Mom does not have to start work for a week, so we spend time sightseeing around Bangkok. I do make sure to meet with A-Wut twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, to take the pills he gives me. The first morning I start to balk at taking them, but he just threatens again to hurt Dao. I still fight back and he laughs. When I ask again what they are he just laughs and swallows one. He tells me that the pills are just to make me swallow my pride and take the bitter medicine for befriending a kathoey; that they don’t do anything but taste bad.

I don’t really know why I tell no one about him. I finally convince myself that it is in order to protect Dao and that he is just giving me aspirin, or something. Although the two pills are different, there have been absolutely no effects from them other than the bitter taste. I convince myself he is telling the truth and to quit worrying about it; that it is for a good cause–something my Dad would have wanted me to do for a girl in need.

Speaking of Dao, we are fast becoming good friends. I have introduced her to Mom and she likes her a lot, too. Just because I have given in to A-Wut for now does not mean I am not still working out how I can protect her and get A-Wut off my back. I am convinced that I will figure out something. All bullies have some weakness; it is just a matter of finding it.

And so, our first Monday in Bangkok rolls around. Mom has to start work at the embassy and I have to start school. I am enrolled in a private school that has mostly local kids enrolled, but that teaches classes in English, as well as Thai. I find out to my chagrin that A-Wut and his idiot band are among them, since he had told me that he would see me at school and give me my pills there during the week. Unfortunately, Dao is not among those that go there.

Mom walks to school with me, since it is only a few blocks from where we live, and takes me to the front office where I am officially enrolled. The paperwork has already been taken care of by the embassy, so the very girly-looking man behind the counter takes me to my class. We go into the room where my first class is and he introduces me to Hom, a pretty girl who speaks perfect English.

I am told that Hom will be my guide for the day, since she also has all the same classes as I do. I sit down at the desk next to her and another very girly-looking man comes in, who turns out to be our homeroom teacher, Mr. Chimlin. Hom smiles at him and it does not take me long to figure out that he gives the girls in class preferential treatment.

Hom is leading me through the hallways to our next class when A-Wut stops us, and says loudly, “Hello, Kanya. Come with me.” Hom grimaces when she sees him and, before she can say anything, he pulls me around a corner while his cronies further distract Hom. He forces me to take my pills and warns me to find him before we go home in the afternoon for my next round. I go back and find Hom, who is impatiently waiting for me.

As we start towards our next class, Hom asks, “Is he a friend of yours? He is a bully, you know? And why did he call you Kanya?” I shake my head and tell her, “No, he is an unfortunate acquaintance. He is bullying a friend of mine and I am trying to help her. He seems to now have taken an interest in me, too because of it.” Hom tries to find out more, but I stay quiet and we arrive at our next class, which again is taught by a girly-looking man that seems to favor the girls in the class.

We go from class to class and I get to know Hom better. A lot of the classes are taught by girly-looking men, or pretty women, and, yes, they all treat the girls better. Some are downright mean to the boys; I am surprised that the embassy is OK with this, but don’t know what to do about it. I ask Hom if this is normal and she nods her head and says, “Yes, girls, or boys that act like them, are most definitely preferred by the teachers in school here, since they are always nicer than normal boys. If you act more like a girl, then you will be treated better, too. I can help you with that, if you wish.” I look at her a bit awkwardly, since this is a really strange concept to me. She continues on, “In Thailand, there are a lot of boys that act totally like girls. They are called kathoey. We do not have any here in our school, right now, but sometimes I think the teachers wish that all of the boys were one!”

I jerk my head around at the word ‘kathoey’ and ask her, “Does ‘kathoey’ not just mean ‘tomboy’ in English?” I struggle a bit with the pronunciation of ‘kathoey’. She considers it a bit and says, “No, it is more often translated as ‘ladyboy’. They are boys that really think they are girls and act just like them.” I sit down heavily as I take this in and then ask, “Hom, does what A-Wut call me, Kanya, mean anything special?” She thinks about it and shakes her head as she says, “It is really just a girl’s name. I am sure that it does have a meaning, though.” She takes out her iPhone and looks it up. She shrugs and says, “It is a girl’s name that means ‘girl’. Why does he call you that?”

I relent and tell her about Dao. She gives me an incredulous look as she asks, “You have befriended a kathoey and defended her against a bully like A-Wut that obviously thinks he is better than such a person? Why?” I look at her and say, “Well, I did not know what kathoey means when she told that was what she was. I thought she was just saying she was a tomboy. You know, a girl that acts boyish.” Hom gives me an inquisitive look and asks, “Now that you know better, what will you do?” I shrug, “I will continue to be her friend and treat her the same. What difference does it make?” Hom smiles and says, “Good. I like you, Kanya.” I blush as she calls me that, but she quickly says, “Don’t worry, I am not making fun of you. It is a compliment from me and you should probably get used to it with A-Wut spreading it around.”

I find A-Wut before I leave for the day and he makes me take my ‘bitter medicine’. I walk home and think about Dao and how she is being treated by A-Wut and his gang. Hom had told me a bit more about the kathoey, that they are accepted by many, but there are many that treat them like third-class citizens–behind women, who are more like second-class. She told me that some of the kathoey are that way by choice, but many are forced into it. I find myself crying for Dao; I don’t know why, but I can’t help myself.

I pull myself together just as I get home and wipe my tears on my sleeve as I see Dao waiting for me. I go over and give her a hug. She asks me how my day was and I tell her that I now understand what she is. Her face falls and she says, “Oh, I try to tell you. I understand if you no want to see me no more.” She turns to leave and I pull her into a quick hug her again as I say, “Dao, that is not what I meant. I don’t care. You are still my friend.” She sags into my arms and says, “Oh, thank you, Danny.” I smile at her and tell her, “Just call me Kanya; that seems to be what everyone is calling me anyway…”

The next morning, after meeting with A-Wut, I find Hom and she pulls me to a bench. She asks me, “Kanya, do you want the teachers to treat you better today? If so, let me help you.” I consider it a minute and say, “I don’t agree that I should have to do this, but I do want to fit in. If there are some small things I can do?” She smiles and says, “You need to sit like this.” She shows me how to sit like a girl with my legs together and how to hold my hands.

She has me practice getting up and sitting until I can do it fairly well. Then she pulls out a bunch of stuff from her purse. She says, “I am going to put some light makeup on your face. It will not be really noticeable, but trust me, the teachers will notice.” I flinch as she approaches me with the stuff, but I finally relent and allow her to start. She puts some shiny lip gloss on my lips and is just finishing putting mascara on my eyelashes when a flash goes off.

We both turn towards where the flash came from, surprised, and look to see what it was just as the flash goes off again. A-Wut takes one more picture of us with his iPhone and says, “I knew you were kathoey, Kanya. Now, I have proof. You will do as I say, or I will post to internet and tell your Mommy!” He runs off, laughing at me. Hom hugs me and says, “Don’t worry, Kanya. It is nothing. What is the worst he can do? Post it on his Facebook page that you were trying on a bit of mascara. Big deal!”

I dejectedly go to class with Hom. Surprisingly, the teachers do treat me better once they see that I make an effort to sit like a girl and they notice the limited makeup I have on. Several of them even hold me after class and compliment me, encouraging me to be even more like a girl. I am shocked and somewhat numb, but smile at them. At lunch, Hom kicks me under the table if my legs separate and she tells me to pay attention to how I am sitting.

Hom refreshes my lip gloss after we eat and we finish out the day. Just before I leave to meet with A-Wut, she says, “Meet me a little early before class tomorrow and I will prepare you again.” I nod numbly and she helps me remove the makeup on my face with some wipes from her purse. Then I go to take my pills.

The next day, I find Hom after I take my pills. She hugs me and says, “OK, see you are sitting nicely. Good! So, we will put on some lip gloss and mascara again today. But first, I want to shape your eyebrows a little. Don’t worry, we will do it slowly. I promise that no one will notice.” She pulls out a pair of tweezers and plucks for a few minutes, and I jump with each pluck; then she adds the mascara and lip gloss. I grimace and we go to class. A bunch of the teachers smile at me and wink.

The next days go by in the same way. More pills from A-Wut. Hom adds little things on to my list of makeup every day; clear nail polish, a little eye shadow, and eyeliner. She plucks a few more hairs from my brows each day and she continues to make sure that I sit with my legs held correctly. She also starts harping on me to hold my posture better while sitting and while walking.

Some of Hom’s friends start to notice the difference, so she tells them what she is doing, against my better judgement, and they all want to ‘help’. I am more than a little overwhelmed by the ‘help’ and continue to struggle with the need for it.

By Thursday, I have had a chance to really think through all of this and I decide that I actually need to talk to Mom about it all; it can’t be right that I need to do this to be treated fairly in school. So, I decide to talk to her after I get home that night. I also decide that I should probably also come clean on the pills. They may be having no physical effect on me, but I don’t want A-Wut having that psychological power over me. I am sure she can help me figure out a way to protect Dao.

I just hope I don’t go off on Mom again; since we got here I can’t seem to reign my temper in at times. She just hugs me when I do go off, though, and tells me I will get my emotions under control after a while–that it is normal for me to be emotional still so soon after losing my Dad and with moving and all.

I go to meet with A-Wut for what I am determined to be the last time and take his pills. Just as I turn the corner after swallowing them, A-Wut close behind me, I almost run into Miss Karawek, the principal. She stops us and asks, “A-Wut, what are you doing with young Daniel here? I am sure it is no good.” He smiles sweetly and says, “Nothing, Miss Karawek. I only compliment Kanya on progress.” They switch to a rapid-fire exchange in Thai and Hom quietly comes up beside me. She whispers, “Are you OK, Kanya?” Miss Karawek snaps her head around and looks at me. She lifts my chin and looks closely at my face. She switches back to English and asks Hom, “Why did you just call him Kanya, like A-Wut did? And did you do this to his face; he says you did?”

Hom swallows and says, “Miss Karawek, Kanya…Danny…met a kathoey and had questions. He is trying to better understand about them. I promised to help him get a taste of how they live. It is all an innocent ‘project’.” Miss Karawek looks at me and asks, “Is this true, Daniel?” I don’t know what else to do but agree. I was OK with confiding the whole truth to my Mom, but this is different. Besides, maybe it will put me on A-Wut’s good side.

I unsurely nod my head and say, “Yes, Ma’am. I met a girl, Dao, on my first day here. I later found out what she meant when she told me that she is a kathoey. I…am just…curious…why anyone would…choose to do that. Hom promised to help me understand.” Miss Karawek looks sternly at me and asks, “And A-Wut?” I bite the inside of my cheek hard and say, “It is like he said, he was complimenting me.” She purses her lips and says, “We will talk more about this tomorrow, Kanya. I can help make sure that you get a full taste of being kathoey while you are here at our school and truly understand what it is like, if that is what you want.”

To be continued in Part 3.