The Princess and the Plague (Life after Camp Kumoni) By Anistasia Allread Edited by Nick B “Whoa, freaky,” his mom gasped. “Gee thanks mom,” Erika scoffed.

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Eric swung a bat, then traded it for another and swung that one. Other than playing softball at camp, he hardly ever took part in this kind of activity. When he was eight, he had been on a T-ball team. He hadn’t been any good. As usual, he was too weird, too uncoordinated and too immature to enjoy the game.

“Find a good one?” his dad asked coming out of the building.

“I guess so.”

“Here, take this.” His dad handed him a card that read ‘Sluggers’.

“What’s this?” Eric asked.

“It’s a prepaid card,” his dad hefted a bat. “This place isn’t very far from your school, so I figured if you got a bit stressed and needed to hit something, you could, you know, come here and whack at some balls.”

“Uh, thanks dad.” Eric didn’t know what to say. He stuck the card into his pocket and settled the helmet on his head.

“I’m too out of practice and too old to try fast pitch just yet. Shall we try the soft ball cage?” his father asked.

“Sure.” Eric followed his dad around the large cage to the slow pitch cages.

“How are things going at school?” his dad asked settling into a batting stance.

“Fine I guess.” Eric shrugged even though his dad’s back was turned to him.

The yellow ball was lobbed. His dad swung and missed, “Your mom says that you’ve been having a hard time.”

Eric groaned inwardly. This was what the ‘guy time’ was about. Dad concerned about Eric fitting in at school. “It’s no big deal,” he stated.

“It’s a big deal when you’re too worried about bullies to concentrate on your school work.” His dad swung at another ball catching a corner, but the yellow ball slapped the ground and bounced into the cage behind him. “You know I was picked on when I was around your age too.” His dad choked up on the bat.

Eric had heard this lecture and story so many times, that he muttered the words under his breath as his dad launched into his spiel.

Yes, yes, Eric thought. I’ve got to get some confidence and stand up to the bullies, show them that I’m not scared. Force them to back down. I got it, I got it. Boy did I ever get it. Does he have any idea how much duct tape hurts when it is ripped off your balls?

His dad stood up out of his crouch and stepped back and gestured for Eric to take his turn.

Eric stood in the batter’s box resting the bat on his shoulder.

“You’ve got to get down into a good crouch, put all of your weight on your back foot and be ready to shift it on to your front foot as you follow through,” his dad instructed from outside the cage.

Eric saw the light come on at the machine and did what his dad had told him, as he swung at the ball. The bat vibrated as it connected with the ball sending it against the far side of the cage.

His dad beamed. “See? What did I tell you? Nice hit.”

Eric didn’t have the heart to inform his dad that he had been on one of the winning softball teams at camp.

“What I guess I’m saying is that if you are willing to go through with it, that I’d be willing to pay for some self-defense classes. I have a friend who is a black belt in judo or something like that. I’d bet he’d be willing to show you a few moves to —you know, protect yourself.”

Eric swung at the ball imagining it was his dad’s friend’s head and sent it out over the machines.

“Good hit, son,” he encouraged. “I’m sure if you liked it, and you set your mind to it, you could probably earn a black belt in karate or something.”

Or end up getting my ass kicked in a sparring match by an eight-year-old kid, Eric thought.

“I’m doing okay so far this year, Dad.” He swung and chopped a ball right, “No one is picking on me so far. In fact, I’ve been making friends.”

“That’s good to hear.” His dad’s voice held doubt. “I still think it would be a good idea if you were to take some self-defense classes after school.”

Eric’s heart skipped a beat. A yellow softball hit the ground behind him as he swallowed. “I’ve kind of joined a club at school,” Eric tossed out. He wracked his brain trying to figure out what to tell his dad; anything but rally squad. If his parents knew about rally squad, they’d want to pick him up from practice and start going to the games to watch. They would know he’d been transforming into Erika.

“Oh? What club did you join?” His father sounded interested.

“It’s a journalism, political cartoonist club,” Eric made up.

His dad nodded. “You do like to draw.”

Eric dug himself deeper. “Since it is the beginning of the school year, we are meeting every day after school, to get a jump on our project.”

“Sounds like a big and important project. Still, I’m sure they can let you miss one meeting a week to learn some karate, or kung fu.”

“I don’t know.” Eric swung at a ball and missed. “I’ll ask though.”

“Great! Tell your mom what kind of classes you want to take, and she’ll set them up.”

Eric swallowed a lump. “Thanks dad.”

The two of them moved up to a slow pitch hard ball cage to swing at some more balls.

His dad tipped his head. “Check out the skirt.” He said under his breath. For Eric’s ears only.

Eric turned and saw a pretty young lady. The skirt was indeed quite cute, but Eric felt that he as Erika could wear it better than she did, and the shoes she picked to wear with it were hideous. How could she walk out of the house wearing those god-awful things with such a nice skirt?

“You should go ask her if she wants to hit a few balls.”

“Yeah, right dad.” Eric scoffed.

“I’m serious. Go on.”

Eric gave his dad a long hard look, his dad returned it. Eric shrugged his shoulders and slowly walked towards the girl, wondering what he could possibly say to her.

She had dark hair that had been highlighted, which she wore very straight.

“Hi.” Eric managed.

The girl turned to see him. “Hi,” she returned.

“That is a cute skirt, where did you find it?” Eric asked.

“Macy’s.” She turned away and suppressed a giggle.

“I was hitting some balls over in the cages and wondered if you might want to try a few?”

The girl giggled and looked up as a large guy approached.

“What are you doing speaking to my girlfriend, plague?” Todd demanded. Todd was one of the largest players on the football team that was to protect the quarterback.

“I was just making conversation.” Eric forced a smile.

“He’s ‘The Plague’?” the girl asked.

“The one and only,” Todd said as if presenting an anomaly. “Get out of here and don’t ever talk to her again.”

“Sorry,” Eric apologized. He turned to walk away as Todd spat at him.

Eric’s face was red with rage as he approached his dad.

“Sorry, Eric, I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.”

“Can we go?” Eric growled.

“Don’t you want to hit a few more?”

“No. I want to go home.”

“Alright, don’t get your panties in a bunch. Let’s grab some lunch before we head home,” his dad suggested.

Eric couldn’t help wondering if his panties were in a bunch. They didn’t feel like it. They still felt soft and cozy next to his skin.

They picked up some burgers on the way and devoured the fries before they pulled into the driveway.

After eating their sandwiches, Eric escaped up to his room. He logged on to his computer and shifted through his email.

Hey Erika,

I hope school is going as well for you as it is me. Thanks to your incredible drawings, I’ve been able to write a lot. My friends who have seen the story and your drawings are all impressed. I wish there was a way that we could get together and talk. I think our school plays yours the second to last game of the season. Maybe we could hook up then. I’ll buy you a latte or something and we can catch up.

Let me know what’s going on with you. Missing you bunches,

Matt

Eric smiled. Erika will have to write Matt a long email detailing the trials and tribulations of a teenage girl when she had more time.

She scrolled down.

What’s up girlfriend?

Derek and I are doing well. Our parents approve so much of one another that we are allowed to get together almost every weekend. He is sooo great!

His mom is so cool! She has some of the best tips and ideas for us midgets on how to do things. Derek’s dad built her whole kitchen so that everything was easy for her to work with. We don’t have to stand on step stools to cook or even to wash our hands. It’s amazing. Even the bathroom is scaled down for us.

Derek’s dad is taking us to a comic book convention next week. I’ve never been before, I’m a bit nervous. Isn’t there like a whole lot of geeks at those things? Derek seems all excited about it, so it should be fun.

What’s going on with my Lavender Lady friends?
Write soon,

Dani

A soft knock came at the door.

“Yes?” Eric answered.

The door opened and his mother poked her head in, “Your dad is gone. You need to get ready for Dr. Barts. She said she wanted to meet you as… you know. Do you have clothes and makeup and stuff?”

“Yes.” Eric blushed. “I’ve got it taken care of. Thanks mom.” He signed off his computer.

“I’ll be downstairs.” She closed the door.

Eric pulled out the outfit he had hung in the closet last night and dug the other things out of his duffle and went into the bathroom.

---o0o---

Erika checked her face one last time in the mirror and applied a touch more lip gloss. She stood back and admired the blue and white floral sun dress and short, white knit sweater that went over the top. She slipped into her light-colored flats and deposited the tube of gloss into her purse before walking downstairs.

“Ready mom,” she sang as she descended.

“Whoa, freaky,” his mom gasped.

“Gee thanks mom,” Erika sneered, somewhat put out at the reaction.

“No, I mean, that it’s freaky because looking at you is like me looking in the mirror but twenty years ago.”

Erika stepped off the last step.

“Thanks mom.” She smiled, went up to her mother and kissed her on the cheek.

“Uh, we should be going,” Mrs. Martin stated slightly embarrassed, grabbing her purse.

The ride in the car to Dr. Barts was a bit awkward. Erika’s mother kept stealing silent looks at her son/daughter.

“Where did you get the clothes?” she asked.

“The girls from camp loaned them to me.” Erika smoothed the wrinkles out of her skirt.

“That was nice.” Her mother didn’t sound convinced.

Erika took her mother’s arm as they walked across the parking lot to Dr. Barts’ office. While her mother checked her in, Erika picked up a Cosmo and seated herself in a chair, crossing her legs. She looked up from her magazine as her mother turned and looked at her strangely. Mrs. Martin shook her head as if to clear a thought and sat down next to her *son*.

A few minutes later Dr. Barts called from the door, “Erika?”

Erika smoothly stood up placed the Cosmo on the table and joined Dr. Barts at the door.

“It’s good to see you, Erika,” the doctor greeted.

“Thank you,” Erika grinned. She took a seat on the edge of the couch this time, making sure to smooth the skirt of her dress under her.

“You look very pretty, Erika. Did your mom or your friends help you get ready?”

Erika blinked, momentarily confused. “No, I dress myself. I did borrow this dress from a friend though.”

“It’s very becoming on you,” Dr. Barts picked up her note pad. “If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought you were a normal young lady.”

Erika smiled. “Thank you.”

“So why did you pick out this outfit today?” Dr. Barts asked.

“Is there something wrong with it?” Erika looked down at her cleavage and the dress. She smoothed out her skirt.

“No, I think it is lovely. I just wanted to see what thought process you went through.”

“Well, I wanted something nice to wear, since this is the first time I will have been here as Erika, but my friend suggested that I didn’t overdo it, so I settled on this dress.”

“Do you do your own hair and makeup?” Dr. Barts inquired.

“Yes,” Erika nodded, “I’m afraid, I’m still not as skilled or as quick at my makeup as my friends, but they say that I’m doing fine. It does take me a little bit longer to get this back here to look right though.” Erika lightly touched the back of her head.

Dr. Barts smiled. “I think it takes us all a little bit longer to get that to look right.”

“What do you think about when you are getting dressed?”

“Not much,” Erika admitted. “Mainly if it the outfit will look alright on me. I remind myself to be careful not to get any make up on my clothes and I think about what I’ll be doing later.”

“Do you get excited or aroused while dressing?” she asked.

“You asked me that one before,” Erika pointed out. “No, I don’t get aroused while dressing or thinking about dressing.” She was starting to take offense.

“Have you had any more ‘plague’ incidents lately?”

“Not if you don’t count being spat at.”

“When was this?” she asked.

“This morning. My dad wanted some ‘guy time’. Mostly he wanted to convince me to take karate lessons for self-defense.”

“Self-defense classes would be good for anybody.” Dr. Barts agreed.

“I’ve got something else going on.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

“I tried out and made the Rally squad.”

“That’s terrific, Erika. What did your parents say?”

“I haven’t told them yet,” Erika looked past Dr. Barts to the picture. “I want to surprise them once I get my uniform.”

“How many guys are on the Rally squad?” Dr. Barts asked.

“Just two.”

“I think that is a wonderful move. I think that your parents will be excited to see you with all of those pretty girls cheering on your team,” Dr. Barts smiled, “Did you know that several of our Presidents were on their High school and College cheer squads?”

“No.”

“If my memory serves me right, Eisenhower, Ford and Reagan were amongst those. So you are in good company.” Dr. Barts looked at her pad, “So, do you and your dad, get much ‘guy time’?”

“No. Most of the time we try to do something and it ends up being a disaster.”

“It couldn’t be that bad.”

“There was the fishing trip where we got lost and were practically attacked by a bear.”

Dr. Barts gave Erika a look of disbelief.

Erika spent the next five minutes relating the failed fishing trip story.

“Oh my,” Dr. Barts shook her head. “I see what you mean about ‘guy time’ being a disaster. But if you look at it from a different angle, there was a lot hours that you spent alone with your dad out in the woods. Now you have a tale and a cover up story to share between you two, so in a way ‘guy time’ was a success.”

“I never looked at it that way before,” Erika admitted.

“So, do you think that you and your dad will have special time together if you are Erika?”

“I guess so, I don’t see why not. I’m the same person,” Erika stated.

“But if you are Erika, then you will be forcing your dad to see you as a girl. He won’t relate to you as Eric, as a guy or do those kinds of things. Do you think your dad would take Erika fishing? Or perhaps to the batting cages?”

“No.” Erika shook her head and fell silent as the shrink wrote on her pad.

“So what have you been up to over the past few days?” Dr. Barts broke the silence.

“I went to a football game last night,” Erika smiled.

“Did your team win?”

“Yes. Julian and Stan think that they’ll make it to the State play offs again this year.”

“Who are Julian and Stan?”

“Two guys we met at the game. Julian is on the swim team, and Stan is a diver.”

“Who went with you to the game?”

“Tricia.”

“She’s your friend from camp?”

Erika nodded. “She kissed me last night,” Erika dropped her gaze in embarrassment.

“So you are making friends. That’s great, Erika.”

“My camp friends are helping with that.”

“Erika, how do you feel when you present yourself in this fashion?”

“I think I’m more comfortable,” Erika was slow in answering. “I feel pretty, and I like how people treat me, how people look at me.”

“How do they look at you, or treat you?”

“With respect; like a lady; with care — as if I am a person, someone to be admired, not the scum of society that they can have their way with and dump off in a trash heap.”

“When you are dressed and take on the persona of Erika, you are admired and respected?” Dr. Barts asked. “How so?”

“At the game last night, other kids, students, were allowing me to sit with them, talk with them; they weren’t showing me hex signs and shouting insults at me. In fact, they were trying to get to know me. Julian the captain of the swim team was flirting with me, Tricia said that she noticed other guys checking me out but were too intimidated to approach me. Julian walked us down to the concessions stand to make sure that we could get there and back unmolested.” Erika looked Dr. Barts in the eye, tears running down her cheeks, “You have no idea what a surreal feeling all of that is, especially after the last few years of being the butt of every joke, the target of every prank; even from teachers.”

“You went to the game as Erika and no one recognized you?”

“They all know me as Erika now.”

“How do they know Erika? Have you been going to school as Erika?” Dr. Barts became alarmed.

Erika nodded, “It is the only way to go and not be picked on, or bullied.”

“Does your mother know?”

“No. Please don’t tell her. I can’t go to school as ‘The Plague’, I just can’t.” She accepted a tissue from Dr. Barts and dabbed at her eyes. “You don’t know what they would do to me if ‘The Plague’ showed up and Erika disappeared.”

“Erika, you are skating on very thin ice. Do you know how many laws you are breaking?”

“I’m only going to school as a girl.”

“Are you in gym class?”

“No. I only have to take it for one year in high school. I always planned on taking it my senior year.”

“What about using the bathroom?”

“The bathrooms all have stalls with doors. I’m not peeking at anyone, that is just gross. I'm not a pervert.”

“How did you even get registered?”

“I registered as a transfer student. My transcripts are still in route.”

“What transcripts?”

“The ones that the school will get next week.”

“You are forging documents?”

“Not really. We’re just changing a few things on my old ones.”

Dr. Barts stared hard at the young lady in front of her. She had to remind herself that the girl in her office was actually a boy.

“Eric,” she stressed his real name. “You are placing me on the legal edge of patient — doctor confidentiality. I am very conflicted as what I should do.”

“I’m not breaking any laws,” Erika protested.

“Actually, you are, but with the exception of changing your transcripts they are relatively minor.”

“I just want to go to school as Erika and not be bullied,” Erika whined.

“And what will you do after high school? You’ll have a diploma with Erika on it.”

“I don’t know yet. I could tell the school that they misspelled my name or tell them what really happened.”

“And you could give up being Erika, just like that?” Dr. Barts asked.

Erika fell silent. “I’m not sure. I feel like I am one and the same.”

“The young lady who walked in my office today looking so pretty is not the same as the young man who plopped himself down in my chair for the last few visits,” Dr. Barts pointed out. “As Erika, you sit different, you read different magazines, and you hold yourself differently. You even speak differently as Erika than as Eric.” She looked hard at Erika. “Perhaps this is more of a split personality case?”

“I don’t have a split personality. I’m just behaving the way a young lady behaves,” Erika protested.

“Well that has yet to be proven.” Dr. Barts sighed.

Erika was silent.

“I want you to stop thinking so much about how to avoid being ‘The Plague’ and start thinking about being yourself. I think that will be your assignment for next time.” Dr. Barts looked at her watch. “Speaking of time, ours is almost up and I need to see your mother for a few minutes.”

“You aren’t going to tell her anything that we talked about today are you?”

Dr. Barts smiled, “I don’t know yet. You have really put me between a rock and a hard place.”

Erika eased herself up off the couch and walked to the door, straightening her skirt.

“I would like to see Eric next visit.” Dr. Barts came up behind her. “You are a lovely young person. We just need to figure out if you are to be a young lady, or young man.” She rested a hand on Erika’s shoulder, “I also think it would be a good idea for those self-defense classes, okay?”

“Okay.”

Erika entered the waiting room and smiled a bit deflated at her mother. “Your turn.”

Mrs. Martin greeted Dr. Barts and disappeared behind the door. Erika picked the Cosmo back up, gently took a seat and waited. She flipped through the magazine but didn’t pay any attention to it. Her whole focus was on the door across the room from her and how her mother would be acting as she came back through it.

To be continued…