Bevin Come's Out to the Kids

“Jade…um…Bevin…you two need to get to the basement!”

Mom’s voice rang out from the main house. A snarl vibrated from her voice. I could tell she was close to shifting and wanted all the kids in the basement.

Bevin was gazing at my photos up on my wall. “It isn’t that I don’t like these pictures, I just want them lost in new images…ones like I am now. Maybe we’ll have so many these will get lost and no one will ever notice these.”

I stepped up to him, wrapping an arm around his waist. “I can take them down if you want.”

A look of pain crossed his face. He scrunched his nose as he shook his head. “It’s our memories. We just need to make more, ‘k?”

“Deal.”

I knew Mom wouldn’t last much longer, so I grabbed his hand and dragged him to the basement. The hallway was dim and quiet. We got to the large living room kitchen area and there were a few people in the kitchen. Most were heading out through the attached dining room to the back yard where I heard a few howls. I saw José in front of us, heading towards the stairs to the basement.

Halfway down he turned. His eyes narrowed as he looked at us. “Bevin? Right?” We’d grown up together, but we were all getting used to the new name.

A smile blossomed on Bevin’s face as he nodded vigorously. José turned and slipped down the last few steps. When we got to the bottom of the stairs there were about a dozen kids milling about in small groups. A couple of high school aged kids were in charge.

Bevin and I were about to head to the games when Annie, the main kid in charge, came over. She stopped us and gave Bevin a questioning look. “I was told you two wanted to explain things to the group before you got lost in the fray.”

Bevin’s breath hitched and his shoulders curled in. Bracing himself, he slowly looked up into Annie’s eyes. “I’m Bevin and I want the group to all understand this.”

Annie searched his face, then gave a curt nod. “Got it, kiddo.” She rotated, taking in the room. “Okay, everyone. We’re going to play ‘pack meeting’, just like our parents.”

Estrella, José’s sister, full of confidence and sass, stopped playing with Heather, Bevin’s sister. “Will this take long? Pack meetings always take forever.” This word was said with all the drama of an eight-year-old.

Annie smiled indulgently. “No, hon, this won’t be that long of a meeting.”

The group scooted closer in together. I grabbed Bevin’s hand and checked out his expression. He stood statue still, but his eyes were wide, and I didn’t think he was actually breathing. I gave his had a few squeezes. He finally gave me a smile.

Annie looked over at us and smiled warmly. “Would you two like to have your say?”

Bevin froze. I rubbed his arm. He took in a ragged breath and nodded. “Okay, yeah. Hi.” He waved. “Um. I’d like for you to start calling me Bevin. It would be more…comfortable for me.”

Estrella shot up. “Why? That doesn’t make sense.”

José sighed and rolled his eyes. Being in seventh-grade he was almost a high schooler. He made his way over to his sister and whispered something into her ear.

As José made his way back towards Owen, my brother, Estrella made a sound of indignation, throwing her hands out to the side. “What was so hard about that? Your parents were wrong, again…aren’t they always? Bevin is a boy, duh! We all knew that already. Was all this really needed? Can we play now?”

Owen laughed. His butt hit the floor he was laughing so hard.

Everyone was gazing between Estrella and Annie. I shot a glance at Bevin. His jaw was practically on the floor in shock. I grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the games cabinet. “So, do you want to play Kingdomino or Bonanza?”