The Joiners pt 12.

by
Angharad
The next morning, everyone seemed tired and niggly, presumably because none of them had slept well. Rob rang his friend Derek and asked him to look at several things and to replace the gate with more difficult ones to climb over and also to fit some sort of surveillance kit to see if anyone was outside in the garden or grounds.

Derek had arrived as Rob was taking Carrie off to town. "Where are we going, Daddy?" she asked him.

They got into the car and Rob asked, "Are you sure you want to be a girl?"

"You know I do," she said back as if she was disappointed with him.

"I'm going to take you to the solicitors and we can change your name officially. If that's what you want to do?"

"Oh yes, Daddy," she attempted to hug him though the seat belt made it difficult.

"I expect the solicitor will ask you him or herself anyway, but only say yes if it's really what you want. Remember, once the declaration is made and signed, it is your official name."

"Yeah, so?" she looked bemused by him.

"It means you won't be Cary anymore, you'll be Carrie and if you wish to revert back to being a boy, it will no longer be as easy as it was changing to a girl. I just want to realise, this is not something you do on a whimsy, do you understand?"

"Why are you trying to put me off?" she had to fight back the tears for a moment.

"I'm not, sweetheart, I'm just trying to make sure you understand the magnitude of what we're going to do. As long as you do, that's fine and if you are still happy to do it, then I will take you there and support you."

"Thank you, Daddy, I think I'm ready." Rob nodded and they drove into town without anything else being said. They managed to park in the solicitor's own car park and went into the office holding hands. Carrie felt a little nervous as they stood waiting at the desk.

"Can, I help you?" asked the young woman in the white blouse and tight black skirt.

"I hope so, we need to make a statutory declaration."

"Right," she looked at a computer screen, "we have someone who can do this for you in a few moments, who shall I say it's for?"

"My name is Carpenter and it's for a change of name."

"Thank you, please take a seat." They sat in the waiting area and Rob heard his phone peep. His builder friend, Derek, had sent him a text to say he'd ordered a gate and it would lock. He'd also ordered some video cameras and they'd be linked by wi-fi to a computer. He'd start installing the cameras the next day and also some motion activated lights. By the time Rob had read his text and replied, a woman in her thirties was standing at the desk and calling him.

Carrie grabbed his hand again and the woman, who was wearing a very nice tailored suit in a dark grey colour, led them into the office. She had a laptop with her. She asked them what they wanted to do.

"This is my daughter, Carrie," said Rob. The woman nodded. "Until quite recently, we thought she was my son, but medical investigations have shown us otherwise and she would like to change her name from Cary to Carrie."

"How old are you, Carrie?" asked the woman, an Eileen Dawson.

"Fourteen, Ms Dawson."

"You realise that once this is done it is your legal name?"

"Yes, Daddy explained that to me."

"And you really want to do this?"

"Yes, I'm a girl and I need a girl's name."

She showed them the text on her computer of the declaration and asked again if it what was wanted, when they both said it was, she sent a copy to the printer in reception and left them for a few moments to go and collect it. Once back she asked them to read it again and then they both signed it, as Carrie was a minor. She then countersigned and stamped it. Rob paid the required fee, which wasn't much. She shook hands with them both and wished Carrie good luck with her new life. She placed the document in an envelope and they went out and shifted the car to a car park in town.

"Where are we going now, Daddy?"

"The bank."

"Oh do you need some money?"

"With you around, girl, it doesn't last very long." He grinned at her as she blushed. They said they needed to speak to someone about an account which would need changing. Once again they sat and waited, this time Carrie had a text from her mum asking them to get some more bread and milk on the way home. She showed it to Rob who asked where did Penny buy her bread, Carrie said she show him.

Eventually, they met with a middle-aged woman in a bank uniform, a jacket and trousers with a blouse bearing the logo of the bank. She took them through to a cubicle and they explained to her what had happened and that Carrie needed to take over Cary's account. Rob showed her the name change they'd just done. She took it and went off to photocopy it, and came back with two copies, she gave the spare to them along with the original and scanned the other one into the computer. She took details of Cary's account and after a few minutes on the computer, she told them she had changed everything and they'd get a letter confirming that. Rob then explained about the cheque and the discrepancy in surnames. Once she understood she went on the internet and saw the local paper website and the results of the competition with a photo of Carrie holding the cheque. She asked Carrie to sign the back printed off details of the account and went off returning five minutes later with a receipt, saying that there was now a cheque for a hundred pounds deposited in her account.

She told them that the account would be in the name of Carrie Carpenter (Joiner) and in future any such cheques would be easily paid in, though credit or bank transfers were much quicker and easier.

"Wow, Daddy, you're really clever, aren't you?"

"I'm fairly bright, Carrie, but I'm also better versed in what happens in the world mainly through experience. You deserved that cheque, so don't tell Tara and the others we've paid it into the bank."

"But we agreed to share it between us, Daddy."

"I don't see they did much to help so shouldn't have much from it, but as you're saying they should, we'll give them ten pounds each and you keep the rest."

"But doesn't seem fair, Daddy," Carrie protested as they walked to the Real Bread Shop, an artisan baker, "If the situation was reversed, I don't think Tara would be complaining I wasn't paying you too much. Carrie shrugged and only spoke when Rob asked her what bread they needed. He bought a couple of cottage loaves and half a dozen rolls. Then on the way back to the car they got a large bottle of milk and drove home.

The gate was more secure and Rob could see where Derek was planning to do things the next day as he'd marked them with aerosol paint spray. Carrie rushed in and showed them the certificate of her name change and both Tara and her mother hugged her. "Don't I get one, too?" asked Rob and she threw herself at him and nearly knocked him over, but he got a very tight and emotional hug from her.

He took the form to file away in his office in the house and she went upstairs to freshen up, she realised something quite important had happened and she needed to think about it quietly. She sat in her chair in front of her computer and stared at the photocopy of the form she held in her hand. It said she completely refuted her previous name in favour of the new one and that this would be her name from now on. In some ways she felt good, it was what she wanted, wasn't it? Or was it? Inside her a little fragment of Cary felt quite distraught, he was effectively gone, but no one had asked him.

Carrie felt herself tear up and she wept for the loss of Cary. She hadn't thought of it before and she could see now what the adults were asking her, except she couldn't see it then and now it was too late, Cary was gone, he no longer existed legally, as far as she understood. It was actually a bit more complicated than that but it was the beginning of the process and she felt sad, almost in mourning.

Tara came in and seeing her looking sad asked what was up. Carrie tried to explain it. "Well you should have told Dad if you didn't want to do it," was her opinion.

"I did want to do it, but I didn't realise I'd feel sad about it, but I do."

Tara gave her hug and rubbed her back. "Cary hasn't really gone, he's just turned into something better who also happens to be someone better."

"What? What d'you mean?"

"Well, he's turned into a girl hasn't he? and he's not Cary but Carrie, and I love having you as my sister all the time now, better than a brother." They hugged again and both smiled.

"Have you been crying, sweetie?" asked Penny when Carrie came down for a cuppa.

Carrie shrugged.

"Your eyes look all red, so have you?"

Carrie's eyes filled up again and Penny wrapped her up in a huge hug whereupon she burst into tears and sobbed for several minutes. Rob had gone off his office in town for a meeting so Penny had to deal with it. She sat down on a dining room chair and Carrie perched on her lap hugging her as if she was trying to hide in her arms.

"What's the matter, sweetie-pie?" asked Penny.

"I don't know," sobbed a very faint voice.

Penny rubbed her back and whispered reassurances, "Let it all out, sweetheart, let out all your sadness and uncertainty. You're safe here with us, no one will hurt you while I'm here."

"I know," said the tiny voice in huge contrast from the dulcet tones which had won the karaoke competition.

"So what's worrying you?"

"I feel sad."

"And why is that, my darling?"

"It feels like Cary has died."

"Ah," said Penny, "are you regretting what you did this morning in changing your name?"

"No, I know we had to do it, but I feel sad for Cary."

"He hasn't died, sweetheart, he'll always be a part of you but he had to make way for you to develop and grow. So he hasn't gone so much as faded into the background and all he was and knew can be included in who you are now and will be in the future, your music and your ideas, your love for your family and our love for you. We all still love that bit of you that holds Cary safe and we love Cary too. Does that help?"

"Yes, thank you, Mummy," the sobbing eased to sniffs and after giving her a tissue to wipe her nose and eyes, Penny went on to make a pot of tea. "Where's Tara?" asked Carrie.

"Gone to meet up with Macey, why?"

"Oh," said Carrie, She didn't say anything to me."

"She is a free agent, within certain limits," said Penny pouring the tea.

"I'd just got used to having her around."

"I know she's closer to you as a sister because you're her sister now, but she still has her own friends and will go off to see them. You knew this as her brother and it didn't seem to worry you, why should it now?"

"I had Colm before, I don't now, I don't have anyone now."

"You will when you go to a new school, you're a nice girl and you'll make plenty of friends."

"I didn't before, did I?"

"I think we all know why, now, don't we?"

"Maybe," said Carrie.

"Oh come on, girl, if you start a new school like that, you won't make any friends, you have to be prepared to like them as well, you know?"

"Yeah, okay." Carrie took her tea up to her room and played on her keyboard. She wasn't playing any particular tune or melody just translating how she felt into sound which ranged from discordant to almost heavenly, she was lost in a trance for several minutes and then she stopped, picked up the Carpenter's song book and began to play the music for Only Yesterday

Then she began to sing along to the music sounding remarkably like Karen Carpenter again, though without the backing of the recorded version. It was obvious from a number of the various videos that they were miming or lipsynching, as they sometimes called it these days, because Carrie had learned that Richard Carpenter spent ages mixing and playing around with the recordings and that they laid several tracks of their own backing on top of the original track. It must be difficult to back yourself while you're actually singing, thought Carrie, then realised with the karaoke machine, it wasn't, or you could lay down the backing track and sing along to it live. She'd have a think about that, though she might need some special software to be able to record the backing while allowing her to play it while singing or playing the drums or piano.

Life just seemed to get more and more complicated and Carrie was still playing with the same song when Penny came up to see where she was and listened to her singing and playing oblivious to her mum watching and listening to her. Penny was in awe of how good she was and still only fourteen. If her talent wasn't just a flash in the pan, she could really make a name for herself and not by copying Karen Carpenter, but by writing and playing her own material. 'I hope she remembers her poor parents when she's a mega star earning millions,' thought Penny to herself.

Only Yesterday https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evETS8_WFGE