RANSVESTIA

Except she really fixed me, but good, That second weekend, I was standing in the living room, running the carpet sweeper back and forth, when there was the familiar rap on the door. It opened, and in pops Mrs. R.'s head, hollering, "Yoo hoo, Maida! It's me." (Maida is, of course, my mother. And the entrance was what she always did, being a close friend.) And then she saw me.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

And because I was so used to seeing her, I forgot for a minute that I was wearing a skirt, and said, "I'm cleaning the floor." And then, her surprised expression reminded me of something, and I groaned, "Oh, no!" And literally burst into tears. I was so em- barassed, I wanted to crawl under the rug. Of all the people I would have picked not to find out about it, she headed the list.

With that, mother came into the room to greet her old friend, but seeing me slowly turning into cement, said, "What's wrong with you?"

"Oh, Mama!" was all I could manage, and even then, I squeaked when I said it.

Mrs. Rosalia decided she wanted to get in on it all, and asked, "What's he doing wearing a dress?" (It wasn't a dress! but I guess that really didn't make much difference, did it?)

"To get the wear out," my mother responded. "Come. I'll make tea, and I'll tell you it. It's because of school..."

So she told Mrs. Rosalia why I was wearing a girl's outfit; I guess I really shouldn't have worried so much, because Mrs. Rosalia under- stood, and said, "Sure, and that makes sense. It was just that I was so surprised at the seeing of him, standing there, a-wearin' them fine lookin' clothes. And I says to myself, Maida has gotten herself a daughter." And she laughed at her own joke (she always did), which didn't make me feel much better. But she didn't tease me about it.

Well, they had their tea (mother always has a "glass of tea" Mrs. R. always has a "dish of tea"; they both drink out of cups from Woolworths), and were just starting the weekly medical report (they were on "sinus," I think), when I asked, "Mother, can I go change?"