After Failing to Pretend to be His Brother

The echoes of my parents' tumultuous divorce still rang in my ears as I turned five.

They were embroiled in a bitter custody battle over my brother, Jaden, leaving me to fend for myself, scavenging leftovers from neighbors' tables until I reached six.

My father, cunning and resourceful, caught my mother on the bed with her lover, securing my brother's custody.

My mother, finally recalling her other child, was repulsed by the fact that I wasn't a boy.

She sheared my hair into a harsh buzz cut and dressed me in my brother's cast-off clothes, even managing to turn my trousers into…