GLIMPSES OF CONSEQUENCES
By DrBill
“HOWA we going to start?” The ritual joke having been followed by the ritual groans, the Housewives of Worthington Acres came to order. The group had evolved from informal visits for coffee and complaining to a neighborhood organization of sorts. While the meetings still tended to be primarily boast and bitch sessions, they also traded useful information and occasionally took on neighborhood improvement projects and the like. But they did not try to pretend that it was anything more than group therapy for the frustrations and pressures of being housewives and mothers.
It was obvious that Janet had something she wanted to share. The ritual pool toy, with its neatly lettered “Don’t Ask” legend on top, was passed to her.
“Tom has been accepted at Tech! With a scholarship!” she practically shouted. Everyone congratulated her, saying how remarkable it was.
“And to think, he was almost expelled from middle school.” Vicki added. “More than once. How on earth did you get him to make such a turnaround?”
“Oh, that’s right. You all were on that trip to the Coast that Summer!” Janet chuckled, joined by giggles and chuckles from the others. “Well, some of the girls had seen some stories and some books, and …” She explained at some length, with some of the others filling in details and anecdotes.
Vicki was astonished. “You can’t be serious! How did you get away with it?”
“With a lot of help from our friends.” Nods and laughs around the room. “Including you!”
“Me?” Vicki frowned. Then, “Those papers. Your … niece? Oh!” She had used her part time job at the school district to file some paperwork for Janet, shortly before her vacation. “Hey! I could’ve gotten in trouble for that!”
“Not really.” Janet placated, “We had you covered, just in case.”
The meeting moved on to other matters. As they were leaving, Janet gave Vicki a folder and a couple of books. “Just some light reading,” she grinned.
Vicki got home, and noticed that she had a phone message. She looked at the ID, and briefly panicked at the memory of the meeting. Then she calmed down. Since it was from the school, it had to be about one of the kids. Job related calls came in from the district office.
As she had guessed, it was about Davey. He and a few others had been caught loitering in “the spot” and were facing two days’ detention. “The spot” was an area under one of the stairways where, if you looked up at the perfect angle, you could see up the skirts of some of the people using the stairway. The students had been warned to stay out of that area, and knew that they faced penalties if caught there. The ironic part was that the school had long since done a study and found that the peepers couldn’t really see far enough up the skirts to really see anything but leg. Because of that, the school didn’t spend the money it would have taken to fix the problem. The boys (and a few girls) who did go there were drawn by the thought, rather than the results. Those caught were given a lecture about respect and personal privacy, and sometimes (for repeat offenders or those with other aggravating factors) detention. But all had their parents called. Twice. The first time was in the presence of the offender, and described the offense, the punishment, and the fact that the school takes invasions of privacy seriously. The second, without young ears listening, did a bit of damage control to let the parent know about the limited practical effects of the offense, and suggest followup strategies. The school district in general, and the school in particular, had a good relationship with most of the parents and knew the value of keeping things that way.
Vicki sighed, and returned the call. The dean reminded her that it was Davey’s third time getting caught there, but that he did not seem to be the leader of the group. He also reminded her that school would be out in a week, and that he would rather not mess up finals and other year end functions. Vicki thanked him and hung up.
Davey got home much later than usual. The after school detention caused him to miss the bus, so he had to walk the half mile to his house. He knew better to call and ask for a ride under the circumstances. When he walked in the door, he was immediately exiled to his room to do his homework and “think about what he had done” until his father got home. He expected it, but wasn’t happy about it. He knew that his dad wouldn’t hit him or anything like that; he was not that kind of a dad. His mom just wanted to make sure that both parents confronted him about school things, presenting a united front as it were. They had started doing that when Sherry had successfully played them off against each other when she was in fifth grade. He was willing to bet that the detention was not the only punishment he would get.
“Geez!” He thought. “And I never even got to see anything!” It was just so unfair. Not so much as a glimpse of panty. He saw more at the pool than under those stairs. And a lot more on the net. He let his mind drift over things he had seen on the net, as he kicked off his shoes and flopped on his bed.
He was tempted to get on and look at a few of his favorites, but he knew that if his mom caught him he would be in a whole lot more trouble. On the other hand, he did have to get that history paper finished. And for that, he needed some more online research. If she walked in and found him doing homework, it might help him. And if the windows with his paper and some of his source pages just happened to be covering up some other windows, what could it hurt?
He turned on the computer, and brought up the report. It really only needed to be spell checked and have the bibliography and junk finished, but he was sure his mom didn’t know that. He started the spellcheck, then left it stopped on the first error. He got on the Internet, then brought up browser windows with three of the sites he had used. Finally, he brought up another browser window and went looking for upskirt sites. If he was going to be in trouble for it anyway, he figured he should at least see what he had been trying to see.
He had just found a good site and started getting a glimpse of panty when he heard the footsteps outside his door. He hid the window and started looking at the report window when the door opened and his big sister burst in uninvited. Smirking at him, she crowed “You’re really in trouble this time. When Dad gets here, I bet you’ll be grounded for the whole summer. Or worse. And I’m gonna enjoy every minute!”
Sherry was still mad at him for accidentally ratting her out. Not that he wouldn’t have done so on purpose, but this time was an accident. Their mom had been annoyed with her for some reason, and had told her to take out the trash while she was at the store. When she left, Sherry told him that Mom had said for him to take out the trash right away. When he did, he cut his hand on something. It wasn’t too bad of a cut, but he got blood on his t shirt and jeans before he got it bandaged up. Their mom freaked when she saw the blood and bandage. He told her what happened, playing up the (mistaken) claim that it was because she had demanded that he take the trash out (in an attempt at playing the guilt card). As a result, Sherry had all the chores for the next week and couldn’t go out with her friends (or boyfriend) that weekend. As soon as they were out of earshot from their mom, she hissed that he should watch his back, because she *would* get her revenge.
She was always trying to boss him around anyhow, just because she was three years older than him and in high school. And more often than not, his mom seemed to turn a blind eye to it.
“Get out of here, Sherry! I’m trying to do my History paper.”
“Yeah, right you little perv. I bet you were surfing for porn again.”
“MOM! Sherry’s in my room bugging me! I’m TRYING to do my homework, like you said!”
“Sherry, get out of his room!”
“I’m GOING, Mom!” Then more quietly, she laughed “Just wait. Dad’ll be home any minute. I hope I get to watch.” With that, she stomped out and went back to her room.
He got up and closed the door. He was sure she left it open deliberately, just to bug him. Then he brought up the window again, and quickly closed it (barely getting another glimpse of its wonders). She was right about one thing: Dad would be home soon. He took a moment to clean incriminating pages out of his browser’s history file, cache, and cookies, then went to work on his paper.
As soon as Glen stepped in the front door, he knew someone was in trouble again. He just hoped it wasn’t him. Probably Davey. He wasn’t a bad kid, really. Part of the problem was that Vicki had had no experience living with boys before Davey was born. Men, yes (mostly just him and her father). But no boys. No brothers, no male cousins, not even neighbors. She kind of had the idea that children should all be like the sisters and cousins she grew up with. They weren’t angels, apparently, but they were all girl. When Davey came along, she thought she would just have another Sherry, but with different plumbing. Glen helped her learn differently. Despite the confusing start, they seemed to have done ok with him. He got in trouble here and there, but nothing that was unusual for a boy of whatever age he was at the time. Like the time he and another boy were swearing at each other in the hallway. Or when he got caught in “the spot”.
On the other hand, Sherry was about due. Her stunt with the trash was one of her milder ones. She had real issues with power and status, especially where her brother was concerned. He couldn’t count the number of times he had caught Sherry trying to get him into some sort of trouble, or trying to trick him into doing something. While Vicki was aware of this, she just treated it as the normal, if regrettable, actions of an older sister. She would punish her if she got caught, but generally did not get too upset about it. She did get a bit worried about some of the problems we had when Sherry was Davey’s age. The times she was sent home for dress code violations were bad enough – some of them verged on public indecency. The status battles between her clique and their rivals got out of hand. Even Vicki had to respond when Sherry got caught (along with three other girls) making some serious false accusations against a leader of a rival clique. Sherry tried claiming that she had been acting in good faith, that she had believed the others and was just supporting her friends. Unfortunately for her, she had been spotted – and taped – on the security cameras when she tried planting some of the “evidence”. That was one of the things that got her suspended. Worse, from her point of view, was that those involved had to publicly recant the accusation and admit their own guilt when they returned to school.
The other thing that got her suspended worried Glen more. Some of the leaders of her clique had pressured some of the younger hangers-on into having oral sex with some boys in what they thought was an obscure corner of a corridor not covered by the video system. They were wrong. They were even more careless, however, when they allowed two staff members to overhear their pressure tactics. The leaders of the clique were expelled, and the only thing that kept her from getting expelled with them was the fact that the tapes showed her role as having been limited to lookout. She didn’t even watch the sex. Even Vicki was livid about that one. Sherry lost a lot of ground at home and at school over it. It took her a long time, and a lot of conspicuous good behavior, to get back into Vicki’s good graces. And she continued to work very hard to keep it that way. One of the things that worried Glen about it was the fact that one of the boys involved had since become her boyfriend.
But for all that, she wasn’t really a bad kid either. She had exhibited poor judgment a number of times, and was too easily swayed by certain other people, but she wasn’t hard core. Except for that whole sibling rivalry thing.
It seemed somewhat paradoxical. Davey got in less, and less serious, trouble at home and especially at school. But Vicki responded to his transgressions far more harshly than she had with Vicki’s. Part of the reason Glen was so adamant about setting the punishments for such infractions together was that it gave Vicki a chance to cool down and gave him a chance to restore some perspective. As a matter of practical necessity, problems outside of school were generally addressed by whichever parent was closest.
It was probably Davey. And most likely something at the school. He sighed, pulled his thoughts together, and went to the kitchen to greet his wife.
“Hello, love of my life. What happened this time?”
“Your Son got caught trying to look up girls’ skirts again.” The emphasis on the first two words told Glen a lot about Vicki’s mood and attitude.
“What did the dean have to say in the *real* phone call?” Glen knew how things worked.
“The same nonsense about it not being as serious as it sounds, and that it is an opportunity to reinforce lessons about personal privacy and the like. The usual excuses. He also said they did not want to screw up finals and the other year end stuff.” she huffed.
“What did he get?”
“Two lousy days of after school detention. Today and tomorrow. And the usual ineffective lecture. Why do they even bother?”
Glen sighed. “What would you have them do? Strap him to a beam and give him thirty lashes? Sure, it was a bad thing for him to do. But he is a thirteen year old boy, and poor judgment and a high libido are normal parts of that.”
“What’s next? using the binoculars to look in the neighbors’ windows? Hiding a camera in Sherry’s room? Or ours?”
“Don’t give him ideas. Look, the female body is a big mystery to him. He knows what is where in theory, but not in personal experience. And his hormones and curiosity are driving him to find out what he can. He is making some poor choices in how he is going about trying to satisfy that need to know. But there are much worse things he could be doing and is not doing.”
“What do you want to do, just ignore it?”
“Of course not. We can make it clear that we back the school in this matter, and impose the same things from this end. We can ground him for those same two days, and then I can have a long talk with him about dealing with those urges and temptations. Unless you want me to go buy a bullwhip and some chains?”
In the end, she went along with the grounding. Glen spent the better part of two hours, interrupted only by dinner and a bathroom break, talking to Davey about behaviors and consequences. And women.
Davey spent a few minutes cleaning up the report, then got ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.
The next day, he was too busy to get in too much trouble. He walked home after serving his detention. There was a benefit to being grounded: it gave him time to study and work on his class projects. And Sherry was too busy with chores and her own school work to bug him.
Friday started out interestingly. Davey had just opened his bedroom door to go to the bathroom, when the bathroom door flew open and his sister dashed to her room. She was wearing only a bra, panties, and a towel wrapped as a turban, and carrying some wet clothes. She was there and gone in a flash, giving him little more than a glimpse.
School was pretty much all review for next week’s finals. Even PE. At least the detention was over. And the grounding. As soon as he got home, he grabbed a snack, threw on his trunks, and headed for the pool.
After a couple of hours of swimming, hanging with friends and girl watching, he was ready to head home and get down to work. He figured that if he got the class projects ready that night, he could enjoy the weekend.
But things didn’t work out that way. What with one thing and another, he found himself working on the projects on Sunday afternoon. His dad was at a meeting at the church, and they expected him back shortly before dinner.
Davey settled in to get his projects finished and printed. He had the covers ready. And the stapler. He spent the next two hours checking, polishing, and in one case redoing parts of the projects. He started printing one, then he noticed he was missing something. He had just started going downstairs when he heard his dad walk in the door.
“Hey, Dad! You know where the three hole punch is?”
“Welcome home yourself, Davey.” he chided, with a grin. “I think it is still in the office. What do you need it for?”
“My homework projects. I need to punch them to get them into the covers. I’m printing one out now.”
“Ok. Give me a few minutes and I’ll get it for you.”
“Thanks. Could you bring me some more printer paper while you’re at it? I’ll be in my room, slaving away.” Davey replied, with feigned melodrama.
Glen chuckled and shook his head. He went to the kitchen to say hello to Vicki, and catch up on the day’s news.
Davey knew it would be a few minutes before his dad got there, so he started another report printing. He also opened another window and tried a quick trip to a promising web site he had heard about. The splash page had just come up, when he heard his father on the stairs. He quickly hid the window behind the schoolwork screens, then moved to take the first report out of the printer basket. It wasn’t complete yet, so he was waiting on the rest when his dad knocked and then came in.
He handed Davey the punch and the paper, then stayed to ask about his schoolwork. Davey complained that he had to do both a project *and* a final for history, and that he had finals for four core classes (including history) tomorrow. Glen offered his sympathy, and observed that at least the hardest part would be done and out of the way. They got so involved with their discussion that neither of them heard Vicki come up the stairs and into the room.
She started to ask them something about dinner, when the computer issued a trumpet fanfare. They turned to look, and found a large part of the screen occupied by a picture of a well endowed young woman in thong panties and nothing else, and some writing about a “Special *FREE* offer!” Davey grabbed the mouse and killed the window, but the damage was done.
“What was THAT doing there?” she demanded.
“I don’t know. It was one of those dumb pop ups or something. It wasn’t there a minute ago! You saw, Dad. Tell her!” Davey was panicking.
“Well, that’s true. When I came in, there wasn’t anything like that on the screen. Just the reports you were printing out.” Davey started to relax a little. “But it had to come from somewhere. And from the way it showed up, it probably left some adware or the like in your computer. You know what we’ve told you about going places like that.”
“And what were you doing looking at half naked women in the first place?” she interjected.
“But I wasn’t even…”
“It didn’t necessarily come from a porn site. But it sure wasn’t somewhere you were supposed to be.” Glen turned and gestured to Sherry, who had come to see what the noise was about. “Both of you need to get out of what you are doing on your computers and run the cleanup programs.”
“And when you get them started, come down and set the table. Dinner is just about ready.” Vicki added.
Sherry returned to her room, with a smirk Davey couldn’t help but notice. His mom had her “How *could* you?” look, and even his dad looked disappointed in him. They went downstairs, while he shut down the word processing and browser windows. His reports were still printing, but he knew the scans would not have any problem with that. They would just be a bit slow. He started the scan and cleanup programs, then went and washed his hands.
Sherry was just leaving the bathroom as he went in. She gave him one of her superior sneers as they passed, but didn’t say anything. He was downstairs a moment later, helping set the table.
Nothing was said during dinner, but after the table was cleared, his dad rendered the verdict. “You know better than to go to a website like that. Not only are you too young for that sort of thing,” Davey winced at that one, and Sherry smirked. “but you can infect not only your computer but the rest of ours as well. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir.” Davey looked at his feet.
“I know you have a lot to do for the next couple of days, with finals and all. So you are on probation. If we catch you looking at any of those sites any time in the near future, I will cut off your Internet connection for at least a week. And that is on top of whatever other punishments your mom or I impose. Is that clear?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now go back up to your room and finish your your reports and studying. I don’t think you are likely to have time for anything else tonight, anyway.”
“And don’t stay up too late.” his mom added. “You need your sleep for tomorrow.”
He made his way back to his room, and settled in at the computer. The two reports were done printing, and the scans had finished. One bit of good news was that the scans had not found anything more than some tracking cookies. He deleted those, and went back to the online class notes. He carefully stacked and punched the reports, and fastened them into their covers. He studied some more, then got ready for bed. He called “goodnight” down to his parents (who answered in kind), then curled up in bed with one of his textbooks. He quickly read himself to sleep.
The next day, his mom woke them up early, so they would have time for a good breakfast. She had read this thing about breakfasts and test performance, and wouldn’t take no thanks for an answer. They had a system for “special breakfast” school mornings. Davey would have a brief chance to use the toilet, then Sherry would have the bathroom for all of her morning routine. Davey Got his books and papers together and then ate breakfast while waiting on her. Then he showered and dressed while she ate. It was not a bad system. It cut down on morning arguments, and gave their parents a chance for brief separate talks with them over breakfast.
This morning’s talk was nothing more than a pep talk about the finals, and a check to make sure he had his projects ready to go. He got the impression that they were waiting for their talk with Sherry, and just sort of going through the motions with him. Not that they weren’t interested in him, just that there was something going on. He shrugged, knowing there was little chance he would find out what it was.
After breakfast, he hurried upstairs, hoping for a repeat of friday. No such luck. She was already back in her room. He got ready, then headed out the door to school.
History was not too bad. He turned in the project, and the final wasn’t all that bad. Far too many questions, but nothing he didn’t know.
Language Arts, on the other hand, was a nightmare. Ms. DeFenester was known for favoring the girls over the boys, but today she was in rare form. She was in a bad mood already when they walked into the room, never a good sign. Something must have gotten to her first period. And knowing her, it was something she blamed on some boy. This period it started before class, when Cheryl pretended to drop her book. She bent over to pick it up, turning so she gave Steve a good look at whatever she was wearing under her very short skirt. They were doing things like that to each other all year. Steve commented “Watch where you’re pointing that thing! It might be loaded.” Some of the other kids laughed. Cheryl was about to launch her comeback, when Ms. D. cut her off. She sent Steve out to the dean’s office and threatened the laughing boys with lower grades. As usual, she did nothing to Cheryl or the laughing girls. By the end of the period, eight boys had been victims of her “discipline”. And no girls, of course. Davey had managed to dodge the bullet, but some of those boys were friends of his. And he was sure the grading would be every bit as unfair.
All through lunch, he just got more upset. That kind of thing is not supposed to be able to happen. And the school sure wasn’t going to do anything about it. He couldn’t really do anything either. Thinking about what he could do, he dumped his tray and headed to the boys’ room.
Settling into a stall to do his business, he saw the usual crude commentaries and got an idea. He fished out a marker, and started to work. He wrote quickly. As he was finishing his other business, he saw someone peeking into the stall. Someone familiar. Their eyes met, and the other boy ran for the door.
Davey knew that he would be in trouble if he didn’t act fast. When he wrote his opinion of the english teacher on the bathroom stall, he had been careful to change his writing and spelling. But Wendell (what kind of parents named a kid *that*?) really wanted to nail him. He left so quickly (probably to rat him out) that his backpack was still on the shelf. Davey slipped the marker in a pocket of the pack, then finished washing his hands. As he walked out the door, he almost bumped into the dean. His look of surprise was genuine, as he moved to let the dean go by. That didn’t work, and he found himself escorted back into the boys’ room. The dean walked him to the stall, pointed to the writing, and asked what he knew about it. He was about to say that he guessed someone shared his opinion, but stopped himself in time.
“I saw it when I took a dump in there.” That was true enough, since he finished the writing before he finished the rest.
“What else?”
“It is kinda rude.”
“It is that. What would you say if I told you that someone saw you write that?”
“I would say that someone was lying. I mean, look at it. It’s not my writing. And I know there is a “t” in the b word and that the l word ends with a “ian” instead of “ion”. Look, he even spelled her name wrong. Besides, I don’t even have that kind of a marker on me. Mine’s in my locker, clear across the building. You can search me if you want!”
The dean did look through his backpack. He could see that his clothes did not show any lumps which resembled a marker. While all of that was happening, the bell rang. Davey was going to be late for his pre-algebra final. The dean walked him to his locker, where he got out his book, calculator, and (spare) marker.
As the dean wrote out a late slip for him, he grumped “I bet whoever said that about me did it himself.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Who was it? Maybe I could tell you if I knew that.”
“You know I can’t tell you that.”
“Then I can’t really guess why. Unless he was trying to frame me or something. Or just wanted to make you think it wasn’t him? Can I go to class now?”
“Go ahead. I may need to speak to you again about this.”
Davey took off toward his class.
“Walk!”
He slowed to a fast walk, until he was around the corner and out of sight from the dean. Then he ran the rest of the way to class.
The situation was serious enough that the dean ended up calling Vicki. He described the graphitti, the accusation and the defense. He told her that the school would not take any action, because they could not prove the matter one way or the other. He then told her one of the more disturbing aspects of the event. The (unnamed) boy who made the accusation also had an older sister: one of the leaders of the rival clique Sherry had tried to frame three years before. He wanted to alert her in case this was part of something larger.
Vicki wasn’t sure whether she was more alarmed or annoyed. Davey knew better than to commit such an act of vandalism. But it was all too easy to believe he had done it. On the other hand, if it really was an echo from Sherry’s past there could be more trouble this summer. She would have to talk to him about it.
After one of the hardest school days he could remember, Davey was finally on his way home. Four finals, all core classes. And that thing in the boys’ room. Tomorrow would be better. One project to turn in, one real final, and a bunch of cleanup and parties. And the beginning of all the paperwork. But now he was tired, and his brain was fried.
He slumped in through the door, dropped his backpack, and sprawled on the couch. He didn’t even want to think enough to grab a snack first. So of course, his mom had other ideas.
“You know better. Take that stuff up to your room. I’ve got a snack for you in the kitchen, when you’re done.”
He should have suspected a trap, but he was too frazzled. He took his backpack up to his room, kicked off his trainers and socks, and slipped on some sandals. He glanced briefly at his bed, then his computer. But he knew he had to get back downstairs. His mom probably wanted to ask about the finals.
As he walked into the kitchen, he heard the microwave ding. And he smelled cheese. As his mom slid a plate of her microwave nachos and a glass of milk onto the table, she asked him how his finals had gone. Between bites of nacho and gulps of milk, he moaned about how hard they had been. She didn’t seem as sympathetic as he expected, but he didn’t think much about it. Until:
“So what was that business with the restroom wall?”
“Huh? Oh, the stall. Yeah, someone wrote some nasty stuff about Ol… one of our teachers. The dean was pretty bent out of shape about it.” It didn’t even occur to him to wonder how she’d found out about that. He could guess all too easily.
“And what did that have to do with you?”
He was tired, physically and mentally, but he wasn’t *that* tired. “Some guy tried to tell the dean that I did it. By the time I showed him that it wasn’t my writing, and that I knew how to spell the stuff that the twit screwed up,… ”
“Davey! Language.”
“Sorry. Anyway, then I showed him that I didn’t have that kind of marker on me. It was in my locker, clear across the school. By the time I showed him that, I was late for my math final. He gave me a late slip, but Mr. Brown still gave me cr… a hard time about coming in late. He didn’t even give me any extra time on the test.”
“Do you know who did it?”
“The writing or telling the dean? Might be the same person, for all I know. I heard some rumors about who told.”
“What do you plan to do about it?”
“Nothing. It’s too close to Summer to care. And if I did do something, it would just get him more attention. Screw it.”
“Language!” His attitude seemed surprisingly mature, even if his language wasn’t. But the part about timing made sense.
“Sorry.”
“What do you know about the person who told the dean?”
“Not much. If it was who I think, he’s in a couple of my classes.”
“There may be more to it than you think. His older sister is one of the girls Sherry and her friends had problems with.”
“Wendell’s sister was one of *them*?” It was clear that he was genuinely surprised at that news.
“Yes. And if that is somehow connected with what happened today, there could be more trouble soon. So watch yourself!”
“Well, there’s only a day and a half of school left, so he won’t get much of a chance. And I never see him around here during the summer.”
“Watch yourself, anyhow. And the dean is still not convinced you didn’t write those things, so behave. He will be watching you.”
Now that was a useful warning. He thought that had been a little too easy. “Ok.” he said, wiping the last of the cheese up with his finger and licking it off. He took the plate and glass to the sink, rinsed them (under his mom’s watchful eye), and headed toward the stairs. “I’m gonna take a nap, then get ready for tomorrow.”
“What do you have left to do?”
“Just print out a fresh copy of one paper, and study for one more final. I’ll start the printing before I lay down.”
“Lie down. You’re not a goose!”
“Whatever.” he mumbled, as he dragged himself up the stairs.
He briefly sat at his computer and started the report printing. Then he staggered over to his bed and fell face first into his pillow. He was asleep so fast that he didn’t hear his sister come home. Or the loud argument with their mom that followed. The next thing he knew, his mom was shaking him awake for dinner.
The rest of the night was a blur. He ate. He studied. He went to bed. If he did any more than that, he didn’t remember it the next day.
The next morning’s breakfast conversation was a bit different. His mom reminded him to watch out for Wendell, and his dad reminded him to watch out for the dean, as well. Then he turned around and told Davey that the dean was on his side, for the most part, but he had a job to do. It sounded like one of those times when his folks were hoping that he would realize what they were carefully not saying. Whatever it was, he didn’t have a clue. His mom told him that Sherry would finish school for the year that afternoon, and that she would be picking her up from the high school before he got out. If they weren’t there when he got home, they would be out clothes shopping. He shook his head, and his dad rolled his eyes.
School was much more fun that day. His only remaining final out of the way first period, the rest of the day was pretty much party time. PE was sort of half class, half party. They had almost all the activities from the year available, so that the kids who had to make up a missed day or two could do so. Those who didn’t have to make anything up were free to choose whichever activities they wanted. They didn’t even have to dress out. The only part they really had to do was clear out their gym lockers and check out.
The day ended, with no trouble from Wendell or the dean. The bus ride home was fun, with just about everybody in high spirits because finals were done.
He got home to a quiet house. He dropped his stuff just inside the door, and went to the kitchen for a snack. There was a note from his mom, telling him that she and Sherry were out shopping. It also said to leave a note if he went anywhere, and to be back by dinnertime.
After eating, he dragged his stuff up to his room. He dumped out his backpack on the bed. He chucked his dirty gym clothes in the general vicinity of the hamper, piled the notebooks and folders on his desk, and threw away the old candy wrappers and junk. He wanted to travel light tomorrow. He grabbed the folder with his sign off slips, and shoved it back in his pack. He got on the net, and checked his email. There wasn’t anything urgent, so he decided to go to the pool.
After an afternoon of sun, swimming, goofing around, and girl watching, he made his way home. His dad was already there, but there was still some time before dinner. His mom sent him right up to shower, since she did not trust him to use the pool showers well enough to get all the chlorine off. He dressed and went down just in time to hear his dad playing at being upset over the money his mom and sister had spent.
Over dinner, he learned a few things. His mom commented to Sherry that tomorrow morning she would show her how to wash some of the new things. It came out that Sherry’s week of chores had convinced their mom that Sherry did not know all she should about housework and the like. Since the next day was laundry day, Sherry would be doing much of the work under their mom’s close supervision.
“I still don’t see why I have to do all that stuff,” she complained.
“You’re sixteen years old. It is long past time you knew how to take care of things yourself. In a couple of years, you may well be out on your own, and then what will you do for clean clothes? Or food? No. I have left it far too late as it is. This summer you *will* learn these skills.” Mom had her End of Discussion tone with that last.
Davey couldn’t help a snicker at the look on his sister’s face. She rounded on him. “What are you laughing at, perv? She’s going to make you do it, too!”
“What?! But that’s … girl …stuff…” he wound down, realizing that he was saying the wrong thing but unable to stop himself in time. His dad winced, then looked like he was trying hard not to laugh.
His mom took a deep breath, clearly about to launch into loud lecture mode, when his dad beat her to the punch. “No, it’s not. Like Sherry, someday you will be out on your own. You need to be able to cook, clean, and even mend your own clothes and things. You have a little more lead time than Sherry, but she has a head start on some parts. You need to graduate from high school as a self sufficient adult, not a helpless child.”
His mom took up the theme.
“Besides, families like ours are much less common than they once were. Look at your friends. Most have both parents working and splitting household chores. Some are single parent households, or have been. And in a couple of cases, the husband is the one doing most of the housework and the wife is the primary breadwinner. Your father has a very important and well paying job, but it takes a lot of behind the scenes support. For now, I provide that support and take care of you two. And you two take a lot of taking care of. Too much. In a few years, I will probably go back to work. If nothing else, just to be able to afford your college. I will not be able to do as much around the house, and you will be picking up the slack. Girl stuff? Hah!”
Davey had been sinking into his chair through all that, while Sherry smirked at his blunder. He was stunned to silence.
“And you can start,” his mom continued, “by making sure that all of your dirty clothes are in your hamper tonight. And your smelly gym shoes. We may be washing your clothes, but we are not your personal maids. We are not here to pick up after you.”
Suddenly, Davey was glad for the half day of school tomorrow. His mom would spend the morning on laundry and the like, then go to her HOWA meeting for a couple of hours. By the end of that, she should be in a better mood than the morning promised.
Despite the dinner table conversation, the rest of the evening was fairly peaceful. He watched some tv with the family, then fooled around on the computer for a while. But he did remember to toss his clothes and shoes *in* the hamper before he went to bed.
The next morning, Sherry got to sleep in while Davey got ready for school. That worked out well for both of them. Since his tests were over, it was a cereal day. He really didn’t mind. He got a quick reminder to watch out for both Wendell and the dean, and his mom said that she would leave a note if she and Sherry were going to be out when he got home.
While he was eating, Sherry got up and headed for the shower. Even though school was out for her, her body was still on school time. By the time she was dressed and headed for the kitchen, Davey and their dad were gone. While she ate breakfast, her mom reminded her about the laundry and then went to take their hamper down to the laundry room. She finished eating and joined her mom, who was well into sorting the parental laundry. Her mom briefly explained what each pile was, then sent her up to her own room to get her hamper. Her mom had her sort about half her laundry, to show that she knew what went where. Then she sent Sherry up to get Davey’s hamper.
Sherry was still annoyed with Davey for the trash thing and some of his comments, so she used the opportunity to set him up for a little trouble of his own. At his computer, she quickly got on the internet and brought up a site she had found. It specialized in images like the one on his screen before: teenage girls in panties and little or nothing else. Let him see how he likes his summer without the net for a week or so!
She grabbed his hamper and then decided to cover the time she had spent. Slipping into the bathroom, she flushed the toilet (which she knew her mom could hear in the laundry room), then took the hamper downstairs.
She needn’t have bothered. While she was gone, Vickie had been sorting the rest of her clothes. She found something unexpected. One pair of panties had an all too familiar residue. She knew it well from her son’s and husband’s underwear: dried semen. She quickly sorted the rest, but did not find any more. She did a quick count, and found that there were not as many pairs of panties as there should have been. She knew that
Sherry had a couple of pairs of hand-wash only fancies, but they were not enough to make up the difference. She was just standing there in shock, holding the incriminating garment and trying to decide what to think, when Sherry returned with Davey’s hamper.
She turned to Sherry. “What do you have to say about *this*?”
Sherry decided to brazen it out. “What about them?”
“Don’t give me that. What is dried semen doing in your panties?”
Sherry thought fast. “Why that little *pervert*!” With that, she turned and rushed back up the stairs. She quickly ducked into her room and grabbed the panties she had put aside to hand wash and a lingerie catalog she had just thrown out, then dashed into Davey’s room. She lifted his pillow and dropped the evidence in its place.
“I don’t *believe* this!” She shouted, just as her mom stepped through the door. “He’s been…I can’t even say it! In MY panties! I’ll *kill* him!”
She tossed the pillow aside, then stepped away to let her mom get to the planted items. Then she sidled over to his desk and “accidentally” bumped the mouse. The screen saver dissolved, showing the incriminating screen. She kept her back to the screen, to make it seem that she didn’t know what was there. When her mom turned to ask her something about the finds, she saw the screen.
“What is *that* doing there? And after what we told him! This is too much!” Gesturing for Sherry to follow her, she went down to the laundry room to put the panties in the correct pile. Then they went to the kitchen. She got herself a cup of coffee, and Sherry got a soda.
“What are we going to do about this? His whole attitude toward girls and women is terrible!”
“Maybe your HOWA friends could figure something out.” Sherry volunteered.
Vicki remembered the books and folder. “Maybe they already have. I need to make a call”
She dialed the phone. “Janet? Vicki. I won’t make the meeting today, but I have a project I think you all will like. Another Tom. Yeah, Davey. I don’t want to get into it on the phone, but a lot of it is his attitudes about women and girls. Yeah. I’m thinking of starting with a week, with the option of extending it through the summer or even into the next school year. Uh huh, the summer school thing could be good. And the ID thing. Listen, I need some help with what I will need to start. This afternoon. Sometime between when he gets home from school and when Glen gets home. Right. I want him ready for that.” She listened for a moment.
“Ok, when will you be over? That will be fine. See you then. Say hi to the girls for me! Bye.” She laughed and hung up.
“Alright, Sherry. We have a lot of work to do. First, we need to finish sorting the laundry and get a load started.”
Sherry groaned.
“You didn’t think you were going to get out of it, did you? Janet will be over in a couple of hours, and then we will go shopping for a few things. I think you’re going to like this.”
“What is going on?”
“How would you like to help teach Davey what is wrong with his attitudes about girls? Really teach him?”
“Sure, but how?”
“By making him live as a girl for a while. Then he can see what it’s like to have people behave that way.”
“What?! But how can you do that?”
“With a lot of help from our friends. We will be taking his clothes and locking them away for the time being. That means that we need to get the loads with his clothes out of the way first. We will give him some clothes to wear, and make it clear that he has no choice. From the time we start changing him to the time your dad gets home, we will teach him how to act like a girl in public. After dinner, we will take “her” out shopping for a few things. That will help make her focus on what she has to learn. Besides, she will need a few things that need to be specially fitted.”
“What about the stuff he has on?”
“When he gets home, he always goes to the pool. Unless he is grounded or something. When he comes home from the pool, I make him take a shower. We can collect things then.”
“Where will we get the clothes?”
“From you.”
“What?!”
“Those things you outgrew. The ones I have been after you to clean out of your closet. Some of those should fit him just fine.”
“You’re not going to give him my underwear? After what he did?”
“No, when we go out shopping we will be getting him his own panties and things. That’s why Janet is coming over. She has done this before, so she can help us get what we will need.”
“She’s done this before? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”
The next two hours were filled with washing and other preparations. They sorted out Sherry’s clothes which might fit him, but decided to wait for Janet’s advice before choosing his first girl outfit. They emptied all but one of his drawers (the one he kept his spare swimsuit in) and his closet. They were just starting to move “her” things in, when the doorbell rang.
Sherry answered the door, greeting Janet with a smile. They joined Vicki upstairs, and soon had things in order. They selected an outfit, a blouse and a very short skirt. Just the kind he liked to look at on girls. They put the outfit in Sherry’s room, left a note for Davey, and went shopping.
This had to be the longest half day of school on record. It started off ok, with the 7th Grade Breakfast. The food was pretty good. The speeches were the same old BS about hope they had a good year and how they should read and junk over the summer. They went on forever, but they really didn’t have to listen, as long as they didn’t make too much noise. Then they passed out the yearbooks. The rest of the day was just getting stuff turned in, lockers and classrooms cleaned out, and other stuff signed and turned in. And in between all that, signing each others’ yearbooks. After walking back and forth all over the school, he was finally done.
School was out for the Summer! He made it! He didn’t even mind walking home with his backpack and the bag of junk from his locker and classes. As he walked past the pool, he caught glimpses of some of the girls who were already there cooling off in their revealing swimsuits. Oh, it was going to be a wonderful summer. As soon as he got home, he was going to grab his trunks and towel and start enjoying himself.
When he got home, there was a note from his mom. It said that she and Sherry were out shopping (big surprise), and he was to be home by 2:00. He grabbed a soda, his trunks, and a towel, and headed to the pool.
After about an hour of swimming, diving, and general wet fun, the lifeguards called Adult Swim. He got out, toweled off, and staked out his favorite spot on the grass. He spread his towel on the gentle slope, then stretched out on it. Part of the reason it was his favorite spot was that just uphill from there was a well used path between the snack bar and the party tables. He had gotten lucky a few times in the past, catching glimpses up the skirts of girls who hadn’t changed into their suits yet.
Today, he got luckier than usual. A group of girls stopped on the path just above him, and he had a clear view of one girl’s stars and stripes patterned thong. He would have gotten away with it, if he hadn’t started absently humming the Star Spangled Banner about the time the conversation hit a lull. She recognized the tune and the significance, and got pissed. When she called him by name, he realized that she was one of his sister’s friends. At first she threatened to step on him. But she realized that would just give him more of a view. Then she threatened to tell his family, and stormed off.
When Adult Swim ended, he dove back in and spent the next half hour gloriously wet. Then he got out and headed for home. It would not be a good idea to start the summer by being late.
Vicki and Sherry had driven up just before he went to the pool. Vicki parked a few houses down and watched for him to leave. After he was around the corner, she pulled in to the garage. They went inside and got to work. They cleared out the remaining drawer, then stocked his underwear drawer with new panties and a couple of slips and a camisole. They folded his cleaned clothes and added them to the locked collection. They also ran the last load of Glen’s clothes through the dryer, and took the rest up to The Parental Suite (as Vicki and Glen sometimes called their bedroom) and put them away. No male clothes would be easily available to Davey.
They had just finished folding the last of Glen’s clothes when they heard Davey come in the front door a whole five minutes early. Vicki called out to him. “Go right up and take a shower. And make sure you shampoo all the chlorine out of your hair.” She walked into the living room with the stack of clothes in her arms. “I’m waiting a load of laundry on that swim suit. When you get out, there will be some things on your bed for you to try on.”
She followed Davey up the stairs, and made sure he went right into the bathroom. She put Glen’s clothes away while she listened for the shower to start running. She knocked briefly on the bathroom door, then went in to fetch the suit and towel. She also collected his clothes from the bathroom floor. She took them downstairs and threw the suit and towel in the washer. She laid out the skirt, blouse, panties, and training bra they had selected on his bed. Then she bagged the dirty clothes and locked them away separately from the clean clothes. She heard the shower water stop, and ducked into her room to wait for him to come out.
“That was close!” he thought. He had barely stepped into the shower when his mom barged into the room and took his stuff. He shrugged, then started soaping himself off as he relaxed under the warm spray. As he rinsed himself off and reached for the shampoo, he started thinking about his view of his sister’s friend. The harder he thought, the harder he got. After rinsing out his hair, he decided he had enough time to take care of his new problem. Besides, if he was trying something on, his mom was going to want to check the fit. He skipped a beat at the thought of her seeing his tented pants. But then his mind went back to the hidden patriotism of Sherry’s friend. He didn’t take long to finish himself off. He rinsed his cum off of himself and the tiles, and turned off the water.
He grabbed a towel and dried himself off. Seeing that all his clothes were gone, he wrapped the towel around his waist for the trip to his room. As he hurried to his room, he didn’t notice the two people following him. At first, he didn’t realize what he was seeing on his bed. Then it hit him. There must be some mistake. These must be for Sherry. “Hey, Mom!” he called out. “You made a mistake.”
“There’s no mistake.” He jumped and turned around at the sound of her voice in his doorway. He lost his smile at the serious look on her face.
“Well, I can’t wear those.” he said. He stepped to his dresser and pulled open a drawer. Then another. And another. His clothes were gone! And there were girls’ clothes in their places. Even his shoes had been replaced with pink and white trainers. “What the hell?”
“Language!”
“Screw my language! Where are my clothes? What are these things doing in my room?”
“Watch your language, or this will go a lot harder on you. I’ll tell you while you get dressed.”
“But I can’t wear *these* things!”
“You can and you will. Now, either you start dressing or we will start dressing you.” Her voice had a deadly seriousness that spoke volumes. Whatever had happened, he knew he was in real trouble.
“But…”
“The only but I want is yours in those. NOW!”
He turned his back, dropped the towel, and hesitantly stepped into the very feminine panties. As he pulled them up, she began.
“Recently, your behavior toward girls has been unacceptable. Your peeking and disrespect were bad enough. But what you did to Sherry’s panties was inexcusable.”
“But I didn’t…” He started.
“Don’t even bother trying to deny it. I know semen when I see it. And we found the pairs under your pillow, along with that lingerie ad.”
“What?”
“Don’t try to play innocent. And then there was this.” She stepped over to his computer and moved the mouse, revealing the pictures Sherry had called up. “You know what we said would happen if we caught you looking at such pages again.”
“But I didn’t…”
“I don’t want to hear it. Now put this on.” She said, handing him the skirt. He stepped into the skirt, pulling it up and fastening it in front like a pair of pants.
“No, that goes in back.” She reached over and tugged the skirt around. Sherry snickered.
“Now the bra.” she said sternly.
“But Mom…”
“NOW!” As he struggled into the unfamiliar harness, she continued. “Since you are going to such lengths to see and handle panties, I have decided to make it easy for you. For the next week, you will be living as a girl.”
“What?! You can’t do that!”
“I can and I am. I have already made arrangements. When you were born, we decided had that if you were a girl we would name you Robin. So for as long as this lasts, that will be your name. By this time tomorrow, Robin will have a pool pass, a school ID and transcript, and other records. Now put on the blouse. I’m sure you can figure that one out.”
Davey started puting on the blouse, and his Mom continued.
“To start with, this will last a week. If, by the end of that time, you have shown me that you have learned your lesson, that will be the end of it. But if you misbehave, days will be added. And we have other measures available. If this lasts long enough, you will be attending Summer School as Robin.”
“That’s impossible! Robin isn’t even a real person!”
“According to the records, she will be real enough. We have people in all the right places to make it happen.”
“But why?”
“We’ve been over that. Now you can feel for yourself what it is like to have boys trying to look up your skirt and touch you. And remember, if anyone does get a good look up there, he will know your secret. And the same is true if someone gets a hand in the wrong place. And just think what could happen if someone got the wrong picture of you somewhere.”
Davey had a horrified look on his face.
“And that’s not all,” Sherry chimed in. “Right now you walk like a boy, talk like a boy, eat like a boy, even stand up and sit down, and pee like a boy. Anyone who sees you doing that will see through you right away.”
“That’s right.” His mom agreed. “For the next couple of hours, we will be teaching you the basics of looking like a girl in public. And after dinner, we will be going out to do some shopping.”
“You expect me to go out in public like this?”
“That is the idea. This wouldn’t do much if you could hide in your room all week. You will be out there, for people to see. If they see a boy in girl’s clothes, that could be very uncomfortable for you. If they see a girl, even a somewhat odd girl, they probably won’t think anything of it.”
“So pay attention while we teach you!” Sherry finished
The next two hours were terrifying but educational. He learned to sit and stand like a girl. How to get in and out of a car like a girl. How to walk in a skirt without giving everyone a show. Even how to pee (ALWAYS sit. Always take some toilet paper and at least pretend to wipe. They won’t see what you are doing then, but they will expect to hear you get the paper).
There wasn’t enough time to teach him how to walk in heels, or how to talk like a girl. They just told him not to try to make his voice too high, and to say as little as possible for the moment.
Davey paid a lot of attention. He knew he would need all that information very soon, and that it would be sink or swim time. They would put a wig and a little makeup on him before they left, but it would mostly be his actions and attitude that would make the difference between passing and humiliation.
Glen was happy to be coming home. It was only Wednesday, but it felt like a long overdue Friday. Two of his executives were going to be quite publicly involved in events which were somewhat at odds with each other, to say the least. One was in a GLBT group participating in a parade and street fair to raise awareness of their issues and raise money for charity. The other was in a coalition of conservative denominations which was holding a rally and carnival to raise money for charity. Both had requested corporate donations and days off. Both sets of charities had been investigated and found to be legitimate, so both requests had been granted. He had spent the day making sure that all parts of the company were reminded of the policies embracing diversity, and that the PR people were up to speed on the situation.
When he walked in the door, the first thing he saw was his son, dressed as a girl. For a second, he was afraid he was having a flashback from work or something. He put down his briefcase, and sighed. “I’ll bite. What is this all about?”
“Mom’s gone nuts. She’s blaming me for things I didn’t even do, and making me spend a week as a girl!”
Vicki gestured Glen into the kitchen, fixed him a drink, and told him about her discoveries and her plan. He wasn’t particularly shocked about Davey’s actions, although the panties could cause some problems. He tried raising some practical objections, and she had answers for all of them. It was clear that she had a lot of help in this, and that it was well planned.
While he was cutting off Davey’s internet access, Glen was thinking hard. He knew that Vicki was prepared for an argument, and that attacking it head-on would not get him anywhere. He also could see that she was so involved in the process of making it happen that she had a kind of momentum that would be hard to fight. What he needed to do was slow things down a little and give her a chance to cool down, without seeming to attack the idea. And then find an indirect way to get her to rethink her plan.
This was as bad as some of the dancing around he needed to do at work. He knew that the first priority was breaking the momentum before it got any worse. He had a good way to do that. He returned to the kitchen.
“You’ve had a busy and stressful day today, it sounds like.”
“You could say that.”
“I’ve got an idea. Why don’t I take you out for a casual, relaxing dinner. Just the two of us. I can order pizza for the kids.”
“But I have to take Davey shopping for some things tonight.”
“Tomorrow will be soon enough for that. You need to relax, before you completely stress out. This is going to be a busy week for you.”
“I guess. I’d better go up and change.”
“You should be fine as you are. We’ll go someplace casual. And maybe get some ice cream or something after.”
He told the kids their plan, and got their pizza preference, while Vicki finished making the salad she had been working on when he asked her out. He went into his den/office to make the call. After ordering the pizza, he made another call. Soon, he had some directions safely stowed in his pocket.
Vicki finished working on the salad, then made a phone call of her own. She let Janet know about the change in plans, and asked her to pass the information on to the others. She agreed, then suggested that tomorrow’s trip include a trip to the beauty parlor for some hair work and maybe even some ear piercing. Vicki agreed, and they said their goodbyes.
She was upstairs fixing her face when the pizza arrived. Davey made sure he was out of sight in the kitchen, while Glen paid for the pizza and tipped the delivery boy. After the door closed, Davey reappeared with a plate and a glass of soda.
As he was loading his plate, she reminded both kids to eat their salad as well. She told him that Sherry would teach him a bit about makeup after they were done eating. Glen rolled his eyes at that. They all said their goodbyes, and the parents left. Davey took his heaping plate of pizza and his soda, and stomped up to his room.
After Davey put the pizza down, he dug out his digital recorder. It could only record about 20 minutes in the good mode, but that should be enough. He put it in a place where he knew she would not notice it. He started a CD playing, and turned down the volume.
“Sherry!”
“What is it now?”
“I need your help!”
“I’ll be there in a minute.”
When he heard her on the stairs, he started the recorder and stepped away from it.
“What is it this time?” she asked, as she strode through the door.
“Why did you do it, Sherry? Why did you frame me?”
“I told you I’d get you back for that trash thing. Besides, Mom recognized the cum stains. If I didn’t make her think they came from you, she’d know I was having sex. She would really freak over that! You were already in trouble, anyway.”
“But why the computer thing?”
“In case she didn’t buy it. She already knew about you and your pervy websites, anyhow. I just used that to make her really sure.”
“What if I tell them?”
“Who do you think they’ll believe? A little perv who’s already in trouble for trying to look up girls’ skirts and computer porn? Or their very responsible daughter, whose worst sin lately was avoiding trash duty? They know you beat off. They know about your sleazy porn sites. It all fits.”
“Just get out of here!”
“Fine. I’ll just tell Mom you were misbehaving while they were gone.”
“I don’t care what lies you tell her! Just GET OUT!” He got up and advanced on her, herding her out the door. Once she was out, he slammed the door. She stomped back downstairs. He got out his recorder and stopped it. He carefully hid the recorder, in case she came back in.
Now the only question was what to do with it. Their parents would hear it, that was for sure. This had to be enough to get his clothes back. Maybe more? He could put parts of it on the net. He could probably even sneak it into that stupid blog of hers.
Just in case, he got the recorder out again and uploaded the recording to his homework folder. Then he hid it again. Since he couldn’t go online, he started up one of his games and got lost in it.
Glen took Vicki to their favorite Casual Dining place. It was a different experience being there without the kids. They ordered a deep fried appetizer, then settled in and enjoyed themselves. By unspoken agreement, they talked about friends, movies, things (and people) they had seen – everything but the kids or what had happened that day. They even split a desert, one of the restraunt’s signature confections. Well fed and relaxed, they prepared to leave.
“I almost hate to go home now,” Vicki sighed.
“Good. We’re not going home yet.” Glen had an odd look in his eyes, a look that usually meant he was up to something interesting.
“Where are we going?”
“Just out for a nightcap and maybe a little dancing. It’s a surprise.”
Try as she might, she couldn’t get him to say anything more about it. He just kept his mysterious smile. After a short drive, they pulled into the parking lot of a somewhat rundown looking bar or club. She couldn’t read the name of the place, but she really wasn’t concerned. When they were first married, some of their favorite places were little more than dives.
Although it took her eyes a few minutes to adjust to the subdued lighting after the brightness of a near-summer evening, she saw that it was a bar, with a scattering of small tables and a bit of a clear spot for dancing. Like the lighting, the tone of the place was subdued, but comfortable. There were a few couples dancing, and more couples and singles sitting at the bar and at their tables. They found a table and ordered their drinks. Glen ordered an iced tea, because he was driving. Vicki ordered a Midori Dacquri.
As they settled in with their drinks, she noticed that there was something about the people there that was making her uncomfortable. Part of it seemed to be an undercurrent she had seen before. They acted like people who were very unhappy with their lives, trying to forget that unhappiness for a while. But there was something more.
She nearly choked on her drink when she figured out what it was. Most of the women there were really men. Some even had beards or mustaches. Even in this subdued lighting, now that her eyes were adjusted, she saw that most of them couldn’t really pass as women to save their lives. It was a, what do you call it? A drag club? Not one of those places with elaborate entertainments, like in that Robin Williams movie. Just a bar where men dressed (badly, in some cases) like women could come, drink, and socialize a bit. A few looked to be in their 20’s, but most looked much older. Some of the men even looked wrong.
Then she saw her. Him. Whatever. Out on the dance floor, was a person who looked a bit like Glen in a wig and dress. And the dress was almost like one of Sherry’s old dresses.
No, not Glen. A grown up Davey. Old, with a face that looked almost completely lifeless.
Glen saw the color drain from her face. He had positioned himself with his back to the dance floor so he could watch her. As the music ended, he asked “What is it?” his voice full of concern. “What do you want?”
“Not that!” she blurted, drawing curious looks from nearby tables. More quietly, “I, … I just want to go home, Glen.”
He nodded, tossed a tip on the table, and took her back to the car. Once they were on their way again, he looked at her again and asked “Are you ok?”
“Yes. No. I don’t know. Look Glen, can we pull over somewhere and just talk?”
“Of course.”
They pulled into the parking lot of a nearby park. While there were some people enjoying the late twilight and the cool air, none of them seemed to pay any attention to them. Vicki just sat there, staring out the window, for what seemed like an hour. Finally, she spoke.
“It wasn’t a good idea, was it?”
Glen knew what she meant. But he also knew she needed to really say it, so he acted confused. “What, going to dinner?”
“No! The thing with Davey. The … the dresses and everything.” She sobbed.
He reached around and hugged her. “No, it really wasn’t,” he gently agreed.
“I saw him there, but he was old and unhappy. Have we …have I really done that to him?”
“Not really. He’s young, and he’s strong, and he’s a good kid, Vicki. I think it would take a lot more than one afternoon to do anything like that to him. We can put it right, and if he does have any problems we can get him help.”
They sat there hugging and watching the activity at the park for a while, until Vicki’s breathing steadied and her tears stopped. Glen started the car and drove them home.
Sherry heard the car pull up, and moved to meet them at the door with a smirk on her face. This was going to be good. As the door started to open, she started “You won’t believe … omygod!” The smirk vanished. “Mom, what happened? Daddy? Are you two ok?”
“We’re fine, Sherry,” Glen answered. “Why don’t you go wait in your room, and we will be there in a bit. We have some things to tell you, but we need to talk to Davey, first.”
Confused, and more than a little afraid, she went up to her room. What was the trouble? Did they have a fight? Was Daddy leaving Mom … leaving us? Was someone sick? Dying? Dead? Whatever it was, it couldn’t be good. Not if it left Mom looking like that.
They slowly went up to Davey’s door. The sounds coming through the door let them know that he was playing some game on his computer. “Probably pretending he’s shooting his sister and me,” Vicki commented, ruefully.
They knocked gently. “Davey, it’s us” Glen said. “Can we come in and talk?”
“There’s no lock.” he replied. As he killed the game, he commented “You’re home early. What happened?” He turned and saw them, as Glen closed the door behind them. Looking at his mom, he repeated “What happened?”
“We … talked about some things, and now we need to talk to you.”
“Oh. K. Before we do, I have something I think you should hear.” He got out the recorder and played the conversation for them. Vicki’s face went from dead white to purple, while Glen’s expression went from surprised to angry, and then to thoughtful.
As he switched off the recorder, he saw his mom sit on his bed. She looked like her legs had collapsed under her. He had expected a reaction, but not THAT much of a reaction. “I had music playing in the background, so you can tell that it wasn’t tampered with.”
Glen got a look of respect. “That was a clever touch. How did you think of that?”
Davey allowed himself a slight grin. “I saw it on some tv show.”
“Hmmm, well, we will be discussing this with Sherry after we are done here. But first,” he glanced at the bed meaningfully, “your mom has some things she wants to say to you.”
She held out her arms, inviting him to sit next to her. When he did so, she hugged him and blurted “Oh, Davey, I am *so* sorry. What we did to you today was very wrong, and we should *not* have done it. Here is the key, and you can get your clothes any time. Your dad will hook up the Internet connection again in a few minutes.”
Davey glanced at the recorder. He had expected a reaction to the recording, but this blew him away!
Vicki saw his glance, and guessed what he was thinking. “No, it wasn’t the recording. This is what we came up to tell you. I fell for some bad advice, and got carried away.” She paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts.
“We have always tried to raise you two to understand that actions have consequences. Your dad just helped me to see some of the possible outcomes of this punishment. I had not really considered all of the likely consequences of my actions. Sherry’s actions will also have consequences of their own,” she continued, looking meaningfully at the recorder, “and you will have some input into some of that.”
She looked at Glen, and back again. “Some of her actions will have more natural consequences, however. We understand that at some time in the future you will become … sexually active … at a time or in a way that you think we would not approve of. We can hope that will be the very distant future,” she gave him a rueful half-smile, “but we know that may not be the case. This is not really the time for such a discussion. You and your dad will have a good long father son chat,” she looked at Glen meaningfully “Very Soon. But the recording brought up a very important point. When you do … start … it is important to let us know. I understand that you might not feel comfortable talking to me about it, especially after today. But your dad is there for you. It can affect a lot of things, especially your visits to the doctor.”
She got a mildly evil smile at that. “Sherry is going to find out about some of that very soon. There are some medical tests that women go through when we become active, and they are not particularly pleasant. She may view it as a punishment, but it isn’t. Most of your tests will be much less uncomfortable. Well, enough of that.”
She stood up. “Why don’t you go get some of your clothes, while your dad hooks the computer back up? After that, you can go watch tv or stay in here and go online or whatever. I will go wash my face, and then your dad and I will have a talk with Sherry. May we borrow this?” She reached for the recorder.
“Sure. I don’t suppose you’ll use it to record your talk with Sherry?”
“No, and we’d rather you did not try to listen. You already know a lot of it anyway. Some parts might get loud, and you will hear those without trying. But she does deserve some semblance of privacy.”
“Rats!” he pretended to snap his fingers. Then he grinned. “Oh, well. It was worth a try.”
They went their separate ways. Soon he was dressed, connected, and online. He grinned at a shriek from Sherry’s room, and the thought of what was going on in there. It had been a bad day, but that was over. And after Sherry’s power trip, he was going to enjoy helping decide her punishment. Too bad girls in boys’ clothes are no big deal.
On the other hand, some parts of the day had possibilities. He wondered how it would really feel to use Sherry’s panties instead of a tissue. And wearing some of those clothes could have some good points. As a disguise, they could let him go places (and see things) he otherwise couldn’t. And dropping one or two in the laundry every now and then could really help extend the old guilt trip. He would have to be careful, though. If he did it too often, they might pack him off to a shrink or something.
Maybe he could get some good ideas from the stories he had found on the web.
END
PublishedÂ
