innocence of the charges Jamie had planted in her mind.

Then too, Doris was thoroughly familiar with gay life and drag queens. Act- ually this could help me since Doris wouldn't want me telling this to one and all. So it was a mutual trust--or distrust, whichever one decided to call it. Over the meal, I remembered that Doris had told me how tired she was of running with the gay crowd and how nice it would be to settle down with a man now after messing up her college career and all. I thought of proposing, too. Sure I would have to curtail my transvestism, but I could wear my psuedo-attire at home and maybe later approach Doris on the subject of transvest- ism. She had admitted she liked gay life once, why wouldn't she understand? He thought about all this later in the living room as they watched television.

"We've both acted strangely honey" I told Doris, "your wearing the wig and all".

Doris started to explain the whole thing.

I was

"Well it all goes clear back to those pictures you had. I knew that it wasn't me, still the similarity threw me. baffled, but after awhile I forgot it. I started college. Soon I started going crazy after this gay stuff. Some of the frats were gay and some of the guys did wear girl's things at times. After I learned more and more about this stuff, I wondered if you had been that way. Well, I got out of college and started running with this bunch of gay kids. I met Jamie who was a drager as they call them. I suddenly remembered that you were working in the store. I'd seen you before and wondered how you were after all this time. So I told Jamie about those pictures so long ago and about your never dating in high school and it laid a pattern for him I guess."

"How'd I fit the pattern?" I asked.

"Real good, lad, real good. I got carried away in the store. Jamie gave me the wig. When I knew you didn't know me I got giddy. It was fun, maybe I could find out something about you. I still like you, you know, even if you never did care about me much. So I get carried away, we pull up your cuffs and act real queer and all. You went right along with it though, and that convinced me. Really, if you had not asked for the date, I might have wondered, but act- ing well, hetero about the whole thing I thought I'd see how far Jamie would go."

"He went pretty far I'd say."

30.