RANSVESTIA

"Aren't you going overboard on this, Sis?" I protested.

The next evening, Margie came home with an armful of packages. She opened them one by one to reveal a waist cincher, a set of false eyelashes, and a set of false finger nails, realistic looking breast inserts for my bra, and several pairs of pantyhose which she told me I would have to rinse out at night.

As the days went by, a set routine developed. Immediately after I got home, I would shower, don the outfit of girl's clothes which Margie had laid out for me, apply my makeup, put on my wig, and do my homework so that later in the evening I was ready to rehearse my role. Almost every evening, Margie took polaroid pictures of me. She told me she had read someplace that actors frequently did that so that they could study their gestures and stance and so forth. It didn't make much sense to me be- cause we never used the pictures in that way but I didn't argue.

The Saturday before the play, we rehearsed all day long until I knew the part inside out and upside down. I was wearing the white blouse, black jumper, and black high heels that were to be my costume in the Third Act.

"Well, let's call it a day," Margie said. “You've got it down pat. You'll be a smash. Let's celebrate by going out for dinner and a movie.”

"That sounds super," I replied. "I'll go change."

"Change? Why bother. You look just fine the way you are. Besides it will be an adventure. I'll bet you a week's allowance no one has the slightest suspicion you're anything other than what you appear to be . . . an extremely cute girl.”

With great hesitation, I finally agreed. It felt funny to walk down the street and know that the clickety-clack of high heels was coming from my shoes. It felt strange to feel the breeze against my slim legs in their sheer nylons. I was acutely conscious of the purse which Margie had insisted I carry and was sure I looked like an awkward fool. But no one gave us a second glance. At the restaurant, the captain and the waiter held our chairs for us and took our order without any sign they had observed anything out of the ordinary. Still, I was glad to get to the movie theater where the darkness gave me a sense of security. After the show was over, Margie said: "Let's go to the malt shop for a soda be- fore we go home."

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