Now, first I need you to put on some of these hand-me-downs. Can’t have you going to the mall in only a football Jersey.”
Oliver securely placed the Pubertaway container in a backpack and pulled out some scrappy looking clothes. Marcus sheepishly shucked his jersey and slid the clothes over his ten-year-old frame.
“Don’t worry, ‘little bro,” Oliver snickered. “I’ve let the boys know what is up, so we will have some fun picking new clothes out for you.”
The way Oliver said this made Marcus’ stomach flip. Not only did Oliver’s friends know, they seemed to be in on some scheme to humiliate him. Marcus doubted that Oliver would really dump the container of his last eight years of growth. But with both that and his phone in his brother’s possession, he wasn’t about to take any chances.
Marcus’ fears came true when he realized Oliver was having Dennis and Benji meet them at the GAP. Clearly a little kids clothing stop, Marcus worried about what kind of stuff they would have him try on.
“Wow, it really is your older brother,” Dennis said. “Well, little brother now. Hi Markie! Are you excited to buy some new clothes?”
“Are you sure he wants to shop here?” Benji piped up, a little more timid than his other rowdy friends. “You’re a sporty kid, right? Uh…champ?”
“Oliver,” Marcus said in his high-pitched kid voice. “You don’t have to buy my clothes, honest. I don’t know how long I’m staying a kid.”
“Relax, baby bro,” Oliver said with a snicker. “We will only walk out with a few outfits. Besides, I’m not buying them! It’s going on your new credit card!” Oliver held up the card, revealing yet another thing he’d taken from his reduced brother. “And I don’t wanna see you squirming. You will put on whatever we tell you to try on. I’m gonna get lots of pics so you can remember this day. You’re not gonna tell mom either! And if I hear you whining, we can always go over to the girls section and pick out some clothes from there!”
Marcus didn’t even have a chance to say anything before his wrist was grabbed and he was being pulled into the store.
Oliver held good on his word. Marcus was taken to the dressing room without being able to browse the clothes himself. First thing they did was get a stall, then Oliver told Marcus to take off his raggedy shorts and shirt.
“Hand them under the stall,” Oliver said.
“Ollie, seriously,” Marcus said, holding his only clothes in his hands.
“Oh! Is that whining I hear?” Dennis snickered, really getting into it. “You know it was my idea to dress you up in girls clothes if you got snippy.”
“Hand em, now,” Oliver said. “Or else you know what happens.”
Marcus sighed and tossed his hand-me downs under the stall. Moments later, he heard ripping and tearing sounds. His old clothes shredded, he was stuck in this room until they had picked out an outfit for him to wear out of the store.
First things first, the boys left Marcus alone and went to the underwear section. They each brought back a pack of their favorite selection and went over to the dressing room to discuss.
“I figured some tighty-whities would be a nice classic choice,” Benji said. “He’d probably like them best.”
“Don’t I get a say?” Marcus piped up, his little kid voice muffled behind the stall.
“No! It’s not about what he’ll like,” Oliver said. “It’s about what we want. Which is why I got these cute Dino undies.”
“Even better…” Dennis showed his selection. “Teddy bears. Ha! And look at the red piping along the legs, and no fly cause his pecker is probably too short at this age!”
“Oh yeah, let’s go with that.” Oliver agreed, taking the pack from Dennis and ripped it open, flinging the pair over the stall door.
The pair of underwear hit Marcus’s face. He squealed, much to the delight of the older boys. “Really?” He couldn’t believe he had to put these on.
“Yeah, really. And come out and show us,” Oliver said. “Don’t have another choice. I already opened the plastic.”
Marcus huffed and slid the undies on. He opened the stall and crept out, looking annoyed as he stood in front of the taller boys.
“Ha! Look at that! All those muscles have truly melted away,” Dennis said. “This really brings out how much he’s lost when he’s down to his little boy undies.”
“His muscles aren’t the only thing he’s lost,” Oliver said. “If you can’t tell!”
“You guys are rude,” Benji replied. “He didn’t use that machine to get bullied by his brother and his friends.”
“Oh, would you like to join him?” Dennis said. “We don’t even have to use the humidifier on you, you can just drop your clothes in the next stall and we can hand you your new outfit too!”
Benji shut up and Marcus scampered back into the dressing room. Only the three boys had seen him like that, but he was still incredibly embarrassed. And yet, despite all the teasing, he found himself enjoying the experience. Sure, the teddy bear undies were a little childish, but he did look cute in them. Best way to get his brother to find this boring is to have fun in the meantime, he realized.
And so that is what Marcus did. Even when they brought him funny cartoon shirts and shorts to try on, silly socks to wear, or when they settled on a big pair of overalls for him to wear out of the store, Marcus really acted like he was having the time of his life. And after a while, he was having fun. He thanked each of the boys for their selections, and walked out in his striped shirt and overalls with puppy socks and red sneakers like he was a new man, or, a new boy, at least.
The boys stopped teasing him as much, instead walking behind Marcus as he confidently carried the purchases out the mall doors.
When they had finally gotten back to their home, the boys started to think of other ways to humiliate Marcus.