Road to Recognition

Twenty-Two

The ride home I knew was not going to be pleasant.

The entire time since I arrived at the airport my mom has been pestering me as to why I cut my hair and flattened my chest. My dad remained quiet for the entire ride at the wheel.

When we got home, instead of celebrating my arrival we got into an argument *sigh* again. In a fit of anger, my dad trashed down the 'Welcome Home' banner. I haven't even entered the living room yet.

"Mama, papa, ya soy un adulto!" I finally snapped. I never said a word to their judgments on the car ride out of fear of being made to walk. Now that I'm at the safety of my town, I can say my thoughts. "You can't dictate how I choose to express myself anymore!"

"This isn't how we raised you, mija. You should have those ideas out of your head already," my mom said in disapproval. My frown only deepened.

"Ideas? Having extreme discomfort at being addressed as a girl is not just 'ideas', mama." I glared at the two adults who glared back. My dad's hands were clenched into tight fists. He was fixing to open his mouth to say something but I stopped him. "'Apa. A year ago you said that if these 'thoughts' continued after my eighteenth birthday, you would respect me. Even if you will never acknowledge me, you would respect me. Or was that a lie?"

"Pero--"

"Pero nada. I am a legal adult who identifies as a man. If you don't want to accept then fine! All I ask is that you respect me like you respect your parents."

"You are our precious daughter, not our son." My dad gave a final huff before unclenching his fist to rub his forehead. "Yo... I will respect your decision under one condition."

My mom's eyes widened in disbelief. "Carlos--!"

I nodded my head once to show I'm listening. "You leave this house as soon as you receive your diploma. I will not tolerate seeing your madre suffer because of you."

I lifted my hands in anger. "Bien por mi!"

Without another word, I marched into my room.

_____

"You don't have to put up with them for another month, ya know?"

I sighed. "I know, but I don't have much money on me. All I have is the scholarship money I earned but you know I am not touching a cent for anything other than my education."

"Well, yeah." Cherry stopped to think for more solutions. "I just don't think you should have to put up with their crap."

"I've put up with it for eighteen years," I chuckled sarcastically. I noticed my other phone beeping on the nightstand. Reaching over I sighed, realizing I haven't called Hide yet. "Hang on, Cherry. I'm gonna call you back in just a bit."

"Okay." She hung up before I could get the chance to. Oh, well.

Dialing Hide, I didn't have to wait long to hear his loud greeting. Having known him for half a year, I became wise enough to have the phone away from my ear.

"Zen-chan!"

"School's out already?" It's already 7:48 a.m. here. Well, it should be, like, 3:48 p.m. I am just confusing myself. 

"Hai! We took our final exams today and I think I did well. Enough about me, how was your flight!" Well, that was quick.

"It was okay. I slept most of the way due to boredom."

"You don't sound happy." Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Hide.

"My parents," I started. I heard a slight 'ah' from his side of the call. "They got me in trouble for cutting my hair and appearing more masculine."