Fiction byClaudette St.Onge © 2001-3, all rights reserved
THE SECOND WEEK
~~~ Maryanne on Display ~~~
When Maryanne woke up the next morning, he lay there for a while, thinking about where he was and what he would be doing that day.
Both he and his bed smelled nice. The bubble baths he took or the showers and dusting powder kept him smelling nice. And sometimes Auntiie would put a dab or two of toilet water on him as well. His little nightie was very soft and comfortable on him.
He was very happy to see Aunt Corinne acting so friendly towards him now. She really seemed to like him now that he was acting so much like a girl. It still puzzled him why that could mean so much to anyone, but it sure made a difference to Auntiie. And that made a big difference to him, because now she didn’t seem so threatening to him.
Later today they would go to a bridge party and he would be wearing his new pretty dress. Auntiie said he would meet other girls his own age there and be able to play with them while she and the other ladies talked and played cards. She said it was about time he had the ‘right kind’ of friends. That scared him a little. Would the other girls know he wasn’t a real girl? Would they let him play with them? Auntiie said he should bring along the nice doll Mrs. Cabot had given him and show the other girls how pretty he could make her look in her big old fashioned dress.
He also knew that Auntiie wanted to show him off to the other ladies there. But that didn’t bother him so much anymore. He was more worried about the other girls liking him. He hadn’t played with anyone since he moved in with Auntiie. It would be nice to have some new friends, even if they were girls.
Then he thought of his old pals. It would be really bad if they found out what he was doing now: dressing and acting like a girl, and worse yet, really beginning to like it. They must be wondering where he was. He hoped they didn’t look very hard for him. But he knew that the places he went with Auntiie didn’t make it very likely he’d be running into them.
Finally he got out of bed, put on his robe and slippers, and went downstairs to have breakfast. There was a big day ahead for him, and he knew Auntiie would be spending more time getting him ready to go out.
Corinne stood at the stove frying eggs. She was thinking however, of Maryanne. Six days! That was all it had taken to get him to accept the role of being her little niece and learn how to properly act like a nice little girl. A real smile of affection appeared on her face when she thought how pretty he looked, and she began to see why her sister had been wanting to dress him up. He made such a nice girl.
Jane Beverly would be at the party today, but she would be the only lady there that knew he was really a boy. Auntiie didn’t plan to tell the other ladies, though she wouldn't deny it either if they had heard about Maryanne before they got there. In either case it would be a wonderful afternoon. She wanted to make sure she got a picture of Maryanne playing with the other girls. Then she’d send her sister that picture and also the one of Maryanne hugging his doll at Mrs. Cabot’s. She could imagine the effect it would have on Marie!
When Maryanne came into the kitchen, Corinne called her over and gave her a big hug and kissed her cheek. Maryanne smiled up at her, a little surprised at the affection her Auntiie was showing her.
"Maryanne, you’ll be the prettiest girl at the party this afternoon," said Corrine proudly.
"But, Auntiie, there’ll be real girls there. How can I be prettier than they are?" He sat down at the table.
"Sweetheart," replied Auntiie, "you just don’t seem to realize how very pretty you look. And with that special dress on we bought for today, you’ll look like an angel." She placed a plate of bacon, eggs and toast in front of Maryanne.
"Auntiie, was I a regular boy before I came here?" he asked.
"Of course you were, darling," answered Corinne. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I know I had kind of a girlish face compared to the other boys, and mommy kept my hair long, too. And now I like looking and acting like a girl. That doesn’t seem like something a regular boy would like to do. But I can’t help it. It seems nice to me now."
Corinne reached across the table and held one of Maryanne’s hands. "Honey, don’t be so concerned about that. I told you that you’d like it after a while. It’s just the way you are, Maryanne. And you’re not the first boy that’s found out they like living like a girl. There’s never been anything wrong with you, dear. But I like you so much better now that you’ve learned to be a nice girl."
"Do you really think girls are better than boys, Auntiie?"
"Oh, yes, dear!" answered Corinne. "Don’t you think it’s better to look pretty and to act so nice?"
"Yes….I guess I do…now, Auntiie," said Maryanne, a little thoughtful about the way things had turned out. "But do you think I’ll always feel this way?"
"I don’t know, honey," replied Auntiie. "You’re still very young, and when you get older your thinking might change. But for now, I think you should just enjoy being a girl."
"I do, Auntiie," said Maryanne. "It’s something I never thought I would do. But I do enjoy it."
They finished eating breakfast and Maryanne went upstairs to take a bubble bath.
As soon as she left the bathroom, Corinne began working on her hair, arranging the cute bangs and tying the pretty ponytail with a pink ribbon. Later, after Maryanne was dressed, she’d put just a hint of mascara and lipstick on her, as well as a slight bit of color on her cheeks.
The dress that Jane Beverly had helped them pick out was a pink sleeveless dress with shoulder straps and a square neckline. It was actually a little plain looking except that it had a chiffon overskirt that whispered delightfully against the taffeta underskirt. A nice big bow was tied at the back of his waist. Auntiie had also bought a new bouffant slip to go with it. The satin shoulder straps were adjustable, and Corinne lengthened them just enough so that the pretty scalloped lace hem of it showed a little below the hem of the dress. The lace trimmed anklets were white, but her Mary Jane shoes were a soft pink.
When Corinne finally backed away and took a good look at her, she started smiling immediately.
"Oh, sweetheart!" said Auntiie. "You really do look like an angel!"
But she wasn’t finished yet. She painted Maryanne’s nails pink also and placed a dainty pearl bracelet on her left wrist. Two small gold plated barrettes, one on each side of her head, were added to keep her hair neat looking. When Maryanne finally had a chance to see herself in the full length mirror, she began smiling also. But then she began shaking her head.
"Auntiie, I just don’t understand how a boy can look so pretty."
"Well, for one thing, you’re not a boy any longer, dear," corrected Corinne. "You’re a pretty young lady. And part of the reason is that you want to look pretty now."
"Oh, yes! I do!" replied Maryanne. "I love looking pretty now."
"See, honey?" said Corinne. "Didn’t I tell you that you’d like being a girl more and more as time went by? Auntiie knows what’s best for you, sweetheart. I only wish your mother was here to see you. But we’ll take a picture of you with the other girls today and send it to her along with the picture of you and your doll. It’ll make her so happy when she sees what a pretty girl you’ve become."
Auntiie’s eyes were shining bright with a sense of her own personal achievement in making Maryanne such a nice girl. She had never doubted for a moment that she could do it.
For today, Corinne had abandoned her usual tailored look and was wearing a two piece outfit consisting of a white silk top with black polka dots and a black taffeta skirt with red petticoats beneath it. Nonetheless, it still looked like an expensive outfit. She had carefully coordinated her shoes and accessories, and even Maryanne was impressed with the way she looked.
Catherine Pendergast had an enormous estate. Not only was the house huge, but extensive well manicured grounds gave it a park-like setting. Maryanne’s eyes were popping when Corinne pulled the car into the long driveway.
"My goodness! What a big house, Aunt Corinne!"
"Yes," joked Corinne. "Goes to show you what God could do if He had the money!" The joke went over Maryanne’s head, but Corinne was in a very good mood this afternoon. She parked the Continental near the front door. Several other cars were already there.
When they got out of the car, Corinne gave Maryanne a quick inspection, primping her hair though it really didn’t need it.
"Maryanne, Susan Pendergast is a very nice lady. She started having these bridge parties after her husband died, probably because she was lonely. So don’t be afraid to speak up when you meet her. She’ll be delighted to see another little girl at her home."
"Alright, Aunt Corinne," answered Maryanne, still a little pop-eyed at the size of the mansion.
Instead of a butler or maid, Mrs. Penedergast herself answered the door. Maryanne looked up and saw a lady with completely white hair tied in a soft bun in back. But despite the white hair, she was very, very pretty. She gave Corinne a big ‘hello’ and bent forward as she looked at Maryanne, still with a big smile.
"I suppose I should have asked you ahead of time," said Corinne, "but I didn’t think you’d mind if I brought along my niece for the afternoon. She’s staying with me for the month while her mother is away on a business trip."
"Oh, don’t be silly!" said Mrs. Pendergast. "She’s more than welcome. And what’s her name?"
"I’m Maryanne Beliveau, Mrs. Pendergast," said Maryanne, speaking right up like Aunt Corinne had told her to. Mrs. Pendergast took her hand.
"Well let’s go inside and you can meet everyone. I’ll show you around, Maryanne. My! You certainly are a pretty girl."
Inside the huge mansion, Susan led the way down a hallway towards the rear of the house and then into a large room that was set up for card playing. There were several silver platters on a buffet holding hors-d’oeuvres and tiny sandwiches. Then Maryanne spotted several girls her own age in a connecting room. It looked like an arboretum, and the large windows looked out on a garden. But first Maryanne had to be introduced to the other ladies in the first room. Mrs. Beverly was there and smiled brightly at Maryanne wearing her new dress. All the ladies were very nice, and none of them seemed to realize she was a boy.
Susan Pendergast took her into the adjoining room where the other girls were.
"Girls, this is Maryanne. Why don’t the rest of you introduce yourselves to her. I’m sure you’ll find she’ll fit right in with your fun today." Then Susan let go of Maryanne’s hand and, smiling at her, turned and left her with the other girls.
Like herself, all the other girls were wearing their prettiest dresses.
A girl her own age approached Maryanne and said, "Hello…my name is Gloria Compton. That’s a really pretty dress you’re wearing."
"My name is Maryanne Beliveau. My Auntiie bought this dress for me yesterday."
"Well, let me introduce you to the other girls," said Gloria. "It’s been a while since we had anybody new join us. But we have a lot of fun here, especially when we go outside."
Maryanne was quickly introduced to the other girls. One of them asked her what was in the large bag she was carrying. She opened it and took out the doll dressed like a southern belle, and all the other girls started in with ‘oooo’s’ and ‘ah’s’. The doll got passed around and definitely met with approval. But after a while Maryanne propped it up against the backrest of the couch and they began to talk about other things.
"You said you had a lot of fun outside," said Maryanne. "Doing what?"
"Well," said a girl named Betsy, "we usually start off slowly with a walk through the gardens, but sooner or later we play ‘Hide and Seek’. But we have to wait 'til the ladies are busy playing cards. And sometimes we explore the grounds, too. It’s very pretty around Mrs. Pendergast’s home. She even has statues in her gardens. In about an hour, the ladies will take a break in their card game and have refreshments. Once they start playing cards again we can slip outside."
Maryanne thought about ‘Hide and Seek’ and Aunt Corinne’s warning about running. But for today she decided that she would do what ever the other girls did. In the meantime, they talked a lot about movies they had seen, places they had gone last summer or during the winter, school, and had a giggle filled conversation about boys. Most of the girls thought boys were funny, and none of them actually had a boyfriend at their tender age. Their parents wouldn’t allow such a thing. But they enjoyed talking about them anyway.
An hour later when everyone took a break, Aunt Corinne and Mrs. Pendergast walked over to the doorway where the girls were also having refreshments. Mrs. Pendergast was looking steadily at Maryanne and talking in a low voice to Aunt Corinne.
"Let me sound her out on the idea," said Aunt Coriine. "In any case she’ll certainly do what I tell her to. But this would be something new for her that I think she’d be excited about doing."
"She’s such a pretty child," said Mrs. Pendergast. "She’d be perfect for it." Then the two women turned back into their own room and began talking with the other women.
Maryanne wondered what they had been talking about. It seemed to be about her, but beyond that it was a mystery.
Once the card game was going again, the girls slowly moved towards the French doors that led out to the garden. Pretty soon they began to slip outside without drawing attention to themselves. They made a sharp turn around the house to get out of sight, and then began to walk slowly through the flower gardens. Maryanne was very impressed with the gardens. She wondered if Mrs. Pendergast took care of them herself or had a gardener do it. But then they went around another corner and she could see even more flower beds stretching along side
the house and beyond it. A little ways off there was a topiary and at the rear of the house was a hedge maze with a fountain spraying up in the middle of it.
Maryanne had never seen anything like it before, but the other girls were used to it.
"There’s lots of places to hide around here," said Jennifer, a cute and friendly girl that Maryanne had been talking to.
Pretty soon, a game of Hide and Seek was organized and everyone disappeared except for one girl that stood with her eyes shut next to a large oak tree. Maryanne thought again about Aunt Corinne’s warning against running, but decided that she’d probably want her to do whatever the other girls did, and ran and hid behind a tall shrub. She was very careful not to catch the chiffon overskirt on any branches. This was all so new to her, but she enjoyed playing with the other girls very much. And they had all been so nice to her. She hoped she would be coming here again.
The game continued on for a half hour or so, with some girls running up to the tree when it was ‘safe’ and others being chased by the girl that was ‘it’ so she could tag them. There was a lot of laughing and giggling, and Maryanne really felt happy.
Then five of the ladies walked around the corner of the building and stood there watching them. Most of the girls didn’t even notice them.
"Alright, girls," said Betsy’s mother. "Time to start acting like young ladies again." There was a general groan from the girls, but they obediently stopped the game and followed the ladies back inside the mansion.
As Maryanne looked at the group of ladies, she saw Aunt Corinne among them, and she wasn’t smiling either. Now I’m in for it, thought Maryanne. But Aunt Corinne didn’t say a word to her. Still, Maryanne expected a scolding on the way home. Before the ladies continued playing cards, they had all the girls get together for a photograph. Jennifer sat next to Maryanne and put her arm around her shoulders. They all smiled and the camera flashed. I hope mommy likes it, thought Maryanne.
At five o’clock the ladies were done with card playing and had pretty much covered the current gossip as well. They began to collect their daughters and leave for home. Maryanne noticed Mrs. Pendergast talking to Aunt Corinne while she looked at Maryanne.
"She really would be perfect, Corinne," she said. "I hope she’ll like the idea."
"I’ll see to it that she will," said Aunt Corinne. "And I’ll give you a call and tell you as soon as I’ve talked to her." Then she put on her hat and gloves and called Maryanne to come along.
On the way home Maryanne kept waiting for Aunt Corinne to say something about running. Corinne didn’t disappoint her, but surprised her in what she said.
"So…running around like a tomboy," said Corinne.
"But Aunt Corinne…all the girls did. We were playing Hide and Seek." Corinne looked over at her and smiled.
"Well, even girls have to get some exercise, I suppose, Maryanne. And I wouldn’t have wanted you to look out of place. But thank God you didn’t fall down and get grass stains on your dress."
"You mean you’re not mad, Aunt Corinne?" asked Maryanne.
"No, dear. I’m not mad at you. You fit right in with all the other girls this afternoon. Did you have fun?"
"Oh, yes. They were all so friendly to me. Do you think they knew I’m really a boy, Aunt Corinne?"
"Stop saying that, Maryanne. You’re not a boy now. And the answer is ‘no’…None of them realized that there was anything different about you. Except for the running, you were a nice little lady today. And Mrs. Pendergast thought you were the prettiest girl there."
Maryanne felt a big relief when Aunt Corinne said that. She relaxed back in her seat. Then she started thinking about the way Mrs. Pendergast kept looking at her when she spoke to Aunt Corinne. But she didn’t want to ask Aunt Corinne what she had been saying about her. She thought she’d probably be told when Aunt Corinne wanted her to know.
When they got home, Auntiie had her take off her pretty dress and put on another one; the pink one with the ric rac on it. The special dress was carefully hung up and then they went back downstairs.
"Maryanne, you can’t be hungry now, are you? It seemed like every time I looked over at you and the other girls you were eating or drinking something."
"No, Auntiie," replied Maryanne. "I’m not hungry at all."
"Neither am I," said Corinne. "Maybe later on we’ll have a little snack. Come sit down next to me." As soon as Maryanne sat down, Corinne placed her arm around her shoulders and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"You had a nice time today, didn’t you, dear?"
"Yes, I did, Auntiie. It was so nice playing with the other girls."
"I told you that you would, Maryanne. Auntiie knows what’s best for you, honey." She smiled down at her niece. "And in two weeks you’re going to do Mrs. Pendergast and me a big favor. And it’s something you’ll really enjoy doing."
"What is it, Auntiie?"
"I’ll tell you in a few days, but for now, I want you to realize that having nice friends means that sometimes you have to do favors for them. In this case, it’s something you’ll like doing."
"Why don’t you want to tell me now, Auntiie?"
Corinne tightened her arm around Maryanne’s shoulders and smiled down at her.
"Oh, maybe I just want to tease my pretty niece a little bit." She gave Maryanne another kiss on the cheek. Tomorrow we’ll get the film developed and send your mommy the two pictures. She’ll be thrilled when she sees them."
Mommy had promised to call Maryanne once or twice a week. So far she hadn’t called at all. Auntiie said it was because she was so busy, but perhaps they’d hear from her tonight.
"What are you going to say to mommy when she calls, Maryanne?"
"I…I’m not sure, Auntiie. I’ll probably tell her that I’m trying to do what she wants me to do, and maybe tell her about today’s card party and having fun with the other girls."
"That will make her very happy, Maryanne," said Auntiie. "And it’ll probably make her anxious to get back home so she can see you, too, dear."
"Auntiie, do you think mommy will want me to continue being a girl when she gets back home?"
"Yes, I do, Maryanne," answered Corinne. "Why? Does that idea upset you?"
"I don’t know, Auntiie. I really am happy being a girl, but sometimes I think about boy things I’d still like to do."
"Well, you and mommy can talk about it when she gets back, dear. But I know she’ll be very happy when she sees what a nice girl you’ve become." She kissed Maryanne’s cheek again.
The affection Auntiie was showing her lately had completely changed Maryanne’s opinion of her aunt. She really did seem to know what would make her feel happy being a girl. And she was still learning girl things from her, too. Maryanne no longer felt funny or strange dressed as a girl. In fact she enjoyed looking as pretty as she could. She had grown to love wearing pretty clothes and acting like a girl. And it made Auntiie very happy, too.
But she wondered what the big favor was she’d be doing for Mrs. Pendergast.