The Life Of 'Bello (Intersex/Camila)

I'm NOT Gay

The next day was hell.

Like I predicted, my body ached so damn bad, that I had to take an ice bath. Something, Sisco told me to do and, man, did it feel good.

Helped me greatly.

I know, having a ten year old do all of that is brutal, but that's just how my dad is. His dad was a veteran in the war, so he was brought up military. Same for us. Though, my dad has been involved in the army since middle school. So, yeah, tough.

Anyway, that year went by so slowly that it had my palms sweating furiously.

"Carlos?! Come here, sweetie!" My mom's voice rang out from their bedroom. My father was at work at this time. I got off of my neatly made bed, setting my Spiderman comic book down on my pillow. I went down the hall towards my parents' room, stopping in the doorway.

My mother was reading, glasses perched on the tip of her nose. "Yes, ma'am?" I said. I notice her stomach was a little bigger. She needs to lay off the plantains. She looked up and beckoned me in. I enter, sitting down on the chair across from their bed.

"No, come sit up here with Mamí," she smiles, patting beside her. I got up and sat down in the spot. "How was school today?" She asked, running her hands through my long hair. I sighed, shrugging, "Eh, better than yesterday, I guess." She hummed, still playing with my hair.

"Any girls you like?" I groaned, "Maaaa, no." She chuckled, "You can tell me, hijo." I sighed, burying my face in my hands. "I promise I won't tell your dad," I raised my head, glaring at her playfully. She laughed, "Awe," I rolled my eyes with a small laugh.

"So, is there?" I nodded, looking up at her shyly. "What's her name?" I traced the patterns on their blanket, chewing on my bottom lip. "Lauren," I said lowly. She smiles big, moving my hair behind her ear. "Tell me about her," I sighed heavily, heart beating fast.

"Well, she's in sixth grade," I started. "Ooh, an older woman? Just like your dad," I groan again. "Ma, stop."

"OK, OK, continue."

"She has long brown hair and pretty green eyes," I said with a smile. "Uh, she's really nice. One time, when Austin was-," "Who's Austin sweetie?" I slumped my shoulders. "Her boyfriend. He picks on me because I'm small and he keeps calling me a little girl," I bowed my head. "Oh, because of your hair?" I nodded. "Well, I think your hair makes you more handsome."

The corners of my mouth turned up slightly, "Thanks, Ma. But he was picking on me and she pushed him away and told him to leave me alone."

"What a nice young lady, but you can't let this boy pick on you, okay? You have to stand up for yourself," I nodded, "Yes, ma'am." She played with my hair again, looking at me weirdly. I furrow my eyebrows, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

She chuckled, "I remember not to long ago, you'd stutter every word, barely able to speak English. Now," she starts to tear up. I open my arms and she hugged me tight. "Ah, my little king," she sighs, then kissed the top of my head.

"You came so far in the last few years, mijo," I looked up at her and she pecks my nose. I scrunched it up and she giggles, "No matter how old you get, you'll always be my baby boy."

I smiled, reaching up and wiping her tears. "Promise me you wouldn't grow up?" She held out her pinkie and I link them. "I promise. I love you, Ma," she squeezed me tight, making me grunt jokingly. "I love you, too." She lets me go, holding onto my shoulders.

"How about I put your hair in two braids for school tomorrow? I know you're tired of moving it out of your face," I giggled, nodding. "Yes," she pats my back, "Go get my comb and come back here."

My mom was my world.

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"Carlos!" I turned my head, seeing my friend Edwin running up to me on the playground. I smiled a bit, nodding, "'Sup, Ed?" We do our handshake and he sits on the swing beside me.

I was the first person he met when he got here from Dominican Republic three years ago. We were both struggling in English, but as you can see, we managed. He's much shorter than me, but we're both in the same grade. Different classes, though. He started swinging, though I stayed put. "Why are you just sitting there?"

I bow my head, "I, uh, just wanted to sit here." He laughs, "Other people are gonna wanna turn." I raise an eyebrow, "They can eat sand for all I care. They all pick on me anyway." He stayed quiet, getting higher up.

"Hey, Ed, you're going on the field trip to the Science museum?"

"Yeah, you?"

"My mom gotta sign my permission slip, but I wanna go."

"I heard Lauren's going," he teased. He's the only one I told in our small group of friends. It's me, him, Brandon, and Nick. We call Brandon 'Randy' since there's another Brandon kid. He's friends with Austin.

"Shut up, Ed," I said, chuckling. "What about you and Daniela?" He glares at me, "Shut up, CabeLLo." I roll my eyes, "CabEYo, you penis." He laughs hard.

Not long after, some kid with a dark, curly afro and darker skin comes up to us. He looks kinda familiar. "Hey, since you're not swinging, can I get on?" I raise an eyebrow at him. He's looking at me weird, too. "Uh, yeah," I get up and Ed laughs again. "Eat sand," I secretly flip him off so only be could see it.

The boy gets on and starts swinging high. "Yeah, I know you from somewhere," he said randomly. I kink and eyebrow, looking over at Ed, who isn't paying attention. "Uh, cool?" I said. He just keeps staring at me. He halts the swing abruptly, tilting his head to the side.

Edwin slows down, eyeing him suspiciously.

"What's your name?" The boy asked. "Uh, Carlos," I said slowly. He looked down briefly then back up with wide eyes. "Carlos!" He threw his arms around me and I pushed him away forcefully, making him fall.

"Get off me, bro!" He looked up at me with hurt eyes. "Carlos, it's me. Jacob?" I glare down at him, "Yeah, you kissed me and got me in trouble with my dad. Now, he thinks I'm gay and I'm not!"

I clenched my fist, hearing Ed chuckle, "Dang, he kissed you, Los?" I looked at Ed then Jacob in disgust.

"Yeah, he did," he put his fist to his mouth, laughing. Jacob had tears in his eyes, wiping them away angrily. He stands and dusted his khaki pants off. "I thought we were friends, Carlos." I shrugged, "You thought. We weren't. I told you that years ago, you don't listen."

His bottom lip quivered and he ran away. I'm not gonna lie, I felt guilty as hell. Jacob was actually a cool guy, just overly affectionate. I really did wanna be his friend, but he acts more feminine than I look.

I don't want people thinking I'm gay, when I'm not.

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