied. “You
promise you won't tell anyone?”
Bekah
assured her confidentiality and dug a little deeper. I cast my mind
back five years to that fateful summer when it all began...
