I watched as Vincent reluctantly returned to his room and yet again thanked my lucky stars that it wasn’t me having to pretend to be a girl. I couldn’t be more thankful when Vincent returned wearing his Gym kit: a long sleeved purple leotard bearing a small school crest in the middle of its chest and broad green stripes up the sides. His two uniforms and his PE kit seemed bad enough, but a leotard and nothing else must be horrendous to wear if you’re a boy!

Why Vincent needs two PE kits I’ve no idea. At my high school we wear the same kit for outdoor and indoor sports and it seems to work. When Mother passes him another batch of items, I can’t help but exclaim, “Three PE kits!?”

“One for outdoor games, one for gym and one for dance.” Mother replied. “Plus a swimsuit.” she added.

“A girl’s one?” I gulped.

“Of course.” Mother replied before prompting Vincent to go and try on his ‘dance’ kit. Once he was out of earshot, Mother thanked me for not teasing my brother… or ‘sister’ as she put it. “She’s got enough to put up with when Gregory is being horrible to her.” Mother added.

“You can say that again!” I thought. Fact is, both I and Gregory have teased Vincent since Mother decided he should be a girl, but as Gregory’s teasing and taunting has escalated into nastiness, I’ve eased off. If it was me having to wear girl’s clothes all the time, sleep beneath a girl’s duvet and wake up in a girl’s bedroom, answer to a girls name and act all girlie then I know I’d appreciate a bit of support. But what I can’t get my head round is why Mother continues pretending he’s a girl when it’s clearly the root cause of everything Vincent has to put up with.

I pat myself on the back for successfully containing my snorts and sniggers when Vincent descends the stairs wearing his ‘dance’ kit. His cheeks are crimson and rightly so. He wears another purple leotard, but this one has thin shoulder straps. Around his waist is a short purple skirt made from a fabric that can be seen right through. I question the point of it, but not out loud. His legs are clad in a pair of pale pink dance tights and for all intents and purposes, he’s dressed as a ballerina. The only thing he’s lacking is a tutu. Not surprisingly, Mother fusses over him the moment he lands on the kitchen floor. “I couldn’t work out this cardigan.” he said, drawing Mum’s attention to the green woolly garment that hangs limply from his hand.

“It’s a bolero.” Mother says as she helps him into it. It’s like a cardigan I suppose, but only covers his arms and upper back, those being the areas this leotard doesn’t cover. Again, I couldn’t imagine how Vincent must feel having to wear such a girlie outfit. It must be bad enough wearing that stuff in front of me and Mum, but wearing it in front of an entire class must be horrendous. Mother claims it’s OK because all the boys wear the same, but that would be of no consolation if it was me being sent to this ‘petticoating school’. After enduring a little more of Mum’s fussing and faffing than anyone could handle, Vincent is told to go and change. The way he bounds up the stairs suggests he’s keen to do so. He returns minutes later wearing one of his dresses and Mother starts faffing with his hair, tying it in bunches and fussing over how nice and pretty he looks.

In a way I was a little envious of all the attention that Vincent was getting since he became Sophie, but ultimately I was thankful that it wasn’t me that had endure one girlie outfit after another. In private he claims that he hates being a girl and having to wear dresses and skirts all the time. But in front of Mother or his friends (being Laura and Vanessa), he just acts all girlie as if he’s trying to score brownie points. He also claims that he’s not looking forward to going to his new school because he has to dress like a girl, but then contradicts himself by saying he’d rather go there than to a normal high school now he’s a ‘girl’. It’s hard to work him out these days.

My brother Gregory just calls him a sissy or a freak to his face and behind his back. He also calls Mother a variety of derogatory terms behind her back and refers to our home as ‘the house of freaks’. I know all too well that home life is a long way from normal, but Gregory seems to have forgotten just how depressed Mother was before Vincent became the daughter she’d been longing for. I’ve given up trying to pacify Gregory just as I’ve given up teasing Vincent as the former has proved to be pointless and the latter was just plain mean. I’m looking forward to the day when Gregory leaves for college because he’s turned into a person I struggle to like or look up to. I wish I was old enough to move on too though… with a sister who’s really my brother and a mother who’s constantly fussing over him/her… it’s not exactly a normal household these days. None of my friends knock anymore and whenever I invite them over they either make excuses or bluntly tell me that they way my mother fusses over my ‘sissy brother’ is far too weird.
I’d sort of got used to seeing my brother wearing nothing but girlie dresses and skirts throughout the summer holidays. Mother would have Vincent change his outfit two or three times a day and he seemingly got a new item of girlie clothing on a weekly basis. It was a bit overwhelming to witness, but at least I didn’t have to endure it like Vincent does. I’d assumed that having to go to school dressed as a girl would be far worse than being a girl at home, but Vincent claims the opposite to be true. At home he’s the only boy dressed as a girl whilst at school he’s just one of many boys who wear the girl’s uniform.
I spent the first week of the new school term being frequently quizzed about my younger brother/sister. It wasn’t easy trying to justify my mother and defend my brother but I guess it was easier than being in Vincent’s shoes, especially those with heels! Vincent seems to be happy enough at his new school, and he likes the fact that his school uniform is far less prissy than the dresses Mother makes him wear at home. I guess Malham Hall is a better place for him than Broadoak Road where he’d be the only boy wearing the girl’s uniform, assuming he’d be allowed to wear the girl’s uniform.
Gregory’s attitude towards our brother and our mother is getting worse as he prepares to leave for college. For some reason he’s due to enrol in mid September so we have to put up with his trollish presence for another week yet. Half the time when I try to defend Vincent, Gregory starts having a go at me too and claiming I’ve going soft. I don’t know why he’s become so horrible to us, but I do know that I can’t wait to see the back of him.