Halloween — Chapter 2

October 24, 1976

As soon as I came in the door, I heard my Mom calling from the kitchen.

“John, honey, is that you?”

“Yes, Mom,” I yelled, “I’m going up to my room to do my homework.”

“John, can you come hear for a second, I need to talk to you.”

I immediately knew that my packages must have arrived. As I walked down the hallway into the kitchen I realized that I should have told my Mom about my purchases. I guess I knew that I’d eventually have to tell her but I just never got around to talking to her.

“John, you received a few packages in the mail today. Do you want to tell me about them?”

“There just for Halloween, Mom,” I replied, “I just wanted to get a few things for my costume for Janet’s Halloween party next week.”

“Well, it looks like I’m not going to get to help you from the looks of those packages. You have one from Strawbridge & Clothier; one from Wigs International; and one from some foam company. What is your costume this year if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I was hoping that I would get a chance to talk to you before they arrived,” I whispered, “but, you were always too busy. And I still want you to help me because I want to dress as a girl again.”

“Oh, I’m so glad!,” she replied, “I’ve had so much fun these past few Halloweens and I was worried that you wouldn’t want me to help you anymore. But if that’s the case then what have you ordered?”

“Well, I hope you don’t take this the wrong way but I bought a skirt and a blouse, a wig and some foam to make some padding.”

“What do you mean about taking it the wrong way?” my mother replied.

“Well, I was worried that you would think that I was weird for buying my own girl’s clothes.”

“I don’t think it’s weird that you are buying clothes for a Halloween costume. They will probably fit better than mine now that you are 17 years old. The clothes are just for Halloween, aren’t they?”

“Yes, they are just for Halloween!. And don’t take this the wrong way,” I laughed, “but I wanted to wear something that was more age appropriate. I sort of felt silly wearing your clothes; not that you don’t have a wonderful wardrobe of stylish clothes.”

“Oh, my God!” mother laughed, “I never even thought that my clothes wouldn’t be perfect for you. I thought I was pretty stylish.”

“You are, Mom. But you are stylish for a 42 year old woman. I am 17 years old and I want to look younger. And by the way, I ordered another wig that I also think is a better style for someone my age.”

“I’d love to see what you ordered,” Mom replied, “but do you want to go up to your room in case your brothers come in?”

“Definitely,” I smiled, “Can you grab one of the packages?”

Five minutes later we were upstairs in my room with the door locked and I was opening up the packages. I opened up the wig package first I slowly pulled out a long layered auburn wig with a shaggy front. After shaking it out I turned to my mother and said, “I think this style is closer to what you see on girls my age. What do you think?”

“It’s beautiful and I love the ash highlights. Why don’t you show me the skirt and blouse?”

Opening the package from Strawbridge & Clothier, I pulled out a flowery peasant skirt that fell to about mid-calf and a cotton blouse with puffed sleeves and wide tie at the back. They were just what I wanted; exactly the type of clothes that the girls in my classes were wearing.

“What do you think, Mom? I think they’re perfect.”

“They’re beautiful and I know the perfect shoes you can wear with them. You didn’t buy your own shoes, did you?”

“No, I was hoping that I could borrow a pair of shoes as well as some stockings and lingerie,” I replied sheepishly.

“That’s no problem, honey. You’ve been borrowing my things every Halloween for the past 6 years. But what’s with the other package; the foam?”

“Well, that’s a little more difficult to explain.”

“What can be more difficult? Here we are looking at your new wig, skirt and blouse. I can’t imagine a bigger surprise.”

“Well, Mom,” I sighed, “The foam is to make me look more realistic. In the past I may have worn your bra but we just stuffed it with stocks. It looked pretty comical. I’d like my chest to look more realistic; like I have breasts. And the blouse is fairly sheer so whatever bra I wear will be visible and I want to appear natural. Also, with my skinny hips I will look silly in the skirt unless I can add some padding to my hips. The foam can be cut to make more natural breasts and padding for my hips.”

“You’ve certainly given this a lot of thought,” Mom replied, “But there’s something your not telling me, isn’t there? You couldn’t have come up with all of this on your own. How did you learn about all of this?”

“Well, that is the real part that I meant was difficult to explain,” I began. “A few months ago, I was downtown in Philly with Michael and David and I saw a few girls going into a bar. I could tell they were really guys but they really looked great, like real girls. To make a long story short, I went into the bar and spoke with them and they told me about ordering clothes from catalogs and getting padding to look more realistic.”

“Did Michael and David go in with you?”

“Definitely not, Mom,” I whispered. “I don’t want them to know that it was my idea to dress up as a girl for Halloween. I’ve told them that you really wanted me to and that I only really do it to please you. I went in a few weeks later when I was able to go downtown by myself.”

“Well, we really need to talk about this. You are way too young to be going into bars in downtown Philadelphia. What kind of a bar was it? Was it a gay bar?”

“I think it was a gay bar but the girls told me that it was the only bar that girls like them could go and relax. It’s called the “Velvet Underground” and it’s on 13th street at Arch.”

“Honey, I don’t want you going to that bar again without me. If you want to learn anything else from those girls then I am going to insist that I go with you. It seems they helped you with Halloween this year but I can’t think of any other reason for you to go there. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

“Yes, Mom,” I sighed. “I don’t have any reason to go back there again.”

“And you understand that if there is a reason to go,” Mom replied, “that you will bring me with you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Mom,” I responded without looking at her, “but there won’t be a reason to go there again. Ever! It was just for this Halloween.”