Synopsis:

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.

Story:

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 The sound of rain tapping on the window, which I'd fallen asleep to last night, had been replaced by birds chirping.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?

Notes:

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