Deliverance
Pat (Patrick) Fields, AKA Patricia; Judge Helen Cartman; Sheriff "Lim"
Potts; Tim and Tom Badger (twins); Brad Blander public defender and
owner of Brad's Feed and Seed; Claire Smith, owner of Claire's House of
Beauty; Frank Harms, of Frank's automotive and his son Moss; Lilly May,
manager and waitress of Marge's cafe. Rose Cartman, Helen's sister.
Some say our fate is preordained and the path we walk is the one we are
destined to walk. Others will argue that our lives are nothing more than
random events, with us choosing our own paths or walking the one that
chance dictates. For Patrick, it might have been both that day, and
while it didn't much matter in either case, given his choices, it would
definitely be a new path.
Summer! Just saying the word made Pat smile as he filled his duffel bag
haphazardly with everything casual. His parents were in Europe, his
sister was at their side, and a three point eight grade point average
for the year meant no Summer school. All in all it left him totally free
for the next three months and he felt like it.
Pat had a thousand dollars in travelers checks from dad for those
grades, two of his gas credit cards, his mother's ATM "for emergencies
only" she noted and, best of all, his sister's car. Not exactly perfect
because of the car but not bad either. Pat had his choice of any road he
decided on.
His direction when he pulled out of the campus parking was West. West
for no other reason that to follow the sun, and that was by a coin toss.
Four weeks West, one week North, four weeks East, and one more week
South would put him back on campus two weeks before school started
again. Pat yelled good-bye to no one in particular as he drove off.
Life was good!
Pat didn't actually hit Judge Helen Cartman. Fortunately Pat had swerved
just before that. Also just as fortunate was that pull-on disposable
diaper Helen wore. It had been a difficult decision to wear diapers but
necessary for her failing bladder. In this case it was, in those few
short seconds, a Godsend. Sheriff Potts, to his credit, acted instantly
when he heard the screeching tires, and faster still when he saw that
the pedestrian involved was none other than Judge Cartman.
The ticket read: Speeding, reckless driving and failing to yield to a
pedestrian.
Pat admitted to twenty seven miles an hour in a twenty five as he'd
passed the sheriff, and while that wasn't enough, most times, to get
anyone a ticket it was in this case. Unfortunately it was because Judge
Helen Cartman had taken a look at the radar showing how fast Pat was
going. That reckless driving part came when Pat admitted that he'd
turned his gaze away from the road for just a few seconds failing to see
Judge Cartman stepping off the curb.
Pat, as it happens, had turned his head to watch a young lady named
Lilly May walk into the only dinner in town. He didn't tell the Sheriff
that part about Lilly for obvious reasons, just that he'd been looking
at the diner as he passed it. A place to eat was what he was thinking
about when he turned his head. Of course had Sheriff Potts also seen
Lilly he'd of most likely not seen that near miss either, or even Pat
for that matter.
That failing to yield part happened just as Pat turned back to watch the
road which was a few short seconds before the judge stepped off the
curb. Unfortunately it was too short a time for Pat to react and that
near miss occurred just as Judge Cartman stepped into that cross walk.
As it happens, the judge herself was also heading for the lunch. Nearly
everyone did at that hour.
What angered the judge even more, if you don't count the soiled diaper
and her heart rate in those seconds, were the witnesses on her behalf.
Those two witnesses behind Helen who would have sworn that the car
actually had clipped her, then disappointed it hadn't. Their smile,
slightly wicked, Judge Cartman guessed, was the pleasure they'd gotten
from witnessing that incident and the fact that the judge had almost
gotten creamed.
It was the Badger twins who kept smirking as they told the Sheriff what
had happened. Surly boys who had never grown up - would never grow up. A
pain in the judge's neck and almost always in trouble of one sort or
another. Boys that Judge Cartman often had dealings with so those two,
as witnesses, would only be adding insult to her already injured ego. In
fact, there would be some laughter later, at Brown's Tractor Pull Bar
and Grill, as those two boys would describe again Judge Cartman's near
miss.
So what really infuriated Judge Cartman most were those first few
snickers from behind as the Judge jumped back and almost into their
arms. She was still mad when she sat at her bench. The indignation of
changing a diaper she actually soiled only amplified her anger. Most of
that anger now aimed at the young man standing before her. Everything
that had happened was, in her eyes, his fault!
Moreover, almost getting hit by a pastel pink compact, driven by what
she and the Sheriff had already decided was a young hippy from the
North, had only added fuel to that fire. Judge Cartman like most in that
town didn't cotton to those "damn hippies". Judge Cartman was not
looking down kindly on the boy standing before her.
Pat was shocked when the judge said she was assigning him a public
defender. Why he needed one wasn't clear but he kept that to himself. It
wasn't clear to anyone else in that court either although the Sheriff
was assuming that the judge was treating this like a capital case. She
was mad as hell and the law was hers to use as she pleased.
Unfortunately for Pat that public defender was Brad Blander. Actually
Brad was the only public defender. Brad was also the owner of Brad's
Feed and Seed.
Brad had never seen a trial come together that fast he told Pat. There
was surprise in his face as he opened his briefcase and took up pad and
pencil. He was still puffing red faced as Judge Cartman slammed her
gavel down for order. Brad was looking over the charges as the bailiff
ordered everyone to be seated. Brad couldn't believe he was there for a
simple traffic violation but he too knew the judge.
"Brad! You have five minutes to confer with your client and render a
plea," Judge Cartman said looking up at the large ornate clock to her
left. It didn't take but a couple of minutes for Brad to get the lay of
his first case in seventeen weeks. Nor much more than another minute for
him to suggest a plea to Pat. Fact was, given the witnesses, Pat was
guilty as charged Brad said and Pat nodded. They came to an agreement
right then. Brad also had two thirds of his stores inventory left to do.
"Your honor," Brad Blander said officially after getting Pat's nod on a
plea.
"Go ahead, go ahead Brad," Judge Cartman said impatiently although she
noted he still had two minutes left.
"Your honor, my client pleads guilty, and no contest. He pleads guilty
to all three counts and respectfully would also like to extend his
apologies to your honor," Brad said. Brad knew Judge Cartman having
grown up in that town. She was Little Miss Priss back when they were
kids.
With that as a factor and given the circumstances, Pat's chances were
slim to none of even walking out of there if he pleaded not guilty and
requested a trial. She'd slap him into jail without bond just for the
pleasure of doing so Brad had said. Pat was from out of town and had
nearly hit the only judge the town had. It wasn't good.
Chapter two
Pat had thought about what Brad said, but only for a minute or two. He
also thought about the fine but not nearly as much as that jail. If he
pleaded guilty at least he'd be fined, but free. That fine, Brad noted,
while it most likely would be high, would at least get him out of there
and as far away as the remaining daylight would allow. At least that was
the plan when Brad advised Pat to plead guilty. Brad didn't know about
the soiled diaper. For that matter no one else did either.
"Yes, yes, yes Brad, and the court appreciates your clients apologies!
Is that, in fact your plea young man," Judge Cartman asked of Pat
through gritted teeth.
"Yes ma'am. I mean yes your honor," Pat said not sure which way to
address the judge.
"Very well then. You've been duly charged and you've entered a plea of
guilty, and no contest to all three counts on the citation. In light of
that I will have you back here Monday morning at ten o'clock for
sentencing. Given the risk of flight I'm going to remand you to our
town's jail and held without bail till then," Judge Cartman said with
another slam of her gavel.
"Your honor! I object! My client has pleaded guilty and apologized and I
see no reason that he must be held over for sentencing," Brad said
quickly.
"Object away counselor! Your client had pleaded guilty and I have
accepted that plea and I've decided to review the charges over this
weekend before sentencing. That is the courts right! Objection noted and
denied. Is there anything else?" Judge Cartman asked.
"Again, I demand that my client be sentenced," Bard noted.
"I've already ruled on that," Judge Cartman noted.
"Your honor..." Brad said causing the judge to hold her hand up.
"One more word counselor on that subject and I'll hold you in contempt
and you too can spend the weekend in jail with your client. Is that
understood?" Judge Cartman asked.
"Yes your honor," Brad said knowing deep down that Judge Cartman would
do just exactly what she said.
"Very well then, I will see you both in this courtroom promptly at ten
o'clock Monday morning," Judge Cartman said hitting the hardwood block
with her gavel.
Pat couldn't believe his ears nor could Brad understand that much anger.
Brad suggested Pat try and simply do what he had to do since any appeal
would have to go through the judge anyway, and it didn't look good.
Besides, any appeal would still have to wait till Monday. On Monday Brad
hoped, she'd be calmer. On the bright side, Brad said, that would also
be counted as time served.
Sheriff Potts was behind Pat when the Judge ordered him taken into
custody, and in an instant had Pat in hand cuffs for the short walk to
jail. Pat was beside himself at the prospects of a weekend in jail. It
got worse when his single phone call had gotten only his parents message
service. It wasn't likely they would even get the message before the
weekend ended and even if they did there was little they would be able
to do.
Judge Cartman wiggled slightly in her fresh disposable, scowling over
the experience with that last one and those humiliating giggles from the
Badger twins. She admitted to her sister a short time later that in this
case it wasn't justice she wanted served so much, but a slight taste of
revenge.
She would have her minor bit of revenge from Pat, and sooner or later,
those Badger twins would be standing before her again. Helen was a
patient woman in that regard and those Badger boys would not snicker
much after she was done with them. The boys took that look as a warning
sign when the judge turned in their direction. They left court in a
hurry.
It was the first time Judge Cartman smiled since the episode. Her second
smile was after the phone call in her chambers. That was five minutes
later after talking to the only other person besides her sister that
knew of her incontinence. Susan Aims, the owner of Aims Pharmacy took
the judges order promising, as usual, her silence. Susan only thought it
odd because the judge had already gotten her months supply of
disposables.
Meanwhile...
Frank Harms, of Frank's Automotive, told his son Moss, to go fetch that
hippy's car. Frank's boy Moss, named in honor of that small patch of
green where he was conceived on that Spring day fourteen years ago, left
to do what he was told. Frank's Automotive was also the towns impound
lot of a sort.
It was Moss who took Pat's duffel when the car was finally parked out
back. Moss too had been in front of Judge Cartman's bench more than a
few times, and taking things was almost a habit for the boy. Pat's only
clothing, when that bag came up missing, would be what he was actually
wearing.
Pat was sitting in a cell seven feet wide and ten feet long reading the
names etched into the plaster that covered the concrete blocks. Names,
dates and some very unkind words for both the Sheriff and Judge as it
happens. Pat was also wondering if the names Tim and Tom Badger were the
same two that were in court as witnesses.
"You got a change of clothes hippy," Sheriff Potts asked of Pat after
booking him into the tiny jail. There were only two cells and some old
man occupied the other one which had it's door still open.
"Yes sir! They are in a bag in my car," Pat said with a shaky voice.
The county didn't pay for jail uniforms, nor cleaning, and Sheriff Potts
only nodded when Pat said that before closing the cell door behind him.
Sheriff Potts would stop at Frank's on the way to the diner for lunch.
Lunch and a long glance at Lilly May over a chicken fried stake. At
least that was the Sheriff's intent when Frank tossed the Sheriff Pat's
car keys.
Frank was under an old ford pickup truck and the keys had been in his
pocket when the sheriff pulled up. Sheriff Potts walked though the
building to the lot and Pat's car. There was nothing in the front or
back seats.
"No bag," Sheriff Potts told Frank when the Sheriff looked in the car.
Sheriff Potts was standing at the open back door.
"Might be in the trunk Sheriff," Frank said hoping his son hadn't gone
off and done something stupid again like take that boy's bag.
Chapter three
"What sort of boy drives a car painted that color," Frank said walking
to the door as he wiped his hands. He was looking at the pink compact
with those large lavender daisy's painted on the door.
"Hippies," Sheriff Potts said in that same voice of disgust that Frank
used. Frank wasn't thinking hippy when he'd asked. Nor was the Sheriff
for that matter. Mostly because the car was pink with flowers on it.
Pink with flowers wasn't exactly a manly sort of car they both decided
in their own way. That thought was on the Sheriff's mind when he found
the large bag in the trunk. The Sheriff changed some of what he was
thinking in those seconds. It was the only bag now in the car thanks to
Moss.
"Well I'll be damned," Sheriff Potts said as he unzipped the bag he'd
pulled out and carried to his own car. His intent was to search it for
weapons or drugs. Actually he'd said damn more than once as he went
through the contents. That first "will I'll be damned" came when he
opened the trunk and saw a hot pink bag with Barbie's name decorating
it.
Of course that wasn't Pat's bag. Moss, as it happens, was actually going
through Pat's bag in the old barn a hundred feet from there. Wasn't much
as far as Moss was concerned but, he mused, as he tried on Pat's jeans,
the price was right.
In the meantime Sheriff Potts was doing his own bit of musing in those
same seconds. That pink bag was filled with girl's clothing. Very
clearly girl's clothes and obviously not Pat's, if the Sheriff had
asked, but the Sheriff had already formed another opinion of Pat. The
pink car decorated with flowers made more sense now. So too the long
hair and sandals the boy wore.
As it happens, those clothes belonged to Tracy Marks. Tracy Marks was a
friend of Pat's sister. Tracy had tossed that bag into Pat's sister's
trunk a few days earlier. Ironically Tracy was still fuming over that
since her best friend Cindy was now in Europe, and that geek of a
brother had taken the car for the Summer. Some of her favorite Summer
dresses were in that bag.
That second "I'll be damn" came when the Sheriff lifted out the matching
makeup bag to go through that before he carried it back with him to the
jail. Sheriff Potts had never had one of those "types" in his jail
before this and he wasn't all that keen over having one now. Although,
to the sheriff's credit, he knew girls felt better with a little makeup
on and he suspected that a boy who wants to be a girl must feel the same
way.
Also to the Sheriff's credit he keep his opinions to himself. Most of
all he'd keep his prejudices in check. At least now the Sheriff
understood why that boy had long hair, wore sandals and drove a pink
car. He sat the bags on his desk and picked up the phone. Having one of
that sort of person in his jail changed things. It changed things a lot.
"Hello," Judge Cartman said after picking up her phone.
"Judge, listen, that boy isn't a hippy like we thought. He's one of
those Transfigured people. I just found a bag of girl's clothes and
makeup in his car," Sheriff Potts said.
"Girl's clothes? The boys? What do you mean Transfigured," Judge Cartman
asked a little confused till she suddenly realized that the Sheriff most
likely meant Transsexual as she added, "Do you mean Transsexual?"
"Transsexual! Yes, that's the word! Yes! Yes, that's it. He's obviously
one of those guys that dresses and acts like a girl," the sheriff said
and added, "not a stitch of boy's clothes other than what he was wearing
but I
"Transsexual! OK. Damn! Wait a second, you don't have him in a cell with
any other guys do you? I mean you can't have him in a cell with guys,"
Judge Cartman asked in a sudden panic.
"Nope! Only other person in the jail right now is Old Man Turner. Picked
him up again this morning," Sheriff Potts said and added, "the boy is by
himself right now."
"Girl," Judge Cartman said correcting the sheriff.
"Girl what?" Sheriff Potts asked confused.
"If he's a Transsexual then he prefers being called a girl! So start
calling her by the proper gender pronouns. Not clear on the law for
these guys, but it also means there is most likely some sort of Civil
rights laws being violated if we don't treat him like one," Judge
Cartman noted in frustration.
"Like one what?" Sheriff Potts asked.
"Like a girl for heavens sakes! You slow or what? What have we been
talking about so far?" Judge Cartman said losing patience over Sheriff
Potts being so slow on the uptake.
"Right! OK, I got it. So he's a girl and I got to treat him like a
girl," Sheriff Potts said.
"OK is right, and you be damn careful on how you treat her and I mean
that! I don't want you to even consider doing anything that might
infringe on her civil rights. In fact, treat her like she's the daughter
of the President of the United States for the moment. I've got only a
few rulings I've seen on those people, and I don't want this one suing
us. Don't want her ending up owning the damn town simple because we
violated her rights. Meanwhile I'll do some research" Judge Cartman
said. Another new wrinkle Judge Cartman mused as she looked over at her
case books.
"Got it," Sheriff Potts said before his good-bye. Sheriff Potts picked
up the clothes bag, checked one more time for contraband, smiled as he
shook his head, then made his way to the cells. The boy took on a new
look to the Sheriff as he stood by the bars of Pat's cell.
"Can't let you have any makeup just yet till I've looked through it
better, but you can chose one change of clothes," the Sheriff said
setting the larger bag in front of Pat's cell so Pat had access to it.
Pat looked at the Barbie bag and then at the Sheriff. There was
confusion on his face.
"That's not my bag, and those aren't my things," Pat said looking at the
hot pink bag and those Barbie decorations again as the Sheriff unzipped
it. Sheriff Potts had a sudden touch of sympathy for the boy. Must be
tough, he thought, going through life like that. The Sheriff
automatically assumed why the boy wouldn't admit those were his things.
Some of that sympathy came from the Sheriff's own little collection of
feminine things he kept in several evidence bags in county storage.
Although, the Sheriff decided and justifiably so, that at least in his
case, he didn't wear his stuff. Sheriff Potts did, however, get that
look he often got when a prisoner took on any kind of resistance.
Sheriff Potts didn't like a prisoner being defiant. Sheriff Potts took
on his authoritative stance and cleared his throat.
Chapter four
"Boy, you listen up... I mean girl, you listen up and listen good,
because I'm only going to say this once! You get three squares a day,
one hour out back exercising, a change of clothes and a shower! That's
the law and it's my ass if you don't get those things. If you know
what's good for you, you'll take what you need out of there and keep
your mouth shut! I don't want any sass from you... you hear..." Sheriff
Potts said in what he called his 'law enforcement voice'.
The deep angry tone and imposing figure scared Pat nearly witless in
less than a second. He was in a small town and in jail and that sheriff
could lift him with a single arm. Pat could only nod and it was a yes.
He wasn't sure what the Sheriff was doing with those things nor why he
wanted Pat to wear them, but he was too scared to do anything but nod
again.
"Good! Now then, I'm the law around here and rules is rules, so you take
about another minute or two and pick something out to wear for after
your shower. If not, I'm going to do the picking and you might not like
what I chose! You hear me," Sheriff Potts said as he raised himself full
height.
Pat made an immediate assumption and shivered over it. Pat was in a town
no larger than half his campus. Four or five blinks of an eye even at
twenty five miles an hour. He was in a part of America, he assumed, that
didn't vote liberal much. Pat shivered a little as he bent down with the
assumption that the bag actually belonged to the Sheriff or perhaps even
to the town.
There were five small dresses all purchased for Summer which was why
Tracy had been so mad at Pat's sister. There were also several slips, a
couple of bras, and a half dozen panties not to mention that new bag.
Pat prayed silently that all the Sheriff wanted was to just see him in a
dress as he pulled out the first dress from the bag. It was the flowery
pink one sitting at the top.
"Grab your undies as well. The shower is out back!" The Sheriff said
noting that the boy didn't hesitate to take up that dress and
predictably he, or rather she took up the pink one. Girls like pink and
apparently so do boys that want to be girls the sheriff mused.
Pat noticed the Sheriff's leer as he took up a slip, pair of panties and
bra. Of course if either could read minds the whole scene would have
unfolded quite differently. That leer, as it happens, was actually over
the slip, bra and panties Pat held and not over Pat wearing them as he
suspected.
Pat did get a fragrant bar of soap from the smaller pink bag with the
makeup in it, and the Sheriff thinking he'd ease the boys fears a little
also included a tube of lipstick. Sheriff had remembered a date of his
telling him that a touch of lipstick was like a little bit of therapy.
It was an act of kindness for the Sheriff , but another terrifying
moment for Pat as he moved down the hall towards the bathroom with his
new stuff. That pervert wanted him to wear lipstick besides, Pat
thought.
Tracy was an inch taller than Pat and about the same weight although Pat
had no way of knowing any of that. Since Pat didn't know who owned those
things or even if they fit, Pat could only assume that the Sheriff did.
Pat wasn't surprised that the slip came over the bra and panties in a
surprisingly good fit in that small bathroom. The movie Deliverance and
one particular scene he remembered almost made him cry as Pat stepped
into those pink lacy panties following his shower.
It was the first time Pat had ever used lipstick as well. Pat also used
the girlish scrunchy the Sheriff had grabbed for Pat's hair from that
same makeup bag. It matched the dress, or at least the Sheriff thought
it did, and who was he to judge, he decided, as he handed that to Pat as
well just before closing the bathroom door. Sheriff Potts, as he walked
back to his desk, was wondering what the boy looked like as a girl.
That old man, in the cell next to Pat's, got slightly more confused when
Sheriff Potts walked that girl back to where that boy had been. Must not
have been a boy, the old man decided, as he wished in that same thought
for a small shot of whisky. Didn't often get girls in jail, although the
old man also assumed he might be hallucinating as he so often did.
"Clem! You mind you own business and your manners, you hear," Sheriff
Potts said after noting the leer on the old man's face before adding,
"come on you old fart, you're next for a shower and you need it, so get
your butt out of there."
Pat sat again on the cell bed watching quietly, intently and scared of
what might happen. Same cell as before, only this time he was wearing a
light pink flowery summer dress over a slip, bra and panties. The bra
had small soft foam uplifts sewn into it giving Pat a slight "B" cup if
that mattered.
Pat was trying to ignore what he was wearing and what it meant but
couldn't. All the while wondering what his fate was and nearly on the
verge of tears over those images of what he imagined it could be. The
Sheriff had taken his boy clothes now stuffed in a net bag leaving him
only his sandals when he came out of the shower. Twenty minutes later
the Sheriff walked that old man back to his cell and looked at Pat once
again.
Made a fairly decent looking girl was the Sheriff's thoughts. Although
Pat took that look slightly further and this time he did began to cry
softly. He was sitting there with his knees together in his own sandals
with his feet turned inward making him look very feminine and very
vulnerable. Very feminine the Sheriff thought which went in Pat's favor
in those seconds. It wasn't a bad look the Sheriff thought. That view
actually made the Sheriff a tad bit more sympathetic.
Sheriff Potts was, more often than not, a kinder soul than he appeared
to be. His thoughts changed a little when he settled in on the notion
that the boy liked being a girl. The sheriff got even more sympathetic
with that pitiful face now streaking with tears. The whole look tugged
at him in those seconds.
Girls crying always did that to him and in those seconds he decided that
the boy was more girl than boy. He softened instantly and some of it
because the boy was acting like a girl sitting there so demurely. She,
as Potts now thought of her, was scared, that was obvious and this was
most likely her first time in jail. Just wasn't fair treating her like
this, not for some silly traffic violations.
Then the Sheriff had another thought, making him shiver a little, as he
murmured to himself, "damn."
It had struck him full in the face. It was Friday.
Friday, and the bars would be filling in a couple of hours. Friday and
in a few more hours Sheriff Potts would be filling these two small
cells. Last thing the Sheriff wanted was to shove a bunch of drunk red
necks and horny farmers in with that boy dressed the way he or she was.
Sheriff smiled over his confusion on what to call the boy or girl but
frowned over what he imagined might or most definitely would happen.
Sheriff Potts stepped to his desk and picked up his phone again. The
Sheriff punched the numbers in quickly.
"Hello," Judge Cartman's sister Rose said answering the phone.
"Hi Rose! It's me," Sheriff Potts said when Helen answered and asked,
"Listen, is the judge around? It's kind of an emergency."
Chapter five
"Hold on," Rose said.
"What can I do for you Sheriff?" Helen asked after her sister said it
was an emergency.
"It's about that young man... I mean that girl we got in jail here!
Helen, listen, that girl is about as scared as any child can be and
frankly I can't blame her. It's just a damn traffic ticket. But that's
not the point Helen, the point is it's Friday," Sheriff Potts said.
The Judge had no clue over what the Sheriff was talking about till she
got a Reader's Digest version of what the Sheriff meant by it being
Friday. As mad as Helen was over that boy's carelessness, her fright and
soiling her disposable, she too didn't want that girl being harmed.
She also, in those same moments and based on what the Sheriff said
earlier over those tears, assumed Pat was definitely closer to a
Patricia than a Patrick. Law is clear on men and women not sharing
cells. Helen wasn't completely clear on the law about men that wanted to
be women so it was simply going to be easier to assume Pat was female
and just let it go at that.
"Damn it! You're right Sheriff! We can't have her sitting in a cell with
that Friday and Saturday crowd. Tell you what, bring her back to my
chambers and I'll change my orders to 'house arrest'. I'll put her up at
Claire's for the weekend," Judge Cartman said after thinking about where
the girl could stay. They had housed a runaway girl there once.
Sheriff Potts went back into the cell area and said, "I'm about to start
filling these cells with some of our locals, so it's going to be better
that you aren't in here when that happens. That is if you promise to
keep your mouth shut about all this. I mean that, about talking. Anyway,
the Judge has agreed to put you up in a safer place," Sheriff Potts said
and added hoping to cheer the girl up, "a bit more comfortable as well."
In truth, Sheriff Potts was telling Pat to keep his mouth shut about
breaking the rules of confinement. Remanding a person to jail then
letting them out without changing those orders was the issue. Of course
Pat assumed it was over the way he was dressed and not getting the
Sheriff and whoever else was involved in this in trouble as he nodded
his agreement. There was a sense of relief over the prospects of at
least getting out of there but fear still over what was happening. Pat,
in the hope of not angering the Sheriff, eagerly promised not to say a
word about any of this.
"I'm going to say this again! Not a word about this to anyone! And, if
you try taking off between now and Monday, just add another twelve
months to your weekend for breaking jail. Understood?" Sheriff Potts
said.
Pat nodded quickly. Whatever the Sheriff was up to Pat decided he had no
choice in it. What he did know was that he was getting out of that jail
and away from that old man's leer. A second later he was standing
outside of his cell.
Pat was walking alongside the Sheriff after leaving the jail. He nodded
his agreement again just before stepping outside and right after the
Sheriff warned him again. It was still daylight, almost dusk.
They walked out of the cell together and onto the street. Given Pat's
size, the way he was dressed, his hair, and that bit of lipstick made
him look every bit the girl he was dressed as. Those two bags, the one
with makeup and the other with the clothes Pat now carried only added to
his look as he walked alongside the Sheriff.
At least that was Claire's assumption when Pat stood at the door with
the Sheriff when she opened it. Judge Cartman had called Claire after
getting the boy's promise to behave and cooperate till Monday. It was
also the Judge's opinion that the boy was clearly one of 'those' types
of boys, and obviously Claire shared that opinion just as quickly and
just as easily.
Judge Cartman made a note on Pat's booking form and she altered orders
on confining her. Judge Cartman was playing it safe legally. She also
made a note that Pat was to be treated 'legally' as Patricia. She knew
the law but not all of it, and that part she didn't know could, she
believed, hurt her. Judge Cartman didn't want a messy civil rights issue
hounding her near election time.
Only Judge Cartman was still upset. She had been scared enough to soil
her diaper and that had angered her a lot. Putting that girl up at
Claire's wasn't punishment at all. Of course the judge didn't know Pat
didn't want to dress as a girl. Since the judge didn't know Pat was
already going through about four kinds of hell she didn't see much
justice yet.
Helen called and caught the Sheriff at Claire's telling Potts to bring
the girl to her chambers again. Judge Cartman also had that idea, she
formed earlier and a way to get a little justice. Helen wanted some of
that justice for her own egos sake. Since she couldn't keep that girl in
jail for the weekend and that jail time was to have been her punishment,
she could perhaps teach her a lesson another way. She was going to
impose that part of it on Monday anyway so it was simply going to be
sooner than later.
Pat walked back into the court house, now closed for the days business
but open for this occasion. The Sheriff knocked on Judge Cartman's
chamber door and opened it when the judge said, "come in."
"You want to wait outside Sheriff," Judge Cartman said.
"Yes ma'am," Sheriff Potts noted as he turned for the door. Fearing his
prisoner a flight risk wasn't a thought as the Sheriff stepped outside
closing the door after him.
"Now then young lady, it's obvious we can't keep you confined given our
limited facilities and the crowd about to form there. That means you're
under house arrest for now. Understood?" Judge Cartman asked.
Pat didn't like the reference to him being a girl, but he wasn't about
to complain since he was out of that jail cell at least. Pat wasn't sure
what was going on or why they wanted him in a dress but not being in
that cell was enough reason to be calmer. He also wasn't clear why he
was back in the judge's chambers.
Chapter six
"Yes ma'am," Pat said.
"And, if you don't mind, and so this change in confinement doesn't look
so odd, we'll be referring to you as Patricia for the time being. That
will also justify this change in location. I'm noting that change in
your booking form so you'll have to initial it," Judge Cartman said and
added, "is that also clear?"
"Yes ma'am," Pat answered. Patricia was a girl's name and obviously the
judge was in on this, whatever this was. He was beginning to suspect it
was his punishment but why he was being punished like this wasn't clear
at all.
The judge twisted a form so it faced Pat pointing at the name Pat that
had been changed to Patricia. Pat took up the pen and initialed the
change as instructed. The judge picked the form up, looked over the
changes and slipped it once again into a manila folder.
"And not a word of this to anyone, right," Judge Cartman said.
Pat, of course, did mind having his name changed, but he was making
assumptions based on his own opinion of this judge, the sheriff and even
this town. Why they were doing this wasn't clear, but they were doing it
and they wanted him silent. Besides, right then he was simply too afraid
to ask or complain. Pat nodded his agreement again. Had to be something
connected with that near miss and most likely this was intended to be
humiliating since the judge had been humiliated. He'd humiliated the
judge and now she was getting even.
What made it somewhat more palatable was the relief that it wasn't some
perverted plan of the Sheriff's. Pat had assumed all manner of things,
most of which had scared him senseless. At least he wasn't going to be
spending the night with some dirty old man or a bunch of dirty young
men. It made Pat feel a little better. Not much given what he was
wearing, but a little.
"Since I've had to end your jail punishment, there is still justice to
be served and I've got to tell you right now young lady that I was
pretty damn mad at you for scaring me like that," Judge Cartman said.
"Yes ma'am. I really am sorry. I didn't mean that to happen," Pat said.
"Nonetheless, you did and I'm going to share with you a bit of why that
is. You say a word about this to anyone... I mean anyone, and you'll be
a year older when you see freedom again," Judge Cartman said and added,
"understood?"
"Yes ma'am," Pat said.
"OK, then, just so we understand each other. Anyway, I'm angry because
you embarrassed the hell out of me. Some of that embarrassment is
because I'm incontinent. Damn it, I'm incontinent and again, if you
breath a word of that to another living soul, you'll rue the day! Is
that understood?" Judge Cartman asked.
"Yes ma'am." Pat said as he digested that new and very odd bit of
information. It explained now why the judge was so mad and, in a way, it
added another reason for the girl clothes. He'd embarrassed the judge
and now it was her turn to embarrass him. Made sense in a twisted sort
of way.
"Good, because your new sentence, beginning in just a minute, is that
you share in my discomfort for the remainder of this weekend. Perhaps if
you had to wear what I wear you'd get an appreciation for senior
citizens and why you need to be mindful of them when you're in a car,"
Judge Cartman said.
Pat wasn't sure what the judge was actually saying until the judge
picked up a plastic grocery bag and sat it on her desk as she said, "you
got seven diapers in here. Seven disposable diapers! They're the same
ones I wear. You'll be wearing them for the next two days. One to wear
out of here and three more for each day till Monday morning. Is that
understood?"
This had been weird up to now. Now it was getting even more bizarre.
Although it was definitely clearer now on why Pat was dressed as a girl.
Pat could only wonder how bad it had been for her when he nearly hit the
woman sitting behind her desk. So that was it. Pat's relief was mixed
with how he was being punished but at least it now made sense.
Pas was definitely being humiliated. Obviously she'd most likely wet
herself or worse. The judge, Pat mused, must have been very
uncomfortable following that near miss. It was an odd way of punishing a
guy, but given his options at the moment all he could do was nod.
"Bathroom's over there!" Judge Cartman said handing Chuck a foamy soft
white mound of a diaper from the bag on her desk. She also added a pair
of clear plastic pants.
Pat took both and walked towards the bathroom hoping he could get
through this as quickly as possible. Of course, if his folks called back
this was the last thing he'd want them to know. He would tell them that
it was a mistake and that he actually wasn't in jail. That he'd been
released and that was that. It was all a misunderstanding he'd say on
his next message.
Pat had the slip and dress up around his chest as he brought the diaper
between his legs. He tapped it closed with some amount of difficulty
given it would have been better laying down but he didn't want to do
that. Pat added the plastic pants which made the diaper more snug. His
panties, the ones belonging to Tracy, were stretched a little more now
making the diaper even more snug.
Pat left the bathroom and met the judge again who was standing in front
of her desk with that bag of six remaining diapers. "OK, turn around for
a moment! This is simply to confirm that you're wearing it," Judge
Cartman said. Pat felt the judges hand pat him once. There was no doubt
Pat was wearing a diaper Judge Cartman mused happily.
"Good! As I said, a couple of days wearing what I have to wear might
make you a little more careful next time," the judge said feeling better
now.
Pat assumed she was also talking about the dress, slip, bra and panties
as well. In an odd sort of way it was all Pat needed for his new
understanding of this. Actually the only reason Pat was even relieved at
all was knowing now that it wasn't the sheriff's idea. As bad as this
was, those images he'd conjured up about the Sheriff had been far worse.
"You've met Claire, she's a friend of mine and very understanding. She
owns the local beauty parlor and I've explained why you'll be staying
there. You are to do what she says and I'm warning you that means
everything! Understood?" Judge Cartman noted.
"Yes ma'am." Pat said.
Chapter seven
Claire was also born in Mill Burg, but she'd been gone for five years
before taking the shop over from her mother. After Beauty School and her
business degree she turned her mother's old beauty shop into a
delightfully pretty and successful saloon.
It was, as she so often put it, a decent sort of way to make a living.
Ironically Claire was looking at Pat in a motherly sort of way. As a
mother might a daughter and thinking how much better he'd look with a
little foundation, touch of color, and something done with those pretty
eyes of hers and she too thought of Pat as Patricia.
Judge Cartman, for her part in this, couldn't think of a better place to
house Pat, and for any number of reasons. Not the least of which Helen
assuming that the boy would be far more comfortable and so much safer in
that environment. A boy that wants to be a girl is going to be
comfortable with a woman that loves making girls pretty.
Judge Cartman also knew Claire and her kindness, so she also knew that
the boy wouldn't have much of a civil case if that particular push ever
came to a shove. Judge Cartman could now prove, with loads of witnesses,
that she had taken every measure to make sure that the little
Transsexual was treated with kindness and respect.
Claire, to her credit, had a far more liberal outlook on life having
lived some of it in the 'big city'. As it happens, Claire had known two
transsexuals in beauty school and another that, by his own admission,
was flaming in his outlook on what he was. So, Claire simply assumed she
was looking at one of those as she opened her back door to Pat once
again, Judge Cartman and the Sheriff.
Pat, on the other hand, made further assumptions on this odd punishment
of his. Ironically it made perfectly good sense in a warped sort of way.
I mean what better place is there to humiliate a guy, that you've
dressed like a girl, and diapered, than to put him smack dab in the
middle of a beauty salon. Pat gritted his teeth as he took Claire's hand
in greeting.
Pat also vowed, right then and there, to keep a strong grip on his pride
and hold his ego intact no matter what. They might think they were
humiliating him, and of course they were, but he wasn't going to give
them the satisfaction of seeing him buckle under, and to hell with their
twisted sense of justice. Pat could be pretty defiant when he wanted to
be.
In fact, Pat decided, he was going to make damn sure they saw just the
opposite. He actually forced a smile back to Claire's when she took his
hand. He'd show this lady Claire, that judge and the Sheriff a thing or
two about guts. Besides, he'd be clear of this place soon enough and who
cared what they thought after that. He wasn't going to let them see him
frightened any more.
Claire, of course, took Pat's smile as confirmation of a sort and so did
Judge Helen. Claire also took to Patrick as easily as she might a girl,
but that was Claire in a nut shell. What bothered her in those minutes
was obviously his lipstick and that hair. She didn't like the color, it
wasn't on very well and Pat's hair needed a serious amount of work.
Pat's lipstick was red and he was wearing pink. Bad combination Claire
mused, and his hair needed a good shampoo, brushing and at least a
conditioner. He could definitely use a little blush as well, and those
nails, bitten to the nubs, were a disgrace. Claire would fix those first
she decided. Nothing like a little bit of femininity to make you feel
girlish, Claire mused.
Judge Cartman left Pat there with another promise that he'd better
cooperate and cooperate fully. If not, the judge warned, he'd be right
back in that jail. The Sheriff had let the judge talk and walked off
when she had finished. Meanwhile, Claire decided that this boy who
wanted to be a girl would get her best efforts and mostly for his sake.
Claire was the personification of a nurturing female with a heart as
big, some said, as her bosom. Claire pitied the young man his fate given
that the judge had also told her about the diapers. That part, as
uncomfortable as it must be for the young lady, Claire mused, she was
certain she could at least make her comfortable by making her pretty.
Comfortable to Claire was a day at her salon. To Claire, nothing was
more beneficial for a woman than a day at the salon. Given the
circumstances of Pat's odd incarceration it was clear he would benefit
as well. Pat, or rather Patricia, as far as Claire was concerned, was
going to get full benefit of her salon. Pat was in Claire's house when
Judge Cartman walked away. Sheriff Potts had returned to the office
relieved somewhat to be free of this odd young man. Claire left Pat in
her spare bedroom to put away his things when she went into the salon to
address the girls working there.
"So, just remember, and most important of all, is that a transsexual
believes he's female and according to most experts, she is in spite of
what her body suggest. That is very important to these guys as girls, so
I want you to consider her as much a female as we are. Understood? And
no questions about why she's the way she is. She is, and that's that! Is
that also clear?" Claire said to her staff of five.
They all nodded. For them it was kind of exciting. It was a change of
pace in an often dull environment after the Friday rush to get ready for
dates. At least it was something different and the girls were all smiles
as Claire left to return with Pat. Claire, again, believed she was doing
the right thing and now too those girls as they waited.
To the girl's credit Pat was going to get their best efforts and Sally
began with a waxing that was flawless when Pat was handed over to her.
Cute puffy bottom, Sally mused, as she picked up the pot with the warm
wax. It was both painful and soothing as she stripped him of his light
blond body hair.
The small single person sauna opened his pores before a fragrant shower
left him feeling soft and, like it or not, slightly feminine. Pat had
done both without his diaper. He knew he'd need a fresh one and so did
Claire and things changed again when Pat saw the diaper laying on the
bench arranged next to the shower and sauna. Next to it also were a
different pair of panties.
Pat took the panties up wondering if those had been in the bag with the
other then realizing they were much bigger. Pat didn't know this but
Claire, knowing Pat would be wearing diapers under the judges orders
needed a larger size panty. She's seen the regular panties Pat wore
deciding they were too snug to fit over a diaper and plastic pants.
Claire also knew or thought she did that a Transsexual liked wearing
panties with lace.
They were Claire's panties Pat was holding. A size five and far too big
for Pat without the diaper and those baby pants but almost a perfect fit
over the extra padding. Not only were they larger but Claire, assuming
Pat loved ruffles and lace as much as she did, gave up her best pair for
this occasion. Claire, when she wasn't running her salon was one of the
counties best square dancers and she loved the ruffles and lace she wore
under her outfits. What girl wouldn't, she mused, picking the pink pair
for her guest.
Claire liked wearing those ruffled panties when she went dancing. She'd
chosen her pink pair that went with her pink petticoats and it was too
bad Patricia wasn't wearing those. Not only pink, ruffled and laced but
Claire had taken the time long ago to add a cute tiny bow just above
that last row of lace. She loved teasing the boys even at her age. Over
baby pants and a diaper they reminded Claire of a baby girl's rhumba
panties. It gave her a delightful image of Pat in those thoughts.
Chapter eight
Pat was soon stepping into those ruffled lace panties after laying on
the Sauna's bench to diaper himself. Claire had added that small Sauna,
and shower you could mix fragrant mist into, right after she reopened.
The women loved it and Pat had chosen lavender when Claire pointed out
the various fragrances.
That Sauna and attached shower had paid for itself within months and
some women often came in for just that and ten minutes on the tanning
bed. Pat smelled of fresh flowers when he stepped out of his shower and
into a pink nylon smock. Pat's dress was on a hanger and he only wore
his bra, slip and Claire's panties over that plastic pair of pants and
diaper under his smock.
He was led back to the salon part and sat in the last chair with none of
the other customers the wiser, other than the girl being new in these
parts some thought, as Mandy covered him in a pink bib. A star of some
fame wouldn't have gotten any better treatment as the girls descended on
Pat.
Pat gritted his teeth reciting his vow to not let it get to him. He said
that to himself over and over again as his finger tips were dipped into
a lavender and pink bowl of liquid. No matter what happened, Pat noted
he would not show how he felt as he relaxed his hands slightly.
His nails grew longer with a silk wrap, and took on a soft rounded
point. They soon glowed with a blush pink polish under a translucent
glitter. A popular color with the younger girls and nearly perfect a
color for Pat's dress. His nails were a half inch longer than they had
been when he sat and felt odd when he moved his fingers or hand.
His hair was shampooed, conditioned and blow dried before being brushed
to either side. Those two pony tails were set off by ribbon with two
strips of light pink satin. Claire did those bows perfectly and smiled
over how much just that part had changed Pat's look. Pat made a very
pretty young girl she decided. He did as a matter of fact although Pat
tried not paying attention to his image in the mirror.
Claire also did his face and she'd been top in her class on making a
girl over. Pat did look very much like a Patricia when Claire stepped
back to admire her handiwork. His foundation, a very light tan that
matched his forearm color perfectly, blended his face nearly flawless.
She blushed the apple of his cheeks with a very soft pink, and cast a
light shadow below that with a darker blush instantly thinning his face.
Pat's lipstick, a light rose, went on after a darker rose was used as an
outline. The treatment made Pat's lips look thicker, giving him a
feminine, pouting look. It was very flattering against his light
lavender eye shadow and black liner. His eye lashes were much longer,
thicker and perfect as he fluttered against the odd feel the mascara
caused. He could, or so Claire believed, walk out of there, handbag in
hand, as easily as any of them.
Meanwhile...
Judge Cartman was back home with her sister. The boy had enough problems
Helen decided and he would be released come Monday she decided. Helen
was satisfied on her punishment and glad now that he or rather she was
at Claire's. The boy or girl already had his or her issues walking
through this world as a girl. She didn't want to compound his life any
more than she needed to but, then again, he'd nearly killed her or at
least could have and that had needed to be addressed and had.
The fact that she'd changed his baby pants to pink, to her, was simply
another act of kindness in a whole list of them coming together that day
as Pat was. Pat meanwhile was standing in front of a long mirror in a
mild state of shock. He looked like his sister and in more ways than one
and avoided completely the fact that he was as pretty as her. His toes
in his sandals were the same color as his finger tips. Pat's slip was
now sliding smoothing over his legs leaving him quietly aware of why
they called them slips.
Claire, and the girls, beamed at his silence assuming happily that
they'd done their job. They were as proud as any group of girls
preparing a bride for her most important day and felt like bridesmaids
in those minutes. One of them giggled. Pat was, without a doubt,
beautiful.
Those few giggles impossible to ignore didn't seem as bad, as Pat felt
his world slide a little and in an odd sort of way. It was also that
slip moving across the front and back of his satiny smooth legs. Even
the thickness of his diaper added some amount of something and he didn't
want to say pleasure yet. He was being punished. Punished by an entire
town so there was that but there was something else as well.
Pat silently renewed his vow of not letting it get to him but it had a
little. Actually it had bothered him a lot but not the way it should
have. He wasn't feeling nearly as bad as he'd hoped so that vow was made
with slightly less conviction than before. It was just five in the
evening when Claire told Tina to close at six. She and Pat were going to
dinner and then home. Tina often closed for Claire and nodded before
hugging Pat. An act that left Pat slightly confused but hugging back.
Pat was petrified over the walk out of the beauty salon, but Claire
assured him that he'd pass without a hitch if he simply took shorter
steps, kept his arms at his side more, and imagined a glass of water
sitting on top of his head. Something he mumbled over and over again
several times as they walked to the single cross walk that had started
all of this. He was holding a pink clutch from Claire's own collection
as they crossed the street for the dinner.
The Badger twins coming to a stop for the girls to cross, hooted a
couple of times in their old farm truck. They smiled curiously as they
waited for Claire and that little fox with her to pass. They'd never
seen her in those parts as she crossed the street. The only reason they
stopped leering at all was that look from Claire. Both boys knew Claire.
Each boy had his own memories of those days in high school when Claire
teased them into some of her things. It was done separately back then,
and neither boy knew about the other, but that look from Claire
suggested they go silent, and instantly they did. Last thing they wanted
was for Claire to mention to anyone else that both boys knew how to
curtsey like little girls.
They didn't recognize the girl at all, nor did they connect her to that
young man they'd been willing to testify against. They did hope she,
whoever she was, would be here in town for a time. Besides Lilly and a
few others the pickings in that town were slim.
Chapter nine
"Too much butt," Tim said to his twin brother Tom as Pat and Claire
passed them to the other side of the street.
"Not all that big and I like the way it moves," Tom said as the diaper
slightly exaggerated Pat's walk.
"Nor breast for that matter either," Tim said.
"As long as they fill my hand," Tom answered with a laugh.
"I'd date her," Tim said with a twist of a smile.
"Me too," Tom said as he eased the old truck into a short lurch on their
way to Brown's Tractor Pull Bar and Grill. They would think of Pat as
Patricia for most of that evening, and Pat as Patrick would have
shuddered once again over those thoughts if he could read them.
"You have a natural sense of self about you," Claire said mounting the
curb a second before Pat.
"Thank you, I think," Pat said just this side of sarcastic, and only
because he wasn't sure about Claire. He was sure about the rest of them,
or at least the Sheriff and Judge but not her, nor the girls as he
added, "I'm never going to let them have the satisfaction of seeing me
falter!"
Claire, and rightfully so, assumed Patricia was talking about the world
in general. About him being a transsexual. Her knowing the difficulties
of those other transsexuals gave her some small amount of understanding.
Her transsexual friends were not too unlike this young lady in that
sense, and once again she felt that maternal tug within her as she
slipped an arm around Pat's shoulder suddenly to hug him again.
"What was that for," Pat asked feeling suddenly warm but a little
confused over this woman's sudden and clear affections.
"You! You and that 'too hell with them attitude'. I think it's
marvelous! I admire you for that!" Claire said as she began walking
again towards the restaurant. Pat followed alongside wondering over what
he'd just said as Claire added, "you also need to know that you've
already got a lot of support around here!"
Again those words were understood differently in Pat's context, and
again it strengthened his resolve as he stood a little straighter and
walked a bit more regal. He assumed, and this also rightfully so, that
she meant some didn't agree with this form of punishment. It made him
feel a lot more steadfast, but also a bit more casual as they neared the
door.
Pat, as Patricia, walked into the restaurant far braver than he would
have without Claire's words, and just as they entered he said to her,
"thank you, and I mean that!"
"Honey, you're welcome! And, I mean that as well," Claire said touching
him lightly on the arm as they entered. Both smiled at each other as the
smells of the restaurant and noise made them take notice.
"Hey Claire," Lilly May said from behind the counter as the two entered.
Lilly had been the cause of the accident and Pat blushed suddenly.
"Hey Lilly!" Claire said as Lilly came up and got hugged. Claire was, as
far as Pat could tell, a hugger. Another thing in her favor, he decided,
as Claire added, "And this is our guest for the weekend, Patricia!
Patricia Fields. Patricia, this is Lilly!"
Pat flushed a slightly darker shade than his blush, which only added to
his blush as Lilly said hi. It was the same girl Patrick had been
watching instead of the road. He wasn't very keen on her seeing him as a
girl though, and almost said something in his defense before biting his
tongue.
Instead and in his lightest, softest voice he said hi back, and the
blush remained as he and Claire found a seat. This was, as far as Pat
was concerned, the weirdest day of his life. Insane might be a better
way to describe what was happening to him. He was sure Lilly knew he was
a boy but she didn't seem to mind.
He was wearing a dress! A dress and lingerie of all things. A diaper as
well. A dress and makeup, and in the middle of evening in a small town,
in a restaurant! Now what was wrong with that picture? What really
bothered him most, in those minutes, was that no one else noticed
anything wrong with that picture.
Or, put another way, and thinking back on those two lunk heads in the
truck, they were noticing him, but not seeing he was a boy in a dress.
That was what was wrong with this picture. That picture reminded him of
those images you tilt and the image changes. Was that all it took? That
slight bit of tilt?
Meanwhile...
"So what you going to do with that boy," Rose asked of her sister Helen
as they got ready to head out for dinner.
"Girl," Helen said correcting her sister.
"Girl! Girl?" Rose noted with a questioning tone.
"Already done it," Helen said and added, "couple of days in diapers and
I'm thinking about a few hours of community service this weekend.
Sandy's still out with the flu and I can use some office support."
"Diapers? You said diapers," Rose asked and added, "now how is putting
him... I mean putting her in diapers going to serve justice?"
"My kind of justice! Do you have any idea what it's like soiling
yourself? And worse, those damn Badger twins were nearby when I did it!
About the worst day I've had and that's that," Helen said.
"Sounds more like revenge," Rose said.
"Not really! OK, maybe a little. She's not in jail at least so I had to
do something to punish her," Helen said.
"So she's wearing diapers in jail," Rose said slightly shocked over her
sister's sense of justice.
Chapter ten
"No, she's wearing those diapers over at Claire's. I took her out of
jail before it starts filling up with the Friday crowed," Helen noted.
"Why you calling him a her and why am I? You keep talking about him as a
her," Rose asked.
"Turns out he's... Now you got me doing it. I mean she's a
transsexual," Helen noted.
"Really? So he's a she," Rose asked.
"Not sure how far that goes, but yes, he's a she," Helen noted.
"Never met a transsexual," Rose said curiously.
"I thought about that and given that some look like females means we may
have," Helen noted.
"Never thought about that either. So what about this one," Rose asked.
"Well, if you saw this one before knowing she was a he, you'd probably
still be saying that. Makes a damn cute girl," Helen said.
"Always wondered why men might want to do that," Rose noted.
"I don't know but if I had to guess I say it was our panties. Always
wondered why boys liked cotton rather than nylon," Helen noted with a
laugh as she added, "I miss wearing panties."
"True," Rose added as she picked up her purse.
The restaurant filled slowly but surely as Pat and Claire looked over
the short menu. Sheriff Potts had an account at Millie's and Lilly
mentioned that to Pat as she handed him a menu. Lilly too now knew that
the pretty girl she was looking at was once a boy thanks to Frank's
comments over lunch. Frank was sworn to secrecy but too late and Lilly
had confirmed what Frank had said with the Sheriff.
There was something else working on Pat in these few hours. The fear was
drifting away and with it some of his anger over what they'd made him
do. He wasn't sure what was replacing it nor why he felt as casual as it
did and that occupied a lot of his thoughts as he looked over the menu.
"How many guys have they done this to," Pat asked of Claire when she
looked up. Pat was feeling comfortable with Claire and guessing she
wasn't actually part of this other than for the makeup and such.
"Done what to who honey," Claire asked.
"You know, make men wear dresses like this," Pat asked.
"Make men wear dresses? Who makes men wear dresses," Claire asked.
"Sheriff Potts and that judge," Pat asked.
"I'm not sure what you mean," Claire asked genuinely confused.
"OK, so why did the sheriff make me dress like a girl," Pat asked and
added, "was it the judges idea, his or both?"
"Make you? Honey, the Sheriff didn't make you dress that way? Sheriff
Potts can be a lunk head at times but he'd never do that? Not to a guy
that didn't already wear dresses? Why would you think that?" Claire
asked sitting there trying to figure out what Pat was saying.
"What do you mean only a guy who already is wearing dresses?" Pat asked
now as confused as Claire was.
"Sheriff found your clothes in the car honey. Your girl clothes and, to
his credit, he simply wanted you to be comfortable. You know, you as
you? Actually, it says a lot for the man," Claire said with a touch of
admiration in her voice.
"But he made me wear these things," Pat said.
"But those are your things" Claire said confused.
"These aren't my clothes," Pat said trying to figure out why Claire
didn't know that.
"He found them in your car," Claire said.
"My sister's car! I told him my clothes were in the car and this is what
he brought me?" Pat said and then added, "and he made me pick things out
to wear after my shower."
"I'm not sure I'm getting any of this! Are you a transsexual or not?"
Claire asked.
"Transsexual? Transsexual! No! Why," Pat asked.
"Cross dresser then," Claire asked.
"No! Never. Well, almost never. At least not since Halloween," Pat said.
"So where did the clothes come from?" Claire asked.
"Not sure? Thought they belonged to the town or something. They might be
my sister's or maybe one of her friends. They are definitely not mine,"
Pat said.
"Why didn't you say something to the Sheriff then," Claire asked.
"I did or tried to, but then he got mad and I got scared so I kept my
mouth shut," Pat said.
"So you don't really want to be a girl then?" Claire asked.
"Me? A girl? NO! I mean not like you're thinking," Pat said.
Claire sat there a little stunned as the realization of what was
unfolding unfolded. She took up her cell phone, flipped it open and
dialed the Sheriff's office. Potts' was at home as the call to the
county phone was forwarded to his home phone.
Chapter eleven
"Sheriff Potts," Potts answered.
"Sheriff, Claire! Listen, there was a brown duffel bag in the back seat
of that boy's car. He says it had his clothes... His boy clothes were in
that bag. Where did that pink bag come from," Claire said.
"There was no brown bag. No bag at all in the car. Found that pink bag
in the trunk with the makeup? Why," Sheriff Potts asked.
"Sheriff, that boy Pat doesn't wear girl's clothes. At least not before
this? I think there's been a mistake made. Could anyone by chance have
taken that other bag of clothes?" Claire asked.
"Mistake, what sort of mistake?" Sheriff Potts asked.
"This boy we've dolled up to look like a girl. It's all a big mistake.
He doesn't dress like a girl. I