"Thank you for taking the time to see us tonight, Coach O. I really appreciate it."
"It's no problem at all, Bob. How can I help?"
"Well, you see, he went to see his mother this weekend, and she dropped him off dressed like this." Bob glanced towards his son. "I am not comfortable with it, frankly, and my friend Rod said that you'd have some sound advice."`
Daniel glanced at himself in the locker room mirror, confused, growing more worried with every moment. His clothes were perfectly normal: dark skinny jeans, blue converse sneakers, a beanie to cover his neck-length mop of blond hair, and a knit sweater. The sweater was form-fitting and maybe a little long, the sleeves were touching his knuckles and the hem went past his ass, but it wasn't a dress. It was a nineteenth birthday present from his mom! It wasn't like he was wearing makeup or anything.
Not in front of his dad at least.
Coach O put his hand on his chin, fingers the size and color of kielbasa stroking grey stubble. "I think I know exactly what you mean. I don't want to get too political but there are forces within this country that do not want to let boys grow up to be boys. I've seen some young people guided down some very dark paths, it's heartbreaking."
"Coach, that's the first sensible thing I've heard all week." Bob's relief was palpable. "Where do we go from here, is my question."
"Well, we can't have him dressed like this, that's for sure. We should have him try a few outfits, see what brings out the man in him."
"Daniel, you heard the man. Strip down to your underpants, and we'll figure it out from there."
"W-what?"
"Son."
Daniel felt his heart pounding in his ears. "Yes, dad." There were no stalls in the locker room and the showers were open plan. At the far end there was an alcove with a boot rackโon the few occasions he turned up to gym class he would come in late and change as quickly as possible in this alcove when everyone else had gone on to the field. Muscle memory made him walk towards it, and when he realized what he was doing he expected them to tell him to stop. They didn't, however. They followed him. Now he was in the alcove, with a rack of dirty boots on one wall, a mirror on the other, and two middle-aged jocks boxing him in.
His hands shook as he took off his beanie. He kicked off his shoes nextโ
"Danny, what did I tell you about untying your laces before taking your shoes off? You'll wreck them like that."
"Sorry dad," he mumbled. White ankle socks came off next, he was relieved he hadn't worn a pink or purple pair. He undid his jeans, slowly, fumbling with the buttons, mostly trying to put off removing his sweater. He hated having a bare chest, it was embarrassing. When the jeans were around his ankles, he caught a glimpse of himself side on in the mirror. Without pants, it kinda did look like he was wearing a dress.
Daniel touched his sweater, but his hands faltered. He hated seeing his chest, for some reason, and didn't want to take it off. He looked up.
"Um," he said.
Coach O looked at him blankly. His father crossed his arms.
"...Okay," he said. His stomach did a flip as he removed the sweater. It was cold in the locker room. He rubbed his arms and shifted from side to side, trying to avoid the gaze of the two men in front of him.
Coach O sighed. "Bob, I gotta level with you, this might be a problem. He doesn't have the physique for a lot of regular outfits. Just look at him."
Bob sighed in turn, and his expression softened, one more pitying than disappointed. "Yeah. God, I didn't know fatherhood was going to be like this. Is there anything we can try?"
"We'll try a little of everything," said Coach O, slapping him on the back before looking Daniel in the eye. "Don't you worry son, we'll have you sorted before you leave here tonight."
"Thanks?"
Coach O handed him a plastic bag. He opened it up and found blue jeans and a white t-shirt, smelling of stale fries and damp cardboard. He wasted no time putting them on, already shivering from the cold.
It was not a good fit. The t-shirt somehow managed to be both completely formless and also highlight every pointy, knobbly bone in his upper body. The jeans were like rumpled cardboard tubes, the outfit made him look like a PS2 character.
"Awful," said Coach O. "It's not his fault," he hastened to add, "but it's just not right. Come on, we'll try the next one."
Daniel didn't like taking his clothes off a second time any more than he liked it the first time, but at least he wasn't wearing weird-smelling dad clothes any more. He'd barely stepped out of the jeans before the next set was shoved his way, a grey suit on a hanger with a floral print shirt.
The suit actually fit him. Well, almost. If anything it was a little too tight, the slacks hugging his inseam, the blazer flaring out at the back, the buttons pinning him in like a corset. He felt less bad wearing this one, though he didn't think it was doing whatever his dad and the coach expected it to do. It smoothed down rather than emphasized his shoulders, made his hips pop out, and didn't exactly accentuate his more masculine features.
He gave the men a hopeful smile. They looked back at him in consternation.
"God, it looks a lot better, but it feels worse than the one his mom put him in, if you catch my drift."
Coach O sucked air in through his teeth. "I'll be honest, it makes him look kinda... like a lesbian woman."
"I'm not a lesbian!"
"I know, son, I know. Let's try another outfit."
"What about something more active?" asked Bob, "Something that'll let him move around naturally."
Coach O had turned around, and was digging through a laundry hamper. "I've got just the thing. Catch!"