Chapter Two

When I woke up again I took several minutes to get used to my surroundings as all I could hear was the morning chorus. I also had a rush of memories of growing up as a girl in Phoenix and the people I knew. I now remembered my father, a building consultant, and my mother and her accountancy business.

I now knew my full name, Shirley Annette Mary Wilson. My mother always called me Mary as that was what she wanted me to be called but my father always called me Shirley after his own mother. I, on the other hand, was always known as Annie by my friends and school chums. Not having this girls personality to interrogate, I just thought that she had been a bit silly, if not headstrong, to be known by three names. I decided that I would go by Shirley in future and when I looked at my copy of the job application, it was that which had been written.

I finally got out of bed to find I was wearing pyjamas rather than a nightie and went outside to take my first dump as a woman. I recalled that I was supposed to be an outdoors type and was not surprised when I saw a small shovel and a roll of toilet paper by the camper door. I walked into the bushes and dug a hole before dropping the pants and squatting. I had to smile to myself when it came to using the paper. The routine for snipers was to do one up, one down and one to polish so you don’t leave traces of where you had been. I did use a couple extra this morning as well as an extra one for the second outlet I now had. I buried it all and went back to the camper to get some breakfast.

I found some eggs and bacon in the small fridge and there was some bread in a cupboard so I made myself something to eat on the small stove; all the while working through the memories of Shirley that came to mind. I realised that she, or should I say I now, was not a virgin but had no hang-ups about that. I did a short basin wash and got dressed, starting with cotton panties and a sports bra and ending with a pair of jeans and a light jumper as it was still cool. I found some socks and sneakers and then walked around the camper to take inventory. It was a good one with a pull out roof if needed and there was a mountain bike chained to a rack on the back. In the driving area there was a lambs-wool seat cover and the steering wheel also sported a wool wrap. I located the keys and switched the ignition on to see that there was almost a full tank of gas.

I then saw a Nokia mobile phone plugged in to the cigar lighter on charge. Unplugging it I turned it on, finding that I had six unanswered calls. Checking my purse for my diary I saw that I had got here two days ago and all the calls were yesterday – while I was otherwise engaged. I knew that I was not going to write the truth in the diary so just noted ‘Went for bike ride’ and left it at that. Just then the phone buzzed and, when I answered it, my mother was loudly asking why I had not called her yesterday and why I hadn’t answered her calls. I let her rant without saying anything and then, when she was pausing for breathe I said “My phone was dead and on charge and I went for a bike ride before carrying on.” She then raved about my trip being a wild goose chase and that I would soon be home with my tail between my legs, taking on a secretary position in the accountancy firm and marrying that nice Hector who she thought would make a lovely son-in-law.

I waited until she paused again and said “Mother, I am not coming home, even if the interview is a failure. I am sick and tired of you trying to run my life. I am better than a secretary and Hector just wants to get into my pants so he can put another notch on his bedhead. If I’m not there he will be after Yolande next, just mark my words!” And then I hung up on her.

I then got everything cleaned up and stowed away so that I could continue north. As I got into the driving seat the phone buzzed again and when I answered it I heard my father ask me what I had said to upset my mother so much. I told him that I loved them both and appreciated all they had done for me but it was time I tried to live my own life for a change and use the skills I had. He told me that he loved me too and that he would always be there for me if I needed help. He said that he would try to calm my mother down. He had seen how she was trying to control me but was afraid of stepping in. He said he was glad I had finally snapped but not to tell her that. I said “Thank you, Daddy. I just need to go for this and do my own thing. I do love you both but I am tired of being told what to do and who to date. I am not the society girl my mother wants me to be.”

When I hung up it buzzed again almost immediately and it was Yolande on the other end. At this rate I will never be on the road. She asked me why I didn’t answer her calls yesterday and I gave her the same answer about a bike ride. She then went on “Annie, I wanted to ask you if you minded if I started going out with Hector, seeing that your mother seems to want him as a son-in-law.” I told her that Hector was all hers but she had better be prepared to be dumped. “How can you say that, he is madly in love with me” she said. I asked her if he had got her into his bed yet and she admitted that it may be tonight. Dredging up some memory of a conversation with one of Hectors old girlfriends I said “When you are laid out on his bed, offering yourself to him, just run your fingers up the outer right-hand edge of his bedhead. You will find notches there and no, mine is not one of them and never will be. Now, if you run your fingers up the left-hand end you will find more notches. These are the number of other boys that he has entertained in that same bed with him as the girl. Don’t say I haven’t warned you.” I hung up on her wail of anguish and started the camper.

I got back on the highway heading north and was smiling at the thought of what Hector would do when confronted by a raging Yolande, a girl who normally took no prisoners. I was thinking to myself that this being a girl was far more about relationships than I had ever experienced before. I glanced at myself in the rear vision mirror (which was angled so I could see myself as it was useless to see behind me) and saw that I was really quite pretty, even without make-up, and had shoulder length blonde hair that I realised needed brushing out. This was another thing that the old, bald, me had never needed to do. I pulled over, rummaged in my bag for a brush and remedied the situation before adding a little lipstick and mascara to see a new me emerge.

I took another three days driving north with a night at Pismo Beach and another at Salinas. I left the phone off the whole time so I could properly integrate my Shirley with my old Marvin personality, experiences and knowledge. On the way I read through her diary and when I was connected to power I had a good look at her laptop and the emails it contained. What I found was that Shirley had been a selfish user of her family and friends. She obeyed her mother only when there was something in it for her and the camper was a gift from her father to try and get her out of the house and on her bike.

From her emails I deduced that there was a chap she was bedding regularly at college and that she had actually planned to pick him up during the week to go with him to Mexico and laze in the sunshine smoking weed. She had only applied for the interview because her lecturer had forced her and because it gave her an excuse to load up the camper with her stuff before supposedly setting off for Silicon Valley. If the aliens plan had been carried out as they wanted it would never have worked as she was not committed to a career anyway, even if she was a brilliant programmer. At the campsite at Salinas they had a bonfire of old leaves and branches so I stood by it and tossed the diary in to see it burn. The old Shirley was no more and she now had the determination of a twenty five year veteran.

I arrived at my destination at Sylvan Park where I found a camping site with power and set myself up. Making sure I had locked the camper I got the bike off the rack and cycled out of the park to get something to eat. Back at the camper I set everything out for the morning; a nice dress and the correct underwear and shoes, plus my resume. I took myself to bed early and was kept awake for a while by the unusual roar of traffic on the nearby expressway. Tomorrow would see if the plan would be able to work.

I was up and washed, dressed, made-up and ready to roll after I had closed down the site. If the interview went well or badly I was not coming back here. I drove to Hacker Way and my appointment with a mixture of worry and elation. Here I was, able to drive past my old employer knowing that they will have already replaced me and wondering what would happen to my estate as I had not written a new will since leaving the army and the beneficiary on that one was my mother. I suppose they would track down any distant relatives and share the proceeds out to them.

Arriving at the interview building I parked the camper in the visitor area and locked it before taking a look at myself in my compact mirror and striding up to the main doors. Going in I presented my interview letter to the receptionist who got me a visitor badge and told me to go and sit down as someone would be coming to take me to the office. I sat for ten minutes before a tall dark and handsome man come over and introduced himself as Roland and that he was not only my guide but would also be my interviewer.

Marianne G 2020