BooBoo

Chapter I: He or she? His or hers?

France
A soft hand slid under the chin of a small child. This child, his hair blond, his eyes blue, his skin freckled, his face soft and innocent. This mother loved her child dearly, it seemed like he was the only person who loved her. The mother, Delphine Bernard, flinched when she heard the front door open and close. The child's eyes moved up to his mother's fearful face.
"Marcel?" Delphine called. A tall man with a white lab coat stepped into the room, his eyes focused on Delphine deeply. "I—I cooked dinner," Delphine stammered. The man, Marcel, stepped closer to her. Marcel was Delphine's husband. Both Delphine and Marcel were scientists, Marcel being the more successful one of the two. Delphine pulled her child closer to her, her eyes glowing in fear as Marcel leaned down to face her. She was on her knees, her child standing beside her.
"Where is it?" Marcel asked, his voice long, deep.
"It's—it's on the stove," Delphine said, trembling. Marcel slowly stood up straight and made his way over to the stove. "Boo," Delphine whispered, "go to your room, I'll be there soon."
The child, Boo, nodded and ran to his bedroom. Delphine stood up and faced Marcel.
Boo closed the door behind him when he entered his bedroom. Inside the room was two beds, each on either side of the wall. On one bed sat a black-haired boy, his eyes slowly looking at Boo.
"There she is," grumbled the gloomy child. "There's the freak."
Boo ignored him and pulled a notebook from a drawer on his nightstand.
Boo and Levigh, two brothers. Levigh was ten, being three years older than Boo.
Boo sat down on his bed and started drawing. Levigh looked to him and then lied down on his own bed.

Early the next morning, Boo was woken up by his father.
"It's time for another round," Marcel whispered. Boo slowly sat up in his bed, but Marcel was in a hurry. He took Boo and walked out of the house, Boo was still in his pajamas. Marcel got a ride from a wagon to the laboratory he worked at. Boo watched the houses pass as they rode in the wooden wagon. When they arrived, Marcel immediately took Boo up to his room. Boo sat down on a cushioned chair and watched his father prepare something at a counter.
"These injections are my own invention," Marcel told his child.
"What do they do, Daddy?" Boo asked.
"They'll make you my beautiful girl," said Marcel, turning towards Boo with a syringe in his hand.
"But I thought I was already your beautiful girl," Boo told his father.
"You are, but the more injections you take, the more beautiful you'll be," Marcel said. Boo didn't even flinch as his father inserted the needle into his arm and took it back out. "There we are," whispered Marcel.
"Thanks, Daddy," Boo said with a smile.
"Anything for my girl," Marcel replied, a smile on his face as well.
Marcel made a promise to his mother. That promise was made before he even got married to Delphine. That promise was that he'd name one of his kids after her. Her name was Cosette. When Levigh came along, they decided to wait until the next child, hoping and praying that it would be a girl. When Boo was born, they knew he would be their last child, so Marcel told Delphine that if they didn't name him Cosette, he'd beat her. So, she agreed. He also told her that Cosette was meant to be a girl, and that she had to dress Cosette up in girl clothing and do his hair like a girl as well. While Delphine refuses to use girl pronouns with Cosette, Marcel uses them. That's why Delphine calls Cosette Boo-Boo, or Boo, because she never actually agreed with the name Cosette. She hated it in reality.
     Marcel grabbed Boo's hand and helped him down off of the chair.
     "Are you ready to go home?" Marcel asked his child. Boo smiled and nodded his head. Marcel smiled back and took Boo home.
     Delphine was sitting in a rocking chair, rocking back and forth anxiously. She never trusted Marcel with any of the kids, she had no clue what he might be doing. She did know about the injection, however, and she never agreed to it, but there was no arguing with a man like Marcel. When Marcel and Boo walked into the house, Delphine's head immediately whipped over to the door.
     "I have to head back to work. I'll see you tonight," Marcel called, halfway out of the front door.
     "Okay," Delphine replied. Boo came running into the room and hugged his mother. She hugged him back tightly. "Let's get you a bath, Boo-Boo," Delphine said softly, a warm smile growing on her freckled face. Boo smiled back brightly. Delphine took her son by the hand and brought him into the bathroom. She started filling up the tub, putting her hand under the running water, making sure it was warm enough. When the tub was filled, she helped Boo get undressed and helped him step into the tub. He sat down and started playing with a toy boat that floated on the water. Delphine started grabbing soaps from the cabinet, watching Boo from the corner of her eye.
     "Ow!" Boo quickly said. Delphine looked over completely to the bathtub.
     "What's wrong?" Delphine asked shakily. Boo held a bandaid in his hand, stretching his arm out towards his mother, water leaking from his arm to the tile floor below. Delphine quickly grabbed the bandaid and tossed it in the trash can next to the sink. She put all of the soaps she needed on the counter and started rubbing shampoo in Boo's blonde hair. She gathered all of his hair up to the top of his head, and with the soap, it stayed like that. She wished Boo's hair was shorter. She wished he looked like his gender. Boo was far too young to realize that what was happening to him wasn't normal, so he questioned nothing. But, Delphine knew that the day Boo realizes all that's been happening, won't be good.
     "Mommy!" Boo said frantically. Delphine had gotten lost in thought and had let the shampoo get into Boo's eyes. She hurried up and wiped it away with a towel.
     "I'm sorry, Baby," Delphine mumbled, feeling a lump form in her throat. She wanted to cry for some reason, but she knew she couldn't now. She had to be a functioning mother for her child. She scooped up water from the tub with a cup and poured it on Boo's head, shielding his eyes with her hand. When the water washed out the soap, Boo's hair fell down from the top of his head. Delphine looked at Boo's hair before shakily standing up and turning towards the sink. Boo watched his mother turn around. Delphine could feel her fingers twitch. This isn't what's supposed to be happening, she thought. Her son, forced to be a girl against his will. And it's not like she could do anything about it, she'd just get hit by Marcel. Not even Boo himself had a say in this. What if Boo never realizes this is wrong? What if he lives his life, not knowing he's being lied to? What if Marcel forces Delphine to never see Boo again? She felt the cup drop from her hand and heard it hit the floor. Along with the thud, she could hear Boo calling for her from behind. But, for some reason, she didn't think anything of it. She was too lost in thought, caught in another world. When Boo started crying, that's when she snapped out of her daze and turned around. Boo had his hand extended out of the tub, tears rolling down his face. Then, Delphine realized he was bleeding from his palm. She hurried up to rush to the side of the tub.
     "What happened, Baby?" Delphine asked, panicked. Boo pointed his trembling finger to something at the bottom of the tub. It was a razor that had fallen from the shelves above the bathtub. Delphine reached her hand into the water and picked up the razor.
     "I accidentally put my hand on it," Boo cried. Delphine put her hand on her son's cheek.
     "Shh, shh, it's alright," Delphine whispered. "It's my fault."
     "It hurts, Mommy!" Boo weeped. Delphine helped Boo out of the tub and wrapped him in a towel. She unplugged the drain and let the water spiral down. She took Boo into the kitchen and bandaged his hand. Then, she took him to his bedroom and helped him get dressed.
     "I'm so sorry, Boo-Boo," Delphine told her son, helping him slide up his pants.
     "It's okay, Mommy," Boo replied with a smile. Delphine grinned in return.
     Marcel returned when Boo had gone to bed. Delphine was still awake, rocking in her rocking chair, staring at the wall in deep thought.
     "I'm home," Marcel yelled.
     "Don't be so loud, the kids are asleep," Delphine told him. Marcel walked up to her, holding something behind his back. Delphine slowly looked over to him, her eyes wide and red.
     "I got something for Cosette to wear tomorrow," Marcel said, smiling.
     "Tomorrow? What's tomorrow?" Delphine questioned.
     "The festival! We're all going."
     "Oh, yeah."
     "Anyway, here it is!"
     Marcel showed Delphine a lacy baby pink dress. Delphine looked at it, her mouth half-open.
     "And I was thinking you could do her hair with braids," Marcel added. Delphine closed her mouth and slowly nodded her head.
     "Yeah—yeah.. I can do that," Delphine replied. Marcel's smile slowly started to fade, which made Delphine clench her jaw in anxiety.
     "Don't you like it?" Marcel asked lowly.
     "It's beautiful, it's just—"
     Marcel suddenly leaned down and got his face close to Delphine's.
     "Cosette is a girl. I don't want to hear anything about her being anything else," Marcel growled. Delphine nodded her head, gripping onto the ends of the arms of the chair.
     "Yes, I know that—she—is a girl. And she'll look very beautiful in that dress," Delphine said, her voice trembling. Marcel's smile returned as he stood back up straight.
     "She will, you're right. Do you think she'll like this dress?"
     "She'll love it."
     "Do you think you could surprise her with it tomorrow morning? I work until eleven, but then I can come home right after and go to the festival."
     "Yeah, I can do that."
     "Great." Marcel handed Delphine the dress. "Be upstairs by ten minutes." Marcel walked up the stairs. Delphine gripped the dress tight, feeling that lump come back in her throat. Her vision blurred with tears, but she knew she couldn't cry because it would be too risky having Marcel find out. She slowly pushed herself up from the rocking chair and walked towards the stairs. She hoisted herself up each one of them, each step she took, the more she felt the urge to cry. When she got to the top, she turned towards her and Marcel's bedroom. She walked into the room, seeing Marcel sitting on the bed. She put the dress on the floor next to the bed and sat down. Next thing she knew, Marcel turned the lights off and she went to sleep.