Nine: TO LOVE A GIRL

#Hazel

"I need to cut my hair," I said to my brother.

He laughed, "Your hair is already too short, Hazel."

It felt odd, hearing my name now. I laughed too, "For a girl, perhaps."

"I rather enjoy having a brother, back home the other boys would always make fun of you."

I smiled at that, "I do not mind that, Henry, neither should you. If anyone should like me, they should not do it because I am a girl or a boy, I simply am who I am."

"But you are lying every day to be accepted here!" He argued.

"I grow more ashamed every day to confess, and I like it here. I will not do anything to ruin it now."

Henry narrowed his eyes at me, "I will not hold my breath on that."

I ruffled his hair, "As papa would say, have a little faith, little brother."

His face saddened, "I miss him, Hazel. I miss papa, and I miss our home."

I drew him into an embrace, "Home is wherever we are together, and I miss papa too, but he is gone now. No use dwelling on it, he is with mama now."

I knew it sounded harsh, but what use was it crying over it. The dead could not comfort the living, nor provide for them, nor protect them. I would sooner cry over losing my home, the one that could have provided shelter for my only living kin, than for my deceased papa. He had left us, by no fault of his, but he had nonetheless. And I had to focus on Henry now.

"I am not like you, you-" his voice trailed and I urged him to continue.

"I am what?"

"No, forget it. It matters not."

I nodded and kissed his cheek before going off to find Emily. I knew what he meant, though. To him I appeared cold and unfeeling, but this was not true. Much as I tried to strengthen myself. Because when I closed the door, a tear slipped down my cheek. A tear for my papa.

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"Hector, lad, you look quite dapper!" Matthias exclaimed and chuckled.

I was certain my face was an unbecoming shade of scarlet, but I smiled and thanked him anyway. I had gotten a haircut earlier from Emily, and she had been excited to get into it! Exclaiming my hair was the softest she had ever felt. And she had done a good job too, cutting it almost daringly too short, but succeeding in making me look more like a boy. Donoghue had travelled the previous morning, and I had not had a chance to thank him for my new coat, or to show off my new haircut. I scoffed, what was he to say anyway, nice hair Hector? Men simply did not comment on each other's appearances, unless done in a fatherly manner as Matthias had. But what did I know, I was not a man!

Which meant I had to stop this foolish errand of trying to impress Donoghue! Because I was a boy to him, I would never impress him with how handsome I looked! Arrgggh, I should probably borrow a dress and stop all this. If Donoghue truly wanted to be friends, then he would not have problems with befriending a girl. Honestly, it should not be a problem at all! I would still dress the same anyhow, never having been one for dresses.

"Thank you, Matthias." I said simply.

"Trying to impress one of our young girls here?" He wiggled his eyes at me,

"Cassandra, perhaps? She does seem rather fond of you, poor lass always forgets her chores whenever you walk by!"

I inwardly groaned as the old man laughed, not finding this amusing at all. If only he knew the truth.

"There is no reason to be embarrassed," his deep voice bellowed.

Of course there was! Just merely talking about it was cause to be embarrassed!

"You are a good looking lad, anyone could tell you that. And you have that fragile manner about you, mothers want to care for you and lasses want to cherish you," he laughed again as my ears increased in heat.

"It would not do you harm to give our Cassie a chance, she is a lovely young woman. But do not go fooling with her, I warn you!"

He pointed a finger at me and I winced, making him chuckle.

"My my, Hector!" A voice said behind me.

I groaned again as Matthias winked at me before walking away, turning around to see my brother shrugging and walking away too, Michelle just behind him. I groaned once more at the enthusiastic look upon her face. Boys had never found me attractive my entire adolescent life, always appearing more intimidated than interested. But now, it appeared, girls had no such problems! Or rather, just this one insane female.

"I almost did not recognize you!" She exclaimed.

She had a girl with her who snickered, making me roll my eyes.

"And yet you called my name, even when I had my back to you?"

"True enough, I could never miss you even in a massive crowd of lookalikes!" She winked at me and I winced.

"You look especially handsome tonight, and that coat is perfect on you!"

I agreed with that at least, Donoghue had got my size just right! As if he had somehow, secretly taken my measurements and had it made especially for me.

"But it must have cost you a fortune!" She mused.

"It was a gift," I smiled absent mindedly, daydreaming of her beautiful brother.

"A gift, you say? From who, pray tell? Certainly not from one of the girls here!" She laughed humorlessly.

I decided to use this to my advantage, and so I smirked, letting her draw all sorts of gruesome conclusions. She frowned at me, then pouted.

"They would not afford such a thing!" She argued.

"Alright, if you say so," I shrugged.

"So, that is what it takes?" She asked.

"What?" I asked back, confused.

With this girl, it could be anything. I wondered if this was why not one female had wanted to befriend me. Was it because I was simply so far gone into my own world, I no longer understood my own sex?

"Buying you gifts?" She answered.

I gaped at her in surprise, what?! Did I come off as someone who would sell their dignity for measly presents?

"If I buy you things, would you be with me? Would you be mine?" She asked, seriously.

I was too shocked to laugh, this girl seriously had problems that needed solving! How could she even think, let alone suggest, such a thing? What did she lack in life that would lead her to be this way? Perhaps she was spoilt from having too much, or perhaps lack of firm guidance? Donoghue never spoke, and their mother was too much of a soft bird to even scold a child! Was she the product of her environment? Or was it simply a matter of choice. Bad choices to be exact.

"Well, Hector, would you?" She asked again, more impatiently this time.

I shook my head at her antics, lost for words, and she scowled at me.

"Is that not what drives you, poor lot? Anything and everything for a few extra coins, correct? It must be miserable, always desperate for money, trying to make ends meet?"

"I make a good living, I would have you know."

"Oh yes, only because my brother is more generous than most! Otherwise, you might as well still be wandering, looking for someone to pity you and take you in!"

I clenched my teeth as I tried to fight the edge to scream and hit her with the back of my hand. I doubted her brother would see reason when he learnt of my actions, nor would anyone around here look at me the same. I would just be a man who hit women, and that was never an acceptable thing to do!

"You are just a vile, rotten egg in a beautiful shell, aren't you?" I smirked.

She gasped, her cheeks coloring immediately. In anger or embarrassment, I could not tell.

"And you have no manners, how can you speak to me in this manner?!" She seethed.

I scoffed, "You speak to me of manners? Madam, you wanted to pay for my favors!"

I tasted blood before I finally felt the slap, making me gasp and see red. I raised my hand before I could stop myself and slapped that pretty, little face. She screamed as she fell to the ground, holding her inflamed cheek. Matthias ran to her side, glaring at me before inspecting the damage I had caused. Henry was by my side, shaking his head at me in disappointment. No doubt we would be kicked out now, and Donoghue would not be coming after us this time.

"He is a savage!" Michelle shrieked.

I spit the blood from my hurt cheek at her feet, before shrugging off my brother and walking away.

#Wren

"This would go a lot faster if you spoke to me," Harold said.

The man simply annoyed and frustrated me. He was fat and pale skinned, with glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. Typical banker really, and I wondered how much of that well fed body was my money. Yes, he was a thief alright. Under the guise of advising me to invest in this or that, he wanted to rob me dry! I had noticed my savings had dwindled, not significantly, but enough for me to notice. He had been surprised I had even noticed really, and was mounting up lies to cover his theft. I loathed liars with a passion! Careless people who only sought their own gain.

"Mr. Donoghue?" He asked again, and I nodded.

His pudgy face lit up and I could swear his pupils shone gold as he handed me the papers to sign. I slowly read them as his smile turned to a frown, his nervousness filling the air by the second.

"We have already discussed everything in that-"

I raised my hand, indicating his silence was much needed at this point. He immediately hushed as he began tapping his foot. He had not expected me to go through the small print, which hid his treachery of course. But I read everything, my money was my life, and I would be damned if anyone try to swindle it!

When I finished reading the document, I relaxed in my chair and stared at the man. He had sweat on his forehead, and his bottom lip looked raw and just about to bleed. I wondered how foolish he had to be to think this would work. I suppose many imbeciles would have signed without reading, jumping at the chance to gain wealth they had not worked for. But this man had to have anticipated meeting someone a bit more cautious, and not to have printed his own guilt on paper like this. I narrowed my eyes at him as he squirmed in his chair, until he laughed nervously.

"We can review the terms if it eh, pleases you?"

I narrowed my eyes even further and he cleared his throat.

"Alright, I will leave you to it then. You can send a messenger when you are done?"

My jaw ticked as he grabbed his bag and papers, clutching them to his chest and hurrying out of the room. Of course, the inspector was waiting for him outside; that was the only messenger I would be sending his way. No one stole my hard earned money and got away with it! And if it had been up to me, I would have given him a sound beating before handing him over to the authorities. I sighed and stood, my business here was done, and it was time to return home.

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When I finally arrived home, I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep and not wake for days. Surely the farm had not burned down in my absence, nor would it if I took a few days off. I opened the door to the sounds of my mother and sister in the kitchen. Removing my coat, I made my way to them, with the sole intention of getting a glass of water and going to my cold bed.

The scene before me was unexpected, my sister sitting on the table, sobbing. My mother holding a towel to her cheek as she tried to comfort her. She looked up, my mother, as I walked in, placing my coat on a chair.

I waited for her to explain when I pointed at my weeping younger sibling, whose sobs appeared to have increased in volume when I walked in. Alerting me she was obviously trying to get my attention and she needed me to take her side. A side which I could not wait to here, because I knew my sister well. Ever since we had been children, she had been like this.

"He hit her," my mother sighed.

I frowned in confusion and waited for them to explain further. Who had the audacity to hit a girl, and my sister no less? Yes, she was a handful, but mine to deal with. Whoever had dared to raise a hand against her would suffer accordingly, I would not let them get away with this! Why was everyone just going out of their way to anger me today? And this was even worse, I could lose money, but I would never let anyone hurt my sister!

"He...hit me," my sister repeated, sobbing.

I rolled my eyes and waited impatiently for them to continue. Where we going to go around this all night?

"He...pushed me to the ground...and…spit on me." Michelle sobbed.

I clenched my fists and turned to my mother. A tear spilled from her eye and she hurried to wipe it.

"I thought he was such a sweet boy, I never thought..." her voice trailed, together with my heartbeat.

I clenched my fists tighter and took a deep breath,

"Who?"

My sister hushed then and they both looked at me in shock. But now was not the time to be amazed that I had, indeed, spoken. I needed to know.

"Who?" I repeated myself.

I turned from mother to daughter before my sister sniffed and said, "Hector."

I felt dizzy.