Epilogue

Life was still turbulent as always. I occasionally talked with Jessica while she was away at Central. She had dated Geoffrey over break, but had put her relationship on hold for the school year. It seemed like such a Jessica thing to do.

She also told me she had started the “Organization for Oviparous Students” or OOS for short. I had to look up what "oviparous" meant. I wasn’t surprised.

My mother never really backed down from her crusade against my masculinity, though I sort of just stopped caring.

She herself even started going by “he” with new people because she thought the word "she" was "gross."

Even so, we talked more. She would call me while she was cleaning, and I would pick up sometimes. It was an arrangement that I found acceptable.

Jamie said her first real word. It was “blueberry” of all things. She could be a chef. Or day laborer. Either or.

I started to actually like what I saw in the mirror. She wasn’t perfect, but the red woman who stared back was me. And that was okay.