Also, there are some parts that have been entirely fictionalized to add to the drama of the story. For the most part, the incidents described actually happened. I will leave it up to the reader to figure out which parts are real and which were added, by artistic license, as fiction.

CHRISSIE

By Barbara Lynn Terry

Allison's School Days

Part I

It was time for camp to end. We all gave each other hugs and promised to keep in touch. It was Dee that had the hardest time of all. I asked my mother if it would be alright if she came and stayed with us for a while, at least until school was out. My mother looked at me, and then at Dee's parents. There was a look of concern on their faces. We came from a small town in the Midwest, and they were from New York City. Even though we lived in a mixed neighborhood, my mother told me it was not a good idea for a black person to live in a white household.

"Why, mom?" I had asked, not knowing the differences in racial segregation.

"Well, dear, this is nineteen fifty seven. People just aren't ready to accept that white people and people of different national origins can be friends."

I walked over to Dee and asked her for her address.

"Dee, I would like your address so that we can write back and forth. I do so much want to keep in touch with you," I said, defiant of parental prejudice.

"Oh, Allison, thank you so much. You have made me very happy." She gave me a real big hug. "
I want your address too."

We wrote our addresses down for each other and then our parents said that it was nice we had become friends and that other people should follow our example. But, it was time to get moving as we had to get home and tomorrow we had to think about school which was a week away. We went to our respective houses and soon Chrissie was ringing at the door. I answered it and she had a package in her hands.

"Allison, I had this delivered to my house so that I could surprise you. Please open it."

I opened the package and saw a real nice coral colored dress. It had a nice lace collar and the sleeves puffed out a little. I put it up to me in front of the hallway mirror and liked what I saw.

"Mother!" I yelled. "Come here and see what Chrissie brought for me."

My mother came in and saw me modeling the dress in front of the mirror, and said that it looked very pretty. I thanked Chrissie for the dress, then she said.

"Allison, this is what I want you to wear on the first day of school, okay?"

"Alright, Chrissie, I will wear this to school on the first day," I said.

The First Day Of School

The first day of school came and I woke up and took my bubble bath, made sure my hair was very neat, and then got dressed. Because the dress was a coral color, I got out my pink slip and pink panties and bra set. After my bath and all powdered and fresh, I put on my under things and then I put on the dress Chrissie wanted me to wear and went down to eat breakfast. A glass of orange juice and a piece of toast. As I was getting my coat from the closet, the doorbell rang. I went to open it and my eyes lit up like daylight.

"Dee!" I shrieked, and gave her the biggest bear hug as my mother came running from the kitchen. When she saw Dee and my surprise, she just said, "Oh, hi Dee."

"Wait a minute, mom. Did you know anything about this?"

"Yes, dear. But I wasn't supposed to say anything until she came to walk you and Chrissie to school. She is going to live here now, in this neighborhood in fact."

Maybe I should qualify this. Dee's parents had called my mother and asked her if there was a house for rent with option to buy. When my mother said she would look into it, they said fine. A couple of days later, they moved from New York City to our town. They left everything they owned, except their clothes in New York. That is the reason they got in our neighborhood a day and a half before school started.

I was delighted that Dee's parents had moved here from New York City. We didn't have the violence that New York did and the people in our neighborhood were very nice. Yes, even including my babysitter, who was now out of a job, because my mother said I had shown great responsibility by becoming Chrissie's friend and adopted sister. So now I got to stay home by myself when my mother was working.

The three of us walked to school and Dee did most of the talking. She told us how relieved she was when her father told everyone they were getting out of the ghetto. She said that there were men who abused little girls in the hallways of their apartment building, and winos who stunk to high heaven and slept in the hallways and you had to walk over or around them to get out. We were so intent on listening to Dee, we didn't notice we were at the school. We went into the classroom (we were all in the same class), and sat down. I noticed the boys were looking at me with puzzled expressions on their faces. The girls in the class all cooed over my new dress and said how pretty I was. One boy, his name was Alex, who was also nine years old, dressed like he was always going to dinner, and had red hair, said to me.

"I didn't know you were a girl. I thought your name was Ronald. What is it now?"

"It is Allison Dawn Kingston," the teacher replied to Alex's question, as she entered the classroom and heard what Alex had said. "And I think it is just super that we have a new girl in our class. In fact, class, we have two new girls in our class. Allison is one of them and Diedre is the other, who is a friend of Allison and Chrissie‘s. So I think it is just super that Allison is going to be a part of our class from now on, don‘t you class?"

They all nodded in agreement. And if it was cool with the teacher that I was a girl, and she was an adult, who were they to say different. I never had a problem with any of the kids in my class, but there was this one boy in the sixth grade, and bigger than me, who thought he was the toughest kid in the school. He started on me right at recess, by saying naughty things about me.

"Hey everybody, look at Ronnie, isn't she pretty for a boy?" His name was Scott and his parents were divorced and he lived with his mother. My teacher walked over to him and told him he would have to stay after school and that he couldn't go home unless his mother came to get him.

After recess was over, we went back into the classroom where Dee was asked to say something about herself and where she had lived before coming here. Dee got up and told everyone her story and when she was done, the other kids just looked at her in amazement. A lot of the kids told her she must have been very brave and she said:

"No, I wasn't brave at all. I was scared most of the time, but now I hope to have you all for friends and by living here, I won't be scared anymore."

When Scott's mother came to the school, I was there with my mother and Chrissie. Scott's mother was a fashionable type of woman, always wore the latest in fashions and had her hair done to the latest styles. She was maybe thirty, slim figure and nice blond hair. When she saw all of us there, she looked at the principal and asked.

"What did he do this time?"

"Mrs. Schmidt, I want you to meet Allison Kingston and her mother and this is Chrissie Jaeger. Today, at recess time, Scott decided to be very rude to Allison, who has been a student here since kindergarten. But, I will tell you a little more so that you are apprised of all of the facts."

She told Scott's mother how Chrissie had tricked me actually into wearing dresses and wanted me to be her sister and friend and that if I didn't Chrissie was going to commit suicide. But, now, after two years of dressing like a girl, I had been undergoing therapy with a psychiatrist, who thought it best I not return to being a boy, but become an actual girl. She was told that the psychiatrist had come to the school and talked it over with the staff so that there would be no problems. Scott's mother then gave him a look of, I-give-up sadness. Then she told the principal that he has been a handful, and she didn't know what to do with him anymore. At that the principal told us all to wait out in the outer office while her and Scott's mother talked. We did. After almost a half an hour, we were told to come back into the office. The principal looked at Scott, and said in a very stern voice.

"Young man, I can't think of anything that would excuse your behavior today. I want you to apologize to this young lady, right now."

"Young lady?" Scott said laughing. "This ain't no young lady, this is a dude," he said, continuing his laughing.

The principal was a nice lady, in her forties, someone had said, and she was married and had one grown son. She wore everyday clothes, nothing fancy, but then again, nothing shabby either. She looked at Scott's mother and gave a knowing nod like they had hatched something in the office we didn't know about. She had said the meeting was over, and we all went home.

On the second day of school, Chrissie, Dee and I were standing on the playground, when a girl approached us. She was wearing a nice pink dress, black Mary Jane's and her hair seemed weird. I couldn't put my finger on it. As she got nearer, I recognized that it was Scott. As Scott came up to me, he said.

"My mother said I behaved badly and the only way I would know how you felt when I called you those names and made fun of you, was to dress like you and be made fun of too."

Then he started crying. We walked over to the bench by the school and sat down. I let Scott put his head on my shoulder. My teacher came over and asked what the problem was. Scott looked up and said, he didn't mean any harm, he was just having some fun.

"Yes, dear," the teacher said. "At Allison's expense. Did you ever stop to think that Allison has feelings too? Now, you will know what it will be like to be ridiculed. And, anyone who ridicules anyone, regardless of their lifestyle, is a fool and should be dressed as a fool. Tell me Scott, what are you feeling, dressed like this?"

"I don't know how to say it. I feel very girlish, like I want to play with dolls."

"And what is wrong with playing with dolls?" I asked in a mock angry voice.

"Um, nothing. I was just going to say that maybe we should do that sometime. My mother says, until I learn to be a good boy, I have to first learn how to be a good girl, and I am supposed to dress like this all school year. I'll never live it down." Then he started crying again. The teacher said it was good for girls to cry once in a while, and then said we should get to class. As Scott walked down the hall, I saw everyone laughing at him and calling him sissy pants. He was really in bad shape, but he had no choice and he brought it on himself. But, I would still be his friend.

At lunch time, Dee, Chrissie and I sat by ourselves because we wanted to talk about what had happened to Scott. I spoke first.

"I feel sorry for him, you know," I said. "I mean he doesn't have a father and he is always trying to act tough. I . . .," I was interrupted by Dee.

"Act tough is right. If he was really tough, he wouldn't have cried on the playground, like the girl that he is. Did you see him in the hall this morning? He was a total wreck. Only girls get like that after they have been totally humiliated."

"I feel sorry for him too," said Chrissie. "He doesn't seem to know what being good is all about. Wait, here he comes, this way. Let's let him sit here."

As Scott approached our table, he tried not to look at us. But Dee called to him and told him to come and sit by us.

Another boy from the sixth grade, who was supposed to be Scott's best friend, said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Hey, look everyone, Scottie is sitting with the girls, today."

Everyone laughed at that and then the principal heard that remark, and made an announcement. "Alright, everyone, settle down. From now on, any student who ridicules another student whether being punished or living a different lifestyle than your own, will be subject to being dressed as a girl, and made to attend school dressed in that fashion. This applies to the boys. The girls, who are guilty of this will be suspended for one week. Do I make myself very clear, students."

"Yes, ma'am," everyone said in unison.

"Can I call you Scottie?" I said, with a smile.

He nodded and said that he was sorry for calling me names and making fun of me and that he didn't want to be dressed like a girl.

"What's done, is done, Scottie. You brought this on yourself. But being a girl is not a bad thing. If you come over by my house, Dee, Chrissie and I will show you how to sit and talk, and eat. Eating is very important. You don't gulp your food, you take small bites and wipe your mouth around the edges with a napkin when you are through. Do you have any sisters?"

"No," he said. "I have three brothers."

"What do they say about your mother dressing you like this?" I asked.

"They think it's cool to have a sister. I am really sorry, Allison, I didn't mean any real harm."

"Yes, Scottie, I know, you said that already. But listen, if by the time school lets out in June, and you do not want be friends anymore, I will understand. But, if you do return to being a boy again, just remember to treat others the way you would want others to treat you. Okay?"

"Okay," he said, then he asked. "What do you mean IF I return to being a boy?"

"Scottie, sometimes, when boys are tricked," I looked at Chrissie, and then back at Scottie, "or even forced to dress like a girl for a long period of time, some boys get used to it and like wearing dresses and skirts, instead of pants. When Chrissie first wanted me to wear one of her dresses, I tried to resist and I stammered, but then she said, if we couldn't be friends and sisters, she was going to kill herself. I couldn't be responsible for that, so I agreed. Now I am going to be a girl for the rest of my life. It is so much better than being a boy. Girls get to do nice things that boys think are too sissy like for them. Will you come over on Saturday, Scottie?"

"Yes, I will."

I gave him my address and said I would see him after school. As we walked back to class we talked about what we had discussed at the lunch table.

"Girls, we have to think of a name for Scottie. I mean Scottie isn't a girl's name. Anyone have any ideas?" I asked. No one could come up with any names, so we just said we'll let Scottie pick one when he comes over. At this point, we are calling Scottie a he because at this point, he does not know what is happening to him. But he will find out, we all agreed.

This chapter was very short, I realize, but it is continued in the next chapter. This part was to set up the character of "Scottie".