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utterly fascinated. That book taught me more than, at that
point, I had ever wanted to know.
gender was never a huge issue in my family, except when
it came to playing games. My brother and his best friend
were older than my sister and I, and got bored with us
quickly if we didn’t play legos or wizard battles with them.
My sister and our little friend aaryn were bitter, resentful.
The boys refused to let us play elf Quest or War with them,
so we decided to strike back. We would make our own game.
We would create butler Jones.
butler Jones was our special game, so secret that it re-
quired swearing a secret oath to play. There were three
roles: the Queen, the king, and butler Jones. The Queen
would sit alone in her bedroom (always my sister’s as she
had a day bed – much more accessible than my bunk bed).
suddenly, butler Jones would burst in, woo the Queen with
some awkwardly improvised dialogue, and then would pro-
ceed to lie on top of her for a few minutes. suddenly, the
king would burst in, yell at butler Jones, pull him off the
Queen, and throw him out. The Queen would apologize and
then (in a stroke of my sister’s genius, one that would make
me and aaryn stare at her in awe), they would stand against
the wall in a strange position I didn’t fully understand for
a few years. suddenly, butler Jones would burst in, yell at
the king, pull him off the Queen, and the pattern would
repeat.
We all wanted to be the Queen, as she was the girl and
had the most stage time. If you were the king or the butler,
you would have to awkwardly wait outside the room for a
few minutes, impatient and a little nervous. It didn’t feel
like playing as much as keeping guard for something wrong
blue moon 5
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