10IV FICTION CLASSICS

bossing people around."

With a shrug I went upstairs to read.

in an

I tried to read, but my thoughts drifted to Bob and how he had to do housework, like a woman. apron yet.

Chapter two-"It fits so nicely..." Things stayed the same for a while and I got used to seeing Bob in his pinafore at home. We hung out together whenever we could. Not much was said about the strange apron Bob had to wear at the bar, although a few eyebrows were raised by people who saw him. wearing it for the first time. Bob himself had become so used to it that he seemed no longer aware of it.

I still tried to get him to play softball with the team, but he now had very little spare time. One time I found him at home doing the ironing. He blushed a little when he saw me come in, but continued the work. From the way he was doing it, I noticed that he had really learned that sissy job. He produced a neatly pressed pile of clean clothes, lingerie and tablecloths and bed linens.

Another Sunday I found him scrubbing the floors on his knees. Somehow, he always looked clean and perfectly groomed. His longish hair (like most of the men at work, I wore mine long too) was always neatly brushed, shiny and healthy. From the back he looked almost like a girl. Once I asked him how he kept it so neat looking. He confessed that Ms. Mary made him wash it sometimes twice a day and then insisted that he use some kind of rinse "to give it body". He explained that it seemed healthier since he'd been doing it and didn't mind taking the extra care.

His hands were very clean and his nails immaculately kept. A bit on the long side I thought, though, and his hands seemed unusually soft for a man.

Once, when I joked about it, he said that his motherin-law made him use handcream after doing the dishes and that she sometimes did his nail-clipping for him.

His interests seemed to change, too. We no longer

SUBSTITUTE DAUGHTER -11

talked much about sports and when I did, he always seemed to change the subject. It wasn't deliberate or as if he wanted to avoid the subject, he just seemed to have lost interest.

One day early in the spring he came to work in a new outfit. It was a light blue denim overall, made exactly like a girl's, without a front opening. It had a tight narrow waist and it zipped on the side. The high neck had two brass buttons to which the shoulder straps were fastened. Except for the closed front it was not all that different, except for the material and the tight fit at the waist.

Under it he wore a white and red checked shirt. It was almost a blouse with a small collar. It had short sleeves cuffed at the ends giving it a feminine appearance. He was shy and defensive the first day he wore it, but when he noted that no one said anything, he got used to that, too. Dot said that she had seen him wear it in the street and asked his mother-in-law whether she had made it. "It seemed to be the only pattern she had," Dot explained at the dinner table.

Dot said, "I like it on him. . .it fits so nicely. Those flaring legs are stylish and simply elegant."

I didn't say anything, and said to myself that I wouldn't wear anything like that for the world. I guess Bob was stuck with it. It seemed strange though, that with the money he was making, he couldn't buy himself a couple of ordinary sportshirts and some honest-togoodness men's jeans. It wouldn't cost much more, would it? Except maybe. . .if his mother-in-law made them...it would save the labor costs.

During the coming weeks, I sort of became used to Bob's new looks and behavior. Even at work everyone treated him as always, except maybe the girls seemed friendlier to him, leaving him bigger tips and flirting with him a little.

I asked him one day how he felt about all that attention from women.

"I don't know," he said, "they're nice to me and always make me feel like one of the gang. I get along fine with them lately. I've wondered about it myself.