Four Girls and a Guy - Suzanne Jenkins Page 0,3
basket and placed it in the coffee maker. “I hate this thing,” she groused, sticking the coffee mug in place. “The coffee is like acid.”
“I love it,” Samantha said, trying not to think about condoms. “Your mom sends us coffee every month, so what’s not to like?”
“I miss having a pot of coffee waiting, that’s all. My dad makes a pot for us every morning. It’s one of the things I miss about home. Unless it’s fresh, my mother won’t drink it, hence the pods.”
“I like your mother. She’s the complete opposite of mine.”
Alison’s mother, Lisa Saint, was the quintessential stereotype of a wealthy doctor’s wife: extensive plastic surgery, designer clothes, every other day in the beauty parlor.
“And she’s the complete opposite of me. The last time they were here, she read me the riot act because my legs weren’t shaved. If she only knew the rest of it.”
“Ally, when are you going to tell her?”
“What? That I’m a transgender guy wannabe? Oh hell no. You have no idea what the result of that would be.”
“I’m sad for you! You’re a wonderful human. Your parents love you. I think you should trust them.”
“Look, you have to trust me on this, Samantha. My parents are not going to take kindly to it. Right now they’re probably wondering if I’m a butch lesbian.”
Frowning, Samantha wondered where that came from.
“With that hair you look like a feminine angel. I don’t think you have a correct representation of your physical self, my dear.”
“Bingo! What have I been saying?”
“You don’t have to try to please your parents any longer is my point,” Samantha said gently.
“My father is one of four boys. They all have sons, ten of them as a matter of fact. I’m one of three girl cousins. They have expectations of me to get married and have babies like everyone else. And I want that, too, but just not the way they want me to do it.
“Not only that, but I don’t think transitioning while I’m in medical school is smart. I can just be a person. I’m still discovering where this is going to go.”
“Do you want surgery down the road?”
“No, I don’t. At least not for a long time. I want to have kids, too, so hormones are out of the question. This is where it gets complicated.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry with me, okay? Just be yourself.”
Samantha would never understand the dilemma Alison faced. From the time she was a little girl, Alison wanted nothing more than to please her mother and father, but she wasn’t the child they wanted, they just didn’t know it yet. She remembered one incident clearly. Christmas the year she was four. They were all at Aunt Roberta and Uncle Mike’s gift exchange. Her brother, six-year-old Jeff, got the Spiderman action figure that she wanted, and she got Polly Pocket. It was one of multiple times she’d felt cheated. Kneeling on the floor, she couldn’t help the tears.
“Ally’s crying,” Jeff called out, sincerely worried that his sister was upset.
“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Aunt Roberta asked.
“I want Jeff’s gift,” she said, pouting. “I told Mommy. It was on my list.”
Mortified, Lisa rushed over, placing her cocktail glass on the hearth, and pushed the concerned Roberta out of the way. “What’s going on? Why are you crying?”
“I wanted Spiderman,” Alison cried.
“Well, you got Polly Pocket instead,” Lisa replied, forcing a smile. “Pull yourself together before you go in the corner.”
“But I want Spiderman,” she screamed, tears streaming down her face.
“That’s a boy toy,” Lisa snapped. “You got Polly Pocket instead.”
“I want to be a b—”
With lightning speed, Lisa slapped her hand over Alison’s face. It was not the first time her daughter had uttered the blasphemy. Ready to suffocate Alison if she had to, she bent down with her back to the rest of the family and hissed, “Shut your mouth, Alison, and never say those words again. I’ll give you a spanking you won’t soon forget in front of all these people. I’ll pull your pants down and whoop your bare butt. Is that what you want?”
Sniveling, Alison shook her head no.
“Now shut up!”
Never again did the issue come up. Alison did her best. She became what her mother wanted. She accepted gifts she didn’t care for and tried to be the obedient female child the Saints wanted. After a while, she thought of herself as the abnormal one of the family. No one else had issues. They were all normal, albeit some were boring, people.
Joan