Girls Just Want To Have Fun
-2-
Iced coffee, Beignets, and Girl Talk

By early afternoon Madeline and I had finished our shopping. The mall was kind of dead, and most of our money was spent. Both Madeline and I were holding off spending any more. Both of us wanted to get something from Subway before hitting the highway again and turning east toward Benton and home. But before Subway we decided on a sweet treat, a little reward for ourselves.

And so we decided to regroup at this small little coffee house called “Cafe Du Monde” . It was located in a far corner of the mall, on the ground level an Gothic Topic was located above it and beside it was a Books-A-Billion. I really liked the place because they had about two tables located in front of the place, where you could sit, sip your coffee and watch the flow of traffic. It was also kind of romantic since it was close to the main fountain of the mall.

Now, I'm something of a coffee aficionado, and Madeline is something of a tea aficionado. But like any good southern girl she enjoys a cup of ice coffee. And what goes better with ice coffee than a steaming platter beignets fresh from the fryer and freshly coated in powdered sugar.

Now some people will call them French Donuts, others will call them mini funnel cakes, I call them a little bit of heaven. There is something about them. And well it's a good thing Madeline and I each ordered a plate, because while I could share many things with her, one thing I could not share, or would not share would be my beignets.

“Hard to believe it's been almost three years.” I said as I peered out on the title covered square. “Three years since my sister talked me into volunteering to be the hostage for our school's homecoming game. Three years since that mental switch was thrown and I decided I wanted to live the rest of my life as a girl.” I said, sighing.

“Four for me.” Madeline said. “I knew something was different when I turned twelve. Though I was having a hard time expressing it. It was a weird time for me. I think I was twelve when I started borrowing cast off clothing from my mom's closet.”

“Wow!” I said, peering at her.

“Then one evening, a few days after Christmas mom caught me dressing up. She'd gone out to dinner with one of her 'boyfriends' as she called them. I think she was hoping this guy would put a ring on her finger or something. Anyway she had gone out for a dinner date and had returned earlier than expected. And caught me posing in one of her dresses. Boy she flew off the handle.” Madeline said as she used her plastic straw to stir her ice coffee and move some of the square ice cubes around her plastic cup.

“I guess she was afraid, afraid that if her new 'boyfriend' caught on to the fact that his future step-son was a 'Goddamn Queer' her words not mine. He would break things off and mom would remain a widow. Her first child had already turned 'Queer' as she often said. She was old school.. despite having been raised in the liberal Episcopal Church, she had taken to drinking the Kool-aid they hand out each Sunday down at the local Baptist Church.” She said, shrugging her shoulders.

“You have a way with words.” I said smiling. “You should become a writer.”

“I've recounted countless ghost stories.” Madeline said grinning. “And published three skinny volumes that were published locally by Gem Publications.” She shrugged her shoulders. “I think together that might have sold well enough to pay for my car.”

“True.” I said smiling. “Keep this up and you might be the next Willie Morris.” I said as I reached over and picked up the still warm donuts. I quickly tossed them into my mouth.

“And if you keep eating like that you're going to be too big for your suit.” Madeline said grinning. “But, now that you mention it, time seems to have flown by. Like it seems only yesterday I was signing up for the dunking booth for the Discover Benton '18 festival. My name was still legally Mark at the time. Though most of the family called me 'Madeline'.” Madeline said with a sigh.

“Hey! I remember that. I saw you staffing the dunking booth. You were wearing an old blue bikini.” I said. “I remember because I was watching from the parking lot of Sunflower. I thought you were totally cool up there. I was kind of working up the courage to go up and try to dunk you. But as soon as I did I was told that your shift ended.” I paused. “So I dunked Robin instead.”

“Yep, that was Benton's introduction to Madeline D. Brewer.” Madeline said laughing. “Man, that was one of the best summers of my life. Kayla kept me in pocket change, I could ride my bike across town. And the local library had thousands of books for me to read. Including a large collection of 'Fear Street' Books. I know they are cheesy. But Lisa never allowed me to read anything by R.L Stine. Nor did she allow me to read any of the 'Hunger Game' books or even come within an inch of the 'Harry Potter' books. She hated them all.” Madeline said with a sigh.

I was a little taken by how causally Madeline called her late mother by her first name. Madeline rarely spoke about her late mother and when she did, it was in a casual throw away tone of voice. Also when she did breach the subject. I would often listen and nod my head. She was a good friend and her ramblings often reminded me that I'd been lucky to have both my mother and father still living and that both had supported me.

“Anyway I read all summer.” Madeline said as she sipped the last bit of coffee from her plastic cup. “Best summer of my life. I want to turn that summer into a book one day. Maybe a novella. Have it published by some big time publishing company up north.”

“Becoming Jamie was hard on me.” I said.

Madeline blinked and turned toward me.

“I mean I grew up in Benton. But I was never popular. Most of my classmates forgot about me. When we would pass out valentines as a class. I would also get left out. None of my classmates seemed to care about me. I was just that small, swollen, brooding boy. My big sister, on the other hand, was always the center of attention.” I said leaning back in my chair.

Madeline nodded her head.

“I really thought volunteering to play the hostage was a dumb idea. Even dumber was Lily's idea of trying to dress me up to be her little sister. It was just so dumb. Then something happened. Something happened that I can't really explain.”

“Try me.” Madeline said.

“A mental switch got flipped. Mom and dad kind of went along with it. I guess they thought it was cute or something. Then, I discovered that as a girl I was popular. Then I discovered as a girl, guys found me attractive. Then as a girl I found out that I had the courage I lacked as a boy. And the more people tried to bully back into being a boy, the more of a girl I wanted to become.” I said with a sigh.

“People hated me for it. Linda, your cousin, wanted me raped.” I said.

“She changed now.” Madeline said quickly.

“I know now there was a lot going on behind the scenes with her. I know now she was being emotionally abused, by her dad and the preacher in town. I know now that she was emotionally neglected growing up.  I even think she was physically abused by the Baptist church.” I said. “While some would say 'Don't blame her for what she did' part of me does, and part of me admires how she's faced those problems head on and has grown beyond them. She not the same Linda that I knew.”

Madeline nodded her head. In understanding.

“Anyway, once the ball got rolling it really got rolling. Now I can't remember ever being a boy.” I said.

“Jamie, what do you want to? Like for a career and stuff.” Madeline said as she peered at me.

“I don't know. I thought about being a nurse. You know we have a new nurse at Benton Academy, her name is Dawn Sharbrough, but we just call her Ms. Sharbrough. She is a nurse and like us she you know.” I don't know why I stopped at that point. I just did.

“Wow. I just made the connection she the same Sharbrough who wrote the Chronicles of Sea Breeze. I never knew that. I might have to sit down and interview her.” Madeline said with a ghost of a smile.

“I guess I wanted to become a Journalist. But then again I don't like the idea of swapping words for rent, groceries, car payments and stuff like that. You know milk money. So I thought about becoming a nurse and writing part time. Hey! Maybe we can both go to nursing school together. Heck we might even end up working at the same hospital and working the same shift! How cool would that be?” Madeline said with a smile.

“I would love to have my best friend working with me.” I paused. And then I decided to ask another question. “So any big writing projects you want to do for the summer? Going to work on a fourth collection of 'Ghost Stories and Urban Legends'?” I asked.

“I don't think so, the last one.. well the sales were a bit lacking. I mean it did okay. But nowhere the number I was hoping for. Once I finished paying for the printing, the binding and all that good stuff. I barely had any money left over. Maybe enough to pay the light bill or get a hamburger from Chucks. That's one reason I'm not keen on swamping words for money. I don't want to end up on the streets or go the Steven King route and send one of my finished manuscripts off to a hopeful publisher typed on the back of overdue rent notices.” Madeline said, laughing a little.

And with that a peaceful silence fell between us.

“I guess we should be going. I think we've hit all the highlights of the mall. Plus, gotta save our money for our trip this weekend.” I said as I stood up and tossed my plastic drink cup into the nearby waste bin. The paper dish that had held my mini donuts followed suit.

“Yep! Subway then home!” Madeline said as she tossed her own plastic cup into the paper waste bin followed by her own plate. Madeline paused though as she turned around and smiled. “Hey! Jamie, have you ever wanted to have your ears pierced?” She asked.

I blinked and raised an eyebrow.

“I guess. Why though?” I asked.

“I just thought of something. Why don't we stop at the Claire's on the upper floor and get our ears pierced. We're both over sixteen now. And it could be like a bonding experience. Plus, I've never, and I mean never been into a Claire's. It's kind of one of those things that is on my bucket list.” Madeline said blushing.

“Sure!” I said smiling. “Let's do that!” With that Madeline and I walked hand in hand toward the lift that would take us to the second floor and from there onto Claire's. I know I've said before, but moments like these, made Madeline more than just my friend. It made her my sister. Not the older sister that had to lord over me and try to direct my footsteps. And not the younger sister, who I had to babysit and shelter and fuss over. But my twin, a sister who was the same age as I. Who could share in my crazy adventures. A sister who would always have my back.

To be continued.