"Guess who?"

"Of course, it's me! Who else could it be, huh?"

This was taken on his 6th birthday. Though he can barely remember the events that transpired on his sixth birthday, he certainly won't forget a fight he had with his bitch of a sister over who would be the first one to get a slice of his birthday cake.

"Oh well, we're always been fighting ever since I can remember. It's probably one of the earliest (cat) fights we had."

He doesn't look six, alright?

"I guess it's that too much baby powder and (over) pampering from Lola that made me look younger than I really am. I was never allowed then to go out and play, Lola's too afraid I might get hurt from playing and die. No. Just kidding! She's just overprotective of me and my sister then. "

Having raised by his grandmother almost all his childhood years had probably molded his sexual preference now. Aside from that, he was almost constantly surrounded by girls all his life - his mother, Lola and cousins that were all girls. His father then was working in Iraq and only came back when he was already eight.

This boy, though belonging to a pre-dominantly female clan, had an awful lot of boy playmates and friends. He is soon to know that he's quite special and different from most of them. Being gay is as alien to him as ET that time.

Twenty years after, the boy now looks like this:

"I can't quite fathom that I am looking at my own picture. Twenty years after, I don't look 26, I look older. Life really has a funny joke on everyone. "

"My grandmother is not as overprotective of me as before. She's now got my three younger sisters to 'harrass', hehehe! Lucky for her, these three turned out to be as bitch as their older sister. Of couse, they won't become bitches if they don't have a model to look after to. And who could that be, hmmn?"

Now, this boy is playing quite a different game with guys. He discovered that he really is special and different. But he also knows that there's a huge price to pay for being different.

Early on, he had tried to suppress it but it almost always gets the better of him at the most unexpected times. Which had left him humiliated, discriminated and laughed at.

He then resolved to accept himself for who and what he is. Though acceptance really is 'easier said than done', he's far better from being the closet, denial queen he once was. He's still in that so-called closet but coming out will be something that he'll deal with when he gets there.

"My life story... so far..."


Chapter 27 - out on March 5, 2006