Katie called her favorite salon and found they had an opening in about two hours. The trio headed out to have some lunch before Avery’s virgin salon visit. When Avery stepped out of the door at her home, “self-conscious” would have been an understatement. The hem of her dress was 3 inches above her knee. Her 2-inch heels added to her discomfort. She told herself, “You’ll get used to this, but it will be a very long time.” Actually, she began to become accustomed to her new outfit and persona during this outing.
“Avery when you walk,” Anna suggested, “bend your arms slightly and put the palms of your hands forward. Take short steps putting one foot directly in front of the other, and keep your feet almost parallel to the ground. This will make it almost impossible to walk like a boy.”
Anna was right. This was better than concentrating on the hips. When Avery took this advice, the hip movement came naturally.
They had a leisurely lunch and Avery got numerous tips about table manners as a girl. She thought back and realized that he had seen some of the differences in how girls behave at the table, but he had accepted these differences as just the way things were. She also realized that it would look odd for a girl to have the lack of manners at the table that a boy exhibits, and recognized that she had a lot to learn. It was, after all, “a whole different sex”! One thing that she concentrated on was keeping her knees tightly together. Anna told her that, even if she got everything else right, open knees would make people wonder about her reputation.
Avery was very pleasantly surprised by her salon visit. Never had she experienced such comfort and luxury. It felt different and wonderful to have people make such a fuss over her. She got her red fingernails and toenails. Her hair was washed, dried, trimmed, and shaped. The salon girl trimmed and brushed repeatedly and it felt like she was losing a lot of hair. When her hair was done, her chair was turned around for her to view the result. To say she was stunned would be an understatement. Avery looked in the mirror and a beautiful teen-aged girl looked back. She could scarcely believe that this beauty was her and she was almost embarrassed that she couldn’t stop smiling. The sheet that had been placed over her was removed; an indication the job was finished.
She got out of the chair, a bit stiff from sitting and being pampered. She was happier than she had been in her entire life. She felt that with just a little jump, she could float on air. The three of them stepped out of the salon just as Michael Collins, the school quarterback, walked by. He smiled at Anna and Avery, then looked backed after he passed them. He apparently only saw two beautiful girls, with either no recognition or a feeling of “don’t I know those girls from somewhere?”. Avery realized she had never seen Michael smile like that, especially not at her … or him.
As they got into the car to head home, Avery suggested, “Mom, if he doesn’t know me I don’t think anyone will. Maybe I could just go back to school with just a name change.”
“I wish you could, but that’s the kind of thing that would almost work, then blow up in our faces one day with disastrous results.”
Avery realized her mom was right. She had a talent for knowing things like that. Being exposed like that at school would be nothing short of disastrous. She still wanted a name change, though. “Avery Lynn Parks” could be a boy or a girl, and she wanted a name that left no doubt.
Katie’s cell phone buzzed. “Hello.” … “Speaking” … “Yes”
There was a long pause as the person on the other end of the call spoke.
“Wow! That’s great! I’m sure we’ll need it! What about tomorrow morning? Great! See you at 9:00 AM tomorrow!”
She clicked the phone off and looked at the two girls. “Avery, your dad continues to amaze me; even now.”
“What is it, Mom?”
“Recently, your dad contacted an attorney and talked with him about his medical situation and your situation. He paid the attorney a retainer and has a fund set up should the legal bill go higher. The attorney will help with any legal issues regarding your gender change. We meet with him tomorrow morning.”
“I’m gonna have legal problems?”
“Oh, yes! Wait and see. Just about anybody who can give you a hassle will do it.”
”It’ll be good to have a lawyer on our side.”
“That’s not all. The attorney has the account number of the money and he’s going to give it to me. He’s going to accept the retainer as full payment for everything he’s going to do regarding this. He had this kind of thing in his own family.”
“Wow. That’s cool!”
“Now, since you’re my daughter, I get to choose your name. You get no input because children usually get no choice when the name is decided. You’ll be ‘Dorothy June’. You’ll be called ‘Dottie’ for short.”
“Mom, if I had any clue that you were serious, I’d pitch a fit. I know you wouldn’t do that to me.”
“You’re right, Honey. It’s your choice … as long as it’s not “Sunshine” or “Tulip.”
“Aw, Mom, that knocks out two of my favorites!”
“Well, you have to live with it.”
“I think I’m gonna be Amy Lauren Parks.”
“That’s nice. Stick with that. Oh, Amy?”
“Yes, Mommy?”
“Come here.” She reached out her arms and received her daughter in a loving hug. “I love you so much. I wish your dad could be here to see you change into the daughter you were meant to be. It’s not always going to be fun or easy, but … ”, she reached out one arm to Anna, “thank God for Anna.”
“I won’t be the only one helping, Mrs. Parks. Avery … Amy has a group of girlfriends who love her. Most of them will help. There will be a few who won’t understand and don’t want to be involved for religious or other reasons. It won’t be many. She’ll have a lot of support.”
“Great! Tomorrow after your appointment will be your official start. You will be becoming my little girl … my sweet little girl. I don’t know which of us is happier.”
“Mom, I don’t know how you could be happier than I am. I feel like I’ve been putting on an act, and now I’m beginning to live for real.”
“Welcome to the real world, my sweet little Amy!”
Anna added, “Welcome to teen-aged girl world. It’s a great world … most of the time. We have our rough spots, which usually involve boys. How do you feel about boys?”
“Boys are OK as long as they know their place. I for sure never wanted to be one.”
“What about dating?”
“Dating a boy is hard for me to imagine, but people say ‘never say never’. I love girls! I’ve heard guys talking among themselves about girls, and it’s appalling! A guy will say the filthiest things; even about the girl he’s dating! Some of the things I’ve heard, I wish I could ‘unhear’! They talk about girls as if they were less than human! Of course, all the filth magically disappears when they’re around girls. I guess I just know too much about guys to have a relationship with one. Just some of the things they say and do are enough to never want to call myself a male.”
“So, dating boys may be unlikely; what about girls?”
Amy involuntarily glanced at Anna, then quickly looked down. Anna smiled.
Katie saw the look and the smile. “Hmmm. No sleepovers for you two!”
“Mom! Anna’s just a good friend!”
“Yes, I realize now that she may be a much better friend than I realized … maybe better than either of you realized!”
“Mom, you’re embarrassing us!”
“You mean your mom is embarrassing you.”
“I see,” Katie commented, “Amy, you’ve given quite an indictment of males! You’ve thought about this for a long time and your passion comes through when you speak about it. I was aware of your feminine side, but now I see it runs deeper than I ever imagined. Be sure you make your counselor aware of the way you feel!”
Anna spoke up, “I think she’s a radical feminist!”
“I just think it’s unfair that such rotten people are in charge of almost everything.”
“Amy,” mom continued, “I think the boys you’re talking about are in the minority. Those are the ones you’ve noticed, and that’s what they crave; attention. Most of them grow out of such foolishness. The ones who don’t sit in bars and spout the same old poison to each other and brag about their imaginary conquests. Do you think your dad talked like that when he was young?”
“No way! I can’t even imagine that! Dad was ….” Amy’s voice broke. “Well, Mom, you know what Dad was. He was ….” Her voice broke again. “I don’t know … it just sounds so strange to use the past tense ‘he was’.”
“OK, Honey. I know it’s hard, but if he could see you right now, he would be so proud! He realized he had a daughter. It’s just a shame that he never got to see her. Actually, toward the end, he began to see you as his daughter. That’s why he said the things he said to you in the hospital. He told me once ‘she’s so pretty’. He was way ahead of me on this issue. I couldn’t believe it, but he told me to watch you and see if I saw a son or a daughter. When he said that, I did watch you, and I saw what I was missing even though it right in front of me for a long time. I knew about the secret wardrobe, of course, but I thought it was a phase that some boys go through. Your dad and I both educated ourselves on the issue, and we realized that we were trying to raise a daughter as a son. That is a frustrating prospect. I just wish we had brought this to light when we first realized what we were dealing with, but we put it off. We knew it would be at least as difficult for you as it would be for us. But it wasn’t difficult at all once I got you open up. Going out with my daughter is not difficult; it’s a pleasure. I didn’t realize what I was missing.”
“Mrs. Parks, at first the girls in our group thought Avery … uh … Amy was gay. But when we talked about boys he … she never expressed any interest. To me, it seems clear now that Amy is gay … lesbian, that is! What do you say, Amy?”
“I think you’re right unless I learn to like boys. Scratch that … there are some things I don’t think I can learn!”
“In that case,” added Mom, “when she gets married, instead of losing a daughter, I’ll be gaining a daughter. I don’t think I’ll ever have too many daughters! Oh, I love Jeff, but there is a saying. ‘A son is yours until he takes a wife. A daughter is yours for the rest of your life.”
“Having a son is wonderful, but a daughter is someone a mother can bond with. It’s a lot more than just shopping together. It’s a very special bond that grows stronger with time. I realize only now that I have felt that special bond with Av… Amy. Even so, it felt kind of strange bonding like that with him. Now, everything seems to be falling into place and things that seemed strange or unusual make total sense. It makes me wish John were here so he could see how right he was about you, Amy. I’ll say it again, your dad would be proud. He was proud of you as a boy, and he would be proud of you now. Maybe God allows humans a certain amount of ‘proud in their lifetime. John had a lot of reasons to be proud of his children. He also gave us a lot of reasons to be proud of him. To just say he was a good man doesn’t cover it. Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to go on like that.”
“It’s OK, Mrs. Parks. It came from the heart and it was beautiful! I only knew him as ‘Avery’s Dad’, but now I wish I had known him better. Men like that are pretty rare these days.”
“Mom, I guess I’ll adjust. They say death is a part of living. I console myself by thinking he’s in a better place and he wouldn’t come back if he could. I realize now that when he hugged me and called me his ‘beautiful daughter’, that was a precious time that I will remember and treasure forever.”
“Amy, you be the best girl you can be, and grow into the best woman you can be, and that will be the best way you can honor his memory.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
They pulled into the driveway at home. “Well, girls, does a ‘try-on’ party sound good to y’all?”
Anna spoke first, “If Amy doesn’t want to, I’ll try on some of her stuff. It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it!”
Amy thought for a second. “Seems like I heard that recently, only in some other context. Girls have a lot of tough jobs, don’t they?”
“Oh, no! Femaledom is a piece of cake! Don’t worry about it!” She gave Anna a big wink.
Anna spoke up, “I know you won’t deny your best friend a try-on if she finds something irresistible. I have a couple of items in mind. Mrs. Parks, your daughter is a very skilled shopper. Her taste is incredible!”
“Maybe someday I can get a job shopping!”
“They do have a job like that. They call them ‘buyers’, but I’m sure it’s not as much fun as the shopping we do!”
“Right! They probably don’t get to do try-ons'!”
The three women went up to what used to be Avery’s room. The room looked only somewhat like a boy’s abode and would soon be a plush feminine refuge. The try-ons began in earnest. It wasn’t just Amy’s party. Mrs. Parks found some items she liked and was surprised to find that they fit. She and Amy agreed not to be stingy with their clothes, but to share freely. Anna found two outfits that complemented her looks so well that Amy insisted she take them home. After some mild protest, Anna graciously agreed to accept them as gifts.
Amy went into the restroom for about 5 minutes, then called out, “Oh, Mom, I have a crazy idea.”
“Amy, coming from you, the term ‘crazy idea’ is almost redundant.”
Amy smiled and held up a slinky mini-dress with sequins. “I want to wear this under my graduation gown.”
“Yes!” Anna was all for it.
“Now, Anna, I know Amy is serious, but do you think she can handle it?”
“Yes, ma’am. No one will see what’s under her gown during graduation. Her hair will be tucked up under her cap, she can keep her hands folded so no one will notice her nail polish, and I will do her ‘less is more’ makeup. When the formalities of graduation are over everything will be total chaos. If someone notices and wants to say something, screw ‘em! We’re done with high school! With my last name ‘Phillips’, I won’t be far from her; neither will Sarah Nelson or Karen Price. We’ll help her blend in as soon as we’re dismissed, and reinforcements will arrive soon after that!”
“Thanks, Anna. I gotta wear this dress now!”
Katie relented. “It’s your party. You might not believe it, but nothing like this happened at my graduation.”
“Really, Mom? I thought it would be pretty common!”
“It might be in the future. You could be a trendsetter.”
“I’d like to be a trendsetter, but not for this. This will be fun, but for most of the people there I hope it’s like, ‘What the hell is wrong with those girls?’”
Anna smiled, “It won’t be the first someone said that about our little group. I’m sorry that we will be so split up among different colleges.”
“Probably better for the colleges,” observed Mrs. Parks.
