Jenny and her mother return to her old room to collect the next batch of books and ornaments. “I guess we should leave him a few things.” Jenny suggests. Her mother agrees, so Jenny takes great delight in leaving him many of her old princess and fairy books, as well as some DVD’s she’s long grown out of. She arranges a couple of old dolls and cuddly bears on his shelves, along with some unwanted girlie ornaments, and steps back to admire her work.
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” her mother says, before before looking at Jenny’s bed and her old Disney Princess duvet cover. “Do you want this duvet?” she asks, “Or shall we leave it for Peter?”
Jenny giggles at the idea of her brother keeping it and sleeping in it. “Yes lets!” she says, “In fact… there’s my old Tinker Bell, Barbie and My Little Pony bed sets too.”
“Oh he’ll love those!” Mother agrees sarcastically, before asking if she wants her TV & DVD unit. Jenny looks at the pink appliance which she’s had for many years. “Nah… plus his is much better than that old thing.”
“Very well.” her mother grins. “A few weeks of this and I doubt he’ll ever want to wear girl’s clothes again.”
“But what if he doesn’t?” Jenny asks. “I mean… does…. like it…”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it… but hopefully we won’t have to.”
When they returned with the last of Jenny’s things, Peter had finished making the bed. His mother told him to put the sheets, duvet cover and pillow cases in the wash, before taking the bin bags down to the kitchen. Taking one in each hand herself, she headed down stairs. Moments later, Peter arrived with a bin bag in each hand, and asked his mother where to put them.
“In the yard.” she replied. “Now!” she said, noticing he was clearly reluctant to do as asked wearing what he was.
“But….” he said, looking down at his dress and shoes and stockings.
His mother looked him up and down, sighed and took them out for him. “Christ knows what the neighbours would think if they saw you.” she said on her return.
He was told to go and wash his make up off, and then was confined to his new room until supper was ready. As he sat on his bed, all he wanted to do was cry, but he’d cried all the tears he has. He looked around the room he’d always hated, trying not to believe it was now his. The hateful pink DVD/TV sat on the chest of drawers. The dressing table which was once littered with his sisters make-up and perfume now lay empty… unlike the wardrobe which contained the clothes he’d feared wearing so much. The wardrobe that now holds a selection of ghastly dresses he can call his own.
On the half empty bookshelves was a couple of dolls and several girlie ornaments. He flicked through the books his sister had left him, but being little girl’s picture books and fairy tales, he had little interest in them. She’d also left him a few Barbie DVDS, along with Tinker Bell and the Disney Princesses films. He wondered if his mother would make him go outside too, and cast his mind back to the girl from the skatepark in the rose queen parade. All those thoughts were now his reality.