Shirt put back where he'd gotten it, Erick headed for the kitchen to make himself supper. He had only taken a few things from the fridge, and one or two items from a nearby cupboard when, from the other room, his uncle demanded, "Who's there?"
He'd hoped Uncle Louis wouldn't have any more his moments for the evening, but upon hearing this, Erick understood it wasn't to be as he answered, "It's me."
"Who's me?" his uncle shouted, then added, "Cybil? That you? Why the hell do you sound the way you do? You catching a cold or something?"
A few other things taken out and as he started to put things together, Erick replied, "No, Uncle Louis. Cybil's dead. Remember? I'm Erick, your nephew. I'm just making myself something to eat."
"I don't have any nephew, and I don't know anyone named Erick," his uncle snapped and not the least surprised by those, though still hurt, Erick sighed and said, "I'm Bets’ kid. You know your sister, Bets, right? Do you remember that she died and I came to live here with you and aunt Cybil, but later moved away to go to college, but came back when you asked me to help you around the house?"
There was no response to this, and Erick almost went into the other room to continue the conversation, if his uncle wanted to, face-to-face instead of shouting through the house. But, before he could, Uncle Louis stated, "I think I know who Bets is, but I don't know you. But, whatever. If you say I asked you to come live with me, fine. I guess I probably did. Just, do so quieter, and don't take anything of my food, you hear me."
"Yes, Uncle Louis," Erick answered as he finished making his evening meal, and not getting a reply, he got some flatware and headed back to his room.
Dish and utensils set on his desk, he didn't sit down to eat. Instead, peering at the Amulet of Zulo, thinking about what his uncle had said, Erick couldn't shake the feeling that it was somehow responsible for the older man not knowing who he was. Telling himself, "That's ridiculous," he tried to assure himself it was because his uncle was having one of his moments again. Pulling out the chair, careful not to drag it across the bare wood floor, he was about to sit down when he paused. Looking at the desk, then at the floor, Erick couldn't comprehend what he was seeing. Knowing it was supposed to be a card table, and that the floor had a carpet, it didn't make sense what he saw, and again looking at the necklace, he found he once more was unable to shake the feeling it had somehow altered things.
Supper forgotten for the moment, Erick looked about the bedroom, took in the pine dresser that now sat where a maple one had once been, and the bed, now covered with a comforter that had a medium purple and electric blue swirl pattern over a black, starry background. Somehow knowing the sheets and pillowcases would match, he furrowed his brow and wondered what the hell as he stared at other pieces of furniture that had appeared and the posters and other decorations that now adorned the walls. Most of the posters about skateboarding and video games, he tried to think back to if he'd ever been interested in either of these things as he studied the stars, planets, and moons layout that went up one wall and onto the ceiling. Drawing a blank, but certain he'd never had played video games, or shown any interest in skateboarding, he looked at the squat, square shelves that had pull out drawers that had been placed against one wall and at the foot of the bed, then at the wardrobe that had a shelving unit attached to it.
The shelves full of various books, he ignored them and instead closer, opened the wardrobe and peered in. A mirror hanging on the back of the door catching his attention, he peered at his reflection, but saw nothing different. Trying to figure out why his bedroom had transformed into something appropriate for a person interested in video games, skateboarding, and astronomy, he almost shut the door, but stopped when the clothes inside caught his attention. Lifting down a couple of the garments, he stared at pleated cargo skirt, skirt-pants, legging-skirts, and skirts that were high waisted and flared out. Thinking, "Am I in the wrong room? Have things changed so much that this is no longer my room?" and having no answer, he gave the clothes one final look. Noting that all were black or grey, that the skirt-pants and legging-pants all had an opening in the back of the piece that attached under the skirt, along with laces to close the opening, it escaped his attention that he knew what each style was as he hung the garments back up next to a handful of pleated skirts, gave his reflection one final look and shut the wardrobe door.
Conflicted about what he'd found, Erick knew he was a guy, yet, at the same time, he knew this was his room, not a sibling or other family member's. Not sure why there'd be girl's clothes in the wardrobe, yet the bedroom was obviously a boy's room, he started back toward the desk, but changed course and headed for the dresser. Needing to know what type of items were inside, he reached for the top drawer, hesitated, and instead reached down for the bottom. Pulling it open, he rifled through the pants, all black. Taking them out one-by-one, unfolding them, he found skinny skater pants, cargo pants, boot cut pants and distressed style, with the first, third and fourth being button-fly, whilst the cargo-style had a single button and a zipper. Putting them back, trying to work out as he did why they laced up in back, barely giving the mix of black shorts that were distressed, cargo and board style a second glance, he shut the drawer and opened the next one up.
Inside he found shirts. Like the pants, they all were all unisex or for boys and taking out a couple, Erick shook them out and examined the images on the black, grey, and dark red t-shirts, some were of a distressed styling, and all either had a band name, a skater theme, skulls, or some sarcastic slogan printed on them. Beyond this, the only other shirts he found in the drawer where the types with the three-quarter length sleeve and were either black and white or red and grey. Refolding all of them, noting that, like the pants, they all be loose fitting, though unsure how he knew that, he put everything back, and ignoring the next two drawers, opened the top one. Confirming what he'd started to suspect, he peered at the rolled up panties, all of varying shades of pastel colours, the folded up garments, and the socks, which were white, black, or stripped. Ignoring the socks, yet able to tell that most would sit just above the ankles, whilst a number of them would go up past the knee, he was leery about touching the girl's underwear, and instead took out a couple of the folded clothes. Unfolding them, he at first wasn't able to determine what it was, as it seemed to a type of shirt, yet it wasn't, as it was long enough to cover his front and back in two pieces that came down in a taper-like appearance, had snaps to hold them together, and the rear one was split. And then it came to him, as if he'd known all along, that they were body suits that’s look good with a pair of overalls or a denim romper, and without a second glance at the printed image on any of them, Erick refolded them, put them back, and wondered how he knew such things as what the clothes were called, what they went well with, how long the socks were, and that the panties all had the same lace-up feature as the jeans, legging-skirts, and the skirt-pants as he shut the drawer.
Turned away from the dresser, he stared at the bedroom, his room, yet, at the same, he felt certain it wasn't his. Confused about it, he looked at the black, grey, and dark red, loose fitting hoodies that had been hung on a series of coat hooks affixed the back of the bedroom door, and tried to sort out what was going on. It was his room, he was sure of it, yet, it wasn't, as it was a girl's bedroom.
"A girl who dresses like a boy," he thought as he walked over to the desk. Seeing the mix of Vans skateboard shoes, all with tribal images on them, and cowboy-style boots that he somehow knew would work well with either the skirts or the pants, as well as be comfortable enough to run or walk in, all lined up close to the desk, he decided to ignore them for the moment as he sat down and began to pick at his dinner. Letting his mind wander, he glanced at the Amulet of Zulo, thought about the shirt, searched the drawers until he found the bag that had the penile bone in it, and speculated on whether or not the necklace did change people, but part of that transformation meant they had to become the opposite sex.
At a loss as to why, especially as he knew that everything he touched together had been for a boy, he put the baggy back. Finding he didn't really care if he became of a girl or not, Erick decided what bothered him was that for some reason the thing had altered his room, but not him, and that the change it had made was to turn it into a combination of a girl's and boy's bedroom. Having never known any girl's who dressed or acted like a boy, he was stumped as to why this was, though he was able to suss out after some time the reason the clothes were designed with openings in the back, as well as lacings, was because they were meant for someone who had a tail. Searching through the desk for a notebook and pen, Erick tried to work out why the clothes were like this when it was clear he didn't have a tail.
"Will I eventually grow one?" he asked himself after a bit, and thinking about the things he'd touched together, he started to write down all of what he'd done, what he observed, and what he speculated, including whether or not he was to become a girl who acted and dressed like a boy, or a boy who wanted to be a girl.