The Interview — Part II
By Barbara Lynn Terry

I sat in the kitchen, after getting home. I made myself a cup of tea, and just thought about what had happened today. I applied for work as a waitress, dressed as a woman. The manager liked my attitude and hired me, telling me I start in the morning. Since I started at six A.M., I went in my bedroom, and set my alarm clock. Then I took out my uniform from the package, and put it on the back of my chair, very neatly, so as not to wrinkle it.

Then I went in the bathroom, and took off my makeup. After making sure there were no traces left, I went to get out of the clothes I was wearing, and put on my Mickey Mouse ® pajamas. I had always liked the original Mickey Mouse Club ® ©, after I had seen reruns on the Disney channel. I hung up my dress and blouse, and put my underthings in my laundry bag, that I used for the Laundromat, when I had things I needed to wash. My mother washed all my male clothes, but I made sure I washed all my female ones. As I got back to the kitchen table, mom came in.

“Hi mom,” I said giving her a nice hug.

“All right, what did you do, that you have to give me a hug?”

“Nothing mother. Can’t I give my mother a nice hug?”

“I suppose,” she said, not believing I didn’t have an ulterior motive.

“Would you like a cup of tea, or coffee, mother?”

“Yes Jodie, that would be nice. Tea, with two sugars, and a little milk, please. Now let me see here. I come home from work, my son gives me a nice hug, and offers to make me tea. So, tell me Jodie, just what have you done, that I may or may not disapprove of?”

Mother had long since stop noticing my girlish walk and mannerisms. So I just kept preparing mother’s tea, and then sat down to finish my own. My mother was exactly the same height as me, except she had fiery red hair, and hazel eyes.

“Why thank you, Jodie. That is nice of you to make me tea. I sense there is something you’re not telling me, though.”

“Mother, trust me, and I will make everything clear in the morning. I set my alarm for four thirty, because I have to be to work at six. I guess I am just happy that I got a job today, so I figured I’d celebrate by helping my mother relax.”

“You got a job? That’s good. Where at, and doing what?”

“I’ll be waiting tables at the Copper Kettle on fifth street. The manager, Vickie says she goes in by where you work for a perm, whenever she needs one.”

“Yes, I know Vickie. I give her, her perms. I’ll have to come in sometime, just to see what kind of a waiter you really are.” She was smiling when she said that. “I’m only joking Jodie. I know you are going to do very good.”

Whooo boy, was I trying hard not to be discovered; well at least not right now, or mother would have me up all night just talking. I couldn’t stay up all night, because I had to be to work at six. We finished our tea, and mother said it was time for her to go to bed. After she had cleaned up, and gotten into her nightgown, she got in bed, and was asleep in what seemed like seconds.

I rinsed out the cups, and set them in the sink. I would do them in the morning, before I left for the restaurant. I then put cold cream on my face, and let it soak in for a few minutes, then I rinsed it off. It gets all the oily shine off your face, and cleans your pores out. Then I got in bed, and went right to sleep.

Part II--Jodie’s Mother Discovers Her “Daughter”

The alarm went off right at four thirty. I swung my feet out of bed, and stepped into my slippers. I went in the bathroom, and did what I had to do, and then ran my bath water. I put in some rose scented bubble bath, and then went to get out my underthings. I knew that while I was in the bathroom, mother would be just getting up.

I sat there relaxing in the suds, when mother, unabashed, came in and sat on the toilet. When she was through, she went back in the kitchen. My mother has never used the toilet, while I was taking a bath before. Was this a test to see if I would stare at her? Or did my mother kind of suspect something about my job? I guess I’ll find out shortly, because I washed all over, and rinsed off with the shower head. I patted myself dry, and wrapped the towel around me, like I had seen my mother do many times.

I went into my bedroom, closed the door, and got ready for work. Today my underthings were just simple white, and as I sat there in them, I applied my makeup. I used the same routine I used yesterday, except that I didn’t use lilac, I used a soft rose color for my eyelids, black eyeliner, black mascara, and I had put my hair up almost the same way as I did yesterday. I looked in my mirror, and what I could see, I was ready.

I walked out into the kitchen, and my mother was sitting at the table, drinking a cup of tea, and having a piece of jelly toast.

“Good morning, mother,” I said giving her a nice hug.

“Good morning, dear. You look very nice in that uniform. Vickie is a very nice lady, Jodie, so you be sure and listen to her. She will make sure that you are trained properly. When you get home tonight, we need to talk some about things.”

“About this, mother,” I said, making a sweeping motion over my uniform.

“Well, kinda, but not so it would embarrass you. I just want to make a few suggestions. If you go for them, then you won’t have to worry about who you are. You have always taken after me, and I am very glad you did. But don’t worry though, because our talk tonight isn’t anything bad. I just want to make sure that this is what you really want, and if it is, I have a few suggestions for you. All right?”

“All right, mother. Hey I have to get going. I don’t want to be late, on my first day. See you tonight, mother.” I gave her a very sweet hug, and left for work.

“Jodie? Tonight I will help you with your hair, so it looks a little better.”

“All right, mother. I love you,” I said as I walked out the door.

Part III – All Right, So What Did I Get Myself Into?

As I walked to the bus stop a block away, I thought to myself, ‘all mother did was tell me I looked nice in my uniform’. Like I said before, did I actually create this girl I look like, or has she been there all the time? Mother didn’t seem surprised to see me dressed in a waitress uniform. Had she known all along, when I didn’t, that I was really a female deep inside? I mean, even though I had been offered a spot on the football, basketball, and soccer teams at school, I had turned them down. I was more of a volleyball, tennis, golf, and chess person, than I was rough and tumble. Had I instinctively turned away from violent sports, for the more gentle ones? Like I said before, ‘nothing in this world, ever comes easy’.

I got off of the bus, and walked the half a block to the restaurant. Vickie saw me come in, and she came over to me.

“Good morning, Jodie. I’m putting you with Gina today, and she will show you how to be a good waitress. She is my best worker, so you listen to her.”

“I will, ma’am.”

“Oh just call me Vickie, everyone does, and I would rather have it that way. I have never been a very formal person.”

“All right, Vickie, I will listen to what she has to say. My mother told me she knows you, from the beauty parlor, and she told me that you are very nice, and that you will make sure I am trained right, so I am to listen to you. My mother is right though. This is my very first job, and I want to do good.”

“Like I said yesterday, you have the right attitude, and that is why I hired you. What is your mother’s first name?”

“They call her Madge at the beauty parlor.”

“Oh I know Madge! She does my hair every time I go there. I’ll be sure to give her a progress report on you, young lady.” We both giggled and she introduced me to Gina.

“Gina,” Vickie said, "this is Jodie, and she is starting today. Make sure you train her right, because I want this young lady to succeed. She could even be a manager in her own restaurant someday.”

“All right, Vickie,” Gina replied.

Gina was just a nth of an inch shorter than me, and had a better figure. Her sun blonde hair was immaculate, with not a hair out of place. She had it set in a braided style, that she clipped behind her head, and she wore just light, and very basic makeup.

There is a waitress station, over by the water glasses, and so are the menus. We wait there, until a customer comes in. When the first customer came in, she told me she wanted me to wait on them, and she would be right there to help, if I needed it.

I filled a glass of water, and grabbed a menu. I went over to the table, and greeted the customer.

“Good morning, sir. May I take your order?” I asked, as I set the glass of water in front of him.

“Yes, young lady, you may. I’ll have light toast, two eggs over easy, and two strips of very crisp bacon. I will have a large orange juice, and coffee.”

“Thank you sir, your order will be up shortly.”

Gina told me to serve the orange juice, and the coffee immediately, because it gave them something to do, while they waited for their order. I poured the juice and the coffee, and took it over to the man. He sat back a little, when I set the drinks in front of him. Then I went back to the “bar” as we call it; that’s the shelf the cook puts the orders to be served on. The man’s order was “up”. I took it and served it to him, from his right side. I got an approving nod form Gina.

When I went back to the station, Gina said she was very proud of the way I had served this particular customer, because he was a very fussy man. Some of the waitresses didn’t want to wait on him, and Vickie has had to have him sit at the counter more than once.

Then a family came in, and Gina said she would wait on them. I asked her to let me try, and she said all right.

“Good morning, my name is Jodie, and may I take your orders?” I had set down a glass of water in front of each of them. The little girl was the choosy one, though. It seemed she couldn't make up her mind. I just stood there waiting, and smiling inward. I guess Gina noticed this, gave me the thumbs up.

It went like this all day long, and finally it was time to go home. I felt I had walked a marathon in these heels, and even though they were flat, my feet still hurt after a full day’s work.

Vickie came over to me, as I was about to leave.

“Gina said you did really well today, and she also said you have a natural instinct on how to patiently wait for a child to make up his or her mind. That is the sign of a good waitress. Good night, Jodie. See you in the morning.”

I said good night, and left for home. The minute I got in the door, I stepped out of my shoes. I started the tea pot going, and went to take my makeup off. I got out of my uniform, and then into my pajamas. I wasn’t going anywhere, because my feet really hurt.

When my tea water was done, I poured it over the tea bag, and sat down, with my feet on another kitchen chair. I had seen my mother do this a thousand times, and I remembered that she used the white basin in the bathroom to soak her feet in, after she had been in her shoes all day.

I went to get the basin, and poured some Epsom salts in, and just sat there and relaxed, with my tea. My mother came in, and saw me soaking in the basin, and she smiled.

“I see my little girl has had a very busy day today. I want to use the basin, when you are finished. How did work go today?”

“It went very good, mother. Gina was the one who trained me today, and she let me keep most of our tips. Vickie said that Gina told her I had a natural instinct on how to wait patiently for a child to make up his or her mind. Vickie said that is the sign of a good waitress.”

“And it is too, young lady. Seems you have done very well. As you get more and more experience, the job will seem like you were born to it. It is not very easy sometimes, to wait on the public. Now, Since we are here, we do need to talk. I have some things I want to know, and none of them are bad. By the way, Vickie called me at work today, and told me how well you actually did. All right Jodie, what I want to know is this. Since you have been accepted as a woman, and hired as a woman, is this something you want for the rest of your life?”

“Yes mother. You know I was never too good for ‘boy’ things. I always shied away from violent sports at school, and always wanted to live the softer life. Yes mother, being a woman for the rest of my life, is exactly what I want.”

“Would you hesitate to see a therapist, just to rule out any mental illness?”

“No mother, I would not hesitate.”

“Good. I will see who I can make an appointment with. When this therapist tells us that you are all right mentally, would you like to take female hormones to develop like a woman?”

“Yes mother, I would love to be able to develop like the woman I am.”

“Now for the most important question of all. Would you want to go through the surgeries, to become female on the outside?”

I cleared my throat, when I said, “oh yes mother, I would love that most of all.”

“All right then, tomorrow while you are at work, I will see who we can get you an appointment with. Then we can go to Dr. Joan, and get you started on hormones. Be sure to tell the therapist that you need his or her recommendation, on his or her letterhead for your doctor, so you can start on hormones, right away. I will remind you of this when it is time for the appointment.”

I started to cry, and mother came over and put her arms around me, in a protective clutch. “Honey, you go right ahead and cry. We women cry when we are happy, sad, or just for nothing sometimes. So you go right and cry, because you’re a woman now, and you have every right to cry. “

We went into the living room, and sat on the couch. I must have fallen asleep, because when I woke up, mother was just coming to get me for dinner. She had made a fat free meal tonight, with skinless chicken breast, green beans, salad, and for dessert, a nice fat free chocolate cake.

“I figured since you are my daughter, you will find out how we women eat. A lot of times, we have to sacrifice our tastes, for that of keeping our figure. Do you know how to exfoliate your face?”

“Yes mother, I do. I do it every night, and I make sure that my pores are open and clean.”

“What are you using?”

“I’m using the cold cream, after I have thoroughly washed my face.”

“That’s my girl. From what I seen this morning, there isn’t much I really need to teach you. You are a natural for the pretty girl that you are, and always have been.” We gave each other a big hug, and then we started on the dishes. This was nothing new, though, because we always did the dishes together. After we put the dishes away, we went to watch television. My favorite channel was the Disney ® channel, and I loved the shows they had. After a bit, I said I had to go to bed, and gave mother a hug good night.

“Good night, mother. I love you.”

“Good night, dear. I love you, too.”

The next morning, after I had gotten to work, Vickie told me that my mother made an appointment for me to see the doctor, for a physical. Vickie said that was good, because I would have had to take one soon anyway. On the same day as I had my appointment with the therapist, I had an appointment with Dr. Joan, to get my hormones, and have a physical exam done.

This work day was just like yesterday. I waited on the same man, and was told he was a very regular customer, and came in for breakfast, and dinner. Three o’clock came very quickly, and it was time to go to the therapist. Mother said she would go with me, and was waiting at the counter, when I was ready to leave.

“Now this therapist’s name is Jaime, and she is waiting to see you. She said if she is satisfied, that you want to be female for the rest of your life, then she will give you a letter to Dr. Joan. Dr. Joan is going to give you a physical, and prescribe your hormones for you. Then we need to go shopping, because as of today, you will be required to dress, act, and work as a female for one year. They call this the real life test. Then after the real life test, and everything is all right, and you still want to go through with this, a surgery date is set. Do you understand?”

I nodded, and when I was called into Jaime’s office, I got up as femininely as possible, and walked toward her. She told me that she has many transsexual clients, and that I was by far, the most feminine. After she asked me a bunch of questions, and I answered them, she told me she thought I would make a very good woman, so she cleared me to get my hormones, and set up a regular schedule to see her. That is because a therapist is necessary during the physical transition.

We left Jaime’s office, and then went straight to Dr. Joan. Dr. Joan gave me a full physical, and then told me everything was fine, and she put it her in her report, and changed my records from male to female. This was so that nobody else would know of my secret, except Dr. Joan, her staff, my mother, and me. Not even Vickie would know, unless I told her.

When we left Dr. Joan’s office, we went to three stores that sell ladies clothes. The first one specialized is lingerie, and we bought all kinds of slips, both half and full, twenty pairs of panties (mother went nuts when she found out they were on sale), several pairs of regular nylon stockings, a few pairs of pantyhose, eight bras, and five camisoles. I had enough lingerie to last me a lifetime.

Then we went to the second store, and they sold skirts, dresses, blouses, and even night wear, that wasn’t a peingoir, or frilly teddy.

Mother bought me five skirts of different styles and colors. The first skirt was a burgundy A-line, that came to just above my knees. The second one was a gold flared out, with pleats. I didn’t think women wore pleated skirts anymore, but this store sold them. The third was what is called a pencil skirt, in black, and it looked like I was a bean pole. I decided against this one, in favour of a fourth dress. Mother said it would be all right.

Then we looked in the dress section, and bought four dresses. One was peach, the second was cream, the third was burgundy, and the fourth was actually a rose colored party dress. All the dresses were nice, and I liked them. They all came to just above my knees. Then she said we had one more store to go to. We went to a medical supply store, and mother told me we were going to buy some breast forms they used on women who had breast cancer surgery. When we pick out a size "C", she had the attendant place them on my chest, with a permanent medical adhesive. I was told this adhesive would last at least four months, but maybe even six or seven, depending on if I sweat a lot. I told her that I didn't

When we got home, after going to the shoe store, mother gave me my first dose of female hormones. I was on my way officially now, as my mother’s daughter, and since my name was Jodie Lynn, I didn’t need a name change. I am going to be the girl I have always been, with mother’s approval. Maybe things in this world are easy, after all.