Chapter 4

The last thing I expected when walking into my apartment was bright pink feathers littering the floor.

Kyle was wearing an oversized t-shirt fashioned to be a makeshift dress. His face was covered with colourful smears of blue and pink. He had a feather boa wrapped around his neck and his nails were painted a bright pink. Amira looked at him with pride and gave me a wave with the end of her own baby blue boa.

"Hey, there. We were just doing a fashion show." Amira threw the end of her boa over her shoulder and leaned against the side of the couch. "Want to show him, Miss Feather Diva?"

"Miss Feather Diva?" I asked in confusion. I closed the door behind me and threw my coat onto the couch. I could feel the weight of my body sink into the coach when I decided to take a seat.

"Yeah, it's his stage name. He picked it himself," Amira said.

"Ahhh, no wonder we got the boas." I remarked.

Kyle picked up the feathers on the ground quickly before running behind the couch.

"Dad, are you ready?" He asked loudly.

"I'm ready."

He pops out from behind the couch while throwing the feathers into the air and begins to strut to the middle of the room. He strikes a few poses before going back to hide behind the couch. Amira claps loudly and cheers and I follow her lead. I felt uneasy but kept the smile.

"What do you think, dad?"

"That was one of the best shows I've ever seen! Amira taught you well, didn't she?" I praised the kid. His head popped out of the couch to give me a beaming smile.

"Yeah!"

"Did he already eat and shower?" I asked Amira. She nodded. "Okay, time to go get into pajamas!"

"Awwwww, but I want to keep playing with auntie!" Kyle whined.

"Auntie Amira had to go home now but I can come and visit you again another day, okay?" Amira held out her pinky finger and Kyle instantly latched onto it with his own finger.

"Okay!"

"Now, hurry up and change. Also, don't forget to wash your face," I told him.

He runs to his room and shuts it with a bang. Amira's expression seemed to be a mixture of adoration and amusement at the moment.

"He's such an energetic little guy," Amira said.

I gave a breathless laugh. "I'm a bit worried this will be bad for him. Especially since he only started school."

"He'll be fine," Amira reassured me. "Let the kid be happy. He wanted to do all this in the first place."

"He did?" She nods in response.

"Plus, if anyone comes for that baby for being more feminine than the usual boy, let me know and I'll turn them fabulous too." She did a shimmy with her boa. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll keep that in mind," I smiled. "Also, thanks again for babysitting him while I took an extra shift at work."

"It's no problem, babe. We're family you know. That baby is like my grandbaby, no way I wouldn't let him be uncared for. Plus, lucky me, I happened to have a weekend off for once." She stuffed her boa into a large bag that sat on the coffee table.

"That's really weird. Is business doing okay?" Worry seeped into my voice and she nodded.

She picked up the bag, tucking it beneath her arm. "Yeah, they're just doing renovations at the old club, so they're closed for the whole week. Anyways, if you need Kyle to have more auntie time, you know where to find me."

She gave me a comforting pat. I guessed my expression told more than I thought. Her eyes flick over to Kyle's room and her lips tugged upward.

"I want to say bye to the little troublemaker before I leave."

"Alright," I said. I cleared my throat before I spoke again. "Kyle! Say goodbye to auntie!"

Kyle immediately ran out of his room in his pajamas to greet Amira. He hugged her legs and she laughed. "Bye auntie!"

Amira and Kyle having a day to dress up reminded me of Caleb. It wasn't the first time Amira did a makeover. There was a time years ago when Caleb and I went to our usual venue, but the only difference was that Caleb was on the stage instead watching it.

"Oh my god! You were great out there!" Amira loudly praised Caleb. He gave a sheepish smile and I could see tiny beads of sweat rolling down his face from the heat of the performance.

"I don't know if I would do this ever again honestly," he laughed.

"Girl, you had fun out there and that's all that matters!" Amira's arms were in the air as if to show a visual representation of how great Caleb was. "Plus, you ain't Caleb Matthews out there, you're Miss Ing Linque's daughter! Miss Inga Peace! And girl, you make jaws drop."

"I don't know about that. I swear I heard someone in the back clocking her foundation for looking so ashy that she must've came back from cleaning the venue." My comment made the backroom area roar in shrieks and laughter.

"Anyways, I'm on in five. I've got to prepare or else I'll pass out from excitement." Amira said before waving us goodbye.

The bustling of the backstage area was full of anxiety and excitement of the performers. The night was still young and there were still a lot of performers that had to entertain the crowd.

I leaned into Caleb and whispered into his ear. "It's pretty loud in here, can we go outside for a bit?"

He nodded and we both left out the back door. The cool night air hit my hot skin and I took a deep breath. Caleb let out a loud yawn as he stretched his arms.

"Ugh! I felt like I was suffocating in there!" Caleb exclaimed. He looked different when dressed as a woman, but I couldn't say I hated it.

"It's expected since there's so many people crammed into such a small area."

"What did you think of my performance?" He asked. His red lips made his smile looked more cheery than usual.

"I liked it," I said. "To top it off, you look 'super fish' as most of the girls would say."

Caleb laughed. He was laughing so much tonight. I didn't want his laughter to end.

"Why, thank you," he said.

"Too bad I'm gay." A small smile appeared on my face. Caleb put a hand on his hip and his mouth was open in shock.

"I bet Miss Inga Peace can make you straight."

"Oh? I don't think you'll be able to prove such a claim," I teased. He stood in front of me and slowly leaned in closer. I could see even the smallest detail of his makeup from this position.

He lowered his voice. "How about you give Inga a kiss and we'll see how you'll feel after that."

Instantly, I kissed him, and he kissed me back. I could feel his smile as we kissed which only caused me to smile more. We broke apart and he put a hand on my face.

"So?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Nah, I'm still gay."

"Shut up you idiot."

"Make me."

We kissed again.

I really missed kissing him like that.

Slowly, I collected the feathers from the ground from Kyle's game. I looked underneath the couch to see if I had missed any, only to find a handful of puzzle pieces. I sighed before pocketing them to eventually shove them into the nightstand as per usual. I don't want to see them. It was painful enough. I didn't want to go through any more torture. Especially when I was remembering stupid small things like his alter ego's name.

Miss Inga Peace. Missing a piece.

Who the hell chose such an ironic name in the first place?

It didn't matter if the question was answered at this point. It was in the past now.