By Lora Guy

Cross dresser is caught up in a sudden, massive group transformation in downtown Boston.

George just went on. "You gotta help me, Lenny. I'm so scared... my mind is turning to mush."

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"Are you sure it's OK Jess?"

"I wouldn't be able to sleep if you went alone."

I stared into her eyes, looking for any sign that she was just telling me what I wanted to hear. "Jess, you're the best. Do you mind if I tell them?"

She grinned. "Of course not, it's your news. I'll send them back, OK?"

"Thanks." Smiling, I walked up and gave her the best one-armed hug I could.

While Jess went out to the dining room to round up her daughters, I went over to the office and plunked my butt down on the edge of the desk. For the last six hours, the phone call from the west coast was all I could think about. I had been walking around the restaurant in a daze, functioning on autopilot. Looking down at myself, I giggled. I was actually surprised to notice that my legs were sticking out of a skirt.

Brenda and Terry appeared at the door. "Mom said you wanted to see us?"

I felt giddy knowing the excitement I was about to stir up. It was a struggle, but I did manage to keep a straight face. "How would you like to miss school for three days?"

Brenda popped out with, "Are you sure you're OK? Because that's one of the stupidest questions I've ever heard... Of course we would!"

Terry was a little more cautious. She turned her head, squinted and asked, "Why?"

I decided to play it coy. "I need help with a legal matter."

That left them speechless, so I went on. "I need to catch a plane out of Logan on Monday, and all my ID is for a thirty-eight year old guy named Leonard Williams. The only way they'll let me get on the plane is if I have someone there with valid ID who can vouch for me."

Terry asked the obvious. "Why would that take three days?"

"Because, silly, I'm going to need someone with me on Wednesday so I can get on a plane to come home."

Now the excitement started to build. Brenda jumped in first. "I'll go."

Terry looked scared. "Just one of us?"

I tried to play with them. "Well, I don't know. Which one of you loves me the most?"

Brenda smiled... she saw right through me. "Cut the tease, new girl. Where are we going?"

I held my breath for half a heart-beat, then just popped out with it. "L.A."

The squeals that burst out of the both of them only confirmed my decision to wait until the end of the night to share this with them. I doubt either one of them would have been able to serve someone a glass of water without spilling it.

I let them erupt for a minute before hitting them with the biggie. "Nobody interested in why were going there?"

They stopped bubbling and looked at me. "I've been invited to be on Jimmy Kimmel Live."

What I wouldn't give to have a picture of them at that moment. I've never seen two faces open so wide in my life. It was comical. I just smiled and nodded while they gaped at me. When the dam finally burst, it was overwhelming.

Thirty seconds into the revelry, Terry got a serious look on her face "Wait, Mom won't let..."

Neither one of them had noticed that Jessie was standing right behind them. "Yes she will." Startled, they both turned and then attacked her in a crushing bear hug.

People say that they always remember where they were and what they were doing the moment something really big happens; things like President Kennedy getting shot or the Challenger shuttle disaster. Sitting on the edge of that desk in that office was one of those moments for me. I know that looking at Brenda and Terry hugging my sister was what brought it on. It had taken five days of being a woman before the thought suddenly occurred to me; I can be a mother. That one little idea triggered a surge of emotions in me. A warmth that started as a flutter in my chest raced through my entire body. By the time the girls opened their hug to bring me into it, I knew my cheeks were beet red because I could feel the blood rushing to them.

-----

All it took was one look, and I knew she was going to be all right. Oh, she looked like she'd seen better days. The bandages wrapped around her head like a toque were quite dramatic. But the sparkle in her eye was still there. She gave me one of those big-eyed smiles as soon as she saw me. A laugh popped out of me when her eyebrows disappeared up under the bandages.

"Lenny!"

"I thought about bringing you a frappe, but they don't travel very well."

"I think you're right about that. I guess I'm just going to have to drop by the restaurant next time I'm in Belmont."

"Any time." I pulled up a chair and sat down. "How are you feeling? Donna tells me you're going to be fine."

"I'm not so sure." She suddenly had a serious look on her face. "I think that knock on the head scrambled my senses pretty bad."

"What do you mean?" No one had given me any idea that George was having any problems.

"Well, it's a bunch of little things. Like this morning, I was filling out the card to tell them what I wanted for lunch and dinner today, and my mind just kept wandering... it was hard to focus." She looked away from me. "Lenny, it was awful. When I was done, I looked at the card and my hands started shaking. I couldn't remember doing it, but all of the I's were dotted with little hearts."

I started laughing out loud. George just went on. "You gotta help me, Lenny. I'm so scared... my mind is turning to mush."

She just lay there with a faux-terrified look on her face while I laughed. Then she made a kissy face.

As tears of laughter rolled down my cheeks, I got up and made a dash for the washroom. Through the bathroom door, I heard George call out, "Hey Lenny, I think we're even."

Once I managed to straighten myself out and come back into the room, George was sitting up in a chair, smiling at me. "From what everyone tells me, I think I owe you a big thank you."

I sat on the edge of the bed. "It's kind of embarrassing, George. I think everyone is making a bigger deal out of it than it really is."

"Donna brought my grand daughters in to see me yesterday. They went on and on about you as if you could fly."

"And that's why it's embarrassing. I feel like an impostor, and any minute now, someone's going to stand up, point a finger at me and yell out 'hey, she's a phony!'"

"Len, you saved my life. That's real."

I nodded my head in agreement, then went on. "I got a phone call last night. I've been invited to be on one of the late night talk shows."

"That's fantastic." She saw the ambiguity on my face. "You're going to do it, right?" I didn't answer quick enough for her, so she asked again. "Right?"

"I said I would, but it doesn't feel right. I just want to make sure you're OK with it."

"What the hell do I have to do with it?"

"George, you're one of the most honest, level-headed people I've ever met... I need your take on this. To me, everything that's gone on the last couple of days makes me feel like I'm just milking your misfortune... I feel bad feeling good about all of this. Am I wrong?"

"Yeah, you're wrong."

I felt a rush of relief. "Really?"

"Lenny, this bubble shit is probably screwing up a lot of people's lives right now. Think about it... fifty year old guys suddenly finding themselves married to kids, women whose husbands are girls now, kids with a parent younger than they are... a lot of sad stories. So if everyone wants to latch on to you... if they want to point at you and say 'hey, there's a happy ending', then let them have that." She lit up with a smile. "And if letting them have that means you get to have a good time for a while, then so what. Enjoy it."

Like I said... I'm so glad I met George on that bus.

-----

"Mom wants you to come in for a minute." Terry was shivering beside my car in their driveway.

"She knows we have to be at the airport by eight, right?"

"Yeah, she knows. C'mon, it's freezing out here."

I gave my head a little shake, got out of the car and followed her inside. The door wasn't finished closing behind me when it started.

"Happy birthday to you,
Happy birthday to you.
Happy birthday dear Lora,
Happy birthday to you."

Jessie and the twins started clapping as Kelly walked up to me carrying a cup cake with one little birthday candle in it. "With everything that's been happening, we didn't get the chance to plan anything for you yesterday."

The twins came up and hugged me while Jessie added, "Right, and this one was too special to miss. After all, this is Lora's first birthday."

Kelly jumped back in with, "Oh, I just had a thought. This would have been your thirty-ninth, right?"

I nodded. "Yup."

"You don't look anywhere near thirty-nine now. How's that going to work?"

"A woman came to the hospital and filled out some forms with me to register my new age and name. She said I could pick anything I wanted to, so I thought it would be easiest to remember if I kept the same birthday. Yesterday, I officially turned twenty-one."

Jessie nodded. "That was pretty smart. If you picked anything younger, you never know when some bureaucrat at city hall might decide to revoke the restaurant's liquor licence."

Terry piped up. "I can't see that happening. All the bureaucrats at city hall are in the same boat as Aunt Lora."

While everyone chuckled at that, Brenda asked, "Please tell me you're sticking with Lora Williams. I love that name."

What the heck, now was as good a time as any to tell them. "No, I decided that Lora Williams wasn't good enough."

That brought out a chorus of aw-why-not's. I let it die down before I explained. "I needed a middle name and couldn't choose one, so I chose two. Drum roll..." I turned and tapped on the table for a second. "Ladies you're looking at the brand new Miss Lora Brenda Teresa Williams."

That brought out a round of huge smiles. The moment was broken when Brenda grinned at her sister and said, "Nya nya... she put my name first."

Without missing a beat, Terry shot back, "Aunt Lora's a smart girl. She saved the best for last."

Everyone got a kick out of their jousting, but I got the best laugh with my explanation. "I just didn't want the initials T. B. in the middle of my name. It sounded too much like tuberculosis."

-----

I was glad that I'd done the shopping trip with the girls on Saturday. That, plus interacting with all of the customers at the restaurant on Saturday night gave me the confidence I needed to wade through the crowds at Logan. But having the twins with me made it easy. They had had a life time to get used to having people doing double takes around them, and their ability to ignore it was my safety line.

The crowds at LAX were different. Back in Boston, we were three good looking girls wading through hundreds of people, some of whom obviously recognized me. But when we got off the plane in Los Angeles, we were three good looking girls wading through a crowd of thousands. But it was a crowd that was more accustomed to seeing faces that they might recognize. So even though it was a lot more hectic in LA, I felt much more comfortable; more anonymous. That is until we saw Rachel.

I'd seen this sort of thing in movies, but I didn't think it ever actually happened in the real world. When we came out of the baggage retrieval area, she was standing there with a sign that said "Lora Williams". I could feel my cheeks turning red the moment I saw it. For a second, I considered just ignoring her and walking on by. But neither of the twins had a shy bone in their body. As soon as they saw the sign, they made sure I saw it too.

As the girls tugged me in her general direction, she saw us coming. She dropped the sign and smiled.

"Miss Williams. I'm Rachel Bextor... we spoke on the phone? Welcome to L.A. How was your flight?"

"Fine. Call me Lora."

"All right, Lora. We have a car waiting over this way." She started moving through the crowd. "And who are these two lovely ladies?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. These are my nieces Terry and Brenda."

Brenda joked, "I'm Brenda, the pretty one."

Terry shot back with, "Beauty fades, brains are forever."

Rachel didn't know how to take them until she looked back and saw them both smiling.

With Rachel's expert guidance, within minutes we found ourselves climbing into a waiting limousine. As the car pulled away from the curb, Rachel pulled out a cell phone, found a number and called it.

"Good afternoon. Rachel Bextor here. Could you have the Williams suite set up for three, please... yes... yes, that will be fine. Thank you."

When she closed her phone, I commented, "That's a lovely accent. Birmingham?"

She looked surprised. "You have a good ear. Just south of Birmingham... Redditch actually. Have you spent time there?"

"No... my grandmother was from there. A place called Great Barr, I think. Ever heard of it?"

"Absolutely. Lovely part of town. Small world, isn't it?" She seemed genuinely pleased that I'd pegged her accent. She went on. "OK, ladies, I need to explain a few things. This car and a driver are yours as long as you're in L.A. Tomorrow, Lora, you need to be at the El Capitan by four o'clock so we can go over a few things before we tape the show at seven. From now until then, your time is your own. Any questions, ladies?"

Terry couldn't help herself. "Have you met a lot of famous people?"

"Well, I suppose I have. But for the most part, they're just regular people like you and me."

The rest of the drive was taken up by small talk. The girls were quite impressed with the fact that, just a couple of days ago, Cee-lo Green had been sitting in this exact same car. I'd never heard of him. Personally, I was much more impressed by the way that Rachel was greeted like an old friend by the staff at the Beverly Wilshire.

-----

"Oh, come on Lora. Nobody knows you out here."

My mind was racing, trying to think of a reason why I couldn't do it. But the girls just wouldn't let up. I swear, if these two ever decided to start their own cult...

"A bikini? Really?"

Brenda was just getting started. "California... February... what did you think we were going to do, sit in the room and watch TV?"

Her sister backed her up with, " Think about where you are... if you showed up beside the pool in shorts and a T-shirt, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. Every girl there is going to be in a bathing suit. Believe me, you'll look fine. No one will bat an eye."

"But why a bikini?"

"I don't own any one-pieces, and I knew you wouldn't bring anything. So, you're stuck with this."

I knew there was no getting out of this. I pursed my lips and held out my hand. As Brenda put the suit in my hand, I looked at the two of them and said, "No pictures. Deal?"

She crossed her arms. "Lora Brenda Teresa, this is not a negotiation. Now you just march your pretty little but into that room and put on that suit. Do I make myself clear?"

I stared icicles back at her. Terry snickered first, then we all broke into a laugh. "OK, just promise me you two won't make me regret this. Please?"

Terry tried to soothe things. "You're a pretty girl in a bikini beside a pool in Beverly Hills. We might even see a few movie stars. I don't know about you, but this is one of my dreams come true."

A week ago, that would have been one of my fantasies too. But now that it was a reality, I was terrified. The old adage 'be careful what you wish for, you might get it' came to mind.

-----

Other than a woman with a couple of kids, there was no one around the pool. We picked out a table on the far side of the pool and claimed it as our own. As I was about to sit down, Terry stopped me.

"Ah, ah, ah... the cover-up?"

Brenda swooped in for the kill. "We're out here to get some sun, remember? You want to blend in, don't you?"

I gave them a defiant look. I was on the verge of losing it... it was a struggle to not blow up. The only thing that stopped me was the fear of causing a scene. So, just like that, I found myself lying back on a chaise lounge, covered only by about twelve square inches of pink. A waiter dropped off the three fruity somethings we had ordered and walked away. Professional that he was, he didn't make me feel the slightest bit uncomfortable about how I was dressed. I started to think that maybe I was going to get through this.

With the sun warming me and the breeze keeping me comfortable, I started to drift off to sleep. Something bumped into one of my chair legs, bringing me around. When I opened my eyes, there was a little girl reaching under me. Retrieving her ball, she stood up and looked at me.

"Hi."

"Hello."

"My name's Andrea Lena DiMaggio. What's yours?"

I couldn't help but smile at the little angel. "Hello Andrea Lena DiMaggio. I'm Lora Brenda Teresa Williams."

"Wow, you have a big name too. I like your hair. You're really pretty."

"Thank you."

"What's that on your arm?"

"It's a cast."

"What's it for?"

"The bone in my arm is broken. This keeps it straight while it gets better."

"Does it hurt?"

"A little bit."

"Do your sisters help you get dressed?"

I grinned at her assumption. "They help me when I need help."

"You're lucky. I wish I could have two sisters to help me. Bye."

Out of the mouths of babes. Yes, I am lucky to have these two in my life. They were right... swimming pool, bathing suit... no big deal. I was so glad I didn't spoil the day by shooting my mouth off, and it took the wisdom of a six year old child to make me realize it.

========================

Hey everyone, Lora here.
There are some things I leave out on purpose, because I know that your mind can fill in the blanks pretty good all on its own. For example, I never described the outfit that Lora wore while working in the restaurant. But I'm sure of two things:
-everyone can picture what she looked like, and
-everyone pictures her differently in their own minds.
I saw her wearing a white blouse, black pencil skirt, black tights and flats.
What did you see?