trembling next to me, his wife. When I peered at her face, I saw pure agony. She had just had a daughter and her husband had won a scholarship from the government that allowed him to study abroad anywhere for free. They had their future ahead of them, but in this instance, it could have all Artwork by Alee Stooks been taken away. His head was down, but I could practically see the tension radiating from him. How could this have happened, why? Then the searching began. The men in the seating room walked around held their weapons out, threatening. The men in the seating room walked around held their weapons out, threatening. They felt pockets for cell phones that were easily sellable. As I found out afterwards, they didn’t take wallets because there was always a chance they were empty, had little cash, or had credit cards
20 TheFrro
girls acted like this. Aside from this norm you were a tomgirl or tomboy, no one was taught why some kids didn’t feel comfortable in their own skin other than “it’s just a phase”, and were told “you’ll get over it”. My place on this spectrum is peculiar, a place between the two sides in empty space. It was a great day when I bought my first chest binder, and it was a reminder to myself that I had made a choice on how I could present myself. I stood in front the mirror all day, looking over myself and admiring the fact that if I wanted to be more masculine, I could do it. There was nothing stopping me from looking the way I wanted to look. It was a great day when I realized I was gender-fluid, this middle ground for gender that explains these feelings, slipping between male, female, or neither. I was no longer at war with myself. I found a way to explain it to others. What I didn’t take into
“I felt better than I had in a long time”
