Chapter 7

Before I was ready to meet up with Billy, I needed to organise. If I ended up leaving with Billy, I wouldn't have a chance to come back to my campsite. I didn't want to leave all my stuff to be discovered, but I also needed to be able to retrieve everything if I didn't leave with Billy. I made two piles, one that I thought I could take with me and the rest. I had to base what I could take with me on what I could reasonably have gotten a hold of or couldn't live without and what I would be able to carry.

My kindle I really wanted to have with me, but I didn't really have a good explanation for. I would just have to say that a nice lady gave it to me and leave it as a mystery. My phone I would take in case Billy was not nice and I needed rescuing. Again not an easy one to explain, but necessary.

Into my backpack, I put my sleeping bag, one pack of my wet wipes, my two mirrors, some of my cash, the rest of the cash I hid in my inside pocket of my winter jacket, my Kindle, burner phone and the solar charger.

I decided against taking any food since MRE's might be hard to explain. All my clothes were boy clothes and were a little too large, especially my shoes, so I was only going to take what I was wearing.

Sunday morning I collapsed the tent, rolled all the stuff that I was leaving inside the tent coverings and shallowly buried it all, that way I could unearth it and start again if things went pear-shaped. I then had a wash and put on the cleanest clothes that I had, brushed my hair and made my way towards the dead-end. I sat in a bush that I had used previously when I was watching Billy and waited.

Rather than allowing myself to become bored, I pulled out my kindle and carried on reading Treasure Island. The book is quite riveting when you get past the beginning bit so I was almost startled when I heard the car coming down the dirt road.

I didn't want to approach him straight away. I wanted another chance to observe his strange behaviour before making up my mind. At that point in my life, I was very ignorant of most things that were out of the ordinary. If I had ever met a man dressed as a woman before, I hadn't noticed it. The good side of that is that no one had ever expressed an opinion on the matter, good or bad, so I had a completely open mind. My main reaction was curiosity. Why was he doing that? The emotions that Billy went through seemed extreme and always ended up sad, so I knew something was wrong and my response to that was a desire to help.

I waited until he had done his dance and was walking with a happy smile on his face before I made my move. My gut feeling was that this was a good person. When he was facing away from me I manoeuvred out of my bush. He heard the rustling and so had turned back towards me with an anxious look on his face.

“Hello,” I said.

“Err.. hello,” he replied.

I walked towards him.

“Why do you do that?” I asked him.

“Do what?”

“Dress as a woman,” I clarified.

“I err... am one?” she answered with an unsure questioning tone.

“Oh. That makes sense then.” I now knew I needed to think of him as a her. It was confusing to see someone who appeared to be two different people and a relief to know which one was real.

“Can I ask you a question?” she asked me.

“Sure.”

“Where are your Mommy and Daddy?” she asked looking around.

I needed to act my part now. I brought back my memories from when I woke up in New York, alone, afraid, aware that my parents had sold me. When this had happened to me I had held very tightly to my emotions, crying on the inside, trying my hardest not to show weakness. Now I felt tears bubbling up and this time I couldn't control them, even if I wanted to. I burst into tears. I couldn't think about anything but the misery of knowing that your parents don't love you.

I was very soon enveloped in a warm hug.

“There, there, it will be alright. I promise,” she said, stroking my hair.

Her words were nice and the hug nicer, but it didn't help me to get a hold of my emotions. It almost seemed to draw more out of me. I just stayed in her arms and wept my heart out. Eventually, I felt myself let something go and I could calm down. My eyes felt sore, my nose felt stuffed and yet, I felt a bit better.

“Sorry,” I said. Sniffle, sniffle.

“That's alright, honey. What's your name?”

“Rose. What's yours?”

She hesitated for a second. “Rebecca,” she said with a wry smile. “What happened to your parents?” she asked gently.

“They sold me to some bad men, so I ran away. You can't tell anyone or they'll send me back. I don't want to be a prisoner again,” I responded, shaking my head for emphasis.

Rebecca gasped. “Did they... did they do something to you?”

“I listened at the door and heard they wanted to, so I ran away.” I started edging myself away from her as if I was looking to run away again. “You're not going to give me back to them are you?” I asked, looking around.

“No. I couldn't live with myself if I gave you back to bad people.”

“You promise?” I asked holding out my pinky finger.

She smiled. “I pinky promise,” she replied, shaking my pinky with hers.

Rebecca walked me towards her car holding my hand.

Internally I marvelled at my performance. I was pretty sure that I was behaving how an eight-year-old girl would behave. A part of me that was growing responded 'that's because you are an eight-year-old girl.' I didn't find it a struggle. It came naturally so I listened to that voice and agreed. I am an eight-year-old girl.

When we got to the car, Rebecca paused for a few moments and then she turned towards me and crouched down so we were a similar height.

“Honey, I need to explain a few things that are going to seem a bit strange. I am a girl here,” Rebecca said pointing towards her head, “and here,” she now pointed towards her heart, “but the rest of me looks like a man. Legally, I was born a man which means the world looks at me as a man. I can change that and I will, but it costs a lot of money that I don't have just yet. So I have to keep Rebecca, my real self, a secret and I need you to keep that secret as well. Can you do that for me, Rose?”

I nodded my head with a solemn expression on my face. “What do I call you?” I asked.

“Brian,” she replied with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. This is what was making her sad. She clearly needed to get rid of Brian and become Rebecca.

I gently grabbed hold of her head with one hand on each side of her face and leaned forward to look deep into her eyes. “I will call you Brian, but I will know you are Rebecca,” I told her.

She kissed me on the forehead. “Thank you.” I could see her eyes were moist and she blinked rapidly to stop her tears.

She explained what she was doing as she was removing all traces of Rebecca. I think she was doing it so that she didn't startle me when the wig came off and then continued for everything else.

When I was strapped in the passenger seat Rebecca looked at me with a frown.

“We are going to need to get you a booster seat.” Rebecca then fiddled with her phone and set up the navigation to the nearest Wallmart.

“Where are we going?” I asked her. I knew she was presenting as Brian now and others would treat her that way, but I couldn't stop thinking that she was Rebecca. I mean if your heart and head say you are a girl, that is what matters.

“We are going to Bakersfield to have some lunch and get a car booster seat. I don't want the police to pull us over and without that seat, they would have every reason to. Then I am taking you home with me. You can stay with me until I can figure out how to keep you safe. If anyone asks you are my niece, Rose Turing.”

“OK. Thank you. I have to admit this strap doesn't feel very comfortable,” I admitted. The shoulder strap was digging into my neck. I guess four inches really makes a difference.

“How old are you, Rose?”

“Eight. My birthday is October the third.”

“That was only a few days ago. I think we should celebrate it. How about some ice cream,” she asked with a smile.

“Yes, please,” I said enthusiastically.

Rebecca chuckled.

“Umm... could I buy a few clothes? I have some money,” I admitted.

“Where did you... never mind. Of course, we will go shopping after we have eaten. You keep your money, this will be my treat. What clothes do you have in your bag.”

“Thank you, Rebecca,” I replied. “I don't have any clothes.”

“I love you calling me that, but try and avoid that in front of others, please.”

I thought furiously. “Umm, can I call you Bee? I will be thinking that it is B for Becca and everyone else will think it is B for Brian.”

“Bee?” she turned towards me with a smile. “I like it! Call me Bee.”