The Street Festival: How A Wallflower Became The Hero

Chapter 16

"Oh my ga-oh my ga-," she began to hyperventilate. "Sweetheart, what are you talking about. Yo- . . . You were . . . Are you saying you were raped? No, no, no. No, no---"

She held him tighter as tears streamed down her face.

"How- Why . . . are telling me that rapist was in our house yesterday?"

"Mom, you're squeezing the life out of me."

Amanda loosened her tight grip on her son.

"My poor baby. Are you okay? Oh honey, what happened?"

"Yes mom, I think I'm okay . . . well physically I am, and better than him. No, it didn't happen here. I ah, I went to the street fair and ended up at his house. He-he raped me there."

"What?!? H-how did you end up at his place? Why did you go home with a stranger? What did he do to you?"

"It's a long story mother. I'll try to explain, but please . . . just allow me to finish the whole story before you say anything. And please mom, please don't judge me. I know I have to give my testimony in court and do my part to put this guy away. But I will need 100% of your support in order to do it. I can't do it without you, Mom. Do I have your unjudgemental support?"

Through tears, his mother pledged to support her son. She nodded while replying, "Yes, yes, . . . of course, honey."

Marty then began to convey the story.

He started out by telling his mom all about how he'd always felt like an outcast, an outsider and how he'd always been the nerd that was picked on, made fun of, or ignored.

He then explained to her how he had made up his mind he was going to change his image by dieting and exercise and becoming more outgoing.

"That's what I was trying to do over the summer. I thought I could become someone that would no longer get picked on, no longer be an outcast if I only looked more like the cool, popular guys. But once the first day of school got here, I couldn't see enough change in my appearance and found I didn't have the courage, or ability to present myself as outgoing and confident. So I gave up and started my new school, the same old dorky, nobody I've always been."

"I'm sorry you've felt that way, son. You should have talked to me about this years ago, but what does all this have to do with you being . . . ?"

"Hang on mom, I'm getting there . . . I started school here the same person I was before and predictably I was picked on or ignored just as I was before. I kept thinking about what I could do to change things and become someone else. Well, last Friday I came up with an idea I thought might work. If I could pull it off it would be a way I could hide behind a disguise, pretend to be someone else and no one would recognize me or see me as a dorky guy not worthy of respect. I saw this as a way that would allow me to feel more confident, experience a few hours as something other than the wallflower that's only acknowledged when he's being picked on. Yesterday was the fall festival and I saw it as the perfect opportunity to conduct my experiment."

"So what did you do," his mom impatiently asked.

"Well, I decided I would go to the street fair as someone else and see how much better it would be to not be me for once."

Marty paused. He was terrified of continuing, but he knew he had to.

He took a deep breath, exhaled forcefully, then began to cautiously continue, "So, Saturday morning after you left . . . I - I got dressed up and went to the fair."

"Okay, and?"

"Mom, remember that TV show from a few years ago we saw about that transgender girl that  starting high school as herself and-"