"Why?" she blinked at me.

RANSVESTIA

"Mother!" I said, nodding my head at Mrs. Rosalia.

"Gertrude is a friend. It's alright she should know. Now go heat some more water."

"Sure," said Mrs. R., "it's alright. Besides, you make a fine-lookin' lass almost as pretty as my Carmel."

So I got a lot of clothes that had belonged to Mrs. Rosalia's daughters. I wasn't exactly thrilled by it. But I was stuck, because mother insisted that I wear them around the house all the time, and not just for the sake of economy. The fact that they were given to me by Mrs. Rosalia made it necessary, in order to avoid hurting her feelings. I don't really understand that. I had feelings of my own, too, and I can't see how I would have hurt hers if I had simply said (very politely), "No thank you. I am a boy and a boy doesn't wear girls' clothes. It isn't done."

Unfortunately, it was done

by me, at least. I had absolutely no say in the matter. And, like I said, I wore the girls' old things around the house all the time. And I do mean all the time. As soon as I got home from school, I had to change clothes.

There was one small compensation: most of the clothes Mrs. Rosalia gave me were, you know, outerwear dresses, skirts, blouses, and sweaters. No underwear - or not much anyway. I'd rather not talk about the exceptions, but in a way, they're responsible for what happened after that. I already owned one set of girl's underwear, from the initiation, but I didn't understand them. If that sounds strange, let me point out that that whole area is pretty mysterious, and from what I knew about the topic already, filled with taboos, unspoken laws, and insanity. I mean, look at it (if you can that's mystery number one): does it make sense to make, say, a slip that's better looking than a dress, then hide it under the dress? And if so much as a half-inch of lace shows under the hem, then everyone gets excited or embarrassed? Another thing why do they make these sets? You know, with the slip, panties and bra all matching, but then forbid them to be seen or even mentioned? How many girls will, if they're complimented on the way they look, say, "But look here, see? My slip, panties and bra are all matching, too. See?" Like I say,