I'm a Mermaid, Not a Merman

Chapter 3

"Um, no," Sammy said as Danny got in their car, "absolutely not."

"I'm wearing the binder," Danny said with finality.

"No you're not. I'm not letting you go swimming with it on. It's dangerous to restrict your breathing like that."

Danny groaned. "Fine. Look away."

Sammy complied, and Danny took off his shirt, and then took off his binder. He let out a small gasp of pain in his chest, and then relief at having it off.

"You've been wearing it too much," Sammy said as he pulled his shirt back on, "you're only supposed to be wearing it to school."

"I feel fine."

"How much have you been wearing it?" Sammy asked.

"Are we going to go?"

"How long... have you been wearing it?" Sammy asked more firmly.

"I don't like how they feel."

"Oh my gosh, you're wearing it to bed aren't you?" Sammy said.

Danny sighed.

Sammy stormed out of the car and into the garage. Fantastic. She was tattling on him to Mom. He hated this. Ever since he'd been diagnosed with gynecomastia, Mom and Sammy had been constantly pestering him about every little thing. This was perhaps just as bad as Sammy discovering his mermaid tail. The consequences could be very severe.

But Danny assumed those consequences would at least wait until he got home. He was not so lucky. Sammy marched out of to the car - and she held a one piece black swimsuit.

"NO," Danny said in his firmest, deepest voice.

"Mom is not happy," Sammy said in frustration. "She's talking to Doctor Taylor right now."

"I'm not wearing this," he tossed the swimsuit aside.

"Stop being such a baby," Sammy scowled at him, forcing it back in his hands, "it's a perfectly plain swimsuit. Now go inside and put it on."

Danny took it with a glare of his own, and marched back up to the garage door, anger concentrated in every step. He was pissed that Sammy was making him wear this. It was hard to let himself get really mad though, because he'd brought it on himself. 

He tried to get to the bathroom without Mom catching him, but she got off the phone right as he came in.

"You are in big trouble."

Danny huffed a breath in frustration.

"Don't you roll your eyes," Mom said, "you're seriously wearing the binder at night? Didn't you listen to Doctor Taylor?"

"I hate it Mom," Danny said, "I hate how it feels. Both just thinking about what's there on my chest, and the... "

"The... what?" Mom asked.

Danny groaned. "The chafing."

Mom motioned for him to walk up to her. Without much warning, she pulled up his shirt. Revealed were those two horrible, mutated mounds of flesh on his chest. His gross manboobs. That however made them sound trivial. They were as big as Sammy's.

He stood in discomfort, and heated annoyance, as Mom inspected the prolonged effects of compressing his chest more than was healthy.

"I didn't get a chance to talk to Doctor Taylor too long," Mom said. "And we are going to have an appointment once she can get back to me. But she made me two recommendations. One. No binder for the summer."

Danny's mouth gaped open. "What! No Mom, I won't do it!"

"You are causing serious damage to your chest," Mom said, "and I think you really need time to let it heal. Along with that, if you are chafing like you say, then Doctor Taylor's other suggestion is especially important - that you start wearing a bra. Like we should've had you do from the beginning."

Danny turned away, wanting to go into the bathroom and ignore Mom, but Mom had too firm a grip on him. 

"No," Danny said, "I hate these things, and making them obvious to me and everyone I walk by is the last thing I want."

"Well maybe," Mom said, "you should've thought of that before you acted so irresponsibly. I'm just... so disappointed in you that you would willingly hurt yourself like this."

"I can handle it," Danny said firmly.

"I don't want you to handle it," Mom said, "I want you to take care of your body, even if it looks differently than you want it to."

Danny gritted his teeth, and went into the bathroom to change into the stupid swimsuit. He couldn't believe this. Wearing a bra during the summer? Or even worse, until his surgery in the fall? There was no way short of staying in the house all summer that he would be able to hide it, and he knew that he couldn't deal with that.

He threw off his clothes furiously, and then, with muscles trembling, pulled on the stupid one piece. It clung close to his body in a very, very unnerving way. Turning around to the mirror was even worse. It highlighted his pronounced bottom and  hips more than he would like.

After finally mustering the effort to leave the bathroom, Danny was once again stopped by Mom. 

"You didn't remember a towel, did you?" she asked, handing him one.

He didn't say thank you, or even so much as make eye contact with her.

"Look Danny," Mom gripped his shoulders and forcing his gaze, "you have got some really difficult things you're going through. I know that it's tough, and really embarrassing, but you could be causing  yourself damage to your spine and rib cage. Is avoiding embarrassment really worth bad pains like that for the rest of your life?"

Danny sighed. "No."

"We care about you," Mom said, "we really do. I don't like forcing you into positions like this - but you're not going to make anything more tolerable by hurting yourself."

"Whatever," Danny said. "See ya Mom."

"Bye," she said with concern in her voice.

Sammy started the car as he came out the garage door and down the steps. He could feel his chest shifting in the swimsuit. He could feel them moving freely. He quickly pulled his shirt on over it. The feeling didn't change  in the slightest. With every step, he felt not only the light pressure of his chest against the fabric, but also the feeling of the fabric closely fitting against the rest of his body.

Despite the awkwardness it caused as they drove to party, Danny refused to talk. He wasn't going to talk to a snitch. To someone had cursed him to have a horrible summer.