Chapter 15

The events described above became my life for the next ten days. I’d get up early, dress as feminine as I could to please my aunt, and then make my way to her kitchen and prepare our coffee and breakfast. Next, I’d sit beside her, sometimes with the heavy book on my head, mostly not because I hardly ever dropped it anymore, and daintily eat my fruit bowl or drink my smoothie and coffee. Aunty Liz would spend breakfast time quizzing me on topics of interest as we companionably sat together.

After four days, Aunt Liz announced she’d have to return to work. It turned out she, not the person whose name was on the sign above the door, owned The Fontaine Clinic. It was one of several small businesses, almost all in the health or allied health fields, she owned. When Aunty Liz returned to work, I spent the days feeling strangely bereft, as if my sole support person had abandoned me. It made me even more determined to please her and ensure she wanted to keep me around.

To this end, I began researching ways to make myself less masculine. I practised tucking until I could do it in only a few minutes. I kept my entire body below my eyebrow entirely free from hair and practised gliding across the floor until it became an ingrained habit. Then, I used the laptop Aunty Liz had given me to research how to feminise my voice.