The Life inside a Two-Sided Body

Taylor Rabon

McKoy

English 2

3 October 2013

The Life inside a Two-Sided Body

My cousin has a secret that no one knows about

I think he's kind of strange

It made my mother, me and everyone cry

But she's, I am not and they are not the ones to blame

He is...

My mom says that he's special

My dad says he's a freak

I think that he is insane

And I know is that he spends the night with numerous guys each week.

He likes to dress in women's clothes, and put on red rose lipstick

He likes to wear tight panty-hoes to put on a show

Only because he loves the way it feels.

He occupies himself in the mirror for hours at a time

Trying on my make-up, different clothes, and different shoes

And all he says is “That ain't a crime."

He puts on lipstick

And kisses pictures of himself

He has a 1000 different pairs of shoes

All lined up on a shelf.

I am insulted by the way I dress

I have no style

He says my outfits are a mess

And that I’m in denial.

He made me an appointment

With a gender therapist

And when I said I don't need help

He said “I insist!"

When people ask his mom,

About the guys that comes home

She swears they're his friends from school

But then they end up spending the night alone.

He places a lock

Upon his bedroom door

So no one can walk in,

Because I have tried that once before.

I swore that I said I was just cleaning

It was my mistake

But when they looked at me suspiciously

I just said "he's my cousin for Christ’s sake!"

I said it was my right to know

What was going on with him?

But instead of showing sympathy

I told him it was sin.

"What will the neighbors think?"

That's what I had to say

Then she had many drinks

To keep her thoughts away.

When she realized

Nothing she did or said

Could change the mind of her only son

She chose to die instead.

It was after midnight when she did it

Everybody was asleep

She looked up to the sky

And prayed the lord her soul to keep.

When we woke up in the morning

Found her lying there

Across the bathroom floor

With blood reddening her hair.

The note said she couldn't take it

The embarrassment, the shame

She couldn't stand the scandal that he became

This would bring the good to her name.

So we held a dark service

In honor of her life

I said she was a perfect mother

And indeed a perfect wife.

Now my mother has a secret

She was insane

It made my brother cry

But he was not the one to blame.