The Street Festival: How A Wallflower Became The Hero

Chapter 17

The following morning, Marty awoke with a gnawing sickness in the pit of his stomach. He knew what today held and he was scared to death.

"Marty? Are you up? You need to get a shower. Hurry up," His mom yelled from the hallway.

Heading back to her room to get dressed, Amanda called her job to let them know she wouldn't be in today.

Marty was going to skip school and she was going to accompany him to the police station to file a report.

Marty hesitantly got out of bed and headed to the bathroom with his mom's words echoing in his head.

You're right. Having you come forward as Saturday's victim would be a disaster for you. I could never expect you to put yourself through that. Besides, it wasn't Marty he attacked, it was Martina.

When Marty finished showering he headed down the hall, wrapped up in a towel. He was so nervous about today he was shaking. He didn't know what made it worse: the trip to the police station to file his statement or the fact that he was about to dress up as a girl, in front of his mom, to go do it.

"Come in here," his mom called out from her bedroom.

Marty stopped in his tracks and took a deep breath. He exhaled and slowly turned towards his mom's room, dreading what he knew was about to happen.

"I'm in the closet, honey," she announced as he entered.

Marty stepped into her large walk-in closet and found his mom holding up a sleeveless, high-neck, mid-length, white dress with a colorful, embroidered hem.

"What about this one," she asked.

Marty's cheeks turned beet red.

He couldn't believe he was actually picking out a dress to wear, with his mom. It felt more like a reoccurring dream he'd had, than reality. He bit his tongue just to be sure.

Feeling the sting of the bite on his tongue, he knew this was no dream. Contrary to the excitement he had felt in his dream, he became even more nervous, as embarrassment swept over him.

Seeing the look on Marty's face, Amanda commented, "If you don't like this one, what do you have in mind? You've been in my closet before. Did you see something else you'd prefer to wear to the police department, when you were in here?"

"Mom, it's not that big of a deal. That one is fine, whatever," Marty quickly replied, trying to downplay the awkwardness of the situation. It was difficult enough without her knowing just how much he had enjoyed wearing a dress.

"Good. I was hoping you'd pick this one,"his mom replied as she walked past him, heading out of the closet. "I've got a cute pair of sandals that'll match really well with the rainbow of colors on the hem of this dress. Did you put on the underwear I left for you in the bathroom?"

"Yes, ma'am. Well, the panties, but not the bra yet," he awkwardly answered at a low volume while gazing at the floor. "D-do you want m-me to do the same thing I did Saturday to, um, to fill the . . . the cups?"

"Yeah, . . .well, if it looks realistic and isn't too big for your age and size. What did you do?"

"Used two of your green heirloom tomatoes."

Amanda couldn't believe her son's creativity and resourcefulness.

"Really? That worked? And it looked right?"

Amanda had seen every episode of that drag competition show on television and had heard a lot about how the contestants stuffed their bras when they were just starting out, but this was one she hadn't heard of.