Sixteen year old Ricky Davis lives in New York City. He has to go to LA to spend the summer with his sister when his parents decide to go on a second honeymoon. Things begin to happen after he gets there and he winds up in skirts.

Shimmy

by

Paula Dillon

Greetings, this is your Captain. We will be landing in Los Angeles in thirty minutes. Please fasten your seat belts, return your chairs and trays to the upright and locked positions…

Richard (Ricky) Davis looked out his window. He could see the ground getting closer as they neared their destination. It had been a little over a year since he had seen his sister Laura. Ricky was sixteen and his sister was nineteen. After graduating from high school in New York City she had gone off to college at USC, where she would be sophomore this fall.

Their parents Alan (62) and Madeline Davis (48) had decided to go on a second honeymoon, taking a med cruise. They told Ricky that they couldn’t just leave him alone in New York so they sent him to LA to spend the summer with his sister.

Laura had been a little hesitant about the idea at first, but their parents had worked so hard to make a comfortable life for their family, so she couldn’t just say no. She knew that her parents deserved to have some fun themselves.

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her brother; she loved him more than she could say. She had missed him very much over the last year. The problem was how Ricky would react to her sisters and how they would react to him. That was what worried her. They could sometimes be on a little over the top at times. He would be a lone male in a sea of estrogen (well except for when the girls had their dates over).

Her Mom and Dad had gotten her a ten year lease on a condominium, so she wouldn’t have to live on campus, for that Laura was eternally grateful. The condo, in a very nice section of town and had made her popular with many of her sorority sisters. They used her place as somewhere they could get away from the hassles of college and let down their hair and as party central for their sorority. They always took care to not let things get too wild (to a degree that is) and made sure that they didn’t trash the place. In fact three of her sorority sisters lived with Laura and helped pay the expenses.

The morning of her brother’s arrival, Laura had gotten a call from one of her professors begging her to help them. One of their research assistants had gotten sick and they needed her to take their place. A pod of Blue whales had appeared just off of Catalina and they would need her for three days. They had promised her extra credit and preferential treatment if she accepted. It took her all of five seconds to accept.

She had just enough time to pack, get two of her sorority sisters who lived in the condo with her to pick up her brother and head off to the university dock.

Ricky stretched his legs after the six hour cross continent flight. It had been crowded in business class and he was grateful to finally get some space to stretch. He had let the plane empty quite a bit before he stood up and got out of his seat. He grabbed his things from the overhead compartment and headed out. It was a long walk down the concourse to the arrivals section. He looked all around trying to see his sister beyond the security barrier.

Cindy Long and Susan Cartwright saw Ricky Davis heading their way. He was a lot cuter than Laura had told them and he looked a lot more mature than his picture, although he was still rather small. Susan could feel her panties getting wet as she saw him, he was so beautiful. She had hoped to get Laura in her bed for a romp for a long time, but Laura didn’t swing that way. Ricky looked so much like his sister in the face and he was incredibly slim for a boy. Ricky stood about five feet six and couldn’t weigh more than a hundred and twenty-five pounds. He had shoulder length light brown hair that would probably go blonde if they could get him out in the sun enough. He also had such a pretty face for a boy, almost a perfect diamond with such high cheeks, narrow chin, luscious lips and some incredible eyelashes to die for. He was much better than Susan’s last boyfriend. She daydreamed about how he would look in skirts and blouses.

The two girls held up a big banner that said ‘Ricky Davis Welcome to L.A.’ for him to see. They jumped up and down like cheerleaders, which Cindy was, to get his attention.

Ricky couldn’t see his sister, but was stunned to see two of the most beautiful blondes he had ever seen holding up a sign with his name on it. He was frozen in place, powerless to move, for several seconds, as he looked over the two girls from their heads to their toes. They were both a couple of inches taller than he was, one had long curly hair in a rich golden blonde and the other had a sexy pixie cut in a strawberry blonde and both were every boy his ages best wet dream. They stood there excitedly waving their sign, shining their thousand watt smiles, with their breasts bouncing all around, their cleavages hugely exposed and their incredibly long legs sticking out from under impossibly short skirts. Both of them wore very sexy high heels that were at least three or four inches tall. Ricky had never considered himself a foot man but he thought he had never seen better looking heels.

The two girls were so gorgeous; he was having problems of a personal nature. His pants began to tent in the crotch leaving him quite uncomfortable. He had to shift his hanging bag from over his shoulder to just in front of him to hide his growing problem.

“Are you Ricky Davis, Laura Davis’ brother,” Cindy asked.

“Yes I am. Where is Laura?” He asked.

“She couldn’t make it hun; she got called away on a research project. Anyway, we want to welcome you to L.A. I am Cindy Long and this is Susan Cartwright.”

Cindy gave Ricky a bone crushing hug and a kiss and Susan followed suit but her kiss was a lingering kiss that included some tongue. The girls’ kisses ignited a fire in Ricky’s groin and his body couldn’t resist their charms. All this attention and their current location out in public were adding to his discomforts.

Cindy ended their embrace with a little elbow into Susan’s side (Why is it that girls have such pointy elbows? They should be registered as lethal weapons). “Give the boy a break Susan. If you two go any farther, you two will have to get married,” she said giggling. “Let’s go pick up your bags now Ricky.”

Each girl took an arm, as much because they liked him and thought he was cute but also as a way of controlling how fast he walked. Boys sometimes have a hard time learning how to walk with girls, especially girls that are wearing heels. If the girls hadn’t taken his arms he might have walked their feet off.

Both girls snuck peeks at what he was trying to hide behind his bag, there wasn’t nothing that that boy had to be ashamed of they thought.

On the drive home they made Ricky sit up front between them. Ricky had a hard time finding a place to put his hands as there were bare legs everywhere, he just put his hands together between his thights. They hadn’t gone a mile when he fell asleep. Susan, who was sitting on the passenger side, just put her arm around his shoulder and just hugged him to her breast.

“Susan I know that look. You just be careful. Ricky is only sixteen. I don’t want to have to visit you on weekends in jail. You know they are cracking down on adult women having sex with minor boys.”

“I know, twenty years ago they would have just considered the boy lucky, nowadays they would see him as a victim.”

After they got to the condo the girls helped Ricky get his luggage and stuff into the condo. Cindy hugged and kissed Susan and Ricky goodbye as she had to get to work, while Susan gave Ricky the nickel tour of the condo

“Ricky this is our place, or rather your sister’s place.”

There were 3 bedrooms and two and a half bath rooms. Susan showed Ricky where she and Cindy shared a bedroom and Laura and Debbie McIntyre shared another bedroom. Finally she showed Ricky where his bedroom was.

“We save this bedroom as a guestroom, for when one or more of us has a guest,” Susan said winking at Ricky, who just blushed.

Each bedroom had two twin beds. Susan then told him, “You can use the bathroom Cindy and I share, to bathe in and also the downstairs half bath for you when you just need to go. The rest of the condo also includes a living room, dining room, kitchen and laundry. Out the backdoor there was a courtyard with barbecue pits and a swimming pool.”

“We have told all the sisters that you are going to be here this summer, but some of our air-headed sisters may accidentally pop in on you so lock the door to the bathroom when you go in.”

“I just love this place,” Ricky said yawning. “I am so sleepy I think I need to lay down for a bit.”

“Ok sweety, I will be here if you need anything,” Susan said giving him a hug and a wet kiss.

Two people had troubles getting their emotions under control. It took an hour of tossing and turning for Ricky to fall asleep and Susan was nervous and uneasy over how Ricky was affecting her.

“I think I love that boy,” She said to herself. “Damn I need a cold shower.”

Chapter 2

Ricky woke up about midnight. He was a little confused as he looked around the room he was in. It finally clicked in his mind that he was at his sister’s place in California. He glanced at the clock next to his bed and saw that is was 12:13 in the morning.

Hungry and thirsty he left his room and headed downstairs towards where he thought the kitchen was. As he came down the stairs he saw Susan sitting in the living room. What she was wearing started giving Ricky problems again. She was sitting on the couch with her legs tucked under her bottom, fixated on the television. Susan was wearing the sheerest black lace babydoll nightie that stopped at the top of her panties; the panties were just as shear as the nightie and hid nothing. Ricky stopped where he was. He could see her huge breasts, her nipples and her aureoles through the fabric of her nightie and a narrow patch of neatly trimmed hair in the front of her panties. She was a natural blonde he saw.

Ricky had never believed in love at first sight before, and he couldn’t really tell if it was love or lust in his heart, but he could see himself spending his life with this pixie headed angel (or was it pixie headed succubus).

Susan looked up when she heard a noise and saw Ricky. She gave him her biggest smiles and then blushed as she realized how she was dressed. Instinctively she drew her knees up to her chest and her hands wrapped around her ankles.

“Sorry Ricky, I didn’t mean to embarrass you. I thought you were down for the count.”

Ricky could see the red glow of her embarrassment from where he stood, “I am sorry, Susan I didn’t want to disturb anyone but I am starving and thirsty.”

Susan got up and tried to cover herself modestly as she headed for the stairs, “Great let me fix you something to eat. Just let me get my robe and I will be right back.”

“It’s no problem Susan; I can just graze in the refrigerator.”

“I won’t hear of that Ricky. I can’t let my best girlfriend’s brother go hungry.”

As Susan passed Ricky on the stairs the silky materials of the nightie grazed his arm. The touch was electrifying and set off a chain reaction in his groin. He shuddered as he felt wave after wave of sticky cum begin to fill his shorts.

“In that case I think that I will change into shorts and a t-shirt.”

“Ok come down when you are ready.”

Five minutes later, after a quick cleanup and change of clothes, Ricky headed downstairs. He was dressed in a blue and yellow satin basketball shorts (his school colors back home) and tank shirt. Susan was in the kitchen, and Ricky could smell bacon frying. She was wearing a bright red shorty silk kimono robe that was shorter than the mini-skirt he had first seen her in. He could tell she had changed panties because they now an opaque red and matched her robe.

“Hi sweety. Does a southwest omelet with three cheeses, bacon, peppers and a side of hash browns sound alright to you?”

“Yes Ma’am, that sounds great.”

“Don’t you dare call me ma’am, Ricky. My name is Susan. There is a glass of OJ on the breakfast counter sweety.”

“Ok, thank you Susan. That is a beautiful robe Susan, is that a print or embroidering.”

Susan gave Ricky another thousand watt smile, “It is embroidering, Ricky.” She held her arms out straight to the side and slowly turned, letting Ricky get the full effect of the Robe. With her arms out to the sides Ricky could see the last two inches of her crotch. The robe had a multi-colored golden dragon embroidered on the front and the back with yin and yang symbols, lotus blossoms and a lot of other frills. He could also tell that the panties had some embroidery on the front panel.

“That robe is almost as pretty as you are Susan. I have never seen anything prettier than you.”

Susan stopped what she was doing and turned. She rushed over and gave Ricky another hug and a quick kiss, “Oh Ricky, you are such a treasure; I bet you have all kinds of girlfriends back home.”

“Not really Susan, the girls back home just want something from me, but none of them want me as a “boyfriend,” Ricky said, a little tear formed in the corner of his eye. “I just ain’t enough of a man for them to date. I am just a scrawny kid they use to keep their GPA’s up.”

Susan set a plate of food in front of Ricky and he greedily dug into it.

“I know how you feel Ricky, at high school I use to be an ugly duckling. I was a late bloomer, you could say. I didn’t grow up and fill out till I was a second semester senior.”

“I don’t believe that. You could never be ugly.”

Susan smiled warmly at Ricky, got up and went to get her purse. She dug into her purse setting all manner of things on the counter as she dug deeper. Pulling out her wallet, she opened it and pulled out a picture. “I will let you be the judge of that Ricky,” she said handing him the picture. “That is me, taken in October two years ago.”

Susan wasn’t ugly but she was rather plain, like a thousand other teenagers at high school. While she wasn’t rail thin in the picture, but she didn’t have many of the curves that helped create her good looks. On top of that she had a horrible case of zits. Ricky looked up closely at her face. Her skin was almost flawless now. In Ricky’s mind he couldn’t see how she could look any better. He could also see the beauty in the girl in the picture also.

“You weren’t an ugly duckling then, but I can see how much you have changed since then. I would ask this girl out if she were at my high school,” he said showing her the picture.

“Thank you, Ricky,” Susan said lovingly. Her eyes began to sparkle as tears formed in her eyes above a warm smile.

After Ricky finished eating, Susan pulled Ricky into the living room and sat down next to him. They watched the last of soppy romance and talked. Susan talked a bit about her life and drug out a lot of Ricky’s life in New York.

After an hour and a half Susan fell asleep leaning into Ricky’s arm. He was uncomfortable with his arm trapped behind her so he managed to pull it free and put it over her shoulder. As his arm came to rest there, she scooted into his lap and went back sleep lying on his chest.

Ricky was still wide awake. He looked lovingly at Susan. She was incredible. The lower half of her robe opened up beneath its sash and he saw a three diamond drop hanging from her naval, he also saw that the red satin panties also had a dragon embroidered across the front of them. He couldn’t help himself and he played diamond drop belly button ring. He always thought that they were so sexy and just loved looking at Susan’s. He also had to touch the dragon on her panty. Susan only stirred a little as he ran his fingers across it and he dreamed about the pretty pubic hair it hid.

**************

“Jeeze you guys. Get a room won’t you!!!” Cindy said loudly enough to startle Ricky and Susan.

They both jumped up wondering where the fire was and started to glow red with embarrassment.

“Nothing Happened Cindy!” Susan said. Her robe was now open all the way and just covered her breasts, at least enough not to get arrested if she were on the beach, but just barley. Her eyes began filling with tears.

“That is good Susan, but we need to have a talk,” Cindy was happy to note that Ricky was decently dressed at least.

“Nothing happened Cindy, really,” Ricky said defending Susan. His arm was around her shoulder protectively.

Cindy had a hand over her mouth hiding a smile. Laura had told her what a good kid he was. She could see it now.

“That is good Ricky. But you have got to know you are sixteen and she is nineteen. She can get in trouble if you all screw around,” Cindy said, as she pumped a forefinger back and forth into a ring she made with her thumb and other forefinger. That is called statutory rape, even if you wanted her to make love with you.”

Ricky looked down at his feet and began to cry, “I am sorry Cindy.”

Cindy hugged both of them. “I am just worried about both of you. Things are happening fast between you two. Just be careful.”

“We will Cindy. I think I am in love with Ricky.”

Cindy and Ricky both had their mouths hanging open at Susan’s admission.

“I don’t know… but…I… I… think I love you too, Susan.”

Cindy was flabbergasted, but as she looked at the two of them, she could see that they both had it bad, “Just be careful you two.”

Chapter 3

Susan and Ricky took separate cold showers and dressed. Susan wore a grey A line skirt that just came to the top of her knee, a white three quarter sleeve cotton polyester scoop neck blouse that showed just a promise of cleavage and flats. Rick was dressed in a red polo shirt, tan slacks and his cross trainers.

“Cindy is right Ricky. We need to be careful,” she said as they sat across from each other in the living room, “and I think we need to talk. I want to show you all my warts and see if you still feel the same way, Ricky, so “PLEASE!” don’t interrupt me. I don’t think I could finish what I am going to say, if I had to start over. OK.”

“Ok.”

“I have been somewhat sexually active since I was sixteen. I did that back then because I thought that that was the only way I could get a boyfriend. I only did it with two boys, but if you listened to the grape vine I was spreading my legs for any boy with three legs. I also did it with a girlfriend, Ricky.”

“I am a bi-sexual. I liked doing it with guys but I usually get more pleasure from the girls I have been with. Saying all of that, I don’t spread my legs for everyone. I have only had intimate relations with six guys and three girls. The last two guys I have been with… please don’t hate me for this Ricky, were the best of the guys. You see… we ah… I ah … sort of played dress up games, some of the time. With them looking like girls. You see I ah… really like pretty boys. You hate me now, don't you?”

Ricky did have a confused look on his face and Susan was having a hard time reading his emotions.

“You mean you made love with them as if they were girls?”

“We did it both ways, you have to use a little creativity, but I assure you they enjoyed it. Do you hate me?”

Ricky had an expression of deep thought on his face. This frustrated Susan a little. She took his head in both of her hands and looked into his eyes, “I asked you if you hate me. I can’t stand it answer me.”

“Oh, no, of course not. I don’t hate you. I was just thinking sorry.”

“About what?”

“What?”

“What were you thinking about, Ricky? Ooohhh you are so frustrating right now,” she said, cracking a little smile at least.

Ricky blushed deeply, a deeper red than he had been since he had been in California, “Abo…out wha… at you were tal… king about. About how you could do it with guys dressed as… as… girls. You know.”

Laughing, and feeling a sense of relief that flooded he heart for the first time since she started talking.

“I… ah… I don’t think I could hate you. I… ah… still think I ah love you.”

Susan began crying and hugged a shocked Ricky tightly in her arms. Ricky’s shirt began to get very wet and he was extremely nervous. He had hurt her somehow and made her cry.

“Sorry Susan, I didn’t mean to, hurt you and make you cry,” Ricky said as he began to cry on her shoulder.

“You silly goose, you didn’t hurt me.”

“Then… why are you ah… crying?”

“I am crying because I love you, Ricky.”

That statement caused a cascade of emotions and tears to fall. Ricky began to cry, which caused Susan to cry harder, which caused… (oh well you know what I mean.)

It took thirty minutes or so before the crying was over. They both wound up on the couch with Ricky in Susan’s lap basking in each other’s glow.

“How do you do it with a ah… boy… ah?”

Susan giggled, “I could tell how we did it, but I would rather show you when you get to be eighteen.”

“Oh. OK. Ah I am still confused a bit. Ah I figure with some makeup you could ah… make a guy ah… sort of look like a girl, but that is all I could work out. Guys just don’t have the figure a girl has.”

“There is no sort of Ricky. Of course ninety five percent of the guys would never make pretty girls. There are plenty of girls out there who don’t make “pretty girls” as for the rest of the body that is actually the easiest part.”

“But take me for instance; I just don’t have the right figure to look like a girl. I am just straight up and down.”

“I have been meaning to ask you about that Ricky. Are you anorexic or bulimic? I mean how much do you weigh?”

“No I don’t starve myself or force myself to throw up. I weigh about 127 pounds. I just have this problem. At least right now, my doctors say I am ok. They made me keep up with what I ate and they calculated my caloric intake. I just seem to burn up what I eat. I run and swim a lot, I just haven’t grown much. My dad is the same way. He is five foot five and 138 pounds. Now Mom, she is five foot ten and 145. God she is beautiful. My dad’s father was smaller than Dad; he was 5 foot two and a bit.”

“Okay getting back to your question. I have some things that help rearrange things, tuck some things and pad out other things. I can easily make five out of maybe a hundred guys pass completely as a girl, looks wise that is. Now how they think and act that takes a lot more work.”

“You’re kidding me right?”

“No I am not kidding you. I guess I can show you.”

She took Ricky up to her room. At the foot of her bed beneath a comforter was a footlocker. Susan put the comforter on her bed and opened the foot locker.

“I guess you can call this my toy box,” Susan said.

Ricky blushed as he recognized what some of the things were. There was a really long, very fat thing that looked like what he had between his legs.

Seeing what he was gawking at she said, “That is Junior. He helps me relieve a lot of tension.”

Susan pulled several things out of the trunk and sat them on her bed. Lifting up one box, she said, “These are some very high quality breastforms,” as she opened the box. “They were originally designed to help women out who have had mastectomies due to breast cancer. Transgendered girls also use them. You can put on a bra and place these into the cups or you can use some special adhesive to glue em down. They can give anybody the look of having breasts.”

“They look so real.”

“Go ahead pick one up and feel it.”

“They are cold Susan, but they feel like and look right I guess. Dang they are so heavy.” he said as he felt the breast form. He then reached out and felt Susan’s arm.

“They are made of silicone with a latex cover. Go ahead and gently squeeze my breasts. I believe you can do that.”

She thrust out her chest towards Ricky. Ricky very lightly touched one and then jerked his hand away.

“I think you can do a little better than that.”

She took one of his hands and placed it on her breasts. She then squeezed her own breast with his hand. She then had him cup that breast and he felt its heft. He then squeezed the breast form and tested its heft.

“I guess they are a lot alike.”

“The people who developed them, made sure they had about the same density, buoyancy and weight as a real breast. Can you imagine a woman with one breast that weighed two pounds and another that weighed three? One breast that floats and the other that doesn’t? Not good. Now this is a faux or fake vagina,” she said handing him the next item. “It has a sheath where a guy’s penis can be inserted. His testicles can easily be massaged back into his abdomen. It gives him the crotch of a girl. It also has padding on the sides and back to help give him the hips and tush of a girl. In other words his backside will look rounder.”

“This is vagina thing seems heavier than the breastform. It is heavier than both breastforms.”

“Lastly we have a corset. Not only are girls wider at the hips, they also have a smaller waist. This helps narrow down that waist. There are many other things that can help but those are the main three. So what do you think?”

“I don’t know what to think right now.”

“So do you still like me?”

“No, I don’t Susan,” he said.

This caused her to frown and she threatened to start crying again.

“No Susan, I love you I think. I don’t know I am so confused, but I think this is what love feels like,” he said kissing her cheek.

She jumped into his arms and fiercely hugged him, “I think I can live with that,” she said. “Let me fix you lunch.”

“Okay, my stomach agrees with that.”

Chapter 4

Susan smiled as she watched Ricky eat. She promised herself that she was going to keep her eye on him. She had had a girlfriend that was bulimic and wasted away till she died. She believed Ricky, but she was intent on confirming what he said.

She couldn’t believe her luck with him, she already knew more about him than any of her previous boyfriends and more than a few of her girlfriends. The more she found out about Ricky the more she loved him.

**************

At about 4:00 pm Cindy got home.

“Susan we need to go shopping if we want to eat. Hey Ricky, do you want to join us?”

“No I think I will pass on shopping. I would just get in your way.”

“Ok sweety, we will be back in about two hours. We have to make about three stops. How does Chinese sound for tonight?”

“Love it.”

“See ya then,” Cindy said, as she and Susan gave him a hug.

After the girls left Ricky sat there and thought about all that he and Susan talked about. For some reason he had not been repulsed by her revelations. He thought about the things she had in her ‘Toy Box’ as she had put it. He went upstairs and sat on her bed where the breastforms, corset and faux vagina were still out.

In all his life he had only dressed as a girl once or twice. When he was four or five and his sister dressed him up so she could play with him. She had tried to get him to dress up again one Halloween but he put up enough of a fuss that his sister and Mom just gave up. He was a big boy of eight after all and big boys don’t wear girl’s clothes.

He picked up the faux vagina and looked more closely at it. He could see the sheath that was there to tuck back his penis and could feel the various padded areas for his hips and butt. Setting that aside he got up and looked into the trunk. Susan had quite a few things shaped like penises. From the huge one he had seen earlier to some shorter and narrower models. Some had large veins that simulated blood vessels, while others had a smooth and polished finish. A couple even had scrotums attached.

Underneath a tray in the trunk Ricky found some bras, but didn’t find any panties. The bras were very pretty. Ever since Ricky was twelve or thirteen he liked to look at ladies underwear. He got his first education about Ladies underwear from the Sears and J. C. Penney catalogues his mom kept around the house. Later he was ecstatic when he found some Victoria Secret and Frederick’s of Hollywood catalogues. He had even seen some of the toy’s that Susan had in the Fredrick’s catalogue, but he had never seen any of them up close before now.

Ricky picked up a white bra that was covered in lace. It was quite pretty he thought. He had seen models wearing similar bras in the catalogues. As he looked at it he noticed the bra had pockets that he figured were large enough for the breastforms. The back of the bra had a tag on it that indicated it was a 36B bra. Holding it up by the straps he could see that it was bigger around than he was. He checked some of the other bras and the smallest was a 34C.

He couldn’t explain why, but he knew he had to take the bra, forms and faux vagina to his room. He had never desired looking like a girl before, but felt that if this was the way to Susan’s heart, he just might give it a try. He stripped off his jersey, shorts and his briefs. Picking up the bottom part he stepped into the leg holes and pulled almost all the way up. He had a little trouble inserting his penis into the sheath but he finally worked in. Ricky then remembered what Susan had said about massaging his balls up into his body. He tried this, the first time really hurt a bit, after they were up he removed his hand and they fell back down. The second time he kept his hand there and successfully worked the crotch up. The rest of the garment was a little tight, but it stretched easily over his butt.

Ricky stood before the full length mirror on his closet door and looked at himself. Turning left and right he saw that he did have larger hips and a nicely curved butt. The color wasn’t an exact match to his skin, but it was close. He thought about going into Susan’s room and getting a pair of panties out, but it wouldn’t be right digging into her drawers. She had shown him these things, possibly with the intent for Ricky to make use of he reasoned, but he didn’t feel right about digging through her things for a panty.

The faux vagina was a little cool on him, but he could feel it starting to warm up a bit. He didn’t want to run around naked, so he pulled on his basket ball shorts. The waist band was a little tight going over his hips but he got them on. The shorts were stretched tight over his hips and were molded to his backside.

Back at the bed Ricky picked up the bra and one of the breastforms. The breastform wasn’t totally symmetrical, holding it to his chest he saw that it fit better on one side than the other. He placed it in the pocket of the bra where it best fit and then he did the same on the other side. The bra felt like it weighed ten pounds. The bra had three hooks on one side and nine eyes in three groups of three on the other side. He had never seen his sister or mother putting on a bra, so he had to try and work it out in his mind on how to get it on. Finally he just pulled the bra behind him and hooked it up in front of him. The first set of eyes were too loose, the second set a little better, so he chose the last set of eyes. Ricky then turned the bra around and put his arms through the straps and then pulling them up over his shoulders.

His breasts now looked positively huge now and the bra dug into his shoulders a bit. He didn’t know the shoulder straps were adjustable. Turning left and right he could feel the tug of the weight on his chest. Back at the mirror he saw a girl standing there looking at him. He couldn’t believe how just the bra made him look so feminine. When you add the other part, he definitely had a girls figure, a mature girls figure. He looked as old as Cindy or Susan he thought.

He didn’t feel right wearing the bra without a top. He knew this was something most girls didn’t do so he grabbed his jersey and pulled it on. The jersey was really tight as pulled it over his bust. The jersey had been loose like most basket ball players liked before, but now it was prominently stretched over his faux chest. He turned and went back to the mirror. Ricky could really feel the sway of his breasts as he turned. Yeah they were his breasts, for now at least. The tightness of the jersey helped to control them but they did have a mind of their own it seemed.

Ricky saw that it wouldn’t take much for him to look totally like a girl. He felt that he could already pass and that scared him as much as it intrigued him. He checked his watch and saw that he had about an hour and a half before he had to get everything back in its place.

Thirsty he headed downstairs to the kitchen to get a drink. Ricky’s breasts jiggled with every step he took. He was forced to stand straighter almost leaning back a little to get his center of balance right. He wondered how girls got use to these things. Looking into the fridge he got himself a diet coke. He didn’t need a diet drink and he would have rather had a high octane coke, but he took what was there.

Coke in hand he turned to head back to his room. He started up the stairs and heard the door open and a voice say, “Oh hi.”

Ricky stopped and turned rapidly to face the voice. His faux chest kept turning and stopped skewed to the left. His gaze fell on another gorgeous girl. What is it with all the babes in California, he thought.

The girl at the door giggled, “Hi I am Rebecca Kittrich. You seem a little bit out of kilter.”

Ricky maneuvered his chest back around as he turned a bright red in embarrassment. He wanted to run and hide but in his heart he knew that would be futile. “I am Ricky Davis,” he said highly embarrassed. His eyes began to water and he threatened to break out in sobs

“Oh you’re Laura’s brother,” she said as she closed the distance and gave him a good hug, “It is so good meeting you, Laura said you were coming here.”

Rebecca held him long enough for the teen to get control of himself and then helped Ricky center his breasts better. “I see you have met Susan, I suppose. Is your sister here?”

“No she is out on a boat doing some kind of research.”

Rebecca shifted the bra back and forth, “I see what your problem is the bra is too big for your chest. You either need to attach the breastforms or get a better fitting bra.”

“Please I need to take these off; I don’t want Susan and Cindy to see me like this.”

“Are these things your things or are they Susans?”

“They belong to Susan.”

“You did this to yourself Ricky?”

“Yes ma’am,”

“Did they tell you to do this?”

“No ma’am.”

“Look my name is Rebecca, not ma’am. OK?”

“Ok Rebecca.”

Rebecca thought about Ricky’s request and then said, “I don’t think you should change. Cindy and Susan will be alright with this, but they need to know you went in their room without permission. Sit down, Ricky. Let’s talk.”

Ricky reluctantly followed Rebecca into the living room and sat down next to her. Rebecca asked Ricky a lot of questions about, what all he put on, why did he do it, how he felt about it, what he thought about all the toys in the chest and did he play with any of them, did he like girls, did he like boys and so on. Rebecca’s tone and demeanor showed that she wasn’t trying to be cruel and that she was genuinely interested in his answers. Ricky began to get comfortable, he was no longer afraid, but was still a little nervous.

“Well I have got to say you make a very pretty girl, and you don’t even have any makeup on. How old are you?”

“Sixteen, I will be seventeen in later in June.”

“I would have made you as eighteen or nineteen Ricky.”

The door opened again and Cindy and Susan returned arms loaded down with grocery bags.

“Hi Rebecca,” Cindy said, “Can you two get the rest of the bags out of the car.”

“Sure Cindy, let’s go Ricky,” she said taking his hand.

Cindy just caught a glimpse of Ricky as he headed out.

“Susan did you get Ricky all dressed up?”

“No I didn’t, you saw him before we left, although I told him all about me and showed him what was in my toy box.”

“Well we will need to be careful with him. We don’t want to hurt him or embarrass him. Just act like nothing is strange about it. I know that that will be easy for you.”

Chapter 5

It took the girls three more trips to get everything inside, and then they set about getting everything put up. Cindy and Susan set Ricky to doing tasks to help them out and Rebecca helped in areas where she was needed. Lastly they set out plates and chopsticks for the Chinese food they had bought.

Nobody had said anything yet to Ricky and he was getting where he couldn’t stand it, “Cindy, Susan I can explain?”

“We can talk about that later Ricky, just enjoy the meal with us,” Cindy said, as all the girls smiled at Ricky.

They passed the cartons of food around. Ricky found eating with chopsticks an adventure. Susan gave him pointers several times till he got the hang of things. More than once Ricky dropped a dumpling, vegetable or pieces of meat into his cleavage. The girls just giggled and Susan said, “Welcome to our world now Ricky.”

They talked as they ate. The girls talked about their latest news. Ricky was asked about his sister, his folks, school and things as the girls shared their lives with him too. Ricky found that he liked these girls as much as they have come to like him too.

By the time they were through eating Ricky had become somewhat competent with his chop sticks. He helped clear the table and clean up after their meal. When everything in the kitchen was ship shape Cindy indicated it was time to go to the living room.

“Susan lock and chain the back door, I will get the front door,” Cindy said. “We don’t want to be disturbed.”

In the living room the girls moved the coffee table a little further from the couch and had Ricky sit on it. The three girls sat opposite from Ricky.

“Ok first thing Ricky sit up straight, either cross your legs or sit with your knees together and your hands in your lap.”

Ricky sat up straight, which caused his chest become more prominent, and with his knees together, tucked to one side and hands on his lap.

“Ok, Ricky did you go exploring in our rooms while you were gone?”

“I only went in and got the things that Susan had shown me earlier. She had left them out on her bed after she had showed them to me. I also looked into the toy box and found a bra to put the breastforms in.”

“Is that right Susan?”

“Yes, I told Ricky all about myself. I wanted to be upfront with him. I showed him the breastforms, the faux vagina and the corset. He also saw some of my toys.”

“So Ricky, what are you wearing underneath?” Rebecca asked.

“Just the bra, breastforms and faux vagina.”

“You don’t have any panties on?” Cindy asked.

“No I didn’t feel it was right to look in your drawers and such. I didn’t want to get into your personal things. I just thought that since Susan showed me these things and told me about the boys she had dressed up, that it would be ok. I am sorry I went into your room without asking,” he added in tears.

“Ricky you were wrong for going into our room and I am Proud that you owned up to it. I am also proud that you didn’t get into our things. As for Susan’s things, you need to apologize to her,” Cindy said.

“I am sorry Susan that I got into your things. I kinda rationalized that it would be ok and that it was something that you wanted me to try. It was wrong of me to do so,”

Susan smiled at Ricky, “I didn’t show you those things to get you into them Ricky. I did that to show you all about me and to be honest to you. I forgive you for the intrusion into my things.”

Rebecca asked the big question on her mind, “Why?”

“Why what?” Ricky asked.

“Why did you put those things on?”

“I don’t really know. That’s not right, I do know sort of. I figured if that was how Susan liked her boyfriends. I was intrigued a little I guess by what she told me and in a way I wanted to see what it was like. Everything looked so real, but then again I wouldn’t know about that. I have never really seen a naked girl before. Lastly I liked Susan so much that I wanted to be everything Susan loved. I guess, I am just a little confused about it myself.”

“So you got dressed up in those things, because you wanted to see what it was like and because you like Susan?”

“Yes, I guess I did.”

“You don’t have to do that for me to love you, you just have to be loveable. Other things can come as we get to know each other.”

“Tell us about yourself, Ricky,” Cindy asked.

Ricky then gave the girls a fifty cents tour of his life, going into more detail than he had given Susan earlier. He hadn’t been sad or depressed about his life, but he was sometimes a little lonely. There just wasn’t anybody that he was best buds with. He had a few friends, who were nerds like he sort of was. They were outsiders and yet they were different in many ways from him also. He longed to be big and strong like most of the guys at school, but in his heart he knew he was probably as big as he would ever get.

Cindy looked over Ricky. “Okay what you have said makes sense to us,” Cindy said as she looked closer at Ricky.

He looked so pretty and feminine. If she hadn’t known he was a boy, she wouldn’t believe it. He seemed more comfortable now than when she had met him.

“Still you need to be punished, do you agree?”

“Yes, I agree,” Ricky said. His eyes were red from crying and his cheeks streaked with tears.

“Ok then, until your sister gets back, you will dress and act like a girl. Your sister will then decide what to do after that. Susan go get a measuring tape and some panties for this new girl. Rebecca get the drapes and set up the do not disturb sign, we are going to be getting down to the skin in here.”

Susan rushed upstairs and Rebecca closed the drapes after hanging a silk shawl in the window. The girls used that shawl as a sign that there were things going on inside that didn’t need a disruption. Everybody who came over regularly knew what it meant and honored it.

Susan came downstairs with a pile of clothes in her arms, a measuring tape and a tube of something.

“Rebecca, help Ricky undress.”

Rebecca helped Ricky pull the Jersey off, she noted how the bra was digging into his shoulders. “Oh you poor thing, those straps can’t be comfortable.” She first adjusted the bra letting out a bit more strap and then helped him pull down the shorts.

“You need to pull off the faux vagina and put on a pair of panties,” Cindy said.

Susan handed him a pair of panties. The girls turned around to give him some privacy. It took a couple of minutes to work the faux vagina off. He then pulled the panties on. The panties fit him loosely but didn’t fall down.

Cindy then took the measuring tape and took his measurements; Ricky had a twenty-nine inches in the chest, a twenty-seven inch waist and thirty-two inches through the hips. Cindy knew thirteen year old boys who were bigger than Ricky. She looked closely at him. He wasn’t emaciated, but she could see his rib cage.

“My you are a little wee thing, Ricky. I know many girls who diet till they can’t stand it who don’t have a twenty-seven inch waist. Are you sure you aren’t anorexic?”

“No Cindy, you have seen what I have eaten and I don’t do the purge thing. All the males on my father’s side are smaller than the females. My doctors say I am healthy.”

The girls then inspected him closely from his head to his feet. Cindy then said, “He has a nice face for a girl, nice long hair, no sideburns to speak of, no traces of beard, a long thin neck, sloping shoulders, a small but hardly noticeable Adam’s apple, hairy armpits, a light covering of hair on arms and legs, no hair on chest or back, soft but firm arms and legs, nice ankles and feet and he is not too shabby where it counts either. I would swear he is half male and half female. Have your doctors done a chromosome check on you?” Cindy asked as she looked between Ricky and Rebecca.

“I don’t know.”

“Ok, Rebecca go run a bathe for Ricky, Ricky you will depilate your arms and legs. We have some Nair around here to remove the hair on your arms and legs. You will shower to remove the hair and soak in the tub for at least thirty. You will then shampoo and condition your hair. Rebecca and I will then help you finish,” Cindy said. “Hop to it Ricky.”

Rebecca helped cover what little hair Ricky had in depilatory cream. She shaved his armpits and trimmed his pubic hair into a narrow strip up the middle with a lady’s razor. After fifteen minutes she had Ricky wash off the Nair with a wash cloth in the shower. He then hopped into the bath tub that was awash in bubbles and scented oils. The fragrance and the feel of the water did wonders to his nerves. Rebecca then shampooed and conditioned his hair for him.

Ricky got out of the tub and Rebecca had him pat himself dry. She wrapped his hair in a towel turban and handed him a robe.

The first thing the girls did when he got down stairs was attach the breastforms with adhesive. They then covered his privates with an ice cold towel and worked up the faux vagina. It was easier to massage his testicles into his abdomen and his penis into the sheath this way. They then tacked down the edges of the faux vagina with the adhesive. They then used a semi permanent makeup to hide the edges and make the appliances match more closely to his skin tone.

“You don’t have to take the faux vagina off to use the restroom, Ricky. You just have to sit down to pee. This adhesive will hold you for up to two weeks, but everything can be removed with a solvent we have,” Susan said.

Rebecca went to work on Ricky’s eyebrows. She trimmed those hairs a little shorter and plucked his brows into a medium width arch. Cindy and Susan applied some acrylic nails to his hands and then polished his finger nails and toes to a nice Rose Red.

They helped Ricky stand and he put on the panties he was given and the bra he had worn earlier.

“He needs a new bra, I think. A 32 D if I calculated it right,” Susan said.

“You are right Susan,” Rebecca said. “A pretty young thing, with some big hooters. You are going to have to fight the boys off Ricky, but don’t worry we are going to help keep the wolves and other predators away from you.”

“Thank You,” Ricky said, a little frightened by the prospect of dealing with boys.

Cindy then started to work on Ricky’s hair with a curling iron, while Susan just added a touch of mascara and a Rose Red lipstick.

“This is a new lipstick and mascara, Ricky. It isn’t good to be trading eye makeup. You could develop or give a girl conjunctivitis from using contaminated eye makeup. Lipstick is personal too, for obvious reasons. We will need to get you some more makeup. How much money do you have?”

“Dad gave me two thousand dollars in traveler’s checks to last over the summer. Mom gave me four hundred in cash.”

“We won’t have you spend more than a third of that on girl’s things Ricky. I will throw four hundred in for my future husband,” Susan said giggling.

“You would have me after all of this?”

“You’re damn right I would Ricky. I am proud of the way you are taking all of this.”

Cindy and Rebecca promised to throw some money in too. They both had AmEx Platinum and a couple of MasterCards and Visa Cards.

Ricky was then dressed in a frilly white lacy chiffon blouse and a navy tweed mid thigh pencil skirt. The girls looked at his feet then.

“Ricky what size shoe do you wear?”

“I wear a size 6.”

“My shoes are out I wear a seven,” Cindy said.

“I wear an eight,” Susan said. “He can wear mine. In fact I have a nice pair of navy pumps with a 2 and 3/4 inch stiletto heel that would just go great with that skirt,” Susan said running back to her room to get the heels, a ladies wallet and a silver Gucci handbag for Ricky.

Cindy helped Ricky into the pumps. They then helped Ricky stand and learn to get around in the shoes. They were surprised at his balance he didn’t wobble all that much, they just had to correct the way he walked and how he carried his arms. They also helped him with the way he talked. His voice was a high enough pitch to pass; they just had to work on his vocabulary and his timbre.

After thirty minutes he was doing fairly well.

“I think Ricky is doing remarkably well. I think we should take her out and do some shopping.” Rebecca said.

“I don’t know if that is such a good idea guys. What if somebody sees me as a guy in a dress?”

“It doesn’t really matter Ricky. Nobody knows you here and so what if somebody finds out you are a guy. Just thumb your nose at them; it isn’t any of their business. Nobody will hurt you, while we are with you, so don’t be afraid. Besides, you look so good I doubt anybody would even twig,” Cindy said. “We need to get you some more things to wear and it will be better and more fun if you were there with us.”

Susan looked lovingly at Ricky, “You look so beautiful Ricky, better than any of the other guys I dressed up. I love you so much dear, if you don’t want to go out I will understand, but I think you will have so much fun going out with us.”

Ricky wrapped his arms around Susan’s neck and kissed her deeply for what seemed forever. Cindy and Rebecca just looked at each other and giggled.

“Cindy, go get the fire extinguisher. We need to put out a fire,” Rebecca said.

“Sure thing Becca.”

The two love birds broke off their kiss. Susan had to repair their makeup and Cindy and Rebecca emptied the contents of his boy’s wallet into her lady’s wallet. They then loaded Ricky’s handbag with all the sundry things ladies carry in their handbags.

Susan looked at Ricky’s school ID, “Wow Ricky, I don’t mean to hurt you, but your ID photo looks more feminine than masculine.”

“I have had that problem all my life Susan. If I wore my hair short, long or in between, it didn’t really matter. I was even accosted once by an irate female teacher for not wearing a bra to school once. On the beach a life guard told me that this wasn’t a topless beach until I turned. She looked at my chest and the Speedo I was wearing and got really embarrassed.”

“Well I don’t care, you are still man enough for me,” Susan said smiling. “At least your ID says Ricky A. Davis. We can still keep calling you Ricky only it you will be Richelle Annette Davis. How does that sound to you?”

“I love it.”

Chapter 6

The girls had themselves a group hug and then headed out the door. Rebecca took the shawl out of the window before they went out the door.

The first place they went to was an outlet mall. This was a group of stores that sold seconds and irregulars of name brands. The stores included stores that exclusively sold Levis, Nike, Maidenform, Bali, Liz Claiborne and others. Their were at least forty or fifty different brand stores at this mall.

Their first stop was at the Merle Norman store. The girls walked up to the technician, who introduced herself as Colleen. The girls each introduced themselves

Rebecca said, “We are here to corrupt our little sister Ricki. Her mother never let her dress in sexy clothes or wear makeup. We think she is so pretty that that is a shame.”

“She isn’t the only girl I have met with such Puritanical parents,” Colleen said looking closely at Ricki’s face, “I agree you are so pretty Ricki. Your skin is so nice; I see that you take good care of it. How old are you?”

“Thank you Colleen, I am eighteen.”

“Well let’s see how we can introduce you to the world of womanhood.”

Colleen started the routine she had used thousands of times with her customers. She started on skin care and told Ricki that she had normal skin, which was good. She then began to use various products on her face explaining the products as she used them. Although Ricky thought his face was fairly clean, Colleen showed him how much crud there was on the cleaning pad she used. She emphasized that even if Ricki wore no makeup that she had to take care of her skin and it was more important if she did wear makeup.

“Since you have such nice skin, minimum day makeup for you will be mascara, and lipstick. You can add some eyeshadow if you want and maybe just a little blush to your cheeks. At night and for glamour, you can go whole hog, like I am doing now,” Colleen said as she worked on Ricki’s face.

She had first matched Ricki for foundation. Using a sponge she worked a very small amount all over her face and down her throat, feathering it lighter the lower she went. She found a blush that looked great on Ricki’s skin and added a touch to both cheeks. She then showed Ricki how to use an eyelash curler, eyebrow pencil, eye liner and mascara. Colleen then used three different eyeshadows to give Ricki some smoky eyes. Rebecca kept notes on what products Colleen used on Ricki’s face.

The girls couldn’t believe how gorgeous Ricki was. Their mouths hung open and they were speechless.

“Susan you better go buy a shot gun. It will be the only way we will be able to keep the guys away from our sister,” Cindy said.

Ricki was almost speechless herself, “Is that really me Colleen.”

“Yes it is really you dear,” Colleen said. This girl had been so easy to work with she had more fun than she usually had. She really enjoyed bringing out the inner beauty of her clients.

Colleen then did something she usually didn’t do. For the next hour she went through five different looks leaving Ricki with an evening appropriate look. The girls got Ricki two and three of each thing that was used. The cost was astronomical in Ricki’s opinion, but Susan just plunked down one of her Platinum cards and said nothing about it.

Ricki couldn’t explain what happened next, instead of just picking up a few things, her friends just seemed to lose it. All the girls seemed to get a glint in their eyes and hit the stores with a fashion stores with a vengeance. Even Ricki began to enjoy what they were doing.

Next stop was Bali’s. Where Ricki got three very lacy under wire bras, two T-Shirt bras, a dozen of the prettiest panties Ricki had ever seen, a demi bra, a slumber bra, a sports bra, slips, a half dozen stay up stockings, a half dozen regular stockings, three garter belts, a dozen pantyhose, three babydoll nighties, a satin sleep shirt, a satin robe and a silk robe. At the check out Rebecca plunked down her MasterCard. The cost wasn’t as bad as it could have been, irregulars and seconds were discounted deeply, but still it cost a lot to Ricki.

Ricki began to worry about all the money the girls were spending. Between Bali and Liz Claiborne he asked the girls about it.

“Don’t worry little sister,” Susan said. “My college is paid for all the way to a PhD, and Momma gives me five thousand a month to live on. I hardly spend over two thousand, thanks to Laura, Cindy and Debbie. On top of that I have a six figure trust, from my grandmother, a high six figure trust. I just don’t like the rich bitch act that some girls with money put on.”

“Rebecca and I work, we have scholarships, grants and money from home too Ricki,” Cindy said. “This isn’t hurting us one bit. Besides we are having fun. That is worth a million bucks to us.”

So it went from one store to another. Ricki received a quality wardrobe. She was given six dresses, a dozen skirts, almost two dozen blouses, tops and T’s, slack’s, jeans, work out clothes, shoes, purses, handbags, she had her ears pierced and two dozen earrings from studs to drops to hoops, bracelets, bangles, broaches, necklaces and such. They had to call a cab for three of the four to get home.

At home the girls all took an armful up to the condo. After Susan opened the door, they went inside and saw three more girls popping corn and setting up a party tray.

“Oh hi girls,” Susan said. “Girls this is Ricki Davis. Ricki this is Carrie Wright, Amanda Colburn and Stacy Lewis. They are three of our sisters.”

“Hi Ricki,” Stacy said.

“Oh, who is the lucky girl?” Amanda asked, eyeing all the packages.

“To heck with the movie girls, Fashion show!” Carrie shouted with glee.

“These are all Ricki’s bags and there are more bags in my car,” Rebecca said.

“Just drop the bags off in the living room,” Cindy said, as the girls left the condo like a herd of buffalo stampeding.

When they were alone, Cindy turned to Ricki, “These girls know that you are Laura’s brother. She told them to expect you. They love your sister very much Ricki, we all do. They would never do anything to hurt you. They just want to let down their hair and have some fun. I will understand if you don’t want to go along with this idea of theirs, but I assure you that you will have fun too.”

Ricki had been a little worried about these new girls and he looked longingly towards Susan.

“It’s up to you dear, but why don’t you go along with it? I will scratch all of their eyes out if they hurt you.”

“Ok, I guess.”

The girls emptied Rebecca’s car far faster than it took to fill it. Everything was set out and organized, while the center of the room was cleared for the fashion show. Stacy Lewis became the defacto MC of the show as she was the sorority’s President. She helped organize the clothes into outfits and set a logical progression of dress.

The girls worked together. They undressed and dressed Ricki. They gave her tips on walking, presentation, makeup, hair and demeanor. At first Ricki’s nervousness was apparent, but as the show went on Ricki didn’t have time to worry. When it came to the four inch heels that were bought for her, the girls worked hard to help her become fluid and graceful.

After three hours of constantly changing clothes and modeling them for the assembled girls, Ricki collapsed on a couch wearing a white lacy babydoll, panties, garter belt, stockings, white pumps with a four inch heel and a t strap that fastened above the ankle, a gauzy peignoir that she had never seen before and her face made up in the sexiest look yet. Her hair had been twisted into a knot except for two ringlets that framed her face.

It was then that Ricki noticed that all the girls there had at some point changed into sleepwear. A couple of the girls were just as sexily dressed as she was, while others were less so. The girls made him stand once more and each girl gave him hugs and kisses.

Susan grabbed Ricki and claimed a section of floor for the two of them. Blankets, sleeping bags and pillows magically appeared and the girls got busy laying out pallets. Lastly a movie was started, food was passed out and the girls got comfortable.

Ricki was in heaven spooned up with Susan. The movie was Never Been Kissed. Susan and Ricki necked a little bit but Ricki fell asleep before half the movie was over.

Chapter 7

Ricki was a float in a silk and satin cloud. She could never remember feeling better as she was gently nudged into wakefulness by the smells of bacon and coffee. As her eyes fluttered open she felt the weight of an arm across his abdomen. Susan was holding onto her tightly. She felt an urgency in her bladder that made her want to get up in a hurry.

One of the girls, Carrie, saw her wake and recognized the look helped Ricki disentangle herself without waking Susan, stand in the 4 inch heels and herded her to the downstairs half bath.

“Wash your face too sweety, clean the makeup off your face before you come out,” Carrie said, giving Ricki a hug.

Ricki pulled down her panties and sat to relieve herself. She couldn’t believe how long it took to finish. Looking into the mirror afterwards she looked like a Halloween horror picture. Her makeup was smeared and streaked. Her eyes looked like raccoon eyes, her lipstick was smudged and she wore about a half dozen different shades where she had been kissed last night by all the girls.

While she was cleaning off the makeup off her face, the door to the bath room opened and another girl, Rebecca popped in to use the restroom.

“Sorry Ricky I just couldn’t wait. I was about to wet myself.”

“That’s ok, I know the feeling. That is what woke me up.”

“Did you sleep well, honey?”

“I can’t remember sleeping as well as last night. I dreamt that I was afloat on a cloud of silk, lace and satin.”

“That is one of the benefits of being a girl Ricki. Did you have fun last night?”

“I guess I did, yes it was wonderful. I have a few friends back home, but I would never have done what we did last night with them. I just loved last night.”

“It wasn’t too intense was it?”

“I have to admit it was intense, but I wouldn’t trade last night for anything.”

Rebecca finished her business, washed her hands and kissed Ricki’s cheek.

Back in the living room some of the girls were already dressed. One girl had gone out earlier and bought several different type hangers. There were padded hangers, hangers that had slots for straps, skirt hangers and such. Several girls were hanging up Ricki’s clothes with others were folding and sorting her lingerie, taking things upstairs when they got an armful. Another girl started trimming Ricki’s hair after spritzing it with water. She didn’t cut much, she said, she was just trimming the split ends off. She then she rolled up Ricki’s hair and covered it with a shower cap.

After that they cleaned off the table and served breakfast. Ricki could swear that the girls were watching each mouthful of food she ate. She had two eggs, three strips of bacon, two slices of toast with jelly and a glass of orange juice.

When they finished she was escorted up to the bathroom and stripped. Stacy made her stand on a scale, twice, after the first time another of the girls stood on the scales to check their accuracy. Amanda ran her bath adding bathing salts and oils, Susan checked her for stray hairs,

Ricki was allowed to soak in the warmth of the tub till the water began to chill. She then began to clean herself with a loofah and a fragrant body wash. Her skin had a healthy glow as she stood and rinsed off. Two girls patted her dry, another hit her armpits with deodorant while Susan rubbed her down with a body lotion. Ricki had died and gone to heaven.

Ricki was then led to her room, where Stacy explained where she could find her things, opening her drawers to show her, her panties bras and things. Her T-shirts and tops in another drawer, her slips in another. All while selecting things for Ricki to wear.

Ricki wound up in a light blue scoop neck blouse, skin tight low rise jeans, t shirt bra, pantyhose, white satin bikini panty and a pair of strappy black sandals with a three inch heel. Carrie sat Ricki down and talked her through putting her makeup on. It took Ricki a couple of tries before Carrie was satisfied with the results. Lastly Carrie took the rollers out of Ricki’s hair and brushed it out. She made sure that Ricki’s purse had what she needed to make repairs and the troop of girls headed out to hit the mall.

The first place they hit at the mall was a hair dresser. After signing in at the desk, they sat and waited a bit. Ricki was looking through a book of hairstyles. Susan and Stacy would point out various styles and comment on how Ricki would look in them. Ricki saw a shot of Jessica Alba in a long layered style.

“Would that be easy to take care of,” Ricki asked.

“Yes it would Ricki,” Stacy said. “You just brush it everyday and shake it out. You would look good with it.”

Susan leaned over and whispered in his ear, “To go back to a boy’s style you would have to loose about half your hair, but I like it.”

Ricki was startled to hear her name called. She and Susan went up to the stylist who called her name.

“Hi I am Linda, and I will be your stylist today. Which one of you is Ricki she asked?”

“I am Ricki and this is my friend Susan.”

“Well just follow me please.”

Linda led them to her station and had Ricki sit down.

“Now what can I do for you today Ricki?”

“I would like to have my hair styled and colored today.”

“I can do that for you. Have you selected what you want?”

“I would like to have a long layered style like Jessica Alba and I would really love it in a dark auburn, if that is possible.”

Susan’s heart sank a bit, she was partial to blondes, but she thought with Ricki’s eyes and coloration, a dark auburn would really look sweet.

“I think that would look lovely on you Ricki, I think we could add some red and brown highlights to your hair too. What do you think?” Lucy said.

Ricki looked to Susan who said, “As long as it isn’t too red, like a light auburn to a copper red. I think it would be great.”

“That sounds great; we’ll color your hair and then style it.”

“If you want to come back in a couple of hours Susan, Ricki should be ready then.”

“Yes Susan, I want this to be a surprise to you too.”

“Ahh gee, I just ain’t wanted around here anymore Sis.”

“You are wanted Sis, just not now.”

Susan kissed Ricki’s cheek and told her to take care.

The sisters all left the salon and wandered about the mall. Several stopped in shops to look at this or that. Some stopped and bought their little Sister something here or there. The girls just couldn’t believe how they reacted to Ricki and how Ricki reacted to them. They couldn’t explain it but it was like she belonged to them and they belonged to her. They truly felt she was their little sister.

Ricki loved what Lucy had done to her hair. She jumped out of the chair and gave Lucy a big hug and wore a thousand watt smile.

“Thank you so much, Lucy.”

“You are so welcome dear, now sit down and let me show you how to adjust your makeup with your new colors.”

Lucy showed Ricki how to best utilize her makeup palette to take advantage of the changes in color to her hair. Ricki told Lucy how strict her Mom had been on hair style and makeup.

“Let me guess, she made you wear your hair either straight or in a bun?”

Ricki just nodded, “She didn’t use makeup and she believed her daughters didn’t need it either.”

“Well it certainly becomes you well. You are simply gorgeous Ricki. A girl doesn’t have to look like a slut with makeup, some girls who don’t know how to do it properly often do, but with proper use makeup can enhance beauty.”

I am glad I got the chance to work with this girl, Lucy thought. I really feel sorry for girls who have ultra strict parents.

Ricki was glad that her sisters hadn’t returned yet. She got to pay her own bill and left a twenty percent tip for Lucy. She hoped that that was enough.

Chapter 8

Ricki stood outside the salon and waited for the group. She only had to wait for about five minutes when they showed up. She couldn’t help noticing all the looks she got from both boys and girls. She knew what the boys were thinking after all she was one. It was the girls looking at her she couldn’t understand.

When the sisters got back to the salon, They just couldn’t believe what they saw. Ricki had gone from beautiful to stunning. Many of them thought that Ricki’s good looks were wasted on a boy, because she made a really wonderful looking girl. They excitedly hugged her and made her turn for them so they could get a good look. Their excitement was contagious and Ricki got caught up in it, smiling broadly.

The girls led Ricky to the food court. Ricki got a salad, two bread sticks and two pieces of pizza along with a high octane coke. Ricki still felt like she was under observation while she ate.

While they ate the girls passed Ricki packages. One girl had stopped at the Paul Mitchell store and had purchased some shampoo, conditioner and hair spray. Another had purchased a couple of silk scarves. A third had gotten a half dozen bottles of nail lacquer and matching lipsticks. All in all the girls had bought things other than clothing that they felt a girl like Ricki needed.

“I was thinking I like to swim, but I don’t think my old Speedo would be appropriate swim wear.”

“How good a swimmer are you?” Carrie asked.

“Pretty good, I was the first alternate on the four man relay, second best in the butterfly and breast stroke and first in back stroke at my school. I was a good sprinter but lacked the stamina for the longer events. Although the forms and hips look good, I feel I need to keep them covered. I don’t think they will tan too well.”

“We know just the place to go Ricki,” Stacy said.

After they finished eating they led their sister to a shop that specialized in swimwear. They looked at the various suit styles. Ricki must have tried on half the suits in the store that fit her. The owner had told her to keep her underwear on when trying on the suits. Ricki selected a competition suit, in USC’s cardinal and gold along with a swim cap and goggles, a flowery red, yellow and orange tankini. Susan picked out a gold bikini bra and a cardinal bikini boy-cut bottom. Ricki didn’t know who paid for them, just that she wasn’t given the opportunity.

Ricki thought about all the clothes, makeup, jewelry and things the girls had bought for her. In her heart she knew that she wouldn’t be her male self for a while, maybe the whole summer. She didn’t care; she liked everything she had experienced so far. She knew that when she went into the salon this morning. She didn’t know if she wanted to stay this way for the rest of her life, but being with Susan had excited something in her she hadn’t felt before. She felt she wanted to be a boy for Susan, yet she felt so good dressed as a girl. Life right now was good.

Ricki did fret a bit about what Laura would say or do. Her sister would be back tomorrow after all. Ricki just didn’t let her fears rule and spoil her time with the girls she now considered her sisters.

“I have a question Susan.”

“What do you want to know sweety?”

“Look at all of us. Every one of us is good looking and I have seen some guys our age looking us over but none of them have made an effort to move in on us.”

“It is the herd it is the herd mentality, Ricki. When a large group of girls are together it is harder for one or two guys to try to cull a girl from the group. If the girls don’t want the attention, it is next to impossible. They just from a circle the guys can’t overcome. Didn’t you ever see that at your school?”

“Some I guess. I interacted with girls more than guys, but the girls weren’t interested in me as a partner. They just treated me as a friend. That is the kiss of death for a guy, always a friend and never a lover.”

Susan leaned over and whispered in Ricki’s ear, “Not all girls are like that lover.”

“We haven’t…”

“We can’t… yet, but I will be patient. I promise you.”

Their last stop Stacy insisted was into the GNC (General Nutrition Center. They specialized in vitamins, nutrients and such.) Stacy and Rebecca consulted with the nutritionist there. They purchased 90 days of a multivitamin for women, a B complex, a sublingual B 12, a calcium supplement with vitamin D and a C complex.

Outside the GNC, Ricki stopped the girls and said, “I don’t need any vitamins. I have never taken any before.”

“Yes you do Ricki. Our foods these days are depleted of vitamins, and you need them to stay healthy,” Stacy said, her hands on her hips, a stance that Ricki had seen her mother take often when she was laying down the LAW.

“But…,” Ricki started as she noticed she was surrounded on all sides by the girls. “Alright I guess.”

Susan smiled and said, “See, I knew she would be sensible.”

“Movie time girls,” Stacy said.

“Chinese,” “Burgers,” “Mexican,” the girls called out. Mexican got the most votes.

“Mexican it is girls. I will stop at Taco House and meet ya’ll at the digs,” Stacy said.

“I’ll get the movies,” Carrie volunteer.

Back at the condo Ricki took off all her clothes and changed into her long satin sleep shirt and matching panties. She also took time to sort through some of the things she had been given today. She found a bottle of Perfume, she didn’t know how girls applied it but she knew they only used a very little. So she just put her finger over the mouth, turned the bottle back and forth, then she rubbed her finger over her neck.

Downstairs Ricki found a spot on the couch between Susan and Rebecca.

When the food arrived the girls opened the sacks of food and placed it on the table. Susan and Ricki passed around diet cokes and Cindy got paper plates. Ricki was asked about how she felt and about how she liked being a girl. She told them that she felt great and she liked being a girl right now. What she liked best was how close she felt to everyone here right now.

“I mean I have more friends in you girls than I had at home in New York. It feels like we are really a family. I guess I was happy in New York, but I really, really love being here with all of you.”

Stacy stood up; she looked at all the sisters around the table and said, “I think I can speak for everyone here. Even if it is only for a little while we consider it an honor to be your sisters.”

Ricki wasn’t able to enjoy the movies as much as she would have liked. Her sister would be back tomorrow and Ricki would have to face the music, so to speak, but she kept a brave face and refused to drag down everyone’s spirit. She didn’t realize that many of the girls with her this night shared the same feelings with her.

Ricki couldn’t believe how things had just snow balled on her. It was like an avalanche that once started refused to end. They had gone out to buy a few clothes and now she had a full wardrobe. She had even made it next to impossible to return to being Ricky this summer herself. She wondered in her heart if she had done that on purpose.

The next morning Ricki was the second person awake. Cindy was in the kitchen and was starting breakfast for everyone. Ricki hurried in the bathroom down stairs to do her business.

Ricki began helping Cindy fix breakfast for the troop. The smell of coffee and food cooking seemed to wake the dead. All the girls pitched in where they could and soon they were all eating. The next thing the girls did after eating was they set about washing dishes, cleaning the condo from top to bottom and doing the laundry.

When everything was right as rain Carrie, Amanda and Stacy made their farewells. That left Cindy, Susan, Rebecca and Ricki to face Laura when she got home.

The remaining girls then took turns bathing and getting dressed. Ricki with the other girls’ assistance took a long time getting her hair and face right. She then selected a matching beige satin bra and panty set, garter belt, stockings, camisole, mini half slip, a black mid thigh skirt and black three inch pumps.

Ricki was sitting with her back to the door as Laura entered the condo at about four that evening. She smiled when she saw her sisters and excitedly said, “Hi.” She walked over and the girls exchanged greetings with her.

She saw Ricki sitting there. She was use to her sisters bringing girls over that were hoping to pledge. She came over to the girl extended her hand and said, “Hello, I am Laura Davis.”

Ricki stood and as she started to speak a look of recognition spread over Laura’s face, “Hi Sis, how are you?” Ricki said.

Chapter 9

Laura was a little stunned, not only due to the fact that her brother was standing before her dressed as a girl, but also by how beautiful her brother was. “Oh my. Ricky you are so beautiful. Susan what the hell is going on?” All this was said in almost a continuous staccato.

“Let me start off,” Rebecca said, and she told the tale from what she knew.

Cindy then picked up the story about coming home and finding Rebecca and Ricky dressed like this. She explained that she decided that Ricki should remain dressed as a girl till Laura could decide if any punishment was due.

Susan then told Laura how all this happened from what she knew. She stated that she liked Ricki so much that she wanted him to know all about her, warts and all. She had shown Ricki her toy box not to get him into this lifestyle but to help explain some of the things she had told him.

Ricki then told his tale. “I am sorry Sis. I don’t know why I did what I did. I guess I was so in love with Susan that I just wanted to be a part of her life. If this was how she liked her guys, then that is what I wanted. I violated your trust along with Cindy’s and Susan’s trust. I feel I deserve to be punished. I just didn’t think this through.”

Laura sat in stunned amazement as everyone told their stories. She didn’t know what to say and kept quiet afraid to say the wrong things.

“You guys stay here for a bit. I need to go upstairs to my room for a few minutes to think and clean up a bit.”

Laura headed up to her room and into her bathroom. She took care of her personal needs and washed her salt tightened face and hair.

“I think that went really well, don’t you Susan?” Rebecca stated.

“She hates me now,” Ricki stated.

“She may be upset with you and me Ricki, but she doesn’t hate you,” Susan said.

“I agree with Rebecca, Ricki. I think she took it well. Your sister is a good person and she was bragging about you to all of us. Some of us have brothers that aren’t fit to be around decent people, but I really like you,” Cindy added.

Laura couldn’t believe Ricky had gone into the girls’ room. He had never done that to her, at least to the best of her knowledge he hadn’t. He had even seemed to not want to touch her or mom’s things when he did the laundry back home. She was still amazed by how he looked and smelled. He looked as good as most of her sorority sisters and better than some of them.

What was this talk about love? Laura did believe in love at first sight. She also believed that it was rare. There was no other explanation for why Susan had bared her soul to Ricky. All the girls in the sorority knew of Susan’s proclivity to dress her boyfriends, but Susan was so nice it didn’t seem to bother any of them. Ricky did look so good; he looked like a cross between their mother and their father while Laura herself took more after their mother’s mother.

It might do Ricky some good to spend some time as a girl. It might give him an appreciation for what girls go through. Ricky did make such a beautiful girl, she thought. But he did get into their clothes and makeup. She knew these were things that many girls found very personal. He did needed to be taught a lesson about that.

Laura made up her mind and went down stairs. She hoped what she was about to do was right.

Ricki was sitting on the couch with Cindy, Rebecca and Susan when Laura came down. Laura didn’t look mad, but she did look determined.

“Well Ricky, what am I going to do with you? You went into Susan and Cindy’s room and got into their things.”

“You are partially wrong, Laura,” Rebecca said. “He went into their room and got into some things that Susan had showed him.”

“But he is dressed as a girl?”

“That is another story,” Cindy said.

“You still went into Cindy and Susan’s room right?”

“Yes ma’am,” Ricki said.

“You got into Susan’s toy box right?”

“Yes ma’am,”

“You’re dressed as a girl now right?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“You violated Cindy and Susan’s privacy, right?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“You were wrong in doing that, right?

“Yes ma’am.”

“Ok we got that settled. I agree that you should be punished. Don’t you agree Ricky?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“What would you do if I confined Ricky to the condo for the rest of the summer?”

“Well I wouldn’t like it, but I think it is right in a way. I would take whatever punishment you decide. So I would stay inside the condo for the rest of the summer.”

Laura was never prouder of her brother than at this moment.

“Then that is my decision.”

Susan, Cindy and Rebecca couldn’t believe how harsh Laura was being. They had never thought she would do something like this and they jumped up to complain.

Laura smiled and held up her hands for her sisters to stop.

“I am not happy that you went into their room, but it is good to see you owning up to what you did. You could have denied it. No, I guess seeing you like this that would be hard to do, but you could have made attempts to justify your actions but you didn’t. So till the end of August, Richard Allen Davis will not step out of this condo, but at least for a short while my sister may as long as she has someone with her. Being dressed as a girl is not and I want to repeat that “IS NOT,” a punishment, except maybe for some of those horrid bridesmaid dresses some of out girlfriends make us wear, or maybe having to wear an anti-bellum or Victorian corset. After she learns the lay of the land and such, she can go outside on her own. I want to make sure she can handle herself as a girl first.”

Ricki and the girls had been sitting on the edge of their seats. After Laura had finished her pronouncement, their expressions had gone from sad shock to joyous amazement. Ricki jumped up from her seat and hugged her sister fiercely.

“I am sorry sister, I love you so much. Thank you,” Ricki said, crying on Laura’s shoulder.

Cindy, Susan and Rebecca joined their sisters in the celebration.

“I just can’t believe how pretty you are Ricky,” Laura said, hugging her brother.

“I am not as pretty as you are Sis.”

“Oh honey, you are sweet, but I can see with my own eyes. So what are we going to call you?”

“Ricki with an i Annette Davis,” Ricki supplied.

“Ok Ricki with an i Annette Davis. I suppose we need to get you some clothes.”

“No, Luara, we don’t. Now is time for the rest of the story.”

Rebecca took Laura’s hand and led her up the stairway, with Ricki holding Susan’s hand and Cindy following behind. Rebecca showed Laura all of Ricki’s clothes, lingerie and makeup. The girls explained how they had gone out to get Ricki just a few things and wound up buying the whole store, so to speak. Laura asked about the wig that Ricki wore and he explained that it was his real hair and about how he decided to change his hair and why. Laura was flabbergasted but happy for Ricki.

“Damn, I am going to have to borrow some of my brother’s clothes,” Laura said.

“I kind of doubt that Laura, you would have to lose twenty pounds to get in some of her outfits,” Rebecca said, teasing Laura. “She is way smaller than you, except for in the bust.”

“Damn, you got me there. Oh well.”

Sitting down on Ricki’s bed Laura asked, “I heard the words love and like. What is that all about?”

Susan and Ricki explained how they felt to Laura.

“You do know that you two can’t do the nasty for at least,” Laura stopped to think for a few seconds. “A year right?”

They each answered in the affirmative.

“Well I am going to need to talk to both of you individually and together several times in the next weeks. So don’t go and get too involved. Do you two understand?”

Again they answered in the affirmative.

“Did you have to make him so big in the chest, Susan? I am so jealous and glad that I am not that big.”

“I only have one set of breastforms Laura. On most guys it would make them a B cup or a C cup at the most. But Ricki is so…”

“I know, so small. He gets that from Dad’s side of the family.”

“Then Ricki is not anorexic?” Rebecca asked.

“No he isn’t, at least I don’t think he is.”

“I am not Sis.”

“Well we need to tell the rest of the sisters. They were expecting a boy named Ricky.”

“Stacy, Carrie and Amanda already know,” Cindy stated.

“Ouch! If Amanda knows.”

“The rest of the sisters that are in town know,” Rebecca finished.

“And some of them that aren’t here in town this summer, already know,” Susan added.

Rebecca looked and Laura and Ricki, “I don’t think we have to worry about the sisters though. All of them so far have treated Ricki very nicely.”

“Still it isn’t the sisters I worry about; it is who the sisters might let it slip to.”

“I think Stacy has that in hand. I talked to her this morning before they left,” Cindy added. “I do know the girls who Ricki has met love her.”

“Ok, Ricki come up to my room we need to have some sister time.”

Ricki followed his sister up to her room; Laura closed the door after they were both entered the room. Ricki looked all around. This was definitely a girl’s room and Ricki could see her sister’s touches to the room.

“Laura, I said I am sorry about all of this already.”

“I know, this isn’t about your situation. I just wanted to talk. Can’t I talk to my favorite bro… I mean sister? It is going to take some getting use to calling you sister.”

“They think of me like you do your sorority sisters.”

“Uhm that might just work. I haven’t seen you in like a whole year. How have you been doing?”

“I have been doing alright. Nothing much has changed since you left.”

“That bad huh.”

“Yes that bad. I don’t let it get to me though.”

“No girl friend back home then.”

“You know the kind of boys most girls like, Laura. After all you are a very pretty specimen.”

“Thank you, Ricki, and yeah I know what you mean. So tell me, how do you feel about Susan?”

“I think I fell in love with her the first time I saw her. Then when she kissed me, I knew that I really did love her.”

“Are you sure that wasn’t lust, Ricki?”

“Yes because I felt that too. I don’t know how to explain it, Sis. It was like a light came on in my brain and I wanted to do whatever it took to make her happy.”

“I see the same thing in Susan. You know what Mom and Dad would say about it, don’t you.”

“You’re not going to tell them about this,” Ricki said, indicating the way he was dressed.

“No, of course not. I was talking about you and Susan being in love.”

“Probably, if it really is love, it will be there after I graduate from college.”

“I think you got the idea, and it is true Ricki. If you two really love each other, it can wait till you are emotionally and mentally ready for it. So how were Mom and Dad doing?”

“I think they are doing great. They were acting so lovey dovey when I left, that I was suffering from sugar shock. Mom said that this was a second honeymoon for her.”

“What about Dad?”

“He was sick back in January. He went to a couple of Doctors and spent a few days in the hospital, but he said he got a clean bill of health.”

“It must have been something. You know how Dad feels about Doctors.”

“I know, but he was doing great since then. It was like he had a whole new lease on life.”

This statement bothered Laura. She would have to talk to Rebecca. “Ok Ricki, I need a nap go on downstairs. Wake me at dinner time. Oh and send Rebecca up.”

Ricki gave his sister a big hug. It really felt good to Laura.

“You know you really do make a very pretty girl,” Laura said as her brother/sister left.

Ricki called Laura after Cindy and Susan had finished making dinner. The girls sat around the table and chatted amiably as they ate.

“Ok Ricki this is how it is. I have three classes that are Monday through Thursday, from nine till four. We all have to leave here by eight and we will be back by four thirty. Stay around the Condo till we get back. You can go outside but stay on the property. We will take you around and show you where you can go by yourself. It is easy to get lost around here and you don’t have to travel far to find a bad section of town,” Laura said.

“She isn’t kidding Ricki,” Susan said. “Richard might have been able to move about somewhat safely but Ricki, you look so beautiful… Well we just want you to be safe.”

“I know Susan. Girls are much more of a target of violence than guys. On top of that I don’t know how to deal with people as a girl would. On top of that I am not really a girl. If that fact got out… Well I know some gay and lesbians at my school who were harassed and beaten. Can I at least go swimming here?”

“You don’t have a suit do you?” Laura asked.

Ricki held up three fingers as she chewed her food. Cindy and Susan just nodded their heads.

“Does she look good in them?”

Susan blushed and said. “She looks very good in them. They are in USC colors no less.”

“Go Trojans, I guess it is ok Ricki. First sign of problems though please get inside. Do you have a key yet?”

“No I don’t sis.”

Laura got her purse and took out a spare key she kept handy.

“Don’t loose it Sis, and I do love you, you knucklehead.”

Chapter 10

Ricki shook her head and looked with a partially open eye. The sky was dark outside and he was now shifting into wakefulness. Looking over at the clock radio next to his bed and he saw the numbers 4:06 burning into his retina.

Ricki got up and staggered into the bathroom. He usually just showered, but she had really loved the bubble baths she had over the last four days. The fragrant soothing bath salts sat on the ledge of the tub so she added about an inch from the bottle and began to add some very warm water. Ricki took care of the pressure in her bladder, sitting down was now second hand to her. She put on a shower cap and stepped into the warm tub and relaxed.

Being a girl wasn’t so bad she thought. The fragrance and warmth set her spirit soaring. She thought she could stay in the tub forever, at least till the water began to cool.

It was still just 5:15 when Ricki returned to her bedroom. She looked in her closet and selected a classic long sleeved polyester blouse in a dark turquoise and a gray mini-skirt. From her lingerie drawers she selected a dark blue bra and panties and a pair of off black sheer pantyhose.

Ricki dressed in her underwear and pantyhose, the feel of nylon going up her leg was incredible; she didn’t know how girls could not love the feeling. Then she sat down to try to work on her face. She cleansed her face and tried to get a little fancy with her makeup but after many tries she decided to keep it simple. She curled her eyelashes and then added foundation, powder, mascara and lipstick. Ricki didn’t know she had such thick, long lashes till the girls put mascara on her. It was one thing she loved about her sister’s eyes.

She then put on her blouse and skirt, and then she selected a pair of black sandals. For jewelry she added a couple of silver bangles and a silver clad turquoise drop on a silver necklace to complete her look.

Still it was only 6:04 and she was bored. Ricki went into the kitchen and decided to make breakfast for everybody. First she started a pot of coffee. She then took a potato and diced it fairly small. She set the bits in a pot of salted water and began to boil it. She found an onion and bell pepper and chopped these up. She put the vegetables in a frying pan with a little butter. She sautéed them till the onions began to turn translucent and began to brown a bit. She drained the potatoes and added them to the pan with a can of chili. She then cracked a half dozen eggs and began scrambling them with salt, pepper and cumin. Just before she finished she added some grated cheddar cheese.

Cindy, Susan and Laura had awakened and followed their noses to the kitchen. Laura set the table, while Cindy started making toast and Susan setting glasses of milk on the table.

“That smells wonderful Ricki,” Laura asked. “What is it?”

“It’s what I call shipwreck eggs,” Ricki said, telling the girls what was in the dish.

Susan and Cindy were a little uncertain about the dish, but their plates were clean when they left the table to get ready for school. They all gave Ricki their complements for the meal as she cleared the table, put the dishes in the dishwasher and took a clean wet dishcloth to the table.

Laura came downstairs with her book bag, dressed in shorts, a tank and a pair of cross trainers.

“Sweety, Rebecca will be by about twelve-thirty. She is going to show you around campus. She is also going to get you a cell phone charged to my account. So be ready for her. You might prepare sandwiches or a salad for you and her. Take care and be safe,” Laura said giving Ricki a hug.

“Ok Sis, have a nice day.”

“Thank you Ricki.”

Susan was in a rush and gave Ricki a kiss that lingered for a few seconds before bolting out the door.

Ricki checked out the cable stations on their HD TV. She liked the resolution of the TV and watched part of a movie, but became bored after a few minutes. Ricki checked to see what DVD’s and BD’s (blue ray discs) they had. She found a ten disc instructional set for Belly Dancing. On a whim Ricki put the first disc in.

In the two minute intro to the series there was an incredibly beautiful, graceful and sensual lady doing a belly dance. They began the lesson with a ten minute stretch routine, the lady explained the origins of belly dancing and championed its health aspects. She also told the viewers that the most important aspects are for the student, were to enjoy the dance and to smile.

“If you participate in the dance and do not enjoy the dance and don’t smile then belly dancing may not be for you.”

The first lesson on the disc contained the core-movements of the dance. Ricki watched the first few minutes of the core-movements and then stopped the disc. She rearranged the furniture leaving about a section in the middle of the living room open and restarted the disc from the beginning.

She kicked off her heels and found the skirt restrictive so she took off the skirt and blouse before continuing. She looked at herself standing there in just her bra, panties and pantyhose in the living room mirror and smiled.

The section with the core-movements alternated upper body movements with lower body movements and then combined the two. Ricki’s arm movements were a little stiff and lacked grace. For a boy this was normal. The lower body move was hip thrusts. Ricki smiled as she saw herself doing these, she imagined that she was doing them almost as well as the instructors on the screen.

Ricki went through the twenty minute core-movement section three times. She then fast forwarded through the stretch section of the next two sections and got into the lessons. The next lessons took six core-movements and worked on each harder and mixed them up to give the student a better idea of what worked well together. Each of these sections lasted thirty minutes with a five minute free dance period.

Even though the AC was running at 76 degrees Ricki started to work up a sweat. She really worked hard to do everything right and she was starting to feel muscles ache that she hardly used. She could have done a lot more but it had been a while since Ricky had worked his abs so hard, especially the lower abs. At the end of the second lesson Ricki looked to her right and saw Rebecca watching her.

She began to applaud and said, “Ricki that was wonderful. You were very good dear.”

She smiled and said thank you, then she realized how she was dressed. She tried to cover herself up.

“Come on now Ricki, you know I have seen you with less on. Anyway belly dancers are almost always as skimpily dressed as you are now,” Rebecca said. “Go catch a shower and we’ll go visit the campus.”

Ricki did catch a quick shower, shampoo and condition of her hair and dressed in clean underwear and pantyhose. Rebecca encouraged her to dress in the same blouse, mini and shoes though. After she blow dried her hair and made up her face, with Rebecca’s assistance they headed to the USC campus.

Rebecca first drove around the perimeter of the campus identifying the various buildings for Ricki. Ricki was amazed at the sheer size of the campus. Rebecca then parked in a lot that her parking permit allowed. They slowly walked around the Campus.

“Everybody that visits our campus is encouraged to visit Tommy Trojan. Tommy Trojan is a statue in front of the Admin Bldg.” She pointed it out as they crossed the quad to get to it.

Ricki looked at the statue and read the base. On one side it had the five attributes of the ideal Trojan. They were Faithful, Scholarly, Skillful, Courageous and Ambitious. On the other side it had a quote from Virgil; "Here are provided seats of meditative joy, where shall rise again the destined reign of Troy."

“Is Tommy Trojan the mascot?” Ricki asked.

“No the Mascot is Traveler; He is the white Andalusian horse that you see ridden at our home football games.”

Rebecca then took Ricki to the campus bookstore. Ricki picked up some USC regalia and souvenirs. She also picked up a USC Trojan scarf, a USC tank and shorts, a tube of lipstick in cardinal red and some gold and cardinal red nail polish. Rebecca picked up a new cell phone for Ricki and put it on Laura’s family plan.

“Laura has a cell phone family plan with unlimited text and 2000 phone minutes; Cindy, Susan, Debbie and I each split the bill. We can call each other without being charged extra and we rarely burn two thousand minutes. Our plan allows for six and you are lucky number six.”

At the student center, they got something to eat and drink as they talked. Ricki kicked off one heel and rubbed her foot and then the other as they talked. Rebecca began to program the phone with all the sisters’ phone numbers on it and texted the girls with Ricki’s new phone number.

“I was mean in a way,” Rebecca said. “I knew how tiring heels can be on feet and wanted you to experience that too. How are your feet?”

“They are a little sore, just like my stomach and sides are.”

“Yes, your sister used to complain about that too, Ricki.”

“My sister belly dances?”

“Yes she does. She and Debbie take lessons and dance with a group. They have performed for the sorority on occasion. They are pretty good at it. They go to classes on Tuesday and Thursday evening, when they are in town. You ought to ask your sister if you can go and watch sometime.”

Ricki smiled and said, “Thank you for telling me Rebecca, I just might do that.”

“Hello Rebecca,” the two girls heard and turned to the voice.

“Oh hello Candace. How are you doing?” Rebecca said, as she stood and greeted the girl with a hug and kiss to her cheeks.

“Doing great girl, just got back into town. Missed my early classes. Oh well I can make up the miss.”

“Candace this is Ricki Davis, Laura is her sister. Ricki this is Candace Mitchell, she is a friend of mine.”

Ricki stood and said, “Hello Candace,” holding out her hand like girls do.

Candace just ignored the hand and gave Ricki a hug and kiss, “Hello Ricki, it is good to meet you. Let me get a coke and I will be right back girls.”

“She seems like a nice lady,” Ricki said.

“Oh she is. I met her the first week I was here. She is a grad and I am a sophomore.”

The three of them just sat and talked for about an hour. Ricky had never been as open as Ricki was now. Of course nobody would sit down and just talk with him.

“Oh look at the time,” Candace said. “Got to run along to my three o’clock class. Ta ta.”

“We need to get home too. The girls will be getting out of class in an hour and I have a seven o’clock class.

At home Ricki after Rebecca left she practiced with her makeup; she was getting a little better at using makeup. She looked at her face and hair; she really did like looking like this. Where this was all going she wondered.

She also took time to change to a pair of Nike’s that felt really good about this time. Her feet were very tender after all the walking she and Rebecca did today. She had seen more than a few girls at USC that dressed nicely and had some sort of sports shoe on their feet. She figured that the girls would wear comfortable shoes to school mostly and then spice things up for social occasions.

When Laura got home she hurried to her room to drop off her things, take care of some pressing matters and to take a few minutes to decompress. Summer classes are very stressful you have all the regular material compressed into fewer number of days.

When she came down stairs Laura found Susan and Ricki talking. Ricki looked pretty good sitting there in her mini, blouse and cross trainers. Laura hardly ever wore heels on campus herself, unless she had a function to attend to and then she usually just carried a pair of heels in her bag.

“Hey guys, whatcha up too?”

“We were just chatting about our days Laura,” Susan said.

“Yeah sis, I watched TV for a while and then Rebecca and I headed to the campus. I couldn’t believe how huge that place is. I met a friend of Rebecca’s, a Candace Mitchell we talked about an hour and a half till she had to get to class. I stopped at the campus bookstore and bought some things, souvenirs stuff mostly. Do they have a pool on campus?”

“Yeah they have an Olympic length pool and a pool for diving. I can take you there a couple of times a week with you as my visitor. They also have a community outreach program to teach kids how to swim. If you were at the Student Center and bookstore, you weren’t too far from the PE bldg where the pool is. How about we show you around so you can learn the lay of the land, Ricki?”

“I would like that, Sis.”

“Let’s go in your car Susan so we can let the top down.”

Susan smiled and got her things. All three of them took time to check their faces before they headed out.

Susan had a 2007 Mercedes Cabriolet Convertible; it was a fire opal, two door convertible that sat four. She sat in the driver’s seat and lowered the top before she let Ricki in the backseat.

Ricki would have loved to sit next to Susan but she didn’t give her sister the chance to sit in the back.

They spiraled out for the complex. Laura and Susan pointed out the highlights of the area, including places to walk around in the day, parks, fast food joints, restaurants that were decent, a nearby cinema, and such. They also pointed out where not to be at night and where not to go at all.

The girls had been right, as nice as the area was a fifteen minute walk in the wrong direction could land someone in deep poo-poo. They drew an imaginary line down one street and asked and begged Ricki not to go past that line. It wasn’t that the area had assaults everyday, but they had quite a few there.

“The police patrols around the complex are enough to keep the problems on the other side of the street. That doesn’t mean the rabble rousers won’t come on our side, it’s just it is harder for them to get away with anything on this side. So generally they avoid this area,” Susan explained.

The girls returned home and began to fix dinner. They set Ricki to doing some tasks like chopping and stirring while they did the bulk of the measuring and mixing.

Dinner was a Caesar salad, a butternut squash soup, beef tenderloin medallions and grilled asparagus. Ricki helped set the table and to set the dishes on the table, along with a picture of ice tea.

Laura, Cindy and Susan all talked about their days, while Ricki reiterated what she had said earlier. After an hour the girls had homework to do so Ricki volunteered to clean up.

(continued)

Ricki learns more about being a girl. She helps her sisters out at home, where she can. Ricki and Laura find out that things are not well with their father. Ricki continues to learn the art of belly-dancing.

Shimmy

by

Paula Dillon

Chapter 11

The next day Ricki woke up an hour later. She had time to luxuriate in a bubble bath, the warm water soaked out the soreness of the previous day. She dressed more casually this morning, she wore her cardinal and gold bikini with her shorts, tank top, and cross trainers. On her face she just used a little mascara and lipstick. She even did her nails in a red/gold diagonal pattern. She used the red as a base coat and then painted half the nail in gold, on a diagonal and covered everything in a clear coat, as she had been shown.

They had a light breakfast of fruit and toast. Cindy and Susan checked that Ricki had taken her vitamins. Laura asked about them and was told what they were. Stacy thought Ricky needed them; because of his weight and all. Laura was familiar with them, so she agreed that they couldn’t do anything but help Ricki.

The girls oohed and ahhed, as they noticed Ricki’s nails.

“I see that you have become a regular Trojan there, sis,” Laura said. “It looks good, but you need a little more practice. I can see a few brush strokes and a bubble or two. We can work on that later.”

After breakfast, the girls got themselves put together and out the door at eight twenty. Ricki headed straight to the TV, stripped down to her bikini and started the first belly dancing disc. She started at the first lesson stretches, and the core-movement section, before getting into the next three lessons. Ricki found the lessons a little easier and she could see herself getting a little more graceful, as she imitated the instructor on the screen. She found that she could do the movements slowly, but when the instructor speeded things up, well… she still had fun.

Ricki was able to take a quick shower, do her makeup, dress in a skirt, blouse, pantyhose and her Nikes. She then made lunch for Rebecca and herself. She made two turkey sandwiches and used the last of the Romaine lettuce to make two salads. She also crushed some mint leaves she had found and added them to a pitcher of tea she had made.

Rebecca sat down with Ricki and ate lunch. They sat and talked a bit.
Ricki told her what Laura, Susan and she had done.

“Now I have to spend some time in the library studying Ricki, but I am going to take you to the student center. You can hang around there or wander about the campus. That will be better than just hanging around the condo. You can call me if you need me.”

“I think that I will like that, there is so much to see on the campus. I just like looking at the things around there.”

“Take your book bag and your purse, so you won’t look out of place.”

Ricky had been used to carrying one of those back-packs at high school, to carry his stuff in and was starting to get use to carrying a purse; girls just didn’t have the pockets to carry all the things they needed.

Rebecca parked in the same parking structure that she had before. She then had Ricki lead the way to the student center. She had to look closely to see where she was a couple of times, but she led them to Tommy Trojan.

They entered the Admin Building, snagged a catalogue and a campus map, before leaving. Rebecca then pointed to the student center and bookstore, before showing her where the library was. She handed the campus map and catalogue to Ricki.

“There are several libraries on campus. That is the Leavey Library and this is the Doheny Library, where I will be.”

They entered the library and Rebecca showed Ricki where she would be. “It’s my favorite table,” she said. Then Ricki took off to explore the campus.

As she wandered about, she found herself overtaken by a group of students that seemed intent on a goal. The group of about twenty students, about 60% male, just moved on by her. As she reached the back of the group, a tall rugged looking jock looked at her and said, “Stay with the group Frosh,”

Ricki started to object, “But I am not…”

“Come on please, I need to keep you guys together. Stay with the group,”

Instead of fighting it Ricki went along with the flow. A couple of girls in the group latched onto her.

“Hi I am Belinda Andrews,” said a tall brunette.

“And I am Chen Li Ming,” a petite oriental girl said, with only the slightest of oriental accents.

“I am Ricki Davis. How are you two doing?”

“Great! Freshman orientation can be grueling, can’t it?”

“I wouldn’t know, I am a junior.”

“You’re already a junior. My gosh, what were you a child prodigy?” Li Ming asked.

“Oh no, I am a high school junior.”

Belinda looked at Ricki’s chest and giggling said, “I see they grow them big where ever you are from.”

“I am from New York, New York, and these kinda of run in the family.” Ricki giggled back.

“I am from Seattle,” Li Ming said.

“And I am from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. If you are not a freshman, how did you get in our group.”

Ricki did her best impression of Third of Five imitation, “We are Borg, You will be assimilated; resistance is futile.”

The girls laughed and giggled.

“Well just come with us and we will see if we can have some fun,” Li Ming said.

They each took one of Ricki’s arms and latched on to her.

They were led to an auditorium. The three girls sat together and Ricki told them her story (leaving certain things unsaid.) They chatted back and forth till several other groups had joined them in the auditorium. Several speakers came out to give these freshmen motivational talks and information. The last one was one of the Deans.

“I want to welcome this group of fine outstanding freshman to our University. You are the Future of the USC Trojans, as the torch is passed to you, we hope that you will take up the challenges of the future of our University, Our State and Our Country. You will be the leaders of your generation. My generation will look to you for solutions and guidance. It is with great joy that we call you Trojans.”

“I know the experience that you are going through can seem a bit daunting and some may despair, but hold true to your vision and strive to succeed.”

“As you leave here today, you will find tables where you will receive your schedules and room assignments, for your stay. Please stop by and pick up your packets. The rest of the day is free and you may make use of all our facilities. Thank you for choosing the University of Southern California.”

“Hey guys, you want to hang together this afternoon?” Li Ming asked, as they headed to the tables that were set up.

“Sure,” Belinda said.

“Oh heck, why not,” Ricki said.

“Then just wait for us Ricki, while Belinda and I register,” Li Ming said.

“Okay,”

Ricki stood around as her new friends went to register. She was lost in thought until she was disturbed.

“Having problems,” a girl who came up to her asked. “What is your name?”

“Hi, I am Ricky Davis.”

“Hi, I am Amy Phillips. The D’s are in that line.”

“Oh, I am not a freshman. I am a junior.”

“Wonderful Ricki, what is your major?”

“I don’t have a major; I am just a high school junior. My sister goes to USC and I am visiting her for the summer.”

“How did you wind up in the middle of Freshman Orientation?”

“Resistance was futile and I was assimilated by a Borg in red and gold.”

“Oh, one of our Jock councilors picked you up.”

“Yep.”

“Who is your sister?”

“Laura Davis.”

“Oh I know her, she is a Greek isn’t she.”

“A Greek?” Ricky asked.

“Members of a sorority or fraternity are sometimes referred to as a Greek.”

“Oh, ok. Yes she is a Greek then.”

“Well welcome to USC, Ricki,” Amy said, “I hope to see you again.” Amy then left and tended to other kids who looked like they needed help.

Belinda was through first, she and Ricki saw Li Ming leave one line and stand in a second line. She eventually joined them.

“Did you have problems, Li Ming?” Belinda asked.

“A few, it is how we write our names. You write your name with your surname last. Orientals have their surname first and their personal names last. My family’s name is Chen, so I stood in the C line, but someone had placed my packet in the M’s, under Ming. Do either of you have a car.”

“No I flew in; a school bus picked me up. My stuff is in the Lobby of my dorm.”

“I don’t have a license yet,” Ricki stated.

“I drove down from Seattle, so I have my car.” Li Ming said.

Li Ming and Belinda compared their room assignments. They were both in the same dorm but different floors.

The troop followed Li Ming, as she went to her car. It was a Chevy Impala that was a few years old, but appeared to be in excellent condition. Ricki checked her map and saw they were on the wrong side of campus. They climbed into Li Ming’s car and drove to the lot closest to the dorm.

On the way Ricki’s purse started playing, ‘Stairway to Heaven’. Ricki got her cell phone and saw that it was Rebecca.

“Hi Rebecca,” Ricki said. “Oh, I am with a couple of new friends. I ran into a couple of girls here for freshman orientation and we kind of fell into a group.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me. I can take a cab home. Okay, see ya.”

Ricki helped Belinda and Li Ming get their things to their rooms. The closest to the door was Belinda. She just opened her door and dropped her things off. Li Ming was one floor up.

“We are free for the rest of the day, let’s go get something to eat. Ricki do you know anyplace good?” Belinda asked.

“I know where a couple of burger joints are, a Chinese restaurant and a Pizza joint.”

“Pizza please, I eat Chinese all the time,” Li Ming said, with a smile.

The three girls headed out to Tony’s Pizza. After they got there and entered the restaurant, Ricki’s phone began playing ‘Devil in a Blue Dress’. She got her phone out and saw that it was her sister.

“Hey sis, how are you?”

“Okay, where are you?”

“I am at Tony’s Pizza with a couple of girls I met at USC.”

“Have you eaten yet?”

“No, not yet,” Ricki said. She looked over the crowd there and saw two people she knew. “Oh Stacy, Carrie and another girl I don’t know, are here.”

“What does she look like?”

“Tall, blonde, she looks like she could be a muscle builder. She is the most muscular girl I have ever seen up close.”

“Oh, that is Karen Graham. Tell them we will be there in ten minutes.”

“Okay, see ya.”

Ricki thought for about two seconds, then had an evil grin on her face and said. “Belinda and Li Ming would you guys like to play a trick on some friends?”

“Sure, as long as it isn’t hurtful,” Li Ming said.

“The girl on the end is Carrie Wright, the one in the middle is Stacy Lewis and the other girl is Karen Graham. Go up to them and act like your old friends. Stacy is the president of my sister’s sorority.”

The girls giggled and laughed at Ricki’s suggestion. “This will be good,” Belinda said.

Carrie, Stacy and Karen were deep in conversation. They were having a good time talking about guys they knew on campus and who would be better suited for whom. Li Ming and Belinda walked past the table and stopped.

“Oh my gosh; it is so good to see you three again,” Belinda said.

Stacy looked up, smiled at the girls and had a confused expression on her face. “Excuse me but do we know you two?”

“Sure, you’re Carrie Wright, Stacy Lewis and Karen Graham, right,” Li Ming said, as she pointed to each girl.

The three girls were really confused now. The two girls seemed to know them, but they were drawing blanks.

“Yeah, you’re sorority sisters, right and you Stacy, are president.”

“Yes, we are. I am so sorry. I don’t usually forget meeting people, but for the life of me, I don’t remember you two.”

“You’re kidding us of course, I am Belinda Andrews and this is my friend Chen Li Ming. We met you last semester on Campus.”

Stacy, Carrie and Karen were beginning to doubt their own sanity, till Stacy looked to the side and saw Ricki holding her camera phone up, recording all of this.

“Ricki! Get your pretty little butt over here,” Stacy said.

“Hi Stacy, Carrie and Karen,” Ricki said.

Karen was still at a loss and asked, “Who are you?”

“That is Ricki Davis, she is Laura Davis’ sister,” Stacy said.

“And I told my sister I saw you three. After I described you Karen, my sister told me who you were. I am sorry; I just had to pull this one on you. As the girls told you, this is Belinda Andrews and Chen Li Ming. I met them today on campus. They are here for freshman orientation.”

“You should be ashamed of yourself Ricki. I suppose you recorded the whole thing?” Stacy asked smiling.

“Guilty as charged.”

“Hi gang,” Laura said coming up behind everyone.

“Hey Laura, this is Belinda Andrews and Chen Li Ming, they will be freshmen this fall.” Ricki said “And this is my sister Laura, Cindy Long and Susan Cartwright.”

“Your sister was very bad, Laura,” Stacy said. “She had her friends come in and talk with us as if they knew us. We were thinking that we had lost our minds.”

“You mean you haven’t lost your minds?” Laura asked.

“Yes but even more so,” Stacy said. “All in all it was a good joke, Ricki. You had us scratching our heads and nobody got hurt.”

The girls moved several tables together and pizza started flying about. The sisters started to get to know the freshman and found that they liked the girls. Carrie was pledge mistress for their sorority and took an active role with these young girls. They were being grilled about who they were, where they were from, what they thought of USC, did they have a major in mind yet, how their grades were back home and if they had given any thought to joining a sorority.

Belinda and Li Ming were enthusiastically answering the sisters’ questions. Inwardly they had a little trepidation about being away from home and leaving all their friends behind. Going away for college can be daunting to freshmen. They were finding that when the fall semester started that they would already have a lot of friends waiting for them.

Everyone passed their cell phones around, to program their numbers and names into, with these new girls’ and wished them good luck.

“Well, I got to get home and change for my exercise class,” Laura said. “Susan can you take Ricki home?”

“Can do Laura.”

“What kind of exercise class do you go to?” Li Ming asked.

“I belly dance.”

“Oh how interesting,” Belinda said. “Do you like it?”

“Yes, you can say that, I love belly dancing. It is fun and a very good form of exercise. If you have trouble keeping your waist trim, then belly dancing can really help.”

Belinda didn’t have a large waist, but she did have a little roll when she wore her tight high waist jeans. “I might have to try that.”

“Yeah me too.” Li Ming added.

Laura left and the others began to slowly drift away. Belinda and Li Ming had to get back to the dorm. Susan and Cindy left with Ricki, to head to their home.

Chapter 12

The next morning, Laura asked if Ricki could vacuum and do the laundry, as they ate breakfast. They told Ricki how to tell their clothes apart. They had used a laundry marker to put their initials on the labels.

“Just hang or fold the clothes. Put the folded clothes on the bed and the hanging clothes on the hanger hooks, on the doors. Everyone will make their own beds and put their things up.” Laura said.

“Okay no problem.” Ricki said.

Ricki had sorted the clothes out and had already started the first load when the girls left for classes. Each girl had set a bag of clothes, a bag of lingerie and their sheets, set out in the hall upstairs.

In between loads, Ricki played a lesson from the belly dance DVD’s. She got all the laundry done, folded, sorted and delivered. Just before lunch, she vacuumed all the bedrooms, the hall and downstairs. She practiced her hip movements and the traveling steps, as she pushed the vacuum cleaner. Ricki thought it was funny, as she did hip thrusts and Egyptian steps, while she worked.

Rebecca called and said she couldn’t make it; she had a big research project to do. Ricki said it was alright. She changed into her tankini and headed out back, to the swimming pool. The pool was large, for an apartment complex, but less than a third of the size she was use to. She could dive in one end of the pool and dolphin underwater all the way to the other end. She found it a little more challenging to swim with these huge appendages on her chest. She found she had to adjust her strokes a little. She didn’t realize it, but with the adjustments she made, it actually helped her swim better. She swam back and forth, practicing her strokes. She had seen nobody while she swam, apparently everyone was at school or at work, in the middle of the day.

One someone did see her and watched her for quite a while. As he fantasized about her, he wanked himself off.

At about two thirty, Ricki called it a day at the pool and headed inside. Her shoulders and face were a little red from all the sun she had gotten. When she undressed, she saw her sunburn lines around the suit. After showering and shampooing, to get the chlorine out of her hair, she looked for something to help with the pain of the sunburn.

She did find some Solarcaine with aloe lotion (a topical antiseptic and lidocaine lotion for sunburns) to soothe her sun burned shoulders in her bathroom medicine cabinet. It felt so good going on. She would have to remember to buy some more medicated lotion to replace what she had used.

Ricki rinsed the chlorine out of her suit, squeezed the water out and hung it on a bar over the tub to dry. She went ahead and cleaned the bathroom Susan, Cindy and she used.

She found a light, cotton blend, sleeveless tank that didn’t irritate her shoulders too bad and she did have one strapless bra. When the summer was over, Ricky might have to use a spray tan to cover up his activities this summer. She then dressed in a denim mini and her sport shoes.

It was a little after three, so Ricki just practiced her belly dancing till she heard the back door open.

“My, you got some sun today, didn’t you,” Laura asked.

“Yes I did. I was in the pool for about two hours. Susan, or Cindy, I borrowed some Solarcaine from you. I will buy you some more.”

“Ok sweety, looks like you needed it, you might want to pick up a water proof, high SPF, (Sunburn Protection Factor, increases the amount of sun one can take without burning) sun blocker lotion too,” Susan said.

“Sorry, but we need to study real bad. Can you fix dinner in about an hour and a half?” Laura asked.

“No problem sis,” Ricki said. She went to the refrigerator to check what was available.

Ricki pulled out the fixings of a salad, some chicken breasts, and some fresh corn on the cob. She placed the corn in a pot of salted water. She then cut up an avocado, toasted some bread that she covered with a butter, garlic and salt mixture, to make croutons, tore some Romaine lettuce up and grated a block of parmesan cheese.

Twenty minutes before dinner, Ricki started the corn and grilled the chicken breasts, after rubbing them in spices. She then tossed the salad, added the croutons, dressing, grated cheese and sorted it out into four salad bowls. When the chicken was ready, she cut it into strips and placed them on top of the four salads she had made.

She set the food out and called out that dinner was ready.

While they were eating, Ricki’s phone rang. She noted that it was Li Ming.

“Hello Li Ming,”

“Hi Ricki, what are ya’ll doing?”

“Eating right now.”

“Can we come over; there isn’t anything to do on campus.”

“Let me let you talk to Laura,” Ricki said, as she handed her phone to Laura.

“Hi Li Ming… Do you two have swimming suits with you? Great, we can have a pool party.” Laura said, as she gave the girl directions over. “Be here about seven and you can get back to your dorm before the eleven o’clock curfew.”

“Belinda and Li Ming are coming over. Let’s get some munchies out and ice some drinks down,” Laura said.

Laura made a few more calls and then headed to her room, to get her suit on. Ricki went up and put her bikini on and a pair of flip-flops, then went to help in the kitchen.

Li Ming and Belinda showed up, as did a lot of the sisters. More sisters than Ricki knew. She was put in charge of a grill, by the pool, flipping the hamburgers, with Susan handling the food. On a table near by, were potato salad, baked bean, fixings and chips, along with a cooler of drinks.

Introductions were made and some girls hit the food with a vengeance, while others hit the pool.

After the food was all cooked, Ricki dove into the pool and took a half dozen quick laps to get the smell of smoke and food off of her. Up above, a curtain was slightly open and a camera quietly clicked away.

When Laura began to dance for the girls, Ricki couldn’t help to mimic her sister. She could see just how good Laura was, compared to her. Ricki’s actions did not go unnoticed by the sisters, who had her join Laura. At least Laura slowed down her movements enough, that Ricki had no problems. Laura smiled and was pleasantly surprised to see how well Ricki danced. It looked to her like Ricki had been going to classes for at least two or three months. Ricki was pretty sharp on her hip movements, albeit she didn’t have the skill too shift the routines into a fast mode. Her arm movements and chest movements though, needed a lot of work. Also she only seemed to know the basic core movements.

A couple of the other girls joined them and were a poor mimic to the Davis sisters, they were clowning a bit, but all of them had fun. Even Li Ming and Belinda gave it a go. Laura took time to teach them a few of the core movements. They were similar to some of the current dance moves on the club circuit. The two freshmen turned out to be pretty good, for neophytes.

Carrie cornered the two freshman girls and asked them to consider pledging this fall. The girls agreed that they would seriously consider her offer.

Ricki asked the girls if they wanted to come over tomorrow, but they both had to leave and head on home, after the freshman orientation was over, on Thursday. So at ten thirty, the girls gave everyone a hugs and kisses, before they had to go.

The sorority sisters had Ricki begin the clean up by herself, as they met to talk over what they thought of the girls. They also had more than a few compliments to give Laura about Ricki and sorely wished that she had been born a girl. She had brought them two very nice prospects and did whatever she could to help out.

As Ricki started taking things in, a camera continued to click away.

Chapter 13

The next morning Ricki got up and took her bubble bath, shampooed and conditioned her hair; last night she had only rinsed the chlorine out of her hair.

When she finally came downstairs, the other girls were already dressed and fixing breakfast. All three girls thanked Ricki for helping them yesterday and for introducing two really nice prospects.

“Ricki, I am really proud of you too. All of the sisters really liked you. They especially liked how you pitched in and helped with all the preparation. That party came on really short notice. Carrie and Stacy wanted all the girls to get to know Li Ming and Belinda.”

Ricki blushed and said, “I really had a lot of fun helping out. You have some really cool sisters, Sis.”

“They think I have a really cool sister too, Ricki. Where did you learn to belly dance?”

“From the exercise DVD’s I found here.”

“You have only been here for six days, how many discs have you gone through.

“Just the first, I want to go back through the first again, before I start the second.”

“You ought to come with me tonight then, put on that gold bikini top and a pair of shorts, Ricki.”

Cindy and Laura headed upstairs for a minute. Susan came around and gave Ricki a probing kiss, holding their two bodies together tightly. Ricki just melted under Susan’s passion. She would have done anything Susan would have asked of her, after that kiss.

Catching her breath, Susan said. “Ricki, come what may, I really love you so much, it hurts.”

“I really can’t believe all of this Susan. It is incredible, what I feel for you and how you make me feel. I love you so much too; I just can’t find the right words to say.”

One last hug and Susan said, “Hold that thought girl. I will see you after classes.”

After the girls left for college, Ricki stripped off to her panties and bra. She then started the first of the belly dancing discs and went straight through the whole disc. She fast-forwarded through the subsequent stretching routines, only just stretching out an abused muscle, occasionally. She felt better after finishing her routine today; her abdomen was a little tight, but not sore.

Looking at herself in a mirror, her already slim waist, seemed a bit slimmer. After showering and taking her vitamins, as she had the past five days, she stepped on the scales in the bathroom. She guessed she might have picked up a pound or two. It was just hard to tell.

At noon it was apparent that Rebecca couldn’t come pick her up, so she texted her sister and Rebecca, that she was taking a taxi to campus. Her nails looked good, but would need to be redone later tonight. Ricki was beginning to get pretty good at her makeup. She liked the way she looked; she began to wish that this didn’t have to end. She didn’t know if she wanted to fully become a girl or not, it was too early for her to tell. She just liked looking and acting like a girl, that much she did know. She then dressed in a skirt, blouse, a pair of pantyhose and her Nikes.

She grabbed her purse and headed to the front where the taxi would arrive. She was just a minute or two early. She noticed the looks she got from other tenants, guys and girls.

On campus, Ricki first headed to the campus bookstore and browsed her way through it. She made sure to pick up more Cardinal and gold nail polish. She also bought a few USC T-shirts, a book or two for her to read, and other odds and ends. Ricki then headed over to the student center.

Inside the student center she found the coffee shop and sat down with a cup of Mocha Latte. She pulled out one of the paperback books she bought and started to read it. About a third of the way through the novel she heard.

“Hi Ricki.”

Ricki looked up to see Candace smiling at her and heading her way.

“Hi Candace, how are you.”

“I am doing very good, I missed you the last two days, how are you girl?” Candace asked, after she hugged and kissed Ricki’s cheek. She then sat next to her.

“I am doing great. I made a couple of friends, the day before. They were a couple of freshman here for orientation.”

“Oh my, how did you get mixed up with that group?”

“I sort of got assimilated by a group going to the auditorium. I wound up in there, as the group was given a welcome and pep talk.”

“Are you thinking of coming to college here?”

“I haven’t given it much thought yet. I guess it is about time for me to do that. I really like USC, I think.”

“Yeah, they run those orientations to help freshmen get acclimated and comfortable on campus. It seems you are quite comfortable here.”

“Being here with my sister and her friends, makes it easier.”

“How was it back at your high school, Ricki?”

“Oh, I have a few friends, mostly girls, but no best friends forever. I can’t believe how easily I have made friends here. It isn’t that way at home.”

“I can’t believe that, you seem so vivacious and open to me.”

“I can’t believe it either, Candace. I don’t know why, but I am a lot different now, and I find I like being the way I am now. Before I was always a bit of a bore, or a nerd, if you know what I mean.”

“We grow a bit every day. We have to learn how to live, where we fit in and how to make our place in the world, Ricki. It is good for you to find your place.”

Ricki really liked Candace; she was so easy to talk to and really made her think. They talked for about an hour more, before her phone started playing ‘Pretty Woman’. She checked her phone and smiled broadly, as she saw that it was Susan.

“Hi Susan. Yeah, I am on campus, in the student center. Ok I will stay right here.”

“I see you have a friend coming over and I need to get ready for class,” Candace said, as she hugged Ricki.

Candace really liked Ricki; she seemed like a really nice person. There were some things about her that didn’t add up, but nothing she could put her finger on. She didn’t know why Rebecca wanted her to meet and befriend her, but she was glad having made friends with her.

She stood off and observed the girl from a distance. She saw Susan Cartwright, Cindy Long and Laura Davis come in and greet the girl. Susan seemed somewhat enamored with the girl, she thought. Maybe that is the reason. Candace headed off to class thinking about Ricki.

“Tomorrow we don’t have classes, Ricki,” Laura said. “You can come to campus with us, but we need to spend about half a day in the library studying. After that, we can show you the swimming pool we have. How does that sound?”

“Okay, if I bring my swimsuit and a towel with me, can I change in the locker room.”

“Sure, just be sure you don’t gawk at the other girls,” Laura said in a whisper. “It’s just us girls after all.”

They sat and talked for a while. Cindy had bought a latte for Laura, Susan and herself. Ricki passed on having another so soon.

The four of them left to go home, so Laura and Ricki could get ready for belly dance class.

Laura got her bag and had Ricki dress in her gold bikini top, one of her USC T-shirts and a pair of cardinal running shorts. Susan, who had never gone to one of Laura’s classes, wanted to go tonight. Laura giggled and said, “Sure you can come along Susan, that would be great.”

Laura drove the troop to the location where classes were held. Inside there were several girls already dressed in various belly-dancing outfits. Others were heading to the changing room. Ricki just pulled off her T-shirt and waited with Susan. When the instructor arrived and saw that most of her girls were ready, she called for their attention.

“Hello girls, it is good to see all of you. I see that I have two new dancers, can somebody introduce them.”

Laura held up her hand and said, “I can Mrs. Lively. The cute one in the gold top, is my sister Ricki and the blonde, in the blue blouse, is one of my roommates, Susan.”

“Well it is good to have some new dancers to teach.” Mrs. Lively said.

“Oh, I am not here to learn to dance. I am here to watch my friends.”

“Susan, we do not have observers at my class. If you come, you dance. Isn’t that right girls.”

They all chorused yes.

Susan looked at how all the girls were dressed. They all had fancy bras on. Some had filmy skirts on, some had gauzy pants.

Susan had a plain T-shirt bra on, under a cotton blend blouse and a mini skirt, so she just took off her blouse.

Sarah Lively had Ricki and Susan stand up front and to one side. She had one of her senior students work with them, as she worked with her regular students. All of them did their stretches, and began their lesson slowly. Sarah could see that Susan was a raw beginner. She was graceful and limber, but a beginner none the less. Ricki was another story altogether. What that girl lacked in grace, she made up in ability. She already looked like an early intermediate student.

Sarah had Laura take over her advanced class and she took Ricki aside. That let her other senior student have her way with Susan.

Sarah had Ricki do her core movements. Ricki didn’t understand all the names of the movements that Sarah used, but after a demonstration, she was able to do the movements. Sarah drove the girl hard, trying to get her doing the movements faster and more gracefully. Ricki gave it her all and then tried a little harder.

“Smile Ricki, give me a big beaming smile. Show me how much you enjoy the dance.”

Ricki smiled bigger and bigger as she worked out harder. Mrs. Lively was working her much harder than the DVD’s did. The muscles of her abdomen were screaming back at her.

Sarah saw her discomfort increasing and pushed just a little harder, before letting up on the girl. She had a big smile on her face, as she hugged the sweating girl. She separated her two new students and with a hand on both of their shoulders said, “You were very good Ricki, where did you learn to dance?”

“My sister has some DVD’s at home. I have been working out with them for a week.”

“Only a week? I have had students attend for months that have not done as well. You must come back, Ricki. I would like you to come to my Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday classes.” She turned to Susan and said, “I would like to see you on Wednesday and Fridays.”

“But…”

“You looked good, Susan; you just need to learn a bit more and a lot of practice.”

“But…”

“Now, I expect to see you sweety.” Sarah said, in an authoritative manner.

“Alright…”

Laura was just beside herself seeing her friend sweat. It was hard for her to not laugh out loud. She had tried to get Susan to come before and now she had her. Susan didn’t exercise enough; she had a good diet, which kept her weight down at least, Laura thought. Well, that is over now.

Susan heard Laura snickering, and looked at her, blowing the girl a good raspberry.

Ricki did her best to look as angelic and innocent as she could, but her smile betrayed her feelings. She loved the idea that she and Susan would be working out together.

At home, Ricki took as hot a bath as she could stand. She found it hard to bend at the waist, in any direction. She just leaned back and let the warmth loosen her muscles.

There was a knock at the door and before she could answer, Susan opened the door.

“Move over Ricki, I hurt so much, I need a good hot soak too.”

“But…”

“I already talked to your sister. She couldn’t stop snickering at me. There is nothing you can do right now, and I don’t feel like doing anything either. So move over,” Susan said. The last bit was a command.

Ricki moved over. This bathtub was large, but not large enough for two people really. She had to tuck herself under Susan’s arm to fit well, but that wasn’t too bad really, was it. She just smiled as she tried to meld her body into Susan’s and only kissed her left breast tenderly once.

Susan felt a jolt to her very core at that kiss. She had never felt anything like that in all her sexual experience. She would swear it was almost a magical kiss. If her sides didn’t hurt, she would have ravaged the kisser.

They soaked together for about forty minutes, adding hot water to the tub as it cooled. They then washed each others back, shampooed and conditioned each others hair, and dried each other off. Susan was careful drying off Ricki’s shoulders. There were a few blisters and her skin was peeling. When Ricki was dry, Susan applied Solarcaine to her shoulders.

Laura was outside the door, when the girls emerged wearing robes and their hair wrapped in turbans.

“We didn’t do the nasty Laura. We just soaked and held each other.”

“I know, I just wanted to say how proud I was of the two of you. Especially you Susan, I am always proud of Ricki. I could see how hard Emily was being with you two and it was harder for both of you when Mrs. Lively started working with you Ricki.” Laura said. She gave Susan a tremendous hug, and then gave her sister the same.

Susan was almost in tears. Ricki had a huge smile on her face. The two hugged and kissed before heading to bed.

Chapter 14

The next day Ricki got a gym bag from Laura and packed her suit, cap and goggles, a towel, the novel she was reading and enough cosmetics to do her face. Then she dressed in a USC T-shirt and shorts.

The four girls piled into Laura’s six-year-old Lincoln Town Car and headed to campus.

Ricki found the student center busier today than it had been the other times she had been there. She saw one guy playing an acoustic guitar and singing. There were several students that looked out of it and were just resting. There were many students studying in groups here and there.

Guys everywhere, were flirting with and hitting on girls. Ricki had to fend off advances several times, from amorous suitors. Ricki ignored several and told some just to leave her alone. One guy, she had to threaten with castration, before he would leave her alone. He left muttering G** Da** Cu**, F****n Lez Bitch and sleazy skank. Ricky would have been all over a guy saying that to any girl. He would have probably been wiped all over the floor by that guy; but still that guy wasn’t worth the air he was breathing.

But still, there were a lot of good kids hanging around the Student Center. Ricki enjoyed hanging around there. She bought another mocha latte, took out her novel and waited for her sister and friends.

About one o’clock, Ricki’s phone started playing ‘Devil in a Blue Dress’. “Hello Laura.”

“Meet us outside, we are coming back from the car.”

“On my way.”

Together they headed for the pool. Ricki was a little self conscious, as they entered the ladies locker room, but nobody paid her any attention except Susan and her sister. When Ricki pulled out her competition swimsuit, her sister’s eyebrows rose. The suit was a cardinal and gold racer back design, but the legs extended all the way to mid calf on Ricki.

Ricki loved the 50 meter pool when she saw it. The pool they had used at school was only twenty-five meters. She went all the way to the blocks, to jump into the pool. The lane marker buoys were not there, but the bottom of the pool was marked. She stood on the platform, got in the start position and at some arbitrary sound she heard, she launched herself forward. Her dive was practiced and she was fluid in the air. She entered the water with a minimum of splash and dolphined till she was well past the ten meter mark. She swam with the freestyle stroke for the first fifty meters and turned doing the backstroke. She went at a little over half speed for her, just to warm up her muscles.

Vanessa Adams, USC’s women’s swimming coach, sat on the bleachers watching the action. She wondered about the girl in the competition swimsuit. She liked her grace and style as she launched herself off the blocks. Her form on the freestyle, while not the best she had seen, was very good. She saw the girl get back up on the blocks. Vanessa blew her whistle, when the girl got into the ready position, clicked her stopwatch and saw the girl launch again.

Ricki didn’t know who blew the whistle, but that was as good as any start signal she would get. She really dug into her strokes this time. The first 50 she swam the butterfly. Damn she thought these breasts were really a drag, literally. She could tell they were slowing her down as she swam and the extra floatation made it hard to keep her head down. Ricki had to make adjustments to her form. She gave it her best effort. She tucked and turned at the wall and went into the backstroke. She had never competed in the 200 individual medley; before she just didn’t have the times she needed for competition. She had a good leg on the backstroke, and at the turn, she went into the breast-stroke. Her lack of swimming practice was beginning to show, as she slowed a bit. At the far wall she turned and started the freestyle leg. Her oxygen debt was growing, but she pressed on as she hit her second wind. She touched wall and had just enough strength to hang on the wall, as she was spent.

Coach Adams clicked her stopwatch when the girl she was watching, touched the wall. She looked at her stopwatch, 2:39:47, not earth shattering, but something the girl could build on.

“Alice.”

“Yes coach.”

“Find out who that girl over on lane two is.”

“Sure thing coach.”

Alice ran down the bleachers and trotted over to the girl trying to catch her breath.

“Need a hand up?” Alice asked.

“Yes, thank you,” Ricki said, as she took the girls hand.

Alice helped haul Ricki out of the pool, “You looked pretty good out there.”

“I was sluggish on a couple of legs.”

“Yes, but your form was better than a lot of people I have seen. I am Alice Patterson.”

“I am Ricki Davis.”

“Why aren’t you on the swim team here?”

Ricki laughed a bit and said. “I don’t go to USC; I am a junior in high school. I am just visiting my sister this summer.”

Alice perked up and said, “Great, maybe you can come here and swim for us when you do graduate. Where do you go to school?”

“Back in New York City.”

“Oh my, you are a long way from home. Why don’t you come on up and say hi to Coach Adams?”

“Sure, why not.”

Ricki followed Alice up the bleachers to Coach Adams, who smiled as the girls approached her.

“Hi, I am Vanessa Adams, coach of the women’s swimming team.”

“I am Ricki Davis; I am a junior in high school, in New York City.”

“Your time is pretty good for a high schooler, 2:39:47.”

“She is visiting her sister who goes to college here at USC, coach.” Alice added.

“What high school do you go to, if you stay this good and have good grades, maybe we can work out a scholarship deal for you.”

“I don’t know coach; I don’t know what I will do with swimming.” Ricki was clearly nervous about this. “Let me talk it over with my sister and parents first.” Ricki was trying to be non committal about this.

“It won’t hurt to look into it.”

“I will be here all summer, let me talk with my family first.”

“Ok. Anyway you looked good Ricki.”

“Thank you.”

Ricki headed back down to the pool. Laura and Susan asked what that was all about.

“They were trying to recruit me for their swimming team.”

“That is good,” Susan said.

“No it isn’t Susan, think about it,” Laura said.

“Oh right.”

Coach Adams made some notes; she would have to call her friend in New York later today.

Ricki swam another eighteen hundred meters at a more leisurely pace, about half speed, except for about eight laps, where she pushed to about three quarters speed. She hadn’t been able to really swim in over three weeks. It felt good for her.

The girls helped Ricki in the shower, they all showered together. Laura was a little nervous about being naked in front of Ricki, but felt she had too, to help be camouflage for her.

Alice came into the showers, but took little notice of the girls, except a glance at Ricki. Ricki wasn’t a natural Auburn it seemed.

Several other girls showered with them and paid no attention to Ricki. Ricki dressed and went over to the mirrors, where the girls did their makeup. Ricki kept it simple and did a good job.

Coach Adams, in her office, picked up her phone to call a friend. “Hello Beck, this is Vanessa, how are you?”

“Oh hi Nessa. I am doing fine, how are things at USC?”

“We had a good year, and we are looking to do better. Listen, the reason I called is, that I want to check on a student who goes to school in New York City. A Ricki Davis, I saw Ricki swimming and while not great, Ricki has very good form and lots of potential. Check on high school swimming teams. If you find the school, find out what kind of student Ricki is. I am told that Ricki will be a junior this year.”

“Ok, I will find out what I can, without violating the students privacy. I can’t get the student’s school records without a signed permission, but I can ask around. Give me a week.”

“Great Beck, I owe you about a hundred thanks.”

“I just like helping students get a good education at a good school, Vanessa.”

“Me too, Becky. Me too.”

In the car on the way home, Laura asked Ricki how her swim session went.

“Pretty good, I could have swum faster without these,” Ricki said indicating her bosom. “But I did pretty good. In fact the extra buoyancy on the chest, might have helped me a little on the butterfly and the breaststroke. I had to make several adjustments to the way I did things, and I think those things really helped.”

“Well, we think you did good, none of the other girls seemed to notice anything different. Tell me more about Coach Adams, Ricki,” Laura asked.

“Well, apparently she timed me when I did the IM.”

“What is an IM?” Susan asked.

“It is an individual medley, you swim four laps doing first the butterfly, the backstroke, breaststroke and finally freestyle. She said I swam it in 2:39 and some change. It wouldn’t have beaten any of the guys back home and I never swam it in any competition, but I haven’t done any real swimming in three weeks, so that’s pretty good. She wanted to know which school I went too and what kind of grades I made. I put her off though, I told her I had to talk to my family before I could talk with her about it.”

Laura hoped that put her off, but she knew how aggressively college coaches recruited female athletes. It had a lot to do with Title IX. That act dealt with fairness in athletic programs and how they dealt with scholarships for female athletes. She didn’t understand the whole deal, but she knew it was important to the female coaches.

For many years seventy to ninety percent of athletic scholarships went to males. They also took the lion’s share of the school’s athletic budget. Yes football and men’s basketball brought in more revenue than field ladies volley ball or ladies basketball. At least there was a lot of interest in ladies gymnastics, but for too long, the boys had it all. Title IX sought to correct the imbalance, so girls who could not otherwise go to college, had a chance with an athletic scholarship.

At home Laura, Cindy and Susan took a nap, so Ricki decided to fix dinner for them. She took some fresh spinach and added the rest of the Romaine lettuce. She sliced a cucumber, half an onion, grated a couple of carrots, made some croutons, shredded some cheese over a salad bowl. She took out some beef cutlets, spiced them up a bit, breaded and pan-fried them, while cooking a can of sweet corn and sweet peas.

The smell of food brought the girls downstairs. They helped Ricki get everything on the table. Laura set the tableware; Susan made a pitcher of sugar free lemonade, and Cindy tossed the salad, got out the salad dressings and helped bring the food to the table.

“We could get use to this, not having to cook everyday,” Cindy said.

“Yeah it may not be Cordon Blu, but it is pretty good,” Susan said.

“Mom taught both of us how to cook,” Laura said. “Ricki is pretty good, but Mom was great, she could be anybody’s sous chef.”

“Really, why isn’t she?” Susan asked.

“She still loves to cook, but it is incredibly stressful in the kitchen of a four star restaurant. She tried it for a while and then told her chef where he could stick his French chef knife and it wasn’t in his butcher’s block,” Laura said.

“Mom never told me that.”

“Well she was just telling me not to let men walk all over me. Men were good for some things and are handy to keep around, but she said that I wasn’t any man’s door mat.”

“Dad is a pretty good man and father,” Ricki said. “He never felt he had to prove himself to anyone but his family.”

“He is one in a million Ricki.”

After diner, Cindy and Susan took care of the kitchen, Laura cleaned the table off and the girls got back to studying. Summer classes can be so brutal.

Susan changed and headed off to belly dancing class.

So Ricki cleaned off her nail polish and worked on her nails. Cindy took time to show Ricki how to polish her nails a little better.

Ricki then went up to her room to practice her makeup. She tried to match what she had seen the other girls wear and tried to adapt it to her colors. She never knew that this could be so much fun. She had seen her sister spend hours playing with her face, learning how to use her makeup. She would smile excitedly and run to show Mom, or Dad and even Ricky, what she had done. Now Ricki was beginning to understand her excitement.

When she had a look she was particularly proud of, she went downstairs to show her sister.

“Hey Sis, how is this look?”

“Wow, it took me months to get my eyes that good, Ricki. You really surprise me.”

Cindy just stared in awe at Ricki. “Are you sure you have never done this before.”

“No Cindy, this is my first time doing anything feminine.”

It’s not perfect, but you are better than a lot of college girls.”

“Thank you.”

Ricki’s face brightened, as Susan came in the front door. Ricki skipped over to her and hugged her tightly.

“How are you doing baby?”

“A little sore, but I think that I will live.”

“Turn around and cross your arms in front of your chest.”

Susan did as Ricki asked. Ricki then reached around Susan and picked her up. She could feel the tightness in Susan. She shook Susan once up and down and it felt like a zipper came undone, as her back stretched out.

“Eeeeep,” Susan said, and then, “Wow, that is amazing.”

Ricki then began to massage Susan’s lower back and sides. Susan moaned loudly, as Ricki hit and massaged Susan’s sore spots.

“Susan hush, if you moan any louder the people in the next apartment complex over might think we are having an orgy,” Cindy said.

“Let them, this feels sooooo wonderful.”

“Go take a hot bath baby,”

Susan turned and pulled Ricki to her and gave her a scorching kiss.

“You two, get a room,” Laura said, “No belay that, don’t get a room, just stop that in front of us. It’s not fair.”

Susan let go of Ricki, who was almost a puddle on the floor, her eyes were glazed over and there was no strength in her legs. Susan supported her for several seconds, till she got her feet under her.

“Look at what you did Susan, Ricki had worked on her face for over an hour and a half. She looked so good and now…” Laura said.

The lipstick Ricki put on, had blended with Susan’s and her mouth looked almost like a clowns, after their makeup had smeared.

“It…sss sokay sis, Sheeee can kisssss meee like thaaattt anytimeee.”

Susan looked at Ricki’s face, “Wow your eyes look simply divine Ricki. I just love what you did. That deserves another kiss.”

Susan gave Ricki a more sedate (barely) kiss. Ricki had a silly grin on her face, as Susan broke it off to go up stairs.

Chapter 15

Saturday was a day of rest for the girls. First they hit the mall; they visited all the clothing stores just looking. Ricki bought a black semi-transparent, cover-up jacket and matching sarong, to go with her bikini. She also bought plenty of SPF 30 sunscreen, because her shoulders were peeling like crazy. Laura picked up a new skirt and blouse, Cindy bought some shoes and Susan picked up some jewelry for herself and Ricki.

After leaving the mall, they hit the grocery. Laura let Ricki help select the produce and meat. She was surprised by the healthy choices she made. She also had a very good eye for quality vegetables.

“Where did you learn to eat right? You use to be a burger, fries and shakes kinda guy,” Laura asked

“I don’t know, I just feel better, when I am eating better. After you went off to college, Mom started taking me grocery shopping. She made me pick out the veggies, if they weren’t good, she would make me go back till I got it right. She also gave me a lesson on lean meats.”

“Are you losing weight?” Cindy asked.

“No, I have gained a pound or two, my abdominals have tightened up. I lost an inch at the waist. I now have a twenty-six inch waist. I measured.”

“Where did you gain?” Laura asked.

“My thighs and chest, I don’t know about my hips, they are padded.”

Susan was looking at his thighs, “at least you don’t have thunder thighs. I think they look rather nice.”

“Sort of like a female athlete’s thighs,” Cindy said.

“I have been using different muscles and using muscles differently since I started dancing.”

“You can say that again,” Laura added, remembering the days after she had begun to belly dance.

The last thing they bought at the store, was two flats of a nutrient supplement drink. Ricki protested, but the girls insisted he drink one of the cans a day.

After they got home and put up things. They made Ricki get undressed. Susan got out her solvent and they remove the breastforms and faux vagina. Ricki was embarrassed and put on a pair of loose fitting panties. Laura took the solvent and put it in her room.

They weighed him and measured him. Ricky was about two pounds heavier and an inch narrower at the waist. His hips and chest measurements were maybe a quarter of an inch larger from the first measurements. This time they did measure his thighs, calves and arms. If he gained or lost weight they wanted to know where. Laura couldn’t believe how thin Ricky was, but he looked to be in good condition.

They made him take a warm bath, while they cleaned the breastforms and faux vagina. After he dried off, he insisted that they reattach his curves and he became Ricki again, in his mind. She felt absolutely naked without them.

“Every Saturday we will do the same Ricki,” Laura said. “We want to keep up with how you are doing.”

They were amazed at how easily the seams seemed to disappear after the tacked the edges down and reapplied the semi-permanent makeup they had. Ricki just had a tan from the bottom of her boy-cut panty and above the tankini with two thin stripes where the straps went over her shoulder.

They then weighed Ricki with all the silicone on and took note of her weight.

Laura noticed how her brother/sister changed, as the breast forms were first attached. She could see the tension in his shoulders disappear, the smile reappeared on his face and he took on a more feminine posture. She wondered where this would end.

Susan checked the vitamin bottles and was pleased to see that Ricki was definitely taking them, as they had prescribed.

Everyone got dressed in their bikinis, they got Ricki to put on her cardinal and gold bikini, it really looked good on her. Then they headed out to the pool to catch the last rays of the sun. As the lights came on, they got a volley ball and passed it back and forth in the pool, not really competing at it.

Sunday, they all slept in, Ricki was first up at nine-thirty. She had taken a bath and gotten dressed before anyone else stirred. Ricki just had some coffee ready, when the rest came down.

After breakfast, the girls got their books and started studying. Ricki made room in the living room and played disc two. Laura would stop what she was doing and correct Ricki’s form. Ricki went through four lessons before taking a break and making chicken salad sandwiches, butternut squash soup (from a carton) and a veggie platter.

Laura, Cindy and Susan ate while they worked. Ricki took this time to shower. After makeup and dressing, she went down to the kitchen to do prep work on a vegetable lasagna that used zucchini. She got it to the point that it was ready for the oven and covered it, placing it in the refrigerator.

She sat on the couch and Laura, who had finished her schoolwork, sat next to her sister.

“Oh, summer classes can be so exasperating, Ricki. You get all the same material you would normally have three months to learn, in six weeks. Then you start the second summer semester, with the same deal.”

“I understand Laura. So where are your boyfriends?”

“Jason Craine is home for the summer, Debbie had to go too. Some students have to work hard to go to college. Summers give them time to earn extra dollars. Others like to party and it is hard to take classes in the summer and party. Cindy’s boyfriend left for a Canadian vacation and Susan was in between at the time you came.” Laura looked over her shoulder, Susan was gone, but her books were still open on the table. “I have never seen Susan happier, Ricki. Don’t get hurt and please don’t hurt Susan. I love you both.”

“I’ll do my best Sis. That is all I can do.”

“I know you will squirt. Let’s go for a walk.”

Laura and Ricki went for a walk around the condo complex and the neighborhood.

“Ricki tell me, do you really believe Dad is alright?”

“I am not sure. I guess that is what I want to believe. You know Dad, he feels he has to be strong for all of us.”

Laura’s eyes misted over, as she thought about her Dad. “Yes I know Dad. He is pretty good for an old man, and I know he really loves Mom and us.”

“What would he say about me?”

“He would love his second pretty daughter.”

“In my heart I think Dad is dying.”

“I think so too Ricki. We will need to be strong for Mom.”

Back at the apartment, Cindy had found the Vegetable Lasagna and had placed it in the oven. She had a salad prepared and was steaming some broccoli and Brussels sprouts. Susan was making garlic bread from a French loaf and a garlic/basil butter spread she had made. The smells coming out of the kitchen were intoxicatingly delicious.

After dinner, Susan and Ricki sat together on the couch. Ricki was tucked in underneath Susan’s arm. They spent some of their time kissing and hugging. In between sessions, they talked about their lives. Ricki found out that Susan wanted to be a business executive. Her family, while not wealthy, was quite well off. Ricki told Susan about her family and Ricky’s high school years. Ricki wasn’t sure what she wanted to do with her life. She explained about how she felt about her current situation.

“I don’t know, but I like looking like a girl. At this moment, I can’t see me any other way. Will you still love me like this?”

“I would love you if you were a guy covered in ugly hair and warts. I could love you if you won the Miss USA pageant. I will love you period Ricki.”

Ricki and Susan fell asleep in each others arms. They both looked so peaceful, that Laura and Cindy just left them alone. They woke about one in the morning and went up to Ricki’s bed. They took off their outer clothes and fell asleep holding each other.

Chapter 16

Monday morning Ricki woke to a warm kiss. When her eyes fluttered open, she saw Susan smiling at her.

“Morning baby, how are you?” Susan asked.

“Hmmm, I feel so good. I love you.”

“I love you too,” and after a quick kiss, she hopped out of bed and headed to the bathroom.

Ricki also needed to heed the call of nature, so she donned a robe and headed downstairs, to the half bath there. After relieving herself, she looked at herself in the mirror.

“Oh my god, I am a mess.” She had failed to clean off her makeup again before going to bed. She took time to wash and cleanse her face. She was lucky the girls kept some cleanser, astringent and moisturizer in the half bath.

She went from the half bath to the kitchen and put on some coffee, and started on breakfast. She wanted something different, so she made Banana Coconut bakes and some chocolate cookie oatmeal.

Laura, Cindy and Susan came down dressed and helped serve breakfast.

“Oh my, I haven’t seen bananas like this before, smells delicious,” Cindy said.

“Hmmm, it is delicious,” Susan said. “The oatmeal is good too, and it has been years since I ate oatmeal.”

“Mom was always creative, when it came to meals,” Laura said. “It rubbed off on us kids. I guess I have forgotten how good it can be. Thank you Ricki, for taking the effort to cook for us.”

Ricki got hugs and kisses from all the girls. They stayed long enough to help clear off the table. Ricki rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher.

After everyone had left, she started to clean up the condo. She gathered all the girl’s dirty clothes and then did the laundry. It took a little effort to sort the clothes by owner and to wash, fold and hang all the clothes. In between washing and drying, she had managed to vacuum the downstairs, doing Turkish bumps and Egyptian steps. After delivering the clothes, she stripped the beds and set fresh bed linen on each girl’s bed. She started the sheets washing and vacuumed the bedrooms and cleaned the bathrooms.

She took time to drink one of her drinks, take her vitamins and worked on her belly dancing. She replayed the second disk all the way through, for two hours. She thought she was getting pretty good at it. Her movements were beginning to feel more natural and fluid.

Then she took her warm bubble bath, shampooed and conditioned her hair, before dressing and doing her makeup.

It was getting close to three, so she made a light snack for when her friends and sister got home. She made tuna salad sandwiches, a veggie tray with ranch dressing and some fried mushrooms and zucchini.

There were five girls that entered the condo. Rebecca and Beverly, a girl she had only met at the pool party, came in with Laura, Cindy and Susan.

Ricki hugged and greeted all the girls and made two more plates of snacks for the two, as they sat around the kitchen table to study. She gave them their room to study. She went upstairs and packed her gym bag with clothes and a towel, for her belly dancing class.

At five she went down stairs to fix dinner. While fixing snacks, she had cut up some chicken breasts and set aside half the vegetables she had sliced, to make a stir fry. She added some fresh peanuts, peanut oil, peanut butter and traditional spices

Beverly stayed for dinner, but Rebecca had to leave to get ready for night classes. Beverly raved over the dinner; Laura, Cindy and Susan just smiled at Ricki.

At six thirty, Laura and Ricki left for belly dancing class, leaving Cindy and Susan with the clean up.

“I am having to come in and help teach, to pay for your belly dancing classes, squirt.”

“I am sorry Laura; I still have two thousand in traveler’s checks and about a hundred and twenty in cash. I can help pay.”

“No, keep your money, Mrs. Lively just wants someone to help with the classes, while she works with you. You are better than most of the beginners.”

“Oh, okay.”

After the stretching routine, Ricki was asked to join Mrs. Lively. She gave Ricki a belt with bells, beads, coins and other jangles that made noise.

“Here, this is for you; I want you to wear it whenever you practice. It will remind you to keep your hip movements sharp, when you hear it.”

The belt fit very tight just above mid hip. She gave her hips a cabaret shimmy after she got the belt on and smiled at the noise she was making now.

Ricki worked for the next hour and a half, learning movements and their nomenclature for the style of belly dancing, Mrs. Lively taught. There were slight differences between what the disc called the movements and what Mrs. Lively taught. Even the way some of the movements were made was slightly different, for the same movement the discs taught. While they worked, Mrs. Lively gave Ricki a short history of belly dancing and taught her about the different forms and styles of belly dancing.

Ricki was amazed that the woman could talk about the dance, teach her the movements, correct her and keep an eye on the other students at the same time. The woman was really great at multitasking. Mrs. Lively pressed Ricki harder than the tapes did and she was pleased at the progress that girl was showing.

This girl could be the star of my classes in a year, Mrs. Lively thought to herself, as she taught. She is a natural born dancer.

This class had more chest, arm and shoulder movements. Areas that Ricki sorely needed, but due to her swimming, the movements began to come easier. Laura glanced over and smiled, when she saw how well her sister was doing.

When they were done for the evening, Mrs. Lively made Laura and Ricki wait.

“I need to get measurements from you two. I want both of you to dance with us on the forth of July. Laura, I want you to be one of the feature dancers and Ricki will be in the troupe. I see you like red and gold Ricki,” Mrs. Lively said, looking at Ricki’s nails.

“Cardinal red and Gold, Mrs. Lively, Ricki has adopted USC’s colors on her own,” Laura said.

“Ah, yes I see, Cardinal red and gold,” Sarah said. She thought in her mind about having the sisters in mirror outfits, cardinal/gold and gold/cardinal.

Mrs. Lively measured Ricki in more places than she had ever been measured before. The new sites included biceps, forearm, wrists, neck, trunk, her hips at three different points, ankles and from ankle to her second toe.

Chapter 17

Tuesday through Thursday was a repeat of the previous week. Ricki would play her, yes she thought of them as hers now, belly-dancing discs after breakfast. Then after lunch, either Rebecca picked her up, or she took a taxi to campus. She met her friend Candace, on Tuesday and Thursday. She liked talking to Candace; they seemed to do a lot of talking. Wednesday she swam in her tankini at the condo’s pool, after they got home. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, she went with Laura to her belly dancing class. She got a call from Li Ming on Thursday; they talked for about a half hour. She found out that Li Ming and Belinda have talked twice since they went home. They were becoming fast friends, it seemed.

Vanessa Adams answered her home phone, “Hello.”

“Hi Nessa, its Becky. How are you doing?”

“Great and how are you.”

“Doing good Nessa. I found a Ricky Davis for you. Are you recruiting for the guys now? Anyway this Ricky is a swimmer and had fairly good times for a sophomore. He is good at freestyle, but is not as fast as his teammates are. He is very good on the backstroke, butterfly and breast-stroke. I talked to many of his teachers Vanessa and he is a keeper. He has a 3.875 average and is taking advanced placement classes as a sophomore. His 2 B’s are not in his AP classes. I can’t wait to see his transcripts.”

“Hmmm, are you sure there are no girls named Ricki Davis?”

“None that swim, Vanessa.”

“Ok, I owe you a weekend of fun and sun here in Sunny Cal-li-fornia, Beck,” Vanessa said, mimicking their state’s governor.

“Sure thing, and hugs to you. I might be able to come out in late July.”

“Great, I look forward to seeing you. Bye.”

Vanessa went over to her computer and opened the e-mail Becky had sent her. The e-mail had several attachments and after she virus checked everything, she began to open them.

One attachment listed Ricky Davis’s swimming times as reported in a news article and from his coach. The next were some statements that Becky got form several of Ricky’s teachers. Their praise was for him was overwhelming. The next attachments had photos, one of Ricky alone and the other was Ricky and his swimming team.

Vanessa’s eyes got really big as she looked at the pictures. There was no doubt, that the Ricky in the picture was the same Ricki that she had met.

She thought about Ricki. She was so graceful and comfortable with herself. Her thoughts weren’t of a guy dressed as a girl, but of a girl that was comfortable with herself.

“Maybe this Ricki is a transsexual,” Vanessa said to herself.

The thought didn’t bother her at all. USC was fair to all their students. Vanessa got out her IOC (International Olympic Committee) rulebook and checked something out.

“The girl could compete as a girl, after she had been on HRT for two years,” again to herself. “Such a pretty girl, I just wish she were older.”

Vanessa was a closet Lesbian; Ricki intrigued her though. She would have the best of both worlds. Maybe she would have to find herself someone like Ricki. She was enough of a professional though not to get involved with her kids, she would quit before she ever violated the schools trust in her. That didn’t stop her from looking, and a coach can see quite a bit. She didn’t ogle the girls in the showers, but she did appreciate the glimpses she got.

Friday the four girls went back to school to let Ricki swim. Laura had checked her in and then headed off to the library to do some work there.

Vanessa got an eyeful of Ricki as she dressed and said in passing, “Hello Ricki it’s good to see you here again.”

Ricki only had time to return the greeting before she was gone.

Vanessa smiled to herself; maybe Ricki has already transitioned and had come to California for a new start. She certainly didn’t have a boy’s crotch. She found herself getting a little wet, as she thought about the girl.

Ricki got her two thousand meters in, and a couple of the school’s regular swim team members worked with Ricki. Ricki was surprised at how helpful the girls were to her and liked them a lot. She swam against them in an IM race. She didn’t win but she kept on the girls heels, finishing fourth, less than ten meters behind the second place girl.

Coach Adams smiled as she saw the girls swim. She had asked the girls to help her recruit Ricki and the girls actually seemed to take a liking to the younger swimmer.

Vanessa wandered on down to the pool. “Very good girls, you too Ricki, you looked a lot better.”

“Thank you, Coach,” Ricki said. “I still haven’t gotten a hold of my Mom or Dad. They are on a Med Cruise.”

“No problems,” Vanessa said, smiling warmly. “I can wait. I am only trying to help you.” She waved to the girls and left not wanting to pressure the girl.

Ricki showered and changed. She sat down and made up her face. Several girls said hi in passing, she smiled back and said hi back to them. Ricki found it nice that girls seemed friendlier to each other. Guys, even some of the guys on his swim team, sometimes ragged Ricky about his looks and made crude statements toward him. Of course, the girls didn’t know Ricki’s whole story. What would they say if they knew there was a guy in the locker room, but Ricki found it increasingly harder to think of herself as a guy?

She blew herself a kiss in the mirror before she left to find her sister and friends.

Saturday, Laura and Ricki practiced belly dancing at their home. Laura had Ricki mirror her movements and asked her to try to remember the order of the moves. Laura then began to choreograph a routine. When Laura went left, Ricki went right and so on. Ricki tried to keep up with her sister and for the most part, she did a very good job. They had a four-minute routine; that they practiced over and over. It was easy to tell who was more skillful; Laura was just too good.

Susan and Ricki took whatever time they could get, to be together. Not just to make out, but doing things together to deepen their relationship. Ricki even began to teach Susan some of the cooking techniques her mom had taught her. Susan was a good cook and picked up different ways to prepare food from Ricki.

Ricki even found areas she could tutor Susan in her course work. Susan had stopped, because she was having problems with a calculus problem. Don’t ever take calculus in a summer class, if you can avoid it. It is a lot of study in a hurry. Ricki had passed AP calculus and helped Susan out. That earned her a big hug and a kiss.

Sunday the girls had Ricki strip and weighed her both with and without silicone. She was three quarters of a pound heavier and was fleshed out nicely for a girl. She had gained a half-inch in the hips and chest, and maybe an eight in her thighs. She was firmed out everywhere and had very few places where they found any build up of fat.

“You need to increase you fat intake a bit, Ricki,” Laura said. “You still need a little layer of fat.”

“Come on Sis. You’ve seen what I been eating.”

“I know, but I still know you are too thin. I wonder what your BMI (Body Mass Index) is. Drink two nutrient supplements a day. I can already see a difference. Your skin looks better and you have a healthier glow.”

“Alright Mommy.”

Ricki used Monday to clean up around the condo again. Laura, Cindy and Susan joked about how nice it was having a maid around the house.

“I am not going to wear one of those short lacy French maid costumes, with those five inch heels, around the house, so forget it,” Ricki teased.

Susan hung her lower lip and pouted, “Not even for me.”

Ricki broke out laughing, as did Laura and Cindy, “Well maybe for you, but not to do housework in.”

That brought a round of laughter and teasing from Laura and Cindy.

Chapter 18

Monday also brought another class with Mrs. Lively. She took pleasure in working Ricki till she wanted to scream. She had learned all the core movements to her satisfaction and was now working to refine her skills in those movements.

Tuesday, Ricki met Candace in the Student center again. She was sitting with an older man, when Ricki approached.

“Hello Candace, it is good seeing you. Am I interrupting you?”

Candace smiled at the girl; she got up and gave her a hug and a kiss. The man with her stood too.

“Hi Ricki, not at all, I was just talking to one of my professors. Ricky this is DR. Tom Whitlock, Mr. Whitlock this is Ricki Davis. She is visiting her sister, who is a student here. She is from New York.”

“It is nice meeting you Ricki.”

“It is nice meeting you too, Dr. Whitlock. Are you a medical Doctor?”

“No, I am a doctor of psychology. I teach psychology here at USC.”

They all sat and talked for half an hour. Ricki had to give her life history. Mr. Whitlock seemed very interested in her. His phone beeped and after he answered it, he said he had to go.

Candace and Ricki decided to eat there today. Candace raised an eyebrow as Ricki ordered a half pounder and a large fry.

“That is a lot of food for a girl your size,” Candace said.

“My sister and her roommates are concerned about my weight and my BMI, whatever that is.”

“Are you anorexic or bulimic?” Candace asked.

“That is about the fiftieth time I heard that question since I have been here Candace. No I am not, I just burn it all off. I stuff my face till I am sick. I dance, run and swim. I swim at least 2000 meters a week and belly dance everyday.”

“They are right, you know.”

“I know, but small people run in my family. I am bigger than my father.”

“Hmmm I want to see if I can try something out. I need to talk to my Profs.”

“People always want to try things with me,” Ricki said, with feigned exasperation.

“It’s only because you are cute and people just feel the urge to protect you.”

“Ok mommy three.”

“Mommy three?”

“Yes, Mom is mommy one, Sis is mommy two. Actually, you are five or six. There is Susan and Cindy, Oh, I can’t forget about Rebecca, Stacy and I give up.”

Candace couldn’t help but laugh, “Sounds like you have a handful.”

“Yes, but I love them all.”

“That is good, to love people and to be loved by them.”

“I know; I am so lucky.”

Tuesday night, Mrs. Lively called out eight girls’ names and asked that they stay after class for a bit. Laura’s and Ricki’s were the first names called.

While Laura worked with the other girls, Mrs. Lively had Ricki begin to put four or five movements together, in a fluid routine. Then she added one after another movement, then asked that Ricki repeat them.

Ricki could see that the girls in the class were doing the same movements, so she surprised Mrs. Lively by adding what she saw the other girls doing.

After class, Mrs. Lively addressed the girls assembled there. Maybe girls, wasn’t the right word for the group, because some of them were as old as thirty.

“Ok, we have two shows coming up for the Fourth of July and for Labor Day. I want the eight of you to join me Saturday evenings, to work on the choreography.”

“I probably won’t be here for the Labor Day show,” Ricki said.

“We’ll see hon, but I want you to dance for the Fourth at least.”

“Why her, Mrs. Lively, she has only been here for over a week?” One of the girls asked. “And she will only be here for one of the shows.”

“If she keeps up with her dance, she will be as good as any of my advanced students by December and besides I like her enthusiasm.”

“I will provide costumes for all of you, I just need to measure everyone.”

Ricki and Laura had already been measured and took their leave. Both girls were excited about the upcoming show, although Ricki had a little trepidation about it too.

Friday, after her swim and Laura, Cindy and Susan finished their library work; they received a large box from a DHL delivery man. It was addressed to Laura and Ricky Davis. The box weighed twenty-five pounds or so. The return address showed that it was from their parents and shipped from Cyprus. The girls excitedly opened the box, Cindy and Susan looked over their shoulders. Inside were hundreds of pictures, two copies of each picture, a couple of videotapes, a wrapped present and a lot of souvenirs.

They first went through all the pictures. It was so good seeing their parents having fun. There was a list of where all the pictures were taken and a little bit of what their parents had done that day.

After they had looked at all the pictures, they played the videotapes. The tapes weren’t what you could call professional quality, but they were very entertaining. Ricki got a sick feeling in her stomach. When she looked at her sister, she saw that she had the same bad feeling.

Although their parents were obviously having the time of their life, it was easy to see how drawn and sickly their father appeared to be. It had only been three weeks since Ricki had last seen her father. They didn’t say anything to Susan and Cindy at this time; they silently resolved to talk to each other later.

Dinner was a hushed affair, Cindy and Susan both sensed something was wrong, but they both felt that now was not the time. Both girls just supported their friends.

When it got late the girls headed up the stairs, Susan started to turn into her room, but Ricki held onto her hand. She then looked to Laura who just nodded to her. Laura held onto Cindy’s hand tightly and went into her bedroom. Both Laura and Ricki told their friend about their assumptions and both girls held on tightly to their friend and cried together.

Before she went to sleep, Laura e-mailed her mom the big question and asked her to call.

Susan went to her room and change into her nightie and rejoined Ricki in bed. They held onto each other for a while. Then Ricki pushed the shoulder strap off Susan’s shoulder till the breast was exposed. She then suckled on that nipple till she fell asleep. Susan just shared all the strength she had and comforted her lover. It felt good suckling Ricki, but it wasn’t a sexual thing to her this time.

Saturday Morning, Ricki woke up with Susan’s nipple in her mouth. She had remembered suckling on Susan, but wondered how it was that she still had her nipple in her mouth. She leaned back and saw that it was swollen and a little red. If she didn’t suckle on it all night, she definitely did most of the night. She looked up and saw a smile on Susan’s face.

“It doesn’t hurt does it?”

“It’s a little tender, but I will survive. You sent shivers up my spine all night.”

“Sorry,”

“Don’t be sorry, I loved doing this for you. Let’s go take a bath, your face is a mess. You didn’t take your makeup off.”

“Neither did you, raccoon face.”

For a second time they wound up in the bathtub together, and despite some kissing, roaming and playing, they didn’t do anything overly invasive.

They helped each other wash, shampoo and condition each others hair and after emptying the tub, they dried each others body and hair. Susan just clutched her nightie to her chest, as she headed to her room. She gave Ricki a little hip thrust, as she closed the door. Ricky went naked into her room, carrying her nightclothes.

They all went to IHOP for breakfast. The sense of dread that hung over them the previous evening was gone, but not forgotten, as the girls’ gossiped and joked with each other. They were all smiles and hugs this day. It was the only way they could function.

They hurried to the local grocery, after leaving the IHOP. Ricki selected some shrimp, fish, oysters and scallops for something different, along with their other meat selections. She picked up ingredients for a Caesar salad, fresh eggplants, more asparagus, onions, potatoes, shallots and artichokes.

They hurried home, put everything up and then Laura and Ricki headed off to Mrs. Lively’s place. They were the third and fourth girls there, but only by a few minutes, as the rest of their troupe showed up.

Mrs. Lively handed Laura two garment bags and Ricki two other bags and asked them to change into the costumes. In the dressing rooms they inspected the bags. The garment bags had skirts, coin bras, belts and thong panties. They stripped and dressed in their thongs and helped each other with the coin bras. The bras were very noisy and every square inch had several jangles of some sort. They shook their tits at each other. The skirts were simply gorgeous; they had multiple layers of translucent silk chiffon strips about eight inches at the hem gathered to two inches at the waist. Ricki’s was Cardinal over an underskirt of gold, while Laura’s was gold with an under skirt of Cardinal. The hems were finished with a contrasting gold or red trim depending on the layer. Laura helped Ricki with her skirt. It separated at the waist and hooked in the back by two large hooks. It fit very tightly just above the widest part of the hip. She then fastened a two and a half inch belt covered in the same jangles as the bra. Then Ricki helped her sister.

They sisters stood side by side smiling at each other in the mirror. Ricki had never seen anything as pretty and sexy as the skirt. They then helped each other with the jewelry and accessories from the other bag. Every thing made noise with the slightest movement, from the earrings, forehead chain, huge neck-pieces, arm bands, bracelets, waist chain and foot bells, that had a chain that looped the second toe and connected behind the ankle. There were also some things to adorn the hair and a jewel that could be attached to their navels by adhesive.

Getting dressed took a while and Mrs. Lively came in to check on the girls. They were just getting finished. Mrs. Lively smiled and inspected them. “Very nice girls, you both look so lovely. Wait here till I can introduce you and then hip thrust (in a hip thrust, you thrust the hip up front or down back) step, and M&M (an M&M is a move where you draw an M with the point of your hip in four moves up front, down neutral, up back and down back) alternately, your way in.

“Ladies, I want you to see what your costumes will look like. The only difference will be in the color of your skirts. So without further delay we have Laura!”

Laura came enthusiastically out with a hip thrust, step, M&M and doing L’s with her arms. The girls gave gasps as they saw her come in and then applauded till she was next to Mrs. Lively. She gave a cabaret shimmy and a chest camel.

“And now Ricki!”

Ricki put a big smile on her face and came in with the same routine; it was something she and Laura had practiced.

Everyone saw that Laura was the better, but Ricki surprised the girls as they saw her dance her way in. She was way better than they expected. When she was next to Mrs. Lively she gave a cabaret shimmy and a chest camel too.

“Girls, you can come up and inspect these costumes. They cost about a thousand dollars each and each of your will get an equally luxurious costume as my gift to you. Just please be careful and don’t get them dirty, they are a bitch to get cleaned.”

The girls fawned over the sisters as they inspected them. They asked Mrs. Lively a bunch of questions about the costume, jewelry and such. One girl blushed and jumped back as she spread Ricki’s skirt in front and came to Ricki’s thong panty.

“As Madison so indelicately found out, the skirts can be quite revealing. Each of you will receive a coordinating thong to wear with your skirt. I expect each of you to wear only this thong. I doubt that any of you will move in such a manner as to expose your thong, but it is possible. So each of you will either be clean-shaven down there or have a Brazilian wax job. You may, if you want, have an exclamation point, or landing strip there, if you don’t want to go bare. So what do you think; is this worth the effort?”

All of them were very effervescent in their enthusiasm.

“Then let’s dance girls.”

Laura and Ricki had huge smiles as they jingled and jangled.

After they had gone over the routines at least four times and had them fairly well down they broke for the day.

In the dressing room Ricki took off her skirt and thong, putting them in the garment bag. She then dressed in her regular panty and the shorts she had worn to class, but she put her belt back on. She did a couple of hip thrusts to make the belt sing. She didn’t take off the coin bra or most of the jewelry. The foot bells had to come off, but everything else she kept on. Laura seeing what her sister was doing followed suit.

The two of them left with enough swagger to their hips and chest to keep the jangle up. It looked kind of strange, but nobody would deny the two girls were having fun.

Mrs. Lively just smiled and dreamed of being young again, like the Davis sisters. She had known Laura for less than a year and her sister for only a week or so and had grown to love both kids.

Chapter 19

At home the condo was dark, as they entered. Laura put their garment bags in the hall closet and they entered looking around. The heavy drapes had been drawn and there were no lights on. It would take an incredible amount of effort to get their condo this dark. Both girls were worried that something might have happened. Laura kept Ricki behind her and silently crept to the light switches and flicked the living room lights on.

Girls came out from everywhere shouting, “SURPRISE!!!”

Ricki and Laura, were frightened half to death, they jumped back two feet making a loud jangling noise. Over the HD TV was a banner that read, “Happy Birthday Ricki”. Susan held a birthday cake in the center of the group.

All of Laura’s sorority sisters that were in town were there, along with a few friends (all female) that weren’t sisters, including Ricki’s friend Candace. The girls all rushed Ricki who was about ready to run from fright, to get their hugs and kisses.

Neither of the Davis sisters had yet to speak, they were so shocked. Ricki broke the silence with, “But today isn’t my birthday.”

“We know silly, Monday is your birthday. But we would all be tied up on Monday, studying,” Susan said.

“How and why did you all do this without me knowing?” Laura asked.

Stacy came up front and addressed the two of them. “While we know, that you could have kept the secret Laura, we decided to surprise you too. It seems, some of the girls wanted to get back at someone for various pranks that were alleged to have been perpetrated by you. Also, your surprise would greatly increase Ricki’s surprise. Carrie did you get the picture of those two jumping.”

“Sure did Madame President.”

“Good. So what is with these outfits that you two are wearing?”

“This is part of our costume for the fourth of July program,” Ricki said proudly jangling her chest at Stacy.

“If that is only part, you have got to show us the rest,” some girl in back said.

“We have skirts to go with our tops, but we can’t put them on. They would be a ‘bitch’ to quote Mrs. Lively, to clean.”

Laura and Ricki went to the hall closet and pulled out the garment bags and removed their skirts. All the girls oohed and ahhed as they saw them. The closest of them ran the fabric through her fingers.

“Oh, those are made from a high quality silk material,” Jordan Wilkes said. She was a sister that Ricki hadn’t met yet and she was a fashion major.

“Hi Jordan, this is my sister Ricki. Both of the skirts have twenty-five yards of silk chiffon sewn in floating panels. Mrs. Lively gave them to us, along with these bras and jewelry.”

Laura and Ricki put up their skirts after all the girls had a chance to look at them. Then the party began in earnest. The sisters made Laura and Ricki go through one of their dance routines, as the girls made jeers, catcalls and wolf whistles. The two of them made Susan stand in front of them and join them on a basic routine. She seemed to enjoy the attention she got from her sisters.

Then the girls played games; some of the games were quite juvenile and were for Ricki’s benefit, as they all knew her situation. Ricki was escorted to a donkey on the wall, before she was blindfolded and given a tail on a pin. Stacy pulled the donkey’s picture to reveal a picture of Susan. She was leaning away from the camera and with her backside displayed; her pantied cheeks peeked out from under her short skirt. Susan started to protest but was quieted by a look from Stacy. Ricki was turned around three or four times and then was aimed at the picture somewhat. She reached out with her left hand, found the wall and then the picture. She then pinned the tail on Susan’s left buttock. Susan gave an involuntary squeak. Ricki blushed when she saw what she had done, after the blindfold was removed.

Next they played twister, three fourths of the girls lost their match to Ricki. She was just too damn flexible and had a great sense of balance. They laughed, as a girl named Brenda, played Ricki. Ricki was laid out backwards, her feet were on the outside colors and her hands on the inside colors. Brenda was stretched out over Ricki and between her legs. Brenda was in the most precarious position with her legs and arms crossed to get them in the right position. The next color they had to move a leg. Brenda fell; Ricki gave an umph and collapsed.

One girl pulled out the old Mystery Date game for them to play. It was a big hit with the gathered sisters. Ricki dressed for a formal dance and when she opened the door her date was dressed to go skiing. Rebecca got the dud date and everybody laughed. Laura won dressed for bowling.

The sisters then urged Ricki on to open presents. She blushed, as over half of the presents were lingerie. Even Ricki, (who didn’t know Playtex, which she didn’t receive, from La Perla, which she did receive) knew that these were quality undergarments. She also received lots of jewelry from the girls. Ricki Also opened the package from their parents. Inside was a fully tricked out 14” Lenovo Laptop.

Lastly, they had Ricki blow out the candles, cut the cake and they all sat down to eat. Ricki got a chance to meet and talk to some of the girls she hadn’t met yet. Each of the sisters had a chance to sit next to Ricki for a few minutes.

“Excuse me Sisters,” Stacy said, trying to get everyone’s attention. “We have one more gift for Ricki. Ricki please come here.”

Ricki stood jingling next to Stacy.

Stacy opened a jewelry box and pulled out a sorority pin and pinned it to Ricki’s bra.

“Ricki in the short time you have been here, the sisters have grown to love you as one of our own. We have gotten together and decided to make you a sister. If you decide on going to USC, and decide to stay a girl, we ask that you join us. If you go back to being a guy, you will still be an honorary sister and we will still welcome you to our ranks, with full privileges.”

Ricki’s eyes filled with tears, but her smile betrayed her true emotions. She didn’t know why she felt this way, but she loved all of these girls. She tried to speak, but just wound up hugging Stacy. Ricki then had to hug all the girls.

As it got late, the sisters shifted gears and began to clean up the mess they had made and return the condo to condition one. Susan helped Ricki get her presents to her room and sorted out.

Susan spent the night with Ricki; they both loved the closeness they shared. They respected each other not to press on sexual issues.

Sunday came the regular inspection in front of the girls. It no longer bothered Ricki, as she considered herself one of them. She had gained another three quarters of a pound all over, even at her waist. All of this contributed to a softer, more feminine appearance. Her rib cage was still visible, but not as well defined; and her hips were not as bony.

“If you drink about a quart of water an hour, you will really look nice in about an hour. At least till you eliminate the water from your system,” Susan said. “That might make a real girl look a little bloated, but it will only help you.”

“Gain no more than two pounds for now Ricki. You look good,” Laura said. “We will wait to attach the enhancements to you Ricki; you need to let your skin breathe for a while.”

“Can I put the breast forms in my bra, at least?”

“That will be ok, but you really need to let your testicles cool a bit. If they stay too hot, for too long, their ability to produce testosterone and sperm can be damaged.”

“Ok,” Ricki said. She dressed in a bra and inserted her forms into it. It was a slightly unnerving picture, seeing a well developed girl, with a seven inch penis. Ricki then put on a pretty panty; she dressed in a low cut blouse, a tight mini, pantyhose, to help keep privates in place, at least a little and her cross trainers.

Laura, Cindy and Susan knuckled down to study and Ricki began fixing some of the seafood she had. She butterflied the shrimp, leaving only the last joint of the shell and cleaning out the vein (Yeah we know it’s not really a vein, as for blood, but…). The shrimp were very large, almost equal to a small prawn. She then battered the shrimp and set them aside in the fridge. Ricki took some fresh clams, potatoes and cream and began making New England Chowder, prepared the artichoke hearts and put together a salad.

When she began to get hungry, she started getting everything ready. She had made a tartar sauce and a red sauce for the shrimp. The soup looked and smelled delicious and the artichokes were cooking nicely. She started the shrimp and the girls cleaned off the table.

Dinner was served and the girls raved about the meal. The clam chowder was a big hit, there was enough left over for another meal, so it was refrigerated. The tartar sauce and the shrimp went fast.

“This is a delicious tartar sauce, what kind is it?” Susan asked.

“I made it too. It is a recipe mother showed me,” Ricki said. “Plus a little something I thought about. I added a bit of cilantro to the tartar sauce.”

“This is very good. I just love the artichoke,” Laura said. “Mom use to serve them too.”

After dinner, everyone helped on the cleanup. They worked in the kitchen till it was spic and span clean.

They then reattached Ricki’s curves. That made her so happy, she was almost ecstatic. She dressed for bed and caught a little TV with her sisters. She could call them that now.

(continued)

Ricki continues her swimming and her belly dancing. She also finds a job. The news she and Laura feared is confirmed, their Dad is dying. Madeline, Laura and Ricki's Mom, finds out about Ricki. Timely intervention prevents a rape. (Not in extreme detail. The scene should not be overly distressful.)

Shimmy

by

Paula Dillon

Chapter 20

Ricki was up early she cleaned up and took care of her needs. On her way downstairs, she took her dirty things and linen down to wash. She fixed breakfast and coffee, and had it ready when the girls came down. Some people take things for granted, when it is provided without their having to think about it. This was not so with her sisters. They never took this blessing for granted. Ricki allowed them the opportunity they needed, to do what they needed to do. They gave Ricki their hugs and kisses, for her selflessness.

Ricki began her cleaning routine after the girls left for class and practiced her belly dancing while she did her cleaning.

Laura was in her French lit class, when her phone rang. She got up to leave the classroom and answer it. She hoped it was her mom, none of her other friends would call during class.

“I am sorry; it’s my Mom, Mrs. Boucher. I have to take this,” Laura said, getting her things and leaving class.

(The Following conversation took place in French. I don’t know French, but Madeline Davis is French Canadian. She does speak French and Laura does too. So I had to use an online translator. Any errors in the French translation are the translator’s error.)

"Bonjour," (“Hello,”) Laura said, in French.

"Bonjour sueur." (“Hello sweaty.”) Madeline replied in French. "Vous voulez avoir cette conversation en français?" (“You want to have this conversation in French?”)

"Oui maman, je suis á  l'école. Comment áªtes-vous? " (“Yes mom, I am at school. How are you?”)

“Je suis en train de faire amende chers. Sauf pour… oui je sorte de s'attendre á  vous voir. Oui votre papa ne va pas bien. " (“I am doing fine dear. Except for… yes I kind of expected you to see it. Yes your Daddy isn’t well.”)

"Quel est le problá¨me avec lui maman?" (“What is wrong with him Mom?”)

"Il a un cancer chers. Il était hors d'usage quand il a été constaté. Votre pá¨re est vieux et il n'a pas envie d'essayer la chimio-thérapie qui avait seulement 5% de chance de ralentir le cancer, non pas de tuer le cancer. " (“He has a cancer dear. It was inoperable when it was found. Your father is old and he didn’t want to try chemo-therapy that only had a five percent chance of slowing the cancer, not killing the cancer.”)

"Pourquoi ne pas-il nous dire, maman?" (“Why didn’t he tell us, Mom?”)

"Vous n'avez pas venir courir chez vous, si vous savait qu'il était malade. Cela aurait interrompu vos études et il ne l'a pas voulu. Il n'a pas envie de voir tel qu'il est maintenant. Je n'était pas d'accord avec lui, mais il a été sa décision. Il a voulu vous les enfants á  se souviennent de lui comme il l'était son ancien… en bonne santé soi-máªme, et non pas le shell de l'homme, il est maintenant." (“You would have come running home, if you knew he was sick. That would have interrupted your education and he didn’t want that. He also didn’t want you to see him as he is now. I disagreed with him, but it was his decision. He wanted you kids to remember him as he was… his former healthy self, not the shell of the man he is now.”)

"Mais maman, nous avons besoin d'avoir l'occasion de dire au revoir á  lui." (“But Mom, we need to have the opportunity to say goodbye to him.”)

"Je suis d'accord avec vous Laura, mais il n'est pas á  moi." (“I agree with you Laura, but it isn’t up to me.”)

"Ensuite, nous arrivons á  l'endroit oá¹ vous áªtes." (“Then we are coming to where you are.”)

"NON! S’il vous plaá®t ne le faites pas, il pá¨res de briser votre coeur. Il est un homme fier, trop fier. Il vous connaá®t deux amour et il veut que tu sais qu'il aime vous deux profondément. " (“NO! Please don’t, it would break your fathers heart. He is a proud man, too proud. He knows you two love him and he wants you to know he loves both of you deeply.”)

"Combien de temps at-il?" (“How long does he have?”)

"Un mois, peut-áªtre deux. Nous n'allons pas faire de retour, je suis peur  » (“A month, maybe two. We won’t make it back, I’m afraid,”) Madeline said, and then she tried to change the subject to a less painful topic. "Alors, comment Ricky est en train de faire?" (“So how is Ricky doing?”)

"Elle a fait grand maman," (“She is doing great Mom,”) Laura gasped as soon as she made her faux pas.

"Elle?" (“She?”)

"Je veux dire qu'il fait bien." (“I mean he is doing fine.”)

"Dites-moi la vérité Laura, je peut l'entendre dans votre voix." (“Tell me the truth Laura; I can hear it in your voice.”)

"Maman, c'est une longue histoire, mais Ricki que l'habillage est une fille, et je n'ai pas jamais vu son heureux." (“Mom, it’s a long story, but Ricki is dressing as a girl, and I haven’t ever seen her happier.”)

”J'ai toujours pensé qu'il était trop beau pour áªtre un garçon. Ne vous méprenez pas, il n'est pas quelque chose de mal avec les garçons, mais Ricky avait un tel esprit doux sur lui… Est-elle assez? " (“I always thought he was too nice to be a boy. Don’t get me wrong, there isn’t anything wrong with boys, but Ricky had such a sweet spirit about him… Is she pretty?”)

"Oh maman, elle est tout simplement magnifique et elle a probablement un fiancé. Je crois qu'elle est en amour avec Susan une fille qui vit avec moi. Deux d'entre eux sont si heureux qu'ils sont ravis." (“Oh Mom, she is simply gorgeous and she probably has a fiancé. I think she is in love with Susan a girl that lives with me. Both of them are so happy they are ecstatic.”)

"Le temps nous dira fille, donnez-lui tout le soutien que vous pouvez Laura. Ne pas dire Ricki sur la derniá¨re partie de notre conversation, mais dites-lui que nous aimons chá¨rement lui. Donnez-lui un cá¢lin pour moi et votre pá¨re. " (“Time will tell daughter, give her all the support you can Laura. Don’t tell Ricki about the last part of our conversation, but tell him we love him dearly. Give her a hug for me and your Dad.”)

"Tenez-moi informé de papa, nous manquera quand il passe." (“Keep me informed about Dad, we will miss him when he passes.” Laura cried.)

“Je sais trá¨s chers, je l'espá¨re, pour voir mon autre fille, un certain temps dans l'avenir. Je t'aime tant de fois. Au revoir, my Sweet fille." (“I know dear, I hope to see my other daughter, some time in the future too. I love you both so much. Bye, my sweet daughter.”)

Nous vous aimons trop maman. Au revoir." (“We love you too Mom. Bye.”)

Laura made a call herself.

“Hi Laura,”

“Hello Rebecca, It is just as I feared.”

“How long?”

“Two months, maybe less.”

“I am here for you both. You know that don’t you.”

“Yes I do. Thank you. Bye.”

“You take care of yourself sister. Bye.”

Laura just sat on the couch outside the French classroom and cried quietly for a few minutes. She gathered her things and headed to the nearest women’s restroom to fix her face.

Ricki finished her work and her DVD belly dancing lessons early, so she got in her bikini and went out to the pool. It was fun always having a pool convenient. She swam in the pool for about two hours. Even with the sunscreen, Ricki was developing a golden tan and the requisite tan lines from her suit. The tan looked good on her, but it seemed a little bit off she thought. Ricki would have to show Susan and see if she had any ideas to make the tan lines look a little more like what it should look like.

They girls got home and studied for a bit before dinner. Ricki fixed hamburgers, fries and a banana pudding for dessert. The girls loved the burgers, but Ricki had to fight them to keep them from devouring all the pudding. It was just loaded with calories.

When it came time to get ready for belly dancing class, Ricki took Susan up to her room and showed her the tan lines.

“I can fix this when you get home. I need to get some things first, honey.”

Ricki and Laura wore their coin bras, belts and jewelry to class. Ricki worked with Mrs. Lively on the routines they had practiced on Saturday. She then had Laura join Ricki and do the routine they were choreographing themselves. Mrs. Lively loved the creativity of the Davis sisters; they were a good addition to her belly dancing class.

On the way home Laura stopped and broke the news she had from her mother.

“Ricki, Mom called me. It is just as we suspected. Dad is dying.”

“It can’t be. He just can’t,” Ricki said crying.

“You know it is true. You have seen it in the pictures.”

“We have to go see him, Laura.”

“You don’t have a passport and although we have an itinerary, it will still be hard to meet up with them.”

Ricki leaned on Laura’s shoulder and cried. “We will be there when they get home then.”

Laura was in tears herself and was hurting inside, “He probably won’t make it home. Ricki Dad wants us to remember him when he was healthy and vigorous. He doesn’t want us to see him waste away.”

“I never got to say goodbye, Sis.”

“I know. I didn’t get to say goodbye either.”

“We have got to call them, then.”

“I will try to Ricki. That is all I can promise.”

They held onto each other and had a good cry, before they cleaned up their faces and continued their way home.

Chapter 21

Tuesday, Vanessa had lunch with a professor friend of hers. Janet Wilkins was a professor of psychology. After they exchanged pleasantries and placed their orders, they sat to talk.

“Janet, I have a question about transgendered guys.”

“You mean girls that believe in their heart they are guys, or guys that believe in their hearts that they are girls.”

“Guys that believe they are girls.”

“Well, you don’t ask easy questions. There is a lot of information on that topic and the amount is growing daily. Transgendered is sort of an umbrella definition. There are different types of transgendered out there. This is just the nickel explanation for you, Vanessa.”

“Some people want desperately to be the other sex, even to go so far as taking hormones and seeking Sexual Reassignment Surgery. They are so desperate, they may fall into depression if they are prevented from doing so. These people are the ones who sometimes commit suicide if they can’t find release, or they lack emotional support from those around them.

Others are those that just want to look like the other sex, to whatever degree they can, some of the time. The rest of the time, they are comfortable as who they are. Others may take hormones to help with their appearance, but forego the SRS surgery. Some are happy to be half and half, so to speak. Still others dress for the sexual thrill. To be able to understand the differences, a psychiatrist or psychologist, spends many hours getting to know the person. It takes a minimum of one year of counseling to resolve where a person falls, before the mental healthcare provider will sign off on surgery. Some may be in therapy for years before they reach that point.”

“How young can they begin?”

“They can begin dressing and believing they are different as young as they can. Some may begin before grade school, at age three, four or five. Some when they approach puberty, while others a lot later in life. There is a quandary in the psychological community on this issue. The issue is, on when to start HRT. HRT, or hormone replacement therapy, can either feminize a boy who wants to be a girl, or makes a girl who wants to be a boy become masculine. The younger a patient begins hormones, the better the results. The difference can be rather dramatic. The big question is, how to be certain the patient is certain that that is what they want and need? At what age do we act on that feeling? It would be nice for them if at the age of eleven or twelve, we could begin HRT. They could develop along with their peers and they wouldn’t have to overcome what the natural hormones have already done. But what eleven or twelve year old is certain of themselves? They could change their minds and after four or five months on, HRT, the die has already been cast, the chance to change back to what they could have been has been greatly diminished.”

“Right now, the age is eighteen, although in some cases we can prescribe hormone blockers at twelve to fourteen. This will keep guys from growing beards and Adam’s apples, and girls from growing breasts, hips and such. The question is then, how long can they safely take the blockers. Surgery is an iron clad eighteen, because of its implications, and they should be as grown as they are going to be. Hormones are eighteen,”

“I know a guy who is comfortable with himself dressed as a girl. I don’t think it is for sexual pleasure. He appears so natural. I would swear he had surgery, but he is only sixteen.”

“I can’t give you a diagnosis. He sounds like a boy that believes in his heart that he is a girl. It would take a year in a Real life test, one or two years of counseling, and age eighteen before anything irreversible is done. If she has been living for a year as a girl, it is easy to see why she is so comfortable in her role. I doubt she has had surgery.”

“But he looked so natural in a bikini. If I hadn’t known him before, I would have sworn he was a girl.”

“What did you do, before you grew your boobs to look like you had them?”

“Stuffed my bra with tissues and other things.”

“They have gotten pretty sophisticated in this area, silicone breastforms, hip pads, gaffs to hide their penises and fake vaginas and such.”

“This person doesn’t know I know. What can I do for him? What do I refer to him as? How should I treat him?”

“Treat him as he appears. If he looks like a girl treat her that way. Use feminine pronouns and such. Treat her like any other person. Don’t ‘out’ the person to others, they have a hard life as it is. That can be real hard, because you know the truth. Try not to accidentally let that knowledge slip. You may have to go so far as to distance yourself a bit, till you are sure in your heart that you aren’t going to let it slip. Don’t go out of your way to let them know you know. You can make it more likely she will slip, force her to run away, or scare her half to death. If you see her in a ladies rest room and she is behaving properly for her appearance, treat her like any other female. You can do wonders for people like this by treating them like they appear. Be their friend if they ask and be friendly to them even if they don’t. Be there to protect her if she needs it. There are many people that target the transgendered for violence.”

“Girls who are transgendered have a different kind of a challenge. But that will cost another lunch. If you really want to know more, there are some college courses you could take.”

Ricki and Laura were in a brown funk for a few days; everyone around them could see it and were supportive of the girls. Laura was almost back to normal the next day. Ricki was taking it hard. Candace even made a house call to talk to Ricki. Candace now understood why Rebecca had contacted her, although she still had questions. She was taking grief counseling as part of her Master’s studies.

Thursday, though she had begun to come out of her malaise. Susan had been so good to Ricki and slept with her every night, just holding her as she slept.

The one spot of happiness was at the dance studio. Ricki threw all her pent up emotion into her dance. Thursday night had been a real awakening as she danced. Even though the thought of her Dad dying still distressed her, there had been a lot of love in their relationship. Thursday in her mind she danced for her father, she threw herself into the dance. She wore her biggest smile as the tears fell.

Mrs. Lively saw the emotion Ricki was putting into the dance and was entranced by the young girl. She was doing everything better than she had ever done. When she was done the whole class erupted in applause.

Ricky was embarrassed but the other students just smiled at her. Mrs. Lively asked Laura and Ricki to stay after class for a few minutes.

“Ricki you were wonderful, but what was all that emotion you were pouring out.”

“My Father is on a Mediterranean cruise and he is dying from cancer Mrs. Lively. We may never see him alive again.”

“Oh you poor child, I know how you must feel.”

“Even though he wasn’t here I was dancing for him.”

“How long does he have, Ricki?”

“A month, maybe two.”

“Do you feel better now?”

“Yes Ma’am, I feel a lot better now. That dance was cathartic.”

Mrs. Lively gave Ricki a warm hug and said, “I see, I feel for you, Ricki, I lost my father many years ago in Vietnam. He was a pilot. I also lost my husband, about ten years ago, in an industrial accident. If you need to talk Ricki, I am available twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I hope you can dance with that same intensity, on the fourth Ricki. I just can’t believe how beautiful and graceful you looked.”

Chapter 22

Friday, Ricki was surprised, while she was swimming at school. She had just made her turn at 500 meters, when another swimmer splashed in the pool in the next lane. It was Coach Adams. Vanessa matched Ricki’s pace for the next hundred meters. Then she began to push a little faster. Ricki kicked it up a notch and kept pace with her over the next two laps. They then slowed for two laps and rested for a bit.

“Hi Ricki, how are you doing today?”

“Ok, and how are you doing, Coach Adams?”

“Very good. Let’s do the next hundred doing the butterfly.”

“Ok,”

Coach Adams pushed off and Ricki matched her moves, about two meters behind her. Ricki watched how she was swimming. Vanessa’s form was just a little different. It looked like she was a little more efficient in her strokes. Ricki tried to adapt her stroke a little. It is one thing to have a coach tell you what you were doing wrong and another to see how one might be able to see how to do the same thing a little more efficiently.

Ricki had already learned to swim better, with her forward appendages attached. Her and her belly dancing had really helped her. She was significantly stronger in her abdominals; this helped her more than she knew. At the turn, Vanessa was in the lead and she had a pretty good turn at the wall, but Ricki’s turn wasn’t good, it was great. She caught up and was side by side with the coach after twenty meters.

Their paces picked up significantly, in the last twenty-five meters, to almost competition speed. Coach Adams wasn’t trying to beat Ricki, she just wanted to push the kid a bit. Ricki’s youth and vigor were beginning to show, in the last 15 meters. Vanessa couldn’t have won at that point, even if she had wanted to, Ricki pulled from even, to three quarters of a body’s length ahead in the last ten meters and touched first.

“Wow that was some burst of speed you put on there, Ricki.”

“Thank you coach,” Ricki said, smiling brightly at Coach Adams.

“You seemed to have a little more power in your stroke. I saw the changes you made. Is it easier doing it that way?”

“Yes, it was much easier, and I always save a little energy if I can, for a last minute burst of speed.”

“That is good, if you can keep in range.”

“Yes ma’am, it is.”

“Ok, let’s just swim some more laps.” Vanessa said, smiling to herself, as she pushed off the wall.

Coach Adams swam another five hundred meters, her joints began to complain a bit. The injury to her back, which she had sustained four years ago, took away all of her Olympic hopes, began to tell. Swimming helped her flexibility a bit, but she could never get anywhere near where she had been. So she hopped out of the pool and dried off, while she watched Ricki.

Ricki felt good and swam another eleven hundred meters. It was funny, she hadn’t really considered belly dancing an aerobic exercise before she had started. That misconception was dispelled the first time she had tried it. The biggest benefit Ricki saw, was the strengthening of her core, her chest, abdominals, glutes and legs. This helped her in swimming more than anything else she had tried. She also noticed that she had a little better, no make that significantly better stamina now. She would swear that her ribcage was a little broader.

After her shower, she dressed and did her makeup. Her sisters were still studying, so she walked around campus. She smiled when she saw Candace.

“Hi Candace.”

“Hello Ricki, how are you doing?”

“Better, I know my Dad is dying, and there isn’t anything that I can do about it. But I also know that life goes on,” Ricki said, as she began walking.

Candace walked with her friend and they talked, “Don’t forget to take time to grieve Ricki. Grief can be cathartic, as long as one doesn’t live to grieve. You spent seventeen years loving your father, when he goes, you can’t just bottle up all those emotions and feelings that you had for him. It just isn’t healthy.”

“I am learning that and thank you for being such a good friend.”

“Ricki, I have something to ask you. Now don’t be afraid, I will always be your friend, but I have noticed some things about you. Are you transgendered?”

Ricki swallowed a bit, when she heard the question, but Candace had been a good friend. “I guess I am. I am just not sure. I was a happy boy. I guess, that is a somewhat happy boy. Since I have dressed as a girl, I have felt that life couldn’t get any better.”

Candace smiled at her friend. “I though so. Don’t worry, you aren’t broadcasting I am a boy to the world. Far from it, I find it hard to conceive of you being a boy. It was just a few little things about you, when we first met. Over the time I have known you; they have all but disappeared. I am studying to be a psychologist; I think that is why I picked up on them. So tell me, what brought out this transformation?”

Ricki told Candace the story of how all this had taken place. Candace listened intently to what the girl was saying; only taking time to stop her to ask a question about something she had said.

“If I were to guess Ricki, I think you are finding it increasingly difficult to think of yourself as a boy,” Candace stated.

“You are right, Candace. Everyday that I have spent being a girl has been a lot more real to me, than my whole life as a Richard. Look at me. Genetics has left me looking like this. I am as big as I ever will be. I am bigger than my father and my father’s father, yet I am smaller than many of the girls on this campus. Back home, Richard had a few good friends; here, Ricki has a lot of very good friends. Richard was more than a bit of a wallflower, he was almost a recluse. Ricki though isn’t afraid to get out there and live. It was like I was waiting for this moment my whole life. Everything just seems to fit.”

“Being a girl won’t always be a bed of roses, you know that don’t you.”

“Being a boy wasn’t bad at times either, Candace. I know that. It just seems to me that I am brighter, more confident and happier. I don’t know if I will always feel this way.”

“How far do you think you want to go on this road, Ricki?”

“I don’t know. I want to have kids. I know that I could never have them, if I did the wrong things. So I don’t really know what I want to do. I do think that I would like to have breasts of my own and I have no problem with camouflaging my hips. Although, I guess I would like to have wider, rounder hips too.”

“Well you are still young, and any fork of the road is still years ahead of you.”

“Do you know anything about it, Candace?”

“Some, all students looking to become psychologist have to take courses dealing with gender issues. Anybody who wants to change sex is looking down a long road with many years of counseling. It takes a psych to sign off on any surgery, Ricki. The big one is, you need to live a year minimum as a girl, for a year and during that year you will have to be in a treatment relationship with a Psychologist, or Psychiatrist. You will need to learn about hormones and what they can and cannot do, what cannot be reversed, if you take them. It is a big step taking hormones and it is an even bigger step, to have surgery. All of what I have just said is an over simplification of the process.”

“You seem to know a lot more than I do.”

“Like I have said, I have had some gender studies. Well I have to go, Ricki. I will always be your friend, call if you need me.”

“Thank you Candace and I will always be your friend too.”

Chapter 23

Saturday was a big day for the girls in the belly-dancing troupe. They had just four more days after today, before the Fourth of July. Ricki and Laura brought their costumes with them to the lesson. They were early and so began to change.

When the other girls came in, they each received a garment bag and a sack. Ricki and Laura helped the girls with their costumes, as they came in. All the skirts they saw were equally fabulous; there was a sea of blues, whites, greens, yellows, and pinks, with contrasting layers of color. Each girl treasured her skirt, they were all so beautiful, but Ricki liked hers and Laura’s the best. Soon there was a loud cacophony in the changing room as they donned their bras, belts and jewelry.

The girls were shaking and shimming, out on the dance floor, when Mrs. Lively brought them to order.

“Hello girls, I see that all of you are enjoying your costumes. Shake and shimmy for me and listen to the sound that you are making.”

The girls spent about twenty seconds doing various movements. They all smiled, as they shook and shimmied.

“Ok girls, that is enough. Let’s begin and while we dance, listen to everyone.”

Once the girls all started dancing and were totally in sync with each other, they all noticed a difference in the sound. The sound was louder and sharper. They smiled, as they came to this realization.

“Yes girls, it makes a difference when we all dance together. There will be a time for everyone to do their own thing in a dance, but when we all move as one; the dance will be perceived as stronger and more powerful,” Mrs. Lively said, as they danced. “Every movement has its own sound, its own texture and its own feel. Listen to the music you make and go with the flow.”

For the first time the girls all saw all of the individual routines, the girls had worked up. Everyone was appreciative of all the girls’ efforts and applauded appropriately.

Ricki really liked the routine that she and Laura worked up. She couldn’t wait till they had the opportunity to perform it for an audience. They got their share of applause when they finished.

They did the whole show three times, getting all the timing and movements perfectly synchronized. They critiqued each other and were critiqued by Mrs. Lively.

After they finished, Mrs. Lively meet with each of them and gave them each of them Salon appointments. Only Ricki’s and Laura’s were for the same time and day. They had to go to the salon on Wednesday, at nine in the morning.

When Ricki and Laura got home, they put their garment bags in the hall closet and headed up to their rooms to clean up, put their makeup on and to get dressed up. Susan had gotten them reservations at nice restaurant. Cindy helped Ricki with her makeup a bit. She had gotten good at her everyday looks, but her sisters really wanted her to shine tonight. Susan had even gone out and bought her a really nice dress as a surprise.

The dress was looked like a liquid metallic silver halter dress that came just above mid thigh. It had matching three quarter sleeve bolero jacket that came with it. She bought matching shoes, they were silver sandals with four and a half inch heels and handbag. Ricki got to wear some fabulous silver, chandelier, ruby earrings, a silver ruby cocktail ring and a three tier, silver and ruby necklace. The rubies were created rubies, Susan told Ricki, but they were still fabulous.

Lastly, Susan and Cindy worked with Ricki’s hair, to get it looking just right and a splash of perfume. Ricki had been in LA for four weeks and had yet to get out to do any sight seeing, she was still happy for her time here, anyway.

Before they left they had to ogle each other. They were four very beautiful young ladies. They stood side by side, as Laura set the digital camera’s shutter delay, so they could take a group picture. She took eight or nine pictures, to make sure she got it right and then reviewed the pictures before they headed out.

“I have to send this picture out to Mom,” Laura thought to herself.

They found a parking structure near Hollywood Blvd and La Brae, and then walked to their destination. Ricki had to stop and photograph Elton John’s, Mickey Mouse’s, and William Shatner’s stars, among the others they saw on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. They followed the stars, looking at the names on them as they went. They came up to Grumman’s Chinese Theater next and had to stop and photograph many of the stars’, hand and foot prints. Ricki was very excited. She found Marilyn Monroe’s hand and foot prints, among a whole host of stars that had left their marks there.

The place they were going to eat, was a dinner theater. You know, one of those dinner and a show places.

At the restaurant, they were just four beautiful women among a sea of beautiful women there. They did receive more than their fair share of glances, from those around them. Hollywood is one of the most image-oriented communities in the entire country. It is a city where everyone is trying to impress the right people.

The maá®tre’d led them to their table. Several waiters seated them and handed them their menus. They noticed that they had a really great table; they were seated center stage, front row. After they ordered drinks, the girls began to browse the menus. Cindy was the one who knew the least about the items on the menu. Laura, Ricki and Susan helped her identify the things that were there.

One of the other patrons sent their table a nice bottle of wine; Laura turned it down, because they were all underage. She also told the waiter to tell the sender politely, that one of them was jail bait and none of them were interested in company.

“That won’t put them off Sis. There are enough perverts in this city that like underage lovers. That might even give them more thrills.”

“You might be right Ricki, but they will just have to take no for an answer. Besides, you are spoken for, I think,” Laura said.

“You bet your booty, she is spoken for,” Susan said, giggling.

After they ordered, they looked around to see who was there. Susan and Cindy swore they saw Nicholas Cage and Ricki thought she saw Sara Jessica Parker, but there were so many star look-a-likes about, one could never be totally certain. The place wasn’t an A-List exclusive establishment, like some of the Beverly Hills restaurants, but you did occasionally see ‘A-Listers’ here.

Their meals arrived at their table and they set about eating. Ricki had gotten chicken parmesan, and asparagus, with a side dish of curried rice. An odd combination, but Ricki liked her dishes.

Ricki learned a lesson; never eat curried rice when Susan was telling a slightly raunchy joke. When Susan got to the punch line, Ricki snorted a mouth full of the curried rice, up into her nose. The other girls were laughing as much as Susan, as was Ricki trying unsuccessfully, to gracefully recover.

As they continued to eat, the house lights dimmed and the curtain opened, to reveal the entertainment for the night. On stage, in a Tuxedo, was a magician, he had suddenly appeared in a flash of light and smoke.

“I want to welcome you all tonight. I am the Great Ramone Donotello, Master Illusionist.”

Donotello was a very technically proficient magician and a very good showman. He went through many illusions over the next twenty minutes. He was not into the grand illusions as David Copperfield and Chris Angel, but he was on par, sort of, with Mac King, David Blaine and Johnny Ace Palmer.

“I need an assistant for the next illusion,” he said, slipping into a mentalist routine. “I see a young lady, who has just had her seventeenth birthday.”

Spotlights started to scan the audience and Ricki looked crossly at Susan, who just smiled innocently, too innocently to actually be innocent.

“I see silver, lots and lots of silver. Oh yes, a lovely silver dress and shoes.”

The spotlights panned right through Ricki, passing her. They stopped on the floor beside her; then slowly came back and stopped on her.

“Madame, will you do me the honor of being my assistant, for the next illusion?”

Ricki looked crossly again at Susan’s Angelic expression, causing those who could see, to laugh and applaud. Ricki then gave a genuine thousand-watt smile, stood and walked to the stage.

The month of belly dancing lessons had given her a natural hip roll, as she walked. She couldn’t help herself; her hips just went into motion naturally. The spotlights followed her as she walked. The drummer in the band, that supplied music for the show, picked up on it and gave a, ta-tat, ta-tat on his snare drum, as she walked to the stage stairs. She stopped and gave the drummer a stare that could melt lead. She then gave him one of her biggest hip thrusts. The drummer went over backwards and knocked over his top hat, causing a tremendous clamor.

This nearly brought the house down, as everybody began laughing and applauding.

The Magician was never one to miss an opportunity said, “I see that I am not the only one here tonight, that is able to do magic. I think those hips should be registered as lethal weapons.”

Even Ricki had to laugh at that joke. The curry that she had inhaled up into her nose, took that time to cause her to sneeze.

“Ah, pretty one let me help you with that.” Donotello was never one to miss an opportunity to adjust his routine. He grabbed a bucket and a silk hankie as he palmed an amazing number of coins. He held the hankie to her noise and the bucket beneath it and said. “Come on dear, just give me a blow.”

Ricki blew her nose as loudly as she could into the hankie and as she did, a lot of coins fell from her nose into the bucket.

“A couple of more times, my Lady.”

Ricki blew her nose twice more and at least forty silver dollars fell into the bucket.

“Ah no wonder you sneezed, fair maiden,” Donotello said.

The crowd applauded, Donotello bowed and Ricki curtseyed as much as anyone in her dress and heels could.

Donotello thought this girl was a natural.

“Now Madame, what is your name dear?”

“Ricki Anne.”

“When was your birthday, my pretty little flower?”

What a ham, Ricki thought, “This past Monday.”

“And where did you get such lethal hips.”

“I take belly dancing lesson,” Ricki said, giving Donotello a chest camel and a cabaret shimmy. It was a little harder up on her stilts, but she was oh so sexy doing it.

Donotello scanned the crowds and said. “Someone please call the paramedics. I think there are a half dozen men having heart attacks out there.”

After the laughs and applause died a bit he said, “Now Ricky, on my magicians stand are a half dozen sealed decks of cards. Is there not.”

“There is.”

“Select one deck, my lady, open it and inspect it, make sure there is nothing funny about the cards.

Ricky picked one and found a good use for her longer nails. They easily sliced through the cellophane and seal, on the deck. She took out the jokers and the insert, and inspected the deck. All the cards appeared normal to her and nothing looked faked.

“Okay, select a card my lady and show your friends and the audience, but don’t let me see it.”

She did this.

He asked her to sign the card, insert it anywhere in the deck and to shuffle the cards. When this was accomplished, he asked her to stand on the stage about ten feet away and to loft the cards towards him. He now had a rapier in his right hand. She lofted the cards towards him. The way she threw the deck, they didn’t spread all that much in the air. He made a lunged with his rapier and stabbed at the cards. When all the cards hit the floor, there was one card was stuck on the sword’s blade.

“Is that your card, my lady?” he said, pointing the sword in her direction.

Ricki looked and hopped excitedly as she saw that it was indeed her card.

“Yes it is. How did you do that?” Ricki asked.

“A good magician never reveals his secrets. You may have the card. Please take the card as a souvenir. Give it to your friends and come back on stage.”

Ricki pulled the card off the sword and gave it to Susan to hold. She then went back up on stage. Donotello really only wanted an assistant for one illusion, but his mind started to click a new series of illusions, with this girl involved.

Donotello then pulled out the zigzag lady box, he whispered to Ricki, “just turn sideways to the right of the box, as the door is closed.”

Ricki had seen the trick before and kinda figured it out, but went along with the illusion. Donotello shut the door and she turned sideways after putting her face in one window and her hands in two openings and her feet in another. He then pushed two wide blades into the box, cutting her into thirds. Ricki gave a yelp as if in pain. Donotello then pushed the middle of the box to the right, so her mid section was no longer beneath her head or over her feet.

Ricki smiled, shook her head, wiggled her feet and waved to the crowd.

Donotello bowed to the applause and started to walk away and do the next illusion.

“Ah sir… sir… SIR! Could you please… ah… put me back together again. I can’t feel my toes.”

Donotello thought good girl, she was playing to the audience again.

Ricki was on the stage for fifteen minutes, as she participated in a half dozen illusions. She only knew how one was performed, but she wasn’t going to tell. She and Donotello had to bow to the crowd four times, before they let her return to her seat. Everyone was ecstatic. The management was so happy; they picked up the check for their table.

At home, Susan and Ricki spent half the night kissing, touching and cuddling with each other, before they fell asleep in each others arms.

Chapter 24

It was ten o’clock before Ricki and Susan got up. Cindy and Laura, were up and studying together. They received smiles and good morning sleepy heads, as they came down.

“Did you enjoy last night, Ricki?”

“It was fantastic. The dinner and show that is,” Ricki said somewhat embarrassed.

“What was I last night, chopped liver,” Susan said, feigning contempt.

“You were better than fantastic Susan, although we didn’t do ‘IT’,” Ricki said.

“We know that Ricki. Don’t worry. Susan is a screamer, as worked up as she was, they would have known in San Diego,” Laura said.

Susan stuck her tongue out at Laura, who returned the favor.

Laura got Ricki’s laptop out and ran the video and pictures they had captured at the Dinner theater. Ricki was amazed at how natural she looked on stage, as she played to the audience. She had intentionally hammed it up, but it came out so naturally, it was hard to tell that she wasn’t the magician’s full time assistant.

Laura had already emailed many of the pictures and the video they had taken to her mother that morning and received an email back in reply.

“Oh my, she is beautiful and so talented,” was all that Madeline could say. “I am trying to get Dad to give you two a call. I love you both so dearly, Love Mom.”

Monday, while she cleaned and practiced her belly dancing, Ricki received a phone call.

“Hello,” Ricki said.

“Hello, this is Freddy Dawson. I am looking for a Ricki Anne.”

Ricky recognized the voice as being from Ramone Donotello. “Yes that is me, Mr. Donotello.”

“Good, you know who I am. Ramone Donotello is just my stage name.”

“How can I help you, Mr. Dawson?”

“I was wondering if I could talk you into being my assistant full time. I was very impressed with your stage presence and timing Ricki. It almost looked like we had worked together for at least a year.”

“I have a lot on my plate right now. Mr. Dawson. I don’t think I can fit something else in.”

“Please give it some consideration; right now I have five acts a week, two shows on Friday and Saturday and one on Sunday. I could pay you one thousand a week, as my assistant. The time you would be committed to would be about ten hours a week for rehearsal and twelve hours for the performances and prep time.”

“I don’t know, Mr. Dawson. I also spend a lot of time in practice at belly dancing. We have a show on the Fourth of July that we are working hard on. I would also have to have permission from my sister also. I live in New York and I am just staying with her for the summer.”

“Hmm, I still could use your help the last three weeks of July and all of August. Please give it a lot of thought, Ricki. I think that you were awesome for just someone I pulled out of the audience.”

“I will Mr. Dawson, but I don’t think it will be possible.”

“Well let me give you my number so that you can call me back later then,” Mr. Dawson said, and then gave her his number.

“I can’t say I will do it. In fact I may be too busy, but I will think on it and talk to my sister.”

“That is all that I can ask of you, Ricki. Thank you and take care.”

“Bye.”

Ricki sat and considered the offer, four thousand a month, for eighty-eight hours of work. It was fun work too. Ricki had really enjoyed being on stage Saturday night. She had fun working with Donotello and enjoyed the audience’s reactions and applause.

After she completed her cleaning and belly dancing, she went outside to swim for an hour. The swimming relaxed Ricki and she was picking up a nice golden tan, from being in the sun so much. Living in LA was certainly better than living in New York. They both had air quality problems, both had high humidity, but she just liked LA better.

After showering to wash the chlorine out of her hair, Ricki considered what she wanted to cook for dinner that night. She began to get a hankering for Gumbo, so she texted her sister to stop at the grocery and pick up some fresh okra, among other things. She then began her prep work on what she had. She selected the seafood she wanted, set out the spices she would use and chopped what vegetables she was going to add. She was lucky that Laura had a huge collection of spices. There was everything she would need to make the dish.

Lastly just before her sisters were to arrive, she made some snacks for them and set them out on the table. She received a text message back that said that Stacy, Carrie and Rebecca would be with them. Ricki made sure she had enough of everything for them and tried to make sure there was room for everyone to study.

Stacy, Carrie and Rebecca were the first there. Ricki set out some drinks for them and they got down to business, after they admired Ricki’s appearance.

Susan, Laura and Cindy arrived and Ricki took the groceries from her and started working on dinner. She chopped the okra into small bits and started to boil them with some spices. They take longer to cook. For the next hour, she got everything together. Her sisters cleared and set the table for dinner. This was a first for some of the girls; many had never had a Louisiana Seafood gumbo before. It was quite spicy and some of the girls made faces as they ate, but after the initial reactions to the spices, they smiled hungrily and dug into the gumbo.

Ricki had thought that she had made enough gumbo for ten, but the girls devoured it all.

“Where did you get the recipe for that dish,” Stacy asked.

“I watched Emeril on TV back in New York. Mom made it a couple of times and I really liked it.”

“I am not one for spicy food,” Carrie said. “But if you make that again, you had better invite me over. That was delicious.”

“Oh Laura, that magician called me today.”

“How did he get our number?” Laura asked.

“He must have gotten it from our reservation. I had to leave my number with the reservation desk,” Susan said.

“What did he want, Ricki?” Laura asked.

“He wanted me to work as his full time assistant. He offered me a thousand dollars a week, for twenty-two hours work, till I have to go home.”

“What is all this about a magician and her being his assistant?” Stacy asked.

“Oh, you don’t know,” Laura said. She got Ricki’s Laptop and hooked it up to the HD TV.

She first showed the pictures of Ricki and the three of them with her. Stacy, Carrie and Rebecca couldn’t say enough about the appearance of their sisters; they were all flabbergasted to say the least. Then she played the video they had taken at the dinner theater. They laughed till they cried, as they saw the antics of the magician and their sister.

“How did he do that trick, Ricki?” Stacy asked, seeing her in the zigzag box.

Ricki just made a motion like a zipper across her lips. “My lips are sealed. Anyway, it was an illusion, not a trick; tricks are what hookers turn. A good magician never reveals how they do their illusions.” She had heard those things somewhere and they seemed appropriate.

The girls cleaned up from dinner, as Laura and Ricki got ready for belly dancing. They just wore their coin bras, belts and shorts, to go to class in.

Mrs. Lively just spent the hour and a half, polishing the routines that Ricki was involved in, as Laura worked with the beginners. Laura couldn’t help but sneak peeks, at how her sister did. It was apparent by her smile, that Ricki was doing very well.

On the drive home Laura asked, “So what do you think about the offer that Donotello made to you.”

“I don’t know Sis, I would have to go over to his place to rehearse and then my Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays would be locked up. I really liked doing it, but I like being with you girls better.”

“Well just think on it till after the show, on the fourth. You could do much worse than working for him. I think.”

Tuesday, Rebecca gave Ricki a lift to campus. There they met Candace in the Student Union and talked. Ricki had to retell all that had happened on Saturday and Monday.

“I would like to see that sometime,” Candace said. “That had to be quite an experience for you Ricki. Did you have fun?”

“I loved it, Candace, but I don’t know if I want to do it all the time.”

School was out from Wednesday till Monday. Ricki and Laura dressed in shorts and T’s as they headed to the salon. Mrs. Lively was there and they discussed what they wanted to get done with the technicians there.

“I would like to add extensions to Ricki’s hair till it comes to the middle of her back. I like her color, so that is not a problem. Give her hair nice wave, but not curly. Her brows are a little thick; thin them out and give them a more pronounced arch, work on her lashes and nails. Do you need waxing Ricki?”

“No I depilated my legs last night.”

“What about your bikini line?” The technician asked.

“I took care of that last night,” Laura said. “She just has a narrow strip up the middle.”

“How does that sound Ricki?”

Ricky looked to her sister who just gave her a little nod.

Sarah then discussed what they wanted for Laura. She was to have masses of long curly hair. She was asked if she wanted her hair to be colored to match Ricki’s. She looked closely at Ricki’s hair. She really liked the way it looked on her. Her hair was the same Mousy brown that Ricki’s had been. She hadn’t really been leaning to darker or red, till she had seen her sister’s hair.

“Do you think it would look as good on me?” Laura asked the technician.

The technician had Ricki stand next to Laura and draped her hair over Laura’s shoulder.

“You two are so alike, that yes I think it would look lovely on you Laura.”

It was a big step for her. She loved her sister’s hair and often thought about how they would both look with the same coloration.

“Yes, I think I would love that.”

Brenda was the technician/stylist that worked on Ricki. She first trimmed Ricki’s hair to make blending the extensions into her hair easier. Then she gave Ricki’s natural hair a wave. The extensions she would use already had a wave to them. Other people came around and did other things to Ricki. Her old acrylic nails were removed and she was given a new set of premium gel nails.

Ricki’s brows were waxed and individual false eyelashes were added, while Brenda worked on her hair. One technician used a temporary lip plumper on her lips. She felt her lips begin to tingle and felt them get a little puffy. She received a second treatment, before another lady began her makeup.

The makeup job was a glamour style, which really brought out the best features of Ricki’s face. She couldn’t believe how sexy she looked. She didn’t have quite a showgirl look, but she wasn’t far from it.

After four and a half hours, every thing came together and the girls were allowed to see what all the work accomplished. Ricki almost cried when she looked in the mirror. She was so happy; she couldn’t see a trace of her old self. She couldn’t find Richard anywhere in the mirror. No matter what road she would eventually take, she knew that she wanted to be this Ricki.

When the girls were allowed to see each other, Laura knew it too. Laura saw an incredibly sexy, confident, young woman, as she looked at her sister. Her long wavy hair did in fact come to the middle of her back. Her eyes looked huge, not anime huge, but large by human standards and expertly done up.

Ricki had on her biggest smile, as she saw Laura. Laura was more beautiful than she had ever looked. Her long curly auburn tresses, extended below her breasts. Her dark auburn hair looked simply divine. Her eyes were incredible. The new lashes they both had, were extremely long and beautifully curled.

“You know little Sis, that it is going to take an incredible amount of time, to get our hair in shape everyday now, don’t you.”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought of that.”

The two girls were taken into another part of the shop and they were given glamour shots. The photographer spent two hours taking shots in various clothing and poses. Their favorite, besides the natural headshots they took, was of them dressed as western bar room dancing girls. It felt like they were fashion models during this time.

Ricki and Laura had fun, but they didn’t drive two blocks, before they found a fast food joint. Neither of them had eaten since breakfast. The person at the register had a strange look on his face, as the girls ordered, both because of the way they looked and for the fact that they ordered enough for four people. They didn’t eat it all, but what was left wouldn’t feed a mouse.

The girls had to repair their faces after they ate. Laura had to get the lipstick and lip gloss right, on Ricki.

“Ricki, your lips look so big, what did they do to them.”

“They put this on them,” Ricki said, as she pulled out a tube from her purse. “I am supposed to use this in the morning and a couple of times throughout the day.”

Laura looked closely at her sister, “Well it looks good on you.”

When they finally got home, Susan and Cindy were beside themselves. They took pictures of the girls, made them dress up and took more pictures. They took separate shots and shots together from various poses. The two felt like fashion models all over again. Laura later emailed these pictures to her Mom.

When it came time for bed, Susan and Cindy braided their friends’ hair and reluctantly, they took off their makeup.

Chapter 25

Laura and Ricki had to be at the studio at two o’clock, for the seven o’clock show. They stretched and did some warm up exercises. When they got to the beach at about four twenty, they carried their costumes into one of two motor homes that were being used as changing rooms and makeup rooms. Mrs. Lively supervised the makeup for everybody. They went for an extreme glamour look;

Nine women, changing in a confined space, can be a zoo. Ricki and Laura changed in the bedroom, with another girl. They had to help each other a lot, because of the confined space. The other girls gave no notice to Ricki as she dressed.

They each had a yoga pad to do their stretches. They took a lot of time to get their muscles all loosened up. They could hear the audiences’ reaction to the act that came before them, a bunch of guys breaking blocks of ice, stacks of cement bricks, handcuffs, bending iron bars over their heads and such. This was Venice Beach after all.

After last minute checks of makeup and costume, Mrs. Lively parted the curtain and went on stage. They could hear the catcalls, whistles and applause as she appeared on stage to introduce them.

The stage was a 20’x20’ plywood covered deck with another 20’x’20 towards the audience of sand covered beach. They would be dancing on the deck and on the sand, a first for most of the girls.

When they were called, Ricki and Laura were first out, side by side. They both put on their biggest and brightest smiles, as they came out from behind the curtain. Then four more girls came out as their names were called, followed by the last two girls. They went to their initial position and took a ready pose, waiting on the music.

When the music started, they began slow hip pistons (a hip piston is a sharp side to side movement to the L or R but the hips stays in the same plane vertically and horizontally and can build up speed into a cabaret shimmy) left and right holding their upper body pose. After an eight count and two left and two right pistons they stepped, hip thrust, step, hip thrust their way forward till Ricki and Laura were two feet from the sand.

Their opening number went for five minutes, their timing was very good, and their movements were sharp and graceful. Toward the end of the fist dance, the girls formed a circle and began circling and turning at the same time. This is a very complex movement to synchronize with eight participants. The circle went around twice, till Laura and Ricki were again at front. The circle broke with the girls taking a diagonal for three steps and a hop.

They were roughly in a U shape, with Ricki and Laura about fifteen feet apart. The two did a hip thrust, quarter turn to face each other. Everyone went still, as the music stopped.

Ricki then went beautiful eyes looking at you, with her left and right arms towards Laura. Her movements were fluid and graceful.

Laura returned to Ricki, long wavy hair.

Ricky returned beautiful face.

Laura started L and R hip pistons and gave her heart away towards Ricki. Ricki started her hip pistons and took her heart back.

They both began pulling (making pulling motions with the arms, not actually grabbing and pulling) each other towards them, they then began step, hip thrust, and M&M mirroring each others movements, their paths towards each other were ess’s.

When they were three feet away from each other, they did hip pistons and snake arms. The pistons turned into a cabaret shimmy and chest camels (the chest dips, head stays up and the belly undulates) towards each other. After the third chest camel they did a hip thrust and quarter turn and now faced the audience as the music stopped.

They started hip circles and figure eights, chest circles and figure eights, head slides, L arms, dipping and turning for about forty seconds. Laura kept herself well within Ricki’s ability.

They then took off on a divergent diagonals out on the sand, one step, two, three, hop, hip thrust and three rounds of left and right M&Ms. They then did hip thrusts quarter turn, one, two, three, hop on convergent diagonals towards the crowd, followed by cabaret shimmies and chest camels.

Hip thrust, quarter turn to face each other, shimmy, camel, rotate a quarter repeat, repeat till they had traded places. They then retreated on the diagonal; doing their previous steps, hop hip thrusts, M&Ms, then back to mirror their starting points.

They turned and bowed, turned and two sets of one, two, three, hop to the back of the U. Their routine lasted over four and a half minutes.

For the next twenty-four minutes various groups did their routine for the crowd. Laura danced with two of the groups and Ricki danced one more routine.

Given the temperature was in the upper eighties, all the girls were drenched in sweat by the end.

Mrs. Lively then came out and did a routine herself. It was easy to see why she taught; she outshone all her students, as she was a true Mistress of the Belly Dance. At one point she balanced a saber (Single edged, curved sword with a rounded edged opposite the sharp edge.) on its rounded edge on her head. She danced with it there for two minutes. The last twenty seconds, she twirled like a dervish with the sword balanced.

She turned towards Ricki and began pulling her to her. Ricki hadn’t rehearsed anything with Mrs. Lively but she came towards her, even though her abs were screaming. Ricki did hip thrust, step, and M&Ms toward her. It took her six repetitions to reach Mrs. Lively.

They then did follow the leader, with the dance moves, with Sarah doing the leading. When Ricki couldn’t do much more she then twirled around Sarah in a clockwise direction, while Sarah spun in a counter-clockwise direction. After fifteen seconds, the girls came from the back and rotated in a circle counter-clockwise. They stopped on the beat of the drum they kept their time with and bowed to the crowds.

The applause was deafening, there had been a lot of catcalling and wolf whistling when they first came on stage but they had silenced them with their skills at the dance. Now there was genuine applause of appreciation. It took nearly ten minutes for the applause began to die.

Behind the curtain the girls gave each other exhausted but enthusiastic hugs. They each wanted to get out of their sweet soaked skirts though; the humidity had kept them from drying. They also drank copious amounts of water for the next twenty minutes as they dressed in what they had worn earlier.

All of Laura’s sisters that were in town, were there to great Laura and Ricki as they left the enclosure, formed by the two motor homes. They were relieved of their burdens, till they locked them away into the trunk of Laura’s car.

The troupe of sisters then found a good place to observe the fireworks show that took place after sunset. The sorority threw a party right there on the beach. Laura and Ricki found all their needs met by the sisters. They really were sore and exhausted but they loved being there with their friends.

Ricki and Laura had both seen really large fireworks shows, having lived in New York and this show tonight would be hard to measure against the previous shows they had seen. They all oohed and ahhed as the star shells bursts in rainbows of reds, blues, greens, golds and silvers.

Susan and Cindy helped their room-mates to the car and Susan drove the sisters home. Laura and Ricki headed up to their baths to take a nice long hot bath, while Susan and Cindy took their skirts, shook out the sand outside and hung them and their bras to air out from the staircase banister. They would definitely have to go to the cleaners tomorrow.

Susan came into the bath to shampoo and condition Ricki’s hair and to scrub her back. Ricki was beginning to learn that long hair can be a pain in the a**, to deal with. Susan put the wet hair up in a turban and rubbed a lotion on Ricki's skin. Ricki took two ibuprofen and collapsed on her bed naked. She was asleep before Susan could cover her.

Chapter 26

In the morning, Ricki took another warm bath and spent an hour stretching the kinks out, before she began to feel a little bit better. She drank two glasses of OJ and a glass of milk with her breakfast.

Susan then had her sit down and first detangled her hair and then gently brushed it out. Ricki was purring like a cat from the attention that Susan was showing her. Susan then braided her hair and tied it off at the bottom with a red and a gold ribbon. Cindy did the same thing for Laura’s hair.

After dressing in swimsuit bras, t-shirts and shorts, Laura and Ricki then inspected their skirts for stains. They were still heavy with sand stuck to them. They then took their skirts and bras to a reputable dry cleaner. The proprietor had already received two other skirts to process.

“I caught your act down on the beach. I have never seen anything so sensual and beautiful in my life. You guys really did a great job. I will personally make sure your costumes get the best treatment, girls.”

Ricki and Laura thanked the man.

Laura then drove Ricki to the address Mr. Dawson had given them. Mr. Dawson had an office and a warehouse, in a decent part of town. Freddy greeted the girls and he gave them the nickel tour of his warehouse. The warehouse was full of the stage props that he used as the Great Donotello. He also had a small stage set up in the back.

“This is where I rehearse my act before a show Ricki. I really hope that you will be a part of my show. I saw you and your sister last night at the beach. I knew there was going to be belly dancing and took a chance that it was your school. I think that you two have a future in entertainment, and I am not just saying that just to get you to work with me as my assistant. I really mean it.”

“I just don’t think I am right for your assistant Mr. Dawson.”

“Au contraire Ricki. You are just the person I need. First you have a stage presence that is outstanding. It includes a comedic sense of timing, which is very important in our business. Second your small size is an asset in a lot of my illusions. Third your outstanding flexibility and agility make you a perfect choice.”

“Will she have to join a group like the Screen Actors Guild, Mr. Dawson?” Laura asked.

“Yes she will have to join SAM and IBM (Society of American Magicians and International Brotherhood of Magicians). I will pay your first year’s dues to those organizations for you. I will also require you to sign non-disclosure agreements for anything you learn from me. You can use what you learn with another magician, if he has the same illusions, but any that are unique to me, mum’s the word.”

“So if another magician has a box like you put me in, I don’t have to act dumb, but if you had a grand illusion like David Copperfield does, I can’t say a word.”

“Yes Ricki, that is exactly right. That illusion you did is called the zigzag lady; you can add that illusion to your resume by the way. Keep up with the illusions you take part in and add them to your resume. If you seek employment in Magic they will want to know what you know.”

“I am not eighteen, will that make a difference?”

“Yes, but not a big difference. I would need the signature of a parent or guardian and they would have to sign everything you sign. They would be bound by the same agreements.”

“I have guardianship over Ricki for this summer; our parents are on a Med Cruise. They signed a document of Guardianship, is that enough?”

“As long as there are no limitations that would affect the signature on any legal document, it will be sufficient.”

Laura opened her purse and handed Mr. Dawson the letter of Guardianship. After he read it he said. “Yes, this is quite sufficient I believe.”

“How about I give it the rest of the month as a trial run Mr. Dawson. Would that be acceptable?”

“I think that would work out nicely. It is my belief that if you give it that month, you will want to continue working with me.”

Mr. Dawson led them to his office and called up the .doc files he needed. He filed in the in the blanks using Ricky’s school ID and social security card for Identification.

Freddy then went over several illusions he was considering using this weekend. He wasn’t afraid Laura would talk, as she had also signed and was bound by the non-disclosure agreements. Somehow he roped Laura into working with him too. Having two beautiful assistanta on stage with him was better.

“What about costumes, Mr. Dawson,” Ricki asked.

“I have thought about that. If you are just working this weekend, then I like what you wore last weekend. If you stay on with me, Monday you can visit my seamstress.”

“Ok, that sounds good.”

Ricki and Freddy rehearsed for an hour and a half; tonight they would do the ‘pick the volunteer from the audience’ routine again. Saturday they would introduce Ricki as his new assistant. Freddy told her that her girlfriends could sit out front with her tonight, but Saturday and Sunday.

Ricki then had to get home to begin getting ready. At home, Susan and Cindy were very excited and wanted to hear all the details. So while Ricki was in the bath, Cindy sat on the toilet and Susan sat on the edge of the tub. Ricki told them what she and Mr. Dawson had talked about, while she bathed.

Susan worked on Ricki’s face applying makeup, giving her a dramatic appearance, not quite as heavy as when she did her belly dance. Cindy worked with her to get her hair just right; her new longer hair was more difficult to work with. Laura got all of Ricki’s clothes set out. Ricki got dressed, after her sisters finished with her makeup and hair. The previous weekend, Ricki had not worn stockings or pantyhose, but for tonight, Laura selected a pair of shimmery silver pantyhose. Ricki loved the way she looked, she checked herself out in front of her mirror for several minutes. Ricki’s sisters then rushed to get themselves ready.

They got to the dinner theater two hours before the show. They met with Mr. Dawson behind stage, and he went over the show again with Ricki. An hour before the show, they went out front to their table. They weren’t up front this time; in fact, they found themselves seated all the way to the back, by the bar. Their dinner and drinks arrived shortly, as they took their seats.

Many of the wait staff recognized Ricki and her sisters; they took time to compliment her for her performance last week. Looking over the crowd, the girls recognized a few patrons that had been there the previous week.

The light dimmed and the show began. The Great Donotello came out on stage and bowed for the audience.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, tonight in the audience we have a special guest. Last week we were enchanted to have a lovely girl, become my assistant. I am trying to convince that lovely young lady, to be my assistant full time. So with your assistance, let’s bring that young lady to the stage in style.”

The spotlights were dancing over the crowd searching for Ricki. They knew where she was, but all of this was for dramatic effect. One spotlight settled on her and then the other two caught up to the first. The crowd applauded her quite loudly, as she stood up and began to make her way up to the stage.

The drummer again was doing his bit, and when she got to the foot of the stage she gave him a ten second hip shimmy to a drum roll and a hip thrust. This time there was a planned catastrophe that was even louder.

“Those hips of yours need to be registered as lethal weapons, young lady. I would like to introduce my assistant for the night. Ladies and gentlemen would you welcome Ricki Davis.”

The audience went wild with applause and whistles.

“Ricki Davis is just a high school student, who just happens to be quite an accomplished belly dancer. Any of you that might have been on Venice Beach for the Fourth, may have caught her performance.”

“I would also like to introduce Ricki’s sister Laura Davis. So give it up for Laura Davis.”

Donotello waved for Laura to stand and come up on stage. She didn’t want to be upstaged by her sister so she hammed it up on the way to the stage. The drummer gave her a cadence and she danced her way up.

There was another round of applause from the audience and after bows they went into their routine. The main illusion for the night was a blade box routine. Ricki walked up some clear Lucite steps and into a box that was up on a platform. Laura and Donotello spun the box for the audience to see all around it. The Great Donotello then helped Ricki into the box and closed the door. The box appeared small enough that there was little wiggle room for anybody, much less for Ricki. He then took swords, which Laura handed him and began to thrust them through the box. After the first sword went through, there was a shriek that came out of the box and some silvery material could be seen hanging from the sword. Donotello went to the other side of the box and pulled enough silvery material to have made up Ricki’s dress.

“Give me back my dress Mr. Donotello,” Ricki said, in a very indignant voice.

That really broke up the crowd and raised their level of anticipation. They giggled, laughed and oohed, as they hammed it up. The Great Donotello, with great showmanship, then plunged eight more swords through the sides and three more through the front. He then spun the box around, so the audience could see that there was no way possible for Ricki to still be in the box uninjured. He then began to withdraw the swords one by one.

When the door was opened, the crowd was half expecting to see a naked lady that was bleeding form numerous points. Ricki came out wearing a pair of harem pants and a coin bra, she danced around the stage for a couple of minutes, to the audience’s riotous applause. Freddy had thought about this that afternoon and had prepared ahead of time. The outfit had been easy enough to change into in the amount of time Ricki had, while the illusion went on.

The first show was an overwhelming success. The audience had loved Ricki and her dancing, along with the illusions that Freddy had done. Ricki dressed back into her silver outfit, it hadn’t really been her dress that Donotello had pulled off of the sword after all.

The second shows major illusion was similar but instead of a blade box, it was the wicker basket illusion. Ricki stepped into the basket from a portable stairs. It was a great trick getting into the basket, without giving the audience a different kind of show in her dress. Ricki knelt down in the basket that was just tall enough for her to kneel in. Laura then handed the Great Donotello his swords, after he placed the lid on the wicker basket. The first sword didn’t snag Ricki’s dress, this time. After a dozen swords pierced the basket, the audience couldn’t see any way anyway for even a small child to have survived in the basket. Laura and Donotello turned it, so the audience could see it from all angles. After all the swords were removed, Donotello took the lid off the basket and Ricki appeared in her harem girl costume.

Another audience member was called up on the stage and Donotello was bound with three pair of handcuffs and a belly chain that was padlocked in back of him. Laura and Ricki held up a curtain to hide him up to his neck. Laura held the right corner and the middle, Ricki held the middle with her hand next to Laura’s and the left corner. They didn’t have the curtain up five seconds when Donotello reached up and pulled it up a little higher. Another ten seconds found Ricki and Laura wound up bound at the wrists by a pair of handcuffs.

They ended the show with Donotello doing a disappearance act and a more compact version of the dance the girls had done at the beach.

Mr. Dawson was thrilled by the audiences’ reactions; the management of the dinner theater was very thrilled with the new arraignment. Freddy at first, had wanted Ricki to be dressed in a classic assistant’s costume. You know of those beaded, sequined leotards, with extremely high cut legs, but he had gone with the harem girl costumes, because of the girls’ dancing abilities.

The Great Donotello wasn’t in this business for the money, although he earned five thousand a week at the theater, it was the fame and the applause that he lived for. The girls brought a new dimension to the stage that he liked. He really hoped the girls would join him on a permanent basis. He really thought that Ricki could be a great magician, better than he was, if she put the effort into it. This didn’t cause him to be jealous of her, just protective.

Ricki and Laura became Mr. Dawson’s assistants that night. Laura didn’t think it was something she wanted to do at first, but once she got on stage and heard the applause, she really liked being on stage.

Magic is sixty percent stage presence, thirty percent skill and ten percent props. You could have all the right props and know how they work, but what separates the good from the great, is their stage presence. Knowing how to get people to believe in magic.

The next week was incredibly busy; all the girls had finals to deal with that week. Laura and Susan passed on going to belly dancing classes this week. Mrs. Lively agreed that school was more important.

Ricky and Laura did make time to go to the seamstress that Mr. Dawson had told them to see. The seamstress revealed the costumes he had come up for us. He seemed to like the belly dancing theme and the costumes were just different variations of them. The major difference was they were to be easier to get into and out of, a must for some of the illusions.

Chapter 27

After the show on Sunday, he had given the girls a check for their services. Mr. Dawson had paid them both about eight hundred dollars, after taxes and such.

At home, Ricki did everything she could to make it easier on her sisters to study. She had virtually taken over keeping the house clean, and providing their meals. Doing anything and everything that would help them.

She did take a taxi to Mr. Dawson’s office and rehearsed with him. He had taught her some more of the illusions and gave her a book and a set of DVD’s with some manual dexterity exercises for her hands. It included things like exercises with a deck of cards, palming various objects, flipping a coin across the back of her fingers, back and forth and ball exercises, like controlling small balls between her fingers. He spent two hours with her, showing her what he wanted her to learn from the DVD’s.

On the way home, Ricki had stopped at the mall and spent some of the money she had earned. She had found a couple of dresses she just had to have, including a gorgeous cocktail dress in lavender chiffon. The dress was low cut and just hung on the edges of her shoulders. She didn’t need a corselet for her waist, the dress fit her there nicely, it was her breasts. The breastforms weighed too much to just go braless, at least for her. So she found a strapless, lavender corselet, in the lingerie section, that helped give her chest lift and support. It just showed a hint of lace in her cleavage.

She then hit a shoe store and found a pair of heels that closely matched the dress. They were open toed, had a t-strap and four inch stiletto heels. The lady at the shoe store let her go into the back and helped her change into the dress, to make sure they worked together. She hid the dress from her friends; she wanted to surprise them.

Thursday finally came and all the sisters were planning a party at Laura’s house. They all wanted to unwind, because come Monday, many of them would start the whole study process all over again.

Ricki had planned the menu and party needs for the girl’s, and with Susan’s and Rebecca’s help, had gotten all the food lined up. She had already prepared a lot of the food, bagging it for storage in the refrigerator.

So after doing her belly dancing DVD’s and then doing her dexterity DVD’s, Ricki began to seriously prepare for the party. She began fixing ten pounds of spicy chicken wings, five pounds of meat balls, laid out three large sandwich platters, made five gallons of punch, (only a hand full of girls were over twenty-one and they were BYOB) diced and cut four different cheeses, cooked twelve dozen tarts, and five vegetable platters.

She had help at various times throughout the day, as her sisters finished their tests for the semester. Laura, Cindy and Susan arrived and Ricki directed their actions, till everything was as ready as she could make it.

They then took time to prepare for the party. Ricki had a hard time getting the corselet on by herself, but she didn’t want help. She did her own hair into a French braid that started at both of her temples and into a single braid at the back of her head. She painted her nails in lavender and added lavender lipstick to her makeup. Ricki had really learned a lot about makeup in the six weeks she had worn it. She displayed a lot of skill as she did her eyes. She expertly applied eyeliner and eye shadow and went for a glamour look that gave her smoky eyes with hints of lavender.

She then put on some suntan pantyhose and her new heels before donning her dress.

Laura, Cindy and Susan were beginning to wonder about their sister, but they heard her scurrying around in her room. She had locked her door, which was strange for her, so they couldn’t peek in and only responded with, “I am busy!” when they knocked.

Some of the other girls were already arriving to help, but found that their help was only slightly needed.

Things ground to a halt as Ricki made her appearance. The first sister that saw her almost dropped the party tray she was carrying. The others looked to see what had startled her and mouths hung open.

Susan said, “Oh my god,” when she saw Ricki.

Ricki glided down the stairs to the exclamations of her sisters.

“Well, how do I look,” she asked.

Susan ran over to hug her lover, she wanted to kiss her, but that would ruin her makeup job. “You look marvelous dear. I am going to have to eat you up tonight,” Susan said, with an evil grin on her face.

At seven the sisters and their dates began to arrive in earnest. All of them had taken a lot of effort to get their appearances just right, but they paled in shadow to Ricki.

The one thing about a large party at a multiunit condo is, that it is hard to just keep it to guests. Several guys, who had lived there, had seen the party, had hurriedly dress up and invited themselves. The girls didn’t mind, as long as the guys behaved themselves, as there were a few of the sisters who didn’t have dates.

Ricki was getting hit on quite a bit, but she made it clear that she was spoken for. Most of the guys reluctantly moved on, but a couple had persisted. One guy in particular was the guy who had called her a lez bitch at school.

Ricki didn’t like to cuss, but she told that guy in no uncertain terms to, “Get the F*** out of my face.”

Sam Dresden didn’t take that from any girl, especially one as hot as this chick. He saw a friend of his and passed the guy a twenty-dollar bill and received a small bottle from him.

Sam had some smooth moves, he had dosed many chicks to get what he wanted and while Ricki’s attention was occupied elsewhere he had poured the contents of the bottle into her drink. It was a double shot of GHB, so he had to be ready when she started to show its effect.

Ricki finished her drink and had moved around the crowd a bit, when she began to feel strange. An arm wound its way around her waist and gave her support.

Sam supported his conquest for the night. He tried to move her out to his place, but there were girls at the front and back doors, greeting the girls as they came in and went out.

The sorority had suffered from the effects of date rape drugs several times and had banded together to help each other out. They didn’t let any girl leave their parties unless they appeared clear and lucid.

Sam was undaunted and helped Ricki up the stairs to one of the bedrooms.

The sisters usually had a girl at the top of the stairs too, but she had gone to use the restroom.

Sam had maneuvered Ricki, who was rapidly falling unconscious at this point into her room. Sam threw the bitch on a bed, locked the door and began to undress himself smiling.

Susan had lost sight of Ricki, it should have been hard in that dress, but she had gotten involved in a conversation with some other sisters and had missed the action. She began looking for her lover. She checked at the doors and found that Ricki hadn’t left the building. She wasn’t in the downstairs half bath.

Laura had seen the worried expression Susan wore, “What’s up Susan?”

“I can’t find Ricky anywhere. I saw that she was getting hit on a while ago, but she seemed to be handling things well.”

“Did she go outside?”

“I don’t think so.”

Laura, Cindy and Susan went upstairs to check the bedrooms. Laura’s was occupied, but not by Ricki. Cindy and Susan’s room was also occupied by necking couples. Ricki’s room was locked. They had made it clear to Ricki that that was a no no at their parties, so they knocked.

Sam had gotten naked and had put on a condom. He hated using them, but with the state of DNA testing these days it didn’t pay to leave evidence. He flipped Ricki over to face him and began mauling at her. She was quite a babe and he was going to make her a woman tonight.

He heard the knock but just froze, not making a sound.

Laura was pissed, if Ricki was in her room and not answering the door, she had better have a good reason. She kept a tool on her key ring to pop all the bedroom doors open. She went to her room and got it. Back at Ricki’s door, she quietly inserted the tool and jiggled it a bit and the door unlocked. The three girls opened the door and entered.

Sam had just hiked Ricki’s skirt up and was pulling down her pantyhose when the door opened. What followed in the next few seconds was confusing to him.

Cindy had a black belt in WuShu, when she saw the guy getting ready to rape her sister she pushed past Laura. She hit the guy five times, not very hard but it was where she hit that counted. Each hit went to a specific nerve bundle that either caused pain or temporary paralysis to his arms and legs. He fell down on the bed landing on his erection with Cindy’s weight coming down on him. The impact to his erection caused it to bend at an awkward angle and damaged the blood vessels that feed the erection. He immediately deflated.

Cindy had landed right in the middle of his back with her knee. She maneuvered his right arm behind his back and into a wristlock.

“Susan, call 911!” Laura shouted, as she rushed to check her sister.

Ricki was out of it, but she was still breathing.

“Tell them we need the police and EMT’s.”

Bill Evans heard the commotion and took this time to quietly leave. His buddy, Sam, was knee deep in sh** it seemed. He didn’t want to get any of it on him.

All the sisters rushed to upstairs. They herded their guys downstairs except for one, who was the star cornerback for their football team. He knew Sam for the slimeball that he was, and took over from Cindy in keeping him occupied.

Candace who was also at the party, pulled Laura aside and spoke to her about what to tell the EMT’s so Ricki’s secret wouldn’t get out.

Chapter 28

Ricki woke to a beeping sound. She looked around and saw what she thought were doctors and nurses. Looking toward her chest she saw that it was flat and she wore a hospital gown.

“She is awake doctor,” a voice said.

She looked to the side and saw Laura. Ricki started to ask what had happened, but Laura held a finger to her lips.

A man in a white coat approached her.

“You are a very lucky person. I am Doctor Williams. You are going to be alright. How are you feeling?”

“I have a massive headache and my stomach is at war with the rest of my body.”

“We suspect you were given a date rape drug, possibly Gama-hydroxybutarate. That would go along with what you are feeling. We have some police that want to talk to you.”

“Not like this.”

“What in the hospital?”

“No, I want my clothes.”

“You’re perfectly decent, but your clothes have been taken as evidence.” the doctor said, not understanding Ricky’s reluctance.

“I want my bra and breastforms.”

Laura opened a bag she had and pulled out a bra. She took the breastforms that she had been given and set them on the bed.

A female nurse shooed the Doc away and closed the curtain.

“If you are going to put the breastforms back on, I need to move one EKG lead. We want to monitor you for a while more. Your pulse rate fell dangerously low for a bit,” She said, as she took the lead off one patch and moved it. Ricki put the bra on and placed the breastforms in the cups. After she was decent, they the called the doc back in with a female Police Officer.

“I am Mary Post. I am a detective in sex crimes. Do you understand me?”

“Yes ma’am,” Ricki said still confused about what was going on.

“Can you tell me your name and age?”

“Ricki Davis and I am seventeen.”

“Full legal name Ricki.”

“Richard Allen Davis, but I prefer Richelle Annette Davis.”

“Can you tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know, I am very confused right now. I know I was at a party and… I can’t remember anything else.”

“That is very understandable right now. Date rape drugs do that. Are you a transsexual?”

Ricki was a little nervous and afraid and it really showed.

“You don’t have to be afraid Ricki,” Mary said. “I have dealt with a lot of people like you.”

“Yes I am. I don’t know what kind, because I am just learning about myself.”

“Did you voluntarily take drugs?”

“No Ma’am.”

“Did you voluntarily consent to sex?”

“No Ma’am and I am still under eighteen.”

“Do you know Sam Dresden?”

“No Ma’am.”

“Did you consent to have sex with Sam Dresden?”

“No Ma’am.”

“Do you see anyone you know in this photo spread?” Mary said handing Ricki a card with six pictures on it.

“Yes Ma’am, number three was hitting on me earlier tonight. I told him to get F*****. He also has called me a Lez bitch and among other things.”

“Did he know you were transgendered?”

“No Ma’am, only my sisters know that.”

“How many sisters do you have? I thought only Laura, was your sister.”

Laura spoke up, “I am his only biological sister. The girls she is referring to, are my sorority sisters, we kind of adopted her.”

“Ok, thank you for your time.”

“I still don’t know what happened,” Ricki said.

Laura turned to Ricki and began to explain, “We lost track of you at the party. Susan got me and Cindy, and we started looking for you. We knew you didn’t leave the condo, because we put girls at the doors keeping up with each other. Something has happened like this before Ricki. Anyway, we went upstairs looking for you. You were in your room and a naked guy was pulling down you panties, when we entered the room. Cindy took care of him. You should have seen her.”

“That’s all I need for now,” Mary said. “We will need a formal statement from you tomorrow, or the next day.”

Ricki turned to the doctor, “Can I go home now.”

“We would like to keep you overnight.”

“I don’t want to stay here overnight. Am I doing alright?”

“You are recovering.”

“Then I want to go home.”

“It would be against medical advice and I would need a guardian to sign for you.”

“Laura, sign me out.”

“But…”

“Laura, please sign me out.”

“Ok.”

She had to leave with the Doctor. She had to prove guardianship and sign the papers.

The nurse helped Ricki by removing the EKG leads and pads. Ricki started to get up.

“Slow down girl, I got lots to do before you can get up.”

She had to remove an IV line and a Foley tube. Ricki was embarrassed and upset.

“Where is my… padding,” she said.

“Sorry we had to cut that off.” The nurse went to the bag Laura left and saw the clothes in it. “I guess these are yours.” She then proceeded to help Ricki dress.

Ricki took her panties out and pulled them on. She massaged her testicles into her body cavity and pulled her panties up tight.

The nurse found a padded brief and handed that to Ricki. Ricki smiled; at least she will have some curves. The rest of the clothes were a pair of mid thigh shorts and a pullover top.

Lastly the nurse handed Ricki a card and said. “Honey if you need to talk, this is a rape counselor that has worked with transgendered rape victims.”

“But I wasn’t raped.”

“It doesn’t matter, dear. You can still suffer emotional trauma from this.”

Ricki left the cubicle in the ER. She was a little shaky at first, but joined her sister at the desk. She signed the release form, received instructions from the doctor and they left.

In the waiting room, just outside the ER, they found all the sisters and many of their dates waiting. Susan, in tears, flew into Ricki’s arms and held her so tight, she so couldn’t breathe.

All the girls waited their turn to hug their sister.

Chapter 29

They left the hospital by midnight. Laura drove the five of them home. There was Ricki, Susan, Cindy and Candace with them. Ricki, Candace and Susan rode in the back seat.

“So where is that shit head?” Ricki asked.

“He is in the hospital too,” Cindy said. “He fell on his erection with all his and my weight on it. I imagine he won’t get too many hard-ons in the future, or ever. He may vascular damage to his penis.”

Ricki didn’t know how she felt about that.

As they pulled to a stop at their condo, Candace asked the others to go on in and let her and Ricki have some time together. They left the two there.

“I know you think you are ok and maybe you are. Girls, who are drugged and raped, usually don’t feel the same disgust that other girls that aren’t drugged do, but Ricki some do. If you ever need to talk about things, call me please, or find someone else to talk to. Don’t try to be strong and hold it in. We all love you very much. Help Susan too, Ricki. She has just been beside herself with grief over this. She blames herself for losing touch with you.”

“This wasn’t her fault.”

“I know that, you know that and maybe on some level she knows that, but she is still hurting inside. Let her take care of you and talk to her. That is important, please talk to her.”

Candace and Ricki headed to the condo. They could see crime scene investigators at a condo a couple of doors down from hers.

“That is where Sam Dresden lives Ricki,” Candace said.

“Oh really.”

“Yes, I wonder what they are finding.”

“No telling.”

Inside Ricki joined her friends. They all talked about it for an hour or so and then they all headed to bed, or home. Ricki grabbed Susan’s hand and pulled her into his room. He unbuttoned her blouse and shorts, then unzipped them, letting them drop to the floor. She stepped out of them and returned the favor undressing Ricki.

Ricki stopped her from unhooking the bra, or taking the brief off.

“They cut up the faux vagina and took my breasts off Susan.”

“Do you still want to wear those things?”

“Yes Susan, I love looking like a girl, almost as much as I love you.”

Susan wrapped Ricki up in her arms and cried on her shoulder. “We will get another one then. I was so afraid that you wouldn’t love me anymore. Ricki, I love you so much it hurts.”

“I love you too, Susan.”

“Wait right here,” Susan told her. She went back to her room, wearing just her panties and bra. Ricki went ahead and got a sleep shirt on.

When Susan got back to Ricki’s room she took Ricki’s left hand and put an engagement ring, on her ring finger. She had to work it a bit to get it over the last knuckle, but it fit her finger nicely, saying, “Ricki will you marry me?”

Ricki began crying as she looked at the ring. It wasn’t that the diamond on the ring was so big (it was) or that she didn’t love it (she did), she cried because she was so happy. She threw her arms around Susan’s neck and kissed her. Then she ran off shouting for Laura.

“Laura! Laura! Come quick, you have got to see this.”

Laura came running, thinking something bad had happened. Seeing Ricki in tears scared her. Ricki nearly stuck the ring up her nose. It took her a few seconds to get things straight in her mind.

“Oh my god, oh my god, look Laura, look at it.” Ricki was jumping up and down, nearly injuring everybody around with the ring.

“Oh my Ricki, are you engaged?”

Ricki in answer, just hugged her sister to her chest. She then showed Cindy the ring, nearly putting her eye out.

Susan stood in the hall half naked, with her mouth hanging open in wonder. Ricki was such a girl, she thought.

After hugs and kisses, Ricki grabbed a hold of Susan and wouldn’t let her go to her room. She pulled the girl into bed with her. They hugged and cried and then they talked.

Ricki’s head rested on Susan’s shoulder. Susan stroked her hair and held her tightly.

“Ricki, are you going to go all the way with this girl thing?” Susan asked.

“Do you want to have my babies?” Ricki asked.

“Yes, I want to have your, no make that, our babies.”

“I want us to have lots of babies; we have so much love to share.”

“So how far are you going to go?”

“I want to have our babies naturally, Susan.” Ricki said, grinning at her fiancé. “I want my own breast and hips though too. I would love to be able for you to do this.” Ricki moved the strap of Susan’s bra off of her shoulder and began to gently suck on her nipple.

Susan felt an energy jolt, as Ricki began to suck and play with her nipple. She couldn’t understand how Ricki had this effect on her.

They hugged and kissed for hours. It was almost five AM before they drifted to sleep. As much as both of them wanted to make love, needed to make love, or hurt for a good screwing, they behaved themselves. That didn’t mean that they didn’t orgasm. Ricki manipulated Susan’s clitoris through her thin panties and Susan stroked Ricki’s hardon through her breif and took care of her needs.

When Ricki started to come, she had to bite down on Susan’s shoulder to keep from shouting. Ricky wasn’t unfamiliar with Thumbelina and her four sisters, but it had never felt so incredible. Susan did shriek at the pain that sent her into one after another, incredible orgasm. The other girls woke, but recognized the sounds; they had heard them before.

Chapter 30

Ricki was actually the first up at nine thirty. She had to take a quick shower; her panties were virtually glued on her.

It had bothered her that someone had tried to take something from her she didn’t want to give, but she wasn’t morose about it. She just didn’t see the worst of it. It didn’t feel like anything bad had actually happened to her.

She cried that she lost her pretty dress, she had found out they cut it and her corselet off, along with her faux vagina, but those were just things. She had her life and people that loved her.

She thought the ring was simply beautiful. It looked old. Susan had told her it belonged to her grandmother, on her mom’s side. She was never going to let it out of her sight.

Ricki dressed in her panties, brief, jeans, a chiffon blouse, and her lavender heels. At least she still had them. She sat at her vanity and did her face. She chose to look sexy. She didn’t want some guy taking the need to feel beautiful, away from her.

She kissed a sleeping Susan and left her lip prints on the girl’s cheek, and went downstairs. She passed on her belly dancing; she wanted to get her hips back first. She looked ok, but the padded brief seemed more phony, more impersonal to her.

She had a bowl of cereal and started a pot of coffee.

Laura is a coffeeholic; her nose can track a coffee pot at three miles. She was drawn downstairs by the smell.

“I am surprised to see you up already. Did you two…”

“Nope.”

“But…”

Ricki just held up her fingers and wiggled them, “I am saving myself for my marriage.”

“You must have some talented fingers.”

Ricki just smiled. “Susan has some fabulous fingers too.”

“Speaking of fabulous, you look FABULOUS too. This hasn’t turned you off of dressing has it?”

“Nope. I could have been attacked anyway. In fact I was, at high school several times. Not to be raped, but…”

“I know, Mom told me.”

“So, you are going to stay my sister then.”

“I think this is the real me, Laura. Susan and I talked about it last night. I am not going to go all the way, I don’t think, but I need to look feminine. I want my own breasts, hips and butt.”

“Tush, buns or derriá¨re dear. Girls don’t call it a butt.”

“Whatever, I just need to be beautiful. If you know what I mean.”

“I know what you mean, but even real girls aren’t always beautiful. They grow old, they sag and their faces show their ages.”

“I know, but Mom is still a looker. Grandmother was too, at seventy two.”

“Pop is a pretty handsome guy too,” Laura said. She started to cry as she thought of their dad dying.

“I love him too, Sis,” Ricki said, as she began to cry too.

Ricki and Laura sat and talked about what they loved about their Mom and Dad. They talked about the good times, which were many, and the bad times, which were few and far between.

About eleven, Cindy and Susan got up and both tried to get into the same bathroom. Cindy looked, and saw Laura and said, “I am going to your bathroom, Laura.”

Laura nodded and smiled.

Ricki headed to the kitchen and began a light lunch for everybody. There was plenty of left over sandwich meat from the party.

Susan hurried down the stairs and exclaimed in a loud voice, “Look what that little minx did to me,” with false indignation.

She stood before Laura naked, just holding a towel and pointing at her shoulder. Susan sported a really nice hickey on her shoulder, where Ricki had bit her.

“We are going to have to start calling you sister FANGS.”

Ricki giggled. She came over and gave Susan a kiss that could boil water, and brushed the little mound of hair between her legs lightly with her fingers.

Laura could smell Susan’s arousal, at that light touch.

“Geez guys, no fair. Susan, go get dressed.”

Susan stuck out her tongue and, “harrumped” her, before heading up towards the stairs.

She didn’t make it to the stairs before a knock, was followed by the door opening. Stacy and Rebecca came in the door. They looked at Susan and just arched their eyebrows and shook their heads.

Ricki stood and gave Stacy a hug. A glint off of the diamond, caught Rebecca’s eye.

“Oh my, look Stacy,” Rebecca said.

Ricki just smiled and showed Stacy her left hand.

“Oh my, does this mean what I think it does? Of course it does. You and Susan?” Stacy asked.

Ricki had a thousand watt smile and nodded shook her head. Stacy and Rebecca mobbed Ricki with hugs and congratulations. Rebecca then began texting the sisters, as Ricki told them about her engagement.

Susan and Cindy had taken time to dress up right. They had expected a busy day, with lots of visitors. They came down dressed in nice dresses, pantyhose and heels. Susan’s dress just had spaghetti straps. She wore a strapless bra under her dress; going braless with her big boobs, was a definite no-no. Her makeup was flawless and sexy, but she didn’t try to conceal her lover’s bite. She was proud of her girl.

Sisters began coming out of the woodwork before one o’clock. They all wanted to see the ring and hear Ricki’s story. Just before two, Carrie and Candace came in, carrying a garment bag and a shopping bag.

Carrie looked at Ricki and said, “Laura told us that they cut that lovely dress and corselet, among other things off you. You looked so beautiful and alive in that dress so we have a surprise for you.”

Candace unzipped the bag and Ricki shrieked as she saw the same lavender dress she had worn. She jumped up and down and hugged all her sisters. From another bag they pulled a matching corselet and from a third bag another faux vagina. This one had a small patch of hair right up the middle that matched Ricki’s chosen hair color.

Ricki had to give double and triple hugs to everyone there. The girls locked the door and took off all of Ricki’s clothes and began to dress her. They re-attached her breastforms and then worked the faux vagina up her legs. This one fit tighter and was better padded than the other one.

Susan reserved the right to tuck “Junior” away. She gave him a tender kiss and told him that she would be seeing him again later, as she slid him into his sheath and tucked his two friends away. The girls then gave Ricki an all over spray tan after making sure all the edges of the breastforms and vagina were securely tacked down. They then strapped her into the corselet; this one was a size smaller than the one Ricki had bought. It made her boobs stand out a little more and took off another two inches from her waist.

Carrie had found some stockings, which matched the corselet. The sisters attached the garter straps to the corselet and the stockings. They then helped Ricki into a pair of matching lavender panties and her heels. They then tag teamed her on makeup and hair. They took out her braids, but gave her ringlets, that framed her face and brushed her hair till it glistened. Carrie and Rebecca then redid her makeup to go with her outfit.

Chapter 31

At about four thirty, Detective Mary Post came by the condo. She was surprise to hear a party going on. She knocked and was admitted. When she saw Ricki she had to gasp. She hadn’t seen the TG girl all made up. The doctors had cleaned her up, after taking pictures of her, but before she had seen her, but she recognized the dress that was being held in evidence.

“Ricki Davis?” She asked.

Ricki smiled and shook her head, and held out her left hand.

Mary was nearly blinded by the dazzling rock on her finger.

“Who?”

Ricki walked over to Susan and left her lavender lip prints on her cheek. Susan just blushed.

“What can we do for you, Detective Post?” Laura asked.

Mary had forgotten what she had come over here for, “Oh, I need you to sign your statements, girls. I was going to have to track most of you down, but all of you seem to be here.” She called the girls names and had them sign their statements.

“Also, I have news for you girls. Sam Dresden is in more trouble than just for the poisoning and attempted rape. In his home we found his cache of souvenirs. We are now certain that he was involved in maybe ten rapes and numerous stalkings. In fact, he had a collection of pictures of most of you girls. We think he was going to attack one of you three, Laura, Cindy and Susan. The dates on the photos showed he had been actively stalking each of you. Apparently he changed his mind when he saw Ricki.”

Everyone there gasped, as Mary told them that. They all knew how easy it was to commit rape under similar circumstances.

Ricki’s face went ashen, as she thought about the possibility of one her sisters being attacked, and gasped, “Shit… I am glad that he did choose me then. I wouldn’t want any of my sisters to be raped.”

“Nobody, Ricki, and I mean nobody, should have to go through a rape. Not even you,” Mary said.

“Does he know about me?” Ricki asked.

“Not yet, but that isn’t something we can hide from him and his attorney, if he goes to trial. We are hoping we can plead him out. Even if he pleads out, he will spend a very long time in jail. Twenty- five years on the rapes and another five to ten on the poisonings. We are using your case to hold him Ricki, but we are going at him for the other rapes.”

“Poisonings?” One of the sisters asked.

“Yes, the use of GHB on an unsuspecting victim, is considered a poisoning, which is considered an aggravated assault. The same if anybody gave someone drugs, without their knowledge. If the prosecutors plead this out right, he will serve one term for all the rapes and have the poisonings tacked on consecutively.”

“He is currently in the lockdown ward, at the hospital you were at. He will be remanded without bail, when he gets out of the hospital as a serial rapist. I am told that because of the vascular damage he received, that he will need penile implants to get an erection, in the future. Even then he will have a pronounced starboard bend that will make sex difficult for him,” she said smiling.

Mary had scarcely taken her eyes off of Ricki’s eyes, “So Ricki, is this how you like to live your life? Are you happy?”

“Yes Ma’am, I am very happy. I do love living like I do.”

“And these girls didn’t force you to do this?”

“No Ma’am, I did this to myself. The girls just helped me to create the best illusion I can. Sit down and kick off your heels for a bit Detective Post,” Ricki said. She found the DVD they burnt of the belly dancing that she and her sister did and of her working with Mr. Dawson.

Mary could see no hint of deception; Ricki looked proudly into her eyes, as she said those things.

Detective Post did sit down, but she wasn’t wearing any heels to kick off. She was fascinated, while watching the DVD. Ricki looked extremely natural and very comfortable with her body, in the dance portion. She also showed a lot of poise when she was doing the magic show. She knew many real girls who couldn’t do what this transgendered girl could do. As she saw Ricki doing a shimmy, she thought, “The hell with the some of them bit, most of them couldn’t.”

She didn’t know how she felt about people like Ricki. Most folks would call her a pervert. Mary didn’t think that way about Ricki. She was moved by the fact that she was a victim, but Ricki seemed to be handling that well. Nobody deserved what that guy Dresden subjected his victims too.

Ricki was making her reevaluate how she felt. She tried to look at things from the eyes of the transgendered. She couldn’t understand what made them feel that they had to do, what they did. She realized that she really didn’t have to understand the why; it was probably pretty complicated in the end. Mary wondered how many of them actually understood why they felt the way they did. She did have to try, to the best of her ability, to treat them no differently than she would anybody else. She knew many of her fellow officers didn’t feel that way.

Detective Post was a little surprised, when Ricki came over to her and gave her a hug, as she got up to leave and more surprised, when the rest of the girls followed suit. It was rare in her business to receive such affections.

“Ricki, if you ever have any problems with other LA Police, or which I can help with, call me. Ok.”

“Yes Ma’am. I will.”

Ricki and Laura then had to change and get ready for tonight. Ricki would have loved to have remained in her dress, but it wouldn’t work. It would take too long to change out of, during the show.

Some of the girls, that hadn’t seen Ricki or Laura in the magic show, had made reservations for the early show. They would receive a good show tonight, Ricki thought.

Mr. Dawson wanted to do several major illusions this weekend. He never repeated the same illusions, on the same day. So Ricki had to learn about six major illusions, for the five shows and both girls had to learn how to assist him, in doing the rest of his illusions.

At the theater, Mr. Dawson actually let the girls open for him, doing their belly dance routine. He watched them from back stage. At an appropriate time, he appeared on the stage with a flash of light and smoke. His first illusion, was his appearance.

He smiled to himself; he had to work harder to keep his lovely assistants from upstaging his act. Ricki and Laura did their jobs wonderfully. The major job for a magician’s assistant, was misdirection. The audiences’ attention would be split between what he was doing and what they were doing. The prettier, more poised and skillful the assistants were, the more he could get away with.

(continued)

This is the conclusion to Shimmy. Laura and Ricki get to talk to their dad. They meet their Mom in New York and say goodbye to their Dad.

Shimmy

by

Paula Dillon

Chapter 32

Sunday, Ricki got up early and took a nice long bubble bath, before getting dressed and fixing everybody’s breakfast. Susan came down wearing a robe and began helping. She and Ricki had been sleeping together (all they were doing was sleeping together) every night, since the attempted rape. They could hear the other girls moving around from the kitchen.

Susan was just setting the table, when the condo’s phone rang. Ricki was nearest, so she answered it.

“Hello,” Ricki said.

“Hello, Ricki how are you doing?” The voice said.

“MOM!!! Is that you!?!”

“Yes sweety it is me. Is your sister there?”

“LAURA! Laura, come quick. Susan put us on the speaker phone,” Ricki said shouting.

Susan went to the living room and hit the speaker-phone button. Ricki hung up her phone.

Laura and Cindy came running down the stairs. Laura was dressed in a towel, wrapped around her chest, dripping water all over the place, looking for the fire.

“What is it!?!” Laura asked.

“It’s Mom, Laura. Say hi Mom.”

“Laura is there. That is great, hi Laura.”

Laura excitement and dread showed in her face. “Hi Mom, how are ya’ll doing?”

“We are doing great, right now. Dad is here and he is going to talk to both of you.”

Ricki and Laura were so excited, they could barley contain themselves.

“Hi kiddos, how are you two?” Their dad asked.

“We are doing great.” Laura said, and Ricki confirmed it.

“We’ll, your mother has already told you what is happening, I am told.”

“I am mad at you Dad. How could you run off and not give me and Ricki the chance to say goodbye to you,” Laura said.

“I am sorry, I knew what was in store for me and I didn’t want you to remember me as I am now,” Alan said, coughing in pain, as if to add an exclamation to what he said. “I don’t have long now. I wasn’t going to call, but your Mom has been harping on me to call for two weeks now.”

“Go get him Mom, and give him a hug for us,” Ricki said crying.

Susan was holding Ricki close to her and Cindy was comforting Laura.

“Mom, Dad I want you to say hello to my fiancée, Susan Cartwright.”

“Hellooo Susan,” Madeline said, the surprise dripping from her voice.

After a few more coughs, “Hello Susan,” Alan said. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances. Still I am happy for you two.”

“Hello Mom and Dad,” Susan said. “I can’t tell you two how much Ricki means to me. I will try to make her, I mean him happy.”

“It’s alright, Susan. Madeline and I know about Ricki. Your sister told, their Mom and sent us pictures. While I can’t say I understand, I want all of you to know, we LOVE, Ricki and Laura. I can’t believe how beautiful you both are.” Alan coughed several times more. “I can’t say much more, it is getting painful, but I will be listening,” he said coughing.

“Dad we love you,” the Davis sisters said.

The girls and their mother talked for about twenty minutes, about things. She asked how Ricki learned to belly dance and how she got to look so pretty. Ricki also had to explain how she and Laura were working as magician assistants.

“Well Laura and Ricki, your Dad is sleeping now. I have told you all I can. I can’t wait to see you all. We love you all. You too Susan, we love you too. I believe I will be seeing all of you soon.”

“We love you Mom,” Ricki and Laura said.

“I love you too Mom,” Susan added.

The four of them cried together for twenty or thirty minutes, who keeps time in such instances. The girls dried their tears and went on with life. Laura and Cindy got dressed and Ricki and Susan set a cold breakfast on the table.

The girls still went to their job at the dinner theater. Susan went along and was allowed to watch from back stage. Laura had told Mr. Dawson about their Dad. He offered to let them go visit him, but quickly understood why that was impossible.

“I really like you two kids, especially you Ricki. When your father passes, call me and take as much time as you need. I want you two back, whenever you can make it,” Mr. Dawson said.

Ricki and Laura were able to smile and perform to the best of their abilities, this night. Susan watched them proudly from her vantage point. Even from backstage, she couldn’t see how the illusions were done.

Ricki got the chance to do the battle of the barrels, from inside one of the barrels

At home, Laura and Susan discussed whether or not they would attend the second summer semester. They decided to talk to their student advisors tomorrow and probably take fewer and easier courses, for the second summer semester.

Monday, Ricki went to campus with her sisters. Laura and Susan headed to their advisors to talk about their courses and course loads. They switched courses and dropped courses, and wound up with an easier workload that they would begin tomorrow.

Laura then took Ricki to Mr. Dawson’s to rehearse. Ricki did her dexterity exercises with Mr. Dawson and then went over several illusions that they would use this weekend. They were both instructed on how to assist, on the rest of the show.

They left Mr. Dawson’s and then went to Mrs. Lively’s place. They took their bags and changed into their workout outfits.

“Today girls, we are going to watch the performance we had on the Fourth, I think our girls did a marvelous job. We have two of the girls who were in the performance, here,” Sarah said, as she turned the VCR on.

After the tape finished, the girls gave a round of applause. Ricki and Laura curtsied to the class. Mrs. Lively then took Ricki aside and started working with her. She pointed out areas that Ricki needed to work on, from their performance. Ricki was surprised by Mrs. Lively corrections. She liked the portions that were adlibbed and most of the routine she had done with her sister. Her timing was off a little, in the opening routine, so they worked on that. The timing issues had to do with her not being as fast as the other girls. So she would wind up being half a step off or so and her trying to get her hips in position to take a step.

Ricki told Mrs. Lively about their Dad, and that they may be gone for however long it took them to get things sorted out. Ricki explained that she might not be back this summer, depending on what their mother wanted to do. Ricki did this while following Mrs. Livley’s leads. Ricki was beginning to be able to multitask.

Chapter 33

Tuesday found Ricki on the USC campus. She met Candace in the student center, along with Dr. Whitlock. She had kind of expected that. Dr. Whitlock wanted to walk and talk, so they headed out on a walkabout.

“Candace tells me you were nearly raped.”

“Yes, I guess I was, although I don’t remember a thing.”

Tom started asking Ricki all sorts of questions and Ricki started relating what she had been told had happened. Ricki cried a bit, as she told him about how the pervert had stalked her and her sisters and how she hadn’t been the first victim.

“You know that you are a victim too don’t you,” Tom asked.

“I guess, but I just don’t feel like a victim. I was more afraid for my sister, Susan and Cindy, than for myself.”

“I guarantee that it will hit you, Ricki. I would be willing to bet my salary on it. Right now you are in denial.”

“I don’t know… it just feels so surreal right now.”

Ricki went on to tell Dr. Whitlock about, what was happening with her father.

“Well, at least you got a chance to say goodbye. People don’t realize just how important that is. Balance that with the rape and your gender problems, it is easy to see you have a lot on your plate. You are pretty balanced right now, but I look at it like you are trying to juggle fifteen balls, while balancing a plate on your head and one foot. At some point, things will start to crash. Promise me you will take time to grieve over all of these things.”

Dr. Whitlock went on to tell Ricki what to look out for and how she should deal with grief. The main thing he told her, was to find someone with whom she could talk to and confide in, when things began to hit her.

Ricki’s phone began to play Devil in a Blue Dress and she answered her sister’s call. Laura and Susan were out of class for the day. Ricki said goodbye to Dr. Whitlock and headed out to meet her sister.

They got their bags out of the car and headed to the school pool for an hour. Ricki changed into her competition swimsuit; she was more comfortable in it than her bikini or tankini. Laura had to help Ricki put her now significantly longer hair into a bun and in her swimming cap.

She took eight laps to warm up; she hadn’t really swum any since before the Fourth. She then got up on the blocks and at some arbitrary sound, launched herself into the pool. She swam her hardest for four laps. As she swam, she felt the tension drain from her. It felt good to her, as her muscles began to burn from lactic acid buildup. The last twenty-five meters she had swum, as hard as the first fifty.

When she touched after the last lap, she just hung on to the edge of the pool. She looked around, half expecting to see somebody who had kept up with her swim, while there were other people around; nobody seemed to pay her any heed. She rested for a few minutes before she set off and finished her two thousand meters.

Whenever Ricki swam, she lost her self in swimming. It was just her, against her chosen environment. She knew she was alive. The only resistance she felt, was the water that flowed by her as she stroked her way on. Laura and Susan swam just to have fun; Ricki swam to be herself. Swimming at half pace, she still swam faster than many of the others in the pool. She didn’t notice them; she just knew what lap this was.

The girls showered and changed in the locker room. Ricki took time to shampoo and condition her hair. She sat in front of Susan dressed in her bra and panties, as Susan combed out and blow dried her hair.

Coach Adams watched Ricki from her office, as a girl she didn’t know, worked on Ricki’s hair. She didn’t see any masculine traits in Ricki and she wasn’t about to subject Ricki to any embarrassment.

Vanessa was lost in thought for several minutes. She had learned a lot about people like Ricki, since she had first met her. She had even gone to a bar, where the local transgendered girls, hung out. A lot of the girls there would never pass muster in her locker room. Vanessa still smiled at them and treated them as well as she wished to be treated. There were quite a few though, that Vanessa couldn’t figure out. Some might have been born a female like her or had become a female by choice, it was hard to tell.

One lady she hadn’t been sure about had asked Vanessa if she could sit at Vanessa’s table. The place was crowded so she had said sure. She had a great time just sitting and talking with the lady. Francis Caruthers was good; no make that very good, but after two hours of talking and laughing together Vanessa knew. Vanessa just let her have her dignity and kept her suspicions to herself.

Francis also knew that Vanessa was a genetic girl, and loved the way the lady treated her. It was refreshing to be treated as an equal by a GG for a change. Most people treated the transgendered as if they had some serious communicable disease at best, the worst she didn’t want to even think about. She had lost several sisters to violence over the years. Francis just couldn’t help herself but to give the lady she was with, a kiss.

Before they had to go, they had traded phone numbers and promised to call each other. Francis was going to wait to see if Vanessa was going to call. She didn’t have to wait all that long. The next afternoon Vanessa called and invited her to dinner Friday.

“Is this fast food, dress up or classy?” Francis asked.

Vanessa said, “Dress up classy; I have reservations for a dinner theater.”

“Oohh, I have this nice pretty full length, blue cheongsam dress, I have been waiting to wear out.”

“What color of blue, I don’t want to clash with you?”

“Oh, it is a royal blue, with a vine and flower design embroidered throughout it.”

“I can’t wait to see it. I have this forest green formal I haven’t been able to wear anywhere lately, Francis. Why don’t you come by my place about six then, on Friday,” Vanessa said, giving Francis directions to her home.

“Ok, I will see ya.”

As Vanessa was snapped out of her thoughts, she looked and Ricki was gone. She realized that she had to shower now; she could smell her own arousal. It wouldn’t do to have a women’s swimming coach smell of arousal, in a girl’s locker room.

Laura, Ricki and Susan stopped at a burger joint on the way home. They wanted to eat and rest before Laura and Ricki went to their dance class tonight.

Ricki dressed in tights, trunks, coin bra and belt that night. She danced with the class for the first time in a while.

Swimming was for her soul, but dancing, that was for her heart. She loved belly dancing. Everything about belly dancing appealed to her, she loved the costumes, the jewelry and the noise she was making. It showed on her face. Even if she hadn’t done the boobs and bits for Susan, she might have done them for the dance, she thought.

Ricki spent Wednesday and Thursday on campus and she swam when her sisters got out of class. After dinner they went to Mrs. Lively’s to dance, at night. Friday Ricki spent the day with Mr. Dawson. She had practiced the dexterity lessons every day this past week and she had gotten better, but she was far from a prestidigitator. They then spent several hours going over the illusions for the show tonight. Early in the afternoon, Mr. Dawson showed the girls an idea he was developing for his costume. He liked the Arabic looks the girls had; he came up with some blousy pants, curled toe shoes, a vest and a turban for him. He showed them the pictures he came up with.

“I like your pictures Mr. Dawson, but Donotello sounds Italian, not Arabic,” Ricky said. “Changing names wouldn’t be good for you either. How long have you been the Great Donotello?”

“Long enough, eighteen years now,” Mr. Dawson said. “Maybe you are right, let me think it over.

Chapter 34

At five fifty five, a nervous Francis got out of her car at the address she was given. The house was a nice two-story house, in a quiet suburb of LA. She walked up to the door and knocked. Vanessa opened the door, mostly ready, but she was still fiddling with her appearance.

“Hi Francis, come on in.”

“This is a lovely home, Vanessa. What do you do for a living?”

“I am a coach at USC. I coach swimming and fitness,” Vanessa said, putting on her lipstick.

“You look great Vanessa.”

“Thank you, but next to you, I need all the help I can get. That dress is wonderful. That is a silk satin dress isn’t it,” Vanessa said, smiling and taking a closer look at her friend.

Francis wore a royal blue cheongsam dress that went down to the top of her foot. It was slit on both sides to about four inches above the knee for mobility. The dress fit her like a glove in all the right places; she also had a handbag covered in the same material and four inch blue heels. “Yes it is, it, I got it in Hong Kong, my Dad was a business representative. He went to Hong Kong a lot to negotiate manufacturing deals. I went with him on one and had this custom made for me.”

“Well it is simply delicious, Francis,” Vanessa said. She hadn’t meant to use such a suggestive adverb, but the description fit it.

Francis smiled so much, she glowed, “Thank you, Vanessa.”

Vanessa got her bag and said, “Let’s head on out, we have a long drive.”

Laura and Ricki came out on stage and opened the show. Frank watched them from back stage and smiled. The audience loved the girls and it showed.

Vanessa’s eyes arched and her mouth hung open as she saw Ricki and Laura come out on stage.

“What’s wrong Vanessa,” Francis asked.

“I know those two girls,” Vanessa said. She debated telling her friend about Ricki, but decided it wasn’t her place to out her. “The one on the right is Laura Davis. The other one is Ricki her high school age sister.”

“Wow, they are both so beautiful.”

“Yes they are, I am trying to recruit Ricki for my swim team, but she hasn’t made up her mind yet.”

Vanessa waved at the girls, but they couldn’t see her, because of the bright lights in their eyes.

After the girls warmed up the crowd for four minutes, the Great Donotello came out on stage to do his number. Laura took his top hat, cape and gloves and Ricki made his wand appear and handed it to him. He did a dozen illusions that were part of his staple stable of magic. Donotello played to the crowd and had their rapt attention. One illusion required Ricki to go out in the crowd and select a volunteer. Ricki was nervous about this. She came out into the crowd and saw Vanessa sitting with another woman. She selected Francis. Francis tried to object, but the crowd figuratively pushed her on.

Vanessa was excited to see her friend led up to the stage. She and the rest of the audience gave her a hearty round of applause.

Francis was worried at first, but the great Donotello put her at ease. She was up on the stage for two illusions, a card trick and a coin trick. She jumped as Donotello made coins appear where she didn’t have coins. There were lots and lots of coins. She then selected a card and showed the crowd. Francis then shuffled the deck. Donotello had her fan the cards and look for her card. She couldn’t find it, and then he made the card pop out of Ricki’s coin bra, without her or Donotello touching the deck.

Francis was giggling like a schoolgirl when she got back to her friend.

“Did you tell Ricki to do this?” Francis asked, as she sat by her friend.

“I didn’t know Ricki would be here and I certainly didn’t know she was a magician’s assistant.”

“The only reason I believe you, is the way you looked at her when she came out on stage. Anyway that was fun.”

On stage two trunks were brought out. One box was locked and suspended ten feet above the ground. In the view of the audience; Ricki was chained and bound, then locked in a trunk, which was then bound in chains. Laura and Donotello raised a circle curtain around the trunk. There was a flash of light, smoke and the sound of a small explosion. Laura dropped the curtain. Donotello was gone.

Laura then unchained the trunk, unlocked the padlocks and opened the hooks, before raising the lid. Donotello appeared, restrained as Ricki had been. Laura then unbound the magician. Then Donotello took his wand and pointed it at the trunk that had been suspended. There was another explosion and the padlock fell and the lid opened revealing an unfettered Ricki.

The crowd went wild.

Francis and Vanessa were happy, as they drove to Vanessa’s place. They talked a lot about the show and wondered how the tricks were done. They just seemed impossible to the ladies.

At her home Vanessa turned to Francis, “Would you like to spend the night here?”

“You do know…”

“I don’t care, dear. I want you too, that is if you would like too.”

The two of them walked arm in arm into her home.

Vanessa found that Francis was a pre-op transsexual, who after years of hormone replacement therapy couldn’t perform, but the two of them found many ways to entertain and amuse each other.

They held each other tightly and cried themselves to a contented sleep.

Ricki and Laura were excited too. They had had fun with that illusion, Ricki knew how it was done, and Laura, although she was dying to know, didn’t ask. That was between Ricki and Freddy.

Chapter 35

The Saturday and Sunday performances were equally well received. When the girls got home on Sunday, they found Cindy in tears and they knew. Cindy gave Laura a telephone number and she called it.

“Mom, its Laura,” she said, when the phone was answered.

“Daddy is gone girls; he passed quietly in his sleep.”

Laura started crying, which started Ricki and Susan crying too.

“I figured as much when we got the message to call. How are you doing, Mom?”

“I am hurting, but I will survive. We will be landing in Athens tomorrow and I have made arrangements to have your father cremated there. That is the only way that they will let me bring him home.”

“When will you be coming home, Mom?”

“I will be in New York, JFK, on Friday, at six pm. I want to dump your father’s ashes off the Maid of the Mist, on Sunday.”

“We will be there Mom. I will drive your car and we will pick you up. We can drive to Niagara Falls on Saturday. We love you a whole lot. Ricki and Susan want to talk to you.”

Ricki and Susan each took their turn, giving Madeline soothing words of encouragement, as Laura cried on Cindy’s shoulder.

Before they all went to bed, Laura and Susan got on the internet and got airline reservations for three, for Thursday, at one o’clock, to LaGuardia.

“Why three?” Ricki asked.

“I am going with my fiancée. I am not going to let you face this alone.”

“How are you going Ricki, male or female?” Laura asked.

“Mom wants to meet her other daughter, Laura.”

“Good, we have got to take you shopping then tomorrow,” Laura stated.

“What for?”

“A black dress for funerals,” Susan said.

“But I don’t think there is going to be a memorial service.”

“No, but we will wear them when we pick up Mom and Dad’s ashes, out of respect squirt.”

“Well, jeans and some kind of top, will be the dress for Sunday,” Ricki said.

“Why is that?” Susan asked.

“We will be going on the Maid of the Mist, Susan.”

“Yeah, good thinking squirt. The Maid of the Mist is a boat at Niagara Falls, Susan. We will get very wet. Even with the foul weather gear they will provide us.”

“Ok, why on the Maid of the Mist?”

“They got married on that boat, twenty six years ago.”

“Oh, wow, that is a wonderful sentimental idea. I have to call my Mom tomorrow too.”

“Why?” asked Ricki.

“I have to let her know I am engaged, that my fiancée’s father died; and that I am going to New York, to be with him. You have to be here too. I am sure she will want to talk to you.”

“What are you going to tell her about me?” Ricki asked, worriedly. She hadn’t thought about others having to know.

“Don’t worry about it, Ricki, she will be cool. When Dad was still alive, he use to dress up for Mom. I used to dress up my brother Adam too. That was a laugh. 6’ 2”, two twenty, all muscle, in a little black dress. He did it to humor me.”

“I didn’t know your Dad was dead.”

“He passed away when I was eight.”

“You dressed up your brother too?”

“Yes, it was when I was ten and he was twenty. I had him go trick or treating with me. All the silicone, wigs and makeup in San Francisco wouldn’t have made him look like a girl.”

“How did you get him in a dress?”

Susan tugged on Ricki’s arm, adopted a sad puppy dog look, let her lip tremble a little and cried a tear. “I really needed some one who could go trick or treating with me, Mom wouldn’t let me go alone. He didn’t have a costume and Mom stepped in. He still laughs about it and I still blackmail him with the photos.”

“Laura help me,” Ricki said giggling.

“Nope, you got yourself into this; no way are we letting you out of it. I am on her side,” Laura said snickering. “You two will be good for each other, I think.”

They all had one last hug and then Susan and Ricki headed for her bed.

The next four days dragged and at the same time, passed too quickly. They called Mr. Dawson and informed him of their father’s death, and that Laura wouldn’t be there Friday and Ricki might not be back at all.

Ricki was then taken to find some suitable clothes for mourning. Susan and Laura looked at a dozen or so, short sleeved, black dresses, before finding the right one. They also found her a black hat with some netting that could be pulled down to obscure the eyes slightly, some black panties, bra, pumps with three inch heels and purse.

Monday after they got home from shopping, Susan called home. She talked to her Mom for a half hour before handing Ricki on the phone.

Talking to Georgia Cartwright was a trip. Ricki thought Mrs. Cartwright was going to be skin her alive, for corrupting her daughter, when she first started talking to her. She didn’t see Susan and Laura giggling behind her. After she had Ricki shaking in her heels, Georgia broke off the act, laughing and told Ricki, that it was all just an act and that they would welcome her, or him, into their family.

Monday night, Ricki and Laura talked to Mrs. Lively before class. Ricki didn’t know if she would be returning or not. Ricki would be able to attend class on Tuesday, but Wednesday, they would need to pack and that they would fly out on Thursday.

Wednesday afternoon, all of Laura’s sisters that were in town, came by for dinner. They shared their comfort and support, along with their hopes to see Ricki again, soon. There were two girls with Laura Susan and Ricki, making sure that they packed everything that they needed. Ricki made sure she was taking her laptop with the belly dancing DVD’s and Mr. Dawson’s DVD’s. One girl even went to her own apartment and got her own makeup case to loan Ricki, as that was one thing she didn’t have.

Thursday Stacy took the three girls to the airport in her SUV. She could only drop them off at the curb, due to security. The girls got their boarding passes, checked their luggage and went to their gate. They dressed for comfort for their flight, they each wore shorts, loose blouses and cross trainers.

When they arrived in New York, they found that they had an airport limousine waiting to pick them up and deliver them to the Davis home. Georgia had called ahead and made arrangements.

The driver took them to a three-story brownstone, on the upper east side of New York. Ricki unlocked the door and opened up the house. She didn’t have any fear of being seen. She looked so different from when she left, almost seven weeks ago.

There had been Davis’s in that home, for a hundred years. Even as old as that home was, it had been constantly renovated and was in better condition than many homes only twenty years old. The house had a kind of majesty Susan thought, as she looked at it.

Chapter 36

The next morning the girls rose late. They had to go out for breakfast because the fridge had been emptied of perishables. They ate at one of those twenty-four hour breakfast restaurants.

On the way home, they did some shopping and stopped at a florist to get some flowers for Mom and a wreath for their father.

At home, Laura pulled out the family album and went through the pictures.

“Wow Ricki, you really do look a lot like your father,” Susan said. “He is so short and thin, standing next to your Mom.”

“I tried to tell you, Susan.”

“And Laura, you are so like your Mom. You look just like her when she was a young girl.”

Laura dug into another album and found a picture of their grandfather on their father’s side. “This is Grandfather Robert Davis; he was even smaller than that our dad was.”

“He is so petite Laura, but he and your dad are so handsome in their own right.”

Laura found a picture of Robert at age eight. He was dressed not too differently from his sister, their great Aunt. “This is a picture of Robert and his sister Abigail, taken in 1906.”

“Which is which Laura, they look so much a like?”

“The one on the right is Abigail, she was born on January 1, 1900. Robert was born in August 5, 1898.”

“They are the same height, and have the same long hair. When we get married Ricki, I want to make copies of all these pictures.”

At one, each of them took a long bubble bath and made sure that their legs and armpits were hairless. They then dressed in their black undies, pantyhose and heels, before doing their makeup. Laura came in to do Ricki’s hair and makeup; she put Ricki’s hair up in a twist. Ricki was surprised that she was able to get all that hair up on the back of her head. Laura then used a little darker eyeshadow than normal and used waterproof mascara. She then placed the black hat on her hair and adjusted the netting a bit. Lastly, Laura went to her Mom’s room and retrieved a single strand of pearls and some pearl earrings for Ricki. Ricki only added her sorority pin to her dress.

Ricki retrieved the keys for the Lincoln Town Car, from the lock box and handed them to her sister. They left their home and drove to JFK. Traffic was as horrible as it always was at this time of day. They didn’t get to the arrivals gate till thirty minutes before their Mom’s scheduled arrival. They had to wait till another hour before their Mom cleared customs.

She appeared carrying a lone box, that held an urn with her husband’s ashes, and pulling a cart that held her luggage. Laura and Ricki ran to her and hugged her as soon as she stepped past the security gate. Susan stood a respectful distance behind Ricki. After they had a short cry, Madeline waved Susan over and hugged her.

“I see my son has good taste in girls,” Madeline said.

“He didn’t have a chance, Momma. He was swept off his feet by her,” Ricki said.

Ricki went to pull the cart, as they began to move towards the exit. Susan brushed him off and took the cart herself. Laura had taken the box with the urn, so their Mom could hold on to both of her children.

Madeline then took a good look at each of the girls, “You are all so lovely. Laura and Ricki, I can’t believe how much you two have grown since I last saw each of you,” she said, giving them a wink and a smile. “You must have grown several cup sizes in the last two months, Ricki.”

Ricki blushed, as she looked down at her bust. “It kinda just happened overnight, Mom,” she said, giggling a bit. “You’re not upset about it?”

“Heavens no, why should that upset me Ricki. You are as you appear, a lovely young lady. I could never be upset with you. Your Dad was so proud of you and your sister. He bragged about you kids all the time, even onboard the ship we were on.”

The kids loaded all of the luggage in the Lincoln, “Surely this isn’t all of the luggage you took, Mom,” Laura said.

“No, I could only take these with me on the plane. The shipping line will deliver the rest when we they get back to the states, in late August. They will deliver your Dad’s things too.”

Laura drove them home, with Susan sitting next to her. Ricki sat in the back with their Mom. During the two-hour drive, they had to tell their Mom everything that had happened. Ricki blushed, as she recounted how she had wound up in skirts.

“I agree to what you girls did to Ricky, and I am proud of the way that you took it, Ricki. You showed a lot of dignity and honor in accepting your punishment. So tell me, is this you now?”

Ricki opened her heart to her Mother. She told her that she didn’t know where she was headed, but she and Susan would find that out together.

“What about babies?” Madeline asked, “I want lots of babies from you and Laura.”

“Susan?” Ricki asked.

“I would be happy to have all of Ricki’s babies, Mom,” Susan said.

That brought a smile on Ricki’s and Madeline’s face.

“I called Bridgett Logan, an associate of your Dad’s. She is setting up an informal wake for your Dad, from ten to three tomorrow. Ricki did you choose a middle name?”

“Yes Mom, Annette.”

“Good, then you will be Annette Cartwright, Susan’s sister tomorrow and Ricky Davis was stuck on a cruise ship, to and from Hawaii. That is if it is alright with you, Susan? It will be easier than explaining Ricki to all those old fogies your Dad hung around with.”

“That will be fine,” Susan said, “I kind of like the sound of Annette Cartwright.”

Ricki knew that that would be better than exposing his apparent sex change to all of her dad’s friends.

At home, all three girls gave Madeline her flowers. She proudly put them in vases in the living room and set the urn, with Alan’s ashes, on the mantle. With the wreath the girls bought, in front and to the side of it.

Madeline made Ricki show her how her great figure had been accomplished. She felt very embarrassed as she disrobed down to her bra and panties in front of her Mom. Susan pointed out the bits of silicone she wore.

“You mean she can’t…”

“No she can’t, at lest till we take some solvent to free her,” Susan said.

“Then you two haven’t…”

“I will be honest with you, Mom,” Susan said. “We have slept in the same bed quite a bit. But we haven’t done the deed yet. It has been close and we have wanted too do it so badly, but…”

“Do your Mom and Dad know Susan?”

“Just my Mom, my Dad passed away when I was eight, and my brother is thirty. Mom probably told him as well. She was elated to find out we are engaged. She doesn’t care how Ricki looks, or is equipped.”

“How did you get your waist down so small Ricki?” Madeline asked, “Did you corset train?”

“No Mom, I have always had a narrow waist. I have lost an inch and a half since I started belly dancing too.”

“Shoot I may have to take that up too,” She said.

Everyone got up the next morning at five thirty and began getting ready. They dressed up in all in black again. Madeline insisted that Ricki wear her pearls, again. She thought they looked so lovely on her daughter.

Food and flowers started arriving at eight thirty, and other people who came to help, at nine thirty. Annette and Laura helped everyone with the food and drinks. Susan became an impromptu bar tender and made everyone’s drinks. Irish whiskey flowed, even at this early hour; Irish coffee was popular with the women, who had come.

Forty people had come to say goodbye to their dear old friend. By three thirty, it took a line of taxi’s to haul all the mourners home. The girls quickly cleaned up after the last friend left and an hour later, they had packed up and left for Niagara Falls. They talked as they drove.

“Ricki, do you want to continue school as a male, or a female?” Madeline asked.

“I would like to continue as a female, if it is possible, but I can’t go back to my old school like this.”

“I agree you can’t, the world isn’t ready for someone like you,” Madeline said. “How would you like to make a fresh start in LA?”

“I would love to Mom, but what about you. I want to be near you too.”

“I am going to sell my home here her in New York and find one in LA. I don’t know if I can live in this house anymore. I need to be close to my children, if that is ok, Laura?”

“I would love to live near you again, Mom. I have missed you so much since I have been gone,” Laura said.

Everyone in the car brightened up at that suggestion. Susan wouldn’t be so far away from her lover. Ricki would be close enough to Susan, her belly dancing and her job. Laura would have her Sister and her Mom near her.

“So tell me Ricki, how did you get a sorority pin?”

Ricki and the girls explained that the sisters loved Ricki so much, they made her a sister. They want her no matter what, Laura told her Mom.

“Mom, you just won’t believe how easily Ricki makes friends.”

“I use to worry about him when he went to school here,” Madeline said. “He had some friends, but most just wanted to use him. How were things in LA?”

“Ricki is so effervescent, people flock to her,” Laura said, “Tell Mom how you met Li Ming and Belinda, Ricki.”

Ricki began her tale about walking alone on campus and being assimilated by a group of freshmen. She told her how she had been latched on to, by Chen Li Ming and Belinda Andrews; and what happened later.

Laura had gotten two adjoining rooms, at a hotel in Niagara Falls. She and Susan started to go into one. Madeline stopped her daughter and said, “Let Annette and Susan take that room dear.”

“Too bad I don’t have any solvent with me, Ricki?” Susan said, giggling.

“Or not so bad, Susan. I don’t want to be a grandmother till after you two get married,” Madeline whispered.

Once in their rooms, Susan and Laura opened the connecting doors and they dressed for a late dinner. The girls dressed in blouses, heels and miniskirts. Laura had even gotten her Mom in one of her miniskirts. It rode higher up on her Mom’s hip and made the skirt outrageously short, but with one of their tight belly dancing belts, Laura got it to fit her Mom. Madeline looked so good. The skirt came to just three inches below her rounded tush. At forty-eight she still had some great looking legs, that seemed to go up forever. She just had to be a lot more careful than usual, about how she sat, or she would give everyone a show. Laura also redid her Mom’s makeup and hair, despite her protests.

Laura, Ricki and Susan had silly grins on their faces, as they looked at Madeline. She looked like an older sister, next to Laura. Ok, a lot older sister, maybe thirty to thirty-five or so, but considering her age, she was a dish.

“I don’t know how you talked me into this Laura,” Madeline complained. “And what is with all these jangles?”

“Oh hush, we can all see the smile on your face,” Laura retorted, “That is my belly dancing belt. I brought it home for you to see. Without it, we would have to hike that skirt up a little higher.” She teased.

“Yeah, I can see that happening, I would be arrested as a hooker.”

The four of them looked like girls on the prowl.

Madeline led them all into the hotel restaurant. They all drew looks from boys ten to ninety, and probably caused a few cardiac events among some of the older males there. The waiters were fighting to see who got to seat them. Madeline squirmed as she tried to adjust the skirt for maximum coverage, when she was seated. All of them had to cross their legs for modesty.

Madeline ordered a bottle of 96 Dom Pérignon and four glasses, when they got their menus.

“I haven’t seen a bottle of 96 in years,” Madeline said. “It is one of the best young champagne’s to come out in years.”

Together, they mourned the death of their father and celebrated the engagement.

Chapter 37

After everyone dressed, Madeline got up and broke the seal on the urn to reserve a small portion of the ashes to keep in the urn. They then headed to the dock where the Maid of the Mist was located. They got there early and told the Captain what they wanted to do.

He suggested that they do it about a quarter mile away from falls, the falling water creates a spray and causes the air currents near the falls that can be quite unpredictable and he didn’t want the ashes to be blown back on the rest of the sightseers. They might think that was a bit morbid. He promised to have an officer to tell them when to cast the ashes to the water.

They were handed rain gear to put on. The three of them took the urn and wreath with them to the stern of the boat and took up station there.

They were soon underway and noticed the incredible roar, a long way from the falls. The first mate came back and gave them the high sign. They all said a little prayer and their Mom cast the ashes to the wind. A few seconds later Ricki, Laura and Susan cast the wreath into the water.

“Goodbye Daddy,” Ricki and Laura said.

Madeline cried as she wished her lover, confidant and husband, a happy journey.

They all began to shed some tears, but they were disguised by the mists falling from the falls. The Captain had been right; the mist was swirling all around and worked its way into the raincoats they were wearing.

Madeline was glad it was over now. She needed to either get on with life, or die herself. Madeline’s life was dying at the same rate that the one she most loved, wasted away. She felt all the pain that she had been holding back for so long. A person can only be strong for a period of time before they had to let it all go, or to waste away themselves. The presence of her children, including Susan, gave her a reason to live. The beauty of the falls gave her hope, that there was love here, even as she said goodbye. She hugged her oldest child to her, to both give her strength and to draw strength from her.

Susan smiled as she looked at the falls. She had never thought about coming here, being a California girl, but the beauty and majesty of the falls stole her heart. Being here with the one she loved, only made this experience better. She drew an awestruck Ricki to her side.

Ricki’s heart was broken, as she helped cast the wreath off. She would never get to see her Dad again. She wouldn’t be able to see his smile, or hear his laughter anymore. As the boat made its turn, she was struck by the awesome power of the falls and knowing that this place was special to her Dad, lifted her spirit. She felt Susan’s arm encircle her waist and drew her close. Ricki drew strength from the person she loved.

Laura was sad and hurt, she hadn’t had the opportunity to see her Dad in over a year. He had in fact encouraged her to take classes throughout the summer, probably with this in mind. Her Mom’s arm around her shoulder, showed that she was loved and cared for. She turned towards her and held her in a tight embrace, which was joined by Susan and Ricki.

Chapter 38

When they got off the boat, they decided to head straight back to New York City. They wanted to turn the page and start a new chapter of life. They left their pain for a time, at Niagara Falls and headed off to the comfort of home.

“Laura and Susan, I would like you two to head on back to LA, on Tuesday and get back to your studies. I know you want to spend time with me and I want to spend time with both of you,” Madeline said. “Tomorrow we will pack up what you want to save from your room, Laura.”

“But Mom, we need to be together,” Laura said.

“I promise you this daughter; you will be sick of having me around in LA, before I will leave you. I don’t want you to lose credit for the classes you are taking and I need to get to know my other daughter. I don’t know how long we will be apart, but I won’t stay away too long.”

“You promise, Mom,” Laura said crying.

“Yes, I promise, Laura. Susan, I promise you that I won’t keep your fiancée away from you too long either. Also, I would like both you and Laura to find a good high school for Ricki to attend and a good neighborhood for me to live in.”

“I will miss you sorely, Ricki. We have spent so much time together, that I don’t know what I am going to do with all the time, while you are gone.”

“Believe me I will miss you too. I can’t tell you what it has meant to me to wake up seeing your smiling face. It won’t be the same without you.”

Things settled for now, if not exactly to the pleasure of Laura and Susan. The girls chatted about what they needed to do on Monday.

They arrived back home while it was still Sunday, just barely. Tired, everyone headed off to bed. Susan went with Ricki, and Laura went with her Mom.

Ricki and Susan were the first up the next day. After they took a bath together and dressed in T’s and jeans, Ricki got the keys to the Lincoln and they left early to get something for breakfast. Susan had to drive since Ricki had yet to get a license. NYC is a strange city, where mass transit is more important to the city, than being able to drive yourself around. There are times though, when not being able to drive can be a pain.

Laura wondered where Susan and Ricki were, when she got up. Ricki’s door was open and their purses were gone. She found a note from Ricki and smiled. She had taken over making sure that her and her sisters were fed, that was one thing she would miss. Laura did start a pot of coffee, set the table and then made travel arrangements for her and Susan. They would leave NY a little after one, in the afternoon.

Susan and Ricki returned with enough food for several days. Everyone pitched in and prepared, or put up the food. Susan got to see Madeline’s skills in the kitchen. Instead of preparing a simple breakfast, she went all out and began preparing Eggs Benedict with Hollandaise sauce, cream cheese blitzes and fruit bowls.

While Madeline was cooking, Susan, Laura and Ricki hit Laura’s Room. Laura systematically went from section to section, identifying what she wanted to keep. Susan and Ricki would move the items to a corner of the room, in a keeper pile and give away pile. The girls made short work of Laura’s room.

Madeline had called some professional movers, while Susan and Ricki were away. They arrived after lunch, bringing boxes and a truck. Madeline decided that she would call a furniture broker, rather than move all the furniture to where ever they were moving. Madeline went into her room and decided what to keep.

Susan, Ricki and Laura then hit Ricki’s room. She kept a lot of memorabilia and mementos, but got rid of all of his clothes. She would rather wear her wardrobe that was in LA, than any of Ricky’s things.

The girls then helped Mom. Her room took the longest; almost all of Dad’s things, except his jewelry, went. Ricki and Laura picked out a few of Dad’s things they wanted.

As a group, they boxed up the home office, taking all the important papers they might need in the future. The last area they hit, was the kitchen. Madeline wanted all her good kitchen utensils and tableware packed.

The movers did all the hard work. The Davis’s just had to identify what went and what stayed. They wrapped, packed and boxed everything up for the family. Clearly marking on the boxes, what was in the box and who it belonged to. They had three secure boxes that contained the more valuable items. Madeline padlocked these, placed tamper-proof seals on the boxes and kept the keys.

The movers and the Davis’s went room by room, for a final check that they had everything they wanted to keep boxed up and loaded on the truck. The movers also took the items for Goodwill delivery as a free service. The truck pulled away, well after sunset.

They all set in the living room, looking at a house that use to be their home. It had a different feel to it. It was almost alien to them now.

Tuesday morning, Susan and Laura dressed comfortably and packed their bags before coming down to breakfast. Madeline and Ricki took that time to create a breakfast feast to surpass the previous breakfast. Everyone was a bit somber, as they sat and ate.

Madeline drove a quiet car to LaGuardia. Ricki and Susan sat in the back seat and snuggled close to each other. At the airport, Susan and Laura got their last hugs for a while, from Madeline and Ricki.

Back in LA, Laura and Susan picked up where they left off. They had only missed two days of school and their professors understood their reason. They easily made up the missed class work. Susan went to her belly dancing classes on Wednesday and Friday. Laura went to her Thursday belly dancing class and went back to work for Mr. Donotello. Both of them found that doing something, was better than just sitting around doing nothing,

Ricki and Madeline did call and talked for an hour. This was the highlight of the girls’ week. For the next month, they called LA three times a week. What frustrated Laura and Susan, was the fact that Ricki and Madeline were rather vague about where they were and what they were doing. They were even vague about why they were being vague. But being able to talk to Ricki and their Mom, helped bring smiles to their faces and helped raise their spirits. Things began to normalize in LA.

Laura did call a real estate agent and talked about her Mom’s requirements, and about high schools. The agent had tons of good information, which Laura and Susan were able to check out. They put all that information into an email and sent it to their Mom’s online account and talked about it a little, on the phone.

Madeline told the girls that she already had a contract on her house. They had listed the home at 2.5 million and hoped to negotiate for at least 2.2 million. A man who worked in Manhattan and was desperate for a home there, instead of having to travel a hundred and twenty miles a day, put a bid on their home of 2.7 million as is. He stipulated that the transaction be expedited and that he could lease the home till the paperwork cleared. He even made a bid on all the furniture that was there. He had placed half of the bid price in escrow, the balance of the 2.7 million would be paid on closure. He wanted this home, because it was just a short subway ride away from where he worked. Madeline’s broker estimated that they would close by the end of August.

A couple of the times that Ricki called, Laura thought she might have been experiencing a bit of pain, her voice seemed a bit strained, but she didn’t seem too bad. Susan was simply overjoyed to be speaking to her. Susan would get so lovey dovey, sickly sweet, that Laura told Susan to take it into another room. Laura had to giggle to herself, there was not doubt about it, Susan had it bad.

Chapter 39

Tuesday, the last week of this summer semester, Rebecca was sitting in the student center, having lunch with Candace. They were talking about the boys they were stalking, in a dating sense. Rebecca’s phone began to play “Black Magic Woman”.

“Ricki!” was all that Rebecca said, as she began digging through her purse. She then flipped the phone open and nearly shouted, “Ricki is that really you,” Rebecca shouted into her phone, before she even got it to her ear.

“You don’t have to shout, Rebecca; I can hear you just fine.” Ricki said. “Come on get real, “Black Magic Woman”, hand the phone to Candace.”

Rebecca instinctively reached out to Candace and then she stopped, “How did you…” She looked around and saw Ricki nearly doubling over with laughter. “You witch, get your pretty fanny over here,” She said, closing her phone.

Ricki was standing there in a Navy blue skirt suit, white chiffon blouse, and four inch navy pumps. Her sorority pin was prominently displayed on her navy jacket. Rebecca jumped up and closed the last few feet and threw her arms around her sister. Candace arrived at a more sedate pace and gave Ricki a hug.

Rebecca stepped back and looked Ricki up and down, “You look fantastic girl. Have you called your sister and Susan yet? Let me please.”

“No and promise me that you won’t tell them yet. I have a plan.”

Ricki waved at a woman who walked over to them. “Rebecca, Candace, this is my Mom, Madeline Davis. Mom this is Rebecca Kittrich and Candace McIntyre.

The four of them sat down and talked for a while. Ricki then began to layout her plan.

Friday, Rebecca had gotten reservations for the late show at the dinner theater that Laura was working at, for herself, Susan, Candace, Stacy, Cindy, Karen, Amanda and Brenda. They had almost the whole front section near the stage. The girls couldn’t believe just how magnanimous Rebecca was being, she had told everyone not to worry, that she was picking up the tab.

Laura came out on the stage and did a five minute belly dancing routine. This was well received by the crowd. The stage opened to show a packing crate on a Lucite pedestal with the front and back open to show there was nothing there. She spun the crate around so the audience could see all the sides. She closed up the back of the crate and then the front. Two seconds later after a flash of light and smoke, the crate fell apart to reveal The Great Donotello. The show went on for forty minutes more as the magician amazed and thrilled the crowd.

“Now for my last illusion of the night I need the assistance of a member of the audience.”

Laura looked to Freddy; she hadn’t rehearsed any illusion that had required audience participation, this week. She just smiled.

“I know a young lady out in the audience. A Susan Cartwright is out there is she not?”

The spotlights panned the crowd and stopped on Susan. She looked crossly at Rebecca for a second; she then stood and walked up on the stage.

“Now for this illusion, I will make three people simultaneously appear on stage.”

The curtains opened and revealed three tall boxes on Lucite pedestals. Laura and Susan were tasked to show that the boxes were indeed empty for the crowd.

Freddy then closed up each box. Four pyro pots at the front of the stage went off. Freddy then had Susan open the box she was standing next to.

Susan opened the door to reveal her Mom. She shrieked and jumped into her mom’s arms. Freddy then had Laura open the box she was standing next to. Laura opened the door to reveal her Mom.

“Momma!” Laura shouted. She hurried into her Mom’s arms.

Susan seeing Madeline standing there all but shoved Freddy out of the way.

“Ricki! Get your pretty little butt out here and give me a hug.”

The door to the third box opened and Ricki danced out, dressed in her cardinal/gold belly dancing costume that Mrs. Lively had given her and that Rebecca had snitched for her. Smiling she danced her way to Susan and gave her a sedate kiss to the cheek and a big hug.

Susan was joined in the hug by Laura and her sorority sisters, who had rushed up on the stage.

The crowd may not have known what had just occurred but they understood that this was some kind of reunion for the girls. They gave a round of heartwarming applause as things played out.

The curtains came down and Freddy bowed to the crowd. He then stepped behind the curtain normally to join the girls.

The girls were all in a group around the three arrivals, firing questions at Ricki left and right. Ricki put off answering any questions till they all got back to the condo.

Ricki and Laura changed in separate dressing rooms and they all headed to Laura’s condo. Ricki and Susan rode with Madeline and Georgia in her new Lincoln. They were necking all the way home, just keeping things decent enough not to get arrested.

When they all had arrived at the condo, they assembled together in the living room.

“First thing we need to do, I guess, is introductions. Girls, this is my Mom,” Laura said, and then she introduced the rest of the girls to her Mom. “Let us look at you two. You both are so gorgeous.” Laura said, taking a closer look at her Mom and her sister. It looked to her that her Mom had gotten a facelift and maybe had some liposuction done, but Ricki deffinately had a lot if changes made.

The girls then looked Madeline and Ricki over. Madeline wore a pale blue, skirted suit and a white blouse, with three inch blue pumps on. Ricki was in a off white skirted suit, a black, deep V necked, black silk blouse and four inch black pumps, her sorority pin displayed on her lapel. Susan let go of Ricki long enough for her to turn around for the girls, then she reattached herself.

Laura confronted Rebecca, “Don’t you ever pull something like this again Rebecca,” Laura said, with mock sternness. Her smile betrayed her heart though to her friend, who just smiled back.

“Don’t get mad at me, this was Ricki’s idea. They have been in town, for over a week,” Rebecca said, in her own defense.

“You have been here for a week and didn’t say anything to me,” Susan said, rounding on Ricki. Ricki was almost afraid that Susan was going to slap her.

“Don’t get mad at her Susan. I wouldn’t let her,” Madeline said. “We needed to get some business taken care of first.”

“She is still getting a spanking out of this Mom,” Susan said, sticking her tongue out at Ricki.

“You stick it out, you got to share it,” Ricki said.

“Later, lover,” Susan replied.

“Let’s all take a seat,” Laura said.

They all sat down in the living room. “Now tell us, what have you two been up to for a month and what have you done to yourself Ricki, you look a little different?” Laura asked.

“We are all girls here right?” Ricki asked, looking at Madeline and Georgia.

They just nodded to Ricki.

Ricki disentangled herself from Susan’s grasp and stood.

“Mom and I have been a little busy,” Ricki said, she unbuttoned her jacket and handed it to Susan. “And you’re right, I do look different.” She then unbuttoned her skirt and let it fall. Ricki steeped out of the skirt and Susan picked it up. Ricki stood there in her heels, black, sheer to the waist, pantyhose and a black, French cut, silk bodysuit. “We went to a clinic in Cancun, where I had lip implants, cheek implants, a nose job.” She said, reaching in between her legs to unsnap the bodysuit. She then pulled the body suit off and her nipples stiffened erect, at the cool air of the room.

“A boob job!” Susan shouted, as she saw her nipples.

“Yes, I got a breast augmentation along with,” Ricki then pulled the pantyhose down a bit and stuck her tush towards Susan.

Susan eyes bulged and she slapped Ricki’s rump.

Ricki winced a bit. “Hip and butt implants,” Ricki said. “But please don’t slap them too hard right now, Susan. I need another two months of healing, for my breasts and my rump.”

Ricki then pulled up her pantyhose and dressed in the bodysuit again, before sitting back down next to Susan. “I still have a little silicone left though. I have a small flap that I can glue in place, to keep a certain body part hidden.” Rick said.

Susan was smiling broadly and said, “I was wondering about that, Ricki. You’re still functional then.”

“Maybe not as well right now, as I will. I am on low doses of estrogen and finasteride, for the next forty-five days. Long enough to make a few changes, but not long enough to damage my testis. I will be on estrogen and finasteride for three months, of every year. Three months off and one month on, as long as I stay fertile.”

“That was a good start, but we want to know everything,” Laura said.

All of the girls there were smiling and agreed with Laura.

Ricki looked to her Mom, Madeline said, “It’s your story baby. Go ahead and tell them if you want.

“Ok, here is what happened,” Ricki said.

Chapter 40

(What follows is an extended recollection by Ricki, as she thought about what to tell the girls there. She related a lot of what happened, but not in as much detail.)

Tuesday, Ricki got up at about six and began fixing breakfast for her Mom. Madeline came down stairs and watched Ricki work in the kitchen.

“Laura said that you are really becoming quite a cook and a maid.”

“Yeah, I tried to help out where I could. Laura, Cindy and Susan were taking some pretty heavy weight courses, the first summer semester.”

“Hmm, you make a pretty good cup of coffee.”

“I drink the stuff too Mom, I like my coffee a certain way. So what is on the menu for today, Mom?”

“Well I am going to see our family attorney to begin getting some matters taken care of. Dad did a lot of it before we left on vacation. Like all the cars and the home, are already solely in my name. I do need to give the attorney the Grecian death certificate, the autopsy report and the statement from the attending Physician on the ship. He set up trusts for you and Laura, before he died; I need to check on them. He also had some assets that he couldn’t convert as easily, as the house and car,so I will need to file his will.”

“Can I go with you?”

“I need you to stay here, Ricki. I have a friend I went to school with, a Dr. Karen Jones, that I want you to talk too. She is a Psychiatrist. I want to know what she thinks about you. Don’t worry, she won’t make you change if you don’t want to, and she is not going to cut your balls off, although, I did hear her threaten to do that to one amorous guy at college. You might hate her, or you might like her, or both. She is that kind of person.”

“What if I don’t want to talk to her?”

“Then don’t, but I would like for you to give her a chance. She will be here about ten o’clock.”

Ricki didn’t know if she was going to talk to the Doc, but she said she would give the lady a try.

Madeline and Ricki took their baths after breakfast and dressed as smartly as they could.

Madeline left, dressed for business, at about nine, with a stuffed briefcase and her purse. She gave Ricki a big hug, as she went out the door. Ricki watched her head on down the block, toward the subway terminal nearby.

Ricki had dressed in a black mini, a dark shiny blue cowl neck blouse, off black pantyhose and her black sandals, with a three inch heel. She had worked hard on her face, to give her a more mature look, and put her hair up in a French twist.

She sat and nervously waited for Dr. Jones. She used this time to roll a coin back and forth across her knuckles and to shuffle, fan and manipulate a deck of cards she had. She liked the idea of going back to work for Mr. Dawson.

At about nine fifty, the doorbell rang and Ricki got up and answered it.

“Hi, I am Karen Jones,” a casually dressed lady said.

Karen Jones stood in the doorway, dressed in a pair of tight fitting jeans and a Yankee T-shirt. She appeared to be in her mid to late thirties. She had shoulder length blonde hair and some strikingly, brilliantly blue eyes. She didn’t appear to have any makeup on, but Ricki saw that, that was just an illusion.

“Hi Dr. Jones, come on in PLEASE.” Ricki said.

“Oh, I see that my fame has preceded me,” she said, as entered the house.

“Yeah, Mom said she wanted me to talk with you.”

They went into the living room and sat down, with a coffee table between them.

“Yes, she called me last week from Athens, just after Allan had died. I tried to help her deal with the stress of his death. How are you dealing with it, Ricki?”

“I am fine, right now. At first, I was mad as hell at Dad, for rigging it to where I couldn’t say goodbye to him. Laura and I didn’t know he was dying till late June. We suspected something was wrong, but…” Ricki said, stopping to cry.

“I know Ricki, I tried to talk your Dad out of it, but he was insistent about what he was doing.”

“It isn’t fair, I was so mad. Didn’t Dad know that it was a bad idea? Laura hadn’t seen Dad in over a year; she was crushed when she found out. At least Mom got him to call us before...”

“The way he went wasn’t pretty Ricki. The last weeks he really wasted away and was in a lot of pain. He wanted to save you and your sister the pain, he and your Mom were going through. And before we go any further, promise me one thing. Your Mom has been so strong for so long. She is going to need somebody to lean on. Are you ready for that!”

“I am ready to help my Mom do whatever she needs me to do.”

Karen began to tell Ricki what Madeline was going to have to face and the importance that she, Ricki and Laura, needed to grieve.

“Grief can be postponed, ignored and belittled, but one way or another, it is going to happen. The sooner one grieves, is usually the better. You can both take the next few days to grieve and talk Ricki.”

“You sound just like Dr. Whitlock, Dr. Jones.” Ricki said, whishing she had kept her mouth shut.

“Who is Dr. Whitlock?” Karen asked. She knew she hit a sore spot, when Ricki’s face colored.

“He is a guy I met in LA.”

“A psychiatrist?”

“No, a psydoc. I think is what he is called.”

“In relation to.”

“Well ah… I ah…”

“Look Ricki, either tell me or not. It is up to you.”

Ricki then bit her lip and told Karen what had happened.

“Your mother never told me that.” Karen said. Clearly disturbed by what Ricki said.

“I ah … haven’t told her about that. I was passed out and although I was bothered that he tried to take advantage. He didn’t and I didn’t know about it. My friends told me what had happened.”

“You will tell your Mom when she gets home, Ricki. I won’t say a thing about it. You will have to tell her.”

“She has enough on her plate, right now. I wasn’t hurt, no harm, no foul.”

“Poppy cock, there is no such thing as no harm, no foul, when it comes to rape.”

“I am just glad it was me, he was stalking my sisters too.”

“Nonsense, he violated you. You already said it bothered you. Yes it was good that the other girls weren’t raped. Yes you weren’t hurt as bad as you could have been, but just think what would have happened without your sisters’ timely intervention. It was good that he was caught, but you need to work through what happened. Also, he gave you an unknown dose of a dangerous drug. It could have killed you just as easily.”

Karen and Ricki talked about that for about an hour. She still wasn’t satisfied that Ricki understood, what she was getting at.

“It is good I came here today. We haven’t even gotten to what Madeline wanted, and I have already opened two cans of worms.”

“You came to talk about this,” Ricki said, indicating the way she looked.

“Yes, but we will be hitting the other things too.” Karen said. “Tell me about how you feel right now, dressed as a very attractive young lady. Tell me, when was the first time you dressed?”

“June 3rd this year. Oh and once or twice before the age of ten.”

Ricki then began to tell Karen about the circumstances of her present condition and what she had done since her first day. She left very little out of her story and none intentionally. Her eyes glowed as she talked about her belly dancing, and her work as a magician’s assistant. She smiled as she described her costume that Mrs. Lively had given her and their performance on the Fourth of July. She pulled out her laptop and showed Karen the pictures and video.

They had been talking for about three hours when Ricki’s stomach growled. “Would you like to have lunch with me Dr. Jones. We can talk while I prepare.”

She was hungry too, so she agreed, as long as Ricki kept talking.

Ricki began to heat up some New England clam chowder, boil some eggs and selected some vegetables and nuts, to chop up for a tuna fish salad. She continued to talk, as she began to work.

Karen watched and listened to Ricki. She saw that Ricki was very good at multi-tasking. Everything she was doing, seemed to be timed, so that everything came together at the right time.

Ricki was telling Karen about what she had done to help the girls, back in LA. She felt it was her responsibility to help them, so they could get on with their studies.

Ricki was far more mature than almost all the seventeen-year old males she knew and even more mature than many of the girls she knew too.

As they ate, Karen asked Ricki to start at the beginning, about how she met, or knew of Sam Dresden.

Ricki told her about him hitting on her at the student union, about him living a few doors down from them. She then told Karen about what Det. Mary Post had told her about him and what they had found in his apartment.

“He didn’t have the right to do what he did,” Ricki said, finally crying.

“No he didn’t, guys like him are into it for the power rush they get.”

“But why me? I wasn’t interested in him and I didn’t do anything to him.”

“No you didn’t, it is hard to say why he picked you out. You fit his needs. That was the only criteria that you needed to fit.”

Karen helped Ricki clean up the kitchen and watched as Ricki repaired her face after her cry.

Karen asked Ricki about how she felt when she wasn’t all, girled up.

Ricki told her about when she had to take the breastforms and faux vagina off to clean the skin beneath and allow the skin to breath. She then explained how good she felt, when she could get dressed again. She shared about her talks with Candace and then later Dr. Whitlock.

“So, Dr. Whitlock wasn’t referred to you because of the rape.”

“No, I figured my sister Rebecca had her friend Candace just talk to me at first. I don’t think Candace knew I was a boy, dressed as a girl, but she figured it out. Then she introduced me to her Professor. She might have told him. Candace is working on a masters in psychology.”

“Ok, I see. Tell me more about your conversations with these two.”

Ricki then began telling Karen in as much detail as she could about their conversations. It was hard remembering all the details.

“I need a break,” Ricki said. She called Candace, on her cell phone and handed it to Karen, after she talked to Candace for a few minutes.

Ricki then laid down and took a nap, while Karen talked to first Candace and Dr. Whitlock.

Chapter 41

Madeline came in and saw Ricki sleeping and found Karen in the kitchen.

“How is she Karen?”

“She is quite a remarkable person, Madeline. I think she will live.” Karen said, giving her friend a smile.

“You’re not going to tell me?”

“What and betray a trust, never.”

Karen then started in on her friend and how she was dealing with her loss. She was as hard on Madeline, as she had been on Ricki. They talked for about an hour, only stopping when they heard Ricki stirring.

Ricki went into the kitchen, she smiled when she saw her Mom and gave her a big hug.

Ricki and Madeline then began to work together to fix dinner. Karen saw how well they worked together, preparing the meal. Ricki almost seemed to be telepathic. She anticipated what her Mom seemed to need; the same could be said for Madeline.

They all made small talk, but even during small talk, a trained observer can glean data from them. Ricki seemed very comfortable in her assumed role. She was very feminine in everything she said or did.

Without prompting, Ricki then began to tell her Mom about the attempted rape. Madeline was outraged, and Ricki cried some more, as she went into details.

“Why didn’t you call me and tell me.”

“Mom, face it. You were ten thousand miles away and you had your own worries. What could you have done? Drop everything and leave Dad to die alone? Of course not! I was ok, I am having to deal with it, but I am ok.”

“You could have told me when I got home.”

“No, I couldn’t. You had things you had to do. We all did. We had to say goodbye to dad.”

“Then why tell me now.”

“Because, I needed too, because now is the right time.”

Ricki didn’t tell Madeline everything she had told to Karen, but she did tell her about the fact that Sam Dresden had been stalking Laura, Susan and Cindy, prior to Ricky getting to LA.

Madeline suddenly felt very old.

Ricki then hugged her Mom and said, “Mom, I am going to be needing you for a very long time. I know all this has been a shock to you, but together, it won’t be a problem.”

Karen just smiled and listened. She loved it when people worked things out, with only minimal assistance from her. She got a wonderful lunch and was anticipating a delightful dinner, as she watched them work.

Karen began to set the table, she wondered where all her fine things were and asked.

“Oh those things, I had them packed up. I am moving to California, to be closer to my children. They just left enough things for me to work with, while we are here.”

So they had veal, with a mushroom sauce, grilled asparagus, a Caesar’s salad and chocolate mousse, on melamine tableware, and drank a bottle of 1969 Baron Philippe de Rothschild, Mouton Cadet Rouge Bordeaux, from breakfast tumblers. A very good year.

Over dinner, the trio talked about various topics, from food, to the weather and such. Karen then said, “Ricki, the reason your Mom asked me to talk to you, was that she felt you would be more comfortable without the silicone. She said that if you wanted to be a girl, or even what is sometimes referred to as a she-male, that maybe you might be more comfortable doing so, with your own curves, so to speak. Do you understand?”

“You mean breast implants.”

“Yes and more. She wants to take you to a clinic, to get your breasts, hips, buttocks and some facial surgery. I told her how I felt about it, I was against it. Still am. But she insisted that if it is what you feel is right, and then to quote her ‘to hell with them.’ She would find someone to make you feel whole. Tell us what you think.”

“I am not ever going back to being Richard. I feel so right being Richelle. I will love having my own breasts, and hips and such. I don’t think I will ever go all the way though. I want kids, Susan wants kids and grandma will love our kids.”

“I can’t say I agree with Madeline. These steps she is talking about, are usually restricted to eighteen year old, or older. I did tell her that if she insisted and you agreed, to give her a letter to approve the surgeries, excluding SRS surgery. SRS surgery is where they change the genitals. They use the penis to create a vagina and the scrotum to create the labia. Do you want the rest of the surgery?”

Ricki thought about it for a few minutes and said, “Yes I do.”

“Then lets talk some more. Madeline, go watch some TV.”

“I can’t, no TV, but I will make myself scarce.”

Ricki and Karen did talk again, Karen seemed more adversarial in her approach and Ricki found herself getting more frustrated. At times she was close to tears as they spoke. It almost felt like she was verbally wrestling with the woman.

Karen confused her, at times she seemed like a nice lady and other times, Ricki felt the woman was a B****. She never doubted how she felt about herself, just how other people perceived her to be. She began to see how hard the life she had chosen for herself, would be. People would reject her, treat her badly, hate her and maybe even try to take her life, if they discovered who she had been. She understood that there was hate and prejudice in the world, against those who they deemed to be different and inferior.

Finally Ricki did begin to break down and cry. She was surprised to find herself being wrapped up in the other woman’s arms and having her hair stroked by that lady.

“I am sorry dear that I hurt you. You just needed to realize just what you were up against. I have no doubt that there beats the heart of a woman inside your body, dear, I just had to make sure. I still say you should wait till you turn eighteen, before you get any surgery, but I will sign a consent form for you.”

Ricki cried on Karen’s shoulder and drew strength from her, “Thank you Karen.”

Chapter 42

Madeline and Ricki only spent two more days in New York City. They contacted a real estate broker and put their home up on the market. They then met with a lawyer and then went to court, to legally change Ricki’s name to Richelle Annette Davis.

The next day, Madeline took her younger daughter shopping. Ricki added a lot of clothes to her wardrobe; most of the clothes would have to be sent by freight to LA. They bought a lot of clothes that befit a girl her age, some elegant eveningwear, and not a few sharp looking suits.

Early Thursday, a car service picked them up and delivered them to JFK for their flight to Cancun. Madeline had found a very reputable clinic that would do the surgery for Ricki.

They drove to the clinic on Friday and Ricki was given a complete physical. They then had the opportunity to sit down with the plastic surgeon. They talked about what Ricki wanted to accomplish and what results she hoped for.

Ricki then had to stand naked in front of the surgeon, as he checked her hips, buttocks and chest out. She then was able to dress and he checked out her face. All the time he took pictures and made copious notes, but she hadn’t detected any prurient interest in her.

The Surgeon then told them that the first of her surgeries would take place on in two days. The first surgery would be the hip and buttock implants. That surgery would take place on Sunday. Ricki would check into the clinic Saturday evening. He wanted to do this, so that Ricki would be able to sleep on her stomach for a week, before they would do the breast implants and facial surgery next Sunday. After that, Ricki would need to sleep upright in a chair, if possible, or on her back for at least a week.

The surgeon told them, Ricki would likely be just a little smaller through the hips and bust, than she was with her padding on, but later, if she wanted the extra size, she could come back and they could finish the job.

Madeline then talked to the Doc about getting some work done for herself. She wanted her face to look younger and to have some flab taken off her waist and possibly a fanny lift.

Ricki left the room, to let the Doc examine her Mom.

Madeline and Ricki went out and celebrated that evening. Ricki was only allowed to put her breastforms in her bra and to slip the faux vagina on, without gluing them down. Madeline let Ricki have one glass of wine, with their meal.

Ricki was nervous the next day, as they both checked into the clinic. They didn’t allow either of them any food that night and only a small amount of liquid, till ten that night, then nothing. Ricki had to suffer the indignity of having her bowels emptied by several enemas. Madeline stayed the night with her daughter.

They woke Ricki and her Mom, at about four thirty and gave her some pills and a shot. The nurse then had to give Ricki a Foley catheter. They then had her lie on her stomach on a gurney. She soon fell back asleep, till she awoke late in the afternoon, lying on her stomach, back in her room.

Madeline also had her facial surgery done the same day. Her facelift surgery was done on an outpatient basis. They tightened up her face a bit and gave her small cheek implants, to make her look younger. They will do the fanny lift and Lipo, the next week for her.

Ricki wasn’t allowed to get up for any reason, for two days and was fed only by a catheter, in one of her arms. She got solace for her condition, by calling Susan. On Wednesday, they started her on a breakfast of oatmeal and a lunch of jello, plus some equally disgusting mush. They also let her go to the restroom, with assistance.

Her butt and hips felt positively huge, as her Mom helped her to the restroom. Part of that, she was told, was swelling from the surgery. She sat gently on the toilet and did her business. Her first real meal had passed rapidly through her system.

Thursday, she felt a lot better, she got to sit in bed, instead of lying on her stomach and was allowed more solid food. Friday was even better for her. The swelling was minimal at this point and sitting became more bearable.

Saturday was good for Ricki, she felt chipper again, at least till after she called Susan. Ricki and Madeline were denied a dinner again and no liquids after ten that night. Both of them were again wakened around five, given another round of shots and pills. Ricki and Madeline then headed off to different surgical suites.

Ricki woke up feeling strange, her lips felt thick; her face and nose were heavily bandaged; as well as her chest. She was allowed a soft diet. It was hard getting the food into her mouth; her lips seemed to get in the way. Her Mom was laying on her stomach, in the bed next to her.

Monday, the call to Susan was a bit of a chore. It was hard to mask the little bit of pain, as she talked and she was very nasal due to the gauze in her nose, but she just had to talk to Susan and Laura.

Tuesday, they were both allowed to check out and recover in her Mom’s hotel room. That lifted Ricki’s spirits, she had taken the nurses advice to wait, before she looked at herself. She laughed a bit, seeing her Mom walking gingerly. She imagined all the swelling and bruising they both must have. Ricki hadn’t really even checked out her hips and butt yet. The damn surgical bra was heavy and uncomfortable. The skin of her chest felt as taught as a drum. She knew she was big in the chest, but she wouldn’t know how big, till the swelling from the surgery went down.

Friday, she went back to the doctor, who was very pleased with everything. All the bandages came off and she was cleared for travel. She just had to check with a doctor back home, for the next two weeks. She took a good look at all the work that had been done that night. She looked ugly from the bruising and such, but she smiled as she saw her potential.

Her face would definitely be cuter and all her curves would be hers.
The skin of her chest was still taught, but not as taught as it had been. She still had to wear the surgical bra for another week, though. Her hips and butt were smaller, than with the silicone, but she now had a good figure.

They both would look pretty wonderful, when they were finally healed up, she thought. She could already tell that her Mom’s face was looking nicer.

Madeline had gotten a call from her realtor and they had to make a hurried dash back to New York, on Saturday. Ricki would have like to have taken a day or two more, to recuperate, but she bore on.

In New York, at JFK, she had a bit of a time going through customs. Her Mom had to show all her paperwork and letter of transition, to get through, but they were only delayed for half an hour. They hurried to the realtor’s office, rather than home. They found out that someone wanted their home desperately and was willing to lease it, till the deal went through, and he would buy all the furniture they didn’t want to take with them.

Madeline agreed to let the home go on Monday. She and Ricki would take one last walk through, on Sunday and check into a hotel, on Monday. They hurried home from the realtor and packed the last of their things. By Sunday evening, there was nothing left in their home that they weren’t selling. They left their Upper East Side home for the last time on Monday at eight am.

Ricki took a referral to a physician on Tuesday, who checked the healing and scaring of the surgery. He was very pleased with how she was doing.

Their last stop before leaving New York, was a shop that Madeline had found. Ricki now had a harder time hiding what she had between her legs. Madeline found a prosthetic supply, that did custom jobs. They entered the shop and Madeline explained what Ricki needed. The woman who ran the shop said, she had just the thing. She had a flap of silicone, which could be adhered to the pubis. It had a sheath that encased the penis and then adhered in the back. It wouldn’t fool people, if she sat spread eagle for all the world to see. But she would be ok in a girl’s locker room. Ricki would also have to be as fastidious about keeping herself clean, as a girl down there, just as she had been with the faux vagina. The woman made three of them for Ricki.

Madeline made reservations for a month, at a residence type hotel, in LA. She arranged to have all their clothes, that didn’t fit into two suit cases, shipped to there, on a three day delivery.

Chapter 43

They flew into LA on Thursday and rented a car. Madeline used the cars GPS system, to take them to the hotel. Madeline and Ricki relaxed the rest of the day.

Friday, Madeline then took Ricki to DMV, to take her written driving test and to change her own license to the address of the Condo Laura lived in. Ricki passed the test. She had studied to take it in New York and the test covered most of the same basic information, she just never took the test.

They then drove to an auto dealership. Madeline got another Lincoln Town Car. Ricki was looking around, while her mother did business and found a car she fell in love with, a Mustang convertible. The Salesman was so happy to sell two cars; he drove the Lincoln behind Madeline, as she returned the rental. Then back to the dealership, where Ricki drove the mustang, with Madeline riding shotgun. The salesman followed Ricki to the hotel.

Madeline then got a wild Idea. Ricki had Georgia Cartwright’s phone number on her cell phone. Susan had put it there after she had proposed to Ricki. She told Ricki her plan, as she called Georgia on the cell phone. Georgia loved Madeline’s idea and took the first plane out of San Francisco.

Under Madeline’s instruction, Ricki did her makeup a little heavier, to hide the fading scars of her facial surgery. She wasn’t able to hide it all, but she was able to mitigate it’s detraction a bit. She wore jeans and a cowl neck, sleeveless tank top, with her 3 inch black heels.

Madeline had Ricki drive them to the airport, to pick up Georgia. For never having driven anything other than go carts, motorbikes and bicycles, Ricki did very well.

They stood in arrivals, holding a sign up for Georgia. Ricki had a profound sense of déjá  vu. Susan had sent pictures of Ricki to her via email, so Georgia recognized the girl, as soon as she saw her. She didn’t need the sign they were holding.

“You must be Ricki, and you are Madeline.”

“That is us,” Madeline said.

Ricki was kind of nonplussed, as the woman gave her a huge bear hug, which picked her off the floor and squeezed the air out of her lungs.

Georgia whispered in Ricki’s ear, “I am so glad to finally meet the person who stole my daughter’s heart. You are a sweet thing.” Then to louder to both of them, “Let’s blow this joint. I got me a room in the same hotel as you do.”

Ricki tried to resolve this woman with the descriptions Susan gave her. Georgia seemed to be a barrel of fun, a fun loving person, but quiet, dignified and reserved. No way.

The only thing worse than having a back seat driver, is having two back seat drivers, Madeline made Ricki drive back to the motel. Ricki really didn’t need directions, she had the GPS unit in the dash and she had paid attention, when she drove to the airport. Still she received plenty of instructions from her two charges. At one point, when she was on an open section of road, she controlled the steering wheel with her knee. She turned, threw her hands up and said, “If either of you two want to drive, just say so.”

Georgia and Madeline nearly went apoplexic. The two women were a little quieter after that. Ricki was doing a good job, after all.

Ricki recognized the area they were in and took an unscheduled turn saying, “Moms, I want to drop by my bosses place for a few minutes, if that is OK.”

“Oh you mean Mr. Dawson, that magician right?” Georgia asked.

“Yes, I want to introduce you to him and see if he still wants me.”

Ricki drove for about five more miles. She stopped before taking a right turn, as she saw Laura drive away.

“That was close, Mom. Laura just left his warehouse,” Ricki said. “She must still be working for him.”

“How much was he paying you two?” Madeline asked.

“We each made a thousand a week.” Ricki said.

“I can see why she is still working for him,” Georgia exclaimed.

Ricki caught Mr. Dawson just coming to the door.

“Ricki, it is great seeing you. Your sister didn’t say anything about you being in town yet.”

“She doesn’t know yet. We are planning to surprise her. Mr. Dawson, I would like to introduce my Mom, Madeline Davis, and my future mother-in-law, Georgia Cartwright. Mom, Georgia this is Freddy Dawson, the Great Donotello.”

“Please come in, Ricki take them to the office, if you will.”

Freddy locked the front door and checked his appearance before heading back to the office. It was too soon for Madeline to be interested, but if Georgia was available, he was too.

Mr. Dawson met the ladies in his office. He stopped and looked Ricki over. “You have had surgery, haven’t you Ricki.”

“Yes sir, how did you know?”

“I can see a trace of bruising underneath your makeup. Your proportions are different. Your gate is different, like you are being careful how you walk. I would say that you have had your nose cheeks, lips, hips, and breasts worked on. I like you better this way.”

“You’re very sharp Mr. Dawson,” Madeline said.

“So how far are you going to take this surgery, Ricki?”

Ricki’s mouth just hung open.

“Part of magic, is observation. Yes you were very convincing Ricki and even more so now.”

“I have gone as far as I am going, for a long while at least, I think Mr. Dawson. I came back to see if you still wanted me to work for you.”

“Damn straight I want you back, when can you start?”

“Not this weekend, but next. I am still healing up a bit.”

“Don’t come back too soon, but you and Laura have made me a real hit. The restaurant was going crazy, not having you there. They were glad when Laura came back. The patrons buy more to eat and drink when you two are together. They like Laura, but they love you. Show me your work, Ricki.” Freddy said, as he tossed her a coin.

Ricki caught it on the back of her hand and rolled it back and forth across her knuckles. She flipped it with her pinkie and caught it on the back of her other fingers and rolled it back and forth. Freddy was amazed.

He then tossed her a deck of cards. She opened and shuffled the cards, fanned the deck, turned the top card and dealt five poker hands out. It was hard to see the second dealing, but the upright card remained on the top. Freddy then turned over five pat hands, a flush, a straight, a full house and four of a kind. Ricki then tuned over her straight flush.

“I see you have been practicing. Remind me not to play poker anymore, with you.”

“It gets kind of boring being laid up in the hospital.”

“Gee, I just thought you were fidgeting, Ricki,” Madeline said.

“No Mom, I was working on my manual dexterity.”

Ricki then showed them both sides of her hands; she reached behind Georgia’s head and pulled a coin from behind her ear.

“I can’t palm silver dollars like you can, Mr. Dawson, but I can do alright with the Susan B’s.”

“What do you mean Ricki?” Georgia asked.

“Stand up Ricki,” Mr. Dawson said. He went and got a bucket. He showed the ladies his hands then set the bucket on the floor. He grabbed a silk hanky, and held it up to Ricki’s nose. He then pumped her right arm like a well pump and coins fell from Ricki’s nose in time to his pumping. Thirty or forty coins fell nosily into the bucket.

Ricki couldn’t hold her laughter in, as Freddy worked. When he finished, Ricki began popping Susan B’s right and left. She wasn’t as good as Freddy, but he could see that she was doing pretty good, considering how long she has been working on it.

“Ok, let’s work on getting you back in the show, the weekend after next then.” Freddy said. “Your sister comes in after one, can you be here from nine to twelve. Wait, I just had a brilliant idea for how you can make your grand reappearance, Can you and Georgia come here with Ricki, Madeline.”

Ricki looked to her Mom’s who nodded. “Yes sir, we can be here then.”

“Great, then, I look forward to having you back in the show, Ricki.”

Ricki then drove the mom’s straight to the hotel.

The next few days, Ricki drove Madeline and Georgia sightseeing. Ricki saw more of LA over the next week, than she had previously seen.

On Monday, Madeline and Ricki went to a high school, near the condo, to register. Ricki’s transcripts had preceded her by three days. They still gave her a battery of tests and asked her to come back on Thursday. Ricki would start school the next Tuesday.

Tuesday, she took her driving test and passed it, with a 95%. Ricki was ecstatic at passing; the clerk at the DMV made a mistake and typed what she knew, rather than what was on the form. Ricki didn’t know it, but she was now a she, according to California DMV. Ricki walked out with her temporary regular license. They would mail her, her license to the Condo.

She drove her Mom to the campus and then met Rebecca for lunch.

Chapter 44

It was almost eleven thirty when Ricki finished telling her tale. She couldn’t ever remember talking for so long. Everybody was hanging on to the edge of their seats, as she finished.

“Susan, do you trust me?” Ricki asked.

“Of course I trust you, Ricki.”

Ricki got her purse and pulled out a document, with a blue cover. She only unfolded the bottom section of the document, then handed it and a pen to Susan. “Then sign this for me,” Ricki said.

Susan kissed Ricki and then signed it. She then unfolded the document and read the first few lines. Her face lit up and she wore a big smile on her face, “Oh my gosh,” She threw her arms around Ricki’s neck and pulled her in for a big kiss.

“Susan!” Georgia said, getting her daughter’s attention.

“Yes, Mom.”

“I will only agree to this, if I get a real wedding, with one or both of you in dresses,” Georgia said, “Before one of you get too big around the waist.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Hey, what is this all about?” Laura asked. “Don’t keep us in the dark.”

Susan continued kissing Ricki and just handed Laura the document. Laura took it and began reading it out loud.

“Declaration of Common Law Marriage,” was all she got out before Ricki and Susan found them selves surrounded.

Georgia handed Susan another ring and Madeline handed Ricki one of her grandmothers sets. They then exchanged ring sets.

“Where are you going to Live Ricki,” Laura asked.

“I was hoping to stay here, so I can go to the High school, Mom and I have chosen.”

“We’re going to bed,” Susan said, pulling Ricki behind her, “We have some catching up to do.”

“Dang it, nobody is going to get any sleep, around here tonight!” Cindy exclaimed giggling.

“Just be careful with her Susan,” Madeline said, as the figures disappeared up the stairs. “She is still healing.”

“Don’t worry Momma, we will be careful,” Susan said, as they entered Ricki’s room.

Madeline had the girls there, sign the document as witnesses. They only needed Madeline’s signature and two others, but all the girls insisted that they sign it too.

Susan and Ricki were up by seven the next morning. They started breakfast for themselves and Laura and Cindy, who had awoken to the smell bacon cooking and coffee brewing.

Sleepily Laura asked them if they had finally done ‘IT’. The only answer she got were the silly smiles on Ricki and Susan’s faces.

“I can’t believe we slept through it. What did you do Ricki, did you gag her.”

“I will never tell.”

“Well I hope that you two enjoyed yourselves.”

Ricki and Susan both giggled.

Ricki made her come back debut with the Great Donotello. She was a roaring success, at the diner theater. She had to miss the Labor Day show with Mrs. Lively; she found it a little painful to try shimmy.

At the high school, they met with a counselor there. With all the AP courses Ricki took, they gave her credit for her junior year course work. She would start the year as a senior, taking courses specific to California; history and government. Ricki having a job, would go to school from seven thirty to noon and then report to her job. She would receive high school credit for her job.

School started for everyone in the condo, Ricki couldn’t take care of the girls now, as she had to hurry out the door, even before her sisters. Georgia stayed in town long enough, to help Madeline find a five bedroom home, about ten miles from her daughters place.

Three weeks after Ricki’s return, Susan had to call her Mom. She told her that they would have to have a December Wedding, Ricki’s little swimmers were doing just fine.

Ricki got back to belly dancing in October. It took her about three weeks to get up to speed.

The sisters adopted Madeline and often used her bigger place, for some of their get togethers. Laura, Ricki and Susan spent a lot of time over there.

Madeline went to work at the dinner theater, in the kitchen. The female chef was a whole lot easier to get along with. She went in early and did the prep work for the chefs, coming in to cook in the afternoon.

Sam Dresden pled guilty to seven counts of rape and seven counts of aggravated assault by poisoning. Instead of facing a life sentence, he received a twenty-five year sentence.

Ricki and Susan had their wedding in the Garden, at Georgia’s home. Ricki wore a very tailored tuxedo, which did nothing to hide her charms. Susan, a little thicker around the waist, was resplendent in white. Other than Freddie, Ricki had no male friends. Her sisters stood in as her groomsmen. They all looked cute in their tuxedos. Rebecca was Ricki’s best man, with Candace, Li Ming and Belinda. Laura was Susan’s Maid of honor with Stacy, Carrie and Cindy. Laura had been horrified at the dresses that Susan originally shown them, as bride’s maids dresses, but then Susan showed them what she really wanted them to wear. She had selected a gorgeous red Egyptian belly dancing dresses, with a shear red midriff panel. They were almost as beautiful as Susan’s dress. Adam Cartwright was tasked to give his sister, Susan away.

A magician, who was also a Methodist Preacher, by the name of Roy Carson, married them. His congregation was made up with several girls like Ricki, along with several gay and lesbian couples. They were a very enlightened congregation. Roy raised an eyebrow at Ricki, as he saw how beautiful she was, and just smiled.

With Freddy, Roy and Ricki together, they had a misdirection of Magicians on stage. (That is what a group of magicians are called, ‘a misdirection of magicians’.)

The crowd was entertained by Mrs. Lively’s troupe for fifteen minutes as the rest of the sorority sisters acting as ushers, escorted the guests to their seats.

The four groomsmen came out on the stage and stood in their places and with a flash, Ricki appeared in her place. Roy then appeared in a flash of light and smoke, before them. Then the bride’s maids started up the aisle, followed by Adam and Susan, sans bouquet. Freddy made a bouquet appear for her. The preacher made a dove appear and set it on a perch, between Susan and Ricki. He then made his minister’s handbook appear out of thin air and began his spiel. When he asked the crowd about objections, Freddy and Adam got up and pointed Super Soakers at the crowd, ready to blast the offender.

The two then said their vows. Roy asked for the rings. Ricki made Susan’s ring appear from behind Rebecca’s ear, while Laura pulled yard after yard after yard of silk scarves from out of her mouth. The ring was attached to the last scarf. She took it and handed it to Susan. Susan and Ricki handed the rings to the Preacher, who blessed them. The two of them then exchanged rings. Roy had Ricki and Susan, turn towards the crowd and hold hands. He covered the couple’s hands with a white silk scarf for a couple of seconds. With a flash, he removed the scarf from Ricki and Susan’s hands, they found themselves handcuffed together. After Mr. and Mrs. Ricki Davis were presented to the crowd, Freddy made a hundred snow white doves appear, out of an empty crate.

The End