Belle of Vicksburg
-4-
Shopping

I think now I should tell you a little about my school. Like most public schools in Mississippi, the Vicksburg Public School system required all of its students from Kindergarten to Twelve grade to wear uniforms. Now I'm sure right now your mind is conjuring up images of posh private schools when I say that word uniforms. And you would be correct, the most posh school in Vicksburg. St. Katherine's Episcopal Academy did require its students to wear a uniform. But only the bourgeoisie of Vicksburg could afford to send their sons and daughters there. And beside you had to special order those uniforms from a tailoring company out of Jackson.

Now the uniform requirement for my school was simple enough. Males had to wear white polo shirts, either short or long sleeves. They were supposed to be tucked into the waistline of khaki pants that had to be long no matter the season or the weather. A blessing in the cold, bitter, winter months and a curse in the warmer summer months. For females, a white polo shirt, short or long sleeve, but they could either have khaki or navy colored long pants or a khaki or navy colored pleated skirt. If you wore a skirt it needed to fall just above the knee and you had to wear white stockings with it.

Girls were also allowed to wear make-up, but their make-up had to be in moderation and tasteful. I made a note to keep that in mind when I picked up some. I then took a deep breath and tried my best to center myself and then I dove right in. As expected Wal-Mart was crowned. But then again it's always crowded, and I had to run. I was very much aware that I had only one hour to pick up everything I needed. And my shopping reached from here to Japan.

My first stop was of course the pharmacy section. I knew in order for my plan to work out, I needed to smell like a girl instead of smelling like a boy who was just dressing up like a girl because he lost a bet. So I knew my normal choice of deodorant was out of the question. I would need a deodorant that a teen girl would use and some body spray too. Maybe a bit of perfume. Next I would need an Alice headband. I planned on wearing my hair down tomorrow and I needed something to keep it out of my eyes. After a few minutes of browsing the wares I settled on a baby blue, pink and white on.

Once those items were in hand, I would rush out, pick up a bra and panty then. Then I'll get the skirt, blouse, stockings and shoes. And then with all that in my shopping cart I would head over to the Self-Checkout lane, bag my stuff and jet right on out. Plus I still needed to pick up something for tonight's dinner while I'm here anyway.

With that in mind I rushed off to the pharmacy section. I did not have much time to debate, and I was lost as an egg. But I knew they liked to smell like a fruit basket or a bouquet of flowers. I also knew they enjoyed smelling fruity scents and flowery smells and that they adored unicorns. And so with only those two solid pieces of information to guide me. I picked out a small bar of deodorant that had a sparkling unicorn plastered on the front of the package and a rainbow in the background. It was supposed to be a strawberry smoothie flavored scent. And for added good measure I picked up a small bottle of cotton candy body spray.

With that in my basket. I rushed toward the make-up section. Blushing I reached down and picked up a small bottle of lip gloss, followed by a tube of mascara. And because I felt it only right I added a small vial of nail polish, also baby blue to match my headband. It seemed right at home to the growling list of things located in my basket. Finally I added some blush and some eye shadow and then I rushed toward the clothing section.

It took me only a few moments to find a pleated navy blue skirt that I liked. The skirt had zipped up pockets and I thought that was the coolest thing in the world and it just screamed schoolgirl, I tossed two packages of white nylon stockings because I was shy about showing my legs. Then I found a white button down blouse that suited me. And then it was onto the next item on my list. How could I ever forget about shoes?

I was just about to head to the shoe section when I stopped and shook my head from one side to the other. I needed something else. If I kept using my mom's and sisters razor they were bound to catch on to something. I would need my own, including my own shaving foam. I paused, and started to think though. Would I really need to spend all my money on all of this? Would I really ever use this stuff again? I mean if I was only going to wear the skirt for one that is over, an one and done deal.

“What if I like dressing up like a girl?” I muttered to myself as I started toward the shoe department. I pretty much knew what kind of shoes I wanted to wear. I wanted to wear the classic schoolgirl shoes. The one that would complete any schoolgirl look. I wanted to wear a pair of Mary-Jane. Why? Because for one they were classic footwear. Two, the completed and complimented the schoolgirl look. And three, they had just enough of a heel to make me feel sexy and alluring without breaking any school dress codes.

Then something happened that I did not expect to happen. Now I know Wal-Mart is not the most trendy place to buy your clothes. That would be the mall. But the mall was four miles away as the crow flies. I felt my cheeks starting to flush red as I looked around the crowded section. Another thought fell into my head. What if somebody noticed me? What if somebody from school saw me with a shopping cart full of make-up and women's clothes? How was I going to explain that to them?

Then another idea fell into my head. Why stop at a skirt? Why not a dress? Yes, I could wear a dress to the weekly Friday Night Magic: The Gathering social. That would really rub David the wrong way. And so I once more went to the clothing section and slowly I started to pick through the racks of clothes till I hopefully found something that would speak to me.

After around fifteen minutes of fruitless search I was ready to give up, and throw my hands into the air and write it off as a lost cause. But then out of the corner of my eye I spotted a dress that just spoke to me. It was yellow, bright yellow. The kind of yellow that reminds you of a field of Sunflowers. If that makes any sense. A warm, late summer time kind of yellow. The dress had a long, ribbon belt that tied around in a bow in the middle of the waist. And I just had to have it.

And so I rushed up, and quickly I turned the price tag over. The tag said it was on 'Roll Back' and that the asking price was fifteen dollars. Without giving it a second thought I placed the dress into my shopping basket. And with that done, I at long last started to head toward the shoe department. I quickly found a nice, sturdy pair of Mary-Jane Style shoes for twenty dollars. And a pair of yellow sandals to go with my newly bought dress.

Another forty dollars... again I had to stop and think, was I going too far? I mean, what is the chance I'll wear these clothes again? Already I guessed I had around a hundred or so dollars worth of clothes and make-up in my wired shopping basket. Would it all be worth it in the end? And how was I going to explain all this stuff to my mom if she ever found it? Would she laugh? Would she cry? Maybe a little of both?

“I guess.” I paused. “I guess I'll find the answer to that riddle when I'm forced to cross that bridge.” I said blushing again as I turned the buggy around.

Then another thought fell into my head. The dress did not have any pockets, but the skirt did. I would need something to carry around my wallet, my phone and my loose collection of change. So, heaving another sigh again I walked over to a rack of purses and I started to look for one. After five minutes, I found one that seemed to suit me to a 'T' or a girl named 'Ashley'. It was a black, faux leather purse in the shape of a corset. It was trimmed in pink and it had an oversized pink letter 'A' sewn onto the front. Of course that 'A' would stand for 'Ashley' and it looked cute enough so into the shopping basket it went.

“Damn this bet is taking a real good bite out of my savings.” I said, sighing as I looked down at the now overflowing cart.

Then another thought fell right into my head? If I really wanted to get into the whole girl's frame of mind. I would need to sleep like one, that would mean my normal set of sleeping clothes, normally white t-shirts and a pair of sleeping pants that were almost threadbare did not really scream femininity to me. No, what I needed to make my plan work was something that just screamed femininity at the top of it's lungs. And for what I needed to head to the sleepwear section.

Fifteen minutes of fruitless searching yielded nothing. All the nightgowns looked like something a little kid would wear or something my grandmother would wear. But then again this was Wal-Mart so picking would be slim. Then I spotted it, a pink, long sleeve nightgown that was trimmed with lace at the sleeves and at the bottom. Without thinking I picked it up and tossed it into the shopping cart.

With that done, I declared that I had enough clothes to get me started. Started on what? I had no idea. I figured at the time once this silly bet was over with and done for I could wash them and drop them off at the R.A.G. Donation box they had set up beside the school. After all, somebody might need them and it would be a shame just to throw them away. I mean I could keep them after all, but then I would be running the risk of mom discovering them. And that would open a totally new can of worms. A can of worms I was not prepared for.

Anyway I had one last stop to make, so taking a deep breath I started to guide my shopping cart toward the grocery section of the store. Once there I picked up a gallon of milk, a dozen brown eggs, a roasted lemon pepper flavored chicken from the deli, a package of brown n' serve rolls from the bread section, and last but not least a gallon of sweet tea from the dairy section. Tonight's dinner if you will. Save mom some trouble and hopefully keep her off my back for a bit. Oh and on my way out I picked a small, plastic container of Mustard Potato Salad from the deli case. Then it was time to run through the checkout line.

To save myself some trouble, and some odd looks I decided to go through the self check-out machine, and to save the paper trail. I paid with cash. The last thing I wanted to do was leave a paper trail behind me.
Once all my stuff was paid for I rushed out into the parking lot. And true to his word, the guy from the taxi place was there waiting for me. He said nothing, not a word though he did help me put my stuff into the trunk of his taxi and he did help me unload it when we got back to my house. Beside the personal stuff.

Once that was done. The guy or should I call him Mr. Maurice smiled and shook my hand me a small business card.

“That is my personal phone number and my home address. Listen Ashley, I know something is different about you. And I'm fine with that. But my coworkers are a rough bunch of guys, and they might not take too kindly to somebody like you. If you ever need a ride somewhere, I would feel better if you just called me directly. No matter what day it is, no matter what time it is. Listen kid, there are dozens of bayous, countless miles of swampland, and thousands of sloughs around here. People go missing all the time and end up as gator bait.” Maurice said as he looked around.

I blinked.

“Listen, just be aware, okay. If things look dicey get the hell out of there. Call the police, or call me. Please, people go missing in this town all the time and the police, heck some care and some don't. Hell most people that go missing in this town are either written off as either a crackhead or a troubled teenager trying to escape from a troubled and broken home. Most end up in the Vicksburg City Morgue. And all the city coroner does is call them either a Jane Doe or a John Doe and puts a yellow tag on their big toe and slides them into a vault to await a burial in Potters Field.” Maurice said as he clapped me on the shoulder.

“I don't want to end up like that. So please, be careful okay? Call me if you need a ride, kid.” And with that a very eventful day drew to a close.