Housewives of Candlewick Court 02 - Surrender To Candlewick PDF

J O E S I X - P A C K
SURRENDER TO
CANDLEWICK
Story & Art by Joe Six-Pack
Book Two of the “Housewives of
Candlewick Court” series
A Tales of Transformation story
2017 Digital Edition
Design & layout © 2017

Story & Illustrations © 2017 Joe Six-Pack
All rights reserved.
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Printed in the United States of America.
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PREVIOUSLY
In the story “In the Family Way,” Colin and Elliot Finch began
a cat-fishing con to snare a lonely, gullible man into their trap.
They caught a single father by the name of Doug Brundell, a
genius genetic engineer. When Colin’s girlfriend leaves them
high and dry for someone to play the part of a dream girlfriend,
Colin finds himself disguising himself and taking up the role of
“Dorothy.” Alongside him is his brother Elliot, who begins to
play the part of Colin’s daughter.
Now several dates into their so-called relationship, Colin has
become more and more obsessed with making himself the
perfect girlfriend for Doug. However, his relentless obsession
with changing his appearance to become the woman of Doug’s
dreams seems to be having several side effects. Elliot, his
19-year old brother no longer objects to filling his role as a
fourteen-year-old girl, and a little bit of “Emily” seems to be
emerging from Elliot, even in his down time. Another
unexpected turn is that Colin is adapting to his role as a mother
all too easily, even wearing dresses around the clock, and
wearing clothes cut for a much smaller, more slender woman
without alteration. Or is it Colin who’s being altered?
In the story “Agent of Change” we met a young man who
desperately wanted to have weight-reduction surgery. His
father objected, but didn’t stop him. That was too bad, because
the doctor they chose, Susan Hackstaff, hates men and was
looking for a new victim. Now, the poor sixteen year old finds
himself a 43 year old woman selling real estate. His father and
even his doctor don’t fare well, either.
Finally, we met multi-billionaire Craig Luger, a fugitive from

justice who has bankrolled the mysterious Candlewick Court
development. He throws the switch to activate the development,
designed to attract those fated to change genders, and expects
the first residents to arrive very soon. In the pages ahead, the
first residents finally arrive as the community takes shape.
SURRENDER TO CANDLEWICK
vjv
IN THE FAMILY WAY
PART 3
When Colin informed Elliot that they had scheduled another “bring the kids”
date, the reaction was not what Colin had expected. His 19 year old brother
was giddy.
“Where?” Elliot wanted to know.
Colin liked his enthusiasm. “A picnic!”
“Will Aiden be there?” Was the next question. “Have you picked out the
outfits yet?” Was the one after that. “What are you going to make?”
With that kind of excitement, preparations for the trip took all of their time
until the weekend came. Colin hadn’t put much thought into his picnic idea,
beyond that he liked the idea of being outside and behaving like he and Doug
were a couple. So it wasn’t until Elliot mentioned it that he realized he was
going to have to put the food together.
While he had that to chew on, he needed to get their clothes together, too.
After much deliberation, he had selected a red polka-dot dress with a collar
and 3/4 cuffed sleeves. A pair of red espadrilles and a white belt were the
perfect accessories.
For Elliot, he chose a salmon-colored short skirt and denim sleeveless top
with pockets. Some brown sneakers and a necklace went with it.
“I don’t know,” Elliot said when he got a look at it. “Can I try it out, just to
make sure?” Elliot asked. “Just, you know, wear it around so I’m comfortable in
it?”
“Yeah, sure, go for it. Just don’t spill anything on it.”
“You’re going to wear yours all day, right?”
“Yeah, I guess I can.” Colin was about to ask why his brother wanted to play
dress-up, but figured he was just getting into his role, like they normally did.
It was about an hour later when the older brother, in his polka-dot dress and
apron, was staring at the fridge trying to figure out what he could make.
Sandwiches were all he was prepared for, and peanut better and jelly ones at
that. In fact, the whole fridge was a nightmare of neglected jars and bottles full
Surrender to Candlewick by Joe Six-Pack
3
of spoiled food. He had to fight an odd urge to clean the fridge, if not the
whole kitchen, right there and then.
“What do people eat at picnics anyway?” He asked Elliot.
“I’ve never been on one,” the younger brother replied.
“I’m gonna google it.” Colin fed it into his phone. “Hot dogs? No, can’t do
that. Hamburgers? No.” He was reading. “Cole slaw? No. Pasta salad...”
“We can do that!” Elliot said. “Just boil up some macaroni and cheese but skip
the cheese.”
“We can then add mayonnaise and salad dressing. Boom. Pasta salad.” Colin
liked this idea. “I’ll boil the pasta. You try to find mayonnaise or dressing.”
“Got it!” Elliot said.
“You can be Mommy’s little helper,” Colin said, wincing as he said it. That was
just the sort of thing that could set his brother off.
“Yeah, okay,” Elliot said with half a smile.
Whew, Colin thought to himself.
By the time they were done with the so-called pasta salad, it was clear that
that wasn’t quite a full meal. Elliot had dumped some potato chips into a
container, but both knew they had to have something else of some sort.
“A dessert!” Colin said, suddenly realizing what was missing. “What do we
have left to work with?”
Elliot took a second look. “There’s a jar of olives, half a box of frozen waffles,
two cans of okra, raspberry jam, and Cool Whip,” he reported.
Colin was worried the concerned expression on his face was messing his
immaculate make-up. He paced on the kitchen floor in his heels as he tried to
think of a way out of this mess, castigating himself for not being more
prepared. Usually, he was the master of preparation. Had he thought he could
just whip up a full picnic like some sort of domestic goddess? Then, as if from
nowhere, the answer was suddenly clear to him. Why hadn’t he seen it before?
“I can work with that,” Colin said.
He mixed the raspberry jam and Cool Whip with a whisk and whipped it into
a sweet frothy filing, sandwiched in between two toasted waffles. “Belgian
Raspberry Whipped Delight,” he said when he had them done. “So simple a
child could do it,” he added.
Before he even knew it, he had filled a tub with paper towels and ice cubes to
maintain moistness and a chill, wrapped the treats in saran wrap and sealed it
all up to survive the hour or so before they would be served. “They’ll thicken as
they chill.”
“Where did you learn all that?” Elliot asked, impressed.
4
“It’s not that hard to figure out. Just simple kitchen skills.” It came so easily to
him, the young man didn’t want to brag. He was kind of embarrassed to take
credit for the idea. Colin checked the clock. “Oh, shoot! We’re out of time!”
“It’s okay, Mommy. You did great.”
“I couldn’t have done it without you, sweetie,” Colin said. “There’s no time to
do any more. We’ll have to go as-is. Crud. How do I look?”
“You look... Very nice.” Elliot said, blushing.
“Nice? That’s all?” Colin removed his apron and turned himself left and right
so Elliot could take a closer look. “Are you sure? My face? Does my dress look
okay? I didn’t spill anything on it, did I?”
“No... You... You look amazing. You really do look like... A woman. A very
pretty woman.”
The comment from his brother was unexpected. “Um, really?”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but you really do look like a mommy...
Mommy.”
Colin had been noticing his slimmer waist, his leaner legs and smoother skin
lately. He had been telling himself he was getting conceited, that he didn’t
really look as good as he thought he did. But hearing compliments from
someone besides Doug made it hard to ignore the truth anymore. He was
cutting quite the feminine figure lately. His eyes involuntarily darted to the
pills on the kitchen counter. Doug’s pills.
“I’m just more comfortable in a dress, I suppose,” he said to Elliot. “Losing
weight helps.”
“Yeah, I guess it does,” Elliot said. “It really does.”
“You should talk. If I didn’t know myself, I’d say you really were a young girl.
You look as much like an ‘Emily’ as if you were born a girl.”
“I am a girl, Mommy,” Elliot said with an impish smile. “And you’re really my
Mommy.”
“Of course,” Colin replied, going with his brother’s suggestion. “At least for
the next few hours.”
They parked the van as far away as possible from the park, to avoid its
discovery, and met Doug and Aiden promptly at 11:30 at the entrance. It was a
lovely, pastoral park, with a large pond and a creek that wound through the
dozens of leafy green trees that lined the way. The weather was pleasant and
mild, and birds were still chirping from the morning. It was picture postcard
perfect.
“My, my. Don’t you look lovely,” Doug said when he arrived. Dressed in a suit,
he kissed Colin with a peck on the lips.
“You both look very nice,” Aiden said, unexpectedly speaking up.
5
“Well, thank you, Aiden. How polite of you!” Colin was as just as impressed at
his opening remark as he was with the way he was dressed. Aiden had gone
with a crisp white dress shirt, buttoned up to the top button. His hair was
neatly slicked back and he stood with his hands folded behind him, and a
pensive look on his face. “And so well dressed!” Colin added. The compliment
brought a genuine smile to Aiden’s face.
“I couldn’t ask for two lovelier ladies for a picnic at the park!” Doug jumped
back in, laying it on thick. “Let me handle that basket. It’s what the men are
good for.” He picked up the large picnic basket and carried it as he stuck out
his arm for Colin. “Shall we?”
Colin took his arm and leaned into him. “Dress shoes for a picnic? A suit?” He
asked.
“Sneakers felt too casual, and I knew you would be dressed to the nines. It’s
the least I can do.”
“Well, you look amazing. You were born to wear a suit.”
“I have to agree,” Doug said.
“Mommy!” Elliot shouted, startling Colin. “They have boats!”
As Colin looked in the direction Elliot was pointing, he could see a few
hobbyist remote control boats zipping along in the pond. Knowing his brother
loved remote control anything and couldn’t pass up a WWII naval TV
documentary, he wasn’t surprised to see the excitement on his face. “Go ahead,
sweetie.”
Elliot was off like a shot. “Keep her out of trouble Aiden,” Doug said. Aiden
ran off after Colin.
“She loves boats,” Colin explained to Doug.
“Maybe she’ll grow up to be a cruise ship director,” Doug suggested.
“Or something like that,” Colin replied. He noted that Doug appeared to be
standing taller, not slumping like he had a tendency to. With his crisp blazer
and tie, he could have been dressed for the office, but Colin did appreciate the
effort to look professional, even at the park. He liked to think Doug was feeling
more confident and sure of himself, and wanted to take more pride in his
appearance. If he had been a small part of that, Colin was satisfied that his plan
was coming along nicely.
They were probably a bit overdressed for a picnic, as Colin compared the way
they looked to the others at the park, but it didn’t much concern him. He was
dressing the way Doug wanted him to, and looked the way Doug liked a
woman to look, and that was what mattered the most.
The two chose a spot by the creek, and laid out the picnic blanket. Colin
unpacked the basket, laying out every item carefully on the best plates he had
6
been able to find back home. With every item, Doug gave an appreciative
“ooh” and “ahh.”
He couldn’t help but notice as he set up the plates and flatware, that Doug
was helping by taking the items from Colin’s long-nailed hands as making sure
they touched as much as possible. Colin did his best to let his hands linger and
then lean into Doug suggestively.
“I can’t believe how nice a day it is,” Doug said, laying back. “I feel like I’m in
a movie.”
“Which movie?”
“Mad Max.”
Colin laughed at the joke.
“I love the way you giggle,” Doug said.
Had he actually giggled? Colin hadn’t even thought about it. He was just
laughing at a clever comment. But yes, now that he thought about it, it had
come out as a tinkling little giggle. He had even demurely covered his mouth
with his fingers when he did it. This impersonation is getting to me, Colin
thought.
“Perhaps I’m thinking of On Moonlight Bay. I’m always getting them mixed
up.”
“Oh? Yes...” Colin stuttered. Was he supposed to know a film called “On
Moonlight Bay?”
“You’ve never heard of it,” Doug inquired.
“I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s an oldie. I watch a lot of old musicals from the fifties. There’s something
about the style, the innocence, the way people lived back then. I’m a sucker for
a good fifties film.”
“What’s it about?” Colin said, getting closer to Doug. He adjusted his dress
skirt as he folded his legs under him.
“It starts Doris Day as a teenage tomboy,” Doug said, looking into Colin’s eyes.
Colin liked to make sure he made direct eye contact with Doug whenever he
started to tell a story. He wanted to look spellbound. “She lives in a nice part of
town and when the rich neighbors move in next door, she falls in love with the
neighbor’s boy, both of them head over heels. But if she wants to marry him,
she has to learn to be a proper young lady to impress him and his family. Her
father doesn’t approve of the rich family’s ‘old fashioned’ ideas about marriage,
but she’s truly in love, and becomes the perfect wife for her future husband.”
“It sounds silly,” Colin said.
“Oh, it certainly is. Very silly.” Doug, betraying his usual nature, grasped Colin
by the shoulders and kissed him, digging in with desperate lips.
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Colin, taken quite by surprise, shook for a moment, his male instincts firing off
on contact, but held himself together to let what was going to happen, happen.
After all, he had been working towards just this kind of thing for weeks and
months.
Doug pulled himself away and then recoiled. “Sorry,” he said, looking
embarrassed.
“There’s nothing to be sorry apart, darling,” Colin said. He realized this might
be a moment where Doug would lose his nerve, so it was up to Colin to make
sure he got the right signals — and at this moment, the right signal was to go
back in, so he kissed him back.
There was a genuine warmth in Doug, something Colin didn’t expect to find
there. When they had first met, the man looked as cold as a fish and
uncomfortable in every way. Colin dreaded the idea of having to just touch
him. Now, in his nice suit, an air of confidence to him and a hint of
impulsiveness to him, Doug was nearly a different person. Now, Colin could
cope with the situation. He could manage it. He could stay in a lip-lock with
Doug for nearly two minutes, which is just what they had done.
“Buh!” Doug said, separating himself. “I need to breathe!”
Colin found himself gasping for air as well. As he steadied himself, he took a
tissue from his purse and wiped Doug’s face where he had left his mark.
“Lipstick. Hold still,” he instructed. He dabbed at it, moistened it with his
licked thumb and dabbed some more. “There you go,” Colin said as he finished
up.
“Uh... Well...” Doug fixed his hair and straightened his tie. “Do you think it’s
about time to eat?”
Colin got to his feet and called out. “Kids! Time for lunch!” He yelled, in a
surprisingly melodic tone. “Come and eat!” He had to scan the area for any
sign of Elliot and Aiden, as they were no longer by the pond. Colin spotted
them in the playground area, playing on the slides. That seemed a little young
for the both of them, but they did look like they were having fun, and they
were mixing with the other children there. “Aiden! Emily!” He called out
again.
They came scrambling over the grass and landed on the picnic blanket like
sacks of flour. “I’m starving!” Elliot said, grabbing for the food.
“Manners!” Colin said, slapping his brother’s outstretched hand. He then
grabbed a can away from Aiden. “We’re not a pack of wild wolves!”
Aiden, shocked, looked to his father for support. “She’s in charge,” Doug said
to his son.
Colin took his time. “Now, adults first. Douglas, let me have your plate...”
Colin went about the methodical work of portioning out each plate with food,
8
and then admonishing anyone who dared start to eat before everyone had been
served.
“I’m going to die of hunger!” Aiden whined.
“Listen to our hostess, young man,” Doug reminded his son. “You could learn
a thing or two from her.”
Once they ate, Colin used his newfound power of manner enforcement to
needle his brother and Aiden about their eating habits. He wasn’t happy until
Elliot was taking smaller “More lady-like” bites and Aiden finished chewing
before he talked.
They all enjoyed Colin’s special dessert treats, which were perfect. “Now leave
the clean up to the women,” Colin said, much to Elliot’s visible displeasure.
“I don’t mind helping,” Aiden said.
“Let them do their job,” Doug told him.
They left the basket behind as strolled around the park for a few minutes as
they walked off their meal. As they watched the ducks being fed and the tiny
boats speed through the water, Colin and Doug were holding hands, looking
like a couple very much in love.
vjv
“Are you and Emily’s Mom getting married?” Aiden asked his father as they
drove home.
“Err...” Doug responded. “What? Us? No.” He then waited a long moment
before he added, “But would you be okay if we spent more time together?”
“I guess,” Aiden replied, trying to look disinterested.
“Because I think we will.”
“Fine.”
Doug then waited for the moment to settle fore asking his next, extremely
loaded question. “But if she was going to be your new mother, would that
bother you?”
It was another long, protracted pause before Aiden answered, “I could live
with it.”
vjv
Back at their apartment, Elliot and Colin dropped the spent picnic basket on
the floor and then wobbled into the living room and crashed.
“Being a kid is exhausting,” Elliot said, his face half-immersed in a pillow.
9
Colin, collapsed in a frayed easy chair was staring up into the ceiling. “I was
sure I was going to be discovered. All I could think about was any second I was
going to blow the whole thing.”
Elliot turned his head. “You were perfect. It’s like you were possessed by the
spirit of motherhood. You were... Perfect.”
“As if. You were the one who nailed it. I thought you had lost your mind and
started to truly believe you were a little girl.”
Expecting a reply, and not getting one, Colin lifted his head so he could see
his brother. He had pushed his head deeper into the pillow.
“Gonna suffocate yourself,” Colin advised. He still didn’t get a rise out of
Elliot so he took a closer look. That was when he noticed the heaving of his
shoulders.
He got up, concerned, and shook his bother’s arm. “Elliot?” He asked.
Elliot separated his face from the pillow, only to show the mess he was
making, with tears coming from his eyes and his face messed up as he was
trying to hold back his crying. “I’m s... s... Sorry.” He said, trying to talk as his
emotions fought him.
“Dude?” Colin asked.
“I... I just miss Mom... So much...” He grabbed the pillow and tried to stuff it
over his face again, ashamed of what he had said.
Colin had to think for a second, because he wasn’t sure what their mother had
to do with anything. That was when he looked down at the flare of his dress
and realized where this was all coming from. “Oh, shit,” He said as he knelt by
his brother. “I’m sorry. I know. I miss her too, bud.”
In all the years since she had passed away, the both of them hadn’t shed a tear
over it. From Colin’s perspective, he absolutely felt like breaking down every
time he thought about her Therefore, he had tried to stop thinking about her.
Over the years, he had gotten quite successful at it. Maybe his brother had
been doing the same, he figured. Now it was coming out, thanks to his little
disguise.
“Wh... Wh... Why? Why an I crying?” Elliot sobbed. “I can’t stop crying!”
Colin patted him on the back. “It’s all right. It’s okay.” Elliot then turned and
grabbed on to Colin, pressing his tear-soaked eyes into his brother’s chest.
Impulsively, Colin started to pat him on the head. “Shh. Shhh...” He said. “It’s
okay, sweetie. Just cry it out.”
“I... I want my Mom back,” Elliot said, trying to explain himself, as he
continued to cry.
Colin continued to comfort him. “It’s all right, honey. It’s okay.” Now he was
the one who felt like crying. At least he had the advantage of being dressed in
10
women’s clothes, he thought to himself. Why is that an advantage? He then

asked himself. Why would he think that?
Because, as he admitted to himself, he had never felt closer to his mother than
he did when dressed up. The familiar scent of her perfume which he wore, her
jewelry on his body, the feel of silky undergarments and stockings. The taste of
a woman’s lipstick on his lips. His mother hadn’t felt so real to him in such a
long time, and he had the comfort of her presence in the way he dressed and
the way he acted. Who was he to keep that kind of ease of mind to himself?
“Would you like me to stay like this?” Colin asked.
The answer was the anguished clutch of Elliot’s hands at the sides of Colin’s
dress. He also felt his younger brother nod his head ever so slightly. He didn’t
need him to say it out loud. It was a strange question that required a difficult
answer.
This could also work in my favor, said the hustling, con-artist part of his mind.
“I’ll make you a deal,” Colin offered. “I’ll be Dorothy if you’ll be Emily.” He
needed a way to talk his brother into being “Emily” full-time if they were going
to move in with Doug, as Colin planned. He knew that was going to be trouble
when the day came, and this was just what he needed to cajole him into doing
it.
“For how long?” Colin said, looking up at Colin.
“A while. Until we decide to stop,” Colin replied with a comforting smile.
“Is this weird?”
“It doesn’t have to be.” Colin said. “We were going to have to do it more often
anyway. You know, when we move in to their house.”
“How long is that going to be?”
“Sooner than you might think. So we might as well, right?” Again, Colin wasn’t
going to make his brother say it out loud. “You’re going to be Dorothy’s little
girl from this minute on, okay? And Dorothy will be Emily’s mommy, all right?”
“But what if...” Elliot started to ask.
“Shush,” Colin answered. “No going back. No complaints. No go-backs. We’re
in it as if it were real.”
Elliot started to tear up again, and Colin held his head to his chest and hugged
him.
“Thank you, Mommy,” Elliot said, in a small, unsure voice.
“For what, sweetie? That’s just what mommies do.”
vjv
11
It was a quiet night, as Elliot didn’t seem to want to really explore the new
arrangement in any significant way. He watched TV, ate, and went to bed.
Colin was just going to let him ease into it for now. However, tomorrow would
be a different story. He was very willing to make the sacrifices necessary to get
Elliot completely on board and under control. Having his younger brother be
Emily for the duration was a big win, even if it did mean that he had to be
Dorothy full-time. He was used it enough by now that it wasn’t going to be too
hard to fake being a woman 24/7, and he was ready to deal with everything that
being a woman entailed.
It started that night, when Colin had to stop himself from stripping down and
jumping in bed in shorts and a tee. He headed across the hallway to his
mother’s room and picked out a silky nightie that appealed to him. And while
he was there, he just decided that the big fluffy bed in that room was far more
comfortable looking than his half-dead beaten old mattress.
Drifting off to sleep, Colin’s thoughts focused in his plans. With Elliot now no
longer a worry, it was time to close the deal on Doug. As he stretched out
under the cool sheets in the slick, soft material of his nightie, he was sure that
success was almost inevitable. Every day, he would make himself more and
more irresistible to Doug.
He wanted a more traditional woman, and he would be that woman. He
would dress like the women in those musicals he loved. He would be the
innocent and fun-loving girl of Doug’s dreams. He would let the “man” make
the decisions and lead the way. He would build up his confidence and make
him feel great about himself. He would be the ideal housewife just waiting to
be proposed to. Doug was going to be putty in Dorothy’s long-nailed hands.
vjv
Colin was up extra early the next morning, because he didn’t want to let his
younger brother think twice about what he was going to do.
“Emily honey! Wake up!” He called out as he came down the hallway, already
dressed for the day. “Get up, lazy bones!”
Elliot, groggy and confused pried open his eyes to see Colin in his full
Dorothy splendor, pulling the sheets off of him.
“I want you dressed and ready to go, Emily! Mommy has a big day planned.”
Colin walked over to the bags where “Emily’s” clothes were kept. “Do you want
me to pick something out for you? Yes. Why don’t you wear this nice 2-in-1
dress. You’ll look lovely in that.”
“What...?” Elliot began to speak in his deep, throaty morning voice.
12
Colin cut him off. “Emily. Don’t play games. We need to get going. I need you
ready in ten minutes. Dressed, hair combed and waiting in the living room.
Understand, sweetie? I can’t leave a little girl here by herself all day.”
Elliot had the faintest hint of a smile on his lips. “Yes, Mommy,” he said, in his
Emily voice.
“Time to move, then,” Colin said, as he left the room. “Those would go well
with some black tights and ballerina flats. Ten minutes!”
The first stop they made was at a pawn shop. A pair of diamond and gold
cufflinks Colin had been holding on to from his father’s belongings fetched a
little less than three thousand dollars.
Elliot almost spoke up when he saw them being hocked. They were the last
things left behind by their dad, and had been considered untouchable by the
both of them. It was if Colin was selling off his last memories of their dad, and
Elliot, for a moment, felt like he should stop Colin.
But it wasn’t his place to interrupt the adults. He trusted Colin to know what
he was doing.
The next stop was at the salon. Just before they went in, Colin took off his wig
and placed it on a styrofoam head, then into a large box, and pinned a large
13
floppy hat to his head instead. “I was told you did work on styling wigs,” he said
to the girl at the desk.
The receptionist took the box and looked inside. “Oh yes, we do. You’ll want to
talk to Hildy.”
Hildy was the stylist who had worked with Dorothy on her first visit to the
salon, and was pleased to have a returning customer. Colin showed her the wig
and then presented a few printouts of hair from the fifties movies he had
scanned for hairstyles.
“It’s a little retro, isn’t it?” Hildy said.
“That’s the idea,” Colin replied. “Can you do it?”
“Yes! Retro’s my thing. Could you tell?” She said, patting her elaborately styled
hair. “I can have it for you tomorrow. Drop by any time after noon to pick it
up.”
“I’ll see you then. Come along, Emily.” Colin waved goodbye as he led Emily
back to the van. “You’re being very well behaved,” he said to his ersatz
daughter. Elliot just kept walking.
The next stop was at a vintage dress shop that Colin had found on the web,
hoping for the best. The assortment wasn’t quite what he was looking for. “Do
you have any more foundation garments? Body shapers, girdles, corselettes?”
The girl who was helping him was apologetic. “This is all we have. I know it
isn’t much, but it’s not something we get a lot of.”
“Tsk,” Colin said. “Oh, but you do have seamed stockings!” He said, walking
over to a display. He pulled a pair off the table and got a closer look. “That’s a
must buy.”
“You have good taste,” the girl said.
“Well, my boyfriend does,” Colin said. He smiled at saying the term
“boyfriend.” It sounded a little ridiculous. “Can I try the stockings on with the
dresses?”
“Of course! You’ll need a suspender garter though.”
“I’m already wearing one,” Colin was proud to say.
As he tried on the six dresses he had picked out, he was complimented by the
salesgirl on each one.
“You have the perfect figure for these kinds of clothes,” she said.
“I just wish they all fit me,” Colin said. He had settled on two of them, and
was on the fence about a third that was a little loose around the waist. They
were expensive, but with his new purse full of cash, he was feeling daring. “I
really like the aqua chiffon. Do you do alterations?” He asked.
“We don’t. Sorry.”
14
“A girl like me should just learn to sew for herself.” Why had he said that?
Colin wondered to himself. “Well, I’ll buy it anyway and try and get it altered.”
“You know who might? You can try this place.” The girl picked up a business
card from her desk and blew some dust off of it. “La Fifi’s. They’ve been
around forever.” She handed the card over. “They’re supposed to do
alterations. They might also have some of those foundation garments you’re
looking for, too. It’s worth a shot, at least.”
“Well, I can take a dress and get it altered anywhere, can’t I?”
“You really want a place that knows how to fit for vintage underwear. Modern
underwear doesn’t fit quite as well with real vintage dresses.”
“Thank you. I’ll look them up. And thanks for the tip.”
Elliot, who had been waiting in the car, was staring out the window when
Colin came back. “Are we done?” Elliot asked as Colin carefully laid out the
dresses and bags in the back of the van.
“Not yet. I still have to...” Colin’s phone rang and he took the call. “Hello?
This is...” He checked the caller ID. It was Doug, calling from work.
“...Dorothy.”
“I had a great time at the park yesterday. Dessert was wonderful,” Doug said.
“I’m so glad, Douglas,” Colin said, sweetly.
Immediately Elliot rolled his eyes and sighed. He went back to staring out the
window.
“I wanted to return the favor and invite you and your daughter to dinner
tomorrow night,” Doug said. “Somewhere nice. Semi-formal.”
“Oh, okay...” It was a sign of how deep Colin was into his disguise that the first
and most important thing that crossed his mind was figuring out if he had
anything to wear. “I’d love to. It sounds wonderful. Emily will be so excited!”
“How about Da Vinci’s? Italian?”
“We’ll be there. I can’t wait.”
“Neither can I.”
Colin ended the call and immediately looked over to Elliot. “New plan. We
have one more chore to complete.”
“Ugh,” Elliot said, letting his head fall back in anguish.
Colin could see on his face that he badly wanted to get into an argument, the
only thing holding him back was the agreement to stay in their roles. “Don’t
you dare,” Colin said. “Be a good girl for Mommy.”
Elliot crossed his arms and pouted.
Curious, Colin took a long drive out of his way to check out the business card
he had just received. It took a little hunting, but he found ‘Madame La Fifi’s
15
House of Paris Fashion’ but it was closed up tight, which was heartbreaking.
Colin could see a huge assortment of vintage clothing on sale in a store that was
twenty times the size of any vintage shop he’d seen so far. In fact, it didn’t even
look like a purposely vintage shop, just a shop from the fifties or sixties that was
still around in the modern age, fallen through a tear in time.
The windows were dusty, the insides were dark and it was hard to get a good
look, but it was exactly the kind of store Colin needed, filled with outfits Doug
would go wild for. Unfortunately, the door was locked, and it didn’t look like it
had actually been open for a while.
So Colin took the van over to the last vintage store on his list, which had a
website with a promising selection of dressy outfits. “Something nice for a
dinner out,” he asked the clerk at the store.
“Something formal?”
“Formal-ish. Not too fancy.” This time, Elliot was accompanying him. “And do
you have anything for my daughter?”
The clerk wasn’t very confident. “We might have a couple of items? Maybe?”
Colin was on his way to looking at what the clerk was about to show them,
when he stopped his high heels in their tracks. “Oooh,” he said. “Gloves.” A
mannequin was wearing a pair of white over-the-elbow gloves and it grabbed
Colin’s attention right away. That was so Doug. However, opera gloves were a
little too formal for a family dinner.
The rack of children’s clothes was sparse, and only a few items were even
going to fit Elliot. Colin picked two outfits off the rack, and handed them to his
younger brother, but as he was looking for a third, Elliot had already slipped
away into the changing room.
So Colin went about finding his own dress for the big date, and was falling in
love with a pink brocade cocktail dress with rhinestones when Elliot
reappeared.
His outfit was a blue plaid pinafore dress and a matching blue bolero jacket
with a peter pan collar. He was also wearing a blue beret to complete the outfit.
“Oh, that’s cute, but’s a little young for you, sweetie,” Colin said. There was
just something about it that made it look all wrong for Elliot. “You better put it
back. I don’t know if they have what we’re looking for.”
Elliot took a step back to the dressing room and then stopped. He turned
around. “But I like it,” he said. “You got a bunch of stuff you like.”
Colin didn’t expect any pushback from Elliot, especially when it came to
buying a dress. But he had a point. “Well, if you like it, we can get it,” he told
him.
The bright, broad smile Colin was rewarded with told him he had made the
right decision. “Thank you, Mommy,” he said, with a hint of a blush.
16
17
Colin took a second look at his brother, and tried to pinpoint exactly what he
didn’t like about the outfit. He just looked so... small and... child-like in that
outfit. In fact, he looked smaller and shorter to his eyes. Upon further thought,
Colin decided that it was perfectly fine for the dinner. It was a cute look, even
if Elliot looked a little too young for 14.
They wound up buying not only Elliot’s outfit and that pink cocktail dress but
Colin had chosen a neat skinny black tie for Doug and even one for Aiden, as
well. After all, if he was going with a classic retro look, the men needed to do it
as well, he reasoned.
vjv
When the night of the big dinner came, Colin had settled on the pink dress
after several coin flips. He was regretting his little spending spree, because now
he had too many dresses to wear and not enough occasions to wear them all.
He exited his mother’s bathroom after a nice relaxing bath. The foaming bath
stress relief bottle was just sitting there, unused and lonely, so a bubble bath it
was. He dabbed his sensitive skin dry and rubbed himself a generous layer of
moisturizer before he was ready for his date.
If the Colin of just a few months ago was watching, he would have screamed
dire warnings to his future self. He was going native, old Colin would have said.
However, the current Colin was seated on his mother’s bed, examining his
body, gently grazing his fingers over his skin, hopeful to find it smooth and
flawless. Satisfied that he didn’t have any hair to take care of, as he hadn’t for
weeks now, he powdered his skin and put on his bra & panties.
The big secret hidden in between his legs wasn’t so big anymore. A quick tuck
and a slight wriggle of his hips was enough to conceal everything he needed to
maintain the illusion. His old self would have fainted straight away to see his
precious clam hammer a shadow of its’ former self, but the current Colin was
only satisfied when he could detect no trace of it left in his silky briefs.
He fed his arms into his favorite bra, because by now, he had a favorite, with
the straps adjusted just right and the support the way like liked it. Today,
though, he found it uncomfortable, as he tried to fasten it up properly. It
pinched him like it never had before. After fighting with it, clasping it and
unclasping it, he found that if he just got rid of one the two inserts he had in
each cup, it fit like a glove. It was his own flesh filling out those cups now,
feeling natural and cozy. Colin paid no attention to it, continuing on with his
dressing and beauty ritual as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Neither did he take note when he pulled the straps of his waist cincher to the
tightest setting, giving him a 24-inch waistline. He didn’t notice that the
seamed silk stockings he put on, made for a woman with medium length legs
18
and size seven shoes, fit him

perfectly. Nor did he give any
hesitation about spritzing perfume
behind his ear to encourage Doug
to smell him there — and a spray
went in his cleavage, too.
He stepped into the voluminous
tea length crinoline petticoat that
would make his dress look
spectacular, and finally, eased the
dress over himself.
“Emily!” He called out.
“Yes?” Elliot responded, coming
to the door. He was dressed in his
coral romper, his feet in white
sandals.
“Could you... Uh... Help me out
with the zipper?” Colin asked,
slightly embarrassed.
“Okay.”
As Colin turned his back, he
never even saw that his 19 year
old brother had to stand on the
tips of his toes to reach when he
zipped it up to the neck. “Thank
you, sweetie. You should be
getting dressed, too. Do you...
Er... Need Mommy to help you?”
He really didn’t want to press
Elliot. He had been totally “in
character” for two days now, and
Colin was worried he was going to
do something to break the streak.
“I don’t think so,” Elliot replied,
thoughtfully. “I think I got it.”
“Okay, good. But let me know if
you need my help.”
“All right, Mommy,” Elliot
replied and he turned to walk
back to his room. It was funny to
hear how naturally the word
19
“Mommy” just came out of his mouth. The hint of emphasis he used to use was
completely gone.
Now it was time for the final touch. He grabbed the large round box that was
resting at the foot of his mother’s bed and opened the lid. Inside was the newly
re-styled wig he had picked up this afternoon from Hildy at the salon. Colin
was overjoyed with how it turned out. It was just like he wanted it to look.
The color was a rich dark brown, like triple-stained wood. It was parted from
ear to ear, creating a wave of immaculate bangs in the front and a volumized
back that looked elegant and sophisticated. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered as
he put on the wig, and fastened it to his hair, securing it in place. Now he
looked complete. What’s more, he felt complete.
He grabbed a small clutch purse and checked his pristine makeup in the
mirror. He blew himself a kiss. “Are you all set?” Colin called out in his soft,
melodious Dorothy voice.
vjv
“You are absolutely breathtaking,” Doug said, as he arrived. They had agreed
to meet at a local café, where Doug would then drive them to the restaurant.
“Such flattery,” Colin replied wish a bashful turn of his cheek.
“And who’s this little lady?” Doug said to Elliot.
Elliot just giggled as he squinted his eyes.
Doug was ebullient. “Such fashionable young women! I dare say everyone will
be jealous of us at Da Vinci’s.”
“That reminds me,” Colin said, handing two long flat boxes to the men. “I got
a present for both of you.”
“A tie!” Doug said with a smile.
“A tie?” Aiden said, as his shoulders dropped.
“I’ll put it on right now,” Doug said, unfastening the tie was already wearing.
He discarded it and started to wrap the new tie around his collar.
“Do you need help?” Colin said to Aiden, taking the tie from the box without
waiting for an answer. She crouched down in front of him and flipped up his
collar. “Don’t fidget,” Colin told him.
“You know, I’d have been happy to pick you up at your place,” Doug said.
“Honestly? I would die if you saw our little hovel,” Colin said.
“I’m sure it’s not as bad as you describe it.”
“No, it’s worse.” She then finished up with Aiden. “You’re quite the ladykiller!”
He told with young boy.
20
“Aiden...?” his father prompted his son.

“Thank you,” Aiden hesitantly sputtered. He looked a little ashamed to be
wearing a bow tie, but he didn’t fuss with it. Colin wasn’t sure if the old Aiden
might re-emerge when a goody-goody little tie was put on him, so he was
pleased to see him stand and take it, albeit visibly uncomfortable.
“You look nice,” Elliot told him. That put a hint of a smile on his face, and
relaxed him.
“You look better,” he replied, almost in a whisper.
Doug clapped his hands. “Let’s get going, we have reservations!”
From that moment on, Colin let Doug run the evening. Fortunately Doug was
more than ready to do just that. He opened up the car door and helped Colin
out as he gave the keys to the valet. He held the door open for the “ladies” and
then took care of business with the head waiter.
“Brundell, table for four,” the man in the tuxedo said. “Right this way.”
The waiter made for Colin’s chair, but Doug took the initiative and pulled it
out for his date.
“Thank you, darling,” Colin said as he arranged his skirt properly.
“Aiden,” Doug said, to nudge his son. He promptly stopped what he was doing
and assisted Elliot with his chair.
“Thank you!” Elliot said with an earnest smile.
The waiter handed out the menus to everyone, and said he would be back in a
few minutes. Colin put the menu down on the table. “You can order for me,”
he told Doug.
“I... Uh...” Doug looked flummoxed, but then he steadied himself. “Of
course,” he said.
While he was scanning the menu, Colin took care of the “kids.”
“Elbows off the table,” he advised Aiden. “Don’t undo the napkin until the
food comes, Emily,” he told his brother. “If either of you need to use the
bathroom, now would be the time to do it. Once the food is here, there won’t
be time.”
“Moooommm...” Elliot groaned.
“I won’t bother you about it again.” He paused. “And I don’t want to hear that
kind of tone from you in public, young lady.”
Elliot folded his hands in his lap. “I’m sorry, Mommy.”
“You know I love you, sweetie.”
The phrase might have just been a casual thing to say, but Elliot immediately
brightened up, looking like he had just won an award.
“How long is this going to take?” Aiden asked. “I wanted to watch TV tonight.”
21
The challenge to Colin’s parenting skills was on. “Aiden, I’m sorry, but this is
going to probably be a while. But I’m sure it’ll be better than TV. You’re going
to have a wonderful meal served to you, the best you’ve had in quite a while.
Choose something that sounds good! Then, when we’re all done here, it’ll be
time to go get ice cream.”
“Ice cream!” Elliot yelped, almost too loudly.
“Simmer down. Now focus on what you want to eat, because you want to
make the right choice!”
Aiden picked up the menu and studied it closely, quieting his displeasure and
giving him something to do. Elliot did much the same from his seat, although
he was whispering “ice cream!” under his breath.
Colin turned around and returned his attention to Doug, who was staring at
him with the strangest expression on his face. “You should be looking at what’s
on the menu,” Colin said.
“I’ve already made my choice,” he said, his eyes fixed on Colin. “You’re so
good with kids.”
“I... Suppose it just comes naturally,” Colin said, with a uneasy smirk. He
happened to glance at Aiden’s tie. He thought back to when he had tied it for
him. When, if ever, had he learned to tie a bow tie? He had done it without
even thinking. “Just a mother’s instinct?”
Dinner was quite good, Colin enjoying Doug’s choice of a fancy salad. They
found a walk-up ice cream store two blocks away and strolled through the
warmly-lit streets for the rest of the evening as they finished their desserts.
Colin was quite aware that Doug has holding him closer than was absolutely
necessary. “Your hair is amazing,” he told Colin. “And you smell wonderful.”
The man was completely under his spell, Colin told himself.
It wasn’t too late when they returned to the apartment, but when they got
inside and Colin went to go deposit his purse, he returned to the living room to
find his brother out cold, dozing away.
The only way to get him to bed was to pick him up and carry him, something
Colin found surprisingly easy, even in his high heels. “Have you gotten lighter?
Or...?” Colin silently asked his brother.
He laid him down on his bed, stripped him of his clothes and pulled a
nightshirt over him before tucking slumbering Elliot into bed.
“Good night, Emily,” Colin said as he turned out the lights.
“Night, Mommy,” he could hear very quietly coming from the bed.
vjv
22
It was a couple of weeks later that Colin was seated at the kitchen table with a
notepad, going over his strategy. He tapped his long, red nails on his glossy red
lips as he was reviewing the steps needed to bring off his grand scheme.
The first and most difficult part of his plan was complete. Through cunning,
manipulation, and an impeccable sense of subterfuge, Colin had gotten Doug
Brundell, the mark, to fall in love with him. His creation and execution of the
Dorothy Farmer character had come off beautifully. If Doug suspected
anything, Colin sure hadn’t been able to detect it.
Colin was not above self-congratulation, and he admired his own ability to fool
a grown man into believing he was a woman. At first, Colin had been
frightened every time he was seen in public, sure he would be discovered. Any
pair of eyes could see through his disguise and ruin his plans. Gradually, he
realized that he was able to fool just about anyone and everyone. Now, going
out to pick up something at the drug store dressed in a wig, skirt and heels was
no more a concern than it was when he was dressed as normal — which was
not that common, these days.
So Colin asked himself, what was the next step? He wrote it down on the pad:
Next steps. He underlined it.
Now that he had Doug right where he wanted him, how could he make sure
he’d be able to steal him blind? Colin figured Doug was the type to keep a few
thousand dollars around the house for emergencies, so he’d have to get that
information out of him, somehow. Likely he had valuables, such as jewelry,
watches, family keepsakes, that sort of thing. Colin had it all written down.
Money, jewelry, watches.
Now if he really wanted to clean the chump out, he’d need access to the bank
accounts. An ATM would only allow a few hundred dollars to be taken out each
day, and Doug would probably be smart enough to cut it off after a few hours
once he knew he was being robbed.
However, if they got married, then he’d have access, but that would probably
be impossible. No, what Colin was going to have to do would be get Doug to
buy something extremely valuable and portable. Something he could take and
cash out.
The obvious thing was jewelry. He could fence jewels quickly and without
being traced. What he needed was for Doug to have some fancy jewelry. Then
it came to him: an engagement ring. He needed to get Doug to propose to him.
It would be perfect. Quick to liquidate, small, and he wouldn’t have to sneak it
out.
Colin held out his hand and imagined a big, glittery diamond ring on his
finger. “That’s exactly what I need,” he said to himself.
He wrote that down, too. “Get Engaged to Douglas.” He circled it. Colin
added a couple of hearts, idly.
23
The young man’s train of thought was derailed when he heard a noise. It came
and went. Came and went. It was repeating. Colin slipped his heels back on
and stood up, looking for the noise. As he danced this way and that, trying to
pinpoint the source of the low, buzzing sound, his full skirt twirled around him.
The sound wasn’t from the pot on the stove he was using to cook a sauce for
dinner. No, it certainly wasn’t from the radio which was playing a little oldies
big band. It was coming from the... Trash?
He popped open the trash drawer. It made a noise again. “Eeek!” He
squealed. He really hoped it wasn’t a mouse. The thought of it being a mouse
terrified him. Standing on a small step stool, Colin used a broom handle to
poke the trash. It didn’t respond. It just kept buzzing away. After a minute of
convincing himself it wasn’t a little rodent, because it was buzzing too regularly,
he got off the stool and started to pick through the trash.
“A cell phone?” Colin said, when he found the culprit. It had been set on
vibrate. After wiping some discarded food off of it, he recognized it. He called
out. “Elli...” He caught himself. “Emily?” He called as he walked from the
kitchen area to the couch.
Elliot looked up from the TV. He was sitting on the floor, in a pair of purple
shorts and a pink cap-sleeved tee shirt, his hair tied into two stubby tails,
leaning against the couch as he was watching. “What?”
“Missing something?” Colin said, displaying his soggy phone.
“Oh... Uh... I threw it away.”
“Is it broken?”
“No... I just don’t want it anymore.”
“There’s, like, a hundred unanswered messages on here!” Corin pointed out.
Elliot shrugged and looked back at the TV. “I guess.”
“C’mon! It’s practically your whole life on this phone. You can’t just throw it in
the trash.”
“Well, I did.”
Colin grunted. “It’s a cell phone! It’s worth at least...”
“Eight dollars on trade in,” Elliot replied. “Not worth it. Just put it back in the
trash, okay? I already cancelled the service.”
“I’m not going to throw out a perfectly good...”
“Please, Mommy.”
“Don’t you ‘Mommy’ me!” Colin shot back. “Just abandoning your...”
Then the phone rang. Colin checked the phone in his hand, but that wasn’t
the one. He took his eyes off of his brother to glance back at his purse, with his
phone inside. It was his own phone back in the kitchen that was going off.
24
Colin headed back to the kitchen to answer the call. “I appreciate that you
really want to make this whole thing work, but I can’t let you just...” He picked
up the phone to check the ID. It was Doug. “Great timing.” He looked back at
Elliot when he was just about to answer. “Where did you get that?” He asked.
“Get what?”
“That.” Colin pointed at the large stuffed rabbit in Elliot’s lap. He didn’t
remember seeing it just a moment ago.
“Mr. Moppit?” Elliot replied, as if he was confused he was even being
questioned. “I’ve always had Mr. Moppit.”
“I...” Colin’s phone continued to ring. He had to answer it. “We’re not
finished, here,” Colin said as he took the call.
“Hello? Douglas?” Colin’s expression went right from perplexed and
frustrated to pleasant and delighted instantly upon talking to Doug. “I was just
thinking of you.” He turned away from his brother so he could distance himself
from whatever Elliot was up to.
“I’ve got something very exciting to tell you, Dorothy,” Doug said. “I got a
promotion.”
“You did?” Colin exclaimed, genuinely happy. “That’s wonderful! Did you get a
raise?” That was why Colin was so happy for him. More money equalled more
to steal.
“A generous raise. It’s a managerial position... Less time in the lab and more
time behind a desk... But...” He stopped himself. “But I couldn’t have gotten it
without you, my dear Dorothy. Your confidence in me had meant everything to
me. Ever since you came into my life, things have been going my way. And I
want to share it all with you.”
“Oh, Douglas...” Colin was tempted to tell him to go buy a big, expensive ring
right now, but he kept his impulses in check.
“They’re giving me a couple of weeks in between ending my current
responsibilities and beginning my new job. So I wanted to take you and Emily
down to Cancun. What do you think?”
Well, he couldn’t steal a vacation, so he had to pause. “I don’t know what to
say!” He gave himself a moment to think. At least a vacation with the four of
them was another family-like activity. “It’s so unexpected.” Then again, Colin
mused, maybe this was just all an excuse to propose to him in a tropical locale.
“Emily and I would love to go.”
The happiness in Doug’s voice was obvious, even over the phone line. “I’m so
happy. We’ll talk more when I get off work. But it’ll be this next weekend, so
there’s not much time.”
“This weekend?” Colin exclaimed. “I’ll have to begin packing right away!”
25
“Well, I’ll leave you to it. We’ll talk later.”

The gears in Colin’s mind were already spinning. “Yes. Of course.
Congratulations, Darling.”
“Thank you. I can’t wait to see you in a swimsuit. I’ll call you.”
The line went dead as Colin began to pump both of his fists in the air. “Boom
shaka-laka!” He shouted. “Whoo-woo! All aboard the money train!”
Elliot was already on his feet and standing by Colin’s side, having heard their
side of the conversation. “What is it, Mommy? Is it good news?”
“You and me are going on an all expenses-paid vacation to Cancun,” He said,
holding out his hand for a high-five. Elliot just stared at it, puzzled, before
Colin took his hand back. “Mr. Moneybags got a promotion, and is going to
celebrate by taking us all down south of the border. Hotels, free meals, the
works!”
“That’s in Mexico, isn’t it?”
“Yup. Sunny, tropical Mexico.”
“But that means we’ll need...”
“Clothes!” Colin interrupted. “You and I are going to need a whole new
wardrobe!”
“No, I mean, documents. Passports.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Colin scratched the back of his hand. “That’s not that
hard, though, I know some people.” Then a look of real concern came across
his face. “I’m going to have to wear a bathing suit!”
The two boys wasted no time. Colin got his brother in the van and it was
another sweep of the vintage stores, this time looking for the best in tropical
beachwear. They didn’t find much, and what they did find was expensive. Colin
had already spent every dollar left from selling his father’s items. Now he was
dipping into the insurance money.
He had a heck of a time finding a swimsuit, too. He eventually just gave up
and decided he’d just have to make up an excuse or talk himself out of any
occasion requiring him to dress in one. Besides, he might not be able to keep
his secrets in such a tight, form-fitting getup.
Colin had made several purchases of old-fashioned shorts and sarongs that he
was going to pair with conservative tank tops and a beach coat or two. That was
the best he could do.
Much to Colin’s chagrin, Elliot had selected four or five two-piece bathing
suits for himself, being a little more daring in his younger body.
“I swear I have no idea what our sizes are,” Colin said, trying to select a sporty
tunic for walking around. “At first I was a 12, then a ten, then an eight... I think
26
I’m a six now. It’s so irritating to have to size up clothes every single time I go
shopping.”
“I can’t even wear my old clothes any more,” Elliot said. “They’re too big for
me.”
27
“I know exactly how you feel,” Colin replied. “Women’s sizes are so
unpredictable.” Neither of them could even process why that was a serious
issue they should be concerned about. They were oblivious to the true nature
of their predicament. Something was blocking them from seeing reality as it
was. Even looking in the mirror, on the rare occasions when they were dressed
in their usual clothes, they didn’t see the changes they had gone through.
“But thank goodness I can wear all of Mom’s old shoes now. She’s got some
real sexy strappies I just love,” Colin said with a smile.
“I wish I was a pretty as you, Mommy,” Elliot said.
“Aw. You’re very pretty in your own way, sweetheart.”
vjv
“Settle down, now.”

“But I’ve never been on a plane before,” Elliot said. “It’s so scary.”
Colin tried to soothe his brother’s nerves. “It’s okay, sweetheart. It’s okay to be
scared, but there’s nothing to be afraid of.”
“What if we go too high and can’t come back down?” Elliot asked.
Colin wasn’t sure if his brother was putting on some kind of master class of
acting, deliberately teasing him, or just masking his own fears by behaving like
a child. Whatever he was doing, though, it was starting to tick Colin off.
Doug had booked them the aisle section on the flight to Cancun, four seats, all
together. It was Colin and Elliot’s first flight, as they never had much money
growing up, or anyplace to go. They were not as prepared as they should have
been, and just getting to the flight had been fraught with problems. Luckily,
neither Elliot nor Colin had been selected for any thorough physical
examinations going through security, and their forged passports didn’t get any
extra scrutiny.
Getting a taxi was harder than Colin ever thought possible, as most of them
‘didn’t go to the airport.’ Getting the bags out of the cars — and they had
managed to fill several suitcases with their clothes — required assistance.
Elliot, as a girl, wasn’t going to be expected to haul two huge suitcases through
the airport, even if he was fully capable of carrying them, and Colin couldn’t
manage much more than a single small case in his heels.
The check-in was a long wait followed by problems confirming their seats, the
security was fraught with pitfalls, the gate was slow and the flight was delayed.
All in all, when they finally met up with Doug and Aiden at the gate and got on
the flight, it was with a sense of having survived a gauntlet of ancient ritualistic
trials.
28
Now Elliot wouldn’t stop complaining about being scared. He was fidgety and
nervous, unbuckling his seat belt and standing up every ten seconds before
Colin had to push him back in the seat. Colin leaned over and growled a quiet
message into Elliot’s ear. “Mommy’s gonna throw you from the plane if you
don’t get it together, fuckface.”
Elliot was shocked, but got the message. “Sorry,” he replied, just as quietly. “I
was in character.”
“Everything okay over there?” Doug asked from his side of the section. Elliot
had the window seat, next to Colin and Doug had the aisle, with Aiden in
between the two “adults.”
“Just fine!” Colin replied. “Just some words of courage.”
“Is she a little nervous?” Doug said, trying to sound sympathetic. When he
looked over, he recognized that both Emily and Dorothy were looking a little
fraught. “You know, why don’t you and Aiden switch seats, dear? Let the
children sit together.”
Actually, Colin liked the current arrangement, with his insulation from Doug.
He didn’t like the idea of spending the long flight having to deal with Doug’s
affection. “Well, I wouldn’t want to upset the stewards...” Colin said.
29
Doug laughed. “They’re professionals. It’s fine.”

“Yeah! Come over here, Aiden!” Elliot said with enthusiasm.
“Well... All right...” Colin reluctantly got to his feet and tried to awkwardly
slide to Aiden’s seat as the smaller boy pulled up his legs and crawled over the
armrest. Once he was next to Elliot, his face lit up with delight. “You’ve never
been on a plane before, have you, Emily?”
“No,” Elliot replied.
“I’ve been on lots of them. I know what to do.”
Elliot smiled at the reassurance.
Colin was smoothing his skirt out as he sat down, and felt Doug’s hand on his
arm. “See? Things are gonna be fine. I fly two or three times a month for work.
It’s nothing to even be concerned about.”
Despite himself, Colin did, actually, feel more relaxed and at ease. He put his
slim, long-nailed hand over Doug’s, his bracelets clinking as he did. “Thank
you,” he said, genuinely meaning it.
“Well, who do we have here?” said one of the female Flight Attendants,
stopping by before take off. “Such a well-dressed group!” Doug was in a crisp
suit, Colin in a new button-up dress and hat, Aiden in a dress shirt and slacks,
and Elliot in a simple sundress with a ribbon in his hair. Together, they looked
like they were decades out of time, direct from a Pan-Am ad from days gone
by.
“It’s her first flight!” Aiden said, pointing to Elliot.
“Is that so?” The attendant said, smiling and playing along. “You know what
we have for our first time flyers? How about some coloring books and crayons!”
She pulled out two packages from a bag she was carrying.
Colin interrupted. “They might be a little old for...”
“Coloring books!” Aiden and Elliot said, in chorus, as they outstretched their
arms for the gifts. As they grabbed them and started to rip open the crayon
boxes, Colin just looked on, watching the nineteen year old boy in a dress and
his fifteen year old friend act like they were only ten. In a way, it was the most
mind-bending thing he’d seen in some time.
“What do you say?” Doug prompted.
“Thank you!” Elliot and Aiden replied.
“When do you serve drinks?” Colin asked the attendant.
The flight was surprisingly trouble-free. Elliot and Aiden fell asleep after
about an hour, and the rest of the time Doug and Colin spent watching an old
black & white movie Doug had found on the in-flight entertainment system.
30
Once the flight landed, Colin was all too ready to let Doug take charge from
that point on, and let him deal with the paperwork, security and arrangements.
He had gone though more than enough of that earlier. He was almost
disappointed to see how easily Doug managed it, and before he knew it, they
were in the hotel shuttle, heading out, with two sleepy kids in tow.
Doug had booked a room for Elliot and Colin, and another adjoining room for
himself and his son. There was a flurry of unpacking, checking out the view and
exploring their accommodations — and kids jumping on the beds.
“First thing I have planned is a tour of the jungle,” Doug announced. “We
need to be downstairs and ready to be picked up in twenty minutes.”
“Already?” Colin said, “I was hoping to just relax...”
“We’ll have time to relax tonight!” Doug said. For a moment, Colin regretted
having given Doug all this confidence. His new take-charge attitude was
wearing on him.
Quickly, he had changed Elliot out into a tunic top, shorts and sandals. “Just
about ready?” Doug said with a knock on the closed door.
“Almost!” Colin said, as he stood in his room in a bra and panties, frantically
trying to unpack his things to find what he wanted to wear. Under the piles of
outfits he had packed, he finally decided on something that would suit his
mood and the location. He slipped into a navy skirt and a white sailor-style top.
Now, he just had to find the earrings he got to go with this outfit. And where
were his sunglasses? “Help mommy unpack, honey,” he said to Elliot.
They just made the tram, with seconds to spare. The trip was definitely made
for the tourists, as it followed a paved road into a swampy area, and it wasn’t
long before they were riding large boats into dense, but carefully arranged,
vegetation. That led to a small plaza with a restaurant, gift shop and parking lot.
To the side was a small zoo, which entertained Aiden and Elliot as they
watched tigers, snakes and alligators in their cages.
The tour ended with a zip line, which Elliot and Aiden couldn’t have been
more excited about. “I’m sorry, they’re too small,” said the operator as they got
to the top of the tower. “You have to be this tall.” He indicated a sign with a
cartoon parrot that couldn’t have been more than five feet high.
Colin was incredulous. “Too small? They’re teenagers!” As soon as he had said
it, though, he looked over to the two teenagers who were definitely smaller
than the five foot sign.
“I don’t want to anyway, Mommy,” Elliot said. “It’s too dangerous.” He headed
back down the walkway.
“Look after her, okay?” Doug asked Aiden.
“Yeah, okay,” Aiden said, annoyed he couldn’t ride the line. “Wait up, Emily!”
Doug turned to his date. “Ladies first,” he said.
31
“Me?” Colin said. “No, I was just here to help the kids!”
“Oh no, you’re not sweet-talking your way out of it.”
“No, really, honey. Not me. I’m being serious.”
“Too late!” Doug was already help the ride operator strap Colin up.
“Douglas! I... I can’t!”
“Step to the line, and you want to grab the straps here and here,” the operator
said, pointing out where to put his hands. He was in a tight harness securely in
place, already connected to the steel cable that stretched over the length of the
clearing, at least 200 yards wide. “Tuck in your legs when you get to the end.
Set? Here we go!”
“Wait!” Colin pleaded, he reached for Doug’s assistance.
With a gentle push, Colin was on his way, and he started to slide down the
line. A high-pitched scream followed immediately, and Colin continued to wail
all the way through, much to everyone’s amusement. Colin was only halfway
down when he started to feel his wig letting go, and he had to clap one hand on
his head to keep it from flying off. At the same time, the wind was whipping up
his skirt, threatening to invert it completely, and showing off everything.
When he got to the bottom, Colin was in a state of panic, making sure that he
looked normal, as he was sure the wig was cocked to the side and someone had
to have been looking up at him from underneath. It was then that Doug swept
in on the zip line, laughing all the way.
“You should see your face!” Doug said.
“That was not funny!” Colin fired back. “I was not prepared! What if
something...”
Doug grabbed him by the shoulders and planted a big fat kiss on Colin’s lips.
“I didn’t think it was possible, but you’re even cuter when you’re angry.”
“We’re going back to the hotel!” Colin said, before storming off. Doug was still
laughing.
By the time they had rounded up the kids, the tram was ready to take them
back to their lodging.
“You looked funny, Mrs. Farmer,” Aiden said. Elliot giggled.
vjv
By the time they had gotten back, and spent an hour or two in their rooms,
Colin had cooled off enough to join everyone else for dinner in the outdoor
hotel restaurant.
32
It was a breezy but very warm night, with torches lit and flickering in the
darkness. “I already ordered for you,” Doug said, when Colin arrived. “is
everything okay?”
“It’s fine, now,” Colin replied with his most earnest smile. It didn’t advance his
agenda to be difficult with Doug, so he had been telling himself that over and
over again to calm himself down. “I’m just not fond of falling from great
heights, that’s all.” He just couldn’t help but make a small dig.
After a dinner of Mexican seafood, the very mention of a dessert menu sent
Elliot and Aiden into a frenzy. “Ice cream!” Elliot demanded. “Choc-o-late!” he
clarified.
“Cake!” Aiden declared. “Caaaake!”
“Children!” Colin snapped. “Do you really think you can get what you want by
yelling?”
“But I want chocolate!” Elliot insisted.
“Chocolate cake!” Aiden suggested.
“That’s it,” Colin said. “No dessert for two rude children.”
“Whaaat?” The kids whined.
“No!” Colin cut them off. “Now Douglas and I will have dessert and you can
sit there and watch us eat it. Then, maybe you can think about how rude you
were.”
Elliot was pouting. “It’s not fair! Why do you...”
“Not one more word, young lady!” Colin shot back, with a scolding finger.
“This is not the night to get on my bad side!”
Doug waited for Colin to start ordering to whisper to Elliot and Aiden. “Don’t
worry. I have a special surprise for everyone tomorrow.”
“A surprise?” Aiden yelped. “What is it?”
Doug shook his head. “Well, it wouldn’t be a surprise then, would it?”
As they headed up to their rooms, Colin tried to get the information out of
Doug. “A surprise?” Colin said in a quiet voice to avoid being overheard by the
children, who were a few steps ahead of them. “What kind of surprise?”
“Like I say, a surprise.”
“You can tell me,” Colin said, sidling up to Doug.
“Nope. Not until tomorrow.”
“C’mon... Not one itsy-bitsy hint?”
“Well... You can swim, can’t you?”
“I bet I can swim faster than you,” Colin replied. “But that can’t be the
surprise, can it?”
33
“Okay, you dragged it out of me. We’re going to do a little swimming with
dolphins tomorrow. That means I finally get to see you in a revealing, skin-tight
suit.”
“Oooh...” Colin said, poking Doug in the chest. “I’m not sure you’ll be able to
control yourself, Douglas.”
“I’m willing to risk it.” They were at the doors of their rooms.
“Careful what you wish for,” Colin said, blowing a kiss to Doug and then
thrusting his backside in his direction.
It wasn’t until the door shut that Colin realized what he was doing. He had let
the moment get the better of him. Why was he always getting so carried away
with his flirting?
“A swimsuit for swimming,” Colin said to himself. Then, realizing what he had
just done, he gasped. “A swimsuit! For swimming!”
Once Elliot was settled in his PJ’s and watching cartoons, Colin got up. He was
too nervous to sleep or even watch TV. His big, fat mouth and his...
Exuberance... in playing this role had just trapped him. The swimming was not
going to be an issue, as he had learned it at the Y in the after school programs,
back in his teen years. He wasn’t too bad at it, either.
Now he had to deal with he fact that he had intentionally avoided buying a
swimsuit, thinking he’d be able to talk his way out of it. Now, he had just talked
his way into it. Any contact with water was going to show the shaping garments
he relied so heavily on. This was a disaster!
That wasn’t even the worst of it, as he thought further. His wig, which had
nearly flown off earlier, was going to be obvious in the water. He couldn’t do it!
He had to find a way out of this mess!
When Colin finally looked up, he had wandered all the way out of the room
and down to the lobby. It was still a little busy, in the late evening, with guests
roaming about. There were a half a dozen little shops lining the walls, and
fortunately, there was a small apparel shop that was still open. Dashing inside,
he purchased eight women’s bathing suits, everything the shop sold that wasn’t
a bikini. He didn’t have any idea what might look good on him, and he didn’t
want to risk trying them on in the shop. He’d decide which to wear later, after
he got a look at himself.
As he left, he also saw that a salon was open, and he checked the hours before
they closed. They would be open for a little while. Not knowing what else to
do, he approached the first person he saw.
“Hi!” Colin said in his best approximation of a person who was trying to not
look as panicked as he felt. “Um, look... This is going to sound a little crazy... I
don’t know if you can tell, but I’m wearing a wig.”
34
“No,” the woman at the salon said, her expression not changing one bit. A
toothpick was hanging limply from the corner of her mouth. “You could have
fooled me.”
“I’m serious,” Colin said, not picking up at all on the woman’s dry sarcasm. “I
really am!”
“I’ll take your word for it,” the toothpick woman said.
Colin saw she had a name badge on. It read ‘Laurie.’ “Um, Laurie, is it? I was
wondering if there was anything you could do to make sure it doesn’t come off.
It’s already nearly flown off once, and I’m supposed to go swimming tomorrow.
Is there anything I can do?”
“Well, are you weaving it?” Laurie asked, happy to answer a question she
cared about.
“I don’t even know what that is,” Colin said with an embarrassed expression.
“So, that’s where you use your own hair to weave into the fabric of the wig,
holding it as tight as possible.” Laurie gestured to her chair. “Hop up and I’ll
see what I can do.”
“Okay...” Colin said, unsure if he really wanted anyone else to see his hair
underneath the wig. But he figured he would be all right, as his hair had been
growing out. “I have a couple of hairpins keeping it in right now.”
“See, they can just fall out or lose grip. A weave will prevent that. Although it
doesn’t last more than a few weeks.” Laurie pulled a salon cape around
Corbin’s torso. “Any longer than that, and you’d need to do extensions. Those’ll
last for freakin’ ever.”
“Extensions? What’s that?”
“We take factory hair and bond it to your existing hair with heat and glue. It
looks just as good as the real thing. Gives you all the length you could ever
want.”
“Oh.” Colin took only one second to think about it. “Could we do... That?”
Laurie looked at a clock on the wall. “Sure, why not? I got nothing else to do
for the next three hours.”
“Great!” Colin said, again not picking up on the sarcasm.
vjv
“Did you do something?” Doug asked as they headed out on the morning
tram.
“Do something?” Colin replied, feigning obliviousness to the question. He had
spent three and a half hours, until 11:30 that previous night, in the salon chair
having his hair bonded, colored and styled. You bet he knew what was
35
different. He had a full head of

massive, immaculately styled hair, and
it was all his. “Like what?”
“I don’t know,” Doug answered,
pondering the problem. “But
something about you is different this
morning.”
“Maybe I’m just in a better mood.”
“No, it’s more than that.”
“Is this the surprise?” Elliot asked,
interrupting the repartee.
“Yeah? Is this it?” Aiden added. “I
think this is it. It has to be it.”
“Where are we going?”
“We...” Doug paused, milking the
moment. “Are...” More milking.
“...Going to swim with real dolphins
today!”
“Dolphins!” Elliot shrieked, at a volume and frequency that likely interfered
with orbiting satellite communications.
Aiden wanted some color. “Like near them... Or...?”
“Well, yes, and also with them. One at each side. You hold on and they take
you along. At least, that’s how I think they do it.”
Elliot was overheating with excitement. “Dolphins, dolphins, dolphins! I love
dolphins!”
“How big are they? Do they eat people?” Aiden asked Elliot.
Elliot and Aiden huddled together in their seats. “They’re so cute! They’re like
the puppies of the water!”
The afternoon was full of happy squeals and yelps of thrilled kids. And
splashing. A whole lot of splashing.
“Is it okay for our kids?” Doug asked, hoping not to repeat the problem they
had yesterday. “They’re big enough, right?”
“We have sessions for little kids like yours all the time,” the instructor replied.
“Even toddlers.”
Elliot was the first to do it, since he was the most excited, followed by a
somewhat timid Aiden who quickly got into the flow of things once he realized
the dolphins weren’t bloodthirsty beasts of the deep. Then, after Doug had his
turn, it was time for Colin.
36
He made a show of it, undoing his sarong, stepping out of his flip-flops, foot
by foot, and setting aside his sunglasses, making sure Doug was watching his
every move. He had been very careful with his swimsuit selection, a white
one-piece with a dark navy blue band at the waist to help make him look more
slender. Colin was also sucking in his stomach for all he was worth, having gone
without any figure-shaping garments for the first time in forever. He sat on the
side of the tank, dipped the tips of his toes in the water, then slid himself in.
His little display was doing the trick. Doug had his eyes locked on him and a
dumb little look on his face.
The instructor had Colin get in between the two dolphins and grasp the front
of each dorsal fin. On command, the dolphins took off like a living water ski
and propelled Colin through the water for two laps around the large tank. It
really was quite the experience as he listened to the dolphins chatter away and
playfully nudge him as they turned this way and that. They seemed to enjoy the
company. Elliot was right, they were like puppies.
The entire event had gone off as well as Colin could have hoped. Just twelve
hours ago, he was ready to swim out into the sea and not come back. Now his
plans were back on track for Doug.
With their session over, the kids laughing and splashing each other, and Doug
still keeping quiet while he watched Colin with very interested eyes, Colin used
the ladder to slowly rise from the water, imagining some sexy starlet in a teen
movie as the boy is knocked loopy by the gorgeous girl coming out of the pool.
“Psst,” Colin heard from a few feet away. He was too bust turning his wet hair
from side to side to bother with anything right now. “Mommy!” He heard. That
would have been Elliot hamming it up as Emily, probably want him to help
with getting dressed or something. “Colin!” snarled Elliot.
That grabbed Colin’s attention, and his eyes sprang open, with a scowl on his
face for having his moment interrupted.
“Boobies,” Elliot said, in a low voice. He gestured at the chest to indicate what
he was talking about.
“What?” Colin replied with exasperation, tired of Elliot’s over-the-top
shenanigans as a girl. He looked down to see that one of his breasts was now
located in the middle of his stomach and the other was migrating towards an
armpit. The white material of the suit, now wet, was somewhat transparent,
showing his breasts to be what they were — fake inserts.
“Erp!” Colin yelped. “Towel!” He shouted at Elliot.
Elliot had chosen his moment wisely, as no one had been looking in their
direction anyway, except for Doug who was at a distance, watching from the
rear. Little Elliot tossed Colin a towel which was used immediately to cover his
frontside, just as everyone turned their head to see what the noise was all
about.
37
Colin’s eyes locked onto Doug, who the one person he knew that had been
looking. Colin froze in place, hunched over, a grimace on his face. He hands
began to shake. What had Doug seen?
“Everything okay, honey?” he asked.
Colin heaved in relief. “Just lost my balance there for a second. Nothing to
worry about.” He immediately scanned the area for the restrooms. Seeing one,
he made off as fast as his bare feet could travel on wet cement. “Back in a jiff!”
He made the necessary repairs quickly, and returned just moments later.
38
“Problems?” Doug asked.

“A woman thing,” Colin replied, now covered by a beach coat. “You wouldn’t
understand.”
As for the rest of the trip, the two children clearly had the time of their lives,
reliving every second of the swim session over and over, telling stories back and
forth for the whole ride back to the hotel. Colin had the lapels of his beach coat
grasped closed with his free hand, and refused to let go, and when they pulled
into the hotel, he scurried off the tram and up to the room before anyone else.
vjv
By the time the four travelers had sat down for a late lunch, Colin had
changed out into one of his many dresses, and wrangled his rouge boobs into
place. Elliot was by his side, in a modest little sun dress, kicking his legs back
and forth as he read through the kids menu.
“Do you know what you’re going to get, sweetie?” Colin asked Elliot. He
nearly swallowed his words, as Elliot was a grown person who was well capable
of ordering for himself, and was not going to take this kind of question as
anything but an insult.
“Alllllmost,” Elliot replied, slowly, clearly still working on an answer.
Colin gave his brother a suspicious sideways glance. He was expecting a
snappy comeback, but just got his “darling daughter” response instead. Not
that he was complaining, because Elliot was proving himself to be a master at
putting this “Emily” character over.
“I forgot my wallet,” Aiden said.
“You won’t need it...” Doug began to say, but before he could even complete
his thought, his son was out of his chair and headed to the entranceway back
into the hotel. “You’ll need a key!” Doug reminded him.
“I have one!” Aiden called back as he sped off.
“What do you want to order?” Colin called after him, however Aiden was
already gone. Colin just went back to reading the menu. “Well, all right then.”
Doug had a hint of a scowl on his face. “We’ll just order a burger. He always
orders burgers.”
Forty-five minutes later, after the food had arrived and everyone else at the
table had already worked their way through their meals, Aiden’s burger was
sitting at his empty spot, cold.
“I should go check on him,” Doug said.
“No, you stay. I’m already finished,” Colin said, pushing his seafood salad
away. “Stay here with Douglas, all right, Emily?”
39
“Okay Mommy!” Elliot replied with a big smile as he stole some fries from
Aiden’s abandoned plate.
Even though the hotel and the restaurant were filled with families and happily
married couples, Colin’s clacking heels did attract quick peeks and stolen
glimpses from the men seated in the open-air eatery. He even got lingering
looks from the women, that, if Colin had a deeper insight into female
psychology, he would have recognized as jealousy. He walked by the salon on
his way to the elevators and waved at Laurie as she blow-dried a plump
middle-aged lady’s short bob. Colin gave her a thumbs up and mouthed the
words “love it” as he passed by the window. Laurie did not look impressed.
Getting up to their shared rooms, Colin got the door lock to work on the fifth
try of his card key swipe and let himself in.
“Oh my!” Colin heard himself say as he saw Aiden.
He was standing there, petrified and bug-eyed, in one of Elliot’s dresses and
his lips smeared crudely with Colin’s lipstick.
“Oh my, oh my, oh my!” Colin repeated, not able to do much more in his
shocked state.
Usually, his sharp mind would have kicked in immediately and started to
calculate how he could use this to his advantage. A fully engaged intellect
might have figured that he could use this as blackmail to keep Aiden under his
control. He could report this to Doug, who might have the kid shipped off and
taken out of the picture, making his plans to rob Doug of all his possessions
even easier.
However, Colin’s mind was not able to think of those things right now. He felt
as though he had a wall in between his con-man instinct and the rest of his
conscious mind. Instead, all he had was a flood of emotion.
“I...” Aiden spoke. “I... Was just playing around...”
Without really thinking about it, Colin shut the door behind him and then got
down on one knee in front of the clearly terrified young man. “You, uh, seem to
have accidentally put on my daughter’s clothes.”
“Please...” Aiden said, his body trembling. “Please don’t tell my Dad...”
Still, Colin’s usual sense of seizing the opportunity was nowhere to be found.
In his head, it felt like he was flicking a dead lighter, and not even getting
sparks. He reached over to adjust a drooping sleeve on the boy’s dress and
pulled it back up. “It’s just between you and me,” he said.
Aiden dropped his head and started to whimper. Sensing a complete collapse
was imminent, Colin began to reach out, only to have the young man
completely fall apart as he ran into his arms. In an instant, Aiden was reduced
to quivering and sobbing into Colin’s shoulder.
40
“Shh, shh...” Colin found

himself saying as he patted
him on the back. “It’s okay...”
Down at the restaurant,
Doug was trying to engage
Elliot in conversation, but
Elliot was far too busy eating
Aiden’s burger to do much
talking. “You have quite an
appetite for a little girl,” Doug
said.
It was plain to see that
Elliot’s options were to either
stay true to being Emily and
stop stuffing his face — like a
good little girl would — or to
just keep chowing down and
hope it wouldn’t blow the
months of work he and his
brother had put into this
whole thing, and therefore
land them in jail for eternity
and destroy their lives. He
took another huge bite.
“Mmmm-hmmm,” he
hummed as he chewed.
Doug’s phone vibrated. “It’s
from your mother,” he said,
reading the text message
aloud: “Aiden’s fine. Give us a
few minutes. Then you can
come up.” He put the phone
away. “Wonder what that’s all
about.”
Back in the suite, Aiden’s
head was buried in Colin’s
shoulder, as the young boy was sobbing uncontrollably. He was bawling so hard
that he couldn’t breathe and was seizing up for air, drowning in his own
anguish.
“Shhh,” Colin found himself saying, like his mother used to say to him when
he was crying. “Shush. It’s going to be fine. I promise. Everything will be just
fine.”
41
Eventually, Colin had to gently push Aiden back, as it felt like he never
intended on letting go. He wiped what remained of the boy’s tears away with
his thumbs. “I’m sorry,” Aiden said. “I know it’s wrong.”
“It’s not wrong,” Colin said. He had grown somewhat sympathetic to a male
urge to wear dresses over the past few months. “It’s not wrong at all. You’re just
as God made you.”
“You’re not mad?” Aiden asked.
“I’m startled, certainly. But I could never be angry with you, honey.” For
reasons beyond his understanding, Colin felt like this boy’s appointed protector.
Even Colin understood that an attraction to wearing women’s clothes was not a
passing fancy, and he wasn’t going to make Aiden push these feelings away and
hide them. “Now, do you feel like you can tell me why you’re dressed like this?”
Aiden thought about it, then nodded.
“Does wearing a dress make you feel better?”
Aiden nodded again.
“Is this your first time?”
Aiden shook his head in the negative.
“Does your father know?”
Aiden shook his head again.
“Do you want to be a girl?”
The boy just avoided eye contact as he looked down as his hands.
“All right,” Colin said. He may not have been able to use his finely-honed
con-man skills, but those same skills had blessed him with a piercing insight
into people, and his calculating mind already knew how this was going to play
out. Aiden was going to keep dressing up whenever he got the chance and
would continue to hide it, until Douglas found out about it, humiliating the
both of them and poisoning their relationship. He needed to stop that
inevitable progression right now. “I’m going to ask you to do something for me,
okay?”
“Wh... Whu... What?” Aiden replied, nervously.
“I’m going to help you look as pretty as any girl, okay?” As Colin made the
offer, he could see the boy’s face light up with excitement and joy, and he knew
he was doing the right thing. “But you need to trust me. You need to be
strong.”
About twenty minutes later, Doug had been given a text to ‘come on up’ and
to ‘bring an open mind.’ The curious man got the key card to work on the
fourth swipe, and the door to the suite opened. Immediately, Colin caught it
and jumped into Doug’s way, blocking him, and forcing him back out the door.
42
“What’s going on?” Doug asked, concerned but with a smile on his face.
“Honey, why don’t you use your own entrance,” Colin said, handing a keycard
to Elliot. “Watch some TV and Mommy will be with you in a moment, okay?”
As soon as Elliot had let himself into their room, Colin exhaled. “What’s the
story?” Doug said. “What’s happened?”
“Sweetie,” Colin said, placing his manicured and slender hands on Doug’s
chest, as he got intimately close. “Promise me you’ll take what you’re about to
see like a grown man, okay?”
“Uh... Sure?” Doug said with a smirk.
“No, seriously,” said Colin, with gravitas. “Don’t laugh, don’t yell. Don’t be
angry. Just be understanding. This is a moment which could be the most
important one of your life, and I need you to do everything you can to just stay
level-headed and calm. Can you do that?”
“I suppose?”
Colin glared into Doug’s eyes. “Promise me.”
“All right. For you, Dorothy.” Doug tenderly grasped Colin’s hands and dialed
back the bemused expression on his face. “Show me what you need to show
me.”
Colin pushed the door back open and led Doug inside. “Are you ready,
Abigail?”
Taking steps that were no more than an inch or two apart, Aiden walked
around the corner, in one of Elliot’s tropically colored sun dresses. His hair was
perfect and neat with a pink bow on the side. His face was made up with pink
lip gloss and a hint of mascara. The bush on his cheeks was natural.
“I don’t understand,” Doug said, looking at Colin.
“This is Abigail. She’s your daughter.”
Colin clutched Doug’s hand tightly, almost to the point of cutting off his blood
flow, but Doug was doing the same.
With a whole lot of awkward silence and a growing tension, Colin had to try
and get things started before either Aiden ran away or Doug started to get
demonstrative. “I found Aiden up here, trying on a dress, and we talked,” he
said. “I don’t want there to be secrets between you two, and I wanted him to be
honest and tell you.”
Doug started to speak, fighting through a dry throat. “Well, Aiden, is...?” He
quickly felt his hand get squeezed again, and restarted is question. “...Abigail, is
this true?”
Aiden nodded. “I’m sorry,” he said.
43
“Don’t be sorry,” Colin interjected, before cutting himself off. He knew this
was not his place to speak. The father and the child had to do this themselves.
“I... Don’t know what to say,” Doug said. Again, he felt his hand squeezed, this
time like a vise grip. “But Dorothy is right. Don’t be sorry. We just need to
work this out.” The release of Colin’s pressure on his poor hand indicated that
he had said the right thing.
“I don’t want to get yelled at,” Aiden spoke. “Okay?”
“I’m not going to yell at you, Aid... Abigail. I’m just in a bit of shock.” Doug
was totally adrift, unable to find a place to really relate to the situation. “Where
did the name Abigail come from?”
Aiden looked at Colin, which indicated the answer to Doug’s question.
Colin looked a little embarrassed. “I asked Aiden if he had a name, and asked
me to pick one out for him. I suggested Abigail.”
“It’s... It’s a nice name,” Doug said to his son. That seemed to get a hint of a
smile out of Aiden.
Colin got up and reached out for Aiden’s hand. “Okay. Let’s take you to talk to
my daughter. I think Emily should know. After all, it’s her dress.”
“Okay,” Aiden replied, and walked hand-in-hand with Colin into the next
room.
Elliot’s reaction was surprisingly positive. In fact, he was completely unfazed
by Aiden’s appearance in a dress, as if he had anticipated this development.
Really, Elliot appeared to be far more interested in looking over Aiden than
asking embarrassing questions.
When Colin returned to the other suite, he found Doug, still frozen in place
with the same far-away look in his eyes he had left him with. Colin sat down
next to him on the couch and wrapped himself around him, rubbing his arms to
get some life out of the paralyzed man. “You were great,” Colin said.
“I’m not sure I understand what just happened,” Doug said.
“You never even suspected?”
“No. Well, I mean, maybe. I guess there were signs.” Doug leaned back. “I
don’t know. He’s been showing an unnatural infatuation with all things
feminine lately. I thought was just a part of growing up or something.” He
looked into Colin’s eyes. “Should I have figured this out? What did I miss?”
“I’m sure you did everything right,” Colin said. “You are a wonderful father.”
Doug sat back up again. “Now what? Do I send him to a psychologist? Is it
just a phase? What?” He put his face into his hands. “What do I do next?”
“Well, if you’re open to suggestions...”
“Anything.”
44
“I’d let him make

the call. Let him be
Abigail. Then...”
“How would I
explain that? What
would everyone
say?”
“To who? Think
about it, Douglas.
This is perfect.
We’re a thousand
miles away from
home, no one knows
any of us. He can
explore this and see
if it’s what he really
wants, no questions
asked.”
“I don’t know,
Dorothy.” Doug ran
his hands over his
face. “Can you really fool people into thinking he’s a girl?”
“I... It’s... Uh...” Colin was trying not to say too much. “It’s certainly possible, I
would think. Hypothetically. It’s worth a try.”
“I just don’t know.”
“It’s this or years of anger, confusion and resentment. Trust me on this,” Colin
said, leaning against Doug for comfort. “Don’t give up on me now, Mr.
Brundell. You’re doing great. Father of the year territory.”
“I don’t know. I don’t know.” Doug was just barely holding on to reality. “We’ll
do it for the rest of the day? Then, we’ll see if he wants to do it tomorrow. We’ll
take it day by day.”
Colin bounced joyously in his seat and hugged his boyfriend. “There you go!
That’s what I want to hear!” Doug didn’t really respond, he just sat in the same
position, unable to really get a grasp on what had just happened to his life in
the past few minutes.
His condition didn’t really improve, even as the four of them geared up for a
previously planned trip to an aquarium for the evening. Colin could easily read
the look in Doug’s eyes as they got ready, as the man was asking himself how he
had gotten here. Colin didn’t dare leave him alone for long, scared that a few
minutes alone might let Doug give into his male instincts and demand that his
son go back to normal.
45
Colin was rushing through his hair, throwing on his A-line floral print dress
over his white bra and panty set, jumping into his white pumps before packing
a tiny purse full of what he would need for the night out. She returned to Doug
just in time, finding him with a cross look on his face.
“Maybe we’re making a mistake,” he said. “Maybe I should just tell Aiden that
this kind of behavior...”
Colin had to distract fast. “I should be sleeping in this room,” he said. “You
don’t mind, do you? We put the kids in one room and the adults in this one.”
He picked up Aiden’s luggage and swiftly carried it into the adjoined suite.
“Wait, what?” Doug said, his train of thought successfully derailed. “I thought
you wanted privacy...”
“Oh, I was just being silly,” Colin said as he set the luggage down on what had
previously been his bed. “Abigail, Emily, you’re going to share this room, okay?
I’ll sleep in the other room. Any objections?”
All Elliot could do was shake his head, and Aiden didn’t muster up more than
a shell-shocked stare.
“Great!” Colin said as he picked up some of his own luggage and lugged it into
his new room. “We leave in two minutes! Be ready to go!”
“Yes, Mommy!” Elliot called back, dutifully.
“What brought this on?” Doug asked when Colin returned.
“I think you and Aiden need some space.” Colin started back for the rest of his
luggage. “Just promise me that you’ll respect my privacy when I need it.”
Doug shrugged. “Yeah, sure.”
The trip to the aquarium went smoothly, and the interior was dark enough to
slightly conceal Aiden’s new look from the rest of the world. That was of no
comfort to Doug, and Colin could feel the sweat on his hands as they walked
along the looking at the underwater displays. It seemed that no amount of body
contact, resting his head on Doug’s shoulder or even blowing in his ear could
get him to stop fretting.
As for Aiden, he couldn’t have been more comfortable in a dress, and seemed
to have shed any inhibitions already. If anything, he was taking a little too much
pleasure in his newfound identity, as he matched Elliot’s practiced and sublime
imitation of child-like feminine behavior action for action. He was giggling,
jumping, running and carrying on in just the way a young girl might.
He squealed at how cute the otters were, he gasped at the beauty of the
schools of colorful tropical fish, he was apprehensive to look at the menacing
sharks and giggled as he tapped the glass to attract the beluga whales. No one
watching his antics would have ever guessed they were watching anything else
but a precocious little girl.
46
There was also little mistake that they were now a functional family. Not two
single parents, each with a kid, and certainly not like a middle-aged man and
three young adults. Dorothy and Douglas were a couple now, and Abigail and
Emily were their children.
When they got to the family-friendly restaurant for dinner, neither Colin nor
Doug batted an eye when they were treated like the mom and the dad, with
Elliot and Aiden as the kids. They were settling into these roles almost absurdly
well.
When handed the kids’ menus, Aiden and Elliot scoured them thoroughly,
choosing amongst the mac n’ cheese, chicken nuggets and junior-sized
cheeseburgers. When Colin and Doug were handed the regular menus, Colin
automatically set his aside waiting for Doug to make the decision. It all seemed
so perfectly normal.
“He seems almost like a weight has been lifted off his shoulders,” Doug said
quietly, so he couldn’t he heard by anyone except for Colin. He was looking at
his son, who, in a dress with a ribbon in his hair and a touch of makeup on his
face, was smiling more than Doug could ever remember.
“Regrets?” Colin asked.
Doug sat up and squared his shoulders. “No. None. If you’ve taught me
anything, Dorothy, it’s to not back down from my decisions.”
47
“So if he wants to do this tomorrow?” Colin mischievously asked.

Doug’s confidence was starting to crumble. “We will... Come to that... When
we... If he should choose...”
“You know he will.”
Doug sighed. “I don’t think... Maybe he should just face up to reality and put
this behind him.”
“Darling,” Colin said, running his slim fingers along Doug’s hand. “Do what’s
right for your child.”
Doug’s shoulders dropped. “This is hard.”
“You will never stop loving him.”
“No, I won’t.”
“Do you want to make it harder to love him today — or for every day the rest
of his life as he resents you?”
The beleaguered middle-aged father closed his eyes for a contemplative
moment. “I guess I’m in this for the long haul, aren’t I?”
“We,” Colin said. “We both are.”
Doug went back to the menu and studied the contents.
Colin decided this was a good time to kiss him on the cheek.
48
WRENSHAW PRIMARY
PART 1
The Emerald Estates development, as hugely successful as it had become,

began humbly. When the late Vance Wentworth III instructed his people to
start looking into buying the land, they came upon one nagging problem
problem: Davis Wrenshaw.
All the land parcels in the area were being acquired through the state’s
de-commissioning of a state park — except for one particular plot of land. A
small home owned by Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw, a 71-year old woman
who had lived on the land since marrying her husband. His family had built a
large Victorian house sometime in the mid to late 1800’s, and it had weathered
the years valiantly. It looked a little beaten, but also more stately with it’s
advanced age.
It was just a few months before Magnum Properties was to start bidding for
the other larger parcels that they approached Mrs. Wrenshaw about her house.
She invited them in for tea and she had a nice afternoon chat with the lawyer
Wentworth had sent.
Margaret had once been a schoolteacher in an old boarding school, but had
retired. Her husband had passed ten years prior, leaving her a widower, and she
always loved having company. Even lawyers.
The lawyer reported back that the property was likely something they could
acquire, as Mrs. Wrenshaw was agreeable to selling, but only if she could get a
large sum of money to pass on to her grandchildren. All she wanted to do
before consenting was to talk to her “college grandson” and get his advice.
That grandson, Davis Wrenshaw, 19, and studying business law, was all too
eager to involve himself. Davis showed up at Wentworth’s offices and dropped
a small stack of papers on the receptionist’s desk, accusing the business of
trying to con his dear, lovely grandmother out of her house. There were
charges of mail fraud, trespassing, intimidation, stalking, fraudulent
representation and even theft for the tea the lawyer had consumed. Of course,
Davis let it be known that he would stop his lawsuits if they bought the house
for fifty times the value.
So began a legal battle that raged on, year after year, even as the development
began construction. If one were to look from the air at Emerald Estates, they
would have noted a large “bite” out of the almost-perfect square shape of the
land. The builders had to work around Mrs. Wrenshaw’s parcel, even if they
had hoped that they could get the land later on.
So in a sea of new houses, one large, tall, dark Victorian house stood out from
the rest: Margaret Wrenshaw’s proud grand home. It looked very much out of
place once the development had been completed, as if it had been sent back in
time.
Even as Davis Wrenshaw still maintained his exorbitantly high price for the
old home, three years of construction were long since done, the ribbon cut at
the main entrance, the homeowners moved in and settled. As time went on,
Davis knew that his price would just keep climbing.
There was only one hitch with Davis’s plan to rake in the money. His
grandmother had passed away a year ago.
It was a quiet death, having passed away in her sleep. She was 73 at the time,
and alone in her house. Davis discovered her on one of his visits, and as
saddened and as dismayed as he felt, he also knew that with her, he had lost
50
any negotiating leverage for the house and land. She had not completed a will,
and her property would go to the state.
Instead of reporting her death as he well should have, he decided that hiding
her body would be the best course of action. After all, she would have wanted
her family to get the money they were entitled to, Davis reasoned.
So in the back yard, a small field of flowers grew, where Davis had buried her
remains.
Davis could then continue to represent her grandmother’s interests and get a
windfall of money on her behalf. It was just a technicality that she didn’t
actually exist anymore.
Everything about Davis’s plan was working just fine for quite a while. The
court proceedings went along slowly but surely, Davis would occasionally trade
emails with Wentworth’s people, and everything looked good... For a while.
vjv
“A summons?” Davis said, when he heard about Wentworth’s latest court

motion. “A summons.”
It made perfect sense that the lawyers for the construction company wanted
to call Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw to testify, but Davis had never actually
figured on the whole thing getting this far.
He tried to get the court to cancel the summons, citing “poor health” for his
grandmother, but he couldn’t produce a doctor’s note to prove it. It was all he
could do to just change the court appearance to a deposition in her home.
That meant that lawyers would come see her, instead of having her go to
court. Now all he had to do was raise his grandmother from the dead.
vjv
“Long time no see!” Davis said as his younger brother, Phillip came off the
plane. “You look great! Thin and healthy!”
“Yeah, thanks...” Phillip said. He knew his brother well enough to recognize a
snow job when he heard it. He expected little else from Davis, and studying to
be a slimy lawyer fit right in with the way he had always behaved.
“So glad you could come!” Davis said, taking one of his bags and immediately
heading out. Phillip was immediately suspicious. This wasn’t like Davis at all...
Unless he wanted something.
“You are gonna pay for my ticket back home, too, right?” Phillip asked.
“That’s what I said!” Davis reassured him.
51
52
Phillip was seventeen, and had a week off from high school back in
Albuquerque, where they had grown up together. “I recorded your promise on
my phone.”
“Ah!” Davis replied, less than confidently. “So, there’s not much time. Let’s get
you in the car and head for Gramma’s place.”
“Not much time?” Phillip asked, as he ran his hand through his short blond
hair. “She’s okay, isn’t she?”
“We’ll talk about it in the car.”
vjv
“I can’t believe she’s gone...” Phillip said, seated in the plush velvet sofa in the
living room of the old house. “Gramma...” He sighed. “On vacation...”
“Yep! She’s loving her cruise, too. I’m sure she’s having the time of her life!”
Davis said. “While I’m looking after the place, she’s just living it up, probably.”
Phillip smiled. “She probably is. She always wanted to take a cruise. Sucks for
me, though. I was so looking forward to seeing her. She hasn’t written in a
while.”
“Can I see her email?”
“Oops! Deleted it. You know how I am with email. Zero inbox.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Around the world cruise! A year long. Maybe more.”
“Well, good for her. But why did you want to have me here?”
“I have... A... Challenge for you, Phil.”
“What kind of challenge?”
“Well, some lawyers need to interview Gramma, and they’re coming
tomorrow.”
“Why? You told them she’s not home, right?”
“I don’t have a lot of options, you see. And since you and Gramma have always
been so close... You know her so well... And are kinda her size...”
“What are you saying, Davis?”
vjv
Phillip found himself seated at his grandmother’s makeup table, staring into
his reflection. He couldn’t believe he was doing this, but he would help out his
grandmother, no matter the cost.
53
According to his brother, the developers of the Emerald Estates were trying to
steal the house from under her, and going to rob her blind if she wasn’t present
and living on the land.
It was for his beloved grandmother that he was doing this. If he could help in
any way to keep her house, he would do this. Even if it was humiliating and
degrading. He was going to do his best and become Margaret Elizabeth
Wrenshaw for the afternoon.
Phillip had been in two high school plays, and knew a few things about
makeup, so he wasn’t too unaccustomed to what was laid out before him on the
table.
He had brought up a picture of his grandmother on his phone, and set it up in
front of him for reference. He was a young man with young, fair skin, barely
even a hint of a beard yet. It was going to be tough to replicate his
grandmother’s look.
Fortunately, “Gramma” was a fan of strong makeup. Even if her skin was
saggy, her face didn’t appear to have deep wrinkles and blemishes. So Phillip
began with a modest bit of trimming to get his eyebrows into the same shape.
He could scruff it back up when he was done, and it wouldn’t look that
different from his usual appearance.
Next, using a thick coat of foundation, he covered all of his features. He was a
little startled to recognize a little of his grandmother in the reflection. Their
shared family features were quite apparent, with similar eyes, and a similar
nose. Even their lips looked very much the same when he frowned.
His grandmother had been a teacher in the prime of her life, and was a stern
woman when she needed to be. To him, she had always been the sweetest old
lady he could imagine, but sometimes, when they were out and about, he’d get
a glance at the woman who had been a teacher of young children for so many
years. In a flash, she could become angry, with a glare in her eyes that would
make a full grown man wither. She must have been the most intimidating
person in the universe to the kids she taught.
He gave a good scowl in the mirror to see how he looked. He nearly scared
himself.
The goal wasn’t to become a clone of his grandmother, just to get in the
neighborhood, enough to pass for a cursory informal examination. As Phillip
began work on his eyes, though, he was getting closer than he ever thought
possible. The silver eyeshadow she preferred really brought her to life. He
could almost see her soul coming through. A trace of black eyeliner around his
eyes had completed the look.
A little bit of dark blush on his cheeks to make them appear hollow helped age
him a bit. A line under his eyes to give him the look of having baggy eyes made
him look authentically aged. He added a few lines to approximate crows feet
54
and laugh lines, but they were subtle touches he probably didn’t need to add.
Using way too much makeup, like Gramma tended to do, did a very effective
job of making him look like her. He was already convincing enough, much to
his surprise.
He was tempted to do the last step, his lips, but before that, he decided that it
was messy enough that he should get dressed first and not risk smearing it. His
grandmother liked to use a lot of lipstick.
He stood before his grandmother’s closet and tried to think though what she
would wear. She would have regarded a lawyer’s visit as a kind of semi-formal
occasion, so the casual outfits were not an option. Phillip figured she would
have dressed much like she would have for her old teaching job.
He pulled out a maroon blazer and skirt and whisked off the dust. Phillip
could not ever recall seeing her in anything but a skirt. He placed the set on
the bed and figured out what else he would need.
55
A ruffle-edged blouse with a high collar was a favorite look for his
grandmother, and he found a few in plastic dry cleaners covers in the closet.
The high neck would hide his youth, where one would expect to find the
sagging neck skin of an elderly woman. He selected one in a pale rose color to
match the maroon of the skirt and jacket. A small ivory cameo brooch on her
dresser was her favorite clasp for the neck, so he took that and tossed it on top
of the blouse.
“I wonder why Gramma didn’t take this with her?” he asked himself. He rarely
saw her without the brooch. Hopefully, she’d never know that he had gone
through her things like this. To face her, if she knew, would be absolutely
mortifying. But it was all to help, after all.
The next question Phillip had to answer for himself was what to wear under
the clothes. Did he really want to wear his grandmother’s underwear? Well, the
answer to that was an unqualified ‘no.’ He just couldn’t even begin to think
about rummaging through his grandmother’s intimates. However, if Davis was
right, and everything depended on this meeting going flawlessly, he didn’t want
to risk something giving him away.
Fortunately, Phillip found some new-in-the-package sets of undergarments in
the closet. They looked like they had been there for years, if not decades.
A pair of high-waist “Granny Panties” seemed appropriate. They were beige
and laced, made of elastic material. He removed his underwear and slid them
on. It took some adjustment to his privates to get everything to fit the right way,
and he found that by tucking his dick in between his legs, he could mask his
true gender well enough.
The matching bra was much larger than he’d ever seen, with conical cups that
were so stiff that they almost didn’t need any stuffing. He put his socks inside
just to make sure they didn’t deflate on him. The heavy elastic band of the bra
pulled his shoulders back and made him stand up straighter, too.
“Hey, how’s it going in here?” Davis said, as he launched his head through the
door.
“Davis!” Phillip barked. “C’mon, you said...”
“Just wanted to see how things...” He looked at his brother in the face, and
was taken aback by how much his made-up eyes resembled his grandmother’s.
“I... Uh... I’ll be downstairs, okay? One hour to go.”
“Fine!” Phillip barked back.
Davis closed the door behind him, still looking, his eyes trained on Phillip’s
face. He couldn’t quite figure out what to think.
Phillip took a deep breath and went back to business. The next thing to take
care of were his legs. He had figured on wearing pantyhose, so he had taken
56
the time to shave his legs earlier. He found a pair of deep suntan over-the-knee
nylons in a fresh package and put them on the bed, too.
Lastly, he selected a pair of patent leather black two-inch Hush Puppies
pumps with a fat, stout heel and rounded toes. Heels would be a minor
challenge, but they were true to how his grandmother would have put together
an outfit.
He picked up the blouse and put it on, the long sleeves both ending in ruffled
cuffs, as did the high neck. A series of modest ruffles also ran down the front,
where he buttoned up the blouse. He realized that he was going to have to do
some work on his nails, too. The stumpy man fingernails wouldn’t do. A box of
press-on nails he found in the makeup drawers were just wheat he needed and
put them out to apply in a minute.
The panty hose was easy enough, and stayed in place. They dramatically
changed the look of his legs from skinny 17-year-old boy’s legs to a mature
woman’s. They also made walking on the hard wood floor precarious because
they were so slippery.
He had put off the skirt long enough, and stepped into it. It was thick, lined in
silk or stain or something like it, and buttoned up on the side, which puzzled
him for several minutes. But once he had it on, it was a good fit. The crepe
material was a little strange, but it looked good on him, so he thought.
Then he stepped into the shoes. They were almost a perfect fit,
embarrassingly enough. Phillip had never regarded himself as a small person,
just someone who was due a growth spurt or two before they were in college.
Either his grandmother had large feet, or he had tiny ones. For his own vanity,
he decided it was his grandmother’s feet that were on the large side.
Before putting on the jacket, he sat back down at the makeup table. A pair of
earrings that matched the brooch were resting on a ceramic plate, and Phillip
put them in his pierced ears. He had gotten them pierced years ago to tweak
his parents, but hadn’t used them in a long time. He was glad they had yet to
heal over.
They were very heavy, with thick ivory and gilded edges, and weighed the
lobes of his ears down, stretching them out like an elderly woman might have.
“Gramma left her rings, too?” Phillip said as he picked three rings off another
ceramic platter. He put on the amethyst and tarnished silver ring she had worn
since she was a teenager. He remembered her story about it, that she had
received it from her first high school lover, a young man who went off to war
and never returned home.
Next, he slid on the engagement ring she had received when she was only
twenty five, from his grandfather, Gene Wrenshaw. She said it was her very
favorite ring, and had told many stories about the “courting years” of her and
his grandfather. In fact, because his grandfather wasn’t exactly the touchy-feely
57
type, most of what he knew about him was through these stories. Finally came
the large, shimmering diamond wedding ring his grandfather had gotten from
his mother, who had survived the Battle of London, with this her only
remaining possession. It was a fourth generation heirloom.
With the rings on, he added a bracelet and an antique silver band watch that
he often saw his grandmother wearing when they went out. He carefully added
the press-on nails he had found earlier, and lastly, two coats of the dark red
lipstick that was his grandmother’s most recognizable feature.
Finally, he unboxed one of the two silver-and-black-haired wigs his
grandmother used on a daily basis. With a deep sigh, he was ready to get a look
at the finished product.
vjv
“Davy! Da-vy! Are our guests here yet?” Came a voice from the top of the
stairs.
Davis, who had been nervously pacing, looked up, and watched step by step as
his grandmother descended the stairs.
“Don’t stand there with your mouth agape, help me prepare a proper tea set,”
the old woman said.
“Holy shit!” Davis said.
“Language!” Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw said with a frown. But then,
Phillip’s smile broke through and he laughed.
“Oh my fuckin’ God!” Davis said.
Phillip was standing mid-way down the stairs, letting Davis get a good look at
him, head to toe in his grandmother’s clothes, makeup and wig. “It’s kind of
freaky, isn’t it?” He said, with a sheepish grin.
“Yeah, it sure is,” Davis took some steps forward to get a closer look. He was
nervous, as he himself had personally buried his grandmother in the back yard,
and to see this reanimated version was eerie. “I mean, Jesus. You look... It’s
Gramma, but maybe a few years younger. You can even do the voice!”
“Little Davy,” Phillip said in his Margaret voice, “I hear you’ve been treating
your brother quite poorly. You shouldn’t be so mean. He’s family, after all.
You’ll need him some day.”
“Wow...” Davis said. “Just... Wow.”
Phillip finished his trip downstairs and adjusted the jacket when he landed.
“Oh, my little Davy,” He said, using his grandmother’s pet name for Davis. “Fill
a tea kettle. I want to have it ready for when the lawyers arrive.”
Davis laughed. “Knock it off, okay? You are really creeping me out.”
58
59
“Sorry,” Phillip said, back in his normal voice.

“Okay,” Davis said, trying to clear his mind and reset. “Okay, okay. So, here’s
how this is going to go. I’ll answer the door and then we’ll set up where you can
be comfortable, and then you’ll be sworn in by...”
“Sworn in?” Phillip asked. “I don’t want to lie under oath.”
“You won’t be. You’re not here. Gramma is.”
“I don’t want Gramma to lie!”
“She’s on a cruise, remember? Probably doing a conga line right now.”
“I don’t know, Davis.”
“Hey, have I ever gotten you in trouble?”
“Constantly.”
“Well... This is an exception. This is for Gramma.”
“Right.” Phillip checked his reflection in a nearby mirror. “This is for you,
Gramma.”
vjv
“...And your husband died, leaving you with the inherited right to the property
and the house.”
“Yes, that’s correct,” Phillip replied in his grandmother’s voice. They were
seated around the large dinner table, with Phillip at the head of the table. A
small video camera was pointed at him.
The lawyer for Wentworth continued. “So, Mrs. Wrenshaw... Or do you prefer
your maiden name?”
“I haven’t been called by my maiden name in a very long time, dear,” Phillip
replied. He said the words carefully and precisely, with the elocution his
grandmother was very particular about, being a former teacher. “Margaret
Elizabeth Miller is a name I haven’t used since I was in college.”
“I see,” the lawyer answered. “So, once you inherited the property, you of
course signed documents and papers verifying that you have deed to the land?”
“My dear grandson Davy made sure I had,” Phillip said, looking over at his
nervous brother. “He’s a lawyer, you know. Our family is very proud of him.”
“And you can produce these documents?”
“They’re in the den safe. Do want to see them?” Phillip said, shifting his
weight before standing.
He was stopped before that happened. “No, no. Not necessary.” The lawyer
was testing Phillip, trying to find some gap in Margaret’s knowledge or any
60
signs of mental weakness. So far, he had not been able to exploit any kind of
mistake or verbal gaffe. Phillip had been on point.
However, Phillip did have to make up a few things, like “remembering” he
had signed all the proper documents, so far, he had avoided telling any
whoppers.
“How many students do you have, currently?” The lawyer asked.
“Pardon?” Phillip replied.
“For the school you run here. I don’t see any children.”
Phillip’s eyes slowly panned to his brother, who was hiding his ashamed eyes
behind his fingers.
“My... School...” Phillip drew out the words to give himself a chance to think.
“Does anyone know where the bathroom is?” Said one of the men in the
lawyer’s group. He stood up and looked around. He was an older man, in a
sweater vest and tweed jacket. His greying brown beard was cut neatly, and
contrasted with his bald head.
“Let’s pause for a moment,” said the court representative. “Time for a quick
five minute break.”
Phillip stood up, grateful to be able to stretch his legs. “The bathroom is
upstairs, first door to the left,” he told the man who asked.
“Thank you very much,” he said, with a subtle bow. “My name is Francis. Dr.
Francis Pinkerton. Lovely to meet you, and I do hope we aren’t too much
trouble.”
“A pleasure, doctor,” Phillip replied, as he gestured toward the upstairs. He
headed over to his brother and forcefully pulled him out of his chair and over
to where they couldn’t be heard. “School?”
“Shit, yeah...” Davis said. “I filed some papers that claimed Gramma was
running a school here, a small, private school. The laws make it more difficult
to seize property for a business, and especially a school. So, I figured, what the
hell? I filled out all the paperwork. Boom. School.”
“And you weren’t going to tell me about this?” Phillip asked.
“I barely even remember it, actually.” Davis said. “Just say that you don’t have
any students this term, yada, yada, hoping for some next term, yada, yada, yada.
No big deal.”
Five minutes later, the questioning had resumed.
“So without any students for the current term, you still maintain that this is a
functioning school?” The lawyer asked. “When was your last student, exactly?”
“Why... It was...” Phillip looked to his brother for help, but he was starting to
sweat and fidget with his tie, which was not much help at all. “Was it last year?
61
Was that when little Joanie was here? Or was that the year before last?” Phillip
was trying to make it sound like his grandmother was just blurring together
some memories. It was his only real tactic.
“Mrs. Wrenshaw, surely you must remember when your last student attended
your own school, right here in your very own home!”
“Objection!” Davis said.
“There’s no judge here, Mr. Wrenshaw.”
“Oh yeah...” Davis replied.
“Well, Mrs. Wrenshaw? You filed papers that said you ran a boarding school
for young children, and you can’t even say when your last student attended,
that is, if you ever had a student.”
“Surely you remember Maddox, don’t you?” Dr. Pinkerton said, interrupting
the momentum of the moment.
“Pardon?” The lawyer said, baffled that member of his own team would
interject like this.
“My fault. I didn’t mean to interrupt. But I myself enrolled one of my younger
patients here last term. Maddox O’Malley. Brown hair, likes to paint?”
62
“Oh...” Phillip said, trying to race through the possibilities of what a ‘yes’ or a
‘no’ answer would do to their case. He just took a leap of faith and replied,
“Maddox, yes. Dear child. How could I forget?”
“I see,” the lawyer said, deflated. It had been his only opening all afternoon,
and it was gone.
Davis and Phillip exchanged a look of uncertainty between them. Neither
could even begin to guess why this Dr. Pinkerton had said what he had said.
But it was getting them out of a pinch.
Twenty minutes later, Wentworth’s lawyer closed his leather brief and
frowned. “I think that’s all the questions I have for you, Mrs. Wrenshaw.”
“Oh, are we done?” Phillip replied, trying to appear non-plussed. “I still have
some tea, if anyone would like some.”
The lawyer stood up. “Thank you, but no. It’s time to get back to the office.”
While someone else turned off the video camera that had been recording the
proceeding, and another lawyer gathered up all the loose papers spread around
the dining table, Dr. Pinkerton approached Phillip.
“Once again, I do appreciate your help with Maddox last term. The progress
has been slow, but steady.” He said, with a bright smile. “Next term starts this
Wednesday, doesn’t it? Maddox will be there, ready to go.”
“I... Uh...” Phillip’s head was spinning. “What?”
Davis got in between Phillip and the doctor. “We’ll be happy to have him...
Maddox.”
“Huh?” Phillip replied, in a voice that sounded an awful lot like Phillip.
“Wonderful, wonderful!” Dr. Pinkerton said, as he followed the rest of the
team out the front door. “I’ll see you then!” She said, adding a wink.
As the door closed, Phillip turned to his brother, and with his arms out,
growled. “What the fuck was that?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know! I panicked!” Davis replied, covering his head with
his hands and arms.
“You asshole!” Phillip said, slapping his protected head. “We were nearly out
of it free and clear!”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Davis said. He backed away several steps to get out of
Phillip’s reach.
Phillip picked up a pillow from the couch and started swatting Davis. “What
were you thinking? Now we’re going to have to call him and cancel!”
“Knock it off!” Davis whined, sounding a lot like he used to when they were
little kids, fighting. “Stop it!”
63
Phillip tossed the pillow away and stomped his way up the stairs, making quite
the noise in his grandmother’s pumps.
vjv
“I really have to get in touch with the doctor,” Davis said, talking into his
phone. “Please make sure he gets this message.”
“Press the pound button to save your message,” said the canned nice lady
voice at the other end of the line. Despite having left twenty messages for Dr.
Pinkerton, alerting him to an “unavoidable and indefinite delay” in the
beginning of classes, Davis pressed pound once again.
There was a risk in just outright saying they were cancelling the classes. That
made it sound like the operation of the school was a sham. Which it was. Davis
only wanted this doctor guy to think there were just some difficulties, and
classes held by
Margaret Wrenshaw
would be held in the
near future.
Trouble was, he didn’t
have an office,
apparently. When Davis
searched the internet
for Dr. Pinkerton’s
name, all that came
back was a few
mentions of a “Frank
Pinkerton,” a.k.a. “The
Mesmerizing Dr. X”
who had been a small-time Las Vegas stage hypnotist — and that had to be
someone else. Just finding a phone number for him had been a day-long effort.
“You want a pizza? I’m gonna order lunch,” Phillip said as he walked through
the kitchen in his shorts and bare feet.
Davis slumped in his chair. “No — I’m trying not to kill myself with food.”
“Got in touch with Dr. What’s-his-face yet?”
“Oh yeah,” Davis said. “All taken care of.” He didn’t want his brother freaking
out. Besides, he was sure that he’d have this settled long before Wednesday
rolled around.
vjv
64
On Tuesday night, Phillip was out picking up some burgers at a nearby Burger
Boom. He was studying the menu carefully, weighing his options between
getting two of the triple burgers on the menu or three double burgers. Or,
might he consider six single burgers?
He was in a loose sport tank top, bike shorts, and a pair of flip-flops. It was his
“I don’t live here and I don’t care what you think of me” look.
“Two Triple Booms, large fries, milkshake and a large drink,” he ordered. He
got a glance from the cashier who was excused for wondering exactly where his
customer was going to put that all. Phillip was a thin kid, almost skin and
bones. He had been gifted with the kind of metabolism that let him eat just
about anything in any volume, and not gain weight.
The same trait, though, irritated him. He desperately wanted to put some
pounds on, preferably muscle, but he had no luck so far. That’s why he always
ate so much food, in the hope that some of it might stick to him for a change.
“For here or to go?” The cashier asked.
“To go.”
A few minutes later, as Phillip returned to the old Victorian, he was a little
surprised to see a car pull out of the driveway and head away.
“Who was that?” He asked Davis when he got inside.
“Huh?” Davis replied, as he looked up from a book he was reading.
“Somebody just pulled out of the driveway,” Phillip said, as he spilled out the
contents of his greasy fast food sacks onto the old dining room table.
“Maybe they were just turning around or something, I dunno.”
Phillip sat down and started to unwrap his food, and placed his cups where he
wanted them, and as he did so, he noted that two drinking glasses were in his
way.
“No one was here while I was gone?” He asked his brother.
“No,” Davis replied. “Been here reading all night.”
Phillip looked at the two glasses and wasn’t sure he wanted to make this a big
deal, but he had no idea why his brother would lie about this kind of thing.
“Oooo-kaay...” Phillip said, as he chomped into his first burger. An idea came
to him in the middle of chewing, and he had to wait until he finished to ask the
question. “Since when do you read books?”
Davis’s head snapped back, as he realized what he was doing. “Uh... Yeah...”
Although a law student, books were never Davis’s thing. He placed the book
aside and closed it. “Um... Just... Whatever.” He got up to inspect Phillip’s
meal and assess the minimum 2-fry tax.
“So about my return ticket, Davis...”
65
“Workin’ on it!”
“I have to be back at school by Monday, you know. That’s just five days away.”
“No problem! No problem at all!”
“You haven’t done it yet?”
“Hey, what’s the rush? We’ll get it when you’re ready to go.”
“Great. You always do this, Davis. You’re going to wait until the last second
and...”
“What do you care? I’ll take care of it, okay? Stop worrying.” He sat back
down and picked up the book again, and returned to reading.
Phillip decided not to say anything about Davis’s newfound reading habit,
because he didn’t want to distract from the topic.
As he began slurping the thick chocolate shake through the tiny straw
provided, Phillip noticed a business card on the table, resting near one of the
mysterious glasses.
He reached for it, which required him to lean four feet over the table, and slid
the card back to him. He checked the name on it. It was for Dr. Francis
Pinkerton, therapist.
“Are you sure no one was here?” Phillip asked his brother again.
“What? I said no, didn’t I?”
“Yeah, you did,” Phillip replied, stuffing the second burger in his mouth. He
had to wonder if that was Dr. Pinkerton’s car that had pulled away, and why
didn’t Davis remember talking to him?
vjv
“Hey! You’re not ready yet?” Davis said as he came into Phillip’s room.
Phillip was sleeping on his stomach, his arm draped over the side of the bed as
he fought off the morning in vain. He turned his head to see Davis, with a
frustrated look on his face. “Ready for what?”
“Maddox! Dr. Pinkerton is gonna be here in...” A noise came from the
driveway. “Shit, he’s already here. I’ll try and stall him, but you need to get
ready, fast!”
“What the fuck are you talking about, asshat?” Phillip said, his voice slightly
muffled by the pillow in his face.
“Dr. Pinkerton is dropping off his patient!” Davis said as he headed for the
door. “You were supposed to be all dressed up as Gramma to meet them!”
This got Phillip’s attention. “You said you had cancelled that!”
“Why would I cancel that? That was our plan!”
66
Phillip was at a loss. “No, that’s the opposite of our plan!”

“I remember it clearly, we decided that we should take in Dr. Pinkerton’s
patient, and...”
“This isn’t a school, you idiot! You made that part up, remember?”
Davis paused for a brief moment, indicating a fragment of realization. “No, we
had to take in a student for Gramma’s school.”
“That doesn’t make sense at all! There is no school!”
Davis was about to say something, his finger raised to make a point, but his
eyes drifted off to the side, trying to justify his line of reasoning. Clearly, he was
having trouble with it.
Downstairs, a loud, deep chime of tubular bells filled the house. It was the
doorbell.
Despite his misgivings, Davis was not about to admit he was wrong.
“Whatever, okay? He’s downstairs and he’s got a kid with him! You need to be
Gramma, understand? Get changed!” He ended the discussion by slamming
the door as he left.
Phillip really wanted to stay in bed, but his curiosity got the better of him. He
got up and took a look out the window. Sure enough, a car was there, and it was
the same car that he had seen last night leaving the house. Something was
definitely weird here, and there was only one way he was going to get to the
bottom of it. He slipped in his contacts and got out of bed.
vjv
“Very sorry to have kept you waiting,” Phillip said, in his grandmother’s clothes
and wig. He was coming down the stairs carefully in the stout heels he was
wearing. “Just preparing for your arrival.”
“No trouble at all,” Dr. Pinkerton said, rising to his feet. “Your grandson and I
were having a little... Chat...”
Davis was still seated on the sofa, his back to Phillip.
“Davis?” Dr. Pinkerton said to him, since he hadn’t moved. “Davis! You are
awake and refreshed!” He then made a loud snap.
Davis’s body shook, and he stood up. “What?” He looked around for a
moment before visually picking up his brother, coming downstairs, imitating his
grandmother. “Oh, hello, Gramma. Everything taken care of?”
“Yes, dear,” Phillip said, masking his trepidation. He spoke to Dr. Pinkerton. “I
hope Davy has been letting you know that we just can’t...”
Dr. Pinkerton interrupted. “You just can’t wait to get started, yes, he told me
everything.” He laughed and chuckled a bit. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but
67
as I was just telling your grandson, we’re not quite ready to get going — just
yet.”
Phillip wasn’t quite sure what to say. “Oh... Uh... And...”
“As I’m sure you remember, Margaret, Maddox is quite stubborn, occasionally
with a bad temper. I had hoped Maddox would have been a little more
well-adjusted, but I am going to have to ask that I be there for Maddox during
classes. For emotional support, of course.”
“I... Uh...” Phillip stammered.
“Yes, I know you like your independence, Margaret, and I’m well aware that
we had this same argument last year, but I really must insist.”
“Attend... Classes...?”
“Just during the day, of course. Not while Maddox is staying here overnight as
a boarder, of course.”
“Staying...?”
“This is a boarding school,” Dr. Pinkerton asked. “Same as it always has been,
correct?”
“Of course!” Davis replied, seeing that his brother was about to crumble.
“Always has been, always will be.”
“Actually, we were thinking about dropping that,” Phillip said through gritted
teeth to his brother. “Weren’t we, Davy? Maybe not requiring students to stay
with us... All day... and all night... Where we have to look after them?”
“Oh...” Davis suddenly caught on to what a boarding student required. “That’s
right. We were going to make the boarding optional this year... I forgot...”
“But not for Maddox!” Dr. Pinkerton replied, merrily. “Maddox’s family wants
the full boarding school experience for their child.”
“It’s much cheaper,” Phillip replied in his old lady voice. “You save a lot by
commuting.”
The doctor waved the offer off. “Don’t worry, for Maddox’s folks, money is not
a problem. Now, Margaret, why don’t you meet your new student?”
“Before we do, let’s go over the...” Phillip said, intending to stop this madness
from getting any worse.
“Maddox! Come in!” Dr. Pinkerton called behind him. After an awkward few
moments, Dr. Pinkerton called again. “Maddox!” From the study room, in
came a twelve year old boy, wearing a flannel shirt and cargo pants. He cocked
his head back, sticking his chin out like a tough kid. He took his time striding
in, and slumped against the wall, crossing his arms. We was walking attitude.
He looked like arrogance personified, Philip thought to himself.
“Say hello to Mrs. Wrenshaw, Maddox,” The doctor prompted.
68
“Yeah,” Maddox was looking away.

“Hey.”
The doctor then gave Phillip an
expectant look.
Phillip knew he had to say something.
“Hello, Maddox? Welcome back to our
school?”
There was no reply nor reaction from
the boy.
“Well,” Dr. Pinkerton said, breaking
the silence. “I’ll leave you to get moved
in, Maddox. I’ll see you later for class.”
He turned to Phillip. “Always a
pleasure, Margaret. I look forward to
working with you.”
He swiftly turned and headed for the
front door, leaving the three by
themselves.
“Where’s my room, Lady?” Maddox
said. “Same as last year?”
“Uh... I...” Phillip was too dizzy with all
these new issues and problems to really
work anything out. He did know who to
blame, though, and that was his brother.
“Davy will get you set up.”
“Nope! Got a class!” Davis said, and he
made for the door, grabbing his jacket
as he did.
“Davis!” Phillip yelled.
“Sorry!” He said, as he closed the door
behind him.
Phillip, dressed as a seventy-year old
woman and now the host of a twelve
year old boy with a bad attitude, stood
with his shoulders hunched, his
breathing becoming heavier and his
hands starting to tremble. That was
from either rage or fear. He wasn’t sure
which.
69
vjv
Maddox O’Connor was definitely the kind of kid someone would have sent off
to boarding school. He was surly, disrespectful and hostile to just about
everyone and anything.
He was a small boy, though, and as he carried his luggage up the steps of the
old house, he was struggling mightily. Philip was up in one of the third-story
guest rooms that he was quickly converting into a dorm for the kid.
The room that had a bed in it, although a small one, and Phillip had taken
anything valuable out of it, leaving it very sparse. There was just an empty
dresser, a small bedside table and a desk set.
“You’re sure you were here last year?” Phillip asked.
“I was your only student, lady,” The kid said.
“Uh... Yes, I suppose.” Phillip replied in his old lady voice. He couldn’t have
known that Maddox had been influenced by Dr. Pinkerton, and he truly
believed that he had spent the previous school year at the non-existent school.
Even though this was the first time he had set foot in the large house, he was
truly convinced he had spent months here, being taught by Mrs. Wrenshaw.
“Why don’t I let you get settled. I’ll be back.” Phillip then exited the room and
quickly headed downstairs, wondering just what the hell he was going to do.
No sooner had he gotten a flight down then he heard a crash back upstairs.
“What happened?” Phillip asked, with urgency. As soon as he did, though, it
was very clear what had happened. The one item of any value he had left in the
kid’s room, a bedside glass-shade table lamp, had fallen to the ground. Well, it
was now on the other side of the room, so it hadn’t exactly fallen.
“Whoops,” Maddox said. “Better clean that up.”
Phillip checked a hallway closet and found a broom and a dustpan. He
returned to the kid’s room and started to brush the broken glass into the pan.
Halfway in, he realized that he shouldn’t be the one doing this.
He placed the broom and the dustpan aside. “I think this is kind of your thing,
isn’t it? Maybe you should be doing it? Maybe?”
“Maybe?” Maddox mocked in a whiny voice. “I’ll get to it later. When do I eat?
I’m hungry.”
Phillip sighed. “I’ll see what we have.”
“Yeah, you do that,” Maddox replied as Phillip left.
vjv
70
Later, at noon, Phillip watched Maddox lazily eat a tuna fish sandwich he had
to make for the dumb kid. He was still dressed up as his grandmother, and
checking his reflection every few minutes to make sure he still looked
convincing enough. So far, the kid didn’t seem to suspect anything.
Still, when the doorbell rang, he nearly had a heart attack.
“Dr. Pinkerton,” Phillip said, greeting the visitor. He was grateful to see him
again. He was grateful to see anyone, at this point.
“So how have you and the boy been getting along?” the doctor asked.
“Maddox? He’s eating lunch,” Phillip replied, avoiding the expletive-filled
answer he wanted to give.
“Well, I’m here for the afternoon classes. I thought we should get started by
refreshing you on Maddox’s needs and profile.” The doctor walked over to the
couch. “Shall we?”
Phillip was hoping to avoid having to get to the point where classes were going
to have to be held, but he knew that waiting for Davis to return and help out
would make this easier. “Oh, yes...” He said. Then, he remembered to keep
selling his character. “Would you like some tea?”
“Oh, no thank you,” the doctor said. “We have a lot to cover.”
Maddox, as Dr. Pinkerton explained, had been through years of therapy, and
in the past year, his parents had pretty much given up on him. They had put
him the care of Dr. Pinkerton, and signed the necessary papers to give him
guardianship. A boarding school made the most sense.
Phillip didn’t know what to think when the doctor recalled the last term of
classes Maddox had supposedly taken at his grandmother’s school. Since Phillip
knew for certain that his grandmother hadn’t taught for years, and never
operated her own school, this had to be some kind of mistake.
“I... I...” Phillip was trying to broach the subject without creating a real
problem. “I’m not certain Maddox attended this school,” the disguised young
man said. “I think there’s been some kind of... Misunderstanding. Maybe?”
“Misunderstanding? No, Maddox was definitely here last year. Think carefully,
Margaret.” The doctor looked directly into Phillip’s eyes. “Listen carefully and
concentrate. You remember it clearly. Maddox was your student last year. You
recall everything. Everything.”
“Everything...” Phillip repeated, in a daze.
“All right!” The doctor said loudly, with a clap. The sharp noise jolted Phillip.
Had he fallen asleep?
“Oh. Sorry. Long day.”
“That’s quite all right, Margaret. Now, last year — you do remember Maddox
from last year, don’t you?”
71
“Well, of course I do,” Phillip replied. “Who could forget a student like
Maddox? He was a handful.”
“Indeed,” The doctor said with a smile.
They then went over Maddox’s history, of his many brushes with the law and
deep anger towards his parents. He had caused trouble for just about everyone
who had bothered to involve themselves in his life. He was headed for a bad
end, it was just a matter of if he’d survive until his teens. Jail time seemed the
best of all possible outcomes.
“I’m done!” Maddox called from the kitchen.
Phillip got up from the couch. “You’re not going to clean it up, are you?” The
doctor asked.
“I don’t need him giving me trouble. I can just...”
“That’s not the Margaret Wrenshaw I know,” Dr. Pinkerton remarked. “She’d
tell him to do the dishes himself.”
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea...” Phillip said.
“Listen to me, Margaret...” The doctor said, in his low and mesmerizing voice.
A minute or two later, Phillip walked into the kitchen. “Well? What are you
waiting for?” He shouted in a terse, angry old woman’s voice. “Wash your
dishes, child!” He slammed his fist down on the table.
Maddox immediately got to his feet and backed away, clearly shocked, but
trying to keep his cool.
“And they better be clean! When you’re done, place them on the drying rack,
and then report to me!” Phillip turned on his heel and marched away.
“Very good, Margaret,” Dr. Pinkerton said as Phillip returned.
“It feels so out of character, though.”
“Margaret, you can be sweet when you need to be, but quite sour when you
have to be. Your tolerance for your students’ failings and laziness has always
been subject to your fiercest emotions. Surely you know that about yourself,
don’t you?”
“Yes,” Phillip said, uncertain only for a moment. “Yes, I do. Absolutely.”
“Very good,” the doctor replied with another satisfied smile.
Suddenly, dealing with Maddox didn’t seem so threatening for Phillip. He was
feeling very confident in his abilities to deal with the young whelp. He just
needed to employ some his grandmother’s assertiveness.
“Let’s set up for class in the study, shall we?” The doctor suggested.
“Yes, let’s do that.” Phillip was actually looking forward to this, now. Putting a
little bit of a scare into the kid amused him, and he wanted to see how far he
could push him.
72
Now all he needed to do was figure out what to teach the kid.
vjv
Fortunately for Phillip, a quick scan of his grandmother’s bookshelves

rewarded him with a dozen books with full curriculums in several subjects. So
before he even went to sleep that night in his grandmother’s bed, he had a
complete lesson plan laid out for Maddox.
They had spent the first day establishing rules and expectations while they
figured what grade levels Maddox was at. Phillip was making up quizzes as fast
as he could copy them off the internet, printing them out and giving to the
young man. That killed the rest of the day.
Dr. Pinkerton dismissed himself in the late afternoon, and with no sign of
Davis, it left just Phillip and Maddox alone in the huge house. Maddox pretty
much just kept to himself in his room, fortunately. Phillip ordered out for
dinner, as he had little idea what to make or how to make it. They both dined
on sad, damp hamburgers.
“Weak sauce,” Maddox said as he ate.
“Be thankful you have anything!” Snapped Phillip, out of character for him. “I
can send you to bed right now!” He wasn’t sure why he had developed such a
temper, but he assumed it was because his brother had bailed on him and left
him stuck in this ridiculous situation.
So, the next morning, rising from his grandmother’s old bed, Phillip faced
another day in disguise. He couldn’t risk sleeping his room, as being found
there would blow everything. As it was, he had locked the door to his
grandmother’s room tight as to avoid any problems. That also meant he had to
be dressed and ready before he could open his door, and it had to be early, to
beat Maddox waking up.
It took over an hour to do himself up as Margaret Wrenshaw, with the
undergarments, the clothes, the makeup and getting the wig just right. It took
another fifteen minutes of pacing and hand-wringing for Phillip to convince
himself to leave the room.
His first step was to wake Maddox, which he did with a nice, loud rap on his
door. “Up, up, up!” Phillip barked loudly in his old lady voice.
A rumble of movement inside indicated it had the desired effect of rousting
the boy from sleep. That was somewhat disappointing, as he had hoped the
little prick would have run away in the night and he wouldn’t have to do this for
another day.
Phillip walked down the stairs and headed to the kitchen, intending to make a
bowl of Captain Crunch for himself, but when he saw his hand, with his
73
grandmother’s old rings on it reach for the box, he stopped himself. Margaret
Wrenshaw would not be eating cereal. So it was just a plate of what his
grandmother usually prepared for herself, a slice of toast and some butter, with
a fresh cup of tea.
Maddox stumbled down the stairs as Phillip primly sipped his tea, staying in
character, expecting the boy’s arrival.
“What’re you making me for breakfast?” He said.
“What do you know how to make?” Phillip replied.
“Listen, lady. My parents paid for...”
“They paid me to educate you, not pamper you,” he interrupted. “If you want
a breakfast, the kitchen is yours.”
“Never mind,” Maddox said with a dismissive wave. “Let me know when you
want to get started.”
“7:45 sharp!” Phillip snapped. “Don’t you dare be late, either, young man!
There will be consequences!”
The sneer from Maddox was reward enough to Phillip. He loved pushing the
kid’s buttons. With a few minutes of guaranteed alone time, Phillip took his cell
phone, stashed away in a cabinet, and tapped it on.
“Where the fucking fuck are you!?” He typed into his texting app. He had left
about twenty such messages for Davis with no reply. He flipped it off in anger
and hit it once again.
Dr. Pinkerton arrived at 7:30, who was delighted to partake in a cup of freshly
brewed tea and chit chat about Maddox’s curriculum.
At 7:46, Maddox walked into the study, ready to start his day, but just a minute
behind to make sure he established that he did what he wanted, and not what
he was told.
“One minute late!” the doctor said with a frown. “I do not envy you, young
man.” He turned to Phillip. “Please be gentle with him, Margaret. It is his first
day back.”
Phillip wasn’t going to make that big a deal out of it, but it sounded like the
doctor expected “Margaret” to do something severe. Like what? The young
man in old clothes thought for a moment, and spotted the short riding crop
that was laying on the desk. Had that been here earlier?
Inspired, he grabbed it and stood, slapping his free hand with it for effect,
hoping the intimidation would do all that was needed. “Do you think you’d get
off lightly for a first offense? Well?”
Hoping Maddox would have the good sense to apologize, the boy did the
opposite. “Screw these rules,” he said.
74
Challenged, but still wishing to find a way out of this stand-off, Phillip slapped
his hand again, but harder. “This is quite unacceptable, young man!” He
cackled. “You won’t push me around!”
“Just back off, you old bag!” Maddox shouted.
Phillip rose his hand with the riding crop in it and held it there, really unable
to process what he was going to do next. Hit this kid? He was only five years
older than this runt anyway.
“What? Scared?” Maddox challenged.
Dr. Pinkerton got in between them, calling a halt to the process. “Margaret,
please reconsider. I know Maddox has earned a stiff penalty for his attitude and
disrespect, and by all rights a swatting might do him good, but this is not
something I can let you do.”
Phillip lowered his hand and backed away. “I will not tolerate this kind of
behavior!” He said to Maddox, now free to let loose a little bit because the
doctor was in between them. He was using some old clichés from evil teachers
he’d heard in movies. “I will make you respect my authority! You will rue this
day, mark my words!”
“Whatever,” Maddox said, slumping in his seat.
“Margaret? May I speak with you?” The doctor asked as he headed to the
study exit.
Outside the doctor looked at Phillip directly in the eyes. “Margaret,” he said,
slowly and deeply. “Discipline, Margaret, Discipline. That has always been your
passion. Discipline...” Phillip’s consciousness began to dim.
Phillip then snapped out of whatever little lapse he had just faded off into.
“Now I have to make a call,” the doctor said. “I’ll be back with you in just a
moment. You should get back to your impudent student.”
“Yes,” Phillip said, swatting his hand with the crop once more. He felt a
strange kind of energy in him and an impulse he’d never had before. He
needed to show this child some old-fashioned discipline.
“Stand up,” Phillip commanded when he returned to the study. He grasped
the boy by the arm when he didn’t comply. “Stand up!” He yelled.
“What...?”
Phillip’s riding crop cracked over Maddox’s backside.
“Ahgh!” Maddox yelled in pain. “What the fuck, lady?”
Another crack came across his face when he turned toward Phillip. “Now sit
and be respectful, unless you want more, you little piece of filth! My name is
Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw, and I’ve been teaching for fifty years!” Phillip
lectured. “I’ve dealt with a thousand brats like you and they’ve all learned that
it does not pay to test me!”
75
Maddox was still standing, unable to move, as he was in total shock. In his
years of threatening teachers, he had never had one lay a hand on him. He had
no idea what to do.
Finally, Phillip pushed the boy back down into his chair to get him to sit.
“The first thing I’m going to be teaching you is a little respect for authority,
young man!” Phillip said, standing in the front of the tiny one-student
classroom. “Apparently our little review of class rules wasn’t enough for you
yesterday, so we’ll do it again! And you are going to listen, is that clear?”
Maddox was just too stunned to reply.
“Is that clear?” Phillip repeated with a slam of the crop down on the desk in
front of Maddox.
“Y... Yeah...”
“First lesson. I am Mrs. Wrenshaw, and you will call me Mrs. Wrenshaw! Not
‘Lady.’ ” Phillip had no idea where this was all coming from inside of him, but
he was really getting into it. The rage and the anger pumped through him,
giving him a surge of adrenalin that felt incredible. “Do you understand? Now,
you will write in your notebook, 100 times, ‘I will respect Mrs. Wrenshaw and
her authority.’ ” Phillip tapped the spiral-bound notebook in front of Maddox.
“100 times! You have five minutes!” He turned and left the classroom, and as
soon as he closed the door, he leaned against it, breathing heavily.
It had felt so good. This was almost like sex. Or, at least what he had heard it
was like.
“Everything going alright?” Dr. Pinkerton asked, sitting in a nearby chair.
Phillip stood up straight and adjusted his blazer over his ruffled high-necked
blouse. “Quite,” he replied.
vjv
During the lunch and rest break, Dr. Pinkerton swiftly turned the corner to
find Phillip tapping another angry text message on his phone. As soon as he
spotted him, Phillip put the phone away in a drawer.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Dr. Pinkerton said.
“No, just checking my messages,” Phillip replied, straightening his back to a
prim and proper position befitting Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw and
returning to his lunch.
“I’m surprised you even know how to operate one of those,” the doctor said.
“Most people your age are completely befuddled by that newfangled
technology. Why, I can barely figure out how to make calls on mine. I’m sure at
your age, such things are completely confusing and frustrating.”
76
“Well, I... It’s not that difficult... Maybe, sometimes...” Phillip replied, as he
thought about it. “They are for the young people, though, aren’t they?”
“Agreed,” said Dr. Pinkerton as he joined Phillip at the table. He was holding
a large picture album and set it down. “I remember trying to work my first
laptop. Took me years. I swear, technology is completely beyond me. I can
barely operate my thermostat.”
“Would you like something to eat?” Phillip asked, as he looked at the cheese
sandwich in front of him. He wasn’t even sure he had anything to offer the
man, but it seemed polite to ask.
“I have a slow metabolism. I only eat once or twice a day. No, I’m fine. But if
you don’t mind me saying so, fixing meals is not your area of expertise.”
“Oh?”
“I tell you what, I’ll see if I can’t arrange some kind of catering arrangement.
After all, you’ll soon have many more students to feed, I’m sure.”
That was the last thing Phillip needed, more complications to this ruse. “No,
honestly, I don’t think that will be necessary.”
“Let me see what I can arrange before you say no. I know how proud a woman
you are, Margaret, but let me do this for you. After all, Maddox is ultimately
my charge, and getting him fed healthy meals is my responsibility.”
“But this...”
“I’ll take care of it! Don’t worry!” The doctor picked up the large
leather-bound photo album and placed it down between the two of them.
Phillip immediately recognized it as his grandmother’s album, one of three she
maintained. He had spent countless hours listening to her stories as she flipped
slowly through the pages. “I saw this on your bookshelf, and I am truly
fascinated, Margaret. Since we have an hour before re resume class, I was
hoping you could tell me about some of these. He flipped to the very first page
and the first photo. “This looks like you as a baby!”
Phillip didn’t really want to do this, but on the other hand, he didn’t really
want to make small talk with the doctor, either. Talking about his grandmother’s
photos was the more preferable option. “This one? Yes, this is... Me... a month
after Gramma... I mean, a month after I was born.”
“You were cute as a button.”
“Why thank you. My father always said I was the cutest baby born in the
county that year,” recalled Phillip from his grandmother’s telling of the story.
“And this photo. Your first day at school?”
“Well, my first day of Sunday School.”
“Who are your friends in this picture?” The doctor asked.
77
“That’s Matilda, Ellie and Penelope. We were quite a group. So many

memories.”
“You don’t mind if I play a little music, do you?” The doctor said, as he set up
a small music player on the table and started it. It played a light, new-age
ambient tune that immediately grabbed Phillip’s attention.
“No, of course not,” Phillip replied. It was an unusual thing to do, but there
was something compelling about the music. Something that seemed to open up
his mind.
“What were some of your memories of your friends from those days?” asked
Dr. Pinkerton. “Don’t spare any detail.”
“Ellie and I were very close friends...” Phillip recited from his memory.
“Matilda moved away a couple of years later. Penelope and I were close, but as
we grew, we drifted apart. Shame.”
“Tell me about Ellie.”
“Oh!” Phillip brightened up at the prospect of telling stories about her oldest
and dearest friend. “Well, let me see. There was the time that Ellie and I stole
a horse.” He could imagine it in his mind, picturing that beautiful horse that
they just had to ride. It was Ellie’s idea, but Margaret wound up taking most of
the blame. Still it was worth it to ride that wonderful horse, and no one was
hurt. “Now, my next door neighbors raised racehorses. They had horses in
three Kentucky Derbies, and they would spend all day training them. Well,
Ellie and I got it in our heads that we should just borrow one for a ride.”
As Phillip told the story, it was difficult not to imagine the story from his
grandmother’s perspective. He kept picturing Ellie by his side, as they snuck
into the barn, and doing himself all the things that his grandmother had told
him she had done. It was strange how real it all felt to him, how it felt like it
was his memory, not his grandmother’s.
If he had been paying a little more attention, maybe Phillip would have
noticed the small earplug in Dr. Pinkerton’s ears, so he couldn’t hear the
mesmerizing music he was playing.
“They had this beautiful stallion, by the name of Midnight Rain, and he was so
gorgeous... We were completely in love...” Phillip continued.
Two hours later, Dr. Pinkerton slapped the photo album shut with a loud snap.
It shook Phillip out of a daze. The doctor then turned off the music and took
the player back.
“I could listen to your stories all day, Margaret,” the doctor said. “It’s a shame
we have to get back to work, but learning beckons.”
“Yes... Yes...” Phillip replied, getting his wits about him. He had been so deep
into the stories that he had lost touch with reality a little bit. Telling these
stories from her youth, growing up in her quaint small town, kissing her first
78
boy, going to her first barn dance, all the things she enjoyed so much about her
girlhood.
Or, rather, Margaret’s childhood. Not his. His name was not Margaret, he
reminded himself. He was her grandson. Her name was Phillip. She was her
son’s boy.
No... That wasn’t right. He was a boy. He was Phillip. That was correct, wasn’t
it? Yes. He was a boy. A teenage boy. Why was he feeling so confused?
As he tried to get it together, the phone in the drawer chirped. Hoping it was a
reply from his grandson — no, his brother — and he was finally coming to save
him.
He picked up the phone tentatively, unable to really understand what to do
with it. Technology was so confusing. He tapped it in a few random places,
pushed the button on the front a couple of times and threw it back in the
drawer like it was a live scorpion. “These phones are completely beyond me,”
he said to himself in his grandmother’s voice. “I’ll have my grandson deal with
it.”
vjv
The afternoon was not much better than the morning for Maddox’s schooling.
He had gained a second wind of defiance, apparently already forgetting about
what had happened just a few hours ago.
Maybe he was just betting that “Mrs. Wrenshaw” wouldn’t go any further with
another severe punishment. Maybe he was just a snotty kid who couldn’t help
himself. Either way, he was causing more problems for Phillip.
“I already know this stuff!” Maddox whined as they covered the very
beginnings of basic American history.
“If you knew it, you would have passed the quiz I gave you yesterday,” Phillip
replied.
“I’m not good at tests,” Maddox replied. “Tell her, Dr. P.”
“Maddox has show a reduced aptitude when it comes to traditional learning
methods,” Dr. Pinkerton confirmed.
“Well, that just means we’re going to have to dumb it down for you, to fit in
your tiny little mind,” Phillip said. He found himself being more and more
provocative, trying to get Maddox to give him an excuse to punish him. He
wasn’t quite conscious of it, but he liked punishing him, and wanted it to
happen.
Maddox pushed his book away from him. “This is so dumb!”
79
“Do your work!”

Phillip
commanded. “Or
do feel like testing
me again, young
man?”
“What’re you
gonna do?”
Maddox snapped.
“You think you’re
so tough!”
Phillip felt the
urge again, that
wonderful sense of
power, and he flew
into action. He
grabbed the riding
crop from his desk
and swiftly grabbed the 12-year-old by the collar. “You brought this on
yourself!” He sneered.
“Margaret!” Dr. Pinkerton said, interrupting the moment. “May I see you
outside?”
Reluctantly, Phillip relaxed his grip and let the young man fall back down in
his seat. “What is it, Francis?” He said with a tone of exasperation.
“Let’s talk,” he said, as he headed for the door.
“You in trouuu-ble...” Maddox said with a smile.
Phillip snapped his crop against the back of Maddox’s chair, which shut him
up. He then followed the doctor outside.
“Francis, this had better be good,” Phillip said, curtly. “This is my classroom
and my rules. You said you would let me do...”
“I know what I said, Margaret,” the doctor said, putting up his hand in
surrender. “This is purely a professional thing. We’ve tried this kind of...
Physical approach with Maddox before. It hasn’t worked. Surely you
remember.”
“Well... Of course. I just...” Phillip’s heart was still racing with excitement. He
was just getting it to calm down.
“Then you’ll also remember that we discussed an alternative method of
dealing with my patient.”
“Francis, would you just tell me what you’re suggesting?”
“On your recommendation, we were going to try petticoat punishment.”
80
“Petticoat... Punishment?” Phillip repeated, slowly, as he had never heard the

two words used in a single phrase.
vjv
That night, when Phillip went to bed, he absent-mindedly dressed himself in

one of his grandmother’s sleeping gowns as he turned out the light. His
thoughts were focused on the day ahead of him, and what his plans were for
Maddox. The doctor had spelled out what he meant by ‘Petticoat Punishment’
and Phillip took a keen interest. He gleefully started scheming and preparing,
only growing more and more excited as he did so, and he now had everything
in place to make sure that Maddox was about to experience a soul-crushing day
of humiliation. He couldn’t wait for morning to come and to see the look on
that boy’s face.
Oddly, he didn’t spend a single moment thinking about the fact that tomorrow
was the day which he had to return home to go back to school. That seemed a
million miles away right now.
As he drifted off to sleep, Phillip’s dreams were back to her hometown and her
best friend Ellie, and reminiscing to that time they had taken their neighbor’s
beautiful horse. Those days of her carefree youth and a being young girl
growing up in the middle of the country were some of the most precious
memories Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw had — and now, too, for Phillip
Wrenshaw.
vjv
When dawn broke over the large, stately, mansion-like Victorian home of the
Wrenshaw family, Phillip had already dressed himself up as the stoic Margaret
Wrenshaw, with her wig, a grey blazer over a lavender high-neck blouse, black
skirt with stout black heels, and he was already hard at work.
“Up, up, up!” He yelled as he gave three sharp knocks to Maddox’s door. This
time, instead of moving on, Phillip just took a few steps back from the door.
About a minute later, he heard a muffled howl from behind the door that
sounded a lot like “What the fuck?” It was just a few seconds later that the door
burst open with an agitated 12-year old boy came out. “What the hell is this?
Where’s my stuff?”
Phillip had been waiting for this moment, and it did not disappoint. “These
are your things, dear.”
“This is girl’s stuff!” Maddox yelled, pointing to the girl’s school uniform
jumper that rested on the back of a chair. “Give me my stuff back!”
81
“Your behavior has been unconscionable,” Phillip said, trying not to smile.
“You’ve lost your male privileges. For now, these are your things.” Overnight,
Phillip had carefully and quietly removed all of Maddox’s meager possessions,
and his clothes, and replaced them with clothes and items fit for a young girl.
Maddox was as angry as Phillip had yet seen, with an intensity that surely had
driven others to cower. But Phillip was not impressed, even as the kid stepped
forward, ready to attack. “Give me my...”
Phillip brought out the riding crop from behind his back and held it over the
young man’s head. “Go on! See what it gets you!” Phillip said, daring him.
Maddox was like a cornered animal, though, and even knowing what would
happen, he took another attempt at rushing Phillip.
No sooner had he made the slightest flinch, when a quick slash of the crop
across the boy’s shoulders sent him to the floor, writhing in pain.
“There will be no more of that!” Phillip snapped. “Now, you have everything
you need to be the young lady you deserve to be! I expect you dressed in your
new school uniform and at your desk at 7:45!” He then proceeded down the
stairs, leaving Maddox gasping for air.
Of course, Phillip knew that the kid would never dress in the maroon jumper
and white blouse that he had replaced Maddox’s clothes with. For the moment,
however, he’d let the boy dig his own hole. It would just make it all the more
sweeter for Phillip.
Fifteen minutes later, Phillip returned to Maddox’s room, to find him still in
his sleeping outfit of blue briefs and a T-shirt. The school uniform had been
tossed out into the hallway.
Phillip picked it up and placed it back over the desk chair where he had laid it
out in the wee hours of the morning. “You best get dressed. You’re running out
of time.”
“Fuck you,” Maddox said, in a voice that was only half-confident.
“Every minute you resist is ten minutes you will regret,” Phillip said. He
crossed his arms and assumed a fighting stance. “Now get dressed.”
“Not gonna.”
The defiance of the young man was almost titillating to Phillip. The
stubbornness was going to be so delicious when he had broken his spirit. The
mild-mannered 17 year old who had arrived here a few days ago wouldn’t even
recognize his own thoughts by this point. Phillip had somehow been hooked on
being in command.
Phillip used his trusty crop to lift Maddox’s chin and raise his head. “I have
nothing else to do all day.” He let the crop graze over Maddox’s nearest
shoulder, feeling the trembling and fear within the stubborn student. “But my
patience isn’t endless. I’ll give you until the count of three to strip yourself.”
82
He waited a moment. “One,” he said.

Phillip paused for another moment, bringing his crop into view so Maddox
could see it. “Twooo,” he said, stretching the word out.
He then swiftly whipped his crop out of the boy’s view and held it high.
“Three!” He said, loudly.
Maddox waited until the last possible instant before pulling his shirt off.
Phillip slowly lowered his raised arm, already cocked for action.
“The underwear too,” Phillip added, tapping the boy’s butt with the crop.
Quickly, they were off as well. Phillip gathered the tee and briefs and put
them in his pocket.
Then he went to the small dresser in the room, picked out a pair of white
cotton panties with tiny teddybears on them, and tossed them into Maddox’s
lap. “Quickly, now.”
Naked, Maddox was in no place to fight. He knew he was exposed and even a
gentle swat with the crop was going to sting and leave a welt. He picked up the
panties and started to put them on.
“Tag in the back,” Phillip said. A lesson he had learned himself, just a few days
ago. Knowing how mortified he had felt the first time he had put on his
grandmother’s feminine clothes, it made this a sublime, exquisite sense of
revenge on the boy.
Maddox begrudgingly turned the tiny panties around and slid them on. He
managed to do so while remaining seated, hopping as he sat to get them all the
way up.
“Very good. They suit you.” Phillip liked rubbing his face in the humiliation.
“Now, the cami,” he said, tossing a matching cotton spaghetti-strap cami top
onto Maddox’s lap. He could see the boy’s fists ball up in anger. “Quickly!”
Phillip instructed.
Maddox fought through the thin top and let it fall the rest of the way onto
him.
“The blouse will be next.”
The white cotton blouse had a peter pan collar, short puffed sleeves and
ruffles up and down the front.
It took Maddox a few minutes to get it on, as he tugged and pulled at it, trying
to feel comfortable, which was impossible for a boy. It took him even more
time to figure out how it buttoned the wrong way – and Phillip wasn’t about to
help him.
“Top button, too,” Phillip told him. “Now, the jumper.”
The jumper was a short pleated maroon skirt with two giant straps that
crossed over in the back, went over the shoulders and came around, fastening
83
themselves to two giant white

buttons at the front of the skirt.
Phillip had to help him out
with this, as explaining it
seemed futile. Dr. Pinkerton
himself had been good enough
to pick it out from a local
uniform supply store last night,
and Phillip had to agree that it
couldn’t have looked more
girlish. The short skirt was
ridiculously abbreviated, and
the buttons made its wearer
look like they had on childish
doll clothes.
“Yes, very nice. You look
adorable.” Phillip pointed at the
socks and shoes at the base of
the bed. “Next,” he said.
The socks were white
ankle-highs, which folded over
at the very top. The shoes were
simple black mary-janes in
ultra-shiny patent leather.
Maddox was frustrated getting
them to buckle, but eventually
he got it.
He slowly, laboriously, stood
up, his eyes dead from the
humiliation he felt, and looking
into an empty corner of the
room.
“You are so precious,” Phillip
said. “But one last item. A little
bow.” He affixed a clip-on
maroon bow to the neck of the
blouse. He turned to the door
and closed it, letting Maddox
get a look at himself in the full
length mirror on the back.
Maddox was visibly startled,
practically jumping out of his
84
shoes. The reflection showed him how small he really looked without his bulky
jeans and tees. The cutie-pie outfit brought out his short, stubby legs and
rounded face.
However, in Phillip’s opinion, it still needed something. “Now hold still while I
take care of your hair,” he said. He picked up a large brush from atop the
dresser and began to run it through the boy’s hair. It quickly added volume and
shape, and as he sept the sides behind Maddox’s ears, it took on a very girlish
shape. Just to make it as humiliating as possible, Phillip then added a small
metal barrette with a plastic teddybear on it to the right side, adding a girlish,
childish touch.
As soon as Maddox caught sight of his reflection again, and the little girl he
saw in it, he steeled his jaw. “You are gonna get killed for this,” he said to his
tormentor, in a chilling, low voice.
“By you? By this adorable little piece of fluff?” He pinched Maddox’s cheek. “I
don’t think so.”
Tomorrow, Phillip fully intended to further Maddox’s shame by having him
put a clear pink color on his fingernails, a spritz of strawberry perfume, and
adding some lip gloss to his face. For today, though, he could already see that
he had driven a stake through the heart of Maddox’s masculinity.
“Be down in ten minutes for class,” Phillip said as he left the room. As he
headed down the stairs, he was sure he could hear that angry young man
sobbing like a toddler.
“Well?” Dr. Pinkerton asked as Phillip arrived at the bottom floor. He had let
himself in, ready for classes to begin.
“He’s taking it well, all things considered,” Phillip replied.
Ten minutes later, they both listed closely as the clip-clop of the mary janes
started to come down the stairs, slowly.
The doctor and Phillip quickly went into the study, ready to start class,
anticipating their student’s arrival. Phillip was making sure he had a stern face
on, even though he felt like laughing.
They were not disappointed when Maddox opened the door, and walked in,
using tiny, slow steps.
Dr. Pinkerton kept his emotions in check, and cooly viewed the scene, as if he
was a disinterested party. Phillip stood at the front of the ersatz classroom, his
legs spread a little wide, and his arms behind his back. He wanted to look
intimidating, and was doing a very good job of it.
“Don’t take a seat,” Phillip said, as soon as Maddox tried to sit at his desk.
Maddox stood back up straight, visibly angry, and his face beet red.
85
“Now. Since you have failed at every opportunity afforded to you to be a

productive student, and have shown little retention of what’s already been
taught to you, I’ve decided to change your curriculum.” Phillip said.
“Obviously, your stubborn male pride is getting in the way of learning, so I’m
stripping you of your masculinity. You can now consider yourself a girl. A little
girl.”
Phillip was enjoying this even more than he thought he would. “Now,” he
continued. “Since you will be treated as a little girl from now on, you will have
a new set of classes. With history, math and English giving you such difficulty,
you will now be learning dance, playing the flute, French language lessons, and
arts & crafts.”
Phillip watched as the boy’s shoulders slumped and his head dipped. It was
absolutely killing the feisty rebel, and he couldn’t hide it.
“In addition, you are clearly too immature to be allowed to be called a twelve
year old or given the privilege of attending middle school in the seventh grade.
You are not only a girl, but you are a nine-year old girl, in the fourth grade, and
you will live as such.”
“I...” Maddox began to speak, reflexively ticked off, but he knew that speaking
up would be suicide. “I’m not a fourth grader...” He could just be heard saying.
“That’s where you are educationally, and now, that’s going to be your age
group.” Phillip took a few steps towards the boy and stopped. “In addition,
because you are so young, you will be instructed to be a polite little girl, and
expected to act like a perfect little lady at all times. Show me a curtsey.”
“A what?” Maddox replied, lifting his head.
“A curtsey, little girl. Do a curtsey for me.”
Maddox looked over to Dr. Pinkerton for any help, but he was not going to get
involved. He then looked back at “Mrs. Wrenshaw” hoping this was some kind
of put on.
“You’re crazy,” Maddox said.
Phillip smiled. It was a wicked smile. “Dr. Pinkerton, could you get me my tea
set? I’m feeling a little peckish. It’s on the coffee table outside.”
“Oh, certainly, Margaret. I’ll be back in a jiffy,” the man said, leaving the
room.
Phillip rhythmically slapped his riding crop in his hands as he approached his
student.
A few minutes later, Dr. Pinkerton returned with the tea set, and placed it on
“Mrs. Wrenshaw’s” desk. “There you are. I made sure the water was nice and
hot for you.”
86
“Thank you so much,” Phillip replied. “Now, show the doctor a proper curtsey,
child.”
Maddox stood up and did a wobbly curtsey, his legs shaking and his spirit
clearly shattered. He put his hands at the hem of his skirt, crossed his legs as he
stepped and bowed. Throughout, Maddox looked dazed and was struggling to
keep his eyes open. Dr. Pinkerton had no idea what had happened in his short
absence, but whatever it was, it seemed to have ripped the last bit of fight out
of the boy.
vjv
After an eventful day, Maddox went to sleep early, exhausted and broken. He
had been tortured all day long, made to sit still as he clumsily spilled watercolor
paints on a painting, butchering unpronounceable words in French, fighting
with a flute to create horrific noises and worst of all, stretched out and sore
from covering the basic points of ballet.
Not only had Maddox not fought back or rebelled, but he barely even spoke.
Phillip knew he hadn’t yet gotten all the fight out of the boy, but for now, he
was too downtrodden and defeated to do anything but obey.
Madame LeFontaine and Mrs. Hollingsford had left, ready to return
tomorrow, and Phillip was putting his books away for the day. That was when
Dr. Pinkerton once more approached Phillip, armed with the photo album.
“Margaret, I hope you’ll indulge one more question about a photo I saw in this
album,” he said, pleadingly.
“Of course, Francis. Set it down on the table, here.” Phillip actually found
himself glad that Dr. Pinkerton had brought the album back out. He had
enjoyed going through it yesterday and was disappointed that they had only
made it half-way through. There were still so many stories to tell.
They sat on the large velvet couch in the ornately furnished receiving room as
Dr. Pinkerton asked question after question about Margaret’s past. As the
doctor’s ambient music played, Phillip recited the stories told to him by his
grandmother, only this time he telling them as if they were his own stories
about his own life.
The sun set, the lights were turned on, and before Phillip was even aware of it
they had gone through the remaining two photo albums.
“...And that’s when my son married Anne,” Phillip said, referring to his mother
and father. “It was a beautiful wedding, but my poor boy got cold feet. We
practically had to drag him out of the dressing room. Peter was absolutely
scared silly, but Anne was the best thing that ever happened to him, and he
knows it, as wrong-headed as he can be sometimes.”
87
“And this one?” the doctor asked, point to the next photo.
“Oh, that was when I lost Gene,” Phillip said with a somber tone. He was
referring to his grandfather, but his emotional connection to him felt different
now. He felt much closer and connected to his departed grandpa than he ever
had before. “One morning I got a call and they said I needed to come to the
hospital. The poor dear was gone in just an hour. But he was a wonderful
provider.” Phillip dragged his finger along the picture, forlornly. He sniffed to
keep the feelings back. “My Gene. It hasn’t been easy without you, honey.”
The doctor was understanding. “I’m so sorry.”
“Well, it’s been a few years, and life does go on. I just wish Gene were here to
share it with, though.” He saw in his mind the hospital bed with his grandfather
in it, and holding his hand as his vital signs started to slow. The hand grew cold,
as he nestled his head into Gene’s chest. He was gone, and now she was alone.
Phillip’s eyes were watering up, and he had to be careful to clear his tears
without disturbing his makeup.
“Oh my goodness!” The doctor said, suddenly. “Look at the time! I have to get
going.”
“What time is it?”
“10:45,” he replied as he stood.
88
“Is it that late?” Phillip said, shocked he had spent the entire evening
recounting stories. He got up, but wobbled a little.
“Do you need help, Margaret?” Dr Pinkerton asked, holding him up a little.
“Oh, just a little tired, I guess.” Phillip’s head was swimming, and he couldn’t
steady himself.
“Here, let me help you up to your room,” Dr. Pinkerton said.
“I... I can manage...” Phillip replied, but he was holding on to the doctor. He
could just not stand on his own for some reason.
“Just lean on me.” The doctor then slowly led Phillip up the stairs to the
second floor where the bedroom was, taking it step by step.
Phillip kept trying to regain his strength, but he couldn’t do it. He had to let
the doctor lead him. Then all of the sudden, Phillip felt the strangest sensation
of warmth trickling down his leg.
“I... Oh... Oh no...” He said, as his urine began to splatter onto the floor.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before, Margaret.” the doctor said. “No need to be
embarrassed.”
“I... I... Just...” Phillip could barely even believe what was happening. He
hadn’t peed on himself since he had been a toddler. “This is mortifying.”
“Not at all. It’s late, and at your age, it’s certainly considered normal. Now, let’s
get you to the bathroom where I can wash you off...”’
“No, no!” Phillip objected. He didn’t need prying eyes to see what he had on
underneath the clothes, and the young male body it hid. “You have done more
than enough. I can certainly handle it from here.”
“I insist, Margaret.”
“No, please. I can do this.”
“Are you sure?”
As they got to the doorway to the bathroom inside the master bedroom,
Phillip was able to find his feet, and with the assistance of the doorway, he
could hold himself upright. “There we go. I’ll be fine.”
“Well, all right, Margaret. If you think you can do it.” He then looked over to
Margaret’s closet and spotted something. “Oh, just so you don’t have to come
get it, let me.” He walked to the closet, saw a large package for “Depends”
adult diapers, picked a pair and offered them to Phillip.
“Thank you so much,” Phillip said with a half-hearted smile as he took them.
“If you have any trouble at all, I’ll be here downstairs as I tidy things up before
I go. If you have any difficulty, just call for me.”
“I will. Thank you so much, Francis,” Phillip said, as he closed the bathroom
door. Phillip practically melted in torment, embarrassed beyond anything he
89
had ever experienced. He then started to slowly pick off his grandmother’s
clothes and threw the wet ones in the shower.
Outside, alone in the bedroom, Dr. Pinkerton quietly opened up a drawer on
the bedside table and picked up Phillip’s containers for his daily disposable
contact lenses. He swiped out what he found and substituted a new set that
looked identical to the ones he was taking.
He silently slipped out of the room and headed back downstairs where he
picked up the tea set and carried it into the kitchen. There, he very carefully
cleaned the cups, making sure any trace of the liquid he had put in “Mrs.
Wrenshaw’s” cup was gone. Besides making him incontinent, it was an
extremely powerful poison, as Phillip would soon discover.
Upstairs, Phillip had managed to rinse himself off and left the wet clothes in
the sink to deal with the next day. He had to hold on to the wall as he led
himself to bed, where he sat for a moment. He reached for his grandmother’s
sleeping gown, when he saw the pair of depends on the floor where he had
tossed them.
He was disgusted seeing them, but at the same time, he could feel his bladder
on edge. He had just used the toilet twice in a row, but had a deep suspicion he
was going to need to do again it before the night was over. Reluctantly, he
replaced the panties he was wearing with the adult diaper and went to bed.
As he drifted off, he fell back into Margaret’s memories again. “I miss you so
much, Gene, my darling,” he said as he fell asleep.
vjv
As Phillip rose the next morning, he could already feel the sogginess of his
diaper. He moaned in shame, but at least he had had the good sense to put
them on and avoided a mess in bed. He sat up, and put in his contacts, waiting
for the world to get into focus like it always did.
This morning, however, it didn’t. He waited patiently for the contacts to
acclimate themselves, but he was still seeing blurs. He decided they were a
bum pair and slipped them out, in favor of another pair of disposables. Those
too, though were no help. He couldn’t see much of anything. He wanted to get
up, and he hoped it was just a temporary problem, but his eyes just refused to
get into sharp focus.
Then, as he felt around, he found the pair of glasses on the bedside table his
grandmother used. With no other choices to try and fix his vision, he put them
on, fully expecting them not to work.
But in fact, his vision came back into focus. He couldn’t believe it. The
cats-eye glasses with a floral design on the stems had to be at least forty years
old, and the chances that his prescription and his grandmother’s being identical
90
were a total long-shot. Still, they did clear up his vision, so he kept them on.
They would just add to his disguise, he assured himself.
His legs were still weak, but he could stand, and he went into the bathroom to
discard his diaper. As he passed by, be picked up a new pair to use as a
replacement.
Dealing with Maddox, or Madeline, as he was now called, was much easier
with Madame LeFontaine and Mrs. Hollingsworth there. They spent about
85% of the day with him. Phillip only had to see him for a quick run through
the most basic history, math and English topics, which he had to teach just to
round out the child’s education.
He was grateful for that, since he felt completely spent. Phillip was tired and
listless, staying seated at his desk for most of the day. The catered lunch that
the doctor had arranged for was delicious, but he could only eat a few bites. He
had to stop when he realized he was leaking into his adult diaper for the third
time that day.
He spent much of the afternoon running over the photo album again, as Dr.
Pinkerton went through the final images of his grandmother’s most recent
years. He covered his time teaching at the elementary school on the other side
of town, seeing her beloved grandchildren, Davis and Phillip, grow up to be
strong, handsome young men and finally her decision to start up her own
school.
Starting up her school, as she recalled, was a momentous decision, but with
Gene gone and such an empty house, she knew that returning to her passion of
teaching was all she could do to fill the time.
“Well, I think you made the right decision, Margaret,” Dr. Pinkerton said. He
closed the book, as there were no more photos to see. “You’ve created a
wonderful school. I hope we’ll be able to find you more students.”
“Oh, thank you, Francis,” Phillip replied, completely lost in Margaret’s life.
“My school means so much to me, and I do think children could stand to learn
some discipline these days. It’s my passion, you know.”
“Yes, I do know.” The doctor said, as he got up and put the album into the
bookshelf. “That’s why I chose your school in the first place. It’s just what
Madeline needs. I’ve already seen a lot of improvement.”
“She certainly has improved,” Phillip said. “I still think that there’s a streak of
rebellion, though, and...”
The door opened, and in came Davis.
“The hell?” He said, looking around. Phillip was in full grandma disguise on
the couch, and Dr. Pinkerton standing beside him.
“Davy?” Phillip called out. He tried to get up, but he didn’t feel quite up to it,
so he stayed seated. He adjusted the cats-eye glasses on his face. “It is you!
91
Where have you been?

You should have called!”
“I... Uh...” Davis had
arrived, not knowing
what to expect, but he
didn’t quite expect this
kind of performance. His
brother was deep into his
role, unnervingly so.
“Do you have a hug for
your grandmother?”
Phillip said, throwing his
arms out.
“Uh... Sure...” He said,
walking over to Phillip on
the couch. He sat down
beside him and leaned
forward.
Phillip gave him a warm,
full embrace. “You make
me worry! Don’t do that
to me, okay, honey?”
Phillip said. “Don’t disappear like that!”
Davis had to gently push Phillip away to get out of his arms. He whispered in
Phillip’s ear so Dr. Pinkerton couldn’t hear. “I texted you, like, a hundred
times!”
“Oh, you know I don’t know what to do with those new phones, dearie,”
Phillip said. “Just call and talk to me? That’s not that hard, is it? You never call
your dear Grandmother.” Phillip hugged Davis again. “But now my Davy’s here
and that’s what matters most.” Phillip kissed Davis on the cheek, leaving a large
red mark on him. “We have food in the kitchen. Are you hungry? Francis,
could you bring Davy a lunch tray?”
“Stay right there, I’ll be back,” Dr. Pinkerton said. He quickly headed out in
the direction of the kitchen, leaving the two brothers alone.
Phillip licked his thumb and used it to wipe the lipstick from Davis’s cheek.
“Dude! What the fuck!” Davis said, pulling his head back.
“Honey?” Phillip replied.
“Man, you’ve gotten way too deep into this, Phil!”
92
“I... Uh... Oh, yes...” Phillip pulled out of his Margaret mindset, back to reality.
“Sorry.” He paused only for a moment before he scowled. “You asshole! You
bailed on me, and now I have to look after that fuckin’ kid!”
“I had no choice, okay?”
“What? Of course you had a choice!”
“Look, I can’t... I don’t know how to explain it. Something just told me to
leave. It... It was like a voice in my head that told me I had to go... And every
time I wanted to come back, I couldn’t make myself do it. Like I was
hypnotized or something.”
“Hypnotized? That’s the weakest fuckin’ excuse ever, Davy. Jesus.”
“Davis.”
“Right. You just wanted to get the hell out of here and dump everything in my
lap! Now what about my ticket back home?”
“Here we go!” Dr. Pinkerton said, as he returned with a plastic-covered lunch
tray.
“Oh, uh...” Phillip winced as he threw himself back into character. “Thank you
so much, Francis. Now I need to talk to my grandson for a few minutes. Could
you check up on Madeline?”
“I certainly will,” the doctor said. “Good to see you again, Davis.”
“Uh, yeah,” Davis replied. “Good to see you doctor.”
After Dr. Pinkerton he left, Davis turned to his brother, still amazed at how
good his disguise was. But, he did look a little tired. “How often as that doctor
been here? And who’s Madeline?”
“Francis has been such a help in setting up my school. He really is such a
dear.”
“Francis?” Davis asked.
“Yes, Dr. Pinkerton. Dr. Francis Pinkerton.”
“I... Yeah. Look, don’t get too chummy with him. Remember, he works with
the land developers, okay? He’s probably stealing info and turning it over to
them.”
“Not Francis. I wouldn’t have made it this far without his help.”
“Right. So... Madeline?”
“Forget about that,” Phillip said, returning to his anger with his brother. “I
want my ticket by the end of the day, okay? I’m missing school, and Mom and
Dad are probably pissed. What is today, Wednesday?”
“Friday.”
“No it’s not.” Phillip said, thinking. “Is it?”
93
“Look, I’ll get you that ticket, but you just can’t run out. We need to wrap this
up, okay?”
“Ticket first, plan second,” Phillip insisted.
“Plan first, ticket second.”
“I’m not doing anything until I have a one-way ticket back home, in my hand,
by the end of the day.”
“Just hang on, that’s all I’m asking.”
“Now, let’s put those dishes in the sink so we can clean them later, all right,
Madeline?” Dr. Pinkerton said, leading their pupil through the hallway, past
the receiving room where Davis and Phillip were.
“Yes, Dr. Pinkerton,” said a small voice, as Maddox, in his school jumper,
followed.
Davis, having gotten a look at “Madeline” already knew what to ask. “What the
fuck did you do to Maddox?”
“Listen! You didn’t have to deal with that little turd!” Phillip said in his
defense. He got up on his feet and pointed a long-nailed finger at his brother.
“He was nothing but trouble!”
“You put him in a dress? How does that help anything?”
“Well, as Francis pointed out, petticoat punishment is a long-held method of
instilling discipline, and I must have discipline from my pupils! I will not
tolerate insolence!” Phillip yelled, his Headmistress Margaret personality
returning.
“What’s wrong with you? All you had to do was keep him out of trouble until I
came back!”
“I am an educator first and foremost, Davy. Ever since I took my first teaching
job in 1964, I have sworn to teach children...”
“1964?” Davis interrupted. “Stop kidding around, okay?”
“How dare you!” Headmistress Margaret replied. “I can teach you a lesson
about taking back just as easily as I can teach a child!” He reached for the
riding crop on the table, but his head began to swim. He fell forward and
slumped onto the sofa.
“Hey, you okay?” Davis asked. “Phil? You okay?” He asked again as he started
to push the limp body.
“You impertinent little delinquent...” Phillip muttered, his face mashed into
the seat of the couch.
“Margaret!” Dr. Pinkerton yelled as he dashed into the room. “Oh, I was
afraid this would happen...” He immediately came to Phillip’s side and pulled
94
him up, but Phillip’s eyes were glazed over. “Come, on help your
grandmother!” He told Davis.
Davis clumsily grabbed one of Phillip’s arms to keep him from slumping over.
“Gene, I miss you so much...” Phillip mumbled.
“Help me get her up to her room,” Dr. Pinkerton said. “She’s not feeling well.”
“Uh, okay...” Davis replied, as he helped hoist his brother, dressed in his
grandmother’s suit as he was. The two carried Phillip’s limp body up the stairs,
with Phillips arms around each man’s shoulders.
“No, Ellie, we have to tell them about the horse...” Phillip said, continuing to
mumble.
“I don’t understand what’s happening...” Davis said as they carried Phillip.
“Your grandmother has been very weak. I think she might be sick. The stress
of the new school term might be getting to her.”
They arrived at their grandmother’s room, and Davis helped as they laid
Phillip on top of the bed.
“Help me get her into bed, would you?” The doctor said. “You can take off her
shoes, I’ll take off her clothes.”
“What? Wait!” Davis said, knowing that he couldn’t let the doctor see the
truth. “Uh, look, you’ve been a lot of help, but let me take it from here, okay?”
“It’s no problem.”
“No! I mean... Someone needs to look after the boy... er... student, right?”
“You have a point. Do you think you can handle it?”
“Yeah, sure,” Davis assured. “After all, we’re family. I’ve taken care of my
Gramma before.”
“Well... Alright.” The doctor took a deep breath. “But Margaret needs a lot of
rest. Please don’t stress her. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.”
“Yeah, okay. Sure.” Davis waited until the doctor was gone and then turned to
Phillip.
“Phillip!” He said, standing over his brother. “Phil! Come on!”
“Is that you, Gene?” Phillip said, warbling in his old lady voice. “I’ve missed
you so much!”
“No, it’s me, Davis! Not Grandpa!”
Phillip blinked, and raised his hand to put his glasses on. “Oh, it is you, Davy.”
“What the hell is going on? You’re acting like you really think you’re
Gramma!”
“No, no. I’m Phillip. I am. I know that. It’s just that sometimes... The
memories... They take over and...”
95
“Come on, Phil, sit up.”

“Could you help me? I’m a little tired. These old bones...”
Angry with Phillip, and still believing that his perfectly healthy brother was
just fucking with him, he yanked on the shoulder of Phillip’s outfit and pulled
him up.
“Oh, gracious!” Phillip said as he was pulled up.
Davis had taken enough. He whacked Phillip’s face with the back of his hand.
“Snap out of it!” He yelled.
“You hit me!” Phillip said, holding the side of his face.
“And I’ll hit you again, if you don’t stop fucking around, okay!” Davis ripped
off the blazer from his brother and then undid the skirt. “I don’t care if you
really are tired or not, the doctor expects you to be in bed, so let’s get you
dressed for bed.” He pulled out the tails of the tucked-in blouse, as Phillip’s
shaky hands undid the cameo clasp on his neck. He slowly unbuttoned the
blouse, as Davis pulled his shoes and his skirt off. “This is crazy.” He said.
“It was your idea,” Phillip reminded him.
“Yeah, but you don’t have to...” As he saw the adult diaper that Phillip was
wearing, and noted it was plump and soggy, he just looked at his younger
brother in disbelief. “Are you fuckin’ serious?” He said. “You’re even using her
fuckin’ diapers?”
Phillip was nervous. “I... I... I had an accident and...”
“Never mind! I don’t want to know the details!”
“Oh... Uh... Okay. It’s just been a weird couple of days,” Phillip said. “Could
you help me with the pantyhose?”
Davis pulled the opaque tan hosiery off of his brother and then tossed his
grandmother’s sleeping gown at him. It hit Phillip in the chest, as his reflexes
couldn’t react fast enough to catch it.
“So, are you really sick? Or are you faking it?” Davis asked.
“I feel really bad, dude,” Phillip said, buttoning the gown up. “It’s gotta be a
super-flu or something.”
“Okay, then, get in bed and pull the sheets up. Do you think the wig will stay
on?”
“I’ve used some bobby pins to keep it in place,” Phillip explained. He slowly
pulled the covers off and gingerly crawled into bed. “So tired.”
“Uh, so...” Davis was at a loss to figure out what to do next. “I guess the plan is
to rest up, okay?”
“Yeah... Maybe I’ll feel better by dinner.” Phillip looked at his brother directly
in the eyes. “And you will have that plane ticket home by then.”
96
“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Davis said, unwilling to argue about it. “Plane ticket. Just
sleep, okay?”
Phillip turned his head back straight and relaxed with a breath. “If I need you,
will you be here?”
“Sure, sure,” Davis headed out the door. As he closed it, he could swear he
heard Phillip say ‘Good night, my dearest.’
He didn’t know what to think. He had just seen his brother shift dramatically
from believing he was their grandmother, to being Phillip, to being a
grandmother again, and all in the space of seconds. Assuming he wasn’t
messing with him, Davis had a real problem on his hands. His brother was sick
and delusional.
This was jeopardizing the whole scheme, and it was going to cost him money.
That was not something he could allow, sick or not.
vjv
“How did you like the movie?” Gene Wrenshaw asked, as he stuffed his hands
in his pockets.
“I thought it was swell,” Margaret Miller replied. “Is there something else you
wanted to ask me, Gene?” They were walking along main street, the yellow
lights shining in the darkness, on an early Fall night. There was a nip in the air
and Gene had put his long wool coat over his date’s shoulders to keep her
warm.
“It’s that obvious, is it?” Gene replied with a grin. “I never could keep
anything from you.”
“Let’s go over there and sit, okay?” Margaret said, pointing to a bench nearby.
She did want to sit, but she also suspected that she might not be able to stand if
she let Gene continue.
“All right,” Gene replied, and led her over.
Margaret sat, smoothing out the knee-length wool skirt she wearing and
crossed her legs primly, like a good girl would. She made sure she was sitting
up straight, so her young and buoyant breasts stuck out, and a peek of cleavage
was visible in the neck of her white angora sweater.
“Margie,” Gene said, holding his date’s hands. “I guess I... I shoulda asked you
a long time ago... But... Will you be my girl?”
“Oh, Gene,” Margaret replied with her slender hand caressing her
sweetheart’s face. “I’ve been waiting for you to say something. I’m already your
girl. You just had to ask.”
97
“Here,” Gene said, hurriedly tugging at his class ring, pulling it off his finger
and handing it to her. “Wear it around your neck.”
“That can wait,” Margaret said. She looked in every direction, and was
satisfied no one was watching if she made a scene. She grabbed Gene by the
lapels of his shirt and thrust her lips onto his.
“Whoa, golly!” Gene said, after she let go.
“I’ve been waiting to do that for so long,” Margaret said.
“I’m sorry, Margie. I’m kind of a coward sometimes.”
“That’s just going to make this even sweeter. Take me into the bushes.” She
tossed her head in the direction of the unlit park they were seated in front of.
“Uh... The... What?”
“C’mon, Gene. I’ve waited long enough.”
Gene grabbed Margaret by the wrist and they sped off into the darkness park,
giggling and laughing all the way.
“Show me what you’re made of, Gene Wrenshaw,” Phillip said, breathing
heavily. His eyes then opened, and he saw the insides of his grandmother’s
room. He had been dreaming. Then he saw movement. “Who’s there?” He
said.
“It’s just me,” Dr. Pinkerton said. He handed Margaret’s glasses to Phillip so
he could see.
“Oh yes, Dr. Pinkerton.” He was still too tired to move, so all he could do was
turn his head. It felt like it weighed a million pounds. “Was I... Talking in my
sleep...?”
“Don’t worry, I won’t say anything. That is my job as a therapist, after all.”
“What did I...?” Like any dream, the particulars were dissipating quickly, and
Phillip couldn’t remember what it was about. All he knew was that he felt flush
and his heart was beating fast. “I... Uh... Hope it wasn’t embarrassing.”
“Margaret, please don’t give it a single thought.” Dr. Pinkerton sat beside
Phillip on the bed, and spilled out some pills into his hand.
“What is that?” Phillip said, just able to turn his head to see what the doctor
was doing.
“Well, I was looking in your pillbox, and I found at least six different
prescriptions that you haven’t been taking. No wonder you must feel so out of
sorts.” He moved a glass of water closer to where he was sitting. “Now, if you
want to feel better, I think we ought to get you back on your medications.”
“Medications?”
“I hope you’ll forgive me for being so inquisitive, but I’m worried about you
and your health. Now, lean forward and I’ll put the first pill in your mouth.”
98
Still too weak to even put up a hand to stop him, Phillip had to try and turn
away from the pill, scared to death of what it might be. He had seen some of
the pills his grandmother took, and they were more than frightening.
“No, no... Please...”
“Don’t fight it, Margaret. I know you’re a proud woman, and as stubborn as an
ox, but even you are mortal.”
“These... No... I don’t even know what they are!” Phillip said, twisting his head
this way and that.
“Hold steady!” the doctor used his other hand to hold Phillip’s head still, and
jammed the pill into his lips.
“Urf!” Phillip muttered, as he tried to keep his jaw closed.
“This is nothing to fear, Margaret. Just take your pills.”
Phillip couldn’t fight it. The pill was pushing his teeth apart, and it was just
about to fall into his mouth. He had no idea what this would happen if he
swallowed the pills. If they were barbiturates or other painkillers, they could
kill him in this weakened state.
“Just about there...”
Using what little strength he could find, Phillip was able to lift his arm high
enough to knock away the doctor’s hand. “I’m not Margaret!” Phillip blurted.
“Pardon?” The doctor replied with a smirk.
“I... I’m not Margaret Wrenshaw,” Phillip said, his voice weary from the
exertion. “Those pills might kill me! Please don’t make me take the pills.”
“I see,” the doctor said, bemused. “So, who am I talking to, then?”
“Oh, God, Davis is gonna kill me. I’m... I’m Phillip Wrenshaw. I’m her
grandson.” He relaxed when he saw the doctor withdraw his hand and put the
pill away.
“Phillip Wrenshaw. All right.” The doctor nodded his head. “So, where is
Margaret Wrenshaw?”
“No, I don’t think I’m Marg-ahok!” He gagged on the pill that Dr. Pinkerton
quickly popped into his mouth as he spoke.
“Here’s some water,” the doctor followed that up by spilling water into Phillip’s
mouth which he was forced to swallow, or else choke on it. “Swallow Margaret,
swallow.”
“But... No... I’m not Margaret! I’m not... Not... Not...” Phillip was slipping
away quickly, thanks to the sedative he had just swallowed.
“Shh, Margaret,” the doctor said, patting Phillip’s head. “Relax and sleep.”
“Please help... I’m not Margaret...” Phillip’s eyes closed and he was out.
99
“All right,” The doctor put the remaining pills away and stood up. “Sleep well,
Phillip,” he said.
vjv
“It’s not in danger of killing him, is it?” Quentin Stillman asked the doctor as
they stood over Phillip in bed. “You’re sure of that.”
“85% survivable,” Dr. Pinkerton replied. “And his youth will help him heal
after it’s run it’s course. He’ll certainly live.”
It was late, about two in the morning, and the room was only lit by a flashlight,
as the two men had entered the house under the cover of darkness.
“I had to see it for myself,” Stillman said, aiming the light on Phillip’s face. “By
God, it’s working, all right.”
The doctor nodded. “The radioactive element of the poison acts quickly. It’s
done its damage already. It’ll be completely flushed from his system by
tomorrow, but it has already done fifty years worth of damage.”
“Quite remarkable. He already looks like he’s in his fifties. He’s deteriorating
before my eyes.”
“The cells in his skin are badly injured. The fats and oils in his skin are already
reduced with his glands losing vitality. In a day, his skin will start to droop as
the elasticity in his dermis fails, and spots and blemishes will develop. I’ve seen
it twice before, and it’s quite amazing to see.”
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101
“That shit was expensive. The Russians weren’t giving it up for pocket change,
let me tell you. So, how long?”
“The whole process will take two more days before we can start to focus on a
recovery. Even after he fully heals, though, he won’t be very strong, and he
never will be. His internal organs will be very weak and unreliable, his senses
dulled, much of his body mass will be wasted away, and he won’t have much
stamina. He will, for all intents and purposes, have the body of a seventy year
old.”
“What about this lawyer brother of his? Will he pose a problem?”
“Davis is a scoundrel. A dirty, rotten scoundrel. He’ll do anything for money,
and I have no doubt he would sell his own brother’s soul for a quick buck.”
“That’s was my people’s assessment, too.” Quentin patted Dr. Pinkerton on the
back. “So I’ll pursue my end of the plan, and you finish up yours. I look forward
to finally putting this land to use wrapping up this project. Shame about the
boy, though.”
“Phillip was in the wrong place at the wrong time. But, he will live out the rest
of his days doing something he’s fallen in love with.”
Stillman and Dr. Pinkerton quietly headed to the door. “Fallen in love with?
You mean he likes what’s happening to him?”
“Not the health part, but I can see it in his eyes. He’s never felt more alive
than when he’s Margaret Wrenshaw, School Headmistress. He relishes this
role.”
“I certainly know where he’s coming from. It’s easy to fall in love with
becoming someone else.”
“Putting my patient, Maddox, into skirts and treating him like a girl has
delighted Phillip. He gets so excited. He’s certainly going to be willing to do it
again.”
“That’s certainly unexpected, but it does work right into our grand plan.
Anyway, I’ve got to get some sleep. Tomorrow, I have to get our lawyers to
work up an offer that Davis Wrenshaw...” He puffed his cheeks and did his best
Brando. “An offer he can’t refuse.”
The two men slipped out of the house and into the night, leaving just the
sound of chirping crickets behind.
102
IN THE FAMILY WAY
PART 4
The sky outside Colin and Elliot’s apartment was grey, the clouds pregnant
with rain. Colin was just finishing up the dishes when he wandered over to the
window, to look out on such a miserable day.
“Cancun feels like a hundred years ago,” Colin said, as he dried his hands on a
dishtowel. In reality, it had only been three days since they flew home. He
turned around to see his brother, lying on the couch watching his favorite
magical pony friends show, hugging his stuffed rabbit, Mr. Moppit.
“What?” Elliot said, only barely aware that his big brother had said something.
Elliot wanted to tell Elliot that he didn’t want him wasting the day watching
TV, but there was little to do outdoors.
“Choo!” Elliot sneezed, then wiped it on his sleeve.
“Use a tissue, please,” Colin said, walking over to a desk and snapping Kleenex
out of a box. He handed it off, Elliot taking it with his little hand.
“Choo!” He sneezed again into the tissue.
“Are you all right?” Colin sat down next to Elliot and used the back of his
hand to feel the forehead of his 19-year old sibling.
“I’m fine,” Elliot said.
“You’re running a fever,” Colin replied, having felt the temperature of his
forehead. “That’s a whole week. A fever, throwing up, clammy skin... Get your
jacket on, I’m taking you to the clinic.”
“I’m fine!” Elliot whined, weakly.
“We’ll let the doctor make that decision,” Elliot said, undoing the apron from
around his polka-dot dress. He walked over to mirror to check his hair. “Now,
let’s go, sweetie.”
The free clinic, located a few blocks away from where Colin and Elliot lived,
was not a nice place. It mostly saw STD cases, junkies who needed needles and
shady street toughs with mysterious bullet-sized wounds. They didn’t ask
questions at the free clinic, and that was the kind of medical care Elliot
needed.
Elliot had been coming here for years but never felt so out of place as he did
now. He was sitting primly in a chair, his smooth legs crossed at the shin. His
immaculate knee-length dress and carefully coifed hair was in stark contrast to
the worn and soiled clothes worn by the fragrantly unwashed patients in the
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waiting room. Vulnerability was not a feeling he was used to, but he was feeling
that way now.
The thing was, Elliot’s illness was troubling him. Ever since they had returned
from Cancun, Elliot had been throwing up three times a day or more. At first,
they both assumed it was food poisoning, but as the days went on, Elliot
seemed to be really suffering. He was throwing up so much that Colin didn’t
even know where it was all coming from. It seemed like he was vomiting up far
more than he was eating.
What if it was something truly serious? Like cancer? Colin was a bundle of
nerves, trying to convince Elliot to see a doctor, but he refused to move. Today,
though, it was the final straw. He just looked so weak and frail, that he couldn’t
continue to object. He was so small, Colin could have just picked him up and
carried him in if he refused to go.
Oh, he hoped it wasn’t something serious. Here he was, trying to prove
himself as good wife material, and now he felt like he had failed as a mother.
He should have brought Elliot in sooner — much sooner, he told himself. He
prayed it wasn’t something serious.
“I wish Douglas was here,” he whispered to himself.
“Finch?” called out the woman at the front desk. She worked from behind a
plexiglass shield.
“Yes!” Colin said, eager to get to his feet and away from the increasingly
inquisitive eyes trained on him. The doctor had finished his examination of
Elliot and Colin was directed to the exam room. Pensively, he approached.
“What’s the verdict?” He asked.
“Your little girl is just fine,” the doctor said. “Nothing more than a cold. A
slight rise in temperature, but not a flu. A modest dose of children’s cold
medicine should be just what she needs. Has she seen her pediatrician?”
“Her?” Colin balked at the reference. “Pedia-what?”
“Children’s doctor. Pediatrician. If she doesn’t have one, I can recommend...”
“Uh... Doctor...” Colin had to make a kind of clarification. “His name is Elliot
and he’s a 19-year old. And he’s a he. Wasn’t that obvious?”
The doctor, who had clearly heard dozens of crazy things from his patients at
the free clinic several times in his career, if not just today, paused only for a
moment. “All right. Well... I would just say that my patient just has a cold, and
it’s nothing to worry about. Lots of rest, fluids, some chicken soup. And that
should do it.”
Colin was concerned that a medical professional didn’t spot this rather obvious
aspect of his patient — his age and gender. Elliot was his younger brother, sure,
but he was old enough to vote or go to college, and he certainly was a male
under all his clothes. “Doctor, I know he may look like a...”
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“Can bwe go momby?” Elliot said with his inflamed nose, as he emerged from
the exam room. Colin looked down at the diminutive figure and held out his
hand for Elliot to take. He reached up to take it, as he kept his other hand
wrapped tightly around Mr. Moppit.
“We can, sweetheart.” Colin decided to just cut it short and not pursue the
subject. After all, they had the diagnosis, so instead, he just smiled. “Thank you
doctor,” he said. “Thank the nice man,” Colin instructed Elliot.
“Bwank you, boctah,” Elliot chimed with his cold-impaired voice and a sniffle.
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106
When they returned home, Colin set his brother up in front of the TV with
some blankets and his favorite shows — and a bowl of steaming hot chicken
soup with saltines. He also added some lemongrass to jazz it up a little.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Colin asked as he was affixing his
earrings into place. He had just finished up changing for his evening date with
Doug, with freshly applied makeup and was wearing a midnight blue cocktail
dress and seamed stockings with high-heeled pumps.
“I’m nob a baby!” Elliot said, looking irritated. He stuck out his lip, pouting.
“You know I worry about you,” Colin said, as he turned to a mirror to check
his face for what he swore was the last time. “I’d stay here and make sure
you’re going to be okay, but Douglas seemed to really want to talk tonight.”
“So go!”
“You’re sure?” Colin’s concern was genuine. His brother just seemed so small
and helpless lately.
“Yes!”
On the way to the bar where Colin and Doug usually met up, Colin was
phoning Elliot to make doubly sure that he was okay and that he could turn
around right now and me there in just minutes. All he got back in reply was a
dial-tone.
Colin dropped the phone in his purse and told himself he wasn’t going to
check in for at least the rest of the night. Or for an hour. Maybe ten minutes.
“I’m so glad to see you, Dorothy,” Doug said as he met Colin in front of the
bar. “I... I thought maybe we could take a walk before drinks? It’s a lovely night
out. I wanted to go to up to the skydeck.”
“All right,” Colin said, “lead the way.” He suck out his arm for Doug to take.
They had walked along the sidewalk for about a block wordlessly. Colin had a
feeling he knew what this was all about. “Douglas, is this about Aiden?” He
didn’t wait for an answer. “Is he still wearing dresses?”
“Now, I’ve promised myself to start using ‘she’ instead of ‘he,’ “ Doug said. “I
don’t think Aiden is a name I’ll be using for a little while. She’s been in dresses
ever since she got off the plane. Couldn’t be happier. If I had known this was
what it would take to have a well-adjusted kid... But that wasn’t what I wanted
to talk about.” Doug paused. “Well, in a way, maybe it is. I have to admit, I
think I’m in over my head when it comes to having a daughter.”
“You’re not going to give up, are you?”
“No, no. Like I said, I’m committed. If it’s Abigail from now on, so be it.”
Doug pointed to the large windows that overlooked the city. “Let’s head over
there.”
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There was a bench that looked good to Colin, and he started out in that
direction. “I’m so glad. Abigail is so much happier as she is.”
“I know she is. I... I just don’t think I can do this alone.”
As Colin turned to set himself down on the bench, Doug tugged on his arm
and kept him from sitting. “Hold up. Hold up.”
“Whoop,” Colin said with a smile as he reversed course. He got his balance
back.
“I’ve had this in my pocket since we went down to Cancun, and I was too
chicken to do it.” He reached in his suit coat pocket. “Maybe it’s too early, too
fast, but I learned one thing over our trip, Dorothy. I can’t do this without you,
and I don’t want to do it without you. I love you, Dorothy.” Doug crouched
down, and immediately Colin assumed he was bending down to look for
whatever it was in his pocket, if he had dropped it in the darkness.
But that wasn’t what he was doing. Doug was on one knee. “Dorothy Farmer,”
Doug said, opening up a black velvet-line jewel case, exposing a sparking
diamond ring, “Will you be my wife?”
Colin immediately felt all the blood in his body rush to his face as he gasped
and covered his mouth. He could barely stand on his tiny heels and the lightest
of breezes threatened to topple his fragile frame over. His ears were ringing.
This was it. This was what he had been working so hard for. This was really
happening. A rush of all the types of emotions he had ever felt in his life came
shooting up his spine and he had to let it out. “Yes!” He screeched.
The instant Doug stood back up, Colin found himself leaping into his arms,
and smashing his lips against his. After a long minute, Doug turned his head
aside so he could speak. “I haven’t even gotten the ring on you yet!”
“Oh!” Colin giggled. He stood back and held his hand out. “That’s the right
hand, right?”
“The left,” Doug said.
Colin switched hands. “There you go.”
“Hold still!”
“I’m so nervous!”
Doug had to hold Colin’s hand and play a little pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey to
get it on. But once he did, it slid on easily as if Colin’s finger had been waiting
all its’ life to wear it.
They made out like teenagers on that bench for a few minutes until they were
worried about getting truly carried away. On the way back down to the bar,
with Colin trying to fix his disheveled hair and Doug trying to re-tie his tie,
they continued to laugh.
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109
“I want you to come with me tomorrow,” Doug said. “I’m going to buy us a
new house.”
“What?” Colin said, with a dazed smile. “You’re serious?”
“It’s time for a new start. I want a new house to begin a new life with you,
Dorothy.”
“My goodness! This is all so sudden!” Colin said, feeling flushed and truly
overwhelmed. His head was almost literally spinning.
“Here, let me give you this,” Doug said. He reached in his wallet and took out
a credit card. “I want to know that you’re provided for. You shouldn’t have to
worry about money anymore.”
Colin’s eyes grew big as he saw it, knowing that this was exactly the kind of
thing he wanted. Direct access to Doug’s money. “Oh, Douglas, darling, I
couldn’t!” Despite saying that, he quickly snatched it. “I’ll be very careful with
it.”
“You don’t need to be. I got another promotion.”
“You did!” Colin gushed. “Congratulations! I mean, it’s what you wanted,
right? A better salary?”
“Three hundred thousand,” Doug whispered in Colin’s ear.
“Oh my God!” Colin said, he needed to be held up for a moment as he lost the
strength in his legs. He had no idea that much was on the line.
“Vice President in charge of research,” Doug said, proudly. “And I never
would have had the confidence to do it until I met you.”
“I thought you didn’t want to become an executive!”
“I have a family to support now,” Doug said, lifting Colin’s hair out of the way
so he could kiss him on the neck.
“You are being so assertive!” Colin said. He playfully bumped him and smiled.
“I like it.”
vjv
“Look!” Colin said, holding out his hand for Elliot.

“The chipped nail?” He responded. He was watching TV, like he always was,
and this was some program about talking choo-choo trains.
Colin pointed to the ring on his finger, excitedly.
“You got a ring?” Elliot then digested it. “You got a ring!”
“Douglas proposed!” Colin said, elated. He bent down to hug his brother.
“We’re going to get married!”
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“That’s what you wanted, Mommy!” Elliot replied, getting almost as excited as
Colin.
“And he’s going to buy a big new house, and then we’ll move in. This ring has
to be at least five grand!” Colin had to hold the sides of his face, he was so
worried that his smile was about to split his cheeks. “Look! Look! He’s already
given me his credit card! We practically have a direct line to his bank account.”
“Oh, yeah, the money,” Elliot said, being reminded about the bottom line.
“It’s finally happening!” Colin stood up and did a silly little dance. “Now,”
Colin tried to get serous. “You know what that means, this is for real now.
We’re not breaking cover. Elliot and Colin are being locked away for a little
while, understand?”
Elliot made a funny face, his expression confused. “Um... Okay, Mommy?”
“That’s my girl!” Colin said, merrily. “Now, I want you to get ready and think
about what you need to pack. I’m going house hunting with Douglas tomorrow,
and we may be moving in just a few days.”
“Wow!” Elliot said. “Mr. Moppit can come too?”
“Of course he can!”
“And is Abigail going to be there?”
“Well... Yes, I suppose she will be.”
“I’m going to have a sister!” Elliot sang out. “Im going to live in a real house!”
He got up out of his seat and started to bounce up and down on his feet, as the
full impact started to grip him. “I’m going to have a Daddy!”
“Let’s not get carried away, pumpkin,” Colin said. He wagged his long-nailed
finger. “Remember, we’re just playing pretend.”
“Sorry, Mommy.”
Colin patted him on the head. “That’s okay sweetie. Now get in your jam-jams,
brush your teeth and get ready for bed. I’ll be in to kiss you nighty-night.”
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THE GREYSONS
PART 1
“And of course, you’ll note the lovely accents,” the realtor, Lorraine Thurman
said, as she led her prospects through 105 Candlewick Court. By now, some
months later, the windows were clear and open, the fences replaced by bushes
and a lever was on the front door. It no longer resembled a medium-security
prison.
“It all has a very... Distinctive feel to it,” Adam said. “It looks like it was built
for something else. Besides being a home, that is.”
“It certainly is one of a kind!” Lorraine said, smiling. “A real topic of
conversation!”
Adam Greyson, 34, examined the walls a little closer, running his hand up and
down the surfaces. They reminded him of Aztec construction, in a way.
Everything was kind of blocky and made of stone, not drywall. “It looks like a
set for an Indiana Jones movie,” he said.
“You won’t find a lot of houses like this on the market, that’s for sure!” The
realtor, a middle-aged woman with an up-beat attitude and blonde hair was
pressing, and she didn’t care if it was obvious or not. She felt entitled to know if
they were interested or not, just to get her disappointment out of the way. She
had shown this house to dozens of families over the past year and it never
worked out. She thought the place might be cursed — cursed to never sell.
“Babe, the upstairs is perfect,” said Adam’s wife, Lilly, as she came down the
stairs. “There’s big rooms for Kevin and Ryan, too. They’ll love it.”
Kevin, 12, and Ryan, 8, were his sons. Adam and Lilly had been married for
13 years, now. They had met at work, where Adam was in sales and Lilly was in
trucking. She was just the sweetest, nicest and sexiest thing he’d ever seen
drive a delivery truck, and six months of persistent pestering finally paid off
when she agreed to go get coffee with him. Three years later and they were
married in Vegas.
Adam and Lilly were already living in the area when a promotion finally came
through, and with it, the money to go and find a house that was big enough for
their family. Living in a downtown apartment was no way to raise two
rambunctious boys, and buying their first home as a family was a dream come
true.
But the real estate market was not kind to buyers. The success of the Emerald
Estates development had created a huge rush for housing in the area, and
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prices were well above what they should be, with few family homes available.
Adam and Lilly had already resigned themselves to having to pay 150% above
asking price on any house they really wanted to get. So far, of the six houses
they had bid on, they had been out bid even at that amount.
Adam walked over to the back patio door, looking out on a large, plush field of
grass that looked like a postcard. This was all too good to be true, that a house
like this would be available in this market. It was impossible. There had to be a
catch, and he was sure he knew what it was.
“Just out of curiosity, what are they asking for this place?” Adam asked
Lorraine the realtor.
“Would you look at that kitchen? It’s huge!” Lorraine replied. “And everything
is brand new. Never been used. Think of the dinner parties you could throw!”
Adam just had to glance at Lilly who smirked knowingly. “It sure is,” Adam
said. “They must be asking for a lot, huh?”
“Well, it’s being sold by the developer, you understand, and they always price
high and negotiate down. I happen to know they really want to move these
houses and...”
Sensing a little dispute was about to take place, Lilly excused herself. “I’ll go
back upstairs and make sure the boys aren’t getting into trouble.”
Adam took some casual steps towards the visibly nervous realtor. “We really do
need to know the price,” he said. “I mean, if...”
“2.8 million,” the realtor said, spitting it out.
“Holy shit!” Adam said. “Seriously? 2.8 million? Dollars?”
“Like I said, they’ll negotiate down.”
“To what? 2.7? Christ! 2.8 million dollars! Holy God!”
Lorraine didn’t want to let this go too quickly. “Let me give the broker a call. I
can talk to them.” She grabbed her cellphone and began dialing.
The bewildered man just threw his arms to the sky. “2.8 million? For this
place?” It certainly didn’t look like it was even close to being that nice. He had
been hoping for something in the $600,000 range, and he was prepared to go a
little bit higher if he absolutely had to. “Should I even be allowed to walk on
the carpet?” he asked himself. “I’ve probably done $1,000 in damage to it just
by flattening the fibers.”
To the side, Lorraine was trying not to be heard as she growled into her
phone. “The lights? Again?” she grumbled. “I don’t understand why I have to
always...” She paused to listen. “All right. Yes. No, I know how. I’ve done it a
hundred times before,” she said to whomever it was that she had called. She
put the phone away and put a smile back on her face. “I know this is odd, but
the developers have a very reasonable request before they talk about price.”
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Adam looked up to the stone ceiling. “Everything about this place is odd.”
“Could you come with me to the foyer. It’s right over here.” She headed to the
entranceway, and beckoned Adam to follow.
He did, and waited for instructions. He didn’t much like the foyer, which had
a thick, heavy front door that appeared to be made of metal, if Adam had to
guess.
“If you could come over here,” she asked Adam, as she stood in the light of
the stained glass window above.
“Okay,” Adam replied, shrugging. He then sniffed the air. “Smells like
someone burnt a ham in here.” He joined her in the middle of the lighted area
on the tile floor. He noticed that while he had to shield his eyes from the light,
the realtor was staring straight up into it.
“Never seen it like that before,” she said.
“Never seen it like what before?”
Ignoring his question, Lorraine was already on her phone. “Yes, the color is
green. Is that good?” She said into it.
Adam tried to look up and check for himself. He could have sworn it was an
amber color when he stepped into the light. It was too bright to get a good look
at it, though.
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“You’re not kidding, are you?” the realtor said to her phone, her voice
unsettled. “Because it’s on the MLS for...” She stopped to listen again. “Okay,
yes! Of course. Of course. I’ll ask.” She covered the mouthpiece and turned to
Adam. “They’re willing to go to $610,000.”
“Er... Um, what?” Adam said. “As a down payment?”
“No, the whole thing. $610K.” The realtor’s expression was both serious and
frenzied with excitement. “Don’t ask me why. But they want an answer right
now.”
“Shouldn’t we negotiate?”
“They want a yes or no. Right now. The price is the price.”
Without even time to panic, Adam made a puzzled shrug of bewilderment.
“Yes?” He said.
“Wonderful!” the agent said. “Now I have another house to show down the
street, so when I’m done, I’ll be back and we can start on the paperwork.”
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IN THE FAMILY WAY
PART 5
Doug hung up his phone. “She’ll be here in just a minute. She’s showing one
of the other houses to another couple.”
“It’s so very strange that these houses haven’t sold,” Colin said, looking around
the neighborhood. “They all seem so nice.”
“My understanding is there was some sort of disagreement with the
developers,” Doug said. “The houses are a little modest, but you can’t beat the
location.”
They were waiting outside 101 Candlewick Court, unable to look inside
without the real estate agent’s magic key code for the lock box on the front
door. Colin was in a classic halter-top dress in white, with a red sash and a
flaring skirt. The hemline was tasteful, ending just below his knees. His white
heels, white headband and white earrings were a perfect match. He looked like
a young bride already.
Doug was in a sharp business suit. He had already spent a few dollars from his
new promotion and purchased a couple of tailored Italian suits that looked very
commanding on him. They really brought out his broad shoulders and Colin
was especially impressed how they looked on Doug’s increasingly trim figure.
Idly, Colin was staring down at his hand from time to time, looking at the
engagement ring on his finger. It made him feel all tingly inside. He was sure
that the tingles were because he was about to become a very rich thief.
“I can’t wait too long. Emily still has the sniffles,” Colin said, genuinely
worried. “I know I shouldn’t leave her alone but...”
“Here I am!” The realtor said as she jogged up the sidewalk, her black
high-heeled boots clacking along the pavement quickly. “Very sorry for the
wait. Looks like I have a sale, so I had to get things started.” She stuck out her
hand for a shake from Colin. “Lorraine Thurman, Blue Blazer Real Estate.”
Doug intercepted the handshake. “Doug Brundell. This is my fiancé, Dorothy.
Now, I wanted to ask a few questions. I’ve heard some crazy things about the
prices here. But they can’t be true.”
“What say we take a look inside?” The agent said, heading for the door
without addressing the issue. “Every house on Candlewick Court has its’ own
unique charm. This one is one of my favorites.”
101 Candlewick Court was, to use design terms, “Pre-War American.” That is
to say, it looked like a house from a Norman Rockwell painting. Despite being
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a new house, this particular dwelling felt dated, but in an appealing way. The
interior was warm and inviting, and the fixtures were quaint and classically
American.
“You’ll see it features a lovely oak-paneled den,” the realtor pointed out.
“Hard wood floors,” she continued, as they walked into the living room. “A
wonderfully cozy living area, and a kitschy retro look to the kitchen.”
“Oh, I love it!” Colin exclaimed, surprising himself. The kitchen had a fifties
look to it, with chrome accents, linoleum floors and streamlined cabinets. “Isn’t
it nice, darling?”
“Before we get too excited, let’s talk price,” Doug said.
“Let me show you one last thing. The foyer has a fun touch that you have to
see...” The realtor headed back to the front door by herself. Doug’s expression
was a sour one, as he appeared to have little patience for the realtor avoiding
his questions. Reluctantly he followed, as Colin ran his hands along the kitchen
countertops.
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“Why don’t you come over

here,” Lorraine the realtor
asked Doug. “You can really
see it better from where
I’m standing.” She stood in
the light of the stained glass
window above.
“See what?” Doug replied.
He joined her in the middle
of the lighted area on the
wood floor. He had to block
the glare as he looked up
for whatever it was he was supposed to be looking for. “I’m not seeing
anything.”
“My mistake,” the realtor said with a sigh. “It was too much to ask for, two in
one day.”
“What are you talking about?”
With defeat in her voice, Lorraine continued. “You wanted to know the price?
Well, the development company is asking for two point three...”
“Darling? Did you come in here?” Colin said as he walked into the room.
“There you are,” he said, as he walked over to Doug.
“Whoa!” Lorraine said. The skylight had turned a bright, intense green the
moment Colin stepped into the light. “Oh yes!” She grabbed her phone.
“What was the price?” Doug asked.
“I need to check. Hold on,” Lorraine said, walking away with her phone to
talk.
“I can’t believe this,” Doug said, grumbling. “Totally unprofessional. This is
not how you do business. The price is the price.”
Colin locked his slender arm around his to keep him in place. “Just be patient.
What kind of skylight is that, anyway?”
Doug looked up at it. “It’s certainly bizarre. It looks like some kind of Aztec
design. And it wasn’t green when I first looked at it.”
“Strange,” Colin observed.
“Good news!” The realtor said, returning to the room with a smile that started
at one ear and ended at the other.
vjv
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Using the new credit card, Colin had hired a moving company to load up his
belongings and drive them across town to Emerald Estates. Normally, he
would have handled this easy task himself, but he had already sold off the van.
There was just no need for it, and leaving it by itself in the parking lot was not
really an option, especially in this part of town. He had also cashed in their
bank accounts and cleared them out. There was no use for them, either.
The lease for the apartment was being directly paid by the lawyers who
administrated the insurance settlement from his mother’s death, so Colin hung
on to the key. Maybe he could use the place as a hideout later on to stash
whatever they stole.
Colin and Elliot had spent the last day packing up. Elliot only had a couple of
boxes. One was filled with his small assortment of dresses, shoes and
underwear. Another with his toys. Colin wasn’t sure where Elliot had been
getting all these things, like stuffed animals, dolls and an EZ-bake oven, but
they were appropriate for a little girl and would just further the con, so he just
ignored it.
In what used to be his mother’s room, Colin had many more boxes to pack.
The curious thing was that he made no differentiation between the things he
had purchased for Dorothy and his mother’s items. He was putting his mom’s
underwear and shoes in the boxes, right with his Dorothy dresses. He regarded
everything in the room as ‘his’ now, no matter where it had come from. He had
over a dozen boxes when he was done, all labeled ‘Dorothy’s Stuff.’
As for Colin’s old clothes, and Elliot’s as well, they had long ago been
consigned to trash bags and left in a corner of what used to be Colin’s room —
a room Colin hadn’t actually been in for months. It had been that long since he
had been out of character, too.
The boys watched as the movers came in and loaded in their boxes, leaving
behind sad furniture, broken-down appliances, nasty old towels and bedsheets,
and anything else that didn’t feel like it would be appropriate for the new place.
They rode in a rideshare, following the moving van for the short trip to their
new home on Candlewick Court.
“Now it’s a home,” Doug said as Colin and Elliot arrived. They walked up the
driveway where Doug met his fiancée with a hug and a kiss. “You look like
you’ve already lived here for ten years,” he said.
“I don’t look that old, do I?” Colin replied. He had chosen a forrest green
shirtwaist dress with a white shirt collar from his collection. He had added
string pearls and black pumps. It practically screamed ‘vintage housewife.’
“You know what I mean. You look comfortable. Being a homeowner agrees
with you.”
“Me? It’s your home,” Colin said. “It’s your 600 thousand.”
119
“It’s ours. It’s our home. And hopefully for a very, very long time.” Doug
added another kiss before he let Colin go.
“Is Abigail here?” Elliot said, anxious to know.
“She’s upstairs,” Doug replied.
Elliot zoomed past as top speed to go see.
The movers had undone the back truck latch and were now just starting to
unload the boxes. The van was only a quarter full. When Doug looked inside,
he was taken aback. “I don’t see any furniture. Is this all you have?”
Colin nodded. “Just clothes, mostly. Some keepsakes. The furnishings came
with the apartment and we didn’t have much else.”
“I left most of our old things behind, too. Most of it my ex picked out, so...
Starting over, right?” Doug scratched his chin. “You know what? We’re going to
have to furnish this place ourselves. Sounds like a job for the woman of the
house.”
“But I...”
Doug shook his head. “I’m far too busy at work. You take the credit card and
buy us some nice things. I bet you have a knack for interior design.”
“Mommy Mommy!” Elliot yelled as he had returned. “Our room is sooo big!”
“I thought you would like it,” Colin said. “So you’ve decided to share?”
“Abigail and I want to share everything,” Elliot said. “We’re gonna be sisters.”
“All right, but you have to be...” Colin had to be careful about how he was
telling his bother to keep his secret from Aiden. “...Respectful of each other’s
privacy.”
“Yes, Mommy,” Elliot replied.
“Very respectful.” Colin emphasized.
“Yes, Mommy!”
Aiden then appeared in the front doorway, and Colin had to catch his breath.
The person standing demurely in front of him was not an androgynous figure.
She was all girl. It had only been five days since he had last seen Aiden, but the
change had been dramatic.
The dress he wore was cute and frilly, with attention to the details like
bracelets, a necklace and a slight pink shine to the fingernails. Aiden’s cheeks
had a natural flush to them and his skin was clear and smooth. There was even
a little curl in his hair that hadn’t been there before. But what made him more
girlish than all that was the eyes. Aiden’s eyes were open and alive, shimmering
in the light and doll-like. The shy smile on his face topped it off.
“Oh! You’re so pretty, Abigail!” Colin blurted, almost involuntarily.
120
“Thank you, Ms. Farmer,”

Aiden replied, bashfully. “So,
are you really going to be my
new Mom?”
Colin hadn’t even thought
about that. This was a new
concept. “Yes, I am,” he said,
with just a hint of uncertainty.
“When your father and I get
married.”
As he stood there, it occurred
to Colin that Aiden was looking
for a little reassurance. So he
crouched down and opened his
arms. Aiden ran right into them
and the hugged. “You feel like a
Mommy,” Aiden said.
His father laughed. “Let’s get
these boxes in the right rooms,”
he said. Doug spent the next
hour directing the movers,
taking command.
“We are in separate rooms,
aren’t we?” Colin asked to
clarify. They had already agreed
on that arrangement.
“Of course,” Doug said. “Some
traditions are meant to be
followed. My parents waited
until marriage, and so will we.”
Colin rewarded his fiancée
with a peck on the nose. “That’s
why I love you,” he said.
Marriage was something he
could postpone indefinitely,
which took the pressure off in a
physical relationship with
Doug. “Do you want to check out the neighborhood with me? I thought I’d
take a walk.”
121
“Maybe later. I have a lot to do. I still have to call the utilities and get
everything turned on.” Doug cracked his knuckles. “I better get started if we
want the lights on before dark.”
“I’ll leave you to it, honey,” Colin said. He turned and got a look around him.
The yard of 101 Candlewick Court was absolutely immaculate, with grass cut so
freshly, it looked artificial. The hedges were perfectly manicured as if someone
was standing by to trim a stray leaf the instant it appeared. It was, in his
opinion, the best yard in the development, and he was going to make sure it
stayed that way.
Colin headed down the sidewalk, enjoying the gentle mild breeze and the
afternoon sun. Candlewick Court was a curious little complex. A short road
came from the front gate for a few hundred feet, then it split into a loop that
then circled around like a cul-de-sac. Both his new house and another were
across from each other, just beyond the gate, and before the road became a
loop. The other four were arranged circularly around the cul-de-sac. In the
very center of the circular road, on an island, was a small house that had a tall
spire atop it. It looked ornamental to Colin. He could see no sign of windows,
and assumed it was functioning as a storage shed or a utility junction of some
kind.
There was only one other sign of inhabitants, a car parked in the driveway of
105 Candlewick Court. Colin assumed that it was the ‘other’ buyers who had
purchased on the day Doug had. He wanted to go and introduce himself, but
that was a job for Doug. He might be put off if he didn’t get the chance to
introduce himself first, because after all, Doug was the head of the household.
The trees that lined the development were tall and green, firs of some sort
that would remain thick and healthy all year around. They effectively walled off
the outside world from Candlewick court, and you couldn’t even see the tall
brick wall that encircled everyone. Only the distant hills to the north were
visible beyond the trees. Even if it was in the middle of a huge development, it
felt isolated and tranquil. It was hard not to think that this was a place he could
learn to love.
As he walked along, looking at the white picket fences and modest homes
ready for people to move in, Colin couldn’t help but consider the
opportunities. This was going to be a brand new place to settle in, and being
amongst the first to move in, he could set the tone for the neighborhood.
If he kept the yard and the house looking clean and immaculate, the others
would follow. Being neighborly and friendly would be a welcome change from
the insular nature of living in the bad part of the city, and it would give him
some social standing he’d never enjoyed before. If there wasn’t already some
kind of provision for a homeowner’s association, he might be able to start one.
It would be fun to direct the development of these new families and be the
standard to which they would all hold themselves. They would feel safe enough
122
to leave their doors unlocked. To leave their expensive cars unattended. To

leave their important documents out on the table where anyone could take
them.
And once they trusted him, just like Doug, he could rob them blind.
vjv
The words were ringing in his head as he wandered the furniture store,
aimlessly. “The house needs a feminine touch,” Doug had told him. As if he
had any idea what that meant. Colin had as much idea what a feminine touch
was as he could plot the next moon mission.
“Girls, don’t jump on the furniture!” Colin scolded. Aiden and Elliot were
crawling on top of anything that looked bouncy enough to jump on, and
wrangling them was taking up much of his afternoon. “If you can’t control
yourself, I’m going to take you home!”
The two children got off the sofa they were standing on and sullenly looked
down at the floor as they kept quiet. That would probably only last for one or
two minutes before something springy came along.
Colin turned his attention back to the task at hand. His problem with every
piece of furniture he had seen was that it was all so ordinary. Nothing really
jumped out at him and said ‘buy me.’
“Can I help you, Ma’am?” said the fourth salesman in the last ten minutes.
“Just looking, thanks,” Colin replied. He was already plotting his way out of
the showroom, and was about to call for a car.
It was on the way home, feeling utterly defeated, that Colin was about ready
to scream. A whole afternoon wasted trying to find the kind of furniture that he
thought would look good in the new house. Doug was going to be so
disappointed in him. Aiden and Elliot were being good girls and staying quiet,
although an argument about who was going to get to put their bed against the
window in their new bedroom had been raging all day.
“Wait a minute,” Colin said. “Pull over here.” Something by the side of the
road had caught his attention. The rideshare driver sighed, but did as he was
asked. “Right there. By the sign.”
Colin popped out of the car and looked around the front yard and driveway,
marveling at what he was seeing. It was a sale of some sort. Strewn about on
the front lawn of a quaint old victorian was just what he had been looking for. A
small velvet sofa, that was perfect for the living room, unlike those monstrous
leather sofas that ate up the whole room. Tufted high-back occasional chairs. A
large, chunky tanned leather armchair perfect for Douglas. A huge mahogany
dining table with lovely matching chairs. Huge glass-doored old-world wooden
123
cabinets in ornate styles. For every item, Colin already knew where he was
going to put it.
Even better were the bedroom sets. Not just the beds themselves, which were
gorgeous, but the bedspreads and sheet sets laid out on top. The floral patterns
and muted colors were nothing like what he had been looking at in the stores.
These were just perfect for the kind of home Colin wanted to make.
And to top it all off, there were curtains that looked to match the bedspreads.
Everything was coordinated and complete. And there was so much of it!
“Are you going to stand there all day? Because there’s a standing fee.”
Colin turned to see a young woman, at least he thought it was a young woman,
seated at a card table with a small cardboard sign that read “Estate Sale (Please
take it away!)” on top of it.
“Oh, uh... Is this all yours?” Colin asked.
“I guess. My Grandma died. I guess that makes all this crap mine.” She was
lying back on a folding chair, tapping through her phone. She didn’t even
bother to look up. Her head was shaved from the tops of her ears down, leaving
long black hair on top that swept into her eyes. A ring was handing from her
lower lip. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, a huge Army surplus olive green
jacket and converse hi-tops. She was probably no more than 22 or 23 years old.
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Colin said.
124
“What are you gonna do? The bitch was old as fuck.”
“Ah,” Colin replied, unable to follow up on that comment. “And you’re selling
everything off?”
“Before I toss it. Some dude wants the property and is gonna tear the old rat
trap down,” she said, indicating the old house behind her. “Figured I might as
well see if anyone wants to buy this shit.”
“It all looks so... New.”
“Grandma was a neat freak. She kept everything spotless. Didn’t smoke,
neither.”
Colin was almost too nervous to ask, but he had to. “So, how much?”
“For what?”
Colin’s usual laser-focused negotiating skills were nowhere to be found. He
was too excited. “All of it.”
That got the girl’s attention. She even put her phone down. “All?” She looked
over the fifty some pieces of furniture she had set out and quickly came to the
conclusion she had somewhat undervalued them.
Colin picked up a price tag dangling from a dresser. “This one says $5.00”
“Oh... Uh... That’s not a decimal,” the girl said, pressing her luck. “It’s a speck.
$500 for the dresser?”
“I was just thinking it had to be. Five dollars is ridiculous. Too funny. And the
dinner table?” Colin began to go check it out.
“Uh, wait a minute!” The girl finally got up on her feet. She needed to stop
her customer before reading the price tag which said ‘Please haul it away.’
“Um... Tell you what. The whole thing. All for...” She tried to look confident,
but she was just making this up. “Ten thousand.”
“Oh!” Colin smiled. “For all this? That sounds like a bargain! Do you take
credit cards?” He snapped Doug’s card from his purse and presented it.
The girl’s mind was very clearly at odds with itself. On one hand, she now
knew that she could make a ton of cash selling these items one by one on the
internet. On the other hand, she now had an agreement for ten thousand
dollars in cold, hard cash.
She took the card. “I have an app for that.” She said, picking her phone back
up.
Once the transaction was approved on Doug’s credit card, Colin made
arrangements with a moving company to pick everything up and have it sent to
101 Candlewick Court, paying a rush fee to make it happen. Within an hour,
they had arrived and were wrapping everything in bubblewrap.
“So, you really into this whole retro thing, huh?” The girl asked.
125
“Retro?” Colin replied, not following. Despite the fact that he was dressed and
made up reminiscent of a 1950’s housewife and was buying thousands of dollars
of vintage furniture to move into his new vintage-styled house, he just hadn’t
quite put the pieces together. “I think quality is always in style,” he said. “They
just don’t make furniture like this anymore. There’s nothing ‘retro’ about it.”
“Yeah, whatever works for you.” The girl flung her enormous bangs out of her
face for a second before they flopped right back. “Hey, Grandma also ran a
shop. You think you might need any old dresses or anything?”
“Dresses? What kind of shop?”
“She called it Madame La Fifi’s House of Paris Fashion. It’s closed down since
she died. It’s located down by the...”
Colin interrupted out of enthusiasm. “Your Grandmother owned Madame La
Fifi’s House of Paris Fashion? The Madame La Fifi’s House of Paris Fashion?”
When he had gone there, it had been closed up tight. He had almost given up
hope of ever being able to get his hands on those wonderfully classic fashions.
“So... Does that mean you’re interested?” The girl asked.
vjv
“It looks like you ransacked some poor old lady’s house,” Doug said when he
saw the new furniture. “Right down to the doilies on the tables.” He turned
back to Colin who was standing by, pensively. He had just managed to finish
placing everything before Doug got home that evening, beating his arrival by
seconds.
Doug picked up a small vase with some flowers in it and then set it back down.
He walked over to a cabinet that appeared to be an ancient Philco console
radio/phonograph. He paused to consider the hand-stitched art on the wall that
read “Home Sweet Home.”
He approached Colin and put his hands on his shoulders. Keeping his voice
low, he leaned over and whispered, “I love it.”
“I had to have it the moment I saw it,” Colin said, relieved.
“I mean, it’s so perfect. It’s just what I wanted.” Doug kissed Colin on the
forehead. “I knew you would make the right choice.” He bounded over to the
big leather chair that was obviously meant for him and flopped down into it.
“Oh, this chair was built for me.” He settled into it and put his feet up on the
coffee table.
Colin swatted his feet away. “No you don’t.” He moved a small ottoman over
for Doug.
126
“Like I said, a woman’s touch is just what this house needed.” He placed his
feet on the soft cushions. “Now what about the other rooms? When do you do
them? I’m tired of sleeping on an air mattress.”
“I got everything,” Colin explained. “It’s all ready done! Beds and dressers and
tables for you, me, and even the kids.”
“Show me,” Doug said, almost leaping to his feet. He was quite excited.
Upstairs, the “girls” had a quaint bunkbed, which solved the problem of who
got to sleep by the window, and they were currently engaged in a game of
checkers to decide who got the top.
Colin’s small room had a double-sized bed and a modest dresser, and Doug’s
room — the master bedroom — had two beds with thick, soft mattresses set a
few feet apart.
“Twin beds?” Doug asked.
“They came as a set,” Colin replied, with a nonchalant shrug. “I also had to put
my dresses in this closet. The one in my room is too small. I hope you don’t
mind.”
“That’s okay.” Doug opened up a few of the dresser drawers. “These are also
filled with your things.”
“I took half. Men don’t need that much space, do they?”
“I suppose not. The room is gorgeous. I keep thinking Fred Astaire and
Ginger Rogers are going to walk in the door. It looks like a movie set.” Doug
opened a closet door to be greeted by a full shoe tree full of high heels. “Uh,
you’re still sleeping in the other room, right?”
“Of course I am,” Colin replied, “I just need the space. Don’t you get any
ideas.”
Doug put his hands up defensively. “Wouldn’t think of it.”
127
WRENSHAW PRIMARY
CONCLUSION
It was several days before Phillip was awake enough to be aware of his
surroundings. He had been falling in and out of consciousness, sleeping for 18
hours at a time. He, himself, had no concept of time passing.
“Margaret, can you hear me?” Dr. Pinkerton said. His voice, to Phillip was
distant and he was having a hard time hearing for some reason. His eyes felt
like they were sealed shut, but he could just get them open.
“Doctor?” Phillip spoke. His voice was so weak and broken up that he was
afraid he couldn’t be heard. He tried again. “Doctor? Is that you?” He said, just
a touch louder.
“Yes, Margaret. Here, let me put your glasses on for you,” he said, as he fed
the dated cats-eye glasses onto his head.
Phillip could now see that he was in his grandmother’s room, and Dr.
Pinkerton was standing over him. “I feel so strange, doctor...”
“You’ve been worrying folks here, Margaret. Everyone’s asking about you.”
As he regained a little more of his cognizance, Phillip was eager to remind to
doctor of something. “I told you, I’m not Margaret,” he said with his feeble
voice. “I’m Phillip.”
“Now, now, you’re very tired, Margaret...”
“No... No! I’m Phillip!” He wailed. “I’m Phillip!”
Dr. Pinkerton shook his head. “You’re just confused, Margaret. Phillip is your
grandson.”
“Please...” He was desperate, but his energy was so low, and his voice so
fatigued that he wasn’t able to express it as clearly as he wanted to. “You have
to understand. I am Phillip... This was just a disguise!”
“A disguise?” Dr. Pinkerton reacted. “Margaret, you are a 73-year old woman.
You are a mother and a grand-mother. You can’t believe you are your own
17-year old grandson.” He tossed some of the bed covers away and held up
Phillip’s hand so he could see it.
“What?” Phillip muttered. “What happened to my hand?” What he saw was a
bony, thin-skinned hand with brown spots and a deep purple color under the
surface.
“Nothing has happened to your hand. You have to trust me when I say you are
Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw, aged 73.” Dr. Pinkerton put the hand back and
covered Phillip up again. “Don’t fight the truth.”
128
Phillip’s sagging eyes

were shocked open,
looking into the air,
shifting slightly as he
tried to comprehend
what he had just seen.
“I... I am not 73! I am
not my Gramma!” He
said, both to the
doctor and to himself.
“Please, Margaret,
don’t get excited. You
aren’t well enough to
get excited. Please
relax.”
“But there’s some
kind of mistake! I was
just pretending to be
my grandmother! I’m
Phillip!”
The doctor sighed. “Margaret, please calm yourself.”
“Davis! Davis knows! It was his idea! Please, I need to speak to Davis!”
“Davis isn’t here right now.”
“Please! Find him and bring him here. He’ll tell you I’m Phillip!”
“All right, I’ll make you a deal, Margaret, if you...”
“I’m Phillip!”
“Yes, all right. I’ll find Davis and have him come visit. But you have to take
your medicine and do what I tell you, all right?”
“You really will find him?” Phillip asked, his voice getting even weaker by the
second.
“I promise. If Davis says you are Phillip in disguise I’ll believe him. But if he
doesn’t, you need to agree to cooperate and let me help you through therapy,
okay?”
“I’ll do it. Please find my brother and bring him here...” Phillip’s eyes were
closing. Just this short verbal exchange had spent what little energy he had left.
“I’ll do whatever I need to do. Please ask Davis...”
“Yes, Margaret. I will. Now let’s have you take your pills, okay?”
Phillip didn’t want to take the pills, but he figured he could survive one dosage
if it meant he’d soon be out of this mess. “Yes, yes I will.”
129
“Good, good.” Dr. Pinkerton said. “Now open up,” he asked. He fed Phillip
five pills. One to put him to sleep, one to make his kidneys flush out the last
remaining bit of poison, a pain killer so Phillip wouldn’t suffer as the effects of
the poison continued to do damage. Another pill would slow his heartbeat
slightly and slow him down, and a final pill to continue to soften his mind.
vjv
Davis Wrenshaw was practically agog. He had been asked to come to

Dumbarton & Welker, the law firm that he had been fighting for the past three
years. Now, waiting in the conference room of the wealthy high-powered law
firm, he was amazed. The chairs were a thousand dollars each, and there were
14 of them just in this room. The conference table was real mahogany. The
lights above were expensive looking, hanging from the ceiling, lighting the
table dramatically and everything else was white or brushed steel. Just this
room alone, he figured was a half a million dollars.
Davis realized he should have worn a better suit.
“Mr. Wrenshaw?” Said a man who walked into the room. He extended his
hand for a handshake. Davis got up to reciprocate, and as he did, eight more
people in suits streamed into the room like liquid.
“I’m Mr. Wrenshaw, yes.”
“I’m Mr. Welker. I’m glad you could make it on such short notice. Please, have
a seat.”
Davis recognized most of the lawyers in the room, as they were ones he had
argued loudly within court over the past two years. They were silent, though, in
the presence of one of the senior partners of the firm.
“Mr. Wrenshaw, my client has decided to drop all legal proceedings against
you and your grandmother, Margaret Wrenshaw.” Mr. Welker picked up a
piece of paper in front of him to show he was done with his statement.
“Oh!” Davis said with a hopeful smile. “You’ve decided to buy the property,
then?”
“No,” Mr. Welker said. “My clients are quite satisfied with the situation as it
stands.”
Davis was stunned incredulous. “Wait... They could make millions by selling
that land for housing.”
“Actually, Mr. Wrenshaw, my clients have run the numbers, and building the
estimated five multi-dwelling housing units on that property would lose them
money.”
“That’s not right, and you know it! If my grandmother’s school wasn’t there,
you could...”
130
“That’s the point, actually. The existence of your grandmother’s school has
raised the asking price for all our houses. By having a school so nearby to the
property, the values of all the existing houses have been raised cumulatively by
ten million dollars. My client would not make ten million if we tore down your
grandmother’s house and used the land for new houses.”
“W... Whaaat?” Davis said, obviously shaken. “Wait, no. But... So, why did you
call me here?”
“We have a new offer to make you. The school is so valuable to us, and so
valuable to our residents, that we’d like to work out a contract for your
grandmother to provide educational service in her house for ten years. In
exchange, we will contribute to an educational endowment for the school, at
1.15 million dollars a year.”
11.5 million. That was the first thing Davis did — calculate the numbers. That
was over three million more than what he was asking for his grandmother’s
parcel.
“Yes!” Davis said. “We’ll sign!”
“Well, I’m glad you’re so flexible, Mr. Wrenshaw.” Mr. Welker replied with a
smile. “However, I would like to make sure that you understand that your
grandmother is key to this arrangement. Without her teaching, it’s no deal.”
“Oh. Yeah. Okay.” Davis was already scheming it in his head. He needed
Phillip to agree to it. At least for a year or two. He could swap him out for
another person to play the role later on. Whatever. That was all doable, in his
opinion. “Where do I sign?”
“We’ll need your grandmother’s signature.”
“I have her power of attorney. I can do it,” he said, eagerly. “Make the checks
out to me.”
“Even if you do have the power of attorney, my client does want to have her
personal consent of the deal. That’s not negotiable.”
“Oh... Okay... Uh... Should we go now?”
“My understanding is that your grandmother is not in good health. We would
want to wait until she’s recovered from her recent illness. A representative will
be standing by to act as a witness.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah...” Davis said, rubbing his chin. It would be tough, but he
could wait. Surely his brother would be recovered enough by tomorrow? The
day after? The wait, now just ten seconds old, was already killing him.
vjv
131
“Whuh...?” Phillip said as he woke. “Whu...?” His head was so clouded, it was
impossible to form coherent thoughts, but Phillip had a persistent sense of
urgency that was driving him to wake up as quickly and as completely as he
could.
“It’s all right, Margaret,” said the ever-present Dr. Pinkerton. He knew when
the medications would wear off, so he kept himself by Phillip’s bedside for
when that would happen.
“Bwuh... Yuh...” For some reason, Phillip couldn’t speak correctly.
“Here you are, Margaret, your dentures.” The doctor said, presenting a glass
with a set of full dentures immersed inside.
Phillip was alarmed and bewildered, seeing the floating teeth. He felt around
his mouth with his tongue, and all he could feel were his gums. His teeth were
gone. Every one of them.
A sense of panic started to take him, and he wanted to get up and feel his
mouth with his hands, but he was still so groggy and tired.
“Open,” the doctor said, as he held out the top denture plate for Phillip. Not
knowing what else to do, Phillip opened up and the doctor placed it inside. He
did the same for the lower plate.
His grandmother’s distinctive teeth, a little large and a little yellow, were now
in his mouth, and Phillip could finally try and speak.
“What... What is going on?” He said. “What happened to my teeth?”
It had been three days since Phillip had last been awake, and in the
intervening time, Dr. Pinkerton had a dentist, of sorts, visit and extract Phillip’s
teeth. He then took a mold and made a set of dentures for Phillip that used the
teeth from his grandmother’s old dentures.
“Your teeth are fine. Nothing’s changed. Your dentures have been resting just
as comfortably as you have, Margaret.”
“What?” Phillip said.
“Your teeth are fine,” the doctor repeated.
“What?” Phillip said again. “What did you say?”
“Hold on,” the doctor answered. He then stuck something in Phillip’s ear and
flipped a switch. “Can you hear me clearer now, Margaret?”
“Y... Yes?” Phillip replied. “What...?”
“I keep forgetting about your hearing aid. Did I get it in there okay?”
“I don’t... This isn’t...” That sense of panic was now ten-fold, as Phillip couldn’t
fathom what had happened to him. Dentures, hearing aids? He had never used
them. His grandmother had. These were her things, not his.
132
Unless, he really was Margaret Wrenshaw. Phillip had to think the

unthinkable. He knew — he absolutely knew as fact — that he was Phillip
Wrenshaw. But how could he explain this? How could anything explain this?
He lifted up his hands to see them.
“Here you are,” the doctor said, slipping his grandmother’s glasses over his
eyes. When his eyes adjusted, he saw a terrible sight. His hands were even
more wrinkled and withered than the last time he had seen them. They had
more spots, were trembling, and the skin looked almost transparent. They were
the hands of a seventy year old woman.
That made him think of something even more horrifying. If these were his
hands, what about the rest of him? He reached to feel his face, and flinched. It
felt just as wrinkly and saggy as the skin on his hands.
“Let me get you seated upright,” Dr. Pinkerton said. He quickly fluffed some
pillows and gently pulled Phillip up so he was now upright for the first time in
weeks. “Would you like a mirror?” He asked Phillip, as he handed him an
antique hand mirror.
His hand wobbled, and he couldn’t get it to hold still, but Phillip caught little
glances as he tried to steady the reflection, and they shot darts of terror
through him.
Finally he got it still and could see his face in full.
He had bags under his eyes that drooped down to his cheeks. There were
deep furrows in his face at the sides of his nose and mouth. His forehead was
creased like dried out leather and his lips and chin were just all folds and
grooves. Two large waggles of skin hung from his chin to his chest.
“Gramma...” Phillip said, knowing just who he was seeing in the mirror. The
family traits became exaggerated with the simulated effects of aging, and now
he had her face.
Not wearing his grandmother’s wig, Phillip could see that his hair was grey and
thin, showing much of his scalp, which was also dotted with brown spots.
Dr. Pinkerton’s poison had done such damage to Phillip’s skin that from head
to toe, he was wrinkled with sagging skin. Some of his hair had fallen out due to
the radioactive nature of the toxin, and what was left was thin and colorless.
The doctor had bleached and colored what remained a silver grey.
When Phillip’s mouth hung open from shock, he could see his grandmother’s
familiar yellowed teeth where his used to be. The face in the mirror was not
exactly like his grandmother’s, but the resemblance was uncanny. It might as
well have been Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw seated in bed.
“I don’t understand... This isn’t possible...” Phillip said, his voice gaining a
little bit of strength. He felt more awake than he had been in a long time.
Unfortunately, it only helped make him more terror-stricken.
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Could it be true? Could he really be Margaret Wrenshaw? He could only

consider what he saw with his own, slowly-focusing eyes. How could it be?
“Do you feel well enough for visitors? Your grandson, Davis has been very
eager to talk to you for a few days, now.”
“Little Davy?” Phillip replied. “Oh yes... Davis! He can help. He can tell you
the truth!”
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“All right then, let me help you put your wig on, so you look presentable. Do
you want to do your makeup?”
“No, I need to talk to Davis! You need to talk to Davis!”
“I’ll let him know,” the doctor said. He handed Phillip the wig and then left
the room.
“Finally,” Phillip wheezed to himself as he pinned the familiar wig into place.
“Davy will clear all this up for his Gramma. He’s such a good boy.”
vjv
“I just need to talk to her, before the lawyer gets here, okay? Let me through!”
Davis said, trying to get past Dr. Pinkerton. He had been told that his
“grandmother” was awake just about an hour ago, and called in the lawyer from
Dumbarton & Welker to observe and witness the new agreement.
However, he really needed to talk to Phillip beforehand, so he could explain
why it was so important to agree to the terms of the new deal. Davis also
needed to make sure Phillip didn’t hear about the part where he might need to
stay on as the school headmistress for a year or two, or ten.
But he wasn’t getting past Dr. Pinkerton. “Give your grandmother a moment!
She’s been unconscious for nearly ten days.”
“I just...” Davis tried to wedge his way in, and the doctor pushed him away. “It
will only take...” He was pushed away again.
Davis finally just turned around and left, but not before faking the doctor out
and zooming back to the door. He was blocked once more. “Okay!” He put up
his hands. “I’ll wait. I’ll wait!”
He backed away, still hoping for a drop in the doctor’s defenses. It didn’t
come.
Davis spent the next ten minutes stewing down on the ground floor, hoping
that his brother would just go with it, and follow his lead. Phillip could be an
idiot, he told himself, but most of the time, he was quick enough to figure
things out. He could only pray he’d do it this time. The doorbell rang, and
Davis knew it was the lawyer from Dumbarton & Welker. He sighed. There
was no other option, now.
“Margaret?” Dr. Pinkerton poked his head into the bedroom. “Are you ready
to see your grandson? There’s also a lawyer coming with him.”
“Yes, yes,” Phillip said, sitting up straight in bed. He glanced once again at his
hands, and shivered. He had begun to convince himself this was just an illness.
An illness he could recover from. He’d be healthy agin, he’d be his regular self
again — but step one was getting Davis to help him.
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“Come on in,” Dr. Pinkerton said, opening the door wide for Davis. “Just her
grandson first, then you can come in, sir,” he said to the lawyer.
“Certainly,” the lawyer replied.
Davis took two fast steps inside, wanting to quickly cover the basics with
Phillip, but then locked up stiff, primally terrified at what he saw. The person
in the bed was a dead ringer for his grandmother.
“W... W... Where’s Phillip?” He stuttered.
“Oh, Davy, it’s me, Phillip! Your brother!” Phillip said in a warbling, weak
voice.
“Phillip?” Davis asked again.
“Please tell Dr. Pinkerton, Davy, please tell them I’m not an old woman, I’m
your brother!” Phillip was getting concerned. “Something horrible has
happened! Please, Davy! Tell them this is all a disguise. Please tell them!”
Davis was slowly drifting back for a few steps, but then stopped himself.
Silently, he advanced forward, and crouched down, getting on eye level with his
brother.
The funny thing was, this old, wrinkled person who looked so much like his
dead grandmother had the same scar on the tip of his nose that Phillip had, the
same bulging vein at the side of their forehead. Could it be? No. That was
simply out of the question. Yet, it was Phillip, but at the same time, it couldn’t
be Phillip. It was insane.
“What have you done...” He said, looking at Dr. Pinkerton, immediately
suspecting him of something. After all, for days, he had been the only one to
see Phillip.
“Your grandmother,” Dr. Pinkerton said, “wants you to confirm that she is, in
fact, not your grandmother, but your brother Phillip in disguise.”
“Yes, you can clear all of this kerfuffle up, dearie. Please tell the doctor.”
“Just a moment,” the doctor said. “You can come in now,” he told the lawyer.
“Mrs. Wrenshaw, I’m Corey Henderson,” Said the lawyer. He took the
initiative, walking briskly to Phillip and shook his withered hand. “I do hope
you’re feeling better. I’m with Dumbarton & Welker. I’m here to act as a
witness. Your grandson will explain everything.”
“Witness?” Phillip asked, adjusting his glasses and looking around, trying to
figure things out.
“Yes, so, Davis, why don’t you say what you have to say?” The doctor said.
The pit in Davis’ stomach was a black hole of anguish. He knew that millions
of dollars and the last three years of his life were on the line, but... This was his
brother. It was his baby brother. He swallowed hard. This was going to be
tough. But he knew what he had to do. He had to own up. Finally, he had to
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own up.
“Now, of course, if you did say that this was your brother, I can’t imagine what
kind of questions might come of that,” Dr. Pinkerton said with a chuckle.
“Could you imagine? Certainly, there would be one hell of a story. We’d all
have to figure out what the truth was, and to use a phrase, find out where the
bodies are buried... So to speak.” He was looking directly in Davis’ eyes.
Davis’ blood ran cold with the ferocity of a polar ice storm. This doctor knew.
He knew the story. How? The young man’s legs were turning to jelly. The room
was spinning. Jail. That’s what his future held, now. Life, gone.
With a screaming fear controlling every thought in his mind, he felt like he
couldn’t breathe. His heart wasn’t beating. His body ran cold.
“This is my grandmother,” Davis said. “She’s just kidding around. She’s a
kidder.”
“Davis!” Phillip wailed.
“I’m sorry Gramma, but a joke is a joke. We all had a good laugh.” Davis
turned around and left the room as quickly as possible. “It’s all just a joke,” he
said. “A joke.” He felt sicker than he ever had in his life, but he had to get out
of here. He stampeded down the stairs and out of the house, and jumped in his
car. All he could do was to drive. Drive, drive, and drive some more.
“So, I think we’ll need to reschedule this,” the lawyer said, back in the
bedroom. “I’ll be in touch, Mrs. Wrenshaw.”
“No!” Phillip howled. “No! I’m Phillip Wrenshaw!”
“We’ll call,” Dr. Pinkerton said. “She’ll feel better in a few days.”
“Yes, of course,” The lawyer said, and was quickly exiting the room.
“No, no, no...” Phillip said, looking down at his hands. “I’m not an old woman!
I’m a boy! I’m a young man!”
Dr. Pinkerton pulled up a chair next to the bed. “Now, now, Margaret. You
remember we had a deal.” He eased his way into the chair.
“You have to believe me, doctor! You must believe me.”
“Margaret, I expect you to live up to our bargain. You promised that if Davis
didn’t back up your delusion, you would be a cooperative patient.”
“I... It just can’t be true...” Phillip said, clutching the neck of the nightgown.
The doctor placed the small music player he was always playing for Phillip on
the bedside table, and turned it on. Immediately, Phillip felt the confusion and
anguish starting to dissipate as he listened to the music.
“You promised, Margaret.”
“I... Promised...” Phillip replied, looking forlorn and broken.
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“I want you to repeat after me. My name is Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw. I

am a woman, a mother and a grandmother.”
“My... My name...” Phillip paused as he tried to find any good reason to fight
it. There were none. “My name is Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw. I am a
woman, a mother and a grandmother.”
“Again,” the doctor requested.
“My name is Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw. I am a woman, a mother and a
grandmother.”
“And again.”
grandmother.”
“And again.”
grandmother.”
The first of Margaret Wrenshaw’s large photo albums was placed on Phillip’s
lap. “Now I wanted to hear about your photos again, Margaret. I love your
stories.”
“No... No...” Phillip said to himself. His head was bobbing back and forth in
disbelief. But then he saw the photos in his lap. “What...?”
“Tell me about this one, Margaret.” The doctor said, pointing to the first aged,
black and white photo. “Who’s this little lambie pie?”
“The... Photo...” Phillip’s attention shifted to the book. He used his aged,
gaunt finger to tap on the photo. “Oh, yes, this is me... Just a month... After I
was born.”
“You were adorable.”
“My father always said I was... The cutest baby born in the county that year,”
recalled Phillip from what was now, a clear to him as his own memory. “And
this photo is of my friends, Matilda, Ellie and Penelope...”
vjv
“Please, doctor I feel silly saying it,”

Dr. Pinkerton smiled. “Just one more time. For me.”
“Very well. My name is Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw. I am a woman, a
mother and a grandmother.” Margaret added a cackling little laugh in her
elderly voice.
139
The doctor appeared to be very pleased. “Well, I think we can call your
rehabilitation a complete success, Margaret.” It had been three months in the
doctor’s care, three very productive months for her.
“I couldn’t have done it without you, Francis,” the old woman said. “I’m
eternally grateful to you.”
“You did most of the hard work. You deserve all the credit,” the magnanimous
doctor said.
“Shush, I won’t hear of it. To think I could have spent the last few years of my
life committed to a rubber room somewhere as I raved on about my... Peculiar
delusion. You have saved my life, Doctor Francis Pinkerton, and you will
always be welcome at my school.” Margaret carefully stood up, dressed in her
usual school headmistress outfit of a high-collared blouse and cameo, maroon
blazer, a black ankle-length skirt and black granny boots. “Tea?” She asked as
she poured herself a cup.
“Thank you, of course,” Dr. Pinkerton said, standing to join his stately patient.
“I finally feel like my old self again,” Margaret said as she prepared the
doctor’s cup. “It feels like an eternity since I’ve been able to look in the mirror
and finally recognize the face looking back.”
Margaret, now fully a woman thanks to Dr. Pinkerton’s efforts and some
clandestine surgery, was the woman she was always meant to be. She turned
again to see her reflection in a mirror. She had earned this weathered face. It
was now a virtual duplicate of the original Margaret Wrenshaw, thanks to a few
nip-and-tuck procedures. Friends and family had already met her with no
hesitation to accept her as the old woman they had known for years. She truly
had become the elderly woman she saw in the mirror, and was proud of it. She
prayed her thankfulness to the heavens every night that she was graced with
the distinct pleasure of being Headmistress Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw.
How could she have ever denied herself such delights?
“How is your tea, doctor?” She asked Dr. Pinkerton.
The doctor smiled back, completely at ease. “Perfect, Margaret. Have you
heard from Phillip lately?”
“Who?” Margaret replied. “Oh, my grandson. No, the poor dear seems to have
run off to seek his fortune. No one has heard from him in a while.”
“I see,” the doctor said, taking a slow sip of his teas, savoring the moment.
vjv
“And finally, Madeline will play will play Ludwig Von Beethoven’s Ode to Joy,”
said Mrs. Hollingsford to the small crowd before her.
140
They clapped
appreciatively, and
Madeline, in a
black velvet top, a
pink satin sash,
gauzy white skirt,
white tights and
black flats
curtseyed and
picked up the
flute.
Mrs. Hollingsford
accompanied on a
small piano
keyboard as the
child played. The
months of practice
had paid off, as
Madeline was
note-for-note
perfect.
The crowd had
also been treated
to a French poetry
recitation, a short
ballet exhibition
and gallery
showcase of
watercolors, all
from The Margaret
Wrenshaw Primary
School’s star and
lone pupil, nine
year old Madeline
O’Malley.
As the flute piece
came to an end,
little Madeline
curtseyed. Mrs.
Wrenshaw herself
was the first to
stand and loudly
applaud the
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performance. She still felt a little fragile, but Margaret Wrenshaw had made a
full recovery from her illness and was now back in control of her school.
She walked to the front of the room, applauded her guests and then addressed
them. “Once again, thank you for coming. As Headmistress of the Wrenshaw
Primary School, I thank you for being here today. The Wrenshaw Primary
School is my passion and as you can see, we’re bringing a traditional,
disciplined approach back to education, and we are very proud of the results,”
Margaret said, looking down at Madeline, who was standing nervously by her
side. “Such a delightful recital. I hope to see you here again next term. Once
again, if you have any questions at all, please ask. My name is Margaret
Wrenshaw. That concludes our Fall recital.”
The crowd then responded by clapping once again as Margaret basked in the
adulation. Madeline’s mother, Heather O’Malley stood and joined in. Margaret
approached her and gave her a polite womanly grasp of both hands and a
two-cheeked kiss. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it for myself,” Mrs.
O’Malley said to Mrs. Wrenshaw.
“Your child has come a long way,” The elderly woman said with a smile. “It
just shows what a little discipline can do.”
The gathered crowd was very small. Dr. Pinkerton, a guest of his named Tom,
and another named Quentin were there to watch. Mrs Hollingsford and
Madam LeFontaine had come with three of their students. Five parents of
prospective new students rounded out the crowd.
As they all stood and began to mill about, Heather O’Malley faced the
Headmistress. “I... I’m sorry I was so angry with you, Mrs. Wrenshaw.”
“It’s perfectly understandable. Here, let us get some refreshments,” Margaret
said, as she led her guest to the back. “If it was me, and I had been told my son
was wearing dresses and being treated like a girl, I would have been
understandably incensed.”
“Now that I see it, though... I never would have thought that this was inside of
him. He seems like an entirely different person. I barely even recognize my
own son.”
“People can learn to change,” Margaret said as she poured herself some tea.
“Even little rascals like your son.”
“I don’t know what my husband will say, but I whole-heartedly approve of
whatever methods you’ve used to turn my delinquent son into such a refined
and cultured young lady,” Heather said, as she watched Madeline clean up the
performance area and put things away. She was amazed at the difference.
“She’s so lovely.”
“My suggestion, if I may say so, is to not let up. Madeline has learned to
become the sweet young girl she is now, but allowing your child to regress
would be...”
142
“Oh no,” Heather said. “I would

never allow it. First thing I’m doing
when I get home is donating all of
Maddox’s things, clothes and all, to
charity. No, Madeline is my child
now. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t
have a son.”
“Very good,” Margaret said smiling
with just a hint of her yellow teeth
showing. “You’ve made the right
decision. Besides, I don’t think you
could get the poor dear out of
dresses and skirts if you tried to rip
them off her. She’s become quite
prissy, really.”
Of course, the reason for that was
the constant drilling on appearance
and heavy demerit system for the
slightest deviation from being a
perfect, pretty girl. Madeline was
constantly being monitored and
evaluated, so even a hair out of place
would result in dire consequences.
Madeline was justifiably obsessive
about her appearance.
“Madeline,” Heather called to her
child. “Come here.”
Madeline stopped tidying and
dutifully walked to her mother,
stepping lightly and gracefully as she
had been schooled to do. “Yes,
Mother?” She said in a soft, slightly
lisping voice.
“I want you to know that I’ve never
been more proud of you. I love your
dress, too. Did you pick it out?”
“Yes, Mommy,” Madeline said,
looking down at her shoes. “Do you
think it’s pretty?”
“Yes, it’s very pretty, Madeline.”
“Can we go home now?” Madeline
143
asked.
Margaret flinched when she heard those words. She had thought she had rid
the boy of every last bit of his impertinence, but there it was. His last escape
attempt had been over five weeks ago, and she had hoped that was the last
speck of dissent.
“Well, I don’t think we can do that, honey,” Heather said.
“Whyyyy noooot?” Madeline whined.
“Madeline!” Mrs. Wrenshaw snapped. “Tone!”
“Because, sweetie,” Heather continued, “Your Daddy still has to understand
about all this. I need to talk to him and make sure he’s willing to accept you as
his daughter.”
“But I wanna go home with you.”
“Madeline, you’re going to have to stay.”
“Oh, child,” Mrs. Wrenshaw said. “Don’t fret. I’m expanding the school next
term, and we’ll have so many little playmates for you. There will be so many
girls your age to make friends with. Just think, you can play hopscotch and
jump rope with them, bake cakes, do each other’s hair... Oh, and horseback
riding. We’re adding that next term, too. All the things lovely little girls like you
love to do.”
Madeline just kept looking at the ground.
“You’ll have a wonderful time,” Heather told her child. “I wish I could have
gone to a school like this when I was a girl your age. It’s a girl’s dream school.”
Madeline knew that to be true. The problem was, she wasn’t a girl, never
wanted to be a girl, hated being a girl, and she had been hoping desperately
that his mother would come save him. It was his final hope — but it wasn’t
going to happen.
Heather pulled some of the now chin-length hair aside to reveal her
daughter’s beautiful, girlish face. “Now I want you to thank Mrs Wrenshaw, all
right? Thank the nice Mrs. Wrenshaw for helping you discover the sweet little
girl inside you.”
Madeline paused, but she knew better than to make Mrs. Wrenshaw look bad
in public. He turned and looked up at the old woman and put on a fake but
enthusiastic smile, something that was increasingly easy for the child to do.
“Thank you, Mrs. Wrenshaw,” he said. “Thank you for helping me become a
girl.”
“It was my pleasure,” Margaret replied, with deep and profound satisfaction.
vjv
144
Later that evening, as the recital had been over and the room cleaned up,
Margaret Wrenshaw walked to a mirror and checked herself. She adjusted the
cameo on the neck of her blouse, straightened her maroon blazer and put her
cats-eyes glasses on to verify her appearance.
The glasses were absolutely necessary now, as two months of wearing them
had changed her vision. She could still see a little bit without the glasses, but
she needed them for reading and to recognize the faces of people.
On the desk in front of her, she opened up the top drawer and retrieved her
riding crop from where she had stowed it while they had guests. She loved the
way it felt in her hands and the sense of authority it gave her. She and her crop
were going to enjoy a long partnership together.
She felt a unique sensation of pleasure whenever she thought about discipline.
The crack of leather gave her hot flashes. The breaking of a renegade child’s
spirit sent tingles up and down her spine. She was a woman who got her thrills
this way, and she wanted more.
This was her dream come true. She was the headmistress in charge, and she
liked to be in charge. She craved the power. It fulfilled her like no other feeling
in her life.
Soon, there would be a house full of young children for her to enrich, and so
many youngsters who would rebel. So much discipline to administer.
It was hard to explain, but Margaret felt invigorated, back in control of her
school. Being a headmistress was a revelation to her. To think that she had lived
so long before discovering what she was born to do. Still, as Margaret reminded
herself, there was no time to waste fretting about the past. She was focused on
the present.
The doorbell rang. Margaret straightened her blazer and looked at her
reflection one more time. When she was satisfied that the looked intimidating
and stern enough, she walked to the front door and opened it just as the bell
was being rung a second time.
“Mrs. Wrenshaw? Mrs. Margaret Wrenshaw?” Said the police officer who had
rung the bell.
She stood with her back proudly straight. “Yes, that’s me, I’m Margaret
Wrenshaw. This is the Wrenshaw School.”
“This man claims to be your grandson,” said a second officer, who was holding
a handcuffed, disheveled, Davis Wrenshaw by the neck.
“Davy!” Margaret said in carefully measured elation. It was hard to say exactly
what of Phillip remained inside Margaret Wrenshaw, but there was just enough
to know that she had wanted to get her hands on Davis. Around his neck, to be
specific. “You’ve returned to your loving grandmother!”
145
146
“We’ll release him into your custody, Ma’am. He was found trespassing
without an ID.”
“Thank you, officers.” She turned to Davis and ran her wrinkled fingers across
the unshaved cheek of the young man she used to call a brother. “I’ve missed
you, Davy.” She smiled, showing her aged, yellow dentures. “I have plans for
you.”
147
IN THE FAMILY WAY
at MADAME LA FIFI’S
Colin was up early in the morning to start his makeup and hair. He dressed
and made breakfast for Doug and the girls before sending his fiancé off to
work. He had an appointment that morning and was barely able to contain
himself.
The rideshare car dropped him, Elliot and Aiden off at the dusty, neglected
location of Madame La Fifi’s House of Paris Fashion almost a half hour before
the agreed-upon time.
“Hey,” said the girl from the yard sale as she pulled up in her beat up Geo
Metro. She wrenched the parking brake to get the car to stop. “At least you’re
not flaking out on me. Unlike my boyfriend.”
She got out and headed to the door of the dark shop, fiddling with an
enormous key ring chained to her pants. “Oh, I’m so sorry,” Colin said.
“Not your problem. He’s just a fucking baby. Better off without him.” She
turned her head slightly to see that her customer was actually bouncing
excitedly, like a little kid. The little kids standing to the side were comparatively
well-behaved.
As the girl tried key after key, failing each time, it created a silence that Colin
needed to fill. “I never did get your name.”
That elicited a contemplative pause, as the girl was figuring out if that was
information she really wanted to give up. “Wildwind,” she said. “My parents are
crazy hippies. But everyone calls me Wendy.” She tried and failed with another
key. “You?”
“Dorothy Farmer. My friends call me Dottie.” Colin twitched. Where had that
come from? He wasn’t sure, it just leapt into his consciousness. The name
‘Dottie’ was unbearably outdated. He was far too anxious about the dresses to
get caught up in it, though.
Finally, the door unlocked, and Wendy pushed the old glass and metal door
aside and flicked on the lights. The interior of the store was ancient. It
appeared to have not have been touched in decades. It looked like some
post-apocalyptic vision you might see in a video game, with decades of neglect,
leaving dust and decay, left as it was from a forgotten time.
“It’s scary,” Elliot said down at Colin’s side. He hugged Colin’s leg.
148
“It’s okay, sweetie. It’s just old.” He patted him on the head. He turned to
Wendy. “Could you look after my girls?” He asked.
“No,” Wendy replied. She sat up on a stool behind the check-out counter,
where an old push-button cash register was resting. She had already started to
fiddle with her phone, ignoring the outside world.
“Oh,” Colin said. “Abigail, look after Emily and try to keep quiet, okay?”
“Okay, Miss Farmer,” Abigail said, and they wandered off.
Finally, Colin was able to drink it all in. Row after row, display after display of
everything he had been searching so hard for. All the late night web searches.
All the pavement-pounding trips to obscure, tiny stores. It was all here.
Leather handbags. Purses. Scarves. Wraps. Blouses. Sweaters. Nightgowns.
Camisoles. Negligees. Lounging robes. Stockings. Hats. Hosiery. Fur coats.
Stoles. Belts. Shapers. Housecoats. Panties. Girdles. Coats. Swimsuits. Bras.
Garters. Shoes. And more dresses than poor Colin could even dream of. It was
all vintage and all beautiful. He was almost dizzy.
A lot of it was in usable condition, too. Even if it looked like the clothes had
been left here since the fifties, they hadn’t been damaged. Importantly, they
were very wearable.
“Do you have changing rooms?” Colin said, approaching Wendy with a
comically tall pile of clothes to try on.
“Probably,” she replied.
He looked around and saw a slightly obscured sign indicating a ‘ladies
changing room’ off to the side. “I’m going to try these on,” he said to Wendy as
he scurried past.
“Thanks for the update,” Wendy replied, dryly.
Maybe Colin needed to ask himself some questions at this point. Here he was,
telling himself that he was merely trying to perfect a disguise, as he stripped
himself down to his female underthings. He carefully removed his bra, and
placed it aside, and selected the first of several bras he wanted to try on. To
anyone looking on, they would have recognized that this was far more than just
a disguise now.
The bras were for support of his now substantial b-cup breasts — breasts he
carefully arranged into place with ease and practice as if he had always had
them. It was if he had a disconnection somewhere in his mind, unable to really
understand what was happening to him. His new feminine form that his body
had been slowly reshaping itself into had gone unnoticed.
Even as he was reading that the dress he was trying on was a size 4, Colin
wasn’t associating the small size of the garment with his own slender waist and
skinny body. When he looked at himself in the mirror, he didn’t see that he had
149
become a svelte, attractive woman. “Douglas will love me in this,” was all he
could think of.
Colin was feeding filmy silk stockings up his legs and fastening then to garter
clips built into his high-waist satin girdle. Petticoats were needed on every
outfit he tried, as they all had full skirts. Wether it was a dress or a blouse and
skirt, Colin savored the moments he spent putting on such gorgeous clothes.
Not many girls got the chance to wear items like these anymore, and he was
taking enough pleasure in the process to enjoy it for all of them, collectively.
After hours of trying on dozens upon dozens of items, Colin was still just as
excited as he was when he began. “I just want to buy everything!” He gushed as
he dropped his pile at the checkout counter.
Wendy was still staring into her phone. “Yeah, well, buy whatever you can
carry, ‘cuz this place gets torn down in a week.”
“No!” Colin wailed. “You can’t let that happen!”
“I’m meeting with the developer in a few minutes, actually. He’s coming by to
drop off the papers I need to sign.” Wendy made a ‘pop’ sound with her lips.
“Then it’s all gone.”
“But you just can’t let that happen!” Colin protested. “This place is just what
the community needs!”
“In 1953, maybe.” Wendy used her thumb to point to a room to the left of her.
“See that room? Where your girls are dressing up that mannequin like a drag
queen?”
“Girls! Don’t be a nuisance!” Colin scolded.
“Anyway,” Wendy continued, “that room is where husbands used to sit and
ogle young teenage girls modeling dresses. The men select dresses, some
young teenage girls come out and model them on a little runway, putting on
mini fashion shows for men, and then they’d buy what they liked for their
wives. These poor young ladies would come out, flirt with the married men, sit
on their laps and practically whore themselves out to get them to buy some
crap-ass dress for a measly little commission. Thank God that’s being blown up.
Knocking down this shop will be like taking a little bite out of the patriarchy.”
Colin hadn’t caught that last part. He was daydreaming, a little tingly as he
imagined Douglas buying him dresses that he wanted to see Dorothy in. “But
what about the salon?” Colin gestured to the unused two-station salon that was
in the back. “I know just the hairdresser who’d love to work here! And look at
these labels,” Colin turned out the back of one of the coats he wanted to buy. It
had a label for ‘Madame Fifi’s House of Paris Fashions’ on it. “They used to
make these clothes here! I was told you did alterations, too! This shop is a
treasure, you can’t close it down!”
150
“Can and will,” Wendy said. “You think I want to waste my life trying to sell
these ancient clothes? Fuck that! I got an offer for two hundred grand for the
property and I’m taking it. You’ll be the last customer of this hell hole.”
“Please reconsider.”
“Listen, let me tell you something. This place is a sham. Always was. There
never was a ‘Madame Fifi’ and these clothes had nothing to do with Paris. My
Grandmother’s name was Gladys and she was from Passaic, New Jersey. She
just made it all up.”
“Now you’re just being cruel,” Colin replied. “I’m sure you could just hire
someone to...”
Wendy was testy. “I have nothing. I’m broke. Even that ten grand you paid me
yesterday was to pay off my student loans from nursing school. And do I look
like the kind of person who’s gonna work some dumb retail job? Nah, I got a
life. Besides, this place died years ago, and I’m just pulling the plug.”
Resigned to the inevitable, Colin put all the things he thought he could carry
on the counter and paid for them. The register didn’t even work, and Wendy
handled the transaction through her beloved phone. Colin knew she was just
making up the prices, but he really wanted the clothes more than he wanted to
argue.
Colin called for a car and he and the kids were on their way, with every inch of
the car stuffed with feminine garments. He still hadn’t managed to get but a
small percentage of what that wonderful store had to offer.
Back inside the store, Wendy was stuffing some old, dusty office supplies in
her pockets when the bell on the door rang. “We’re closed!” She barked.
“Oh yes, I know.” The man that entered into the shop was unassuming
enough, in casual clothes and a slightly unshaven face. “I’m not here for that.
Are you Wendy?”
“Yes...” Wendy said, skeptical of anyone who knew her name. But then she
figured it out. “Oh! You’re the developer dude, right?”
“That’s me. I hope I’m not late.” He approached the counter and leaned
against it. “Nice place,” he said as he looked around. “Unique. Charming.”
“I guess. But it’s not going to be around for long, isn’t that right? Do you have
the papers?”
“I really hadn’t seen it from the inside before. It’s like a time capsule.” He
turned his attention to Wendy. “You know, I couldn’t help but notice that your
previous customer there looked quite delighted. I think she’s from one of my
properties.”
“She was crazy for this stuff. Begged me to keep the store open. Too bad,
right?”
151
“Huh,” the developer said. “You know, this might be the perfect solution. I
think I know a lot of people who’d want to shop here. Or at least, they soon
will.”
“Well, sucks to be them,” Wendy said. “Say, haven’t I seen you somewhere
before?”
The developer smirked. He was about to blow this girl’s mind. “Probably. I’m
Craig Luger.”
Wendy had to think hard on that answer. She had heard that name, but
couldn’t quite place it. Then it came to her. “Oh my fucking God! You are!
You’re the Craig Luger the government is always after!” She grabbed her
phone. “Can we take a selfie? My friends will never believe me!”
“Not right now.” He pulled a small straw out of his pocket, blew on it and sent
a drugged dart right into Wendy’s jugular vein. She dropped to the ground like
a sack of wet laundry. “Sleep tight, Wendy. I think you can be of great help to
me... and to the ladies of Candlewick Court.”
152
In the third book in the Candlewick Series, we conclude the

story of our con-men brothers, Colin and Elliot. What could be
causing their mysterious transformation, and will the boys be
able to fulfill their criminal scheme and move on to their next
victim?
The Greysons have moved in, but an unexpected twist in Adam
Greyson’s professional life turns everything upside-down.
When he faces a decision on his future, the powers behind
Candlewick Court want to make sure he makes the right choice.
A young businessman named Pierce will find that placing the
needs of his most important customer above all else has
consequences beyond what could have ever anticipated.
Consequences that will find him moving into Candlewick
Court.
Plus, two rival actors are on a collision course with domestic
bliss as they both pursue the same fate. Their jealousy drives
them to become fifties TV housewives, but only one of them can
win — and marry the man who’s set them against each other.
Get The Brides of Candlewick wherever Sick Puppy Press

books are sold!
153
Titles by Sick Puppy Press One Year in Tokyo
By James J Craft, illustrations by Kwon Lee Tran.
Mickey is forced to spend a year with his father in
Japan. However things often get confused when
words get translated from English to Japanese,
Sick Puppy Comics as Mickey soon finds out... Book / 87 pages / 20
Making Friends illustrations
Story & Art by Joe Six-Pack. Three college Students, Exchanged
students sign up for a six-month isolation “French Dupe” by Joe Six-Pack. Kelley Sue’s
experiment. Things start to get a a little strange, convinced a French exchange student to
and they begin to lose their masculinity day by disguise himself as a girl. What happens when
day. Yet, they don’t seem to even notice... Full she realizes he has no intention of returning back
Color Comic Book / 38 pages home? Book / 57 pages / 15 illustrations
The Pet Sitter He’s a Valley Girl, Fer Sure
Story & Art by Joe Six-Pack. Asked to look after a From the files of TGStories.com: “Corey Taylor’s
supermodel’s pet for a while, James finds himself Big Bodacious Adventure” by Joe Six-Pack. For
thrust out of his own apartment and into hers. Corey, the only way he can get into college is to
Day by day, it seems like circumstances adapt pretend to be a girl. But when does it stop being
James to become the resident of a supermodel’s pretend? When he’s cheerleader? A girlfriend? A
lifestyle. Full Color Comic Book / 29 pages beauty queen? Book / 78 pages / 17 illustrations
A Curious Curse From Boys to Bridesmaids
Story & Art by Joe Six-Pack. When teen goth “Always a Bridesmaid, Never a Groom” by
Brandyn gets his drivers’ license, he thinks it’s a James J Craft. Two spoiled and privileged boys
ticket to adulthood. Unfortunately, he’s already are about to be put in their place by their new
cashed a ticket in the opposite direction. Full step-mother. And their place is by her side as her
Color Comic Book / 27 pages bridesmaids and daughters. Book / 77 Pages /
Boys Will Be Girls 16 illustrations
Story & Art by Fraylim, Script by KK, Ink & Color Little Mis-ter Popular
by Joe Six-Pack. The “Summer Blossom” camp “My Two Moms” by James J Craft, illustrations by
welcomes anew group of young men. But rocketxpert. Thanks to his aunt’s “Confidence
although it may be an all-boys camp when they Club,” Leon will find a way to become popular,
arrive, it’s girls-only when they leave. Full Color and to get over all his hang-ups... Including his
Comic Book / 100 pages masculinity. Book / 77 Pages / 17 illustrations
Teens Transformed Bride to Be
She Made Me Into My Sister By Joe Six-Pack. Derek and Cole grew up
“A Little Too Clever” by Joe Six-Pack. Wyatt together as kids. One year, though, Cole has to
wanted to help his girlfriend get revenge, but at start pitching in at the family wedding business.
what cost? As it turns out, a cost greater than His life will never be the same. Book / 63 pages /
any boy could have imagined. Book / 88 pages / 25 illustrations
20 illustrations Winning is Everything
Gone Girly for Good “Costume drama” by Joe Six-Pack. Seth made a
“Big in Japan” by James J Craft. Mike and Ken funny little bet for Halloween. He needed to pull
were one-hit-wonder rock stars. Then they off the impersonation of a Cheerleader for a
discovered they had fans in Japan, so they left to party. What’s at stake? 100 million dollars and his
become famous. Then they discovered that the manhood. Book / 215 pages / 37 illustrations
Japanese didn’t know they were guys. Book / 77
pages / 26 illustrations
Tales of Transformation The Happiest Place on Earth
From the files of TGStories.com: “The Fairest
He’s the Wrong Girl One of All” By Joe Six-Pack. Will is a kid looking
“Office Chemistry” by Joe Six-Pack. James had for a job. He gets one, performing as Snow White
to fill in at the reception desk. Problem is, the at a theme park. For Will, he doesn’t suspect that
business is a bio-genetics company. And all of playing the role and wearing the costume is
the sudden the coffee tastes funny. Book / 53 slowly changing him, day by day. Book / 51
pages / 14 illustrations pages / 21 illustrations
City Boy, Country Girl Hello, Nurse
By Joe Six-Pack. Richard’s long-forgotten aunt is From the files of TGStories.com: “Quality Health
sick, and he goes to care for her. His calls back Care” Dane is filling in as a nurse for his pal
home leave his wife Janice confused and unsure Jimmy at his new office. Although both are
about his return. So she goes to find him. But is doctors, Dane begins to take to his new role as a
there much left to be found? Book / 64 pages / nurse. Soon, he feels compelled to be the ideal
25 illustrations nurse. Book / 44 pages / 15 illustrations
Thames Greene My Boss, The Bimbo
By James J Craft. Ira wanted something better “If I Were a Betting (Wo)Man” By James J Craft,
for his family. A new start. But in Thames Greene, illustrations by blackshirtboy. CEO Lucas has a
everyone’s getting a new start, whether they superiority complex. When his long-suffering
want it or not. Book / 77 pages / 26 illustrations secretary is able to feed into Lucas’ competitive
Hiding in High Heels nature, he’ll make any bet to prove his
“How Not to be a Sissy” By Joe Six-Pack. Vince dominance over women. Book / 38 pages / 10
was on the run from people who wanted their illustrations
millions back. Howard was a friend with a funny He’s the Girl They Want
little idea and a knack for making subliminal CDs. “Rallies’ “ by Joe Six-Pack. Spencer has a great
Mini-Pix / 48 pages / 15 illustrations new executive job in the food service industry,
A Blessing in Disguise but first he’s got to learn the ropes of the
By KK, illustrations by Kannel. Jay was a witness business by waiting on tables. He just doesn’t
to a murder, and now he’s the target of a vicious quite fit in with the cheerleader theme. Yet. Book
criminal. Resorting to a female disguise, he / 63 pages / 22 illustrations
becomes trapped with no way out. Book / 84 Demoted and Degraded
pages / 16 illustrations “Trixie the Secretary” by Angela J. Cindy didn’t
I’m Your Dolly much like Tom Jones attitude and his advances,
“Barbie-in-a-Box” By Joe Six-Pack. Tyler wasn’t so when she has the opportunity to help take the
much of a boyfriend anymore. Jessica wanted to wind out of his sails, she takes it. But she had no
throw him out, but then a better idea came to her, idea that it was all designed to make Tom into
in the form of the Barbie-in-a-Box service. Tyler Trixie the secretary. Book / 87 pages / 17
better get used to pink. Book / 103 pages / 20 illustrations
illustrations I, Candy
His Life as a Trophy Wife “Sissy Sweets” by James J Craft, illustrations by
“The Puppy Mill” by Joe Six-Pack. Nick had a rocketxpert. Inheriting his family’s bakery
great life, but then it evaporated. Now he’s down requires this young man to become the new face
on his luck. In steps a wealthy executive wiling to of the business. A female face. Book / 45 pages /
pay him handsomely to pretend to be his wife. 15 illustrations
What can it hurt? Book / 210 pages / 16 Boyz II Girlz
illustrations “The Making of the Ballroom Brats” by Joe
Male Monday, Girl Friday Six-Pack. The Ballroom Brats become the
“Hey, Cutie!” by James J Craft. Daniel is going to newest worldwide celebrity sensation. How did
be promoted from his average life to an exciting four unsuspecting guys at a fast food joint
executive position. At least, that’s what his become the hottest girl group in music? Book /
bosses are telling him. They may not be telling 113 pages / 34 illustrations
him everything. Book / 58 pages / 20 illustrations
His Strangest Desire Sisters for the Summer
“Employee of the Month” by Joe Six-Pack. Mick “Camp Counseling” By Joe Six-Pack. Brock
is declared Employee of the Month, and he’s McCade always thought of himself as a real
going to find himself hurtling headlong into facing man, or at least he would be one, someday. After
his weirdest inner desire. Book / 59 pages / 19 summer camp, he’s no longer so sure. Book / 76
illustrations pages / 17 illustrations
Hard Time or High Heels They’re the Girls for the Job
“I’m Turning into My Mother” by James J Craft, “Peace and Harmony” By James J Craft.
illustrations by rocketxpert. Colby got deep into Illustrations by blackshirtboy. Pete and Harmon
debt to a local gangster. Before long, he’s on the need jobs bad. How far would they have to go to
arm of that very same gangster as his reluctant get them? Book / 64 pages / 19 illustrations
girlfriend. Book / 75 pages / 20 illustrations
Blondie’s Lost Summer
Seriously Skirted By KK. Illustrations by Fraylim. Carl’s dream
“The Show Piece” by KK. Illustrations by Joe summer was about to become three months of
Six-Pack. Mel finds work at a clinic as a dresses, heels and makeup. Book / 159 pages /
secretary. He slowly begins to fit to role. Book / 48 illustrations
75 pages / 19 illustrations
Blondie’s Lost Year
Stories of the Supernatural By KK. Illustrations by Fraylim. Book Two in the
A Change for the Better Blondie Series. Carl’s trip to Florida has been
horrible enough, trapped in dresses and makeup.
“Do-Overs” by Joe Six-Pack. Evan wants a
Now, high school has presented a whole new
chance to do over his biggest mistake. He gets
level of humiliation for him. Book / 221 pages / 52
the chance, but he keeps wanting his new life to
illustrations
be a little bit better than the last. Book / 59 pages
/ 18 color illustrations I Never Wanted to be a Woman
Changed and Rearranged “Politically Corrected” By Cheryl Lynn.
Illustrations by Joe Six-Pack. Michael’s politically
“Wrongs Make Wright” By Joe Six-Pack. Chris
active mother has decided she’s going to make
and Matt were rivals. Then, Matt decided to show
her hippie son over into the daughter she always
everyone how smart he truly was by
wanted. Book / 64 pages / 19 illustrations
impersonating a teacher. But the disguise
becomes more and more real, much to Chris’ Seriously Sissified
dismay. Book / 74 pages / 19 illustrations
A Family Femmed
From Pals to Gals “The Femmed Family robinson” by James J.
From the files of TGStories.com: “Mandate of the Craft & Cheryl Lynn, illustrations by Sortimid. The
People” By Joe Six-Pack. Teens Jeremy and Robinson boys all had dreams of their own,
Stewart are good friends, but a bit thick in the once. Now they have new ones, thanks to their
noggin. When they jokingly nominate each other stepmother. Book /96 pages / 29 color
for Prom Queen, they slowly become the perfect illustrations
candidates, thanks to some magic. Book / 45
pages / 16 illustrations
Auntie’s Girl Time
By Cheryl Lynn. David was just a young teenage
Crossed Fiction boy who wanted all the things in life a man could
If the Shoes Fit look forward to. His aunt, though, is going to
make sure he never gets them. Book / 79 pages
“Hand Me Downs” By KK, illustrations by Fraylim.
/ 20 illustrations
Sydney is a teen who is just trying to make it
through the summer with no money. He finds Revenge of the Cheerleaders
himself wearing hand-me-downs from his sister, “Pansy Cheers” By Angela J. Patrick Sears was
and that takes his life in a whole new direction. a football player trying to sleep with every
Book / 98 pages / 30 illustrations cheerleader at his small college. He’d have to
pay for his conquests. Book / 116 pages / 19
illustrations
He’s Got His Mind Made Up
By James J. Craft. Illustrations by kinkyrocket.
Corey has just a sliver of a chance to get into
college, but that chance involves becoming his
stepmother’s maid. And she wants him to fit both
the role and the dress. Book / 68 pages / 16
illustrations
Web Classics Revisited
Two Forms of ID
By Joe Six-Pack. Harvey had the unusual ability
to convincingly imitate a teenage girl. In
desperation, he has to use that talent to make
some money. But when is enough enough?
Paperback / 194 pages / text only
Reading is Fun de Mental!

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Finally, we met multi-billionaire Craig Luger, a fugitive from

IN THE FAMILY WAY

women’s clothes, he thought to himself. Why is that an advantage? He then

and size seven shoes, fit him

“Aiden...?” his father prompted his son.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it. We’ll talk later.”

“Settle down, now.”

Doug laughed. “They’re professionals. It’s fine.”

different. He had a full head of

“Problems?” Doug asked.

“Shh, shh...” Colin found

“I’d let him make

“So if he wants to do this tomorrow?” Colin mischievously asked.

The Emerald Estates development, as hugely successful as it had become,

“A summons?” Davis said, when he heard about Wentworth’s latest court

“Sorry,” Phillip said, back in his normal voice.

Phillip was at a loss. “No, that’s the opposite of our plan!”

“Yeah,” Maddox was looking away.

Fortunately for Phillip, a quick scan of his grandmother’s bookshelves

“That’s Matilda, Ellie and Penelope. We were quite a group. So many

“Do your work!”

“Petticoat... Punishment?” Phillip repeated, slowly, as he had never heard the

That night, when Phillip went to bed, he absent-mindedly dressed himself in

He waited a moment. “One,” he said.

themselves to two giant white

“Now. Since you have failed at every opportunity afforded to you to be a

Where have you been?

“Come on, Phil, sit up.”

“Look!” Colin said, holding out his hand for Elliot.

“Why don’t you come over

“Thank you, Ms. Farmer,”

to leave their doors unlocked. To leave their expensive cars unattended. To

Phillip’s sagging eyes

Davis Wrenshaw was practically agog. He had been asked to come to

Unless, he really was Margaret Wrenshaw. Phillip had to think the

Could it be true? Could he really be Margaret Wrenshaw? He could only

“I want you to repeat after me. My name is Margaret Elizabeth Wrenshaw. I

“Please, doctor I feel silly saying it,”

“Oh no,” Heather said. “I would

In the third book in the Candlewick Series, we conclude the

Get The Brides of Candlewick wherever Sick Puppy Press

Reading is Fun de Mental!

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