A Fire Destroyed Everything - Part 2

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The next few days and evenings were filled with packing and planning, realtors who wanted to help Rebecca and Chuck sell this house, and all sorts of other busy stuff. By noon the following Sunday, the only thing left in Matty's old house was dust. We didn't have anything, which helped, and with all of us working hard, the move went fast.

Since Juliet had already moved to Battle Creek, she told us we were welcome to, meaning stuck with, everything she was leaving behind, with a few exceptions which she specified. When she said it would take at least all summer to go through everything, we thought she was joking. We found her to be kind. She was a  packrat, and after her children died all their belongings had been shipped to her, and were stored in the basement and attic and wherever there was an open space. So we did some really fast re-arranging, and barely found space for ourselves and our things.

There were two master bedrooms, which went to the adults. The three large bedrooms were parceled out to the six of us. Hilda and Polly got one, Zach and Andy took the second, and despite our parents offering Matty and me individual smaller rooms, we decided we wanted to stay together, and moved into the third large bedroom. Many sneezes and far too much dust later, we were settled into our new home. Zach and Hilda claimed the kitchen,  with its two stoves, breakfast room, and pantry as their domain.

Matty and I claimed, without argument, the attic, basement, storage areas, and all the stuff Juliet had left. Andy and Polly,  the two youngest, claimed the now-unkempt gardens. All four adults claimed exhaustion.

Even with the almost instant sale of Matty's house, we knew money would be really tight for a while, as there were some rather large expenses, such as roof repairs, that couldn't wait. This meant that unless it was needed, things we wanted would have to wait till next year. But that didn't deter any of us from enjoying having a huge yard and woods and lots of room to play.

Or stop Jeff and Chuck from complaining about having to mow a  couple of acres of grass. Matty and I volunteered, but they wouldn't let us drive the tractor.  Our friends quickly started to come to visit, as we only lived a  couple of miles from our old house.

Since Matty and I both liked soccer and badminton, the furthest corner of the yard became a  playing field. Steve, the resident soccer addict at our school,  got his father, who is a contractor, to build us some goals out of pipe and netting. And while his dad was installing the goals,  Chuck and Jeff talked with him and somehow we got a really great deal on the roofing job. Better than it looked. See, Chuck is a  computer network engineer, and Steve's father's company needed a  new computer system set up for them.

So they did some unofficial trading, and Rebecca said our finances were now in better shape.  It turned out that Christopher lived less than a mile further out of town, and had to stay home with a babysitter all summer while his parents worked. So he asked if he could spend the time at our house, 'cause he was really bored being home during the summer.

Our parents said it was okay after talking with his parents, and his dad started dropping Christopher off on his way to work.  Christopher usually walked home or waited at the gate till one of his parents drove by, and got a lift back. His parents were nice people, but seemed, well, bland.  Soon he was more active than we had ever before seen him. He even tried to play soccer, but it was obvious he didn't like that type of sport, so he became the ball retriever, which didn't seem to bother him a bit. He loved badminton but was not much competition for Matty or me.

It was during the last week of June the weather turned wet, and we wound up with lots of inside time.  We hadn't even begun exploring, so this seemed the time to start.  Christopher was dropped off as usual and asked if he could help.  So the three of us headed for the attic, glad for the rain and clouds as it was now cool enough not to bake us into gingerbread cookies, and began our explorations. By late afternoon we were tired, dirty, and convinced that adults kept the strangest collection of trash.   Following Juliet's requests, all of the personal stuff, like pictures letters, and financial papers, were separated out for her disposition.

Everything else was ours to do as we saw fit. The trash collection grew quickly. Zach and Hilda were drafted to go through a dozen boxes of kitchen stuff, and in return for the goodies they found, they got to haul the trash down to the garage. All the extra stuff that was usable was re-boxed. Penny had made arrangements with a local resale shop she said was trustworthy, so if we didn't want something, or didn't want to try and sell it ourselves, the people at Reruns would buy for a reasonable price anything they could.

If the volume we were boxing was any indication, Matty and I  would have a small fortune in the bank before school started in the fall. Christopher worked hard and always seemed like he wanted to say something, but when we asked, he just shook his head. Then he would look wistfully at me and smile. He was rather subdued when his dad came by to pick him up but said he would be back early tomorrow. Matty and I really needed the showers we took before dinner.

We were closed up and in bed when Matty asked me what I thought was bugging Christopher. "He's a really nice little kid, but he  always acts like something is haunting him."  "He's a couple of months older than us. So he's not a little kid.

He's just not real big or strong." I lay there quietly thinking.  "Did I ever tell you what he said the first day I came to school  wearing your stuff?" Matty shook her head. "He said he wished he  could come to school dressed the way I was every day."  "Strange. You mean he wants to have to wear a skirt and"  "I guess that is what he meant. I wonder, He keeps looking at me like he wants something. Do you think he's jealous because I  always have all these ribbons and things in my hair?"

"Maybe. But it is still strange." Matty snuggled against me. "So tomorrow let's ask him. The worst he can do is run away  screaming."  I snuggled back and smiled. There was something that felt really good about sharing a big bed with Matty.  The next morning the weather was worse. Cold and drenching wet and really windy. Christopher was wearing a raincoat when his dad dropped him off and was still soggy. So were we by the time the door was pushed closed against the wind.

Christopher managed "Yeech. And I took a shower last night."  We snickered and echoed the same sentiments. He wasn't wearing a  hat and had apparently gotten the entire contents of his parent's awning down the back of his neck.  Suddenly Matty made a really funny face, started to giggle, then ran out of the room.

When she returned her face was red, but she was able to whisper to me that she had a really crazy idea.  "Christopher, why don't you come upstairs with us and we'll find  you something dry to wear."  He quickly agreed, then finished draining the water out of his sneakers into a potted plant by the door, leaving the sneakers in the entry to dry.

When we reached our bathroom, Matty shoved him inside, telling him to dry off and toss his wet stuff out the door so she could get it in the dryer. She added that she would bring him some dry stuff in a couple of minutes. I went to get Christopher some pants and underwear and got bopped by Matty.  "This should be good."  She handed me a pair of her panties, then pulled the really cute jumper that was too small for either of us and still too big for  Polly, from the closet.

I almost fell on the floor laughing.  She added some tights and a pair of girl's heels she thought would fit his feet. En route, she snagged a slip and several of the brightly-colored hairbands and clips that we both liked so well. Folding everything up in a towel, she knocked on the bathroom door, and when Christopher carefully handed out his wet stuff, she handed in the package.

We began a countdown, and when we reached one hundred without hearing anything, we got worried and knocked on the door.  Instead of a reply, the door opened and a smiling, tearful young girl who looked a lot like Christopher came out. We stared at the transformation.

"Th, Thh., Thank you."  He started to shake and collapsed on the floor sobbing. We picked him up and carried him back to our room, setting him carefully on the bed. He grabbed us and held on like it was the most important thing he had ever done.  So we snuggled up to him and waited until he got his act together. "Christopher, are you going to be okay?" I was getting really worried.

"Please, call me Crystal, and I have never been happier in my whole life" he suddenly looked really scared. "Oh my God, say you meant this to be something good, and not a joke"

"Christo, Crystal, is this what you really want?" Matty was eyeing him carefully. "We aren't making fun of you. Joanie told  me that back in school you said you wanted to dress like a girl,  and we figured if you really meant it this would be a good way to  make sure."

"I have never wanted anything more than this, to be a girl, just  like you, and when I saw Jonah come to school as Joanie, and like  doing it, I was so jealous I wanted to kill myself, and"  "So if you have to dress like this whenever you are over visiting, it won't bother you?" The smile in Matty's voice was obvious.

So were the suffocating hugs that Crystal, as he called himself, gave us till we threatened to clobber him if we didn't get some work done today. Matty got another strange look on her face, and soon Matty and I were both wearing short skirts and tops, and the three of us looked like almost-teen girls.

"Let's go freak Zach and Andy."  We had to explain about the four others.

Zack freaked, Andy gave us a "you're sick" look, but Polly and Hilda suggested we throw a  girls-only party and kick Zach and Andy out in the rain. Faced with five girls, they got really nervous, and Crystal, Matty, and  I all laughed when Polly and Hilda dragged the two of them upstairs, protesting loudly, saying it was time to play dress-up.  When they came back down, we were introduced to Zelda and Andrea.

Two very confused, nervous pseudo-girls. Zach, now Zelda, was actually really cute. It was obvious that Andrea was really perturbed, and not going to be convincing. Zelda, as Polly called  Zach, didn't seem all that upset, and we finally relented and let  Andrea return to being Andy.   So Andy got drafted to be the waiter at our party, which suited him much better than Hilda's skirt, and we pretended to be teenage girls.

Well, pretended as far as age went. I was surprised when Zach agreed without argument to having his nails done by Hilda, and makeup by Matty. There was no question that  Crystal really loved dressing like a girl. And as Crystal, the shy, quiet Christopher disappeared. In his place was a happy,  outgoing kid who suddenly seemed in tune with the world.  It was mid-afternoon when we were finally partied out, and even  Andy was ready to do something different.

So Zelda returned to being Zach and off came his nail polish and makeup. The trouble started when we told Crystal it was time to return to being  Christopher, and to get ready to go home.  It was like someone had slapped her, and then threatened to put her in front of a firing squad. We had to chase her down, and after a lot of screaming and crying she said she was never going back to being a boy, that she hated being Christopher, and if we tried to make her she would run away.

That scared us really bad.  So we got the four younger kids to play warden, and hold her while Matty and I talked. We finally came up with an idea that didn't include tying her up or calling our parents.  "Crystal, I thought you said you wanted to come over and let us  dress you as a girl regularly." She looked at Matty and finally nodded. "Well, then what is the problem?"

"I hate being Christopher and then pretending to be Crystal, and  I don't want to have to pretend and..."  "Then don't." Crystal and the four younger ones all have her a  "WHAT!" look. "See, you've got it all wrong. Just answer one question. Which are you really, Crystal or Christopher?"

It was like she suddenly saw a miracle, and Crystal's eyes went wide open. "Oh My God, you mean,"   "You really are Crystal, aren't you?" She started to cry and nod and made all kinds of "thank you" sounds. "Then you have really  been pretending to be Christopher all this time." Matty and I and the others, even Andy, gave her a group hug till she stopped shaking and crying and turned into a great big happy smile.

"And I bet you can manage to pretend to be Christopher while we  work on how you can become Crystal all the time." I held her as I  spoke, and realized deep down that Crystal was as much a girl as  Matty, just in a different shell. "But to keep all the adults in  the dark, we need to get you back into Christopher mode before  they get home."

She agreed, and soon Christopher was back. Andy seemed much happier. Zach said he needed some time to think, and asked Polly to come up to his room to talk. I stayed as Joanie, as I often did, and even though Crystal said she was jealous, she kept smiling.

Tomorrow was Friday, and we had to warn Crystal that our parents would be home all next week, and we would be stuck doing chores.  When she asked if she could come over anyway, Matty said she would be stuck as Christopher, and she looked really sad but said she would manage.

Friday was almost as wet as Thursday. Minutes after the adults left, Crystal, dressed in one of Polly's short wrap skirts and an old blouse, joined the rest of us in finishing off the attic collection. Halfway through, Zach got covered with some soap v  powder that had spilled in a box of kitchen stuff, and when he came back up after showering, Zelda was back and smiling.

Andy made comments about being the only normal person in the house and finally agreed he was just a different weird as we were preparing to stuff him in a box and mail it to Grandma in  Wisconsin. I was perfectly fine as Jonah in my shorts, so I was sort of the odd one all day.