Chapter 7

“My mother is going to kill me.” Song was loading the last of the shopping bags into the trunk of Bianca’s car. As slow on the uptick that Emer was, when he saw the giant pile of purchases waiting in Bianca’s office, even he knew that Emery and Miss Song would be sticking around for a while.

“Okay, girls. Get in the back. Time to head home. Emmanuel, you sit up front with me.” The redhead checked her rearview mirror to see Song staring out the window despondent. The contrast of the shy creature with the arrogant ass she’d met earlier that afternoon was striking. Bianca couldn’t help but be a little disappointed with Emer though. A new girlish hairstyle, and an excessively feminine little outfit didn’t seem to break his spirits in the slightest. The only thing the reflection told her was that Emery was going to have to learn to keep her legs closed. She thought, ‘She’s going to need some deportment lessons at the very least, and she’s definitely going to need a stronger motivation. It’s a good thing I had Ariel to practice with.’

Emmanuel’s was the first stop. He heard Bianca’s instruction to wear his new outfit tomorrow well enough, but otherwise the boy was elsewhere, still thinking of the sensation of making out with his only two friends. As he trudged up the stairs to the empty apartment, he couldn’t help but wonder what would become of his two cohorts once their parents got a look at them.

The entire length of the drive to Song’s house, he sat in the backseat, formulating a plan for when he was able to escape the crazy white lady’s clutches. First he’d have to sneak around back, and strip down. Then he’d use the garden hose to destroy his hair and makeup before his mother got a good look at it. Sneaking up to his room may present a problem, but nudity would be easier to explain than his present appearance.

However, all his plans were for naught when the clever woman stepped out of the car with the feminized youth, and after collecting his packages, Song was made to stand next to her, ringing his own doorbell while they waited for an answer.

“Can I help you?” Grace Rim answered the door. For a moment she didn’t recognize him, but with a quick glance at the two young ladies darkening her doorstep, she knew the delicate feminine creature standing nervously with arms loaded full of shopping bags was in fact her unruly son. “Song, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Good evening, ma’am. My name is Bianca Russo. I’m the manager at The Hanger.” Bianca said warmly, her bright smile on full display. “Unfortunately, this evening I have come as the bearer of bad news.” The affluent woman crossed her arms, and skeptically listened, not knowing how to make heads or tails of what she was witnessing. “To put it bluntly, at the mall today, your child and a couple of friends were caught peeping on an underage girl in the dressing room at my store.”

“I see.” Grace nodded, her stoic expression telling the other two nothing.

“We’ve all heard the expression boys will be boys, but lines were crossed. It did seem like a shame to send them up the river for this, but a lesson needs to be learned, so after much discussion with all parties involved, he and his friends have agreed to an alternative punishment instead. This way, once their debt is paid, they can go on to live happy ordinary lives where they’ll continue to make better decisions. With your permission, Song will be acting as your daughter for the rest of the summer, and finding a job at the mall. I think it’ll be a good opportunity for them to get some hands-on experience with how the other half lives.”

This was news to Song. As far as he knew, this was a one time thing. If this crazy bitch had said anything else, he must have been too distracted by the **** humiliation he was still presently suffering. His state of dress suited Bianca’s purposes however, perfectly demonstrated by the fact that he kept his mouth shut while this internal monologue raged on.

While listening to the tale, Grace peered out into the driveway, and noticed the moron her son felt the need to keep bringing around, despite her protestations. He was quite pretty like Song, well nearly as pretty, she thought, though it took a lot more than some trash to outshine the beauty of her progeny as far as she was concerned.

“I can’t believe you, Song.” the mature beauty said with what might have been perceived as cold indifference, but inside she was fuming. “This is the last time your actions will bring disgrace to this household, mark my words.” She took her son’s chin in her fingers, lifting his downcast eyes to meet hers, where she then turned his head side to side, examining the expert application of makeup, taking his already cute face to downright beautiful. It reminded her of herself when she was younger before coming to America. She smiled her approval, and said to Bianca, “At least she’s dressed in a manner befitting my daughter.”

“Oh, yes ma’am.” Bianca agreed. “I’m not out to clown her out. The girls had full makeovers today at Rim beauty. It’s an elegant little salon and spa. Very classy.”

“I’m aware.” Grace said pridefully. “It’s mine.”

When the Rims lived in Korea, all those years before her son was born, her husband was wasting his life away working as a chemist for a major Korean cosmetics corp where he developed many groundbreaking products, and procedures. Despite the flood of revenue his company would see, Mr Rim never saw an extra penny for his labors, which his wife found completely unacceptable. The man might have been exceptionally bright, but it was a young Rim Hyejin who had what he’d been sorely lacking. She was ruthless.

Like a dog with a bone, she poured over his contract till she found a loophole that allowed him to leave the company, taking his intellectual property with him. While this might have effectively blacklisted him from finding work again in the industry in Korea, this was fine for Hyejin who had already moved onto bigger and better things.

A move across the Pacific was step one. Step two was applying for FDA approval, and all the necessary permits. Step three didn’t go quite as smoothly though. When her husband was rejected, trying to sell licenses for his patents, half a dozen times by various practices across the state, all citing no demand for the extremely expensive new procedures, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She changed her name to Grace, trying to elicit memories of a glamorous Hollywood long past, then she found an affordable boutique location in the nearby mall, and set up shop. If no one was going to offer her husband’s products then she’d just have to do it herself. She’d prove to every plastic surgeon, and luxury spa just how much the elite would pay to stop the flow of time once they saw the results. In short order, Rim Beauty was up and running, and was a runaway success. Now her husband charged ten times as much, and business was booming.

“You little scamp.” Bianca said playfully, nudging Song, though internally pondering the punishment best suited for her charge’s omission. “She didn’t say a word. No wonder the girls in the shop got such a kick out of it.”

“Did they at least give you a discount? I’d hate for you to have wasted your money.”

“No ma’am, but that’s okay. Miss Song here paid for it, so it didn’t cost me a dime.”

Grace clicked her tongue, and shook her head. “They should have charged you less. They know better. Still, they did a good job on her.”

“Well of course. You run a lovely salon after all.” Bianca, the most polite of her schoolmates, was always the one to chat with parents when her and her friends were up to no good. Those skills would serve her well on occasions such as this.

“You know,” Grace tapped her cheek as she dreamed up what she could add to her problem child’s punishment. “My husband developed those dissolvable saline injections for temporary cosmetic enhancement.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure I follow.” Bianca replied, confused but curious.

Grace explained, “They’re basically temporary breast implants. They last for a few weeks then breakdown in the body, and pass.”

“You don’t say.” Bianca said, nodding along with a wicked grin. “I wonder why Miss Song here didn’t suggest that. You know she’d look great with a little enhancement. Nothing cartoonish of course, but something suiting that delicate little frame of hers would be perfect.”

Song wanted to die right there. He wasn’t sure how this summer was going to go, but judging by the look on the two women’s faces, he was definitely going to have breasts all the way through. The feminized boy was white as a sheet. “Can I go to my room?” he asked for the first time in years.”

“Not yet, Song. Don’t be rude.” Grace said, brushing off his concerns. “I’m sure she won’t be long” Song rolled his eyes, knowing that when two women were talking like these demons incarnate, that was never true.

Grace continued, “You know when my husband developed those, practically no one was interested in the procedure. I don’t know why to this day. It’s so safe that a technician can get certified. No doctor required. You can even do the same for pretty much anywhere on the body. They said, if people wanted something like that done, they’d want it to be permanent, but you and I know that’s nonsense. A girl wants to try things out. Anyway, we opened our own shop, and proved them wrong.”

“I’ll say you did.” Bianca agreed. “I’d kill for a house like this.”

“You know what?” Grace had very much taken a liking to the firecracker. She especially had to respect how the young lady had managed to finally take her obnoxious brat down a peg for once. That was something neither she, her husband, the school faculty, nor anyone else had been able to achieve over the last few years. “I’d like to help with the girls.” She didn’t miss a beat once, taking every opportunity to refer to her son in a feminine manner. “Bring them to the salon tomorrow, and we’ll see what we can do to give them some enhancements, on the house, I insist.”

“You’re so gracious…Grace.” Bianca said, chuckling to herself.

“Thank you. It’s the least I can do for Rim Beauty’s two newest employees. There’s no point in them hunting for jobs when I need two girls in the shop. You’re actually helping me as well. Clearly I need to be keeping a closer eye on her anyway. It’s time she learned some responsibility.”

“That’s great!” Bianca agreed, gleefully checking another box off in her mind.

*

“Please don’t tell my parents what I did!” Emer begged as he and Bianca pulled up outside of his family home. On the last leg of their journey, she decided to be nice, and let the pretty blonde move to the front seat once they left Song’s but in exchange she had to watch the nervous wreck fidget more and more as they got closer to their destination.

“Well what should I tell them then, Emery, you looking the way you do?”

He gave a nervous shrug, and answered, “I dunno. Maybe tell them I lost a bet or something. I dunno. I’m not good at thinking about things like this. I dunno.”

Though not exactly what the terrified youth meant, Bianca had never heard truer words. If Bianca was to use Ari as a measuring stick, Song was definitely worse. His attitude left to run amok, the malevolent boy could very well grow up to be some kind of criminal, or worse, a politician. He needed to be nipped in the bud before that vile nonsense could bloom.

Emer on the other hand was different. Rather than a malicious demeanor, he was cursed with a baffling ignorance. Like he almost might not be as dumb as he was if he’d felt the need to try at all. He wasn’t a bad kid. If anything, he seemed to like everyone. He just had a hard time empathizing with anything he hadn’t experienced himself, and unfortunately for half of the world that included the struggles of the feminine persuasion.

“Sorry, but that’s definitely not going to work. Listen Emery, I’ve got an idea, but for it to work you’re going to have to agree with everything I say in there. Seriously, no nay-saying, no contradicting, understand?” The wide eyed hooligan turned hottie nodded. “Okay, let’s go inside.”

“Oh my lord! You look so precious, don’chaknow!” the blonde woman said, pinching the embarrassed boy’s made up cheeks. She then realized she hadn’t yet introduced herself to her guest. With a thick midwestern accent she said, “Hi there! I’m Rose. Emer’s stepmom.” She shook Bianca’s hand, but after that, nothing could stop her from doting all over her gorgeous stepchild. “What happened, Emer? Did you lose a bet?”

“Actually,” Bianca said, trying to politely cut off the excited woman before they had to sit through another five minutes of this. “Emery has decided to spend the rest of the summer living as a girl. She’s trying to figure some things out. I’m Bianca, by the way. I was working at the mall today when she came in and begged me for help. She was afraid she’d be ugly. Hopefully I proved to her that she’s anything but. Now she’s afraid you and your husband are going to reject her, and I told her I’d come in and sit with her until we proved to her that that wouldn’t be the case either.”

“Well bless your heart. Aren’t you just the sweetest thing? Of course we don’t care. In this house we believe trans women are women. He should…Sorry, she should know that.” Rose bent down to pick up the toddler crawling around her feet. “It’ll be nice to have another girl around here for a change. Maybe I can get some help babysitting this little gremlin.”

“I’m not ummm…not sure if I’m trans yet, Rose.” Emer said blushing, his masculine pride conflicting with his instructions from Bianca. It was a rare display of insecurity for the boy, but even he had to acknowledge walking a verbal tightrope was not his strong suit.

Bianca quickly added, “Of course she knows you both love her, but these things can be scary once you say them out loud. Once you do that it’s real, you know. Give her some time. She was worried about being a burden on you both as well, but today she got a new job at Rim beauty to save you the cost of her new wardrobe. Tomorrow’s her first day.”

“You’re kidding me?” You could have knocked over Rose with a feather. “Well, I’ll be. Not only is she coming out of her shell, but she’s finally got a job too. Her father will be so proud!”

Of course this was news to Emer, but he did as promised and kept his mouth shut. Employment had never been a priority to the perpetually immature teen. If he needed money, he’d just ask his parents for it, and failing that, he just asked Song, or whoever else happened to be standing nearby. It wasn’t that he was a sponge, so much as the thought literally never occurred to him that he could possibly be a burden. To him, asking for twenty-five dollars was like asking for twenty-five cents. It was just as minuscule.

Bianca said, “She needs to be at the mall tomorrow by noon, and she may need some help getting ready in the morning, this all being new to her and all.”

Rose nodded that she understood, but her eyes stayed locked onto the adorable visage of her new step-daughter, her gleeful smile doing nothing to hide the maternal pride swelling up inside her. “I can’t wait to tell your dad tonight, Emer-y. You have to know he loves you so much. I promise, this is going to be the best summer of your life.”

*

The following morning when Emer awoke, the thought of not doing exactly as Bianca instructed never occurred to him. She was scary enough without disobeying her that he didn’t even want to try the alternative. While he sat in front of his step mother’s vanity mirror, his head full of curlers, he genuinely tried to learn from her, but nearly every word that came out of her mouth from bronzer, to eyelash curler made so little sense that she might as well have been speaking an alien language. The blonde thought, ‘I wonder if I should ask her about tampons or whatever.’ having no clue what a period actually was.

Rose was digging through her husband’s sock drawer. “I talked to your daddy last night, sweetie, and he said to give you this.” With an “Aha!” she pulled out a little felt covered box and flipped it open, presenting a necklace Emer remembered, but hadn’t seen in almost ten years. She looped the jewelry around his neck and fastened the little clasp. “This belonged to your Mom. Your dad told me he wanted you to have it. When I sent him those pictures we took together last night, he almost cried. He said you look so much like her. I know I could never replace her, but you know if you ever need me for anything, I’m here, and lord willing, I’m not going anywhere. I love you. Your dad loves you too, and I’m sure he’ll tell you himself when he gets back from his business trip.”

“Love you too, Rose.” Emer replied, though his mind was already elsewhere. Rather than freaking out about the day ahead, he played with the little charm in his fingers, and thought of heavier subjects than he was used to.

In contrast, Song was still trying to think of any escape from his current predicament. That morning, he couldn’t figure out what to do with his hair, so he pulled it back into an attempted man bun. Unfortunately for him, with his thinner eyebrows, and bangs, he still looked like a teenage girl having a casual day. Unhappy with the results, but unable to do anything else, he slipped into his boy clothes, and tried to sneak out the door before anyone caught him.

“Where are you going, son?” his dad asked, as he tried to slip past him on the staircase without saying a word.

“Umm…to work…bye…” the girlish boy curtly responded before darting through the kitchen.

“That’s great!” his dad shouted after him.

Sitting at the table, his mother was working away, going over the books for the previous month on her tablet. His ambition was to bolt past before she had a chance to notice, but without looking, she caught him by the ear as he walked by.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she asked, her expression unchanged.

“Umm…to the bus?” His answer sounded more like a question.

She turned her attention to her child and said, “Your father and I talked about this last night. He should have stopped you. Don’t try to get one over on him again.” The frightened boy’s eyes wandered around the room, but his mother fiercely snapped her fingers, bringing his attention right back to her stone cold eyes. “Why am I seeing my son in the house? My son should be in jail, if not for the kindness of that Bianca girl. Either I’ll be seeing my daughter in the house from now on, or I’ll be taking my son down to the police station myself, understand?”

“You wouldn’t!” he shouted, trying to stand up to her, and make himself as big as possible. All it took was a raised eyebrow for him to feel exactly as small as he was, and know that she absolutely would.