When I was born my father was away on business. He was the First Attendant of Communications, an extremely honorable position that gave one supreme power over Taroma and its provinces. My mom was left to squeeze me out all by herself with our nurse helping make her as comfortable as possible. I was a mistake the moment I popped out. I had been born a girl.
My mother knew the whole time the way only a mom can tell but she never shared her stipulations with my father. It must have been a blessing then that my father wasn't home when I was born. If he had been I would have been handed off to someone else or killed. Being left in the mountains was quite the possibility as well. But my secret was conceived right then and there when my mother made my nurse swear not to tell.
Jack Plantocracy was born with me. His name was written down on a birth certificate, mine was not. I believed I was he all these years until the day my mother sat me down and told me the truth.
Jack Plantocracy enjoyed playing in the sand with other aristocratic boys and digging out worms to catch fish with. He had light curly blond hair that his mother kept cut very short until the age of five when it darkened to a more dirty wheat color. His eyes were so light they looked like diluted green Jell-o. Some said that they were just grey and some said they were blue but the real color was most definitely green, his mother told him everyday.
Jack had a tendency to catch little animals in traps and he would hide them up in his room until one of the maids would find them and spank him. There was the incident of his pet snake that actually stayed hidden in his room for quite a while. Jack would catch rats and bring them to the snake and kept a little bowl of water out for it like a dog. He would have gotten away with the pet if one maid hadn't seen the bowl and went searching for a bunny rabbit. That maid quit a short time after, most of them did. Jack was an untamable boy.
A little girl named Jenna Marie used to try to play with Jack and his friends but they made fun of her. She being a girl made her inferior to the boys. She had cooties they said. But she was just so darn persistent when it came to playing with them.
I was the one who eventually caved and the boys went along with it since Jack was the leader of the pack. Jack and the boys were planning one of their adventures when she came to them for the fiftieth time that summer. They were all around six or eight years old. Jack was the second eldest at seven and a half like Jenna Marie.
"Mister Owl will be going out to get the news paper at exactly four o'clock so that's when we'll move in." Petey told the boys who were leaning around a big bucket of worms.
Mister Owl was a good man to the boys when they were separate but together he was always chasing them away and yelling mean things. Mister Owl was a servant and therefore was fair game for any of the pranks. Mess with an adult and there will be worse things to worry about then just a spanking.
"Hi, boys." Jack turned around to see that Jenna Marie was back.
"Go away Jenna Marie."
"I just want to play," she looked at the boys' faces each individually, looking for a weak link. She found none.
"This is only for boys and you're too little."
"Am not, Jack Planocracy. I can be just as big as the rest of you." Jenna Marie had a little bit or a mean streak in her sometimes.
"Fine. Come with us," Jack invited thinking of a plan on the spot. "You have to keep your big trap shut though." She pushed her lips together tightly and nodded. "Okay, follow us."
Getting into Mr. Owl's house was easy, he always kept his big back window open and Martin knew how to pop out the screen with his screwdriver. Each of the five boys and Jenna Marie slipped into the dark house. Only the light from the windows lit up the room. Mr. Owl was out for his newspaper and cigarettes. Jack's mom always said that Mr. Owl'll never buy his freedom with all the cigs he smokes.
"Put all these in his bed Jenna Marie."
"With my fingers that's gross."
"You can't be a boy if you don't like touching worms," Martin dictated sternly. Jenna Marie sighed and grabbed a big handful of the slimy little critters. She made several gagging noises while she shoveled the worms into the bed.
Jack's plan backfired; instead of scaring her away with worms he ended up giving her the opportunity to impress all of his friends. Jenna Marie became an official tag along there after. Jack couldn't complain he sort of liked having her along sometimes, she would do as they say since she was the littlest of the group.
"Jack?" His mom's voice was low and deadly the way it got when she knew something.
"Yes." He batted his eyes a few times mustering up all of his innocence.
"Al Block just called. Did you put worms in his bed?"
Jack sniggered in spite of himself. "No, didn't even touch 'em."
Jenna Marie served as a good scapegoat. Jack's mom hardly got as mad when he blamed it on Jenna Marie. She seemed to know when he was lying about his innocence although.
But his time with Jenna Marie was short lived because boys and girls only go to the same school until fifth grade. Once middle school came around the schools became segregated. The girls went to the school down the street from the boys, it wasn't as fine as the boys' school and it was quite smaller. When Jack asked about this, his mother answered that girls are smaller and they don't need as much room.
In his fifth grade class the week before school got out for the summer the children were separated and brought to the school for their tour. Two years with Jenna Marie all the time found Jack developing a best friend in her. The two were inseparable, she was good and they were both seriously sassy and bold which got them into fights frequently. She waved good-bye to Jack with a big smile on her cute little face as they exited out of separate doors. Jack didn't watch after that since he was too excited to see his brand new school.
It was just like his first one but the toilets were higher off the floor and there were only boys' bathrooms. All the teachers were male and it was like you could smell the testosterone radiating off the walls. There were pictures hanging up on the walls but there weren't any colorful painted flowers decorating the lockers. It was much more grown up, and masculine looking.
"Fellas, this is where you'll spend your next four years of school. Depending on how you do here you will be put in different schools to draw out your strengths. I'd like to remind you that you should always try your best here." The principal was a large man with big muscles and stood seven feet high at least. He had a close shaven beard and side burns. He wore a big gold ring on his right index finger. It looked like it would hurt if this man ever hit you.
The older kids that were in charge of giving the tour whispered secrets that weren't part of the official information that the teachers approved. They said that when kids didn't work up to their 'full potential' they were sent to the principal and were usually out for a few days. When they came back they would have a black eye. Jack wasn't sure whether to believe them or not.
Apart from the intimidating older boys the school was welcoming. The few classes they got to sit in for an hour had cheerful teachers that knew their stuff. The gym was much bigger then the one in the elementary school. Jack was the strongest boy in his class, he could do ten pull ups no problem and was excited to show up all the older boys during middle school physical education.
The bell rang for lunch and kids came pooling out of the classrooms and for the first time in the last two hours Jack felt small. The boys who were showing them around now were only a few inches taller then Jack but the ninth graders were huge. One boy came by who was about the size of my father. Jack quick turned to Petey who was also starring at the large boys.
"They're so big."
"Yeah, I know." Petey sounded more intruiged then scared. He looked at them in different eyes. He explained later that someday they were going to look like that, they were going to be that big and powerful. Until then, Jack decided he would keep his distance from them. This was reinforced when three boys came over.
"What are you looking at newbies?" Two of the boys pushed us backwards and laughed as they walked away.
"Jerks!" I called after them, not able to help myself. I didn't take crap from anyone even if they could probably eat me in one bite.
Back at home Jack told his mom all about his discoveries at the school and couldn't wait to hear about Jenna Marie's day at school. She called him before he could call her.
"Jenna Marie?"
"Can I come over?"
"Yes, I'll meet you at the door." Jack hung up and ran out to the door basically bouncing where he stood with excitement at the new school. He just wanted school to end already so he could start his first day of grade six. Jenna Marie walked slowly, watching her feet as she approached from the house across the street.
"Did you see your school?" He exploded before she was even through the door.
"Yeah, Jack I don't want to go to girl school. Can I come to boy school with you?" My mom looked over her shoulder from her place on the couch.
"Oh, honey why don't you want to go to school?"
"I'm afraid of the school. They sat us down today and talked to us long and hard about next year and about how they wouldn't put up with any problems and they were all so angry looking. The walls were blank like a jail."
"It's because that's for little kids."
"I'm just not ready to go yet. What was your school like Jack?"
"Well...it was great! The teachers all seemed really nice and the lockers are bigger and it smells different, not like bubbles and pudding but like ink and grown ups."
"Can I come to your school?"
"It's only for boys," Jack said flatly.
"Excuse me." My mom got up and walked into the kitchen abruptly to talk to Abbie, my nurse. Jenna Marie played with the end of her long brown braids for a while, deep in thought.
"I'm not going to let them break me. All the girls there are all pink and polite and you know what I say?" She let a loud burp rip through the air. We both erupted into laughter. I knew that Jenna Marie would never change she was too much of herself to start liking pink.
She eventually forgot about her visit with her new school and the following week was just like old times. Then that final bell rang and screams echoed off the walls as children ran out of the school with cries of joy. Jack was one of the loudest children. He didn't even notice Jenna-Marie's silence as she walked slowly behind him and his friends.
"You're coming to my party tonight, right?" Jack asked her as she separated from the gang to walk up her driveway. She nodded and promised that she'd be there. Nothing could rain on Jacks day. That was until he opened his own house door to two very serious women sitting on the couch.